A/N: So it's been three weeks since my last update on this, apologies. A few days after my last chapter was posted, I gave birth to a very healthy baby who has been keeping me very busy. Now this chapter isn't my best work so I apologise for that but it is the sort of 'kick-off' in terms of what is going to come in the chapters that follow.
Now, thank you as always for those of you who review, please continue to do so. The next chapter I'm hoping to post within the next two weeks if I manage to get my uni examination essay finished before it's due date and if I do, my free time will be spent writing the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Elizabeth was finding living back at home for a few days in the lead up to the wedding quite strange. Of course, Lydia still refused to speak two words to her and she was perfectly okay with that but she had grown accustomed to sharing a bed with Will every night and their pretend break-up was proving difficult to handle. She had gone back to Longbourn with suitcases for her and Rose on Boxing day and spent the day with Aunt Maddie and Uncle Ed who were staying in the Longbourn guest room for the wedding. But saying goodbye to Will was hard. One reason was that she was used to kissing him goodbye and she couldn't do that and the second reason was because Caroline had pulled up on the driveway just as she was leaving and the look on Caroline's face made her feel furious at what she knew Charles's sister was attempting to plan. But she kept quiet, in order for Will's plan to work, she needed to keep calm.
Text messages were exchanged but it was hard not seeing him in the flesh, especially as she knew that Caroline would be trying to cosy up to her boyfriend but she kept calm by catching up with her Aunt and Uncle, playing with Rose and Jane in the snowy gardens at Longbourn and making sure that the last minute wedding arrangements were sorted. On the twenty-seventh, Elizabeth sat outside Netherfield in her car; waiting for her sister to finish saying goodbye to Charles, the last time they would see each other before meeting at the altar tomorrow morning.
When Jane got in the car, the two waved goodbye to Charles and started the three mile drive back to Longbourn.
"You look so lost." Elizabeth teased.
Jane gave her a small smile, "Call me pathetic or whatever but I'll miss him." her sister replied.
"It doesn't make you pathetic, I understand."
"I imagine it's been quite hard for you the last few days?" Jane asked.
Elizabeth nodded, "I've become so used to sleeping beside Will that having to pretend that we've broken up is quite hard for me."
"Well tonight is the last night that you only need to pretend. Just remember that it's to keep Rose safe." Jane said, reassuringly.
Elizabeth sighed as they pulled to a stop by some traffic lights. She knew that this was the only way that she could keep her daughter safe from the hands of two psychotic women who wanted to get their grubby hands on her boyfriend but she still didn't like it.
"Your wedding should be a day where I should be relaxed and celebrating your new life with Charles but his crazy sister and Will's obsessive ex-girlfriend have made that impossible."
"The sooner that Will takes Eleanor to one side to explain everything and affirm that he's with you now the better because the confrontation will happen a lot sooner and then you can spend the rest of the reception relaxed and happy." Jane stated.
"I'll ask Will to make sure that it happens in the house. The last thing we need is the confrontation between Eleanor and Caroline to happen in the marquee." Elizabeth replied.
Jane smiled as the two stopped at a pair of traffic lights as they discussed the last minute plans for the wedding, with Elizabeth reciting her mental list of responsibilities out loud to her older sister in order to reassure Jane that nothing would be forgotten. When the pair got back to Longbourn, they spent the evening relaxing, ordering a takeaway for dinner to celebrate Jane's last official night as a Bennet.
The discussion of marriage was her mother's favourite subject of conversation that night, with Mrs Bennet gushing over how right it seemed that Elizabeth was now back in a committed relationship with her child's father and how she hoped that she would marry William one day; something which caused Aunt Maddie to smile fondly at her niece and Rose's ears to perk up at the mention of her parents getting married. It was as Elizabeth was climbing the stairs to put Rose to bed that her daughter decided to quiz her on the subject.
"Mummy, are you and Daddy gonna get married?" Rose asked.
Elizabeth didn't really know how to answer. On the one hand, she wanted to have that with William one day. She liked the thought of marrying him and having that type of commitment to him but at the same time, she didn't want to just presume that Will was going to turn around and propose to her; they had only just agreed to look at houses together after all.
"Maybe darling, we'll see." Elizabeth replied.
Rose frowned as they entered the toddler's bedroom, "But Auntie Jane is married to Uncle Charlie tomorrow." she stated.
Elizabeth chuckled a little.
"I know sweetheart. But getting married takes a lot of thinking and talking about."
Rose rolled her eyes, "Everythin' needs thinkin'." she muttered.
Elizabeth helped Rose change into a pair of pyjamas before pulling back the bed covers so Rose could climb into bed.
"Mummy, how do you get married?" Rose asked.
"Well Uncle Charlie asked Auntie Jane and she said yes. Tomorrow we get to wear pretty dresses and meet Charlie at the church-"
"I know we go to church silly mummy!"
"Then what do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"Does daddy have to ask you?"
That question had her lost for thought. In terms of tradition, something which was evidently important to her own mother, the man would ask the woman to become his wife but in modern times, sometimes women would ask their partners to get married.
"Rosie, I think anyone who loves someone the way your daddy and I love each other could ask the other to get married."
The little girl smiled, "Okay. Night mummy, love you."
"I love you too Rose."
With a sleepy sigh, Rose turned on to her side as Elizabeth left the room and quietly shut the door behind her; imagining what life would be like if she and Rose were to officially become Darcys. Everything that she and Will had already spoken about, moving in together, having a life together, perhaps more children one day, well they didn't necessarily have to be married to have all that; they could be a family like they were now but just the thought of being able to sign things as Will's wife and to officially make Rose change her name from Bennet to Darcy made her feel quite warm and happy on the inside.
"Elizabeth! where are you?" Mrs Bennet called from the bottom of the stairs, "Come and try your dress on to show Uncle Ed and Aunt Maddie!"
Coming out of her daydream, Elizabeth sighed and headed downstairs, putting all thoughts of a possible married life with William out of her head for the time being.
ooOoo
As the Bennets were celebrating their daughter's last night as a Bennet, over at Netherfield the atmosphere wasn't as cosy and nice. With their car having broken down, Charles had been called to go and pick his sister Louisa and his brother-in-law John up from a motorway services whilst their car got towed to the nearest garage that was local to Netherfield. Will had so far overseen the catering company set up the marquee in the grounds so that it was ready for the reception the following afternoon but had so far been pestered by Caroline who had insisted on keeping him company.
The two were now sat in the living room and Caroline had commented that she knew why he was in a bad mood and it was because of his break-up with Elizabeth. How he had so far managed to keep silent and not ripped his best friend's sister limb from limb, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to keep his mouth shut and put up with Caroline for another day and then it would come out that he knew the whole plot and have her and his crazy ex-girlfriend ejected from his life once and for all.
"Only one day to go until my brother marries Jane." Caroline mused.
Will nodded and drained the rest of the wine from his glass, pretending to be brooding over his 'break-up' with Elizabeth. All day, Caroline had been watching him closely so he found himself only occasionally being able to text Elizabeth to which Caroline asked who he was messaging and he said that he was trying to arrange a custody agreement with Elizabeth about Rose but she was being difficult. Of course, he felt bad for saying that about his girlfriend; but it was the only way to keep Caroline from becoming suspicious.
"Don't worry Darcy! She was never any good for you." Caroline sighed, sitting on the sofa next to him.
Will sighed, placing his head on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.
"I thought we could have what we had in Spain but Elizabeth is right, we're just too different. She will never accept my family background the way that others do."
"I know. We all want that fairytale ending and I admire you all the more for it," Caroline said, "But Eliza was never the one to have it with. Maybe it's better that you're getting out now instead of her getting herself pregnant with baby number two and trapping you even more."
He wanted to rip the tongue out of her mouth but he resisted the urge. If he was going to keep his daughter safe, he had to listen to Caroline's unfair and nasty comments about Elizabeth and he could only hope that tomorrow would go as smoothly as he and Elizabeth wanted it to go.
"Can we not talk about Elizabeth right now please Caroline? It's just too much right now and I've still got things to sort out for the wedding." Will said grumpily.
Caroline blinked and patted his thigh lightly, "Of course. I understand. You need time to move on, it's certainly been a rough few months for you and having to take care of Georgiana now that she and your father aren't speaking must also be difficult." she said sympathetically, "But, just know that I am here for you no matter what. Whether it be a chat or something else, you only need to text or call me and I'll be straight here for you."
Her emphasis on the 'something else' part was making him vomit on the inside. Despite having knocked her back a few weeks ago, it was clear that Caroline really wouldn't just accept that he was never going to be interested in her. But this time, instead of soundly rejecting her, he gave her a small smile and muttered his thanks before moving out of the room to continue his best man duties before heading to bed for the night. Will didn't like having to go to the lengths of faking a break-up or getting his best friend involved but in order for his plan to work, he had to make Caroline think that it was really over with Elizabeth in order to prevent Rose from coming to harm at the wedding tomorrow. He knew that once he revealed Caroline's intentions to Eleanor, the aftermath would not be pretty but everyone involved in the plan had agreed that it was a necessary evil to prevent harm from coming to an innocent child.
ooOoo
The only other time that Alice Reynolds could remember Christmas being a sad affair for the Darcy family was the first one that her boss and his children had to spend after Anne Darcy had died. This year wasn't as bad as that Christmas but it was shaping up to be the second worst Christmas that she had ever spent at Pemberley. With most of the staff having the day off to spend with their families, she remained with a few other staff members at Pemberley to ensure that Reginald didn't resort to doing something stupid.
Her boss barely spoke to her these days, it had been that way since she had locked him in his study and had the locks changed on the study door and the wine cellar where she had made the kitchen staff move all traces of alcohol to be stored there. She was determined not to let her boss drink himself to death and had begun to put Reginald on a ration per day that he was allowed to have, hoping that going back to drinking in moderation would be a lot better for his condition than forcing him to go cold turkey. But the ration only made him more irritable and he was still refusing to go to the alcoholic support group that the doctor had recommended. Alice was also dealing with the majority of the responsibilities of Pemberley, leaving the running of the estate to Norman on Reginald's behalf whilst she took over his healthcare, having spoken to a liver consultant at the local hospital and had arranged an appointment for the tenth of January for her boss and had received a letter confirming that Reginald was now on the list awaiting a liver donation.
But she knew that even if Reginald was on the list awaiting for an available donation, it could take a while to actually have the call to say that there was one available to him. Alice knew that the best bet would be to get Reginald's relatives tested to see if they were a match. From the research that she had done into liver transplants, the liver regenerated itself so a relative could donate a portion of their own liver to be placed into Reginald and then the two livers would grow back in both the donor and the receiver. But with Fitzwilliam and Georgiana not currently on speaking terms with their father and refusing to spend Christmas with him, they were still in the dark about their father's condition.
Christmas day was practically silent for the most part at Pemberley, she had stayed behind with a few other staff members to ensure that Reginald would be taken care of and cooked a Christmas dinner for all of them to share together but Reginald wasn't in the sharing mood. Instead, he ate in alone in his rooms and didn't emerge until midday on Boxing day, asking if his children had at least been in touch and she hated shaking her head in reply. Reginald simply put himself back to bed and remained in his rooms the entire day of the twenty-seventh in bed feeling sorry for himself.
But on the morning of the twenty-eight of December, Alice woke up that morning with a funny feeling. She went about making breakfast for Reginald and knocked on his suite door, opening it after a few minutes of complete silence to discover that her employer wasn't in his suite. She headed back downstairs, searching in the living room, the dining room and the study but Reginald was nowhere to be found. As she placed the tray down on to the desk, her eyes widened as she looked in to the open diary on the desk.
Scrawled in Reginald's handwriting was: Charles Bingley's wedding, Netherfield, 1pm.
"Norman!" Alice called loudly.
She heard the footsteps close by and looked up at the doorway as Norman entered the room.
"What's wrong, Alice?" Norman asked.
"Have you see the boss today?"
Norman nodded, "He said he was going into Lambton, asked one of the younger gardeners if they could drive him in because he'd been drinking last night."
"Which gardener?"
"Robert, I think his name was." Norman replied.
Alice thumped the desk, knowing that Robert was one of the newest recruits to Pemberley and only worked part time managing the grounds around the estate, the boy would have no idea about Reginald's drinking problem and declining health conditions and therefore could be easily persuaded to drive their boss to Netherfield for the wedding that his son and daughter were attending.
"Norman, bring the car around. I need to get to that wedding before Reginald does." Alice instructed.
Her friend frowned, "Why?" he asked.
"Because Reginald is on his way to Charles Bingley's wedding where Fitzwilliam and Georgiana are and they don't want to see him. They can't find out that their father is seriously ill this way, it needs to come from me in a more private setting." Alice replied.
Norman nodded his understanding and left the study, heading out to bring the car around to the front of the building. Alice sighed heavily, following Norman a few minutes later and hoping that she could stop Reginald from making a fool out of himself.