A/N: Sorry for being a week late, but I misplaced my folder where I had handwritten notes, and I've been feeling pretty crappy, but... here it is! Happy holidays, everybody!

Chapter 25: Surprise!

From the Journals of Miss Elizabeth Bennet

December 23rd, 1997

So today, Darcy dragged me along to a first date. I was surprised that he didn't literally throw money at me the whole time, considering the unilateral nature of his feelings. Anyways, we went to the carnival today, which was surprisingly sweet of him. I guess it was sort of unexpected that he would take me to such a "commoner's" place, especially considering his background.

Before I continue, I must note that he did not try to "put the moves on me," so Charlotte can stop looking over my shoulder, frothing at the mouth slightly. Yes, Charlotte, maybe it was the teensiest bit sweet, but it was tons of other things too. By no means am I "falling for him."

Commence the list of good and bad things!

Good things (I am trying to be more positive, okay. Jane told me not to be so mean):

He bought me cotton candy (even though I insisted on paying. He simply ignored my protests), which turned out to be an almost-disaster because everyone knows that I have an incredibly low sugar tolerance. I started acting crazy and super hyper, and he really got dragged around by me. On the plus side, that was the first time I've ever seen him smile. I didn't even know he was capable of such motions. In one of my more unusual ideas, I dragged him over to the carousel. All the little kids were going around, but that didn't mean I couldn't. So what if all the kids and their parents stared as I spun around on my caramel-colored horse, and Darcy on his white one? (Yes, he was very sporting and cooperative).

I won myself a stuffed bear—apparently Darcy can't shoot at ALL. But it's okay, because I would have felt guilty if he could. Well, not really guilty, but awkward for receiving a gift from him.

Bad things (Reader or possibly future Lizzy, be prepared for a long list):

The Ferris Wheel. Oh dear. I am at a loss for words for how uncomfortable that was. First of all, the Ferris wheel was enormous. So it took forever to go around and the idiots behind us decided to take forever getting on and off the wheel. We had almost nothing to say between the two of us, so it was awfully silent. What's worse, is how everyone treated us like we were a couple. We kind of were, but actually really not. The whole thing was just really awful and I was fidgety because of the massive amounts of sugar I had consumed. And no, Charlotte, we did not make mad, passionate love on the bottom of the little cage we were enclosed in. We just sat across from each other, saying nothing. He kept looking at me, and it was so awkward. I literally had nothing to say, and it certainly was not because we were "locking lips." Anyway, I think I have about exhausted the topic. Moving on.

The cotton candy. So yes, it may have been sweet if I were his real girlfriend, but seriously, I really don't want to feel indebted to him. I mean, this whole thing isn't exactly my fault, but I feel like such a gold digger. I just don't want to lead him on or something. Seriously, why does he even do this to himself? I feel like such an awful person for going along with this, though I really don't have a choice.

CHARLOTTE NEEDS TO STOP READING OVER MY SHOULDER.

Fine. I give up. Today is simply a disaster.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh's thin lips curved up in a sinister smile as she turned the page of one Elizabeth Bennet's purloined journal.

Reading someone's private journals—invasive? Not at all! Payign the girl's sister to steal them—immoral? Of course not. Besides, the sister was a whore—probably badly needed the money for her pimp.

Besides, Elizabeth Bennet, professional writer and homewrecker was going down, and she deserved it, the little minx.

"Well I'm glad things worked out the way they were supposed to," Georgiana laughed.

"Hardly," her brother smirked.

"Are you coming home soon, then?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just got to get some things sorted out at the company. Everything's a mess over here. I've caught at least six employees drinking at their desks, and once I even heard a toast for the 'downfall of the wicked witch' from outside a cubicle wall."

Georgiana snickered. "I would be celebrating too. In fact, why aren't you celebrating?"

"I'm busy," he explained.

"Uh huh," Georgiana rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see the motion, and adjusted the phone to her other ear. "I know you're becoming your workaholic self and becoming addicted to the office. Seriously, get back home sometime. We miss you."

"And by we, you mean you and the Ms. Reynolds, correct?"

"Of course. Who else were you expecting?" Georgiana grinned mischievously.

"Nobody," he replied airily, "but two people is not a lot to look forward to, especially if one of them is a freckle-nosed brat sister."

"Hey! I resent that. I'm not a brat, and you know it," she exclaimed.

It was Darcy's turn to say, "Uh huh," into the phone.

Georgiana crossed her arms, supporting the phone with her shoulder. "I miss you, Will, 'kay? Come back soon."

"Okay, I will. Keep studying, okay? I don't want everyone to think imbecility runs in the family."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Okay, good."

"Fine then."

"Love you."

Silence.

"Come on, Giana."

"Fine, love you too," she rolled her eyes and spit out the last few words obligingly.

"I knew it! Bye, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay, I miss you, see you then!" Georgiana put down the phone and snickered, then she dialed another number.

"Hey Lizzy, how long are you going to be staying here?"

"Hi Giana! Nice to hear your voice again. Uhm, I don't think I'll be staying long. I mean, I'm sure it'll be hectic at your house, especially after—"

"Especially after you managed to break up an engagement, cause rampant scandal in the upper echelons of society, and return an entire company to its rightful owner?"

"Yeah, that."

"Don't worry, it's just me and Ms. Reynolds and a few other house dwellers."

"Oh?"

Georgiana smirked. "My brother's still at work. He's such a workaholic. Won't even come home to see his darling sister."

"I'm sure he's very busy with the new changes."

"Yeah, he won't be home for a while." She had to pause there to stifle her laughter to avoid suspicion. "So you should keep me company! Your aunt and uncle can stay too."

"That's very kind of you, but—"

"I insist. It would be rude to refuse."

Lizzy laughed. "Well, now that you put it that way—"

"Great! It's settled then!" she cackled maniacally.

"Uhm, are you really that lonely? I'm almost afraid you've been driven insane. What happens if I make it over there and find that you are no longer human?"

"Don't worry about that, I keep my sanity pills right next to the crazy pills."

"That's very reassuring," Lizzy grinned.

"Okay, take care, and drive safely then," Georgiana smiled.

"I will. We'll be there tomorrow morning," Lizzy told her friend.

"I can't wait!"

"Me neither. Bye!"

"Bye bye!'

Lizzy put down the phone, feeling immensely relieved. Darcy's not going to be there! Darcy's not going to be there! She was incredibly elated at the thought. That meant no awkward encounters, no uncomfortable how-do-you-do's, no weird "so, I heard you got unengaged" conversations. Everything was going to work one hundred percent smoothly.

Saturday dawned bright and cheerful for the unsuspecting couple. While Mr. Gardiner was driving the final stretches past Lambton, Darcy was hurrying back home with a box of chocolates as an apology for being away for so long.

Eventually, Mr. Gardiner pulled up to the Pemberley. Lizzy spent several moments gaping at the sheer size of the grounds.

"This is it," Mr. Gardiner announced.

"Just as I remembered it," beamed Mrs. Gardiner. "Really, a beautiful estate. What do you think, Lizzy?"

"I think she left her jaw on the ground. Be sure to pick up with you're done, dear," Mr. Gardiner smirked.

"Well, you should probably press the button," Mrs. Gardiner gestured toward the small intercom on the side of the gate. "Our lovely girl is too busy staring. You'd think the master of the house was standing out there."

Mrs. Gardiner was actually not far off the truth. The master of the house was standing "out there," though he was hidden from view by a particularly wide tree. And by the time the car had been buzzed in, and the tree would no longer obscure her view, he had already disappeared into the house.

Lizzy and her aunt and uncle were received very enthusiastically by Ms. Reynolds, the housekeeper, who told them that Miss Georgiana was occupied at the moment, and wished for her to give them a tour of the house. The three readily agreed. Mrs. Gardiner, in particular, was very curious to see what kind of house the Darcy's lived in, as she had never actually been inside, despite admiring it from the outside for such a long time.

Lizzy felt more and more out of place as they passed through hallways lined with priceless vases that could have belonged to the British museum, and paintings that the Queen herself probably coveted. They finally reached the library. Though she had felt awkward and like a intruder in the rest of the house, Lizzy felt like she had reached a room where she would readily consent to stay in for the rest of her life, with only the bare necessities to sustain her.

Shelves were stacked high to the ceiling, and ladders were necessary to reach the shelves at the very top. A voracious reader, Lizzy could not imagine reading all the books in the room during her lifetime. On one wall, surprisingly free of books, there hung several family portraits. Lizzy immediately recognized those of the late Mr. and Mrs. Darcy and their children.

"Handsome, isn't he?" Ms. Reynolds had crept up behind Lizzy while she stood staring at the portrait at the wall, memorizing its every detail.

Lizzy jumped slightly. "Yes, I Darcy—I mean, I daresay he is." Embarrassed at her slip of the tongue, Lizzy rapidly added, "Georgiana looks very beautiful as well, but quite a bit younger."

Ms. Reynolds nodded. "Yes, that portrait was taken before—well, before—"

"Excuse me," Mrs. Gardiner interrupted. "Could you show us the sitting room? I'm afraid my husband is uncomfortable in the presence of so many books. Never liked reading, that man," she whispered.

"Of course," Ms. Reynolds smiled, happy to comply with the guest's request. Noting the reluctance of one of her guest's reluctance to leave, she told Lizzy that she could stay. Lizzy smiled gratefully at the housekeepers' perceptiveness. As her aunt and uncle followed Ms. Reynolds on to the next room, Lizzy began to stroll along the shelves, savoring the smell of books. It was utterly silent in the absence of other people, but she could imagine the dull rustling of pages and the occasional smash of a particularly heavy reference book hitting the desk, or an occasional cough or sniffle from the occupants until she realized that this was a private home library, not a public library where one would be privy to all sorts of noises. In this one, silence would hold golden reign.

The concept was slightly thrilling, and she ran her fingers against the spines of the books rather guiltily, feeling almost as if she shouldn't touch anything. Some of the books looked old, and therefore fragile and valuable.

She recognized some titles, but many, many more she had never even heard of. Not all of the books were fiction. Some appeared to be old scientific journals, some dating back a century or more back. As she reached the darker recesses of the library, she found a shelf that was unlike the others: she recognized every single title on it. Examining it closer, she discovered that not only did she recognize the titles, she recognized the books themselves. She pulled a couple out, and realized what this shelf was dedicated to.

She flipped open Wuthering Heights to the front flyleaf, and discovered a handwritten note.

Dear Darcy,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family. I'm sorry I couldn't be there at your dinner, but my mom invited a lot of relatives over, and you know how it is. Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Lizzy

Lizzy's mind drifted off to more distant days, where she had actually been his girlfriend. She smiled. The concept seemed so foreign now, and she couldn't fathom what it would be like, especially now that he was unengaged, the Charlotte part of her brain reminded her. It was good to know that being in libraries always reawakened the voice of a single librarian in her mind.

She put it back on the shelf, along with the rest of the books she had ever given to him as presents. Reaching the end of the shelf, she noticed two books that she didn't recognize. She took it off the shelf. It was a plain blue-bound book with no words on the cover. She opened it and saw on the title page: "Property of Fitzwilliam Darcy," and almost put it back immediately.

But Charlotte's nagging and scheming had inspired an evil streak in Lizzy, so she opened it, wondering what she would find inside. It seemed to be a diary, not unlike the ones she had written, to be perfectly honest. She flipped to a random page.

December 23rd, 1997

Today was the—

A sudden sound in the front of the library interrupted her reading. Panicked, she slipped the diary into her pocket rather than returning it to the shelf, and she began slinking around the shelves, her heart pounding, fearful of discovery.

She peered around one of the towering shelves and froze. The person prowling around the library was none other than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy himself. But Georgiana had insisted that—

Oh. That little—

She ducked as he moved forward. She peered fearfully between the books at him. Of course, Lizzy had not been thinking carefully when she decided that the best hiding place for a standard sized diary was in a standard sized hoodie pocket. Consequentially, the diary decided to wriggle itself free of the constraining dimensions of the pocket. To her horror, the diary onto the ground, and Lizzy snatched it up, but not before Darcy had turned around.

Reviewing her options, Lizzy discovered that her best option was to make a beeline for the door. It didn't matter if he saw her. As long as they did not have to speak, or make eye contact, that was enough. After she got out of the door, it would be straight to Georgiana for a talking to.

But Darcy had other ideas. As he rounded the row before the one she was standing in, she decided to find a more secure location for the diary. Down her tucked in shirt the little blue book went, and she was thankful for tucking in her shirt, as it created it a pocket for the incredibly uncomfortable book as it rubbed against her stomach and ribcage.

"Lizzy?" he asked incredulously as he finally made it to her row.

Lizzy quieted the hiss of the despair she had been about to emit. "Uh, hi. Uhm, I was just, uh, leaving. Just passing through. My aunt and uncle just went through that door. So, yeah. Ms. Reynolds was showing us around, and—" she began to run out of excuses. "I thought you weren't going to be here," she burst out. "I had no idea. If I knew, I wouldn't have come at all, because I'm sure I've made an enormous mess of things."

For an excruciatingly long moment, his face was blank. "I beg pardon," he said, "I don't quite understand." And Lizzy felt her knees melting slightly because she hadn't heard that slight British accent baritone voice for such a very long time, and it was quite a shock.

Before Lizzy had a chance to speak, he did. Noticing the shelf she was standing next to, he smiled. "I never really liked Wuthering Heights. I think that was perhaps the worst present I've ever gotten. The other books were mostly decent."

"What?" she squeaked, before correcting her nervous change of voice. "How can you not like Wuthering Heights? Emily Bronte is amazing!"

"Yes, admittedly so. All the Bronte sisters were 'amazing,' but the storyline just didn't make sense to me. They were both so stupid. Why would Heathcliff just happen to leave right before Catherine was declaring her love for him, and if she truly loved him, she wouldn't have agreed to marry Edward Linton in the first place. The whole thing is just one confusing mess, and by today's standards, most of the characters need severe mental therapy."

"Yes, but we shouldn't judge such novels by today's standards. They weren't written by them, so they shouldn't be judged on them."

"Ah, but we are reading them today, so ought we not to judge them by today's standards to determine whether they are fit reading material?"

He made a good point, so she decided to shut up before she embarrassed herself further. She noticed his eyes flick to the last diary sitting alone on the shelf, missing its one mate, and his gaze shifted back to her, sliding down from her eyes to her blouse, and the slight bulge at her stomach.

"I have a question, since I haven't seen you in so long," Darcy remarked.

Lizzy nodded.

"Have you recently become impregnated with a square baby?"

"What?"

"I take it from your tone of surprise that you haven't, so the only other logical conclusion is, considering the one missing book on the shelf is that you stuffed my journal down your shirt as I walked in. I didn't know it was such a close to the heart read," he raised an eyebrow.

Lizzy flushed with embarrassment. "I, er, yeah. I, uh, you came in so suddenly, and I—"

"It's fine."

She blushed as she slipped a hand down the front of her shirt to retrieve the diary. After pulling it out, she handed it back to Darcy. It was still warm, and he tried not to think of where it had been, especially after staring with such fascination at the process of retrieval.

"So you're here with your aunt and uncle?" he asked, returning the diary to its rightful place, and relieving the awkward silence that had settled over them. Why was he so congenial? Wasn't he supposed to be stressed with work? Where was the crabby, antisocial Darcy she knew so well? When had he ever been capable of small talk, and deal with situations so well?

"Uh, yes," she managed to stutter, even though she was really only saying one word.

"And how are you liking Pemberley and Lambton?"

"Very well, thank you. The, uh, grounds are really beautiful."

He smiled. "That is a great compliment."

"Really?" she laughed nervously. "I hardly think it does this justice."

"Come on," he gestured. "Why don't you introduce me to your aunt and uncle?"

He waited until she had exited the room before following after her, leaving her wondering if he had always been such a gentleman, or if she had merely failed to realize it.

A/N: Dearest readers, fear not, for Pemberley is not over yet! I could have added more detail, but to be honest, you probably know how pretty Pemberley is, and how impressed Lizzy is by it, so I'll leave that as assumed information because I'm really tired, and it's almost Christmas! Hopefully, I'll write another chapter soon. Ahaha. Review please? Hope you have a lovely holiday, my lovely readers! Poop. There was something I wanted to say, but I forgot. D: THIS SUCKS. Okay, please review anyway, my friends.