Chapter 25

Wickham was angry. He had pursued Elizabeth to get to Darcy and then the man had disappeared. He was sure he had liked her. After he failed to get her in to bed she became far too distant and he decided she was not worth the effort. Then his contact at Darcy enterprises had told him Darcy was on a holiday of sorts with a 'Miss E Bennet' on the guest list. He got the info too late to investigate himself. He didn't like the idea that they had met on holiday as a coincidence and vowed to follow it up.

When she had rejected his advances, he knew Darcy had got to her. The contact at Darcy's work place suggested that he was not in a good mood. That made him feel a bit better. He would have to try a different tack. He remembered a conversation about her youngest sister and a new plan began to form.

.

By the time a month had gone by their little flat was full of tokens of affection.

"It's a good job Charlotte moved in with Liam, I don't think there would be enough room for her these days" Lizzie teased one day.

Jane laughed "yes, it is rather a lot of stuff. I'll give most of it to charity soon. But they are all so sweet!" She picked up a stuffed teddy with a t shirt saying 'I love you' on it.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes "rather you than me. Are you sure there will be space for me when I get back from holiday?"

"I'll make sure of it" laughed Jane. Elizabeth was just happy to hear her laugh again.

"Have you called mum? She wanted to talk to you before you went"

"Probably advice on how to catch a Spanish husband!"

It turned out her mum was just wanting her to have a good holiday. And happily shared the news that Lydia had a new boyfriend. Someone she had met at the gym. Elizabeth thought it was odd that her mother was so excited about her daughter's boyfriends but she dutifully asked the right questions. He sounded like he might be a bit older and when she asked her mum waved off the question, not seemingly too bothered. She made sure she had a chat with her dad suggesting he should at least meet this older guy and check him out. Not surprisingly he was not too keen to do that so she persuaded him to invite this man or boy to Sunday lunch the weekend she got back from holiday.

She was looking forward to her week abroad, was all packed and ready to go. A week of sunshine, beaches, poolside drinks and good chat. What more could she want? The errant thought of '-a certain man to share it all with' flittered through her mind but she ignored it. Who needed a man to be happy anyway? She had found herself thinking about Darcy lately, wondering where and how he was. She had to keep reminding herself that he thought she was not good enough for him to try and stave off a feeling of regret.

.

Barcelona was beautiful and there was a fair amount of history to look at. Elizabeth loved it all.

They were walking along a beach one day before dinner and had followed a path along the seafront finding an alcove with a huge villa high on the hillside above the beach.

"Wow. Aunt, is that a hotel?"

Her aunt looked in her guide book. "I don't think so, maybe a private house?"

"Wow. That would be an amazing place to live."

They carried on walking and came to an outcropping of rocks, turning back they saw a couple walking towards them. The sun was behind them and Elizabeth couldn't make out their faces. The man was tall and something about him seemed familiar

"Elizabeth" he called when they were closer She froze. She knew that voice. The couple came closer.

"William" she didn't spare much of a glance for the woman he was with, something in her didn't want to know who he had replaced her with. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled an easy smile and her breath caught. She had forgotten how gorgeous he was when he smiled "I could ask you the same question. This is my beach after all!"