A/N: Getting close to the end. I think there are about 2-3 chapters left. This one is longer than most. I would like to thank you all for the reviews. I enjoy them all tremendously, even the negative ones. Keep them coming. Wade
"Mama, will he be back for dinner on Monday?"
"Yes, Little One, I got a note this morning. He might even be back for our Sunday walk. The fire turned out not to be as bad as we feared, but he is taking the time to work with his cousin to get the tenant cottages rebuilt properly."
"He never told me how he took care of Pemberley while he was away. Did he tell you?"
"Yes, his cousin Andrew has been master there for the last four years. You remember he married Anne de Bourgh?"
"Yes, he mentioned that… the story was hilarious."
"Yes, it was. We will eventually meet them, I suppose."
"I am in no hurry. I imagine once it is done we will be happy though."
"I suppose. At any rate, your father's cousin and wife are to inherit Rosings, but since Lady Catherine is still hale and hearty, there is no hurry. Your father decided to use Pemberley as a training ground. They have been masters at Pemberley, backed up by the Earl and his cousin General Fitzwilliam. They plan to move to Rosings in the next year, and William returns to control of Pemberley."
"Interesting… I miss his company at our dinner table and the park."
"Yes… he has managed to worm his way into our lives in just three months, has he not."
"He has. I will be happy to see him on Sunday."
"So will I."
"It is time for me to go, Mama. I am meeting Harriet. I will be back in a few hours."
"All right. Have a good time Emmabee."
"Mrs. Bennet, you have a customer. She is a lady I have not seen before. She is dressed very fine and…"
"Yes, Julia?"
"I would swear she is wearing a dress you embroidered. It is your distinct style."
"Curious… perhaps one of my Derbyshire customers. It was inevitable, I suppose. She will be surprised to find me here, I imagine."
"She said she has two more friends coming in an hour, but she would like some time with you to go over patterns first."
"All right. Rose just fell asleep on the chair over there. You can leave her be. She will not bother anybody."
"Are you certain?"
"You know me Julia. I am not intimidated by a baby, and any lady who is can take her business elsewhere."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I shall go see if I can fleece this lady."
"I wish you would not tease like that."
"Ha-ha… Perhaps I meant sell her something made of wool."
"I give up."
"Good afternoon, how may I assist you?"
"Mrs. Rush! MRS. RUSH! Is that you!"
"Mrs. Samson!"
"Oh, it is so wonderful to see you. I heard you left Derbyshire suddenly and was so worried that you may have been ill, and now I find you here in a new shop right in town. It is so wonderful to see you… I have missed our conversations. Oh, this is wonderful… this is… this…"
"Mrs. Rush, are you well? What is wrong? You look very ill. Please, let me call your maid. Is there nothing you could take to give you present relief? A glass of wine; shall I get you one? You are very ill."
"No, Mrs. Samson. I am quite well… I was just… startled."
"How so, Mrs. Rush?"
"Please, Mrs. Samson... well…"
"How may I help?"
"Mrs. Samson, I have something I need to tell you. I have been putting it off for… months… well, maybe longer… but… well… I am not making any sense, am I?"
"Do not distress yourself, Mrs. Rush. My brother Fitzwilliam very rarely makes sense, so I am used to it. How may I help you?"
"I… I understand you have some friends coming. How long until they arrive?"
"A bit over an hour."
"That… should… be… long enough. Would you have tea with me? I have some already prepared in my parlor."
"It would be my pleasure."
"Come with me while I gather my thoughts, Mrs. Samson. I have much to tell."
"Oh, what a lovely child. Is she yours, Mrs. Rush."
"No, I am just keeping her company while she sleeps. I can take her back to her mother."
"Unless you plan on making a lot of noise, I would just let her sleep. I am a mother… she cannot disturb me. What is her name?"
"Rose. Her mother works for me."
"I am not bothered by children, Mrs. Rush. In fact, I would hope to meet with your Emma before I go."
"She is visiting a friend, but I am certain you will have a chance to reacquaint yourself with her very soon."
"That would be wonderful."
"Here you go. Milk and two sugars if I remember correctly?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Mrs. Samson… I have a need to tell you some things, and you will find them shocking. Please prepare yourself."
"You will not shock me by revealing your name is not Mrs. Rush. Everybody knows that… well, except for the men of course."
"That is part of it. You see… well… the difficulty is with… my real name is… a name you will know…"
"This must be difficult. How may I help you?"
"Well…"
"Mama! I am back. Harriet had to go with her mother."
"Is that Emma? Emma Bee, is that you? It has been years. Please come back and let me look at you? … … …Oh, that was indecorous was it not? I am sorry, but this has been such an unusual conversation I forgot propriety entirely. Please forgive me."
"Do not worry, Mrs. Samson. We run a nosier household than you are accustomed to. But, please prepare yourself. That shock I mentioned will be bigger and more abrupt than I planned. Please prepare yourself…"
"Emma, we are back here in the parlor."
"Mama!"
"Emma, this is Mrs. Samson… Mrs. Swan."
"OH!"
"Emma… Mrs. Samson… I apologize. This was very badly done. Please sit down. You both look ready to faint."
"You… you… Emma… you…"
"Let me just get it out. Mrs. Georgiana Samson née Darcy, please allow me to properly introduce you to Miss Emma Bennet… your niece."
"But… but… but… My niece!"
"Yes, she looks just like your mother. William showed me a portrait."
"William?"
"Yes, we have become… reacquainted in the past six months."
"So that means… Emma Bennet? Emma Bennet? Emma Bennet? That means… You are Elizabeth Bennet!"
"I am."
"That means… that… that… well…"
"I know it is a shock, Mrs. Samson. I had planned to introduce the subject with more grace… but I have been putting it off for a long time."
"Understandable enough. I would put it off forever if I were you. That must have been difficult."
"I thank you… you are not angry?"
"How could I be angry? I have a niece and a… a… sister?"
"Just a niece."
"I see?"
"William and I are friends… and that is… an improvement over… our past relationship."
"Do you know where he is?"
"Pemberley. I expect him back Sunday."
"So not a… distant friend?"
"No."
"Emma, let me look at you. It is like looking at the portrait of my mother in our gallery."
"Is it shocking, Mrs. Swan… er… Samson."
"You can call me Mrs. Swan if you like. It is… comforting. I like it. I wish I had known the truth back then."
"I am sorry, we were not…"
"Please stop, if you are planning an apology Mrs.… er… Miss… what should I call you?"
"I go by Mrs. Bennet now, although the subterfuge will be obvious… but… perhaps, you can call me Elizabeth as William does."
"If you will call me Georgiana."
"I will."
"So… I remember Emma's birthday… are you fifteen now Emma? Do I have leave to call you Emma?"
"Of course."
"Would you indulge me by calling me Aunt Georgiana?"
"I will in private, Aunt. Mama and I expect… repercussions when my paternity becomes public and we are putting it off as long as possible."
"Sensible enough. If I remember right, you are fifteen, so you must have been born in thirteen… your birthday is in August, and… wait… August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, Decemb… Netherfield!"
"Are you always so fast, Mrs.… er… Georgiana?"
"Not always, but…"
"… but?"
"Well, it all just hit me in a flash. So many things… little inconsistencies. Is this why Fitzwilliam disappeared from the face of the earth these last four or five months?"
"It is. We have had a… difficult… reacquaintance."
"I imagine so. Was it… terrible?"
"It was."
"But it is better now?"
"It is."
"This is wonderful. Emma… Elizabeth… It is so wonderful to have it out in the open… I must welcome you to…"
"Lizzy! - - - LIZZY! - - - LIZZY! - - - - IS THAT YOU?"
"Lizzy? After all this time… Lizzy?... Lizzy?... Lizzy?... Are you a ghost? Is that really you?"
…
"I am sorry, Mrs. Bennet. These ladies said they were friends of the first one, so I just sent them back… You look pale, Mrs. Bennet. Are you all right."
"It is all right Julia. You did nothing wrong. Just one too many shocks for the day, but I am fine now."
"Do you know these ladies."
"Yes, Julia… I do. You may go."
"Shall I take Rose?"
"No, she is still asleep. Leave her be."
"Very well. Good day, ladies."
"Sit down Jane… Mary. I am sorry… I am…"
"Georgiana?"
"Please sit Jane. Your sister has had a few too many shocks today. Mary does not look much better, but you do not seem so surprised."
"I have known for months, Georgiana. Fitzwilliam told us when he first learned. It was a shock to see his mother walking down the lane in Kympton."
"Sit down, Jane… Mary. I had planned to come visit you but… well… I have been waiting for my courage to rise to the occasion, but it never made it."
"Lizzy… is that really you?"
"Hello Mary. I apologize for the subdued greeting, but it has been a… difficult hour."
"Do not apologize to me, Lizzy… do you still go by Lizzy?"
"Not really. Nobody has called me that since I left Longbourn."
"What should I call you?"
"You are still my sister… it would please me if you continue, even though I have not been a good sister all these years."
"If you are looking for censure, you will have to apply to Lydia. I am just happy to see you and…"
"Oh, where are my manners? I am worse than my mother. Jane, you are already introduced, but Mary… I am afraid I do not know your name Mary. You are Lady something or other William told me."
"I am just Mary Nelson to you. I would hope you never call me Lady anything."
"All right… in this context it will not matter. Mrs. Mary Nelson, allow me to introduce you to your niece… Miss Emma Bennet. Emma, your Aunt Mary."
"A pleasure to meet you, Aunt."
"The pleasure is all mine. May I call you Emma?"
"Of course. It is good to see you again, Aunt Jane."
"Emma, it is wonderful to see you again. I have been anxiously waiting, and just hoping that you are well."
"Mama is working her way up to an apology, but I shall forestall it. Now is the time for us to meet, and before it was not. Blame Fate if you like."
"Bold as ever, Emma?"
"Yes, I am still a terror."
"I am glad."
"So am I!"
"William, you are back!"
"Yes, apparently I cannot leave for a moment without Elizabeth being invaded by savage hordes."
"Is that Fitzwilliam Darcy teasing?"
"Guilty as charged, Mary."
"Brother, you have some explaining to do."
"No, he does not!"
…
"Mama?"
"I am sorry for my outburst, but I wish to make one thing clear. I am happy we are all reacquainted, and I am happy that we might have a chance to heal old wounds, but you may neither censure William for his lack of forthrightness, nor try to pry more details from him. Our story is ours to tell, and William has allowed us to control our own destiny, exactly as a gentleman should."
"Of course… forgive me."
"I am not angry Georgiana. I just find I… well… I am perhaps a little bit overly controlling… or to be honest, a lot overly controlling. I am well aware it is a character defect, but I need to do things slowly, and I have to think of Emma and I first. William is second, and everyone else a distant third. You all need to understand that. Emma's story and mine will be a minor bump on the road of your already comfortable lives. For us it is the entire road."
"Of course, Lizzy. I only ask one thing. Tell us how we can help you… and promise me you will tell us your story someday."
"We will, Aunt Mary. Just give us some time"
"Thank you, Emma. I would like to know you, and you have quite a number of cousins that would like to know you when you allow it."
"Welcome back, William. Since you woke Rose up, make yourself useful and rock her back to sleep."
"Of course! Come along, Little Rose. You know the outcome of this battle, so you may as well admit defeat gracefully."
"William, how is it you are so comfortable with a… what is it, two-year-old child?"
"Not yet. She will be in just over a fortnight on the sixteenth."
"You know her birthday?"
"Of course, we discuss many things during our contests of wills."
"You have a contest of wills with a toddler?"
"Yes, and I even win occasionally."
"William, I think you may have your sister swooning with your banter?"
"That would not be ideal. I was hoping for Rose asleep, and the ladies awake. The converse would be less conducive to good conversation. Rose is clever, but her vocabulary is limited."
"Lizzy, how is it that your William is so familiar with the members of your household?"
"He is not my William, Jane. He is my friend. He is familiar with our household because he dines here twice a week, and walks with us on Sundays. I am afraid he is the best of all of us at getting Rose to sleep when she is not enamored with the idea."
"I act as a bit of a surrogate uncle… for the moment, anyway."
"You have not been playing matchmaker again, have you William?"
"I am afraid so."
"You are making it difficult to keep my business up if you keep stealing away my ladies."
"Not my fault I know so many men in want of a wife."
"Insufferable man"
"Guilty as charged, ma'am… Oh, and your servant."
"You see what I have to put up with."
"Emma, are they always like this?"
"Like what, Aunt Mary?"