Chapter 34

"Wow!"

Darcy chuckled, "I'll take that as a good thing," he smiled, helping Lizzie down from Sherlock's back.

"Do," she replied, looking up into his eyes. They shared a silent moment before Lizzie broke it, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly, before she moved out from between him and Sherlock to walk further along the rocky path before them.

They were, according to Darcy, at the very edge of the Pemberley property line now, and they were standing on a cliff. Before her was a huge expanse of open land, rugged and unkempt, but beautiful in its natural state. Lizzie, being the explorer that she was, was climbing over the rocky outlook they were standing amongst, to get to the best vantage point possible. And Darcy, in a true show of restraint (Lizzie could tell from the worried look on his face) wasn't stopping her, but following her instead.

"Don't give me that look Will, I just know you've done this before" she teased, as she reached, what she considered the best spot, and turned around to watch him climbing behind her.

"Maybe when I was eight," he admitted, reaching her, "But not at twenty eight,"

Lizzie laughed at that, and turned to face the valley before them. They were silent for a moment, and then Lizzie sighed.

"Every time you show me another part of this place, I'm continually amazed by it," she said, leaning back against his chest as he took up his place behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, revelling in their new level of intimacy and smiled.

"It continually amazes me, and I've known it my entire life. It's wonderful to share it with someone so special, who can appreciate it like I do," he spoke softly, lips beside her ear, almost making her shiver. They stood in silence for a while, enjoying the view, and soon, found themselves sitting side by side on a large flat area of the rocky cliff top.

"You know," Darcy said as they watched the sun sinking lower in the sky, "Georgiana is almost self-sufficient again, have you thought about coming back to work?"

She was quiet, too quiet, and Darcy sensed her hesitation.

"Lizzie?" He asked, encouraging her to confide in him. She sighed, as decided to tell him what was on her mind.

"I've thought about," she admitted, "A lot, actually, and I do want to go back. I've missed it…" she trailed off.

"But?" He prompted

"But… I don't know… I know I'm using Georgie as an excuse. She's hardly needed me these past two weeks. I guess I'm worried about going back because of… us…"

"What about us?" His brow furrowed.

"Well, everyone thinks we hate each other, and I've been on this suspicious hiatus, and you're my boss, and that never looks good… sleeping with the CEO. I don't want people to think that I'm the type of person who sleeps around to advance her career"

"Lizzie, you're not," he insisted.

"I know that, and you know that, but the other hundreds of people who work for you don't…"

"Firstly," he interrupted "You're already the head of your department. So, it's not like you can get a promotion…"

"True, but then I'm labelled as a gold digger or something…"

"Secondly," he interrupted her again, "Any employee who thinks poorly of my girlfriend, is an employee not worth having,"

"Will, you can't just fire someone because they bad mouth me, that's a terrible way to run a business. I… girlfriend?" she stopped short, finally picking up on what he had said.

"What?" he asked, trying to keep a serious expression on his face.

"You said girlfriend," she said, staring him in the eye and trying not to get distracted by the glimmer of excitement in them.

"Yes," was all he said, the corner of his lips twitching to curl upwards at the wide-eyed expression on her face.

"You want me to be your girlfriend?" She asked again, to verify.

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed, "Why, don't you… want to be…?" he trailed off, suddenly unsure of himself. She stared at him for a moment before she grinned.

"No…" she protested, then doubled back as she realized how that must have sounded, "I mean, yes, yes I'd like that" He sighed in relief.

"Oh thank goodness," he sighed.

"Worried I'd turn you down Mr. Darcy?" she teased,

"Hmm," he leaned in to kiss her, stopping just before touching her lips, "Well, it wouldn't have been the first time," he grinned, and then kissed her. They spent a few more minutes sitting on that rock, kissing and laughing together until Darcy decided they needed to head back, or they would run out of sunlight and get stuck in the woods.

"Where have Jane and Charlie gone?" Lizzie asked Will as he loaded her bag into the trunk of Georgiana's BMW on Sunday morning. Will wasn't taking any chances in case Lizzie decided it was time to go back to her own apartment, and since she was driving her car back to the city, he'd taken her bags hostage.

"I'm sure they'll be along any minute," he replied, too casually. Lizzie eyed him suspiciously. Ten minutes ago Jane had been standing beside her in the kitchen, getting snacks ready for the drive home, when suddenly Charles had flown in, all flustered, grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out the back door.

"You're hiding something," Lizzie accused as Will slammed the trunk shut, avoiding her eyes.

"No I'm not!" He cried, averting his gaze further, "I'm going to get Gigi, I'll be right back,"

He took the front steps two at a time and was gone before she could interrogate him further. While she waited for Will to come back with Georgie, she walked over to her car and opened the door, slipping into the driver's seat. She couldn't reach the pedals because Will had been the last person to drive it, and he was taller than her. Reaching underneath the seat, she pulled the lever to bring the seat forward and sighed. It was going to be a long drive back to London, when she was all on her own.

"Don't think you're leaving without us," Darcy's voice startled her, and she swivelled to see him striding past her open car door, holding Georgie in his arms, headed towards the BMW. Lizzie climbed out of her seat and followed behind them, it was just as Will was helping Georgiana buckle into the back seat that it happened. Suddenly, the quiet serenity of Pemberley's front gardens, broken only by the soft murmurings of Will's voice and the distant cries of a bird, was pierced by a loud shriek.

"Jane!" Lizzie cried, starting to rush off in the direction of her sister's cry. But she was pulled backwards, Will's hand crushed around her upper arm as he'd spun out of the car to grab her.

"Will! Let go!" she begged, tugging at his grip, looking up to his face, she was stilled by his expression. He was grinning.

"Will?" Lizzie said, confused and concerned all at once.

"That was more than I was expecting," he murmured, still grinning. And suddenly, the silence that had followed Jane's scream was interrupted by the sound of feet, two pairs, pounding on gravel, and the almost manic laughter of Jane and Charles.

"What the hell?" Lizzie cried, throwing her arms up in frustration, the look on Will's face was enough for her to know that she was the only one not in the loop. Even the quick glance she'd got at Georgie from the back seat of the car told her that even she knew what was going on.

"Jane?" Lizzie asked as her overly excited older sister barrelled towards her and pulled her into hug, almost knocking her over in the process. Jane was seemingly unable to speak, because she didn't reply, but after a moment pulled back from the hug and instead thrust her hand into Lizzie face. More specifically, her left hand, upon which sat a huge, sparkly diamond ring, which prompted Lizzie to let out her own almighty shriek, almost matching Jane's earlier scream of joy and almost deafening the party.

"You're engaged?!" Lizzie cried at last, jumping on the spot clasping Jane's hands, she suddenly let go and spun to face a red faced Charlie who stood not far behind them.

"You proposed?!" She cried again, still not letting anyone answer and pulling him into a hug,

"Geeze Charlie, the way you work, I thought that would be a few years off yet!"

"I didn't need any encouragement to know I wanted to marry your sister," he said, quietly enough that only Lizzie could hear him. She pulled back for their embrace and smiled.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," Lizzie promised him, "Brother!"

"Congratulations Charles," Darcy interrupted them, coming to shake his best friends hand.

"Thanks Darce," Charlie almost blushed,

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Lizzie said, putting her hands on her hips and facing Will.

"Perhaps,"

"Pfft, perhaps he says! You knew!"

"Fine," he smirked, "I knew"

"And Georgie knew!" Lizzie continued.

"Yes, Georgiana knew also,"

"How come I didn't know?" She pouted, which caused Will to laugh, a deep belly laugh.

"Oh Lizzie," he sighed, pulling her to him, "You and I both know, that you wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from Jane,"

"When did I get this reputation of not being able to keep a secret?"

"It's not a reputation sweetheart," he kissed the top of her head, "It's just because it was Jane,"

"Hmmph," was Lizzie's only reply, and Will chuckled.

"And can I just say, that was the most unreserved I think I've ever seen you," he chuckled. She slapped his stomach and pulled back, looking him in the eye.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, arching one eyebrow with a smirk. Will's eyes glossed over a little as he obviously took her meaning and groaned.

"I'll see you back in the city," she whispered, pulling out of his arms and leaving him standing there, for lack of a better word, dumbstruck. And he could only watch as she walked away, stopping by Jane and Charlie to say goodbye and congratulations again, before continuing to her car.

The moment she started the engine, he was in action again. Quickly he said his goodbyes to Ms. Reynolds, Jane and Bingley before getting into Georgiana's BMW and starting the engine, heading back to the city. He didn't want to be far behind Lizzie, so that they could arrive home together.

It felt good to be home. Home, she had a little internal chuckle when she realised just where she was calling home. She was currently wound up in Darcy's arms, her head resting on his chest as they sat in companionable silence in the front sitting room of his townhouse, resting after the drive back from Derbyshire. Lizzie felt content, she felt happy, and she kept thinking back on that morning and Charlie's proposal to her sister and couldn't help smiling.

"I can't believe they're engaged!" She exclaimed, happiness bubbling up inside her. She felt Darcy's chest shake had he chuckled.

"Can't you? Is it not a good thing?" he asked

"Oh no, it's excellent. They're perfect for each other. But Charlie just took so long to move from dating to relationship, I'm surprised he was so quick to propose is all. It's a very good thing,"

"Good. They deserve each other." He smiled,

"Yes, they do," she responded. They were silent for another moment but Lizzie had to laugh, she was just so happy!

"What?" he asked as she sat up from his chest.

"I'm just happy!" Lizzie exclaimed, "Can you blame me? This past week was just wonderful, and Pemberley is beautiful and my sister is engaged!"

"I'm glad you're happy, I like seeing you this way," he said.

"Well, get used to it. Because I don't think this feeling is going away any time soon," she teased, and his smiled.

"I hope not," he said, taking her hand. "You're amazing Elizabeth. I'm so happy to have you in my life,"

"I'm happy too Will," she smiled, "I never would have guessed you could make me so happy," she laughed, and he joined in.

"Oh Lizzie," he said, still chuckling, "I love you,"

She stopped laughing then, and stared at him. He was serious. She was shocked.

"You... what?" she asked, he smiled gently at her and tucked some hair back behind her ear.

"I love you, Lizzie," he repeated, "I think you're so amazing, and you make me so happy, you make me a better person. You're beautiful, and caring and funny and I love you, most ardently."

She was still in shock. Staring into his eyes she could see he was being serious. He loved her. He LOVED her. He loved HER! Even though she'd been ruminating over this very situation in her mind for days now, his admission had shocked her and she hardly knew what to say, so of course, she said the wrong thing.

"Love me? Darcy, you don't even know me! Not really!" she cried, standing up from the sofa.
"Of course I do, Elizabeth, we've worked together three years now…" he said, following her lead and rising to his feet.

"That's not really 'knowing', Darcy, we were colleagues, but you could hardly say we were friends!" She cried.

"I know you Lizzie, I do." He said, oozing confidence. "And it's not just superficial stuff either. I really do know you, like, I know that you hate nougat, but you love Toblerones, I know that you take your coffee straight and black, except for when you go to that Italian place around the corner from the office, because their blend is stronger, I know that you secretly love Bob Dylan, and that every December you read 'A Christmas Carol', I know that your favourite flowers are Casablanca lilies, I know that you wanted to be a figure skater if it weren't for your weak ankles and I know that you are the most amazing person I've ever met, and that I am completely in love with you."

Lizzie stared at him for a long moment, unsure of what to say, he really did know her, all of what he'd said was true…

"And you know me too Lizzie," he said stepping closer, "Better than you think you do…" he trailed off, but was leaning closer to her, ducking his head to kiss her.

"I…" She started, rising up on her toes to meet his kiss, when suddenly they were interrupted as the front door flew open and Charlie came dashing into the room, seeing them he stopped still, and was leaning on his knees panting heavily.

"Charlie?" Darcy questioned, the irritation he was feeling seeping out in his tone, "What on earth?"

"It's… Katie…" he panted, "She's… she's missing," He fell back against the door frame, still catching his breath.

"What?" Lizzie asked trembling, "What do you mean missing?"

"Taken," Charlie said, he was better recovered now and came over to where they stood, "Jane and I were in her bedroom unpacking when we heard Katie cry out for help, we ran straight to your room Lizzie, where she was reading, and saw her just as she disappeared through the window. Someone grabbed her and took her down the old fire escape, I tried to chase after them, but I lost them… We've been trying to call for an hour. Jane finally sent me to get you. The police are at your apartment."

"Wickham," Lizzie cried, grabbing Darcy's arm.

Jane was hysterical, sobbing helplessly into Charlie's shoulder. Her happy demeanour from that morning now lay shattered at her feet. Lizzie's heart went out to her, today was meant to be a day of joy! She was engaged! But that devil, the utter scamp had ruined everything, yet again. Lizzie was stoic as she stood in the middle of the living room in her apartment… a place she no longer felt at home, grasping onto Darcy's hand, her expression not betraying the utter panic she was feeling. Around them, the place was swarming. Detective Bridges was there, talking on his phone, and so was Detective Ryan, who was standing before Lizzie asking questions she didn't know how to answer. There were crime scene investigators crowding her bedroom, and uniform police officers traipsed in and out of the flat. This was the scene of a kidnapping, and Katie was gone.

"So, your sister had no connection to this man what so ever?" Detective Ryan asked again, to which Lizzie shook her head, again.

"No. She's never even met him, she. After what happened with… with me," she choked, "I told her everything, she knew who he was, what he looked like, and she knew to stay away from him. We hadn't left her alone since then, until…" she trailed off, the words catching in her throat.

"He'd been quiet for so long," Darcy interjected, picking up Lizzie's train of thought, "Detective Bridges said he'd probably left town. We thought that Katie would be safe in the city since Wickham didn't have anything to do with her. We thought she'd be safe."

"She was safe!" Jane cried suddenly, "She was fine when we came home! We were in the house. He took her and I was right here! I was right across the hall!" She broke down sobbing again.

The story went like this. Shortly after they'd eaten a late breakfast, the party had left Pemberley to return to London, Lizzie and Darcy had taken Georgiana back to Darcy's house and Charlie had taken Jane back to her apartment. Basking in their happiness and not wanting to part ways, Charlie had gone upstairs with Jane, where Katie had indeed been fine. They'd shared the news of their engagement with Katie, who'd been ecstatic for them, and then to give them some privacy, she'd retreated to Lizzie's bedroom to read. It was half an hour later, when Jane and Charlie were in her bedroom unpacking that they heard her scream. They'd run across the hall and flung open the door to the room just in time to see a man disappear through the window, Katie's limp form thrown over his shoulder.

"Call the police!" Charlie had yelled, dashing to the window and chasing after the man, but he'd been too fast for him. He'd caught up to him on the street as he'd peeled away from the curb in a beaten up station wagon, giving Charlie a horribly smug grin. When the police had arrived, he'd been able to identify the perpetrator as George Wickham, from a photo lineup and thus here they were, trying to find him.

"Why do you think he'd take Katherine?" Detective Ryan asked, to which no one could answer.

"I don't know!" Lizzie cried, "He has no reason to want to hurt her, he probably took her to get to me," she said.

"Or…" Darcy started, and then faltered.

"Or what Mr. Darcy?" The detective asked, "Do you have another theory?"

"Maybe he wasn't after Katie," he said with a slight shrug, "You two are very similar Lizzie, maybe he thought he was kidnapping you,"

The detective's brow rose curiously and she quickly scribbled this on her note pad. Darcy reached over to the side table and plucked up a framed photo of all the Bennett sisters and held it out to the woman, he pointed out Lizzie and Katie and she agreed, they did share a lot of traits. It was at that moment that Lizzie's phone rang.

The whole room seemed to get quieter as Lizzie reached into her bag and withdrew her mobile phone.

"The number is blocked," she whispered, looking at the screen, "What if it's him?"

"Answer it," Darcy said, his voice quietly encouraging and laden with support.

It rang once more, and she hit the answer button, putting it on speakerphone.

"Hello?" She said, tentatively.

"Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie," the voice responded, they recognised it right away, low and coarse and laced with that hint of smarmy sarcasm that once upon a time, she hadn't even noticed, but she now knew had always been there.

"You've caused me quite a bit of trouble you know?" He continued, "And ruined my plans, I assume this is one of your sisters?" He asked, his tone when referencing Katie sounded like he'd trodden in something disgusting.

"Don't you dare hurt her," Lizzie gritted through her teeth, her protective instinct taking over fear.

"Oh, it was never my intention to hurt her Lizzie, I never meant to take her. It's you that I want," he said, he let out a dramatic sigh, "You're remarkably similar you know? She looks just like you… almost. See, that the problem with stalking someone Lizzie. You can never really get close to them. So now I feel like I've been wasting my time. All this time I thought I was getting closer to you and I've been wasting precious hours and weeks on her!" He scoffed and there was a soft thud, as if he'd kicked something. Lizzie gasped. He'd been stalking Katie this whole time.

"Don't. Hurt. Her!" She growled again.

"I supposed it doesn't have to be a wasted effort though," he said and this time is was Darcy who lost his temper.

"Let her go Wickham!" He roared, snatching the phone and holding it closer to him.

"Oh, you are there Darcy! I should have known. After all, you're always intruding on my business. I'd butt out if I were you." He laughed, "Now Lizzie, here's what I propose. I'll let your sister go…" he paused, "But you have to take her place." He chuckled, "I think that's quite a fair bargain! I'll be in touch." Then the line went dead. Lizzie stared at the phone in her hand for a long moment before she fell back on the couch. Darcy gripped her arms and guided her down.