Elizabeth's POV

Shocked is all I can think right now. How could my mother plan all of this? I am so glad that my dad impressed upon me to wait until marriage. I do not know what I would have done at this point if I had his child. I always thought it was strange how she seemed to want me to stay with Wickham even though I was underage. I just can't believe that she lied to my father for all these years. I always had a hard time understanding their relationship because I felt he truly loves her but she seemed to be hiding something and I was never sure if she truly cared for my dad. It was obvious she barely tolerated me, except when I was dating Wickham. She always seemed to want me to talk up Wickham to the Fitzwilliam's. Now I understood it a little bit better but it still hurt that my own mother did this and was partly responsible for Lydia being raped by that man. Lydia has always been our mother's favorite and I am not sure what to think about that now. It is obvious now that she only tolerates the rest of us so why favor Lydia when she is still my dad's child, unless she may not be. I turned to Richard and asked the question that was bugging me, "Richard, did you find anything to suggest that she was cheating on dad?"

Everyone looked at me shocked by my question but i knew the answer as soon as Richard frowned. He had found out.

"Yes Lizzy, it seems she has been having an affair for a long while, almost 15 years. Why do you ask?"

"I looked to Lydia, it was obvious growing up that she barely tolerated us, but she has always doted on Lydia until now. The only reason I can think of is that she was believed to be someone else's child. I know for a fact that Lyddie is not. When she was harmed they needed a blood donor and i matched, I have the same blood type as dad and so does Lyddie."

Dad looked shocked at what i said and Lydia was in tears because she realized that her mother only doted on her because she thought she was someone else's daughter and not the man that raised her. Lydia has always idolized dad and it had to be a blow to realize that mom thought he wasn't even her real dad. I think that dad noticed and immediately went to her. I have no idea what he told her, but I did know that whatever it was Lydia needed to hear it. Next thing I knew, dad had her in his lap and turned to everyone, "It is a good thing I made sure she signed a prenup before we married. It also explains why she is still married to me at this point. She wants and needs my money. I am calling the bank now and closing the account she has access to and calling a lawyer in the morning. I think after that is done we need to confront her. This has gone on long enough and, Richard, I will need that proof of her cheating as well as everything else for the lawyer to make sure it goes quick. I think that she has planned something in case I ever filed for divorce. I always thought she was somewhat stupid but now I think she is a devious actor and I want to be safe."

Everyone nodded their agreement and Richard went to William's office to make copies of everything for dad. I turned to my family and saw the hurt and betrayal in everyone's faces and I knew we needed to take that vacation sooner rather than later.

After a couple hours, everyone started to leave and i turned to my dad, knowing that mom would be at the house.

"Dad, are you going to be okay? I know mom will most likely be at the house."

"I will be fine and she won't be there long. I am planning on kicking her out tonight. This cannot continue."

I smiled and hugged my dad as he left with my sisters. I felt William wrap his arms around me and i just sunk into him. I don't think it has really hit me that my mother was behind everything. Right now i just needed William and I think he knew it too. He actually convinced Georgie to go with Richard for the night. He didn't need me to say anything as he picked me up and went to the sofa. We just cuddled together for a time. When it was time to eat, signaled by our stomachs growling, we silently went into the kitchen and cooked together. It was peaceful and loving and just what I needed. When we finally went to bed, I broke. I just cried into William's chest.

A few weeks after we found out about my mother, she had disappeared. Dad had kicked her out and filed all the paperwork for the divorce, but she was gone. I know she ran to avoid facing up to her actions. Dad did everything he could to trace her but she is still missing. He finally called in Richard's help. There has been no trace of her though. Dad did go through the process of proving that Lydia is indeed his child so that our mother wouldn't be able to take her from him. Now we were just waiting for her to finally surface. William and I are also finishing up the semester and are looking forward to the break. All of us are going on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera to get away for a week. i was looking forward to it more than anything, and knew that it was just what we needed. We leave in two weeks and i think Georgiana is more excited than anyone. This was the first time she would be going on a vacation with her family, as she called us all. It was so sweet and William and I had a surprise for her that we were revealing tonight.

When Georgiana walked into the house, she immediately knew something was up, after all everyone was there. William wanted to tell everyone together and he won the argument. I didn't want to tell them anything until the day of, but again I lost. Georgiana sat next Lydia and waited to hear what was happening. I just looked at William; after all he wanted to tell them not me. Ha actually shook his head and laughed at my refusal to start.

"Well I guess I will be the one telling you since it seems Elizabeth still refuses. After everything that has been going on, I finally convinced Elizabeth we shouldn't wait to get married. She agreed so on the cruise we will be getting married."

It was dead quiet and everyone just stared at us, shocked, until Jane started laughing. When I looked at her I knew why. she realized that i didn't want to tell anyone until we were actually getting ready. I just smiled and nodded joining her in her amusement. This confused everyone until Jane finally said, "Lizzy didn't want to tell us until the event was occurring did she?"

"Janey of course I didn't. You know I like to surprise everyone but William won the argument, even though he cheated."

"I did not cheat. I just distracted you. You are so stubborn woman, and i knew it was the only way to stop the argument." William said between his laughter.

"You cheated William and you know it. Kissing me to get me to shut up, you smug bastard."

Everyone began laughing at our "antics" as Kitty called it. I just stuck my tongue out at everyone and huffed. It was going to be a long two weeks now. The whole reason I didn't want to tell anyone was so i wouldn't be subjected to the endless hours of shopping i could tell my sisters were already planning.

"Before you start planning my lovely sisters, I already have my dress thanks to Aunt Maddie. She is giving me hers to wear so no I will not be shopping non-stop. Now get that out of your head right now."

Lydia actually pouted. I laughed and promised her that i would go shopping with her for her dress since she would need one. That seemed to make her happy and she relaxed. I knew that she looked forward to spending time just us so I hugged her and promised that we would have lunch as well so we can catch up and talk. Dad had mentioned that she seemed withdrawn lately and I know that mom's actions have hurt and confused her the most.