Thank you, Happy Lizzy, Nanciellen, Liysyl, GemmaDarcy for commenting. I agreed with the Portuguese speaking guest that Lizzy seems quite immature in the story so far. I hope she will grow up more soon. Now, lovely readers, are you ready for one more body count? Happy reading and remember to review! Your encouragement feeds my Muse.

Chapter 15

Before Mary and Elizabeth left for Longbourn, Jane and Charles returned to Netherfield. Miss Bingley used the opportunity to manipulate the married couple to move the Longbourn's invitation to a large party at Netherfield instead, pending Mrs. Bennet and others' agreement.

Elizabeth was worried about Wickham's reaction in the delay of his 'compromise' plan. However, she later learned from Lydia that the militiaman was sent to London for an errand and would not be back to Meryton for a week. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. At least her Father could delay the payment of the blackmail for a few days and she hoped to have the time to talk to Mr. Darcy during her morning walk.

But the weather was not on Elizabeth's side. Rain poured from heaven for five days and she was couped up in Longbourn for the entire duration. Elizabeth took advantage of the time and made some headways with her Father, to discuss crop rotation for the planting in spring. She also made sure Mr. Bennet did not abandon his effort to teach Kitty and Lydia. Working tirelessly with Mrs. Hill, Elizabeth tried to keep Mrs. Bennet from overspending and save from the household accounts. At the same time, she started to revise her manuscript, based on Mary's comments. Elizabeth sent a letter to her uncle in London, thanking him for help during her absence and ask for advice on finding a publisher and searching for investment opportunities in trade. From her time in the future, Elizabeth knew that landowners would face a lot of challenges. The weather and the shift in people from the countryside to cities would make income from farm products unstable. She would do her utmost to ensure her family thrived facing these difficulties.

~0~

On the day of the Netherfield party, the sun returned. Still, Mrs. Bennet forbade any of her daughters, in particular, Elizabeth, to walk out. The roads were still muddy and she would not allow her daughters to ruin their clothes or complexion when a night of entertainment was to have.

The Bennets arrived slightly late due to some mishap with Kitty's gown. Elizabeth frowned at the number of people gathered at Netherfield. It seemed Jane, at Miss Bingley's instigation, had invited not just the whole of Meryton, the militia, but some friends of Miss Bingley and her brother from London. The gathering was staged in the ballroom, due to the number of guests.

"Have you seen Mr. Darcy yet?" Elizabeth said to Mary, who had been searching for Darcy for 20 minutes.

"Not yet," said Mary, "but I am sure he will show up soon."

A voice came from behind them, "Would either of you beautiful ladies care to dance?" They turned around and to their surprise, saw Mr. Wickham. He was not supposed to be back from London. And why would Jane invite him, knowing that Mr. Darcy hated the man? Dread fell on both women and they were unable to hide their shock.

"Mr. Wickham? What are you doing here?" Elizabeth said, seethed with anger.

"You do not seem pleased to see me here, my dear Elizabeth. What did you think? That I am so scared of Darcy Boy that I would not dare come? Do not be silly."

"Why are you here?" asked Mary.

"Can either of you at least pretend to be happy to see me?"

"Why would we be happy to see you?" Elizabeth retorted.

"Oh well, I hope you haven't forgotten our little agreement? I told you I will see things through. I do not mind that it is slightly delay. And I aim to collect from your Father soon."

"You should not have come," Elizabeth said. "Your presence here might ruin things. You know, Mr. Darcy does not like to see you."

"The entire militia camp is invited. I am here on the off chance that you might choose to do something silly."

"I already assured you that I would not."

"One cannot be too sure, have you located Darcy Boy yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, do so as soon as you can." Wickham spied Lydia moving in their direction and had no patience to entertain the girl. He saw Lady Catherine de Bourgh sitting with a sour expression all alone at the other end of Netherfield ballroom, near the French door by the balcony. Wickham hoped Her Ladyship remembered him from his childhood year. Perhaps he could charm her to part with some of her money too. He moved stealthily towards Lady Catherine.

Miss Bingley, on seeing Wickham from afar, knew that she would have to act fast if her plan were to take shape and come to fruition. She had to slow down her rivals and she knew just how. She walked over to Elizabeth but heard Elizabeth gasped. Elizabeth's eyes had followed Wickham's movement. It seemed Miss de Bourgh, covered from head to toe in a dark overcoat had joined the gathering too, slipping into the ballroom from the balcony door. Elizabeth decided to move in that direction, taking Mary with her. It would not do if Miss de Bourgh's condition was known to the guests. Elizabeth also did not want Anne to talk about her marriage to a wicked Mr. Collins; as the murder of the man was already reported widely in Kent and Hertfordshire. Miss Bingley followed suit. She could not make out of the houseguests. Still, it seemed Miss Eliza might help her understand the strange behaviour of Lady Catherine and her daughter.

"Lady Catherine, I thought that you must certainly be thirsty, so I brought you a drink," Elizabeth said. And not to be outdone, Miss Bingley turned to Elizabeth, "I was going to do the same, to offer Lady Catherine a drink. Since you have already done so, Miss Eliza, here is a drink for you. We are gathering tonight to unofficially honour you, to celebrate your return, after three long months of absence. Where have you been, Miss Eliza, in the past three months?"

"How thoughtful, who are you, girl?" Lady Catherine interrupted loudly while accepting the drink.

"Mother, it is the sister of our hosts, Miss Caroline Bingley. You met and talked with her in the last few days." Miss Anne said, somewhat impatiently.

"Did I? Oh, the tradesman's daughter," Lady Catherine put down the drink on the side table beside her, immediately dismissed Miss Bingley's presence and turned her attention to Wickham. "What have we got here? Why do you look vaguely familiar?"

"Lieutenant George Wickham at your service, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. I am late Mr. Darcy's godson."

"That charming rascal! Where have you been this decade? Why did you have to satisfied yourself with a lowly lieutenant wage in the militia? Surely my brother Darcy had left you enough money in his will."

"I have been doing this and that and a lot of travelling. I find I am quite content with my life with the militia."

Elizabeth eyed the de Bourghs and Wickham talking while she thanked Caroline softly for the drink.

"It is nothing, we are sisters, after all." Miss Bingley then walked away with a satisfied smirk on her face.

Mr. Wickham, who had been watching the exchange, seized the drink from Elizabeth, when Lady Catherine and her daughter started to argue between the two of them and ignored him.

"You have an important task ahead of you, you cannot afford to be distracted." He drew his head toward Elizabeth and whispered.

"Why can't you just let me alone for a few moments?"

"After tonight? You may have all the free moments you desire."

He put down the glass on the side table and smiled tauntingly at Elizabeth. Elizabeth excused herself from the de Bourghs, walked off to search for Mr. Darcy so she could tell him and be done with Wickham for good. Mary was, however, detained as Miss de Bourgh started to talk with her about music and the bible. By the time Elizabeth found Mr. Darcy, she had seen that Miss Bingley was offering him a drink and thought whether she should interrupt the moment. Elizabeth was surprised by how jealous she was and almost involuntarily stepped between them to call Mr. Darcy's attention to her.

"Mr. Darcy, I have been waiting for you for our dance?"

Mr. Darcy, who was pleased with seeing Elizabeth, immediately turned his attention from Miss Bingley to Elizabeth, much to Caroline's dismay. Although he had not asked Elizabeth for a dance, he would not contradict her word and a chance to dance with his beloved.

"I am so sorry. I have been delayed and only just walked into the room. Shall we dance?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Miss Bingley, would you hold this for me?" he said, handing the drink she had only just offered him back to her. Elizabeth could see Caroline with a murderous glint in her eyes. Darcy left with Elizabeth for the dance floor and soon, they were in each other's arms dancing dreamily.

"Mr. Darcy, there is something I must tell you."

"Can it wait? This moment is too perfect."

"I doubt that it can, it is a very important matter."

"Alright then, tell me what it is."

"Well, the thing is…"

Just then, she was cut off by a shrill scream from across the hall. People scrambled to see what had happened. By the side of Lady Catherine and Mary, Mr. Wickham lay dead on the floor, blood oozing out of his mouth and his eyes wide open in horror.

"Dear Lord," Elizabeth breathed. "Dear Lord."

The crowd around Wickham gasped in shock and panic. A few men, including Bingley and Darcy, ran to Wickham to see if he could be resuscitated. Elizabeth followed Mr. Darcy, stood frozen, shock and horror washing through her. Wickham's vitals were checked and he was pronounced dead. Lydia found out what had happened. She threw herself over Wickham's dead body and cried out loud. "My dear, Wicky! My dear love!"

By the side, Mary embraced Elizabeth tightly. "Lizzy, what happened?"

"I am as confused as you are Mary, I am afraid this is all too much for me to bear. Where is Miss de Bourgh?"

"She must have slipped out through the balcony. Wickham is dead, Lizzy. Wickham is dead. We would be freed from his blackmail."

"Why do I feel like this is just the beginning of our troubles, not the end?"

"I hope not," Mary shook her head.

"Let us get Lydia away from Wickham, before she cried out more inappropriate words," Elizabeth said.

The two sisters managed to get Lydia away from the scene.

Darcy joined them shortly and held out his hands to Elizabeth's.

"Are you alright, Miss Elizabeth? I am sorry you had to see that, unfortunately, Wickham is dead. This is very troubling indeed, would you like to go home now? Or would you rather stay here?"

"I think I'd rather stay here. Pray where is Jane? I haven't seen her."

"Mrs. Bingley returned upstairs, Charles told me, she is not feeling well."

"I would like to see her, please. Lydia may benefit from a lie-down."

"No, I need Mother!" Lydia struggled against her sisters and ran towards the other side of the ballroom to her mother's side.

"Let us go, Mrs. Bennet and Miss Lydia may benefit from Mrs. Bingley's calm presence. Bingley will handle the emergency." They continued to move away from where Wickham laid dead.

Caroline, who had seen all that happened and ran up to meet Mr. Darcy, right by the door opening to the corridor.

"Oh, Mr. Darcy," she cried in a low voice, shedding tears, "If only you had listened to me, none of this would have happened."

"What are you talking about, Miss Bingley? This is not the time."

"I tried to warn you earlier, yet you refused to listen to me, now look what has happened?" Miss Bingley whispered.

"What are you talking about?" asked Elizabeth.

"Be quiet, you conniving murderess," spat Caroline, still speaking in a low voice.

"Miss Bingley, what is this madness?"

"Miss Eliza here connived with her sister to murder Mr. Wickham."

"What!" Elizabeth cried out. "How dare you make such an unfound accusation."

"A mere accusation, you say? Then tell me, why were you both talking the day you came to visit Jane about how Mr. Wickham blackmailed you into compromising Mr. Darcy."

"How did you hear that?"

Darcy, who was too shocked to speak, turned to Elizabeth in confusion. "What is she talking about, Miss Elizabeth?"

"Go ahead, Miss Eliza, explain yourself," Caroline added, triumphantly.

"For the sake of God and everything good shut up, Miss Bingley!" Darcy cried out in low voice. Then he turned to Elizabeth with equal aggression." Miss Elizabeth, what in the world is Miss Bingley talking about?"

"That is what I tried to tell you earlier during our dance," Elizabeth put her hand on Darcy's arm and whispered. "Mr. Wickham found out about my…involvement with Mr. Collins and has been blackmailing my Father and me. He tried to get me to compromise you so he could extort you for money and I planned to tell you."

"Why didn't you?" Darcy shook Elizabeth's hand away. "Why wait until tonight? Or did you perhaps intend to follow through with Wickham's plan after all?"

"Mr. Darcy, you know I would never…"

"But I do not, do I? I believe you when you said you had nothing to do with Collins. But you were gone for three months and would not tell me where. And now Wickham? I do not know what to think."

"Yes, Mr. Darcy, Miss Eliza has been playing you for a fool."

Darcy ignored Miss Bingley completely and murmured again. "I do not know what to believe anymore."

Mary interjected: "Mr. Darcy, please, you have to listen to Elizabeth and me. We have been trying to find you since we arrived and Elizabeth is going to tell you about Wickham's blackmailing."

"I want to, but this is all too much to bear. Let me alone, all of you."

He stalked off to the other end of the ballroom, filled with emotion, and very confused.

"You!" Elizabeth said, pointing the finger at Miss Bingley.

"The murderess points the finger at me threateningly, how frightened I am," Caroline taunted.

"Why would you set me up in such a way? What have I ever done to you?"

"Nothing particular, except maybe trying to compromise the man I am in love with."

"If you really heard what we said, then you know I had no intention of carrying out the plan and every intention of informing Mr. Darcy."

"It did not sound that way to me," Miss Bingley smiled and turned to leave but paused and added, "If you have any need of me, I will be comforting my darling Mr. Darcy," she then went away.

"What are we going to do, Mary?"

Right at that moment, an announcement was made, informing everyone present that they would not be allowed to leave the ballroom until Sir William and his team had interrogated everyone present.

There was panic as people realized that a murderer was among them. Sir William's team blocked all the exits to make sure no one could leave then proceeded with their interviews.

Sir Williams himself was interrogating a lady from London. She was a rather tall woman with a very pale face that held a constant look of indifference.

"What do you know of Mr. Wickham's death, Miss Grey?"

"Nothing at all, sir, except that it appears the victim was poisoned."

"Why would you assume he was poisoned?"

"Well, it is an easy assumption. I witnessed Mr. Wickham's death and was standing close to him."

"Go on."

"Well, the charming was clutching his stomach and appeared to be in tremendous pain. He looked very uncomfortable. I thought originally he was sick was wondered why he came to the gathering at all and then he fell."

"So, you believe it was a murder?"

"Why, yes."

"So from your account, whatever it was that hurt him was given to him at tonight's gathering."

"Yes. Mr. Wickham was a charming man and I could not help but follow him around with my eyes. He looked to be in excellent health for the past three-quarters of an hour in the room until he was in pain for the last few minutes."

"That's a sensible conclusion."

"That would be all, sir?"

"Yes, that would be all."

Then Sir William instructed Manders, his assistant, to have her write a statement before moving on to the next person.

"What do you know of Mr. Wickham's death, Mr. Boulanger?"

"Not much, really. I did not witness Mr. Wickham's death."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you notice anything suspicious during the evening?"

"I might have, I am not sure."

"Tell me what you saw, regardless of how small the detail is."

"Well, I do remember seeing him talking to the Bennet girls earlier."

"The Bennet girls?"

"Yes"

"Which of them?"

"I am not sure, sir, but it was two of them, dressed in yellow and blue. Mr. Wickham seemed to be having a quarrel with them and the girls were clearly displeased by his presence."

"Did you, by any chance, hear what they were saying?"

"No, I did not. I was trying to get a drink myself, sir."

"I see. Thank you for your help. Manders will write out your statement now."

Then sighting Miss Bingley, Sir William decided he would speak to her next.

"Miss Bingley."

"Sir William, very nice to see you, Sir."

"Not the most pleasant occasion, I must say."

"The evening was intended to be pleasant, yet it has ended so terribly."

"Do you happen to know anything about Mr. Wickham's death?"

"Well, I barely knew the man but I know that he has enemies. One of them happens to be my brother's friend Mr. Darcy."

"You mean Mr. Darcy has a motive for killing him?" Sir William tried to suppress the glee in his mind.

"No, certainly not. I have an excellent idea who did this but I can only tell you if you promise to keep me anonymous."

"Certainly."

"It was Mary Bennet."

"Mary Bennet? Are you certain?" Sir William was disappointed that it was not Mr. Darcy. But a Bennet would do it nicely for him to take down Mr. Bennet's pride a notch. Sir William nodded his head. Miss Mary was wearing a blue gown tonight.

"Yes, I am."

"A man just told me Mr. Wickham had been arguing with two Bennet girls earlier."

"That makes sense, considering what I overheard them saying in the garden several days ago." Miss Bingley went on to tell Sir William all she had overheard and how Mary and Elizabeth had conspired with Wickham to compromise Mr. Darcy.

"This is heavy allegation. But if Miss Mary, Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham were conspiring against Mr. Darcy, then why would Miss Mary kill her accomplice Mr. Wickham? Doesn't that defeat the purpose."

"I cannot answer that, but then is it not common for criminals to betray each other out of greed?"

"Greed is a primary motivator for the crime. But then, why Miss Mary? Why not Miss Elizabeth?"

"Miss Mary stayed behind with Mr. Wickham and the de Bourghs when Miss Elizabeth went dancing with Mr. Darcy. I saw Miss Mary within reach of the glasses of wine by the side table where Lady Catherine sat. But perhaps you are right, Sir William, Miss Elizabeth could have instructed her younger sister to do the deed for her."

"Oh my, are you sure of what you saw?"

"Very positively sure."

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation."

"I need to know, will you keep me anonymous?"

"I will, until the trial. This is a murder case. Your identity is safe."

Sir William left to speak with his men and Miss Mary was arrested. He would not arrest Miss Elizabeth yet. He hoped Elizabeth's younger sister would give her up as the mastermind during the interrogation. The Bennets were very confused and strongly protested.

"Calm down, Mr. Bennet. We have gathered substantial evidence against your daughter and will perform further investigations in the next few days. But for now, Mary Bennet is the prime suspect and must go with us, several witness accounts have linked her directly to the murder."

"Murder? My daughter Mary? That is quite impossible."

"Perhaps you should speak with your daughter Miss Elizabeth about their dealings with Mr. Wickham."

Elizabeth ran forward and said, "Mary did not murder Wickham."

"Were you with Mary Bennet all the time?"

"No… but."

"Where were you?"

"I was dancing with Mr. Darcy, but…"

"Then your words hold no water," Sir William said condescendingly. "If you left Mary Bennet for some time, no matter how small, then you cannot say she did not murder Wickham. We have witnesses who confirm that Miss Mary has the motive and opportunity to do so. Now I do not want to hear another word if you do not want to be implicated in the murder."

Mrs. Bennet burst into tears as Miss Mary was walked out of Netherfield's ballroom. Lydia would have run after Miss Mary, to hit her for killing off her beloved, if Mr. Bennet had not been holding her back. Elizabeth tried to comfort her sisters and mother but found herself weeping along with them. Sir William had his men put the wine glasses in a bag and left Manders to guide Wickham's body.

The Bennets left the Netherfield shamefully, before Jane came downstairs, as people in the ballroom pointed and whispered about them. Mr. Darcy looked at Elizabeth's anguish from afar, not knowing what to do to help her.

A.N. Send me some love by reviewing! I'll be away for three weeks but I will try to stick to the schedule if I have Internet connection.