Darcy was getting punch for Jane when he received the note from a servant, read it, and frowned ferociously.

"Trouble, Brother?"

He looked around, and Jane said, "Relax Fitzwilliam, I made sure there are no listening busybodies around."

Darcy grinned a bit, but it did not have his usual zest.

"Well, funny you should ask Jane. This may or may not be trouble… it is entirely up to you."

"Oh, dear!"

Darcy sucked in a deep breath, and said, "This is from Bingley. He is ensconced in a private dining room and begs for five minutes of your time. He specifically asked if you might join him and bring both myself and your father."

Jane frowned ferociously, and asked, "Why you?"

"To protect your reputation. You cannot be having a particular type of discussion with your father with me in the room."

"What should I do?"

"You are asking ME?"

Jane laughed, without much humor, but finally said, "As angry as I was with you, Fitzwilliam, you must admit that in the end, you were right. I probably owe you. I will take my chances with your advice."

Darcy thought, and said, "Put him out of his misery. I would hope to retain his friendship, but that will not happen if the two of you are at odds."

"Why is that?"

"Be sensible, Jane. If I have to choose between a Bennet and a Bingley, the Bennet will win every time."

Jane laughed, and said, "You are a besotted fool!"

Darcy laughed along with her and said, "Stating the obvious, Jane. What do we do?"

"Let us get it over with."

"Very well, I see Mr. Bennet there talking to Sir William. I will take him into the room. You can join us in a minute."

"All right."

Jane walked into the room five minutes later and saw the tableau she had been fearing for a while, but in the end, it was not nearly as intimidating as it might have been. Mr. Bingley looked like he had some hope left, and it was time to, as Fitzwilliam said, 'put him out of his misery'.

"Miss Bennet, thank you for agreeing to see me."

Jane curtsied, and said only, "Mr. Bingley."

Bingley seemed to be gathering his courage, and finally said, "I owe you a most profound apology, Miss Bennet. The way I treated you last Autumn was infamous. I have come to regret it deeply, and I have come to offer my apologies, and ask if any reparations are in order."

Jane smiled, and said, "I happily accept your apology, Mr. Bingley. Rancor hurts the person holding it more than the target. I have let all of that go, and I am the better for it."

"I thank you, Miss Bennet."

Jane looked at him, and really wondered what she had seen in him in the first place. For certain, she had been more desperate at that time, and more pressured by her mother, but she had really thought herself in love with him. He no longer seemed such a spineless worm, as keeping that image in her mind cost herself more than it was worth, but he was also not really someone she could esteem. In truth, she just saw a boy who might one day be a man… but not today."

Bingley continued, "Miss Bennet…"

Jane thought she saw a bit of hope in his eyes, since the forgiving part had gone so well, and decided to quash it.

"A moment, Mr. Bingley. I am not finished."

Bingley stopped, and said, "My apologies. Please continue."

Jane stared at him, and then walked a few steps closer to be sure he understood the message she wanted to deliver.

"Mr. Bingley, what you did was awful. It was despicable, and you should know I suffered considerably for it. Have you any idea what it is like for a woman to be scorned by idle gossip among the people she has known all her life? Do you have any concept of how vile the words in your sister's letter were? I went to London for four months just to escape it, and I would probably still be affected if I had not met Anne and Fitzwilliam by chance."

"You were in London for four months?", Bingley asked with a bit of panic.

"Yes, sir, I was. I called on your sisters in January. They waited three weeks and made a call that was as close to a direct cut as slapping me in the face publicly."

Darcy gasped, and said, "My apologies, Jane. I did not know about that."

Jane looked at him, and said, "Get out of the habit of apologizing for other people, Fitzwilliam Darcy. You make enough of your own blunders, so focus on them."

Of course, she said it with a small quirk of her mouth that Darcy would understand would mean she was teasing, but Bingley would not, and she thought that a fine thing. She would have been happy to marry Mr. Bingley the previous Autumn, when he was not even as astute about women as Mr. Darcy; but now, she considered it a narrow escape.

Jane turned back to Bingley, and said, "You offered reparations, Mr. Bingley. Are you serious?"

"Of course, Miss Bennet."

Somewhat put out by the flippancy of the answer, she leaned closer and practically snarled, "Do not answer so glibly, Sir. My reparations will either make you or break you, so do not agree in advance."

Bingley looked a bit frightened, which was exactly what Jane wanted.

"If you wish to make reparations sufficient to have an ongoing acquaintance of any kind with myself or any of my sisters, I have three conditions."

Darcy muttered, 'Oh boy, here it comes' under his breath.

Bingley said, "Name your conditions, Miss Bennet."

Jane saw he still harbored some hope, thin as it was so it was time to kill it.

"Very well Mr. Bingley, here are my three reparations.
Number 1: Admit your fault and learn from it. You act like an overgrown boy, so start acting like a man.
Number 2: You are never allowed to court anyone named Bennet. We are indifferent acquaintances at best.
Number 3: Do what you must to reign in your pernicious sisters before they destroy the rest of your life."

With that, Jane turned around and walked away, quite satisfied with the interaction.

As Jane walked out the door, Darcy turned to Bingley, and said, "Well, Bingley, we share something."

"Which is?"

"We have both been exposed to what I call the 'Jane Bennet Big Three'. Take my word for it, you do not want another one."

Bingley laughed a bit sheepishly, and said, "No, one of those was enough for me."

Darcy said, "I owe you an apology, Bingley. I have treated you like a much younger brother for some time, and it is time to stand on your own two feet. The only way to improve your lot is to follow her advice. She is practically a genius, you know."

Bingley nodded, and sheepishly asked, "All hope is gone, I assume."

"Yes, you burned that bridge, my friend. But do not despair. There are other women out there, and you will find one that suits you sooner or later. You have time, but here is my very last piece of advice. Pay particular attention to number three, or your sisters will henpeck you the rest of your life."

Bingley said, "But how do I…"

Then he blew out a laugh, and said, "Well, that is how I got into trouble in the first place. Any other advice?"

"Netherfield is your estate for the next eight months. It is your responsibility. Jane has been seeing to your tenants, but…"

"Be a man, I assume is what you are working your way up to?"

"Yes. Treat the Bennets with respect and they will return it. Mr. Bennet knows more about your estate than you do. Take advantage of it, but if you want to be a landed gentleman, be a landed gentleman. If you do not, then quit pretending and give up the lease to someone who does."

"And you, my friend. Why are you here?"

"Working on my Number 3. I will tell you another time Bingley… another time."

Bingley shook his head, shook Darcy's hand, and said, "Be well, my friend."

Then he turned and walked out the side door, to return to Netherfield and see if he could manage to learn to execute Number 2.

"Miss Lydia, that was… interesting."

Lydia Bennet laughed gaily, while walking away from the dance with her hopefully soon to be brother, and said, "My pleasure, Br…"

Darcy thought he had made significant progress, when she became aware of the possibility of gossip when he simply raised his eyebrow at her.

She pretend‑pouted, and said, "You know Lizzy does that. You will need a different twitch, or you will not know which of you is vexed at any particular time."

Darcy just laughed and returned her to her sister Jane, when he was approached by his own express rider, and Lydia flounced off to find Kitty.

Darcy looked around to be sure only Jane was within earshot and spoke to the rider.

"Robert, 'tis good to see you. Have you any news?"

Darcy had debated telling anybody anything at all about Elizabeth, but in the end, had told one trusted express rider at each house to come find him instantly if he found out anything at all about her. He had not mentioned her to Georgiana because he judged the chance of her showing up at Pemberley to be practically nil, and he had not told anybody else to protect her reputation.

The rider looked around, and Darcy said, "Speak freely, Robert. The Bennets are in my confidence. This is Miss Elizabeth's sister, and she knows what we are about."

Darcy was happy to see his rider relax a bit, and say, "Good evening, Miss Bennet, is it? Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Jane curtsied, not entirely appropriate but courteous anyway, and said, "Good evening, Mr.…"

"Tattershall, ma'am. Robert Tattershall."

Jane smiled, and said, "What do you have for Mr. Darcy, sir?"

Robert returned his attention to Darcy, and said, "Two notes, sir. The oldest is from Lady Matlock, but she instructed the rider to leave it at Darcy House until another more urgent note came by. It has been there for a week or so. The second is from Miss Darcy, four days ago, and she requests you return to Pemberley. They have had a measles outbreak, and it has laid low both the butler and housekeeper."

"Blast! And the steward is away for a week as well."

Darcy had barely managed the expletive, before his good manners kicked in, but Jane just shushed him, saying, "I have heard worse in my own bed chamber, Fitzwilliam."

Darcy asked, "Is Georgie in distress?"

"Oh, no, Sir. Not particularly. Mrs. Reynolds is quite ill, but she instructed your sister in what she needed to do. Miss Darcy dedicated the guest wing as a quarantine, called in the apothecary from Lambton to offer advice, and just carried on. She says she is perfectly content with Mrs. Annesley, since they are not expecting any company. Breton is still there to make sure nothing terrible happens, so she was not panicked. She just wanted you to come home as soon as possible, but she also sent someone to Matlock to ask for assistance."

Darcy chuckled, and said, "Well, well… perhaps Georgiana is growing up, if she is handling this without difficulty."

The rider grinned, nodded his head, and said, "She was certainly not in any panic when I left, Sir. I had some torrential rain which cost me a couple of days, but it is not as if she will suddenly have dozens of visitors. The measles outbreak is worrisome, but I daresay Miss Darcy is doing just fine."

Darcy nodded, and said, "All the same, measles is nasty, and it could get worse or spread, and a death or two is to be expected. I am certain my Aunt would have gone over to help her out, but I will leave at first light and make best speed. Thank you, Robert."

Jane said, "Mr. Tattershall, please go to the left out the front door, then take the fourth drive on the right. A mile will get you to Longbourn. Tell Mrs. Hill that Jane sent you, and she will get you a meal and a bed."

Darcy said, "Thank you, Jane. Robert, I will speak to you in the morning."

"Yes, Sir."

Darcy started thinking about what he needed to do, so was a little bit startled when Jane said, "Fitzwilliam?"

"Yes, Jane."

"If you are going North, there is some chance you might stumble into Lizzy. Let me send some letters with you for her."

"Letters?"

"Yes, all of the sisters have written letters pleading your case. Of course, Lydia's is only a single paragraph with the word 'lunkhead' used three times, but every bit helps."

Darcy laughed in appreciation of the lady. He had to admit that some man was going to be very lucky to obtain her hand one day, and he dearly hoped to be there to witness it.

Anne walked up right then, and Jane had a whispered conversation to bring her up to date, while Darcy opened the note from Lady Matlock, which he had almost forgotten.

Both heard Darcy gasp when he read the letter, and then he started laughing uproariously.

Both ladies looked at him quizzically, and he said, "Well, that is classic. Elizabeth was at Matlock a fortnight ago. She is traveling with a wool broker named Wythe, who is well known to my uncle… and…"

Jane saw his countenance darken, and then he gave a self‑deprecating chuckle.

Anne asked, "Fitzwilliam?"

"It appears I have, and I quote, 'some explaining to do'. You know my aunt. She would have invited Elizabeth to tea and interrogated her. She cannot help herself."

Jane looked at him oddly, so he continued.

"Well, the 'explaining' part is that my aunt apparently mentioned Richard and I, and your sister nearly broke a tooth in consternation, but would not explain why. All my aunt is certain of is that somehow Elizabeth was injured, and it was obviously mine and Richard's fault."

Anne laughed, and said, "Astute woman, Aunt Matlock! You cannot claim she was wrong."

"Not at all. She was right… as usual."

Everyone looked down a bit in consternation, but then Darcy laughed, and said, "I know exactly where Elizabeth was a fortnight ago."

Jane laughed, and said, "A fortnight. How far could she possibly have gone. You must go to Derbyshire and see if you can find her. I doubt this Mr. Wythe is invisible and untraceable."

Darcy nodded in agreement, smiling hugely.

Jane had wondered why Lizzy never wrote to her, but assumed she wanted to keep her trail secret until her birthday, which was both sensible and stupid… typical Lizzy.

Anne said, "Take us with you Darcy. If she comes back here, Mr. Bennet will make your case, or at least call for you. Perhaps leave Robert here as a messenger? Leave her that five‑page letter you have been working on for a month."

Darcy nodded his head in thought, and said, "That is good thinking, Anne. I cannot take everyone, but how about Miss Taylor, you and Jane. I am not certain I would survive my next encounter with Breton without Miss Taylor anyway."

Jane nodded, and said, "We will be ready at first light."