A.N. Thank you Liysyl, Happy Lizzy, Andreeaoana, Colleen and GemmaDarcy for reviewing. You've made my day. I'm not feeling too well this week. Sorry for the delay. We are stuck in the future for a little while. Dear readers, happy reading and don't forget to give me constructive comments!


[b]Chapter 21[/b]

"Oh, how did you know to expect us?" Lucy asked.

"I've been given a letter of instruction to expect the three of you today. It contains precise instructions."

"I see."

"Do come in. The downstairs of our premises is mostly a museum. We have workshops, conservatory, kitchens, etc. But upstairs, we have rooms for resident researchers and consultants. You can take a rest and ask me any questions before we go to tonight's ball."

"A ball!" Darcy grumbled and almost closed his eyes at the thoughts of such a punishment until Elizabeth squeezed his hand. Lucy burst out laughing.

"Mr. Darcy doesn't like to dance?" Hannah said.

"We met in a ball," Elizabeth smiled. "He doesn't like to speak with strangers. But he will be fine tonight. He can dance with us."

The thought of dancing with his betrothal made him happy. He nodded and smiled weakly.

"The President's Neighborhood Inaugural Ball is reserved for residents from Washington D.C. It is the first inaugural ball with free or affordable tickets. Our Foundation has purchased a few dozen tickets with additional donations to charities nominated by Michelle Obama, the new First Lady, for our board members, staff and ordinary members, past and present. And the letter of instruction explained what kind of things and clothes to prepare for the three of you. I am very honored to be attending the ball with you. Let me show you to your rooms."

"Who wrote this instruction letter?" Elizabeth said.

"I am not entirely sure," The Director shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "It was found among some of the historical documents of Miss Georgiana Darcy, the great-great-granddaughter of one of our founders' ancestor, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. Sir, Georgiana was your ancestor, I believe." Hannah addressed to Darcy with the last sentence.

Darcy nearly blurted out about Georgiana being his sister. Luckily he did not. It seemed this Georgiana was his descendant. He turned to have a glance at Elizabeth, who was blushing. It was comforting to know they would have a great-great-granddaughter.

"We can talk more after you have rested. I prepared some snacks in the rooms and your clothes. Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet, this is your room. I was watching the BBC Lifestyle News live just now and learned that the two of you are newly engaged. I quickly made the changes so you two can have some privacy tonight."

Elizabeth and Darcy hesitated outside but Lucy pushed them into the room giggly and closed the door. They looked at each other with their face red with embarrassment. Hannah continued her bubbly monologue, showing them how to switch on the "non-stop candles" called lights. She demonstrated how to turn on and off the knobs on the wall to replace the need of servants to bring up cold and hot water from downstairs. Hannah's joke about the bathing chamber called 'shower' large enough for them to share. This turned Darcy and Elizabeth's face crimson. Inside the so-called 'ensuite bathroom', there was also "a loud mechanic valet" that Darcy could insert into the wall and help him shave his face. Hannah also showed them a similarly fascinating "electric lady's maid" that could dry Elizabeth's hair.

"This is the toilet where you sit and do your business. Sorry, I am so thorough in my explanation." Hannah murmured. "But the letter I found said that the three of you have been living a very rustic life in Africa for many years and I am to explain every bit of 'modern' convenience thoroughly or risk you injuring yourselves. You press here to flush away the thing, half or in full. Hmm, I think that is all, your clothes and personal grooming kits are in the wardrobe." Hannah spoke faster and faster as she saw Darcy and Elizabeth frowned more and more deeply.

"I will show Lucy to her room now, which is the last one on the right down the hall. Please feel free to ring me if you have any questions. I'm on speed dial here." She thrust a movable talking book to Darcy. When she saw him hesitating in accepting it, she put it in Elizabeth's hand. "I have saved a lot of books on the cell phone. You can read them if you cannot sleep. But I strongly suggest you two sleep for an hour or two. We will need to be at the Convention Center at 5 pm. You can leave the dirty clothes in the bathroom; someone will have them cleaned and dried while we are gone." She promptly walked out of the room and shut the door.

The room was silent for a few moments until Darcy spoke. "I am sorry, I can go and tell Miss Fisher that I need another chamber."

Elizabeth bit her lips and thought for a second. Then her eyes lit up with determination. "Miss Fisher has a kind intention. I do not want to trouble her again, seeing that she seems to change the room in a hurry after seeing us on the 'moveable theatre'. And we do not have a lot of time to bath, rest and prepare for the ball."

Darcy nodded and moved to sit rigidly on one of the chairs by the windows while he tried not to stare at Elizabeth gathering the 'bathrobe' and entering the ensuite. Finally, his eyes landed on the mobile phone. He decided to keep himself busy instead of thinking about Elizabeth bathing behind the door. He scanned the books Hannah said she had downloaded for them. He was absorbed in reading about the history of America until he heard the door to the ensuite opened.

He was unprepared for the beautiful sight of Elizabeth, with her mane of long curly hair free from pins, hanging lushly on her shoulders. Her form was clearly visible under the bathrobe. Her slender and ungloved hands and arms bare for him to admire, not to mention her shapely legs and toes. He swallowed hard and jerked up from the chair. "I shall freshen up if you have finished using the 'dressing room'."

Elizabeth nodded her head, shyly. He almost ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He winced at his ungentlemanlike action. But nothing could be done. After several moments of deep breathes and long time under the cold water, Darcy managed to calm himself. He found he had forgotten to take the bathrobe Hannah laid out on the bed with him. Luckily, Darcy found a long towel to wrap his naked lower body. He prayed that Elizabeth had fallen asleep. She had not. Elizabeth was in bed, with the cover pulled up to her chin. She was staring at him like she had been waiting for him to emerge from the dressing room the entire time he was taking a shower.

"You forgot your bathrobe," Elizabeth said huskily. Her wide eyes did not leave his naked torso.

Darcy held tight the knot on the towel and executed a formal bow. He then grabbed the bathrobe and dashed back into the 'dressing room' again. The thin material did not give him much comfort to stand in front of Elizabeth again. Perhaps he should stay in the bathroom until it was time to leave for the ball.

"Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth's soft call from the other side of the door was barely audible.

"Yes, Miss Bennet," He felt utterly ridiculous to be speaking to his betrothal between the door.

"Pray come out. We are engaged and it is just for a few hours. I think you need to rest here, instead of the hard surface in the 'dressing room'."

Darcy squared his shoulders and opened the door. Elizabeth was in the same position, with her eyes still burning a hole in his body.

"Come, I am tired. Let us pretend we are already married."

That was a bad suggestion, Darcy thought. But he complied. He climbed on the bed and moved under the blanket, carefully avoiding touching Elizabeth and closing his eyes immediately. The smell of her body was intoxicating. The bed was big enough for him to settle in without touching her. But he could feel every pore on his skin attuned to her proximity. If they were married, Darcy would not have slept so far away from her. He would have snuggled close to Elizabeth's curve and wrapped his hands and legs around her form. That was the wrong image to conjecture up in his mind. Darcy felt his arousal sprung to life and had to turn his back to Elizabeth. He tried to come up with the image of the overbearing Deidre Bourgh, Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley to suppress his ardent interest in the lady who slept inches from him.

~0~

An annoyingly persistent sound interrupted Darcy's light sleep. He thought he had only closed his eyes for a second. Then he felt the soft form of a woman moved below him and heard her saying, "yes?" "Oh, that late already? Yes, I will join you immediately. No, no teasing!"

"Elizabeth, who are you talking to?" Darcy buried his face deeper into Elizabeth's neck. Her sweet scent made him forget the surrounding. His lips caressed her soft flesh, as his hands parted her clothes and palmed her pert bosom. She let out a moan, making him rub his hard members against her ample buttocks. "My dear, where are we?"

"It is Lucy on the phone. She wants me to go to her room and get ready for the President's ball together."

Darcy felt like a bucket of cold water dousing over his head. He immediately released Elizabeth and moved to the edge of the bed.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy said. "I uhm…uhm, I should not have forgotten proprietary and…and..pray forgive me!" He scrambled out of bed, tied up the front of the bathrobe that had come undone during his sleep.

"Mr. Darcy!" On hearing Elizabeth loud cry, he stopped and turned to look at her. She had sat up on the bed, pulled the lapels of her bathrobe together. But her hair was in a glorious tangle. Darcy could not stop gazing at her lovely image.

"There is nothing improper, it seems, in 2009 for an engaged couple to sleep together before they marry. I see no harm to follow the custom of the future when we are here."

"I am not sure if that is the wisest move."

"Are you calling your newly engaged fiancée a simpleton?"

"Indeed not, but I am still a hot-blooded man."

"It is only for a short time. We shall be careful."

Darcy nodded hesitantly, not entirely convinced that Elizabeth understood the danger of them sleeping together before marriage.

"Now I shall leave you to dress for the ball. Are you all right without the help of a valet? Pray turnaround while I try to get off from the bed with modesty."

He nodded again silently and did as he was told, even closing his eyes for fear of glimpsing Elizabeth's form as she got out the bed. Once Darcy heard the door closed behind him, he slumped onto the bed with a big sigh. After several minutes of getting this mind off Elizabeth's alluring image, he looked around to find a written instruction, probably left by the efficient Hannah, as to where to find his 'tuxedo' for the ball and how to wear it. Darcy was amazed at how easy to put on the pristine white shirt and the black tuxedo. Even the so-called 'bow-tie' and pointed black leather shoes did not pose a challenge. He could not say he liked the simplicity of the 'cravat replacement' but without his valet, the bow-tie was a good compromise.

He decided against trying the 'loud mechanic valet' called a razor. Instead, he trimmed his stubble with a pair of small scissors he found in the bathroom. In less than half an hour, he was ready and decided to venture downstairs to wait for Lucy and Elizabeth. In the main room of the museum, Darcy found Hannah already changed into an evening dress. It was not as grand as the gowns worn by London ladies in 1812 but the simplicity and blue colour suited the Director very well.

"That is quick, Mr. Darcy," Hannah said.

Darcy gave her a small smile. "Thank you for making all the preparation for our stay."

"You are most welcomed. I was bit hesitant when I first found the letter of instruction if I should follow it. I am glad that I did. I am very excited for this opportunity to welcome the three of you."

"May I see the letter?"

"Oh, I took it home yesterday to make sure I did not forget anything but forgot to bring it back." Hannah said it so smoothly that Darcy knew she was lying. He narrowed his eyes. Darcy considered to call her out on her lies but decided against it. He did not want to be turfed out of the Foundation tonight and have to find another place to stay for Elizabeth and Lucy. Instead, he asked, "Can you tell me more about the history of the Foundation and its work?"

"It was set up by Lucy Hill from Washington D.C. and Edward Darcy from England in 1893, for the benefits of disadvantaged people in the neighborhood. Mr. Darcy provided the fund for the purchase of the first house which is where the museum is."

"More houses were purchased?"

"Indeed, as the projects expanded throughout the years, the Foundation organized fund-raising events. But most of the money for more purchases initially came from the Darcys. The houses on nearly half of the west side of Newton Street belong to the Foundation."

Darcy raised his eyebrows. Darcy remembered admiring the conditions of the houses when they walked down Newton Street earlier. Clearly, Elizabeth and his descendants were still very prosperous for many years. He was happy that they did not raise a gambling dissolute descendent like Wickham. "What kind of 'projects' does the Foundation do?"

"It changes throughout the years, depending on the needs of the community. At first, it did a lot of free education and employment creation works for African American women due to Miss Hill's interest. She was a Principal. During the two wars, the Foundation provided relief efforts in medicine, nursing, caring for injured soldiers and offered homes for war widows. Recently, we try to tackle loneliness and addiction by providing co-sharing facilities and social support for single parents of African American origin, gay and lesbian families, youths involved in gangs, orphaned teenagers with mental health issues and elderly people without families."

"Co-sharing?"

"Each building on the street, apart from the museum, is a co-sharing family. Members have their own apartments with simple facility but also shared childcare, kitchen, aged care, sport and recreation facilities. We organize activities within a building and sometimes with different buildings to encourage social interaction and support. We also offer coaching, counselling, career guidance and employment placement. In general, our members take one to three years to stand on their own feet and move out of our co-sharing facilities. The D&H Foundations have adopted this model of operation around the world."

Darcy's head was spinning, to follow Hannah's use of words and the extent of works in which the Foundation was involved. "Around the world?"

"Yes, we have six offices globally, Oakham Mount in England, Dalian in China, New Dehli in India, Rio Gallegos in Argentina and Tema in Ghana. I understand you have been living in one of the national parks in Ghana for some years. The staff at Tema said you have never visited the office."

Darcy mumbled vaguely about being too busy. He did not know any of these places except Oakham Mount. Hopefully, the Director or others would not ask too many questions. "Why did the Foundation open offices in these cities?" He drew Hannah away from her questioning.

"Strangely, you asked about that. I often wonder as well, since I joined the Foundation 10 years ago. I believe each of the offices started off with the purchase of some pieces of land with some caves in them and then the Foundation would acquire houses nearby to start projects. I was never able to understand what the use of the caves like the ones in Rock Creek are for. We never do anything about them, except to put a contact number there and lock them up."

"Ah, I see!" Darcy nodded his head. D&H Foundation had been buying land and properties to protect the time travel portals God Janus had mentioned to Lucy.

Before Hannah could ask Mr. Darcy more about the caves, Lucy and Elizabeth entered the room. Darcy's eyes widened on see Elizabeth in an elegant gown, in yellow silk with tiny flowers of the same colour decorating all over. The bodice was tight-fitting and the skirt flared out slightly. It had a strap on the right. Elizabeth's curly mane was decorated with tinier yellow fresh flowers, plaited into intricate twists and arranged on the front of her left shoulder, allowing Darcy to admire her creamy shoulder and the hair. She looked stunning. He wished they were alone in the room as he wanted to kiss and smell her hair, the curves of her neck and her shoulders. He would love to unknot the plait and ruffle his fingers to free her hair again, while raining kisses on her. He could not do any of that but stepped forward, bowed to her formerly, raised her hands and kissed the fingers.

"Your cravat looks very…interesting," Elizabeth said huskily with a jest.

"Too simple for your taste, Madam?" He whispered.

"Never, Mr. Darcy. You are way too handsome. I fear some futuristic Miss Bingleys will bound to dig their claws into your arms when they see you."

Darcy laughed heartily. "Futuristic Miss Bingleys, what an image!" He held her left hand and turned to acknowledge Lucy, who was wearing a floating dress in red, with straps across the shoulders.

"Miss Hill, you are gorgeous. I am honoured to escort three beautiful women to a ball."

"Well, as long as you promise to dance with Elizabeth and me cheerfully, I can put up with your occasional grumpiness." Darcy smiled at Lucy's tease.

Hannah explained that they would take the limousine to the Convention Center. When they arrived and were showed into the packed auditorium, Darcy was startled when an African American man in dark blue uniform greeted Hannah gleefully.

"Wow, are you our Darcy cousin from the wild?" The man said. "You look exactly like the old chap in one of the small paintins in our family room."

"Joe!" Hannah chastised the man with a frown.

Darcy was sure this Joe was a mixed-race descendant of the Colonel of 1812, as the man closely resembled Colonel Fitzwilliam.

"Mr. Darcy, this is our Deputy Police Chief Joe Fitzwilliam. He is one of our Foundation's board members and a descendant of the Fitzwilliams from Matlock, the United Kingdom. Deputy Chief, this is Mr. William Darcy, lately returned from conservation works in Ghana, a descendant of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. I believe General Richard Fitzwilliam and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy were cousins."

"Trust you to spurt out all the history, Hannah. Cousins many time afar, I am happy to meet you," Joe shook Darcy's hands and gave a loud clap on Darcy's back. "How is Ghana treating you? And please introduce these two beautiful ladies to me. I am not referring to Hannah. She is less a lady but more a workhorse."

Darcy could see the hurt in Hannah's eyes. Richard's descendent seemed to be as careless in his speech as the 1812 Colonel would sometimes do. He should remind this Joe later. He was glad for Hannah's introduction. He now knew who Miss Fisher thought him to be and that Richard had obtained the rank of General in his time. Darcy introduced Elizabeth and Lucy to him. After they exchanged a few more words, an indecently dressed white woman stopped by the Deputy Chief's side. Darcy's eyes bulged out on seeing the dress. It was made of transparent lace with gold and ruby beads covering only the woman's nipples, sex and hem. How could her father or husband let her out of the house dressed like this? The dress should be burnt and she should be sent back to the nursery!

"Darling, who have you found here?" The woman's strong nasal voice, dripped with fake insincerity, sent a chill down Darcy's spine. The Deputy Chief had the decency to blush for his friend's dress.

"Hi Carlina, this is my elusive distant cousin Darcy from the U.K. He lives in the wild in Ghana now. And this is his fiancée Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her friend Lucy Hill. You remember D&H Foundation's Director, Hannah Fisher. Darcy, this is Carlina Collins, my girlfriend."

The woman's eyes lit upon hearing about Darcy. She ignored the introduction of the other three women and scanned Darcy from head to toe. Then she stretched out her hand for Darcy and leaned forward. "Enchanté, Monsieur Darcy! I have heard so much about you from Joe."

Darcy's lips tightened. He touched the woman's hand, without bowing or kissing it. He then stepped back to hold Elizabeth's hand again. Perhaps there was another reason for him to travel into the future!