Chapter 24:

After breakfast and the shock of the morning, Lizzie and Georgiana get stuck addressing envelopes. Will's sent off with another job and Jane and Charlie shut themselves behind closed doors to have a serious discussion.

Lizzie hopes they're talking as much about the wedding as they are about his sister.

"So, I hate to ask…but I'm dying to know, what did it say?" asks Georgiana.

"Ugh. Obviously it wasn't good. And it wasn't from a reputable news site, but from a blog. Basically, it was an announcement of Jane and Charlie's engagement. Well…announcement of sorts. It wasn't nice. While it didn't come right out and say it, the post hinted that Jane was a gold digger with Daddy issues as her father just died. It also commented on the length of time they've known each other and hinted at a baby on the way as there's no other way to describe their whirlwind romance."

"Wow." Georgiana says. "I'm actually speechless."

"I know. I would really love to give her a piece of my mind."

"That's impressive. I don't think that I would know what to say. I'm not very good at confrontations."

"Yeah, I'm not really either," Lizzie admits. "I'm just so angry. And I hate seeing Jane hurt."

"So how did your mother see the blog?"

"That's a really great question. Apparently one of her friends emailed it to her to ask if it was true."

"Some friend," mutters Georgiana.

"Right?"

Lizzie fumes while they spend the rest of the morning addressing envelopes and stuffing them. It's not a pleasant task, but with Georgiana, the time moves along quickly as they chat. As they finish, Lizzie's stomach growls.

Both girls laugh. "Guess that means we finished just in time," Georgiana teases.

"I think you're right." She frowns and looks at the time, "And we haven't heard anything from Jane. Should we go find her?"

Lizzie follows Georgiana through the house. They eventually come across Jane in one of the living rooms. She smiles sadly at them. "Hi."

"Hi," Lizzie responds. She pulls her sister into a hug. "You're not letting that blog post get to you are you?"

"Well, it's hard not to." Jane admits. "What was I thinking trying to rush this wedding through? We could have a yearlong engagement. Plus then we'd have time to work out all the wedding details."

"Jane, if you want to wait a year to make your wedding perfect and everything you've dreamed about since you were six, then that's fine. I will support your decision. However, if you're pushing back against getting married this year because of that blog post, that's just ridiculous. The same people who are unhappy now are still going to be unhappy then."

"She's right." Georgiana jumps in. "I understand about being gossiped about by the ladies of my family's acquaintances. Neither of you know this, but I had a really rough year last year. At the boarding school, I attended, there were lots of girls from families of similar backgrounds. One on hand, it's easier making friends because everyone there is rich and no one befriends you for your money. But, just because they come from families with money, doesn't make them nice people. Generally it was the opposite." Georgiana grimaced, "It's hard talking about this."

"You don't have to tell us," says Jane.

"No, it's important for you to hear. I just….I hate reliving it. I finally moved past it." She takes a deep breath. Lizzie reaches over and rubs her arm in encouragement. "One of the girls, Ashley, thought I needed a boyfriend. So she made it her mission to find me one. I don't know why. I wasn't that interested in boys and it was an all-girl school. But during the weekends, we could go into town."

"That's where she found him. He was a just a regular guy. She met him one weekend and then threw me at him the next weekend. She spent the whole week talking him up. He was so cute and so nice and so perfect for me. I'll admit, I was interested in meeting him."

"He was very sweet." She grimaced. "He played the part perfectly. He made me fall for him. I hate to admit it, but I fell hard. He was my first boyfriend. And he was very charming."

"What I didn't realize is that he was an old friend of Ashley's – not a boyfriend – but not just a friend either. Once I fell for him, he started playing games and messing with my head. We fought often. I'm not one for drama, but I would fall for his pattern over and over again."

She shrugs, "I know it sounds silly, but I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him."

"Then he pushed me too far one day. I wasn't ready for anything like that, sexually you know?"

Lizzie grabbed Jane's hand, not wanting to hear more of the story, but not wanting to interrupt her young friend.

"It's all a bit hazy, I think I blocked most of it out. But…Will was coming to my room to see me at the exact moment, I was telling him No. Will saw a girl eavesdropping outside my door who ran off once she saw him. He knocked and opened the door in one move, scaring the boy. He fled. Will called the headmaster and yelled at him. Then he packed my things and we left. I never saw either of them again. I have no idea what the end game was and that drove me crazy for months." She smiles sadly, "But maybe I'm better off not knowing. Anyways, that was a really long story to say that after I withdrew from school, the ladies gossiped about me."

"I don't know how they found out, but there were rumors swirling that I was pregnant and had to come home in disgrace. There were rumors that I was kicked out of boarding school because of my behavior. Those were the two biggest ones. But I realized that ladies who gossiped were the ones who never liked me. They were always mean. And they still are. But not everyone is like that. Of course there are going to be people that talk. But there will be people like me, and Will, and Richard who will stand by your side. If you love Charlie, what's stopping you from marrying him?"

Jane looks at Georgiana and smiles. "You're right." She pulls the girl in for a hug. "Who cares if ladies gossip about me? I don't know them."

"As Grandpa would say, 'You don't own them any money,'" Lizzie said, joining in on the hug.

The three hugged for a moment, never noticing Will standing the doorway. He took in the scene and slowly backed away.