As the ladies left the dining room Jane nudged Elizabeth off to the side and said "I'll come to your room later. I'll tell you about Lydia then. In the meantime, quit acting so much like Caroline." When Elizabeth started to object Jane put her finger to her lips. "Hush, I'll explain later. I know what you're doing but it won't work. You're puzzling Mr. Darcy. Be your old self. Concentrate on Miss Darcy right now. She's shy, get her talking about music. Follow Mary's lead." Jane thought no one had ever said that last to Elizabeth but she hoped her sister would take heed.

The two oldest Bennet sisters were the last of the ladies to enter the drawing room Mrs. Smithers had set aside for their use. Mary and Miss Darcy were seated together. Kitty was sitting alone on the settee, fairly bouncing with excitement. Jane gave a little shake of her head and Kitty settled down, a little.

"Lizzy, come sit beside me" Kitty said as she patted the seat beside her. When Elizabeth sat there Kitty continued "Do tell us what it's like being a companion."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I can't. When I started, I signed an agreement that I wouldn't say anything about that."

When Kitty started to wheedle Jane rode her down. "Enough, Kitty. We will not be asking Lizzy to violate a confidence." Kitty looked down and mumbled her acquiescence. "Lizzy, are you allowed to discuss the estate itself" asked Jane.

"Yes, I asked Mr. Smithers and he said I could. What would you like to know?" said Elizabeth.

"I do have a lot of questions but I wonder if we can wait until Charles is here so you don't have to repeat yourself. "Jane looked around. "In the meantime, perhaps Miss Darcy and Mary could tell you about some of the concerts they've attended recently."

Elizabeth smiled at her younger sister and Miss Darcy. "I'd love to hear about them. I've been starved for music this past year."

-}{-

The gentlemen joined them, rather sooner than Jane anticipated - the glasses of port must not have been that full, and there was no accompanying smell of tobacco, so there must have been no cigars. Jane was glad of that, she had never liked the smell, not of the pipes favoured by her father and Uncle Philips, nor of the cigars favoured by the younger gentlemen. The sooner she weaned Charles off the stinky habit, the better.

Mr. Darcy stopped in the doorway of the drawing room and Jane watched him watch Elizabeth and his sister interact. Elizabeth was telling some silly story, likely about how ill she played the pianoforte judging by the hand gestures, and Miss Darcy was giggling. Mary was smiling politely, having heard the story many times before, and Kitty was bouncing like she wanted to jump in and add some embellishment but was held back by Jane's presence. Jane was gratified to see Mr. Darcy smile at the scene, a real smile, not a thin-lipped smile like one you would expect from such a reserved man. Jane smiled to herself, a secret smile, she loved it when a plan started to come together.

Charles demanded to know what was so funny and so Elizabeth had to tell her story again, and the telling was even better than the first time, because the Lizzy of old, confident Lizzy, witty Lizzy, expressive Lizzy told it. Everyone laughed. Mr. Darcy laughed and beamed at Elizabeth. Jane laughed and clapped to see it.

The rest of the evening passed most satisfactorily. Elizabeth answered the questions of the party about the house and the estate with wit, intelligence and an eye to the telling detail. Perhaps too much detail, Kitty seemed to be fascinated with the whole business of bathing in the laundry tub and kept asking about it. Jane could see that Elizabeth's answers disclosed that she had given much thought to the running of a house and an estate. Jane could see that Mr. Darcy had seen that as well. 'Keep it up, Lizzy' Jane thought. You're doing very well, very well indeed.

-}{-

Jane knocked on Elizabeth's bedroom door. When Elizabeth let her in Jane said "I can't stay long, Charles wants me."

"Wants you? For what? Can't he wait?" asked Elizabeth.

For three beats Jane contemplated giving her sister an honest answer, but seeing the complications that that would entail, just said "It'd take too long time to explain; some day you'll understand, it suffices to say that if I'm not out of here in five minutes Charles is going to be banging on the door. Now you wanted to know about Lydia."

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes…"

"To make a long story short: the militia left Meryton for Brighton; Mrs. Forster, the Colonel's wife, invited Lydia to go with her; against my pleas, Father let her go, you know how he values his quiet" here Jane could not disguise her sneer. "Once in Brighton Mr. Wickham deserted the militia, stealing the officers' mess funds in doing so; Lydia went with him, leaving a note for Mrs. Forster saying they were eloping."

Elizabeth gasped "They didn't!"

"They didn't go to Gretna if that's what you mean. They were traced to London and there they disappeared. For a while anyway. The militia eventually found and arrested them. Mr. Wickham for desertion and theft; Lydia for being his accessory. Mr. Wickham was hanged and Lydia got seven years transportation."

Elizabeth gasped again. "No!"

"It gets worse. When the militia left Meryton, it left behind a great deal of debt and several ruined girls. Mr. Wickham was not the only offender but he was the worst one. Meryton petitioned the Crown for redress and in response a proclamation was read out in Meryton announcing what had happened to Mr. Wickham and his wife, Lydia Wickham."

"So, they did get married."

"It does not appear so; Charles had his solicitor make some discrete inquiries and there is no record in any likely parish of them getting married. But because Lydia used the name 'Wickham', instead of 'Bennet', it seems that outside of Meryton, no one knows of the connection."

"But if we're ruined in Meryton, word will get out - we're ruined everywhere. Mr. Darcy …" Elizabeth's face broke, she looked about to cry.

Jane shook Elizabeth's shoulders. "He knows; he doesn't appear to care. He hasn't slipped your hook. Be careful and you can still reel him in. You want him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"But you don't love him. You've given up that dream, of marrying for love, haven't you?"

Elizabeth looked down. "Yes. I'm not a romantic, not anymore. Being a companion – well, it's given me a lot of time, too much really, to think and I've come round to Charlotte's way of thinking. Now, I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Darcy's character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state."

Jane smiled at her sister. "Don't give up on love. If you quit emulating Caroline; if you are more like the old you, like you were tonight; if you give Mr. Darcy a fair chance; love might still bite you."

There was a soft knock at the door. Jane opened it a crack and saw Charles standing there with an expectant look. Jane whispered "I'll be there in a minute, go get ready."

Charles bent forward and stole a kiss. He waggled his eyebrows and said "I'm ready already."

Jane closed the door before he could look down. He was so expressive. She fought down her blush, unsuccessfully, and turned back to Elizabeth. "I have to go; we'll steal some time tomorrow and talk some more."

Jane went to open the door but stopped and turned back. "Before I forget – Charles told me that the bad blood between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham had something to do with Miss Darcy, he isn't exactly sure what happened, but no matter what, don't ever mention Mr. Wickham to Miss Darcy. Now I really have to run or he'll start without me." And with a giggle Jane left Elizabeth's bedroom.