Happy Thursday, dear readers! Thank you, as always, to all you wonderful people clicking on like, favorite, or leaving reviews. I so enjoy seeing that people are enjoying this story.

On to chapter 11... ~ CC

It was not lost on Elizabeth that Darcy did not want her and Ned to leave when it came time to go home again.

The pained expression of his countenance, as he lifted Ned into his carriage, seemed to say "I've not had enough time. Give me more."

She could sympathize with his feelings, as he'd only had an hour or so with his son, and she'd had Ned to herself for three years. He had not argued, though, when she announced it was time to depart. Elizabeth had begun to feel overwhelmed with all that they had discussed and his sensitivity to her emotions bore fruit in her gratitude for his immediate acquiescence to her request for the carriage.

"You'll come again, won't you?" he asked after handing her in.

Elizabeth offered a smile. "I believe my aunt decreed this evening to be the date for our dinner engagement, so yes."

"You know that is not what I meant."

She smiled again. "I do. And of course we will come again. Tomorrow morning, same time?"

Darcy smiled. "I should like that very much," he replied. "What will you tell your relations about where you have been this morning?"

"Given my confession of last evening, my Uncle Bennet and elder cousins are already aware of my intent to call on you," Elizabeth said. "They were, in fact, quite useful in distracting my aunt and younger cousins when it came time for the arrival of your carriage, though any one of the servants could have seen."

He smirked. "And if they did?"

"There may be questions, if that person spoke to my aunt, and if there should be I will endeavor to answer them as honestly as possible."

Darcy's brow lifted. "You will tell her the truth, then?" he asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "If it becomes necessary," she replied. "Perhaps I ought to have done with it instead of taking the coward's road—few can match my Aunt Bennet for speed in spreading gossip, and our sad little tale is almost better than fiction. If I were to tell her everything, we would no doubt be the talk of the town by church time on Sunday. Perhaps in so doing, the talk will have died down by the time we remove to Pemberley."

"You know I can whisk you off to Derbyshire as early as tomorrow morning—tonight even, if you like," Darcy said.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Thank you, Mr. Darcy, but no. I should like at least a week to conclude my business affairs in Meryton, and you did say you might remain as long as a fortnight."

"I did indeed, though in all honesty, it will depend on any news I receive from Pemberley," he said. "My housekeeper has been instructed to send an express if my mother's condition becomes unmanageable. Should I receive such a letter, I would need to go straight away."

"And you might as well take us with you when you do," Elizabeth agreed. "Very well, then, I will do my best to see that my affairs are concluded as soon as may be done. Shouldn't take more than a day or two, really, as I haven't but two or three accounts to close in Meryton and Ned and I haven't much in the way of material things, so it will be fairly easy to pack it all."

At long last he shut the carriage door, though he tapped on the window and indicated she should lower it. When she had, he said, "I want to thank you again, Elizabeth, for agreeing to return with me—I suppose I ought to have said so from the beginning. I know this whole affair cannot be any easier for you to endure than it is for me."

Elizabeth was more than a little surprised by his confession. "Really? You don't seem to be having much difficulty, while I have been little more than a nervous wreck."

Darcy laughed. "You would not think so had you seen how wild I was upon my arrival," he said. "I must have appeared to Fitzwilliam and Bingley as a madman, but for you—and for Ned—I know I must keep my temper in check. Believe me, Elizabeth, I am hardly in command of myself. Do not mistake composure for ease."

Her study of his countenance said he was being open with her, and she considered that the presence of herself and their son might really be the only thing that kept him from losing his mind. In truth, she felt the same about having Ned to focus on—had not there been a child for her to care for, she might well and truly be a nonsensical mess.

"I shall bear it in mind, sir," she replied at last, "and endeavor to model my conduct after yours."

With a final nod, Darcy stepped back and Elizabeth lifted the sideglass back into place. As the carriage started off, Ned stood on his knees and turned to wave at Darcy out of the window at the back. Elizabeth allowed him to do so unto they had turned from the drive onto the road.

"I like Papa. He was nice," said the boy as he sat properly again.

"Yes, dearest, he was very kind," she agreed.

"I wanna see Papa again."

"We will see him again tomorrow, Ned," Elizabeth replied.

"And see Pem-ber-ley?"

She stifled a sigh. "We will not see Pemberley tomorrow, dearest, but we will see it very soon."

Ned looked up at her, and the hopeful expression on his little face tore at her heart as much as his next words: "Will we live at Pem-ber-ley with Papa?"

Elizabeth drew a breath to steady herself before asking, "Would you like to live with your papa?"

"I think so. You live there too, right?" Before she could reply, he threw his arms about her waist and held her tightly. "I no go without Mamma."

Elizabeth returned his embrace and smiled over the top of his head. "Mamma would not let you go without her, Neddy."

From that point, Ned was content to talk of Mr. Bingley's hunting dogs, his horses, and the animals he had seen in the book she'd found. His mother allowed him to prattle on as she once again considered her discussion with his father. She thought of Darcy's revelation about Lady Anne, his insistence that as his wife she had no need to work, and the implication that he wanted more than peaceful co-existence at Pemberley.

Did Darcy really intend theirs to be a true marriage, in which he would eventually expect her to share his bed and bear him more children? While she could not deny that it would make her happy indeed to give Ned a sibling or two, she did not think herself capable of laying with a man she did not love—even if he was her husband. And what of all the rules to govern their relationship she had thought of yesterday, where had they all gone? Why had she not immediately dismissed the idea of their broken marriage being more than just the words?

Because you still find him as attractive now as you did four years ago, that's why, uttered her inner voice. There may be no love now as there was then, but you are married to the man, so would it really hurt to take advantage of the connection?

Perhaps other women could, but Elizabeth did not think herself one of those. She just could not imagine giving herself to a man not only that she did not love, but that did not love her in return.

It was not until they were at last turning up the drive to Longbourn that Elizabeth began to concern herself with what Ned might accidentally reveal. She contemplated only for a moment asking him to say nothing, for what fairness could their be in asking a child to keep a secret? Besides, there stood the chance he wouldn't mention meeting his father and she would have fretted for no reason. Elizabeth then recognized, with a small dose of shame, that she was already being unfair to her Aunt Bennet—her fear of exposure had prevented her including the lady in the confession she had made the night before to her husband and daughters.

With a sigh of resignation, Elizabeth knew she was going to have to say something to her aunt before the dinner that evening. It was only a matter of time before the truth came out—one of Mr. Bingley's servants, some of whom had been locally employed, would inevitably make some observation to someone outside of that house regarding Elizabeth and Ned's visits with Mr. Darcy. The people in Meryton would start talking, and both their reputations could be damaged by the gossip. Would it not be best, she wondered, to take advantage of her aunt's gift for gab—as she had already suggested to Darcy—and get the truth out there before the rumor mill began to produce lies?

The carriage suddenly coming to a stop jarred Elizabeth from her thoughts. A coachman was quick to appear and open the door for her, and when she and Ned both were on the ground, she thanked him and bade the young man to once again express her gratitude to his master. Turning to the house, she found herself little surprised to see her aunt standing in the doorway, a perplexed expression upon her face as she watched Darcy's carriage drive away.

"Lizzy, who's carriage was that?" she asked. "It did not look like Mr. Bingley's—looked much finer than his, and he has a fine one indeed. Where were you that you took a stranger's carriage home?"

As Elizabeth drew breath to reply, Ned cheerfully said, "I meet Papa, Auntie Bennet! He show me dogs and horses and wants take me and Mamma to Pem-ber-ley."

Mrs. Bennet stared wide-eyed at Elizabeth. "Lizzy, what is the boy talking about? He speaks such nonsense."

"Aunt, if we could please go into the house, I will explain everything," Elizabeth replied. "Let me fetch Jane or Mary to look after Ned, and we will go into my uncle's book room."

Her aunt nodded, and moved to allow her and Ned to step into the entry hall. Elizabeth could already hear Mary playing a tune on the pianoforte, and looking down to her son, she said, "Come, Neddy. We will go to your cousin Mary that she may give you another music lesson. Mamma has some things she must talk to Aunt Bennet about."

"All right, Mamma. I like music," Ned replied simply.

Elizabeth made quick work of delivering her son into her cousin's care, explaining in a low voice that he'd rather made it necessary to now tell her aunt the truth. Mary nodded her understanding and immediately engaged Ned in playing a lively tune. Elizabeth then returned to her aunt, who had remained in the hall, and gestured for her to precede her into the library. Mr. Bennet, who was there enjoying an early glass of port and a book—as he so often was—expressed his surprise in seeing them both, but hardly more than a glance from his niece was required before understanding dawned and he put his book aside.

Mrs. Bennet sat in the visitor's chair. "What's going on, Lizzy? Why would Ned say he'd met his father—I thought his father died before you came to Hertfordshire?"

"No, Aunt," Elizabeth replied. She moved to stand at the front of the desk and leaned back onto it. "Ma'am, do you recall my mother or father telling you I had been employed as a young gentlewoman's companion before our coming here?"

Her aunt's brow furrowed in consternation. "Well now, I do believe that Mrs. Gardiner said that you had got such a position on an estate not five miles from where you lived—Lambton was the village, was it not?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Papa met Mamma in Lambton—where she grew up—during his early travels, and they reared me there as well while Papa first worked in then took over the management of Grandpapa Jones's general store."

Mrs. Bennet had been slowly nodding her head as Elizabeth spoke, then again looked to her with confusion. "I remember all that, Lizzy, but do not see what any of it has to to with that fine carriage or Ned's claim to have met his father."

"I believe our niece is giving you the family history so that you will have a greater understanding of the circumstances, my dear," offered Mr. Bennet.

At this, Elizabeth inclined her head. "Uncle is right. Just a few months before my sixteenth birthday, I happened to be spending an afternoon in the store with my father—I had no need to work, but I liked to help and one day each week he allowed me to assist the female customers who came in. On this particular day, we were visited—as occasionally happened—by Lady Anne Darcy of Pemberley and her daughter, who was then only eleven years. Miss Darcy was a very shy girl, but I was able to get her to talk to me and tell me what she was looking for—I even made her smile and laugh, which her mother confessed she did rarely. A few days later, Lady Anne paid us a call at home, and asked my parents if they would consent to my working as a companion for her daughter. No one, she said—least of all a stranger—had been able to reach Miss Darcy as easily as I had in those few minutes. I would be paid very generous wages and have a room at the lady's home near to Miss Darcy's, and would be allowed a full day to myself once a week. I was full young yet for such a position, my father told her, but as it was to be so close to home, he and my mother agreed.

"Of the first five months of my employment, there is little of interest to share. I accompanied Miss Darcy on outings, sat in on her lessons, helped her with her needlework… It was not until her elder brother came home after a grand tour of the continent** that everything changed."

Elizabeth pushed off the edge of the desk and paced away, crossing her arms as the memories came flooding back. "Mr. Darcy was a great surprise to me—instead of behaving as indifferent to my presence as I expected, he seemed eager to make my acquaintance. He would consistently appear wherever his sister and I were going, and I swear to you, aunt, I tried my hardest to keep a distance between us. I reminded him many times that it was not seemly that he should seek my company."

When she turned back, she could no longer contain the tears that had been stinging her eyes. Elizabeth hastily wiped away those that slipped down her cheeks as she said, "But we are all of us fools in love," she said. "His charm, his wit, his smiles… His kindness and gentleness, and frankly his refusal to give up pursuit of me… All this made it utterly impossible to maintain my indifference. I fell as much in love with him as he did with me."

She went on to describe the circumstances of the elopement, and all that Darcy had revealed to her about the lies his uncle had told and the bribes he had paid. Mrs. Bennet shook her head furiously, declaring that her brother could not be so unjust and unkind to his own daughter.

"I did not want to believe it either, Aunt," said Elizabeth. "But too much of what he told me rings true."

"Jane, dearest, just where do you think your brother got the money for his house in London?" Mr. Bennet asked. "Where do you suppose he got the money for his first boat? Do you think he earned it working on that merchant vessel?"

Mrs. Bennet sputtered, then said, "Well, of course it was money he saved from working! I remember Edward was always a very frugal fellow. And he sold the general store and your home in Lambton, did he not?"

"To a cousin of my mother, yes," Elizabeth replied. "But do you really believe the sale of a cottage and a general store in a small country village, and one year as a merchant sailor, were really enough to purchase a home in London—even one in Cheapside—and a boat large enough to do the work he does?"

Her aunt drew a hand to her lips as her eyes filled with tears. Elizabeth was moved by her emotion and knelt before her, taking her hand as she said, "I am so very sorry to tell you such things about your brother, Aunt, as it is clear you are deeply hurt by them. But I would have you imagine how this has affected me, his own daughter, and his grandson. We have missed years with Mr. Darcy."

"He wants to take him, doesn't he?" said Mrs. Bennet with sudden animation. "He wants to take Neddy away from you! Well I won't have it! I may not be his grandmother but I'm as close as, and I won't allow him to steal your son away. That precious boy belongs here, with a family who loves him!"

Elizabeth smiled. "Oh, Aunt… That you would face down a man as ridiculously wealthy as Mr. Darcy for the sake of keeping my son and I together… I cannot tell you what that means to me. But you have no need to fear that he will steal Ned away. He does want to take his son back to Derbyshire when he goes, but I am to go with them. I must admit he is being extraordinarily kind not to separate us, but I do suspect it is because we are still married according to the law."

"Still married? But what of Mr. Woods? Oh wait, you said he wasn't real, didn't you?" said Mrs. Bennet, who then cast a narrow-eyed glance across the desk at her husband. "You knew about this, didn't you? How could you keep such a thing from me, Mr. Bennet?"

"My dear, I only learned of all this myself last evening," Mr. Bennet replied. "Elizabeth came to me for advice after speaking with Mr. Darcy—she is good enough to be concerned as to how the truth will affect the family."

Mrs. Bennet patted the hand that held hers, saying, "So very good of you, Lizzy, to think of us. Who would have thought such an obstinate, headstrong girl would be so concerned for her family? But yes, we must think of the girls—I should not like it one jot if this nasty business affects their chances of a good match. Jane is all but taken care of—it is a good thing Mr. Bingley is such a good friend of this Mr. Darcy. You said he was ridiculously wealthy?"

Elizabeth stood. "I did, Aunt, but pray do not expect me to use the connection to throw my cousins in the path of other rich men. My relationship with Mr. Darcy is at present very precarious—we are on friendly terms but we have already argued, and I should like the transition to be as peaceful as may be. Besides which, it is my understanding that he neither goes into Town nor entertains at his estate very often since his mother has been ill."

"Oh, very well, since you put it like that," griped Mrs. Bennet with a frown. "This business of my brother taking money to separate a young couple who loved each other is most vexing! Such a connection as you have, Lizzy—what a fine thing it could have been for my girls! I sorely wish Edward were here for you to give him one of your set-downs, Mr. Bennet."

Elizabeth snorted softly. "You may get your wish as early as tomorrow, ma'am. I posted a letter to my parents this morning, and knowing my mother as I do, she will most certainly come to have her say about it."

"Good! I hope she does, for I mean to have my say about it as well, you can be sure of that!" Mrs. Bennet heaved a sigh. "But oh, what do we say to our neighbors, Mr. Bennet? You know what sort of busybodies Mrs. Long and Lady Lucas are."

Mr. Bennet indulged her with a smile. "They are amateurs compared to you, my dear," said he, before casting a glance at Elizabeth. "As to what our neighbors may be told, for now I believe it should be nothing, until such time as our niece and her estranged husband decide just how much of their sordid affair they wish to make public. Ours is not the only family to be affected by this business, you know."

"What of my sister Phillips? Edward is her brother as well as he is mine."

"I understand that, Mrs. Bennet, but your sister is no better at keeping a secret that Mrs. Long or Lady Lucas," Mr. Bennet told her with a knowing gaze.

Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from laughing—he knew just what to say to Mrs. Bennet to make her do exactly as he wished.

"Let us meet this Mr. Darcy this evening, get to know the young man a little," her uncle was saying. "Tomorrow, should your brother and his wife appear as Lizzy seems to believe they will do, you can have a good row with Edward about his foolish actions ruining your daughters' prospects, given Lizzy's lofty connections."

Mrs. Bennet's eyes flashed with determination. "And I most certainly will do that, you can be sure of it!"

Her husband grinned. "I look forward to the spectacle, Mrs. Bennet."

Strangely enough, so do I, Elizabeth mused as she departed their company in search of her son. Seeing that Ned was content to remain with Mary for the time being, she went to their room to get back to her work. It almost made her sad that these were to be the last gowns she would make on behalf of Mrs. Harper.

** I miscalculated Darcy's age when he and Elizabeth first met - he would have been 23, not 21 as I originally thought, and so would have been graduated from university one or two years. I decided to change the reason for his absence when Elizabeth began working as Georgiana's companion to a grand tour, something wealthy young men often did in those days. Will edit chapter 1 to include this change as well.