They decided to walk into town, though Mr. Darcy's rather elegant carriage was ofered. Actually, Mr. Darcy thought the girls had used the carriage. Elizabeth, knowing that her fiance would insist, accepted the offer, then purposefully walked of without the carriage, the two young excited girls in tow. She supposed it was wrong to think of them as young when the eldest was almost her age. But she could not help herself, though each was exceedingly different from the other, they shared the same child-like charm and innocence of youths in new bloom. Which, she supposed, was what Rene in fact was. Her charges were a mystery, and elizabeth felt that an amiable stroll would be more conducive to answering probing questions than a formal carriage ride would be. The free air seemed to make people more free with each other, and Elizabeth tended to take full advantage of it.

"I have a question for the both of you. And if you answer it, i shall answer a question of your own. Remember, i told you my story yesterday. Now I wish to hear yours." The two dark haired girls exchanged glances.

"What is it you wish to know?" asked Elaina.

Elizabeth picked her words carefully. "I am curious about your mother. I realize that it might be a sore subject between you two, but... is she still alive?"

Rene answered first. "Yes, she is still alive. She lives with our stepfather in Boston.

"So then... your father and mother are divorced?"

"Yes," spoke Elaina. "And a blessing too. From what I have seen, they were not meant for each other at all."

"Only because father was cruel!" exclaimed Rene. "Only because he was controling and smothered her!"

Elaina responded in a much calmer tone than the one used by her impassioned sister. "Rene, there were reasons for his actions. As you well know." She know addressed Elizabeth. "After I was born, my mother threw me off onto a maid she had hired to nurse me without father's permission. She soon took up her favored passtimes: drinking, smoking, gambling. My father had once enjoyed these very diversions. Their shared interest in these debaucheries was part of their attraction to one another. But as soon as he found out he was to have a child, he dropped everything except for those things which would provide respectfully for his family. He had assumed my mother would too, and that she would nurse me herself, that she would be a diligent mother. Oh, she loved me, but she loved her drinking and gambling more. She was young and beautiful, though so was father, and she desired only to flirt with those more young, more extravagant than herself. My father insisted she stay home and be a proper mother to her newborn daughter. But she wouldn't. He despaired himself of her ever changing, and her faults pained him because of his love for her. When he found out she was pregnant with Rene, he thought that this would finally be thing that made her settle down. But he was wrong. After he realized this, he tried to impose restricitons on her, forbid her certain things. But it only angered her. She left when Rene was but two months old, taking me and traveling to the America's in the arms of a wealthy soldier named Vincent Hazzel. She left no track for my father to follow, as far as I know, she left not even a note. But he did track us down, five years ago. He willingly gave my mother a divorce so that she could marry Vincent, though living in sin with my now stepfather did not bother her a bit." With a scowl, she seemed to have stopped her tale. But sudden joy seemed to light her face, and she spoke once more, this time more briefly. "But... once in America, father met Rachell. And was able to marry her once the divorce was final. They immediately had Hinton. So it has all turned out happily ever after I suppose."

Elizabeth thought it strange that the young girl should use such a phrase to describe that situation when it was normally used to describe one finding one's prince charming. But she abandoned this line of thought for the more pressing matter of the silent and enraged younger sister. Rene did not speak, and indeed, no one did for quite sometime. It was Elizabeth who finally broke the silence. "I... I am sorry for the trials you girls have endured. But... I am happy to know that a little happiness has come into your lives in the form of your stepmother and brother." She said this, hoping that Rene also approved of her father's additions to their family. "Do you mind if i ask still another question?"

"You may," stated Elaina, "after you have answered a question of our own. Rene, do you have a question you are particuarly curious about?" Elizabeth supposed it was a sort of peace offering, and she was glad to note that it worked. Rene's face calmed slightly as she became evermore thoughtful.

"What do you love most about Mr. Darcy? Besides his gorgeous face and wonderful rear end."

"Rene!" adonished Elaina, turning a shocked glance toward her sister and a burning blush to Elizabeth. Rene simply smiled mischieviously, waiting for an answer.

Elizabeth herself laughed. "Rene, you should not say such things," she reprimanded, though mentally agreeing with the young girl on both assertments of Darcy's "gorgeous face" and "fine rear end." "I suppose what I love most about Mr. Darcy is... well... him. He would not be my Mr. Darcy if he were not the combination of all the traits that make him up. He is not one single thing to me, he is all of his characteristics combined. He is utter truthfullness. Even if he tried to lie to me, his eyes would betray him. But he has never tried. He is nobility. Though I thought him horrible when i first met him, i find him wonderfully noble now. The best of gentlemen. He is intelligent and loving and loyal. I... I suppose what i love the most about him is that... is that he loves me, and he does so diligently and perseveringly. Even when I've been an ignorant and silly little fool, he still loves me. It shows bad judgement on his part, I know, but it is something I am more than willing to forgive and overlook." She finished with a whimsicle, longing smile, suddenly wishing she were far from this dirt road and these two girls and quite scadalously closeted with her future husband. Perhaps if she had let him throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to his boat and Antartica, or Australia, or Africa.

She heard beside her two identical sighs. Turning to the two girls she told them, "One day, you will both find a man like my Mr. Darcy. It is inevitable. You are both brilliantly beautiful you know." Rene colored and mummered a thank you while Elaina rolled her eyes and stared at the ground. When she finally lifted them, they were cold and blank, staring cooling down the path the three girls traveled. They soon forgot their questions as the town and dress shop drew near. Though Elizabeth stored away Elaina's look and reaction in the back of her mind, determined to talk to the girl who Elizabeth felt could become a fast friend.

Mr. Jones rode through town later that afternoon. Rene had soon lost interest in shopping, and in truth, so had Elaina. Neither had ever been the sort of girls whose sole delight laid in clothes. And in truth neither was Elizabeth, but she felt she had to rid herself of the last remnant of Mr. Collins. So she was grateful when a obviously tired Elaina declined Mr. Jones' offer to have tea in a shop across the street before heading back to the manner. Rene did except her father's offer, leaving the two older women alone to shop and walk home later. And the two girls felt comfortable with this.

They walked home an hour later, having purchased two servicable cream colored gowns for her role as governess, and one other. Elizabeth was secretly glad that Elaina had convinced her into this last purchase, for though it was miles about the simple attire befitting a governess, it was something she knew Darcy would appreciate seeing her in.

But Elizabeth had to leave these thoughts. Instead, she focused on the girl walking beside her. "Elaina, this may seem an impertinant question, and you do not have to answer it by any means, but... why are you not married? You are twenty, yes? I would assume..." she trailed off.

"No, I do not mind answering you. Not at all actually. I am not ashamed of being unmarried. I see no reason to be so. Did you? Before you married Mr. Darcy?"

"No, not at all! I would have remained so until I found a man worthy to love. I guess I'm lucky to have found him now."

"Very lucky indeed," said Elaina morosely. "I will answer you question," she said with a sigh, "though the answer is a story."

"I like stories, as do you. And we have a lot of time to waste. So please, tell me."

Elaina seemed to be thinking quite intently as they walked on for the next several minutes. Then she began. "There was a man. A boy really, at the time. I met him when i was fourteen. You see, we were far from rich in America. We lived in the city with my mother losing job after job for seamstresses and households. I began to work as soon as i was old enough. I worked in the house of a writer once, Mr. Alexander Nell. He quickly picked up on my love of books, my interest in writing. He took me along as a pupil, refusing to let me pay for his services. I loved him, but he was not the man, the boy. The boy was another pupil of his. And for the longest time, I would not even acknowledge Jon's presence. I had to focus solely on my art you see. But, when I was fifteen, i found one of his stories lying around, read it, and fell in love with it. It was witty and sweet, and inspiring. And i told him so. They say flattering is the best way to anyones heart. Well, after that, we became fast friends. We talked all the time, and read each other's works, helping where we could. We had so much in common, from what we wanted in life, to the same sense of humor.

"I fell in love with him. But I was too shy. I knew he would never see me as anything other than a friend. I began to care about my looks, always wearing my best dresses around him, and fixing my hair in a particular way that he had said looked nice on me. I see my actions as childish and silly now.

"When we were seventeen, three years ago, we entered short stories in a contest without telling Alex. Jon won and i did not. In fact, they sent my submission back to me, claiming that this was a contest for those who could truley dedicate themselves to their art. A woman could not. Jon was offered the chance to travel to England and study at Oxford. It was a chance he could not and indeed should not have passed up. He left. I stayed with Alex and my family. Comforted only by the fact that I had my beloved father back. And that hopefully he would one day take me away from my mother and the life she led. Which he did." Here, Elaina's tale ended. She stared listlessly off into the distance.

"Did you never hear from Jon again?" asked Elizabeth.

"Once. He wrote. He told me that he had been in a terrible accident. That the horse pulling his carriage had been spooked for some reason and bolted into a run. It turned a sharp corner, throwing the carriage against a tree and him along with it. When he wrote, he lay in a hospital bed. He had lost his memory for a week, and when it came back, the first thing he asked for was a pen and paper to write to me. Or so he said. Men are quite capable of lying you know."

"Everyone is capable of lying Elaina."

She refused to meet Elizabeth's eyes. "Do you still love him? Even after all these years?"

She refused to answer Elizabeth's question. "If Mr. Darcy were to disappear for three years, would all those qualities that you say make him the man you love simply disappear? Would you still love him three years later?"

It was a fair question to be sure. It deserved a fair answer. "Yes, I would still love Darcy. How could I not?"

"Then you understand now? Rene does not understand. She thinks me a fool for hanging onto him for so long. And I think myself a fool now and then too. He did not even love me back."

They spent the rest of the walk back in utter silence.