A/N: My bedroom is nearly all setup and I am slowly getting into a routine of writing, in addition to my other responsibilities to my daughter's education ( I homeschool). Returning to my hometown to live for the first time in 13 years meant I was a bit of a novelty for a spell, but that has also begun to quiet down allowing me to find comfort in a normal day-to-day. :) I have 27 total chapters outlined for this story with about 3-5 more after that to end it, so we have quite a ways to go. Please keep your comments and encouragement coming, I'm pushing out the doubt in my head that tells me over and over again I haven't published since August 2019. Oh other huge, huge win? I found out my USB cord was bad on my microphone and I'm back to being able to dictate again! WOOHOO

- XOXO Elizabeth Ann West
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By the time Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth walked to Longbourn, the household stirred with activity in the yards and gardens. Mr. Darcy handed his horse off to a stablehand's safety just as Elizabeth's stomach growled in a most unladylike fashion. Embarrassed, her forearms covered her midsection, and then Mr. Darcy's stomach made a similar noise in kind.

"You did not break your fast before walking?" he asked, surprised to learn such an intimate detail about his future wife outside the confines of them living together.

"Neither did you," she countered.

"Touche," he acknowledged and made a step towards the front door, but Elizabeth hesitated. Ever the gentleman now that they were within view, he stood stoically beside her, not risking a public touch. He clasped his hands behind his back and stood with his left foot slightly ahead of his right, his weight resting upon his back foot.

Looking between the door and back at her beau, Elizabeth worried. She lowered her eyes to spy his boots, wishing she had stolen one more kiss before they arrived, or asked for another tryst amongst the trees.

"I believe standing out here may become conspicuous," he observed.

"Do I appear differently?" she asked, earnestly, her fingers clutching the sides of her skirt.

Mr. Darcy stepped forward, about to reassure her physically, then pulled back. The motion and sudden retreat afflicted Elizabeth in a cruel manner.

"This is all just so wrong," she said, turning about and half-considering leaving him and scurrying around the hedges to enter the back door of the house.

His voice rang out in a strong baritone, making her pause.

"Elizabeth," he said, and she turned to him, but just two strides and he was already close enough to her person beyond the bounds of propriety. "I love you," he whispered and leaned down to kiss her cheek. As he predicted, the front door swung open at that point, though no one materialized. "You look beautiful, and I believe whatever thoughts have put you at unease, all shall be well."

"London?" she asked as he linked his arm into hers.

"You can rest assured," he managed, under his breath as they reached the threshold.

Inside, they both squinted before their eyes adjusted to the lower light.

"Lizzy! Lizzy! Lizzy! You missed it!" Kitty's voice burst from the darkness of the stairwell before her face appeared in the sunlight from the opened door. She pulled up short when she spied Mr. Darcy, confused. "Oh, good morning, Mr. Darcy," she managed with a small curtsy.

Elizabeth looked past her sister as it was clear Kitty had not opened the door, who had? But she spied no one in the near vicinity and the lower floor seemed eerily quiet.

"What have we missed?" Mr. Darcy asked Kitty, trying to aid his future bride in her comfort lest her words still failed her. He managed a welcoming nod to Kitty despite feeling immeasurably guilty for pushing such intimacy with Elizabeth and leaving her no time to recover. Still, she was strong and despite his privileged knowledge, she appeared nonplussed now that they had entered Longbourn.

Kitty opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Bennet came bustling into the foyer.

"See to your sister, Kitty. Come back with what Jane needs upon a tray."

"But Mama," Kitty started, not wishing to be a mere servant. But when she spied no aid would come from Elizabeth in thwarting their mother, she reluctantly turned back to the stairs in obedience.

"Good morning, Mrs. Bennet," Mr. Darcy said, bowing low and remembering his manners.

"You have just missed your friend, though he appears to be in a high spirit today. My poor, sweet Jane was very upset, I tell you. And I put to you, sir, have you any care for our family's poor needs? I have no fathom as to the game you play with my Lizzy, but I cannot say she is the better for it," Mrs. Bennet scolded the guest standing in her foyer in a sing-song, matter-of-fact tone that did not match the upbraiding she administered. Such a contrast in meaning and tone put Darcy in a confused stupor for a moment.

"Mama! There is no game that I am playing with Mr. Darcy. We are engaged to marry!"

Mrs. Bennet continued to glare at Mr. Darcy as the man stood utterly speechless. She did not look to her daughter as she lobbed her next accusation, allowing her words to accuse the one she felt most responsible.

"It is not a respectable engagement that asks his friend to wait in his nuptials, refuses to draft a contract, and enjoys private audiences with a young lady."

"Mama!" Elizabeth complained, looking frantically to the door of her father's study for support, but none came.

Mr. Darcy shuffled his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. "Madam, you are only partly correct in your account. It was rather disrespectful of me to ask Charles to delay his wedding but a week so that I might travel to London to have a proper contract, one befitting my wife, drafted by my solicitors. Further, it was my very friend that you so highly esteem that abandoned your daughter, Elizabeth, so that she was quite alone with me, but we walked back along the public trail, as I am a man of honor."

He bowed low and the beginnings of anger in his mind clouded his earlier concern for Elizabeth's well-being. As he grew diverted by his thoughts, Elizabeth attempted to further distract her mother to no avail. Mrs. Bennet remained on a tear.

"I'm afraid the date of the wedding cannot be moved, as so many of the invitations have been written and some sent with this morning's post. But my poor, sweet Jane, when Mr. Bingley asked for such a change, she was most fearful that once more you had convinced him to abandon her. Just as you did last autumn, did you not, Mr. Darcy?"

Mr. Darcy nodded. Elizabeth wished to speak, but something about her intended's quiet gave her pause.

"Yes, I had heard a similar report and I am grateful for your honesty this morning, sir. Therefore, you will understand why I have changed my mind and can no longer support a double wedding for my daughters. It would appear inappropriate to have the man who very nearly divided their love to stand at the same altar," Mrs. Bennet explained in a firm voice.

"Perhaps I should speak with Mr. Bennet this morning," Mr. Darcy offered, rather than addressing Mrs. Bennet's edict directly.

Mrs. Bennet stepped to block Mr. Darcy's path to the Bennet study with her physical presence. "You have missed him."

"Mama, this is a serious matter! Are you and Papa withdrawing your support from my match? Where is he?" Incensed, Elizabeth stepped around her mother to confront the closed door and turned the handle rather violently. But the lock held secure, and she gasped at such a thing. Her father never locked the door!

Mrs. Bennet wrung her hands and her voice raised half an octave. "He has gone to Meryton to visit our Brother Phillips, and I'm afraid they are quite indisposed today."

Mr. Darcy nodded again, and Elizabeth winced as she tried to understand what was happening. Her mother had ended all hopes of a double-wedding. While she had just made plans with Mr. Darcy to wed in London, she suddenly realized it was not precisely what she wanted. Truthfully, despite their plans to procure a special license, she still very much depended upon marrying amongst her family and friends, with the license merely working around the banns requirement.

"But if Mr. Darcy purchased a special license-" she began to explain to her mother, hoping the distinction of a Bishop would distract her from the decision.

Mrs. Bennet gave up her staring contest with Mr. Darcy and rounded to consider her wayward daughter. The ire she had kept under good regulation in front of company unleashed the moment her ungrateful daughter offered cheek. "How could you dare to petition to marry with Jane when you have engaged in dangerous and reckless behavior that at times I cannot claim lacked malice? Mr. Bingley explained how it was you who wrote a letter intimating that you two would meet Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley in secret up on Oakham Mount. How could you spread such lies, Elizabeth?"

"You sent us there just last week," Elizabeth gambled, her voice low. Her father being out of the house significantly lowered her allies in the household, but she was no longer a naive maiden; her mother could not intimidate her with threats and neglect.

Mrs. Bennet threw her hands up in frustration, and Kitty reappeared at the top of the stairs to witness the end of the argument.

"Another manipulation! Have you lost all sense, child, that you provide further guilt as a defense?" Mrs. Bennet asked, and Elizabeth faced her mother's gaze with her chin slightly tilted up to meet it.

The words did not sound like her mother, they sounded like her father. This discussion had been held before they arrived, and she involuntarily looked to the study door, suspicious that her father was not gone at all.

Mr. Darcy interjected to distract Mrs. Bennet away from berating his beloved. "I believe we are at an unfortunate impasse. Perhaps at dinner this evening we might all discuss," Mr. Darcy began, heavily fishing for an invitation to dine at Longbourn that evening.

"Impossible. Mr. Bennet, Jane, and I will dine at Netherfield Park this very evening, at the invitation of your friend," Mrs. Bennet explained, finding absurdity in the word, but lacking another description for the now strained connection between Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth exchanged glances at the news of her exclusion.

Mr. Darcy cleared his throat. "I shall look forward to seeing you all tonight, and you, Miss Elizabeth," he added, bowing his head low once again.

"No, not Lizzy. Mr. Bingley and Jane are resolved that we should not have a repeat of the last dinner. My daughter will remain home and aid me in the many tasks I have to complete. It would also be best, Mr. Darcy, if you visit again once you have a marriage contract for my husband's consideration. It has been some weeks since you applied for my daughter's hand, and surely you do not wish to tongues to wag." Mrs. Bennet added, taking a step towards Mr. Darcy as though to usher him to the door.

Infuriated, Mr. Darcy stood to his full height and considered his adversary for half a second, and then the needs of his Elizabeth as he spied her paled face in his peripheral vision. Changing tacks again, and catching Mrs. Bennet by surprise, he addressed Elizabeth.

"May I have the pleasure of the first dance tomorrow evening at the assembly?"

"You may," Elizabeth answered, with a curtsy that was all but proper.

Mrs. Bennet began to fluster and talk about the work she and the girls needed to tend to and shoo Mr. Darcy towards the front door. He walked backward from her advances and never lost his connection with Elizabeth. He studied her lips closely as they appeared to mouth words to him with an "L" sound, but whether she sent her love or invoked their plan for London, he was unclear as Mrs. Bennet grew quite distracting.

"Goodbye, Mr. Darcy! We hope to see you soon after you have seen your solicitor you speak so highly of," she said, cheerily while the content of the message held the most menacing threat to his heart.

"I wish you and your family well, Madam," he managed as Kitty came down the stairs.

"Goodbye, Mr. Darcy! Don't worry, Jane has stopped crying!" Kitty called out, brightly, earning a glare from Mrs. Bennet and a tip of Mr. Darcy's hat to acknowledge the family drama he had somehow become entangled.

Elizabeth rushed to the window, throwing off her mother's haphazard grasp of her arm by jerking the limb free. She saw Mr. Darcy ride off on his horse and felt an immediate pang in her heart.

"You are restricted to this house," Mrs. Bennet pronounced, believing her daughter would comply without argument.

Elizabeth whirled around on her heel, ignoring Kitty's presence entirely. "What have I done to this family to deserve such censure?" Elizabeth asked, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Mrs. Bennet clucked her tongue. "It was a mistake to even consider a double wedding! Had I known that Mr. Darcy was instrumental in separating Mr. Bingley from dear, sweet Jane, why . . . I would have never allowed him in this house!"

"But he paid penance for his mistake; he righted his wrong. He is the one who brought Mr. Bingley back for the shoot!"

"Which wouldn't have been necessary if he hadn't separated them in the first place," Kitty added, earning a scowl from both her mother and her sister.

In unison, they yelled at her, "Go upstairs, Kitty!"

Highly offended, Kitty crossed her arms and refused, and she was ignored just as swiftly as she had been banished.

"Your sister is not wrong. Jane ran to London, only to be humiliated, humiliated I tell you, all because of that man," Mrs. Bennet argued. "And I will not risk her union again, no, no, you have had your fun, Lizzy. What meddling and mischief you play at will no longer interfere with your sister's future."

Mrs. Bennet turned as though the conversation were over, but Elizabeth had not finished.

"And Miss Bingley, shall you rescind her right to visit Longbourn as well? She was just as guilty as Mr. Darcy, perhaps even more so. She is the one who never returned Jane's visit!" Elizabeth yelled as her mother started to quit the room and threw her hands up in dismissal.

Standing in silence, Elizabeth fumed at the incredible inequity of the situation. The only reason Jane even entertained the suit of the spineless Bingley was that she had confronted Mr. Darcy in the first place.

Feeling pity for her sister, Kitty approached Elizabeth with a handkerchief. Her elder sister accepted the offering of peace and dried her face.

"Miss Bingley is just as guilty," Elizabeth repeated and Kitty reluctantly grimaced.

"Don't you think, I mean, isn't Mr. Darcy's station rather ahead of even the Bingleys? If his opinion had been different, I believe everyone would see it your way." Kitty scrunched up her nose as she thought deeply about the social statuses of the parties involved. "Miss Bingley is never going to disagree with Mr. Darcy," Kitty explained, using her hands to refer to the faction above stairs.

Elizabeth stared at her sister in disbelief, then to keep from crying anew, she laughed at the utter folly of the whole mess!

"You don't know Mr. Darcy as I do, nor Miss Bingley. None of you do," she stated with finality and walked away, keeping Kitty's embroidered handkerchief.