Hello everyone! I was on vacation this week so I could not post on my regular schedule. I trust you will forgive having to wait an extra day or so for the usual update. Poor Elizabeth, how could her evening get any worse? Let's just jump right into the story, shall we?

Chapter 34

Would this dreadful evening ever end?

Elizabeth stood next to Jane while her sister exchanged polite conversation with various ladies, discussing gowns, hairpieces, the latest style of hems and the length of sleeves on gloves. She was able to add her own comments from time to time, but her mind was far away from such trivialities. She could not stop wondering where Darcy had gone, when he would be back, and what he must be thinking of her.

Clearly there was only one way to resolve matters between her and Darcy. She would have to pull him aside at her first opportunity and make him listen to her. But first he had to come back from wherever he had gone. Where was he, and why had he disappeared just when she most needed to speak to him?

Perhaps she should try to go after him, but that would draw too much attention. The last thing she wanted was to create more gossip. She was already wary of the people around her, wondering which of them may have heard the same rumors that had reached Charlotte, and how much they believed it. Was it her imagination that made her think they were looking at her scornfully? She tried to behave naturally, but every word came with an effort.

Elizabeth finally received momentary relief when she spied Colonel Fitzwilliam a little ways across the room, walking in her general direction. With his tall figure and in his red coat he stood out even in this crowd. She could not help recalling his gallantry when they had first met. Their eyes met over the crowd and he gave a little nod of recognition.

In another minute he made his way to her side and they exchanged warm greetings. Elizabeth asked if he had just arrived.

"A rather late showing, I'm afraid," the colonel answered in his genial way. "I had business to attend to. I trust that the ladies of society will excuse me for such a show of discourtesy."

"I rather think they will overlook any fault in a man with a red coat!" Elizabeth replied, half laughing. "My younger sisters certainly would!"

"Not everyone is as generous as your sisters. I shall have to apologize or risk being barred from any future events. But I appear to be overlooking someone," he added, glancing around. "Where is my cousin? Is not Darcy with you tonight?"

"I have not seen him this half hour or more." Elizabeth answered with a cheerfulness she did not feel. "I expect he has gone to one of the gaming rooms."

"Hmph! If he insists on neglecting you, then I shall take advantage of his absence by asking you for a dance."

"If he insists on neglecting me, I shall have to take advantage by accepting."

She gave him an arch look as she said this, and the colonel gave a laugh. "Darcy should know better than to leave something so valuable unattended! Unfortunately I am required to attend a lady of rank for the next set but it would be my pleasure to escort you after that."

They agreed that the colonel would return to claim her in half an hour and then, after some light conversation with Jane and Bingley, the colonel left her side. Elizabeth felt better for the encounter. The colonel's open admiration had done much to calm her nerves and to make her feel that she might be able to deal with both Darcy and Wickham.

Bingley now claimed her attention. "I have not had the pleasure of my wife's company on the floor yet tonight. Elizabeth, do you mind letting me take her away from you for a little while? I assure you we will not be long."

Elizabeth told him that she had no objection. "You need not feel as though you must entertain me. I believe that I will go to the punch table while you and Jane enjoy yourselves, and I shall be back before the colonel returns."

Bingley thanked her, and he and Jane joined the others on the dance floor as Elizabeth turned and made her way through the crowd. The revelry was now at its height, with people pressing closely on every side. She found it difficult to press her way through the crowd of mothers pushing their daughters to the front in order to be seen. She had to step first one way and then the other to make any progress at all, but she wanted to get to the end of the room, where she might possibly have a clear view, to try to spy her husband's tall form in the room.

Stepping this way and that between groups of people she finally found herself on the room's perimeter, where the people were not quite so pressed together. There was a gold gilded wall on one side as she walked. An opening in the wall revealed a doorway into a wide corridor. As Elizabeth began to step past the opening a familiar but dreaded figure came out of it and blocked her path.

Wickham looked down at her with a thin smile on his lips and not a trace of the charm she had once associated with him. "I knew you would be here, Elizabeth. Were you trying to find me?"

Elizabeth pulled herself up short and looked at him defiantly. "Quite the contrary. I could happily go the rest of my life without seeing you and never feel the worse." Wickham's face darkened. He glanced about, then took hold of her elbow and steered her towards the corridor.

Elizabeth resisted at first, pulling her elbow away angrily, but before she knew it she and Wickham were standing facing each other in the deserted corridor. They were not more than a dozen feet from the opening into the ball room, however, and though Elizabeth detested the conversation she knew was to come, it was better to have it here than in the presence of many listening ears.

Wickham lost no time challenging her. "Have you considered my offer?"

Elizabeth crossed her arms. "What a strange question. It was not an offer you made, but a dire warning if I did not comply."

Wickham flushed. "I am only doing what I need to do in order to get ahead, just as you did when you married Darcy."

"You may be surprised to know that I love my husband. I did not marry him for his money, despite the gossip you have maliciously spread to the contrary."

He shook his head impatiently. "Never mind that now. There is something I need from you."

"I have nothing to give you, unless you believe there is some value in knowing the cost of the lace on Mrs. Alston's gown," she replied, scornfully. "Or perhaps you would like to know the latest style of shoe roses? That is the only bit of gossip I have overheard so far this evening."

"I see that you have met Darcy's cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam."

She was instantly on her guard. "He has nothing to do with any of this."

"That is what you think, but you are wrong. He has a letter in the pocket of his jacket."

"What of it?"

"I need to know what it says."

Elizabeth could scarcely believe her ears. "You must be mad! What makes you think I would agree to help you, after you have damaged me with my friend? For you must be the source of the gossip she is hearing."

Wickham shrugged. "You can explain it to her later if you wish. But I must know what is in that letter!"

"Even if I wanted to do as you say, how do you imagine I could possibly steal a letter from the colonel and give it to you? I am not a thief! Nor do I have any skill with ledgerdemain."

"I did not say to steal it. Just read it and learn its contents as best you can. Then put it back without him knowing. I do not want him to be suspicious."

"But how?"

"Use your wit and your charm. You will think of some way."

She tapped her foot impatiently. "I have no reason to do anything for you. You have damaged my reputation and slandered my husband, and I have no way of knowing if you actually have any information about my uncle's family, let alone any means to help them."

"I thought you might doubt me." Wickham held out his clasped hand and turned it over, opening to reveal something that glinted gold. "Do you recognize these?"

A pair of gold cufflinks lay in Wickham's hand. Elizabeth caught her breath; she would have known them anywhere. They were her uncle's favorite, the ones he wore nearly every day, gold with an elaborate embossed G. "Where did you get those?"

She reached out hungrily for them, but Wickham closed his fist again and pulled them away. "That should be enough to convince you that I have the power to do as I say. I will give them to you after you tell me what is in the colonel's letter, if you like. But you must get that letter! Meet me in this same spot once you have read it and can tell me what it says. I am depending on you. Do not disappoint me!"

Wickham turned and disappeared into the crowd, blending in seamlessly in an instant. How had he learned to do that? The knot in her stomach twisted, stronger than ever before.

She thought hard for a minute, then left the hallway and moved back into the main part of the assembly. Though she looked in every possible direction in the crowded room, she could not see her husband. She would have to do whatever she did next without his counsel or support. And she absolutely must not fail. At length, knowing the time for a decision had come, she took a glass of punch and downed it in one swift gulp. Then she took up a glass of wine and resolutely returned to where she had agreed to meet the colonel.

What do you think Elizabeth will do? Will she give Wickham what he wants, find Darcy and tell him everything, or find some other course of action? Please tell me what you think and come back in three weeks to find out the answer! In the meantime, continue enjoying your summer! See you again soon! -Elaine