-`o´-

"What can be the meaning of this?" said Charlotte, as soon as Mr. Darcy left after visiting alone with her friend. "My dear, Eliza, he must be in love with you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way."

"You are too good a friend, Charlotte, to think I have such power over him. My vanity might be sorely tested when I have left you to go back home! Mr. Darcy is the same he always was."

"But to call on you in such an intimate manner. Just think!"

"He thought he would find all of us at home," Elizabeth replied, frowning a little.

"Did he? How do you know?"

"He said so; he made his apologies for intruding on my morning."

"Oh. What did you two talk about?"

"The theatre, although it was only me talking."

"Theatre?" Charlotte frowned.

"I did not know what to say to him. And he never talks if he can help it; I really wish he would have stayed at Rosings and kept his cousin company."

"I daresay we will see the Colonel before long."

"Oh, yes, the Colonel. Mr. Darcy could have enlisted him too, if he sought amusement. I was thinking he should have kept Miss de Bourgh company. For what reason did he come to the Parsonage to say 'Indeed, Miss Bennet' and 'Quite so', I cannot fathom."

"Is this really all he said?"

"Indeed, Mrs. Collins!" Elizabeth exclaimed in a very good imitation of Mr. Darcy's timbre and they both laughed gaily.

"I cannot make him out," Charlotte said, looking intently at Elizabeth as if seeking to discern if her friend was hiding any detail. She was soon satisfied that Eliza was truthful.

"Do not let it bother you, Charlotte. You know full well I care nothing for Mr. Darcy and even if I did, he is to marry Miss de Bourgh. I will have to live with the disappointment of not being the next Mrs. Darcy," she said with an exaggerated sigh, while clutching her hands to her heart.

"How you make me laugh, Eliza! However, I do not believe there is any understanding between Mr. Darcy and Miss de Bourgh. Why, she is almost thirty years of age and so must be Mr. Darcy. If he wanted to marry her, it stands to reason he would have done so already."

"Yes, well," Elizabeth replied, and then paused, not knowing how to answer without upsetting her friend - Charlotte had, after all, married Mr. Collins because she felt it her duty to not be a burden for her family. "We should not speculate."

Why Mr. Darcy continued to come so often to the Parsonage, it was difficult to understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice—a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself. He seldom appeared really animated. Mrs. Collins knew not what to make of him. Colonel Fitzwilliam's occasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he was generally different, which her own knowledge of him could not have told her; and as she would liked to have believed this change the effect of love, and the object of that love her friend Eliza, she set herself seriously to work to find it out. She watched him whenever they were at Rosings, and whenever he came to Hunsford; but without much success. He certainly looked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. It was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but she often doubted whether there were much admiration in it, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.

-`o´-

Meanwhile at Longbourn, Mr. Bennet was wondering what the governess was teaching his daughters.

"You have asked to see me, sir."

"Come in, Mrs. Croft, and have a seat. I wanted a report, let us call it that, of how my daughters are progressing."

"Of course. Miss Elizabeth does not need much in terms of instruction." She saw her employer nodding. "She is an agreeable young woman and rather clever too. There is no reason she should not make a good marriage, when the time comes. It will probably be sooner than she herself expects, once she travels outside Meryton and has a chance to meet new people."

"I am not interested in her marriage prospects, Mrs. Croft, I want to know how she is doing."

Then you should ask her yourself, Mrs. Croft thought, but of course did not say aloud. "She is well, of course. Her playing is much improved, even though I have had very little time to work with her. She is a gifted musician and enjoys playing, as you probably know. She needed help with her fingering and I am still not entirely happy with the amount of work she is willing to put into improving her playing, but she will do.

I am sorry to say, but she has no special talent for mathematics and I am afraid she will struggle to keep her books balanced. She is a diligent student and there is no reason that she will not become tolerably competent. I will continue to instruct her on everything related to administering her household."

"I see." Mr. Bennet was not exactly happy with Mrs. Croft. He was not exactly happy with Elizabeth either or any of his family, but that was neither here nor there. In this instance he was irked by the companion's insistence to find fault with his Lizzy. "Knowing how to balance her accounts will not help catch a husband, my wife assures me."

"It does not, but it will make her life much easier once she is married. If you think about it, catching a husband and getting married it's the work of a few weeks, months at most. Then comes the most important: living a good life with said husband."

Mr. Bennet did not deign to reply. He had married Fanny Gardiner a mere six weeks after dancing once with her at an assembly. Somehow he and Fanny never got to the part where they would live a good life together.

"Would you like to hear my report about Miss Mary and Miss Catherine?"

"Of course, of course. Go ahead, Mrs. Croft."

"Miss Mary and I will start visiting the tenants in a week or two. I understand Mrs. Bennet does not enjoy the activity and Miss Mary expressed an interest in taking on the duty."

"As you wish, Mrs. Croft. It cannot harm."

"Her playing is also much improved, although she still prefers technically challenging pieces. It is more satisfying to her to master the technique rather than just play for amusement."

"Is it?"

"Yes. She needs the stimulation; I would say she needs tasks that are beyond her immediate abilities to keep her interested."

"And Kitty?"

"Miss Catherine is still interested in the movement of the celestial bodies. However, I believe she found the calculations even more fascinating. She is interested in learning more about Dodson and Halley in respect to their work on life tables. It is envisageable that she will need a dedicated tutor, should she continue on this path."

"Will the wonders never cease?" Mr. Bennet quipped, although it fell a little flat. The woman in front of him looked back perfectly composed, with just a hint of being baffled by his words. "Well then, carry on, Mrs. Croft."

With this Mrs. Croft had to be content. At least the squire took the time to supervise her work. Mrs. Bennet cared nothing for it and only complained that the girls did not have more time to visit.

-`o´-

Elizabeth was somewhat late today and Darcy had been pacing impatiently. Had he declared his interest already, he could have just asked her when she was likely to walk and not waste his time waiting around. It was undignified and he had the distinct impression she was toying with him, perhaps to increase his fervour.

He did not especially like it and would have thought her above employing such tricks, but he supposed this was what females did. There were, however, strong reasons for not declaring himself yet; or ever. He was by no means certain he was doing the right thing in furthering his inclination towards Elizabeth.

Her family was appalling, by any measure: the father was laughing at them all in company, the mother was a grasping gossip with no manners and a fixation on catching the richest husband for her daughters, and the less said about the younger girls, the better.

Yet here he was, considering how to best manage the connection when they would become his family.

"Good morning, Miss Bennet," Darcy said, tipping his hat.

"How extraordinary that we meet again, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth greeted him with a tight smile. Why Mr. Darcy was putting himself in her path, she could not begin to guess. Charlotte had tried a few times, but in the end even her friend had to admit there was not much admiration in the looks Mr. Darcy was directing at her. Just as well, as there was no admiration at all in Elizabeth's thoughts regarding the man.

"How so, Miss Bennet?"

"I'm sure I mentioned this is my favourite walk, sir. This is the third time you happen to be here when I walk."

He inclined his head in acknowledgement and said nothing. It was what she came to expect.

"I hope your family at Rosings were well this morning."

"They were, thank you."

"Will you and Col. Fitzwilliam be here long?"

"My plans are not yet fixed, Miss Bennet," Darcy answered and refrained from expounding on what the future days held. He was in fact too elated to speak; it was the first time Elizabeth had asked about his plans, the first time she had shown an interest in their future together!

They continued walking in silence, none of them feeling any need to say more.

Elizabeth did not trust herself to not say something less than polite and Darcy was content to share a peaceful morning with the woman who had stolen his heart.

-`o´-

My dearest Lizzy, Jane's letter started,

We are all as well as we can be. I confess to missing our home and being free to spend as much or as little time outside of the house as I would choose. Lydia too is becoming restless. It is so hard to think that we cannot go back.

My mother would be overjoyed to know I am engaged to be married, my father no less, but I suspect it would be for their own selfish reasons.

...Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley visited us just yesterday. I was convinced Charles would keep the news to himself for some weeks yet, but I suppose he could not go on deceiving his nearest relations. Mrs. Hurst especially was concerned that his marked attentions towards me and my family, visiting us almost daily and often remaining for dinner, would be cruel if he had no intention towards me.

He naturally felt compelled to defend himself and so he told them of our understanding.

...Miss Bingley was not in very good spirits. I am sorry she feels her brother did not choose to marry as well as she expected, but I hope in time she will reconcile herself with the match and will learn to appreciate the advantages of our union.

…and she has asked a few very pointed questions about the presence of Mr. Darcy in the environs of the Parsonage. Do not worry, for I told her nothing of value. Come to think of it, I do not even know how she came to know where you are and that Mr. Darcy is there too. In truth I had no satisfactory answer to her inquiries.

It reminded me, however, that Charles is still upset on what he terms as Mr. Darcy's underhanded interference and we will need to talk about this.

I still believe Mr. Darcy's primary reason for his involvement in convincing Charles to not come back to Netherfield was the concern he felt for his friend. When I remember that night in December and Mr. Wickham's words, I cannot wonder that Mr. Darcy acted to impress on Charles the dangers of connecting himself with a family as ours…

-`o´-

Lydia's letter was very different in tone, just as Elizabeth knew it would be:

Lizzy,

You are so lucky to spend so much time in the country without our parents!

Did mother write to you? She writes to me constantly and badgers me both to come back to Longbourn and at the same time to remain in London and make sure Denny doesn't stray.

Was she always this nonsensical?

I wrote back to tell her she cannot have both: either I come back to Longbourn or I remain here to keep an eye on Denny. She accused me of being wilful, but did not make her preference known. I miss our home, but I do not believe I could stand to be there with our mother for any length of time.

...because our aunt and Jane foisted the spiteful shrew on me! Why should I be required to entertain Miss Bingley? Her nose was so up in the air I was afraid she might miss and pour her tea in her lap instead of drinking from the cup.

...and then I told her what a great time you are having at Rosings together with your Mr. Darcy and how Lady Catherine is interested to learn about our family!

-`o´-

"Good morning, Miss Bennet!"

"Mr. Darcy," was all Elizabeth replied. The whole situation was getting ridiculous.

They walked for some minutes in silence, as was their wont. "I hope your family at Rosings were well this morning."

"They were, thank you."

It was all they said before lapsing again into silence. Apparently that was enough conversation to last Mr. Darcy the better part of an hour. For herself, Elizabeth was busily considering what excuses she could employ to be rid of his company.

"Have you seen Rosings' library?"

"No, indeed. I have no doubt it is a very fine room, as Lady Catherine would not allow it to be otherwise, but I have not been instruc - erm, I have not been invited to admire it."

"It is a fine room, perhaps less well stocked than I would prefer, but one can always find something of interest in there."

It was true, she supposed. If there were enough tomes, some of them were sure to be interesting. She waited to see if Mr. Darcy had something more specific in mind, a treatise that he was particularly proud of as belonging to the family collection, but nothing more was said on the subject for many long minutes.

"Mr. and Mrs. Collins appear very content with their situation."

"They are; my friend had long wished for a home of her own and she is now happily situated at the Parsonage. And we must not forget my cousin Mr. Collins."

"The house is not large, it gets a little cramped with so many guests. No wonder you are walking every morning."

"I assure you I have no complaints, Mr. Darcy. I am happy to visit with my friend and I would have been very sorry indeed to have missed the opportunity to do so."

He nodded, but made no other reply and they continued in silence for some time.

"The family wing at Rosings is very comfortably appointed."

Elizabeth startled a little at this. She had almost managed to forget about his presence, in spite of still having a hand on his arm. And what a nicely firm arm it was! Mr. Darcy was the exactly right height to make him a perfect walking companion for her.

Too bad the height belonged to such an insufferable person!

So she shrugged instead of answering and soon they were back on the lane behind her cousins' home.

-`o´-

Author note:

Thank you all for your comments, they are wonderful!

Guest bjaofbodfb:

I will endeavour to learn!

I know it makes reading a lot less enjoyable when you have to deal with bad grammar.

Guest who explained the grammar:

Thank you! I got it, now all that is left is to remember to use my newfound knowledge :)

Guest who left a long and thoughtful reply to Chapter 2:

I agree with pretty much everything you said.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner had the chance to interact in person with Wickham, long before the elopement and it did not raise any red flags then.

Chapter 25 (project Gutenberg edition)

"On being made acquainted with the present Mr. Darcy's treatment of him [of Wickham], she [Mrs. Gardiner] tried to remember some of that gentleman's reputed disposition when quite a lad which might agree with it, and was confident at last that she recollected having heard Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy formerly spoken of as a very proud, ill-natured boy."

I'm almost 100% sure this was false, as Mrs. Reynolds later says she never heard a cross word from him after knowing him for about 25 years.

The salient point: such was Wickham's power of deceit, that Mrs. Gardiner basically remembered what he wanted her to.

Guest Colleen S:

He is rather slow, isn't he? Or we can say he's well matched with Jane, because she believes the best of everybody too :)

Guest who left a long and thoughtful reply to Chapter 9:

That's pretty much the plan for the story. I hope you'll enjoy the developments.

There's also a note regarding the relative situation of the Bingleys, Hursts, and Bennets and I would welcome comments on it.

Guest Saralee:

I'm absolutely dying to hurry through the Elizabeth and Darcy story and move on to the chapters dedicated to Lydia. Not many of them, but I like them best :) But going too fast would not be reasonable. Change takes time and I intend to move at a realistic pace.

Guest who hopes Bingley and Jane grow up:

They will. Baby steps :)

Guest who loves the Hursts here:

I'm glad you do :) I'm trying to flesh them out a bit more than in the original novel.

Guest who commented on the relative standing of the Bingleys, the Hursts, and the Bennets:

I'm going to write a rather long note below about how I see what happens between them.

-`o´-

Very long, kind of rambling explanation about the Hursts:

I would like to address the Hurst status and fortune and explain my reasoning. For me it was kind of obvious, but I don't read much fanfiction, so I believe I did not consider how they are perceived by readers.

In most fanfiction stories the Hursts are some sort of scroungers, attached to Bingley's fortune.

There's precious little in the original novel about them, but that's probably because for one they are not even secondary to the plot and for another the people of that era would know what JA meant.

Chapter 4 (project gutenberg etext)

"...Mrs. Hurst, who had married a man of more fashion than fortune, [was no] less disposed to consider his house as her home when it suited her."

Chapter 21 (project gutenberg etext)

"She then read the first sentence aloud, which comprised the information of their having just resolved to follow their brother to town directly, and of their meaning to dine in Grosvenor Street, where Mr. Hurst had a house."

The house in Grosvenor Street belonged to Hurst. The Hursts lived in Mayfair - crème de la crème, so to speak.

This is the canon description of Hurst's standing and finances.

I know pretty much everybody considers that the Bennets were a step up from the Bingleys, because they were landed gentry, but it was not so clear cut - because of the Hursts.

Louisa Hurst was already better positioned than the Bennets. She was married to a 'man of fashion,' and their primary residence was among the Georgian elites.

Caroline and Charles were not just children of a rich tradesman, but Hurst's in-laws.

Bingley and Caroline lived with the Hursts. In Caroline's case that's absolutely normal, because she was not married.

The Hursts could have done a lot of damage to the up and coming Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Bingley, if they so chose.

Now comes my speculation.

If he was so well off that he had a house in Mayfair, how come he was married to Louisa Hurst?

My explanation is that he was barely able to afford the house. Louisa's dowry, if they lived off the interest, would have brought between 600 and 1000. Say Hurst had at least that much income himself. Then they could scrape by, barely.

I suspect they had Bingley and Caroline living with them because both of them were rich in their own right and both of them contributed to the expenses.

In Chapter 7 (project gutenberg etext), Mrs. Bennet says that "the Hursts have no horses to theirs [coach]."

So in my reading, I would say that the power balance between the Hursts, Bingleys, and Bennets was not easy to figure out.

Unlike everything you ever read in fanfiction stories, Louisa did exceptionally well for herself :) Of course she only got that far because she managed to find a man who was only interested in eating, drinking, and playing at cards. But that doesn't really have any bearing on how well off she was in society.

As an aside, those who know how the UK housing market works, also know that Hurst's house was a lease of some kind. I could go into details, but it's all very complicated. Basically all the land in the UK or at least some 90%+ of it, belongs to a handful of people, trusts, and Cayman Islands corporations. About twenty such entities own 90% of UK, if I remember well.

You don't buy a house there like in any other country, because the land under the house never transfers to you - just the building. And you pay a yearly something for your right to use the land - in some cases that's quite a large sum.

It's probably the only socially advanced country in the world that still has a feudal property system. A bit strange, but who am I to judge :)

-`o´-