By the Numbers Fan bythenumbs 6h
What do you guys make of the photos? Folks are calling #DizzieGate but I'm not sure. The photos are blurry but it really might be them.
| Louisa Grey mrswilldarce 4h
| What photos are we discussing?
| By the Numbers Fan bythenumbs 4h
| The Daily Mail.
| Corina Lopez madamespider 3h
| Totaly knew their dating!
-Twitter-
Ashley Lu pinknperiwinkle 4h
Charlotte Collins was right! We got photo evidence now. Lol. #DizzieGate
-Twitter-
Corina Lopez madamespider 2h
Where were the photos from #DizzieGate
-Twitter-
By the Numbers Fan bythenumbs 2h
I'm trying not to hope too hard, but that chemistry is pretty hard to fake. #DizzieGate
-Twitter-
Melinda supertrash19 2h
William Darcy in period costume is like the ultimate heart eyes of heart eyes
-Twitter-
Corina Lopez madamespider 2h
Where were the photos from #DizzieGate
| By the Numbers Fan bythenumbs 1h
| They've been filming in William Darcy's estate Pemberley since last month. Gregory Manor fell through
-Twitter-
Melinda supertrash19 1h
If it really is them they look pretty chill. Like friends. At least I hope. William Darcy is MINE. Hahahahaha #DizzieGate
-Twitter-
By the Numbers Fan bythenumbs 30m
Got confirmation. It really IS them! No more feud for #Felena! #DizzieGate
| Ashley Lu pinknperiwinkle 20m
| Ha! You're the best!
Pemberley, as per a quick Google search, used to be just another word - another fancy name for some over-privileged person's fancy country house. If anything, it was supposed to be yet another emblem of Darcy's incompatibility with the real world.
It's come to mean so much more since then.
"Want to take another look at the greenhouse?" Darcy asks her this morning, when they're both up way too early considering how late shooting ended last night.
It's been occurring more and more often these days - private chitchats, casual walks. New York William Darcy was every bit Link Harrison - cold, hard, guarded.
William Darcy in Pemberley, surrounded by familiar people and his enthusiastic sister, is - something else.
And it's not as if he talks like Fitzgerald Dunst, all clunky period dialogue and intricate sentence structures. It's not that he broods. If anything, he used to brood more stateside.
But ever since shooting got transferred to Pemberley, it's as if she's been able to study the Darcy family in a completely new light.
"Those are my mother's favorite." He points to the trail of roses when they finally get close to the greenhouse.
He does that a lot here - talking about his father, his mother, and his childhood shenanigans. He refers to everyone by their first names. He interacts with the property as if every room and corner means something to him. And all of those factors just add up to make him feel - human.
And Lizzie realizes, a little too late, that he's a very charming human too - one that she will likely never forget.
Here in England, tucked away in the Derbyshire hillsides, there's no paparazzi and no overbearing mothers calling every night. There are no cramped sidewalks or petty pickpockets. Everything is calm, and romantic, and blissfully isolated. She's technically here to work, but it feels like a beautifully insulated vacation resort. Every day, she wakes up to be dolled up like a Georgian-era heiress. Every day, she recites her lines and pretends to fall in love with a very handsome man in front of a camera. Every day, the director has nothing but praise for their progress - and gives the cast and crew plenty of spare time.
Spare time means getting to explore Pemberley more.
It only took her a day to fall in love with her bright, yellow room. It seems to be that it's only going to take less than a month for her to fall in love with its intriguing owner too.
"Oh, over here!" Darcy shouts when unexpected rain starts pouring. She takes the hand he's offered and runs with him for shelter. And soon - too soon - they are laughing and panting next to each other under the pattering greenhouse's cover.
She turns to smile at him. The entire situation feels so much like a movie that it's outright ironic. If this were truly a piece of period drama, he would be proposing about now.
His hair, grown out for the second movie, is partially wet. His smile, under all that hair, is inarguably beautiful. The dark colors he always wears just make him seem that much more dignified.
Then Lizzie realizes she's stopped breathing.
And she doesn't know if she ever will again.
"Hey," he whispers.
"Hey," she echoes.
"So we - are in the greenhouse," he's speaking softly, gently - all while he inches closer to her.
"Yes, we are."
"Safely."
"In one piece."
He chuckles softly. She giggles nervously.
It's really unfair how he's always so suave.
Outside the oasis of baby plants, the noise of the rain swells with a surge of heavier rainfall.
And he leans down to kiss her, just like that, without any further preamble.
And she kisses him back, just like she did as Kaitlyn and Selena and probably will as Dina for part 3.
But, this time, it's her - just her - Lizzie Bennet, willingly kissing the man she had hated just one year ago.
Is it because he's changed? Or because she has?
A peal of thunder breaks them apart - but neither of them pull too far away.
Grandma used to say that thunder always heralds the start and end of a rain shower.
Grandma is right again, and the rain peters off to leave behind a bright, sunny, glistening morning.
Their phones ring. They're being paged for hair and make-up.
And Lizzie's left to wonder if that fleeting kiss - like that fleeting rain - ever really happened at all.
"What could they possibly - " He stops short at the sight of the one and only Lizzie Bennet, seated on the curved couch area within the stuffy trailer confines. She looks - nervous, though as entrancing as ever. Hunched as he was under the low ceiling, it's even more tempting to just scoot beside her on the orange-colored cushions and continue where they'd left off in the greenhouse.
What makes him hesitate, more than anything, is a rigid Ed Gardiner sitting on the other side of the tiny space.
The so-called make-up call - is connected to some kind of dangerous intervention.
"Darcy! Please, have a seat." Ed gestures. His smile is tight - and borderline fake.
Darcy slides into the limited space between Lizzie and the edge of the plastic couch. It's small - and agitating.
"We wanted to let you know about this firsthand." Out of nowhere, Ed produces a gaudy, old-fashioned physical newspaper and tosses it on the tiny table. Both Darcy and Lizzie lean forward towards it.
'Caroline Bingley tells all. Dizzie showmance COMPLETELY STAGED. Darcy secretly engaged since 2015. #DizzieGate a complete sham.'
Darcy doesn't even realize he's been clenching his fist until Lizzie nudges his shoulder.
He turns to look at her.
And all of sudden, she's not just the intriguing co-star with beautiful eyes who's been tugging at his well-shielded heart a little more strongly day after day. She's not just the girl who giggles with Gigi over dinner and somehow manages to make him chuckle too.
Her eyes are steely and determined. The hand she places on his arm is firm.
World, make no mistake, Lizzie Bennet is a fighter.
And you better not be on her bad side.
"Are you?" She says.
"Am I?"
He can hear her teeth gritting. "Engaged to Caroline Bingley."
"No!" He almost shouts. "No! There is no - we - I went out with her briefly in college, barely a month - and she thinks that I - she's been very deluded all these years about where we stand."
"And the engagement?"
"Utterly, irrefutably false."
He expects her to look relieved, to maybe soften again into a smile - maybe that particular smile in the greenhouse this morning.
But she looks almost too professional at the moment, as if she's just a reporter collecting facts from a random eyewitness.
"It is false," says their director. They both turn to look at him. "And that is why we need to make sure her claims don't cause bad PR for the film."
"Why would false claims about my personal life - "
"Entitled-heiress-slash-reality-star isn't exactly what we want people associating with a traditional romance like Ballroom Number Three." Ed raises an eyebrow. "Conference 2 made it big in theaters - but that's not a guarantee the other two will."
Darcy nods. It's not as if he wants to be associated with Caroline either.
Having clingy ex-girlfriends try to crowd his current life isn't new to him.
But in this particular trailer, faced with his very professional director and apparently very professional screen partner, he feels that he's supposed to take the threat a little more seriously than usual.
"Do you want me to do a press statement? Or a tweet?" Darcy asks Ed. He can always ask Bingley to handle things for him. When it comes to his crazy sister, Bingley always sides with water over blood.
Ed Gardiner - creative genius, the man at the helm of a multi-million dollar film franchise - actually smirks.
"We'll do better. Hashtag DizzieGate was trending for a reason."
Darcy frowns. What is this DizzieGate issue? As far as he knows, he hasn't done anything remotely compromising enough to warrant the notorious social media canonization.
"The fans like you together - not just your characters, but you - as yourselves," Ed talks. His smile is unsettlingly conspiratorial. "So we give it to them - signed, sealed, delivered."
Darcy feels that he knows what's coming.
And he's not sure how he feels about that.
"We've consulted your agents. They agree this is the best step. As you are both currently single, the best thing we can do for the show is to offer solid evidence that 'Dizzie' is real."
Darcy can feel Lizzie tensing up beside him. He's afraid to look her way.
"So, with your consent, we would like to proceed with what we believe to be the best thing for both the film and your public images. We need the world to think of Darcy as Fitzgerald Dunst - noble and dashing and all, even if the guy can have a naughty streak." And there it is again - the bloody smirk. "And with Ms. Bennet being a newer talent in the industry, it might do well for her to be considered interesting in both a professional and personal level."
And Darcy just hears it even before it's said.
"We would like to see you two embark on a public relationship - joint appearances, scheduled social media posts, pap walks, the whole shebang. Our media team and your agents will coordinate everything. We just need you guys to be up to the challenge. It will protect the film's reputation from unpredictable outliers like Caroline Bingley. And, if you're willing, it'll up your respective stocks in the interest market too."
What exactly this fake showmance will do to their budding romantic interaction, Darcy realizes, is just as unpredictable - but that's not exactly a concern that he has the right to bring up right now.
"Do we have a deal?" asks Ed, as if he hasn't just brought up the strangest thing that's ever come out of his mouth during the entirety of this project.
"Deal," Lizzie says first.
And what else can Darcy do - but agree right after?
It's been two weeks - two heavenly, excruciating weeks. The pap walk on Monday required some hand-holding and smiling. That was easy. Darcy's an actor. He can act natural on demand. The team handled the tweets and intentionally vague press comments. His hands stayed cleaned.
But then the kissing started on Week Two.
First, it's a peck on the cheek right after they wrap a scene - still in costume, but supposedly no longer on the clock. Then it's the peck on the lips, during the assistant director's staged birthday party. He can't even argue that the moments don't work.
Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram all exploded on cue.
'Dizzie' is supposed one of the 'most epic ships ever.'
But there's a catch.
Because of the law of diminishing returns - today, he's instructed to go for a real smooch - emphasis, of course, on 'real.' The on site Derbyshire scenes are almost done. Today, they're filming one that even Ed isn't sure they'll use. But in today's world, even deleted scenes have monetary value - so they create as much collectors' edition DVD fodder as they can.
The key to remaining relevant, after all, is making sure you still have more mystery to uncover.
"We'll make sure the 'crew member' just 'happens' to have his camera out. It helps that the lake scene set-up will give it a romantic setting. When you approach her on the grass, just turn her around and kiss her." The instructions couldn't have been more clear.
But tell that to his very erratic heart.
"Lizzie," he calls out when he starts walking towards her. Some say chivalry is dead - but he's dead set on being as much of a gentleman as he can in this wrangled situation. He can't just catch her off-guard.
She's hunched over, facing the lake. It's all according to plan.
"Lizzie," he says again when he's closer.
Something's off - because she's not reacting, but she's moving. She's - shaking.
"Lizzie?"
He runs the last few steps until he reaches her. He puts a hand gently on her shoulder.
"Lizzie, are you alright?"
She turns into him, basically hiding her face in his chest away from the predetermined camera. Then he realizes that she's crying. She's sobbing. She's bawling.
"Lizzie, what happened?"
"It's - Jane."
His pessimist, worrywart of a mind goes to the worst-case scenario. Is Jane sick - or fatally injured? Is she, God forbid, somehow uprooted permanently from Lizzie's life?
Just the way Lizzie's cooed over his relationship with Georgiana has made it pretty clear just how much she values sibling relationships.
Whatever happens to her sister - probably feels intensely personal for her.
"Lizzie," he says softly, before hugging her.
She presses closer, hands tugging on his shirt. He lets her cry all she wants until she calms down.
Then, she says, between very harsh sobs, "Mom found Jane unconscious this morning - with a suicide note on her nightstand. They took her to the hospital, and it was apparently just a double dose of sleeping pills. She's okay, but just the idea."
She starts crying more violently again, and Darcy hugs her as tightly as he can without crushing her.
Soon, other voices start calling out for them. People are wondering how the staged kiss didn't happen.
But there is no way Darcy's about to take advantage of her now.
"She's fine," he hollers, using a glare to warn people to stay away.
Ed isn't around, but his assistants nod before stopping just far away enough to give them privacy.
"Did she say why?" Darcy whispers down to the crying woman on his chest. "Is there any way we can help her?"
"She and Charles broke up." Lizzie's voice is shaking. "They had a huge fight over Caroline."
Caroline - Caroline Bingley - destroyer of lives - has claimed another victim.
Darcy closes his eyes and sighs. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I'm so sorry."
"I - she loved him so much. I know she still does." Lizzie blubbers. "I don't know if he realizes what he's done to her."
Darcy nods.
How many of us really know what we do to other people anyway?
Lizzie sure doesn't seem to know what she does to him.
"I - I need to go back." Lizzie steps away slightly, her hands flying up to wipe her face. "I can't - I have to be there for her."
Darcy nods again. He knows. He's been there. This is Georgiana all over again.
"Can I help?"
"Can you tell Ed - I need to go pack, like, right now."
Darcy agrees. And he's planning too, on his own. He needs to get out of his head, burst his Pemberley bubble, and get back to his real life - starting with having a good, long talk with Charles Bingley.
"I'll tell him. The staff will help you pack as well."
"O - Okay."
His heart aches when he watches her try to compose herself and step towards the house.
She turns around, just a little. "Thanks, Darcy. Thank you so much."
He doesn't smile. It doesn't feel right to.
But he does try to offer an understanding look.
"You're welcome. Go."
"Alright."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Jane sobs, hands clutching her sister's shirt. Lizzie tries not to sob along.
Who knew that just forty-eight hours after enjoying the serenity of the Derbyshire countryside, she would be back here, in the thick of the New York jungle, hugging a heartbroken sister?
"I don't know what I was thinking," Jane whimpers.
"Hey, it's not your fault. You're fine. It's okay." Lizzie hugs her only sister closer. All those years of seeing Jane soar while Lizzie stumbled, all those years of admirers lining at Jane's door without giving a second glance to Lizzie - everything fades away at the weight of this moment. "We're here for you. It's his loss."
How did the most angelic person on the planet deserve this?
"Cheer up. Have some tea." Kitty presents the cup she's prepared. It's always all business with her. "It'll grow cold soon."
Jane takes the bright orange cup with a gentle 'thank you,' her sobs finally subsiding into sniffs.
Lizzie spends the next two hours soothing her sister, while Kitty alternates between looking empathetically at them and answering her phone. An agent's job is never done.
"I don't blame him," Jane says when the sun goes down and the tall industrial windows start framing an NYC night scape. The teabag string swings limply from the empty cup in her hands. "He's just standing by his sister. I'd do the same for you, Lizzie - without question."
Again, Lizzie tries not to cry.
"Look, Jane, Caroline Bingley is a vicious - "
"Love rival?" Kitty interrupts her with a smirk. Lizzie glares at the girl.
Kitty just grins, pony-tail swinging behind her like a dog's happy, wagging tail.
"Caroline isn't perfect," Jane says instead, "but when Charles and I marry - she'll still be family."
The fact that Jane says 'when' instead of 'if' isn't lost on Lizzie.
"Has he reached out at all?" Lizzie asks, choosing to pretend the nauseating reality star doesn't even exist.
"He tried to call me a lot the first night," Jane answers. She sighs gently. "I let them all go to voicemail. I was too - overwhelmed. I was worried that we didn't really fit each other, after all."
It's a ridiculous theory, of course.
Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet are made for each other.
There's never been a smilier couple in the whole wide world.
"And?" Lizzie prompts.
"When I woke up - in the hospital," Jane speaks normally now - no more sniffles, or sobs. "I had a dozen missed calls from him. I - I haven't had the courage to call him back since."
Lizzie nods. It strikes her that she wishes Georgiana was here. That girl's story is what Jane needs now.
"I'm sorry I interrupted your filming, Lizzie." It's a clear sign of recovery that Jane is back to her apologizing self. She faces her sister on the small grey couch. Even heartbroken Jane looks very pretty. "I hope you won't get in trouble."
"I won't. Don't worry." Lizzie smiles limply - because, if Jane had interrupted anything, it's not the filming.
It's the strange showmance that she's somehow managed to get into with William Darcy - and her own unlikely feelings behind that whole facade.
Before the tabloids, before #DizzieGate, before anyone except the ever-caustic Kitty had ever hinted at the possibility of anything beyond a professional relationship with Darcy - things seemed to feel simpler.
She has to admit she loved her time cocooned at Pemberley - the meals, the chats, the walks.
And even that in-the-moment, fleeting kiss in the greenhouse means more than she can articulate.
But then the tabloids and the tweets and the inferences did happen.
And, all of a sudden, it's as if the fake romance pulled him physically closer yet emotionally so much farther away than he's ever been. And, ironically, he grows more withdrawn the more their personal narratives force them to be together.
But he did hug her that day by the lake, and he did choose to comfort her more than to stage the supposed smooch.
That's got to mean something - right?
"I still love him, Lizzie, so much," Jane confesses, pulling Lizzie out of her private thoughts. "If he were to show up at the door right now, I would - "
And because Jane is some kind of magical fairy, the doorbell does buzz right at that moment. Kitty, eyebrows raised, goes to get it - and brings back with her a red-faced, stubbled Charles Bingley.
"Charles?"
"Jane!" He falls to his knees, his hands landing on her knees like a dramatic period drama movie. "Jane, are you - are you okay? I was so worried when I heard. I had no idea."
"I didn't want you to know. How did you - "
"I - someone told me. I - Jane, can you forgive me? Can you - I can never make this up, can I?"
"It's not all your fault."
"But I shouldn't have been blinded."
"I shouldn't have said what I said."
"If anything had happened to you - I would never forgive - "
Lizzie and Kitty retreat, leaving the two lovers to cry and talk and kiss and reconcile. Their space isn't that big. The bedroom and living space are all blended together, so the two cousins hide in the kitchen instead.
Kitty isn't the chatty type, so she just grins and stares at her phone.
The quiet helps.
At least, when Lizzie gets upset at herself for being disappointed that Charles had showed up alone (there is no question who the 'someone' is), she doesn't have to explain her distraction.
A/N: I hope you liked the turn of events! They'll get back together eventually, I promise. In other news, in the same week I published "Liam & Liz" for pre-order, I was informed by a kind reader that someone has pirated the contents of The Derbyshire Avenger and has the audacity to sell it for a profit under "Third Time's a Charm" by Ella Kovacs on Amazon! I have been trying to report her, but it's been very hard because the work was posted here for free. Please join me in reporting her. I can't believe someone would do something like that! I am still in shock on top of all the anger!