He was a girl! That was a girl the entire time!

Darcy's mind was swirling as he kept reviewing every encounter. The soft features. The higher voice! The young boyish look was only a woman disguised in men's clothes.

That then brought on a series of questions.

Why was she wearing men's clothes?

Why had her father, or even her mother gone out in men's clothes?

No one in town remarked on it. Were they used to this? Was this common in these parts?

Finding no comfort with where his thoughts were leading him, Darcy began to pace the hall.

Bingley was seated in a chair, hands clasped between his legs and his eyes staring at a spot on the ground.

He decided to direct his anger that he had on himself for not realizing, on his friend who hadn't said anything.

"You knew this entire time, didn't you."

"I didn't think it would take a genius to figure out, seeing how I did the minute I first saw her." Charles sighed and sat up straight, "To be fair, I wanted to tell you, but Lizzie, however, wanted to keep you ignorant just in case you wanted to follow through with your threat in trying to strike her... I never would let it escalate that far, but I know you and that you never raise your temper to hurt anyone. Well, except Wickham."

This memory made Darcy's blood drain from his face at the thought of his threat. To think he possibly might have hit her. If she had stirred his anger in such a way that would make him hit her. One, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself and two, he probably would've been killed by the townspeople if he wasn't given the courtesy of being run out of town. Why? Why go through the risk of something like that? Was it because of the insult?

Darcy suddenly felt tired and sat down in an available chair. He held his face in his head, trying his best to sort through everything.

Charles watched his friend, "I'm sorry. For not telling you sooner. I honestly thought in time you would see it for yourself that she was a girl once you had cooled down from your first encounter."

"Yeah well, I don't have a female sense like you do. I admit I should've seen the signs- noticed them- they were right in my face."

"You're just losing your touch, old buddy," Charles teased, giving his friend a playful grin.

"I am not losing my touch." Darcy rolled his eyes but wasn't really insulted. "And who are you calling old? You're only three years younger than me."

Both men chuckled and eventually fell into companionable silence, waiting for news of the patient.

When the doctor arrived, the men only gave a brief account of how they found Ms. Elizabeth before he went in to see his patient.

Again they waited, but the housekeeper had offered them a hot bath and a change of clothes to get out of their wet ones. The house had been so warm and they were so distracted by other things, that they hadn't noticed that they were still in wet clothes.

Darcy settled into the bath, letting the hot water soak into his body. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

He saw his hands undoing her clothes and he suddenly shot up in the water, eyes opening quickly. It was a dangerous territory that his mind was going down. Darcy didn't even want to look at his hands at the thought of what they had nearly done.

What sort of gentleman was he?

Giving himself an excuse, he hadn't known at the time that she was a girl.

Groaning, Darcy slid down under the water to submerge himself for a while before coming back up.

Dressed in warm dry clothes provided by Mr. Bennet, the men were welcomed to join the rest of the family, excusing Jane and the father.

Darcy, having this be his first time meeting the Bennet family and them not knowing a single thing about him, was grilled by the mother and then the two youngest. Only the middle daughter didn't seem to have any interest in him. He answered as truthfully as he could without revealing too much, giving monosyllable replies when it was possible.

Charles took over the rest of the time, asking about town and engaging Mrs. Bennet.

The younger girls had tired of Darcy when they noticed he didn't say much when answering their rude and personal questions.

"I'm sure you do not have such unpredictable weather where you are originally from, Mr. Bingley." Mrs. Bennet said after a while.

"No indeed, but I like change and am pleased that we can expect rain to come down just like that." Charles snapped his fingers and grinned. "I'm used to really cold winters with lots of snow. Lizzie once told me that it hardly snows in this area."

"No it doesn't indeed sir, so this is a good choice if you are not a fan of the cold weather like myself. Though there are benefits to both I'm sure."

Darcy was growing bored of the mundane conversation, though he had to admit that once the original topic had ceased, the mention of wealth was at least put on the back burner. What he really wanted, was some news on Ms. Elizabeth.

To make sure she was going to be alright of course. Not because of anything else.

When Jane came into the room, the two men stood and waited for her to give them the news. Darcy held his breath.

"The doctor says she has a sprained ankle and that she hit her head and right side pretty hard. She might have a head injury and that it will take about a week to two weeks to make sure she's made a full recovery."

"Is she awake? Is she conscious?" came Darcy's questions before anyone else could say anything.

"She opened her eyes briefly a couple of times but hasn't said anything when we asked her questions.

"She is mute!" Mrs. Bennet began to wail, but then she recollected herself, "I suppose this is something to be grateful for, however, Lizzie didn't know when to hold her tongue. It was never a good quality."

Darcy did his best to give the woman a tongue lashing of her own for wishing her daughter mute.

What mother would wish that upon their child?!

If only they knew the struggles it was to communicate to someone. The heartache.

"Is it alright if we see her before we head out?" Charles asked for them, "The storm has died down some enough for us to be able to make our way back into town."

Darcy was grateful that his friend was able to make the request and was relieved when Jane nodded.

The doctor had apparently left already and it was just the housekeeper, Jane and Mr. Bennet attending Elizabeth.

She had been moved to her room and she was dry with bandages around her head to stop the bleeding that was there. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bennet. I should've made sure she made it home safely," Charles dipped his head sadly.

Mr. Bennet just waved the apology away, "It is not your fault. Lizzie is a strong girl. She will pull through."

"Sir," Darcy spoke up, a little hesitant, but needing to do something, "I've had some dealings with head injuries and how they can affect the individual as they recover. She should not be allowed to sleep, to make sure doesn't suffer any brain damage. Keeping her conscious is your best bet. If there is anything you need, I'm at your service." He gave a slight bow.

Mr. Bennet was intrigued by his unsuspected guest. The one of course who his daughter teased didn't seem like the man Lizzie described him as. He was, however, well aware of false appearances and how some people employed them to suit their situation. Thomas Bennet wondered what the man could be trying to gain from offering his services. Was it a man trying to offer an olive branch?

"I thank you, gentleman. You have already done me a great service for bringing my dear girl home. If there is any serious change, I shall accept your help then."

Charles talked a little more to Jane quietly to the side while Mr. Bennet stepped out to get something to eat.

Darcy took the opportunity to step closer to the bed and to the sleeping figure.

She didn't move at all. Only the slight rise and fall of her chest was the only thing he saw. He wanted her to open her eyes and grin at him mockingly, claiming this was another joke on him. She did not however and Charles finally said it was time for them to leave.

Their clothes had been dried, though the purpose of that before changing and going back out in the rain was lost on Darcy.

They climbed onto their horses, which were not happy to be taken out of the dry stable to make the journey back to town.

Elizabeth woke up feeling hot and sluggish. Her head was pounding as she tried to open heavy eyelids. The first couple of times she thought she was in a weird dream. One where the rude Mr. Darcy was touching her. She kept her eyes open as long as she could, willing the image of that man to go away, and he did.

The next time she opened them, she saw her sister and father beside her. They were talking to her and holding her hands, but she honestly couldn't focus hard enough to hear what they were saying before her eyes closed again and she was unconscious once more.

Men's voices were talking a bit away from her the last time she was partially awake. She thought she heard Charles and then...was that Mr. Darcy? Her father's voice she easily picked out, but it was Mr. Darcy's voice and his words that sounded concerned that had her trying to fight the sluggish feeling to fall back asleep. Footsteps had approached her bedside and she tried to open her eyes, but they remained shut and she was taken back under once more.

Now, it was a new day, Elizabeth thought it was at least. Her head felt funny as she shifted on her pillow to look towards the window to see what time it was.

The sun was up already and appeared to have been for some time. Lizzie blinked, staring out the window, wishing to be anywhere but confined to her bed.

Trying to sit up, brought several alarms from her body to stop and lie back down.

She groaned and closed her eyes, not to sleep, but to stop the room from spinning and the pounding in her forehead.

There was a knock at the door and Jane entered with a bowl of soup and water. Smiling, her older sister came over and set the tray down before sitting on the bed beside her sister.

"How are you, Lizzie? You gave us quite the scare the other day."

"I'm fine. At least I think I am. My body doesn't seem to like the idea of moving much. What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" Jane asked, frowning slightly with concern.

"I think I do, but I really can't tell if it was a dream or reality."

She wanted to ask her sister if that Mr. Darcy had been there and if he had been touching her, but she thought that there were things that even she should best keep to herself and from her closest confidant.

After Lizzie ate a little of her soup and drank some water, she talked a little more to Jane, hearing the accounts of the men who had found her and brought her home.

"You scared us something awful, Lizzie."

"Is Sal alright? Did he make it home fine?"

"Charles and Mr. Darcy brought him home when they came with you. He was restless, but should be fine."

"I would like to see him." Lizzie sighed, looking longingly out the window.

Jane rose an eyebrow, "Well, considering Sal can't fit inside the doorway or halls, I don't think it best for him to try and visit you here. You injured your ankle and need to stay off of it for a while. Sal won't be going anywhere, and I will check up on him for you to make sure he gets his apples."

Lizzie tried to laugh, but the throbbing in her forehead ceased that attempt quickly, "Thank you, Jane." she said softly.

Jane cleared the bed and helped her younger sister to lie back down, "Rest for now. I'll come back in later to check on you."