Hi again. I am back with another chapter.

Thank you for reading my story. I have never imagined this story would turn out to be this long. I only envisioned this to be a one-shot but some readers encouraged me to write more and look what happened. LOL. I would have never thought I could write a multi-chapter story. I guess I just have to keep writing so I finally see this to the finish. I am nowhere near though… but with your support, I CAN DO THIS!

Special thanks to the readers who left reviews. Very much appreciated!

ArnettinCA, Levenez, Maria Teresa C, Deanna27, crispill, 777kid57, liysyl, MrsSP9, Shelby66, Lisa, Jansfamily4, ChrisM0519, lpinney, roses0002, Regency1914, jesskmemmy, Guest, Rosalieemmamailie, RHALiz, Colleen S, srhittson

And thank you to the guest who said I deserve rotten apples. ;-)

Anyway, let us continue with the story.

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Colonel Fitzwilliam went ahead of the officers and hoped that their ploy would work. During the meeting with Colonel Forster earlier that day, it had been agreed that they would create the impression that it was safe for Wickham to return to Meryton. The best way to lure him was to make him think that there was no threat awaiting him should he dare to follow through with his plan to elope with Miss King. Gaining access to the young lady's inheritance would definitely be tempting for him, more so now that he had no savings nor any means to earn a wage. Their suspicion was that the treacherous officer had fled camp in a hurry after he learnt that Colonel Fitzwilliam was in the area. Due to their history, Wickham would not dare cross paths with the colonel again, and certainly not with Mr Darcy present to provide the necessary evidence to land him in prison, or worse.

With this line of thinking, they had planned for the colonel to pretend that he believed the news about Wickham travelling to London. The colonel had portrayed that he would lead the search for the missing officer there, and just for good measure, they had also made out that Mr Darcy would join him that same day. The colonel had doubts as to the accuracy of the messenger boy's statements but hoped that the lad would be tempted to provide them information due to the huge sum offered as monetary reward. He had also instructed the officers to have the messenger boy followed in case he could unknowingly lead them to their target. All they could do now was wait.

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When Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived at Netherfield, he was informed that dinner will be served as soon as he was ready. Mr Bingley advised the housekeeper of the plans for the following morning and he was assured that the staff will have everything prepared for the guests' early start the next day. Due to the Hursts joining them at dinner, the colonel was not able to interrogate his cousin if he had made any progress with Miss Elizabeth at Longbourn. He made sure to find the opportunity before they retired.

"May I assume that you were agreeably engaged after I left Longbourn?" the colonel asked Darcy.

"Yes. Very pleasantly engaged," answered the gentleman, with a contented smile.

"Were able to spend some time with Miss Elizabeth?"

"Yes, I was."

Not satisfied with the short replies from his cousin, he pressed on with more questions.

"Did you actually speak more than three words to her?"

"Indeed. I said a lot more than three words to her."

"Arrrrgghh! Come now, I want to know more. We need to retire soon because we have to wake up early again in the morning. Now, out with it!"

"Out with what? I do not know what else you need to know."

"What did you do after I left Longbourn?"

"We went out for a walk in their garden."

"And then?"

"We sat down on a bench."

"And?"

"We talked and cleared up our past misunderstandings."

The colonel's eyes went wide and started patting his cousin on the arms and shoulders, then ended up shaking him vigorously.

"You did?! That is stupendous! Well done! I always knew you could do this! So have you asked to court her? Did she agree? Of course, she did! That is why you have that stupid grin on your face the whole time. Why did you not tell me earlier? You want to keep me in suspense! Wait till I tell mother --"

"Richard, stop it! We are not courting."

"What? Did she not agree?"

"I have not asked her."

"Well, what else did you talk about?"

"Not much else. After our talk, we read together from a book."

"You read a book?! Is that what you think will win her heart?"

"She loves reading. And so do I."

Shaking his head, the colonel bid him goodnight and mumbled to himself,

"I may need to ask mother to help my dolt of a cousin. Maybe she can come here with Georgiana…"

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Back at Longbourn, Elizabeth and Lydia joined their sisters in the parlour after their sentimental but uplifting conversation. Lydia chose to sit next to Kitty and whispered in her ear. Kitty, who was busy studying a bonnet to decide what embellishments she could apply to it, turned to her and tried to suppress her enthusiasm by clasping a hand over her mouth. They continued in this manner of sharing secretive messages and giggling for some time, while peering at Mary every now and then.

Although Elizabeth positioned herself near Jane, she acted more discreetly and decided to wait for a better time to tell her sister about their plans for Mary. The eldest sister noticed the silly behaviour of their two youngest sisters and frowned. She was about to reprimand them when she felt Elizabeth's hand on her arm and heard her murmur that she will explain later.

At that time, Mary was engrossed with reading Fordyce's Sermons and wanted to appreciate the meaning of the text without any disturbance. She noticed her sisters' distraction and the constant glances directed her way. Not understanding their intention, she wrongly concluded that they must be mocking her.

For many years now, she had accepted that she was the most plain-looking sister out of the five of them. Some people would even openly comment about her lack of beauty compared to her siblings. Hearing this criticism as they were growing up had made her want to be noticed for other attributes, hence she had spent so much time reading so she can be more knowledgeable. She had also devoted many hours to pianoforte practice so she can receive some attention for her musical ability. However, perhaps due to the impending change in her status, she had been feeling less in control of her emotions of late.

Having no wish to be a source of amusement by her own sisters, Mary hastily escaped the parlour and chose to release her stress by playing the instrument. As soon as she left, the remaining sisters gathered and Elizabeth disclosed what she and Lydia had discussed earlier. In hushed tones, they agreed to think about possible gift suggestions and meet in Lydia and Kitty's shared bedroom after dinner to consider their ideas.

During dinner, Mary continued to feel isolated as she noticed her sisters sending each other playful looks. They also headed upstairs almost at the same time which left her lonesome. Now that she had no company, she decided it was probably a good time for her to resume her reading which had been interrupted previously.

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"How about some handkerchiefs? We can embroider them with her new initials," said Lydia.

"No! It is considered bad luck if done before she marries," replied Elizabeth.

"I think I can make a lace cap or two," suggested Jane.

"Yes! That is a great suggestion. She would need caps," agreed Elizabeth.

"I can trim all her bonnets so they look like new. We just need some new ribbons and accessories," offered Kitty.

"That would be nice. Lydia, do you think you can help Kitty with that?" asked Elizabeth.

"Oh, of course! I am not sure if I will be as good as Kitty but I will do my best. I am quite good at choosing colours and such," answered Lydia.

"Jane, do you think we still have some essential oils so we can make some sort of fragrance? We can choose her favourite floral scents," came another thought from Elizabeth.

"I believe we have some oils left. I will check what we have in the still room in the morning," remarked Jane.

"I was thinking perhaps we can give her something related to music," mused Lydia.

"Hmm… that is a good idea. We can see how much money we have at our disposal. Hopefully, we can purchase some new sheet music for her," Elizabeth commented.

"Lizzy, do you think you will have time to rewrite some of her old ones? A few of them look quite tatty now. You have the most delicate handwriting out of all of us," asked Kitty.

"Certainly! I should have enough time to copy some of them," assured Elizabeth.

"Not if your Mr Darcy calls on you every single day!" teased Lydia.

Before Elizabeth could retort, a light knock came on the door. The sisters looked at each other and they all went quiet.

"Lydia? Kitty?" came Mary's voice, sounding unsure.

Lydia and Kitty held on to each other and did not know what to do.

"Are you in there? Have you seen Jane and Lizzy? They are not in their room."

As she was seemingly the calmest one, Jane decided to take charge.

"Yes, we are all here, Mary. Do come in," she invited.

As Mary entered, she observed that her sisters appeared to be nervous about something. They were all sitting on the beds while she awkwardly stood near the door.

"I hope I am not interrupting."

"No, of course not," Jane replied.

"I… I was just wondering if something was… wrong."

"Wrong? Nothing is wrong. What makes you think so?" answered Jane again, hoping her voice sounded steady.

"Well… I have noticed that all of you have been together since this afternoon. And it looks like you are sharing some confidences… without me…"

There was a moment of silence while the sisters attempted to come up with some reasonable excuse.

"Oh, Mary! I am sorry you feel that way. You are too clever to know what we were doing. We have no choice but to tell you now," said Lydia.

Jane, Elizabeth and Kitty turned to face her and practically glared at her. They could not believe that Lydia was about to reveal their secret plans.

"We were talking about you, actually," Lydia continued, "about what we can do for you. You are the first Bennet daughter to marry so we all thought your wedding has to be the most special day."

Of all the things Mary feared they would say, this was her least expected.

"Truly? You were thinking about me?" Mary felt so touched that her eyes started to well with tears.

"Yes. We were covertly making some preparations but you discovered us," added Lydia, trying to sound mysterious.

"I am sorry. I had no idea. I thought I was the object of your ridicule," admitted Mary.

"Oh, no! We would never do such a thing, Mary!"

"So… are you going to tell me what you were planning?"

"If you really want to know… we were thinking about what you would wear on your wedding day."

At hearing this, the other sisters finally felt some relief. They had been wondering how Lydia would steer the discussion to a safer topic.

"Ahhh… I told mama I might wear my brown dress."

"Most of your dresses are brown!" Kitty found her voice.

"No, Mary, not brown please," Jane entreated.

"It is your special day. It would be lovely to see you in a brighter colour," Elizabeth suggested.

"Yes. I agree with Lizzy. Will you be happy to try some of my dresses on? I think you and I have about the same height and built," said Kitty.

"If you do not fancy any of Kitty's dresses, you can use any of mine. I am a couple of inches taller than you but I am sure we can make some alterations," added Lydia.

"You are welcome to use my dresses too," said Jane.

"And mine! Though I am a tad shorter," laughed Elizabeth.

"Pink would suit you, I think," Lydia voiced.

The next hour was spent with Mary trying on so many dresses. Eventually, she agreed with Lydia's opinion that the pink dress was the best option. Just when she thought they were finished fussing about her, Kitty suggested that they consider what to do with her hair next. More than half an hour was devoted to styling her hair in so many ways. And after that, they moved on to shoes, her bonnet, and other accessories. Never in her life did Mary feel so loved and treasured.

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I hope you liked this chapter. I planned to include something more but I had to stop as it is past 3 AM here and I still have to do a quick edit. I will try to write part 2 of the sisterhood feature soon, and after that comes the Wickham special. Not sure if I can combine both in one chapter. I think Wickham will need a LOT of air time so he might come in the chapter after. Mary is seldom given enough attention (in canon and in fanfic) so I thought she deserved this one. I am writing about their sisterly bond because it will have an important role later on.

Thank you for answering my previous question. Lots of budding actors/actresses here! I loved all the replies! They made me smile. ;-)

My next one is a fill-in-the-blank type question.

If you had to direct this to any PnP character, who would you choose and what will you say? "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. You must allow me to tell you…"

So, again there are so many possibilities. I will start the ball rolling…

To Mr Bennet,

In vain I have struggled. It will not do. You must allow me to tell you that you have been hiding in your study for far too long. Drop that book, get out of that chair and do something. Go visit your tenants, go and ease your wife's nerves, get to know your daughters and stop making fun of them and your wife, manage Longbourn's funds better and save for your daughters' future (and so forth… you get what I mean).

Stay safe everyone! :-)