Hi everyone.

Work has been quite stressful. Sorry I have not been writing as much as before. Rest assured I have every intention to complete my stories.

Thank you all for reading my story. I really appreciate your support. Special thanks to these reviewers:

Eleoopy, Levenez, RHALiz, Guest, Colleen S, MrsSP9, ArnettinCA, Deanna27, Maria Teresa C, ChrisM019, Shelby66, Gedoena, liysyl, crispill, Lisa, Firedreams2021, Jansfamily4, tnet

Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

At first, Elizabeth ignored the sounds that came from outside the house and tried to go back to sleep. She assumed the noise was brought on by the rain and gusty winds. When she heard the loud crash against the window, she decided to check what had caused this and hoped that there was not any heavy damage to their property.

Rising slowly, Elizabeth collected a candle and moved towards the windows. After partially pulling the curtains back, she leaned close to the glass to see what she could make out in the dark of the state of their grounds and gardens.

"Miss Lydia! Get yourself ready. We need to hurry!"

Her body froze. She recognised that voice. Drawing the curtains hastily, she hid herself from view and paused to think what she needed to do. The blackguard was outside their window and had called for her youngest sister.

Why is Mr Wickham here? And why is he asking Lydia to get ready? What is he planning to do?

Looking at her sisters' sleeping forms, she thought she that she must alert them and get some answers from Lydia.

"Wake up, everyone!" she urgently hissed.

"What is the matter, Lizzy?" Jane was the first one to speak to her.

"Mr Wickham is outside! What are we to do?"

"What do you mean, Lizzy?" the confused sister asked.

"He is here! Right outside the window!"

"What? Why is he here?"

"I do not know. But he was calling Lydia. He probably thought I was Lydia when I peered out the window."

"What did he say?"

"He said to get ready and that we need to hurry. Lydia, do you know anything about this?"

Lydia started to panic and was unable to respond.

"Lydia, please. Tell us what you know," Elizabeth pleaded.

"I… we… he suggested that we e-elope…" Lydia stuttered.

"Elope? Lydia, are you out of your mind?"

"I am sorry, Lizzy. That was before… I… please do not let him take me. I do not want to go with him. Please, Lizzy!" Lydia cried then embraced her sister.

"We can talk about this later. First, we need to make sure that man is arrested. I am going to wake papa now," Jane declared in a determined voice.

"Shhh… Lydia. We will never allow him take you. You are safe here," Elizabeth reassured her sister while gently rubbing her back.

Jane came back shortly after and announced that she received no answer when she knocked on their father's bedroom door.

"I knocked loudly numerous times. He might not be in his bedroom. I do not think we should wake mama. She would be in hysterics. I will call for Mrs Hill and ask her to alert the servants."

"Yes, we need to get someone to find the patrolling officers."

Another loud thud was heard and they all turned towards the window.

"That would be him. He must be getting impatient. We need to make him stay and wait. The last thing we want to happen is for him to leave," Jane said.

"Lydia, listen. I need you to do something," Elizabeth addressed Lydia and released her from the hug.

Lydia nodded for her to continue.

"Talk to Mr Wickham and make him wait."

"What should I say? I am scared."

"Anything. Anything to delay him. Say that you are getting more money. Say that you need to get dressed. Take a few deep breaths. You can do this, Lydia. I believe in you."

When a tired-looking Mrs Hill arrived, Jane asked her if she knew where their father was. The housekeeper explained that she suspected he had fallen asleep in his study. Not wanting to waste any more time, Jane instructed her to wake all the servants and direct one to search for the patrolling officers in the vicinity and another to go to the Kings' residence to inform Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Darcy posthaste. She also asked the long-serving housekeeper to locate their father.

Lydia prepared herself to face Mr Wickham. She realised that she had to do her part to help. After all, she had already created problems for her family due to her foolishness.

"Mr Wickham!"

"Miss Lydia! Come out here now. We need to go."

"Just give me a moment to get dressed."

"Do not pack anything. There is no time."

"I will get some money and you know, what we need."

"Very well, but you must hurry!"

Lydia rejoined her sisters who were sitting closely together, comforting each other while anxiously waiting for news about finding assistance with catching Mr Wickham.

"I am going down to find papa," Elizabeth stood up, unable to simply stay there and do nothing.

"Lizzy, whatever you do, do not go outside!" Mary worried for her sister.

"Mary is right, Lizzy. You can be impulsive but this is not the time to show your bravery and willfulness. Mr Wickham can be a dangerous man," Jane admonished.

"Do not worry. I will stay inside. But we need to make papa aware of what is happening."

Upon reaching the hallway leading to their father' study, Elizabeth met Mrs Hill who was on her way back. The housekeeper looked grim and shook her head sadly.

"I tried," was all the older woman could say.

"Have you asked someone to call for help?" Elizabeth asked her. Mrs Hill nodded and left to wait for the servants to return.

Elizabeth knocked on the door and listened for any sign that her father was inside. After a while, she rapped at the door again.

"Go away! I already told you to leave me alone!" came the slurred voice from Mr Bennet.

"Papa, it is Lizzy. May I come in?"

"Lizzy? What do you want?" Elizabeth frowned at her father's brusque reply. She was not accustomed to hearing him speak to her thus. Deciding to enter the study, she noticed her father's slumped position and the empty bottle and glass on his desk.

"Papa… I think you have drunk too much…"

"No… not too much. I can handle my drink."

"Papa… we need you. Mr Wickham is here."

"Wickham? He is here?"

"Yes, papa. He is outside the house. We have called for help. Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr Darcy and some officers should be here soon."

"Ahhh… I see… good. Very good. They can deal with him…"

"I hope so. But papa, you need to rise and--"

Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, Mr Bennet's eyes had shut and he had fallen asleep again. Her efforts to rouse him were to no avail. She then proceeded to report back to her sisters.

"Papa is in his study. But I am afraid he has had too much to drink. He will not be able to help us considering his condition."

"What do we do now?" wailed Kitty.

"We wait," Jane replied solemnly.

"But Jane, surely there is something we can do," Elizabeth pressed.

"Lizzy, we do not know what Mr Wickham is capable of. He is a desperate man and possibly armed. We only have one footman. Mr Hill is not that strong anymore. We can hardly expect our female servants to be fit or trained to fight."

"How about us? Is there something we can do while waiting?"

"Lizzy, I will not risk your safety or that of your sisters' for that undeserving man! I do not want any of you to get hurt."

As soon as Jane said that, another loud blow was heard.

"Miss Lydia! I am leaving with or without you. You have five minutes if you want to come with me."

"Oh no! What is taking the men so long to arrive?"

"What are we going to do? He is going to escape!"

"I thought officers are patrolling the area. Where are they?"

"It must harder to see and hear clearly with the bad weather. I hope help arrives soon."

Four sisters started talking simultaneously while one resorted to prayers.

Suddenly, an idea struck Elizabeth and she quickly shared her plan with the others.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Lizzy?"

"No. But it will give us more time."

"Are you ready?" All the sisters nodded and took their places.

Lydia opened the window and shouted,

"Mr Wickham! Here is the money! Come and catch it!"

The man, who had been previously hiding in the shadows, came into view. He looked surprised when he saw Elizabeth appear at the opening.

"Mr Wickham, how good it is to see your handsome face."

Elizabeth then hauled a nearly full chamber pot over and emptied the contents onto the expectant man's head.

"Wh… What… Why… you worthless slut!" Mr Wickman sputtered out his angry words.

"Do not talk to my sister like that!"

Jane then followed Elizabeth's actions and poured the contents of another chamber pot over the man's figure.

"You… you… both of you! Wait till I get my hands on you!"

One empty chamber pot went flying out the window and hit Mr Wickham squarely on his head.

"Owwww!"

"Do not dare threaten my sisters!" hollered Kitty.

"And here is another one for you and your thick head!" And out went the other chamber pot which also landed on the intended target.

"Aaarrrrrghhhh!"

Four shocked but amused faces turned to Mary, proud that their typically righteous sister contributed to their scheme.

"You Bennet girls are all hoydens! Shameless, crass women --"

Unknown to him, a servant had returned accompanied by three officers. Mr Wickham was immediately seized and tied to a tree. He had resisted and struggled but he had little chance against the three men. The sisters felt hugely relieved that help had finally arrived and that the blackguard was now trapped. They just had to wait for the appearance of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Darcy.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sorry I had to stop there as I still have a ton of things to do.

Thank you very much for the replies to the Darcy-Bingley relationship question. Loved all your ideas and they all made sense. I imagine them as a tandem of a too serious older brother and a tad annoying younger brother at times.

If you wish to answer another one, here it is:

Why do you think Darcy does not do much to discourage Caroline? Along the same line, why does he not discourage his aunt from her plans to match him with Anne?

Is it because he is trying to be polite and avoid confrontation? Maybe he is concerned about damaging his friendship with Bingley. Maybe he thinks Caroline and his aunt will give up eventually. Maybe he does not want to offend Bingley's sister and his cousin Anne. Or maybe he does not give them much thought because he is not interested anyway. I do not think it is because he does not want to eliminate them as potential candidates for a wife while he has not yet found the one.

I just remembered I sketched a VERY rough outline for a short Christmas story two months ago. Not sure if anyone is interested…

Thank you all and please stay safe. ;-)