Hi everyone.
I updated yesterday so please go back if you have not read it yet.
Thank you for all the support despite the slow updates and ridiculous plotholes, or craters like a kind reviewer said. I have no energy to redo the story, so if you can bear the silliness of it all, then an even bigger thanks to you.
Special mention to the reviewers, of course: Guest, Eleoopy, ArnettinCA, RHALiz, JohnnyFlynnFan, Lisa, Happy Lizzy, Xpochakkox, Colleen S, Gaeilge, Levenez, Guest, Guest, Guest, Kiwipride, Motherof8, Lostpassword, s. gabriela. molina, Maria Teresa C, Jansfamily4, ChrisM0519, liysyl, Deanna 27
I am on half term break now but not for long, hence I had some time to update the past few days. Not been too happy recently as I explained two chapters ago, but I am intent on completing this story. So much drama from some quarters and I just want to finish this so I can move on. I think my mood reflects on my writing as the last chapter was a bit darker, more angsty. I did try to cut out some more angsty scenes I had in mind and toned this next chapter down.
Hope this works… will make small tweaks later tonight if needed.
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Later in the day, Lydia went to Elizabeth's room to discuss the wedding gifts for Mary. They could not openly speak about their plans while Mary was around.
"Lizzy, I just wanted to talk to you about Mary's wedding presents. I think it would be good to have some new ribbons with brighter colours for her bonnets, and some lace for Jane to make the caps," Lydia said.
"Yes, we do need to head to Meryton to do some shopping. Let me count how much money we have," Elizabeth replied and went to her drawer. A thought then occurred to her as she was taking the coins out. She sat on her bed next to Lydia and asked, "Lydia, did you happen to see a letter in my drawer before?"
"I saw one that had the name Georgiana but I only saw it once. Why, has it gone missing?" Lydia answered.
"No… but… did you read the letter?" Elizabeth said in turn.
"I did not. I only saw it when I was looking through your drawer. I thought I could use it to wrap the coins, but I saw it had some writing, so I left it. Is Georgiana a new friend of yours?" Lydia enquired.
"No. She is Mr Darcy's younger sister," Elizabeth supplied.
"I see. I did not realise you are acquainted with her," Lydia said with wonder.
"I have not met Miss Darcy. That letter was not written to me. I have returned it along with the book that Mr Darcy lent me," Elizabeth explained.
"Ahh… she must have been reading the book and inadvertently left the letter inside," Lydia speculated.
Elizabeth decided not to disagree with Lydia's statement to avoid having to explain any more about the letter.
"Did you by any chance mention anything about this to Mr Wickham?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, I was curious and asked him if he knew someone named Georgiana. It was strange that he was interested in the letter," Lydia admitted.
"What did he say?" Elizabeth continued.
"He asked if I could pass the letter on to him, but I never saw it again," Lydia said.
"Lydia… that was very risky and irresponsible… it is not your letter…" Elizabeth replied.
"What harm could a letter possibly do?" Lydia did not realise the danger she could have put the Darcy family in.
"You never know, especially with that man. He could try to use any information to suit his own purposes. He is good at deceiving people. Is there anything else you have not told me regarding Mr Wickham?" Elizabeth wanted to find out.
Lydia paused to think then frowned.
"I used one of your handkerchiefs to enclose the coins to give to him," Lydia said.
Elizabeth sucked in a quick breath and Lydia knew her sister was very unhappy with what she had done.
"I am sorry, Lizzy. When I get my next pin money, I will pay for its replacement," Lydia pledged to her sister.
"I suppose it does not matter now that Mr Wickham has been arrested. He will not be able to cause any more trouble. But Lydia, I really hope you have no more surprises for us," Elizabeth sounded very disappointed.
"I promise to be more careful and sensible from now on, Lizzy. I do not want to bring any more problems to our family."
The entire night, Elizabeth pondered about this new information and worried how it might affect her relationship with Mr Darcy. She knew she had to confess all this to him as soon as may be.
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After leaving the village lock up, Mr Darcy hardly said a word. Colonel Fitzwilliam knew his cousin would not be fit to converse with at present, so he decided to save his questions for later. Darcy went for a long and brisk ride on his horse before returning to Netherfield. Later that evening, the colonel opened the discussion with Darcy.
"Darce, whatever Wickham said, do not dwell on it. He would soon rot in prison," Richard said.
Darcy merely shook his head in response, not really wanting to discuss Wickham's claims about Elizabeth.
"Did he taunt you about Georgiana?" Richard ventured to ask.
"No. Surprisingly he did not even mention her name," Darcy replied.
"Did he ask you to bail him out again? Or complain about how unfairly he has been treated all his life? Or boasted that he was your father's favourite?" Richard continued.
"No, he did not," Darcy answered.
"Then what… hmm… did he say something about Miss Elizabeth?" Richard knew that would be the only other thing that would cause such a reaction from his cousin.
Darcy sighed and gave a small nod.
"Even to the end, he wants to give you grief. That man is pure evil. Please do not place any importance on what he said. He is a master of deception, you know that. Anything he said is bound to be untrue," Richard continued.
"I am going to retire now, Richard. I will see you in the morning," Darcy said.
"Darce, listen to me. Do not believe that blackguard. You know you cannot trust him. He just wants one final chance at revenge. He does not want you to find happiness. You need to look to the future now. A future with Miss Elizabeth. She is an extraordinary woman, and I would be honoured to welcome her into the family."
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The next morning, Darcy rose early. He had a restless night, thinking about what Wickham said as well as his last conversation with Elizabeth. After spending some time reflecting on recent events, he resolved to choose his words carefully the next time he called at Longbourn. On that day when they offered apologies to each other, they had agreed to use their past experiences to guide them in their interactions to prevent any further misunderstandings.
After spending a quarter of an hour discussing trivial matters in the parlour at Longbourn, the colonel could no longer abide by the longing looks that his cousin had been casting at Miss Elizabeth.
"Mrs Bennet, I have noticed that you seem to have a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should like to admire it more closely, if you will allow it," he requested.
"Why, of course, colonel! Mr Hill sees to it that our gardens are well-maintained. I hope you find it to your liking," the mistress said.
"I am sure I will, Mrs Bennet. Miss Elizabeth, would you be so kind as to favour me with your company as I take a turn in the gardens?" asked the colonel. Elizabeth was startled upon hearing his application as she was also distracted by the presence of a certain brooding gentleman. After she accepted, Mr Bingley likewise solicited Jane's company for a walk.
"Perhaps you would like to join us, Darcy?" the colonel asked his cousin, who readily followed.
When they were outside, the colonel made a big show of pretending to inspect all the trees, shrubs and flowers.
"Pray forgive me, Miss Elizabeth, for not being attentive to you. If you do not mind, my cousin could walk with you. Or the pair of you could sit cosily on that very inviting bench surrounded by such beautiful roses," he suggested, making Elizabeth blush.
Once Darcy had led Elizabeth to the seat, each of them began talking at the same time.
"Mr Darcy…"
"Miss Elizabeth…"
Darcy nodded for Elizabeth to continue. In a way, he was relieved to have more time to think about what to say.
"Sir, I will come straight to the point. Yesterday when you asked about Mr Wickham, I did not feel comfortable with the direction of our conversation. I felt that you did not trust me or my sister Jane hence I overreacted and wanted to leave immediately," Elizabeth started.
"Miss Elizabeth, I was not accusing you or Miss Bennet of providing information to Wickham. I know both of you will not knowingly do such a thing. I am sorry if it sounded like I was interrogating you. I simply wanted to know what could have made Wickham think of saying those words. You need to understand that where my sister is involved, I am quite sensitive and protective," Darcy explained.
"You have every right to be concerned, sir. I appreciate how much you care for Miss Darcy. I guess I am the same with my sisters," Elizabeth answered.
"I hope you do not hold what happened yesterday against me then," Darcy said.
"On the contrary, I fear that once I reveal something to you, I will be the one who would request for your understanding. Only last night, I found out that Lydia had knowledge of the letter. She saw it in my drawer when she took some of my pin money to give to Mr Wickham. She assured me that she knows nothing about its contents, and I believe her. For if she had, she would not have continued to trust that man," Elizabeth disclosed.
"So Miss Lydia was the one who told Wickham about the existence of a letter," Darcy said.
"Yes, she said she became curious about who Georgiana was and innocently mentioned it to him. There is more, sir. She said Mr Wickham was interested in getting hold of the letter, but fortunately, I had already returned it to you. I am so sorry, sir, I was burning with fever that time and I had no idea this had happened. I beg for your forgiveness, sir. But I would accept if you did not want anything more to do with my family," Elizabeth said the last sentence with a mixture of sadness and resignation, and waited for Mr Darcy to respond.
Darcy quickly stood up and began pacing in front of Elizabeth. The latter was becoming more anxious about his reaction. She was starting to lose hope that he would grant her family any more consideration.
After what seemed like a long time, Darcy finally halted his steps and said,
"It is incredible what that man will do to cause trouble. I really should have curtailed his reckless behaviour many years ago. Your sister, like Georgiana, has been used so abominably ill by that scoundrel. I can only be thankful that by providence, they escaped unharmed," Darcy stated.
"You… you forgive me, sir? And my sister Lydia?" Elizabeth's voice trembled.
"You have done nothing wrong, Miss Elizabeth. Yes, I admit, that what your sister did greatly annoys me. But she has been fooled by an experienced cad. Her fault is that she was silly and naïve, but she did not intend to harm anyone. All the blame should rest on Wickham," Darcy replied.
"You are too good to us, sir. We do not deserve your kindness. Words are not enough to express how grateful I am," Elizabeth's eyes shone with unshed tears.
"Please do not cry, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy said softly, as he wiped the tears that slowly trickled down her cheeks.
"Mr Darcy, what happened to your hands? Your knuckles are bruised," she cried and held his hands gently.
"I may or may not have ruined Mr Wickham's handsome face," Darcy said with a small degree of pride.
Elizabeth gasped at hearing this and asked, "Not that I do not approve, sir, for he deserves far worse than a few blows, but whatever induced you to do it?"
"He made the very grave mistake of speaking maliciously about someone I care for. I have learnt to never believe his lies again. I did warn him to stop, but he persisted. My cousin had to restrain me from delivering any more damage," Darcy revealed. Elizabeth assumed that he was referring to Georgiana. The gentleman then produced something from his pocket and offered it to Elizabeth.
"I am not sure if this is yours. Wickham said it is. It does bear your initials," Darcy spoke carefully.
"My handkerchief! Thank you for retrieving it. Lydia used it to wrap the coins she gave him," she said with surprise.
"I am sorry you are receiving it in such a state," he said, satisfied that there was an easy explanation as to why Wickham had it in his possession.
"I am just relieved that you were able to get it back. It seems that I am either thanking you or apologising to you, Mr Darcy," she smiled at him.
"I am always at your service, madam," he said meaningfully.
Just then, Mr Bingley, Jane and the colonel were seen hurriedly returning to the house. It had started to rain, and regrettably, Darcy led Elizabeth back inside as he did not want her to fall ill again.
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That's it for now.
Thank you to all who shared some interesting trivia. I always love finding out more information, like behind-the-scenes or more about Jane Austen.
Oh, there is a film called Operation Mincemeat that stars both Colin and Matthew!
Next one if you are up for it:
Any suggestions for actors/actresses to play Jane Austen or any PnP characters. It would be nice to hear suggestions for secondary/minor roles too. People often compare Colin and Matthew, and Jennifer and Keira. For me, I like them all, though I have my preferences. Sometimes it depends on my mood, or I may like one scene better in one than the other etc. I do not want any arguments as to which is the better production, please. To me, they are different as one is a mini-series and one is a film. I love different things about them.
I am thinking Emily Blunt would be nice to see as Jane Austen. To be honest, I do not know a lot of the new-ish actors/actresses so I will have to think more about the PnP cast.
Thank you all again and stay safe.