Chapter 5

Lizzie was sitting at the mirror curling her eyelashes in her under garments when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Lizzie, it's just me," Jane's voice called out.

"Come in, Jane!" Lizzie called back, switching the curler to the other eye.

The door opened just enough for Jane to slip through with her garment bag before clicking shut again. Jane was almost ready, apart from her dress, her makeup was impeccable and her hair curled up on top of her head in a soft golden pile. Even without the dress, but wearing pink sweats, she was beautiful.

"It's starting to rain again," Jane commented, hanging her garment bag beside Lizzie's on the wardrobe.

"The roads are already getting a bit treacherous, I hope all your guests arrive safely," she said, her concern for strangers she had never met evident in her voice.

"I think most of them are staying in the village anyway, so they don't have far to come. And you just know they all have town cars and drivers. I wouldn't worry Jane," Elizabeth placated her, passing her sister the tube of mascara from her makeup bag.

Jane uncapped it and leaned forward to apply it to Lizzie's lush lashes.

"I saw Mr. Darcy as I came up," Jane said, causing Lizzie to scowl and Jane to pull the mascara brush away so she wouldn't smudge, but she continued talking. Knowing full well, and not caring that it was getting Elizabeth riled up. "He's looking very handsome tonight... mind you, he's always very handsome," she giggled.

"Aren't you supposed to be here as Charlie's date? Why are you checking out other men?" Lizzie grumbled.

"Oh hush, Lizzie," Jane scolded, "I'm just saying is all, stop being so resistant."

"He's my boss Jane, even if I didn't want to, I have to be resistant. Besides, I have a date tonight," Jane scoffed at that.

"Please Jane, let's not argue about George. Not tonight," Lizzie pleaded.

"I won't, but just be careful Lizzie. I know you trust him, but I'm not sure about him, so for my sake, please be careful. I'd hate for you to get hurt."

She could do nothing but agree with Jane and that scared her a little bit. Elizabeth prided herself on her judgment of character, but Jane was so sincere about her concerns and Jane didn't think poorly of anyone.

Lizzie honestly couldn't remember Jane ever reacting like this to anyone before. It took a lot to make her dislike someone, she saw the good in everybody, hell, she'd even managed to see some good in William Darcy... Lizzie closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath. She could feel it again... that niggling feeling in the back of her mind... that seed of doubt. She couldn't dwell on it any longer though, because Jane was pulling her attention.

"Help me with my dress, Lizzie. It's nearly time to start," she said, Lizzie opened her eyes and swiveled to where Jane was now standing by the wardrobe.

Lizzie helped Jane into her dress, and then slipped into her own, letting Jane handle the stiff zip on the back. Then she went to her duffel bag and pulled out a box.

"The final touch," Lizzie said with a smile, withdrawing two ornate masks. Jane's was pale blue and silver, to match her dress and bring out the jewel colour of her eyes. Both were the type that tied around the head. So after affixing Jane's mask, Lizzie sat before the mirror for Jane to tie hers.

Lizzie loved her mask, it was one of her favorite possessions, a memento that she had picked up in New Orleans back when she'd gone travelling in college. It was red, black and silver, with headdress like feathers on one side. This mask had been her inspiration for this year's benefit theme, as it hung above her bed where she'd lay awake fretting over her lack of inspiration.

Once it was resting on her nose and tied firmly around her head, the dark ribbon holding it secure disappeared into her dark locks and it looked like it was a part of her. She took a moment to admire it before gathering herself together and linking her arm with Jane's to descend to the party below.

From then on out, Lizzie's night was a whirlwind. She was practically run off her feet with all the things she had to do, and that wasn't such a great feeling when you were wearing a few extra pounds in petticoat. But Lizzie endured, because this was her job and she thrived on it.

Her night began in the foyer, along with Charles, Jane on his arm, and Charlotte Lucas who was the VP in the Derbyshire office. Darcy was nowhere to be seen, much to Lizzie's annoyance, he of all people should be on the frontline of greeting the guests.

"Charlie!" Lizzie hissed as she let go of Mr. Forster's hand as he moved into the ballroom, "Where the hell is Darcy?"

He could only shrug because a new party had just walked in the door and claimed his attention, leaving Lizzie had to seethe in silence.

By seven thirty most of the guests had arrived and Lizzie left her post in the foyer and went into the ballroom in search of Darcy, but she couldn't find him amongst the crowd, and quickly her attention was turned to mingling with the guests.

The annual Darcy Enterprises Ball brought together all of the company's bigwigs, major donors, investors and big clients together in one room for a night, the aim was, not only to raise money for charity but to connect clients and donors with each other, extend their business connections and strengthen their existing relationships, so it was important to mingle, and do it before the cocktails kicked in. So for the next hour, Lizzie did just that, all the while looking out for Darcy, but never spotting him. She kept hearing whispers though, and he'd come up in conversation.

When she was talking to Mr. Denny about contributions to the Children's Leukemia Foundation she heard Mary King pass by saying that "Darcy was looking F.I.N.E tonight".

Her conversation with William Goulding started off, apparently where he and Darcy left off, mere moments earlier, on the subject of next month's investors meeting. Again she checked over both shoulders for Darcy's familiar form, but still she couldn't see him. A waiter passed her by with a tray of champagne and she replaced the empty glass in her hand.

She didn't get a chance to hear what was to follow Mrs. Annesley's "Oh, William was just telling me…" because Charles was calling the room's attention from the staged area. Well, at least now she'd find Darcy, it was time for his welcome speech.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Charlie started.

"Lizzie," a voice whispered in her ear, accompanied by a tap on the shoulder. She turned around to see Charlotte looking frazzled, she'd even dropped the hand that was holding her mask up.

"What's wrong Charlotte?" Lizzie murmured back, Mrs. Annesley who was still standing next to Lizzie was watching with a curious glance.

"There a little emergency in the kitchens," she whispered back "Come quickly." She nodded a goodbye to Mrs. Annesley and quickly followed Charlotte from the ballroom, the doors to the kitchen swung closed behind her just as Charles said, "And here to welcome you all properly is the man himself, William Darcy".

By the time Elizabeth had finished dealing with the crisis in the kitchen, which had actually required her and Charlotte to run around practically the whole house trying to locate the water main, the guests in the ballroom were already half way through the main course. Three glasses of champagne on her empty stomach was going to her head, so took her main meal in the kitchen alcove with Charlotte rather than causing problems in the ballroom by being seated half way through a meal, and they waited for the servers to clear the plates before making their way back. Outside the main doors they ran into, almost literally, Lady Catherine (a title she held through birthright, and insisted be maintained despite it being outdated.) Lizzie refused to call her by it, which was one of the reasons the woman seemed to dislike her. Lizzie disliked her because she was a mean old bag who treated her poorly and had no sense of fun. Elizabeth noticed immediately that despite being dressed in her finest regalia, she wore no mask in honor of the theme.

"Miss Bennett!" She screeched (Lady Catherine was a screecher,) "Have you seen my nephew anywhere?" Lizzie let Charlotte ahead of her before answering her.

"Ms DeBourgh, lovely to see you again," she greeted "No sorry I haven't seen Darcy anywhere," that was something that Lizzie knew irritated her, calling Darcy by his surname alone, instead of his full given name and without a title before it.

"He disappeared before we could finish a conversation earlier and I need to speak with him, please tell him he must come and find me before the night it out!" she barked, then stopped off towards the ladies room, and Lizzie slipped back into the ballroom and took her seat at the main table. She expected to finally see Darcy but found his chair empty, a half empty glass of red wine at the table in front of his chair. She saw Lady Catherine return a few moments later and resume her seat beside her daughter, so she knew he hadn't been caught up with her. He didn't return during dessert either, and after those plates had been cleared, the lights were dimmed and the music turned up for the dancing, and he was still nowhere to be seen.

Half an hour later, the servers had cleared all the tables, the band had started playing and most of the guests were on the dance floor or enjoying the abundance of alcohol. Elizabeth had just collected a fresh glass of wine from the bar when Jane found her, her sister was smiling with glee as she skipped towards her.

"Oh Lizzie, it's a wonderful party!" she exclaimed, giving her a quick hug.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Lizzie laughed, watching her sister bloom, "Any particular reason that you're so happy?"

"Oh, you know me Lizzie, it's just my nature!" she laughed.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that a certain Mr. Charles Bingley hasn't taken his eyes off you all evening, and hasn't left you alone for more than a few minutes and is following you over here like a lost puppy?" she laughed, Jane turned to look over her shoulder and sure enough Charlie's flaming red hair was striking above his blue mask, which seemed to match Jane's dress perfectly.

"Lizzie! Charlotte told me about the mishap you had to deal with out the back, good work, sorry you had to handle it alone."

"No problem Charlie, although you'd probably have had more luck with the rusty handle on the water main! How's everything been going in here?"

"Swimmingly," he grinned, winking at his water pun, "Although I'm not sure where Will has disappeared to, so there might be a problem we don't yet know about."

"Maybe something else flooded, in which case I'll steer clear" Lizzie laughed.

"So Lizzie," Jane interceded "Where's George? I thought he was supposed to be here tonight."

Lizzie felt herself frown behind her mask, Jane was right, she hadn't thought that George was yet to show up.

"Oh, I hope he's alright!" she said, quickly glancing around the ballroom as if he would just appear there "He was coming up from London after all, and the roads are pretty slick…"

"I'm sure he's fine Lizzie," Charles consoled her. Jane nodded in agreement. "Can we dance Jane?" he asked, and she let him lead her onto the dance floor.

Lizzie scanned the room again, nervous now that she wasn't dealing with work responsibilities. Gulping down the last of her wine and putting the glass back on the bar she caught sight of a familiar set of broad shoulders and hard chest, clothed in a dapper tuxedo, a red bowtie around the collar, walking purposefully towards her. She recognized his tousled brown hair and strong jaw, and knew what those chiseled check bones would look and feel like behind his mask. She turned fully towards him just as he reached her side, and his lips curled in a smile of greeting, she noticed a dimple on his left cheek that she hadn't seen before, it's shadow darkened in the dim light. With no more persuasion than his small smile, and before either of them said a word she stepped into him, raised herself the few inches to meet his height and slanted her mouth across his, drawing him into an open mouthed kiss.

For a moment he was completely still, and then his large hands were on her hips, sliding around her back his arms encircled her, pulling her tightly against him. His lips were soft on hers, and unlike their kiss from earlier, they were undemanding as she pulled him in closer, she darted her tongue out to trace his, he opened up to her. She felt powerful, in control and overwhelmed. It was going on the record, as the best kiss she and George had ever shared.