Hello one and all! Welcome to Chapter Four of the fanfic!

I apologise for the size of this chapter, as it's a bit smaller than usual. But do not fear! Chapters should grow in length after this as I shall be getting into the meat of the story.

Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far. Monica- I would love to hear your version of Fantasie-Impromptu! The piano and the cello are my two favourite instruments, and I really wish I could play the cello XP. I was actually thinking of making Darcy a cellist, but decided against it because I know more about the piano than the cello.

And hey, I edited this chapter because I discovered there was a bit in it that contradicted something I had previously written. It's just a small change, though, so don't be worried (XP).

Anyhow, let us begin!

Chapter Four: "You are Quite as Human as I am."

The living room was absolutely silent, even though five people sat in it.

Darcy, always busy, was at a desk writing a letter to his sister. Elizabeth was sitting on one of the sofas reading a book, and Charles and Jane were on the other sofa, eye-flirting back and forth.

Caroline was walking around the room, and seemed to be becoming slightly annoyed. Nobody was paying any attention to her, and she soon decided to remedy that.

"William." Caroline trilled, and Fitzwilliam Darcy twitched slightly, startled out of his letter-writing reverie. He looked up from the paper, annoyed.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Oh, I just wanted to ask you to tell your sister I do miss her so. She is elegant company, and I do so desire-"

"I told her that in my last letter." Darcy then turned back to his letter, and Caroline stood by him, quite miffed by his short reply.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had become distracted from her book by Caroline's annoying voice and was looking around the room. She smiled at Charles and Jane, who were still quite absorbed with each other.

As Elizabeth turned to look at Darcy and Caroline, her gaze fell on the grand piano in the next room, and she was overcome with the sudden and strong desire to play that piano.

"Um. Charles." Charles Bingley looked away from Jane, surprised.

"Yes? Was that you, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth laughed.

"Yes. I was wondering if you would let me play your piano. For a while. I'll try not to be too loud."

"My piano? Oh sure. Feel free anytime." Charles smiled warmly at Elizabeth, then turned back to Jane.

Elizabeth barely contained a squeal of delight and hopped off the sofa, almost skipping to the music parlor.

Darcy watched her go, then turned back to his letter.

Deep music fills the night...

Elizabeth hummed to herself as she played at Charles's grand piano, haphazardly making her way through "Harlem Nocturne". She wasn't focusing and kept on missing keys, but was still enjoying her time at the piano.

Even if I can't play like Darcy, I can still have fun playing. Elizabeth smiled as she hit another wrong chord. And I can still have fun playing even if I really don't know what I'm doing.

Elizabeth soon finished the song, and then moved on to a piano rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago", which was a lot rowdier then the previous song. She was enjoying herself immensely, and playing a lot better then she had been.

Elizabeth then moved on to some classical music, then back to "Sweet Home Chicago". The song was one of her favorite pieces to play, mostly because it was so energetic and loud.

Caroline sniffed disdainfully as she heard the music emanating from the other room.

"Do you hear that, William? Whatever does she think she's playing? It hardly sounds musical.

Darcy looked up from his letter again, and focused absently on the music. He listened as it went from "Sweet Home Chicago" to something classical, possibly Chopin, to "Sweet Home Chicago" again.

"That's a blues song. It's called 'Sweet Home Chicago.'"

"Well! She's hardly playing it very well, don't you think? Your sister can do so much better." Caroline paused as she waited for Darcy to answer, then frowned when he didn't.

"William, did you hear what I said?" Caroline looked back at the desk, to discover Darcy was gone.

"Come on! Baby don't you wanna go..."

Elizabeth sang under her breath, growing louder as each stanza of the song went by.

"Come on! Baby don't you wanna go..."

Fitzwilliam Darcy watched Elizabeth, amused, as her piano and singing became louder.

"Back to that same old place, sweet home Chicago."

She capitulated the song in a long slide down the piano keys, with a loud chord sting finishing it off.

Elizabeth sat back, rather pleased with herself. She had never played that song on a grand piano before, and was delighted with the variety of effects you could achieve with such a high quality instrument.

She yawned and stretched, trying to think of what to do next, when Darcy caught her eye.

The Unpleasant Darcy! Elizabeth jumped off the piano bench, and glared at him.

"What are you doing?"

Darcy looked slightly surprised at her question, then resumed looking as detached and apathetic as possible.

"I was just listening to you play. What else would I be doing?"

"I thought you didn't like jazz music."

Darcy seemed to be at a bit of a loss for an answer to this, and looked around the room as if he would find one somewhere in it.

"I don't always mind listening to it, it's just not quite the thing for a gentleman to play." Darcy muttered his answer, rather miffed to be caught in a contradiction.

Elizabeth laughed.

"There you go again with the whole 'gentleman' thing! I honestly don't know what era you think we're in. I'm pretty sure, Darcy, that nobody cares whether somebody's a 'gentleman' or not anymore."

Darcy stiffened, and glared.

"Perhaps among the sorts of people you're used to consorting to. But among others, manners and taste is still regarded with importance." Darcy's voice was dripped with disdain that could not have gone unnoticed unless Elizabeth was deaf.

Elizabeth clenched her fists, and tried to count to ten. But her growing anger with Darcy had been waiting for a breaking point, and decided to take this opportunity to come crashing out all at once.

"That is it! I have had absolutely enough of this! I really don't know what makes you think you are above everyone else, Mr. Darcy; but let me assure you, you are quite as human as I am! You talk of manners and then proceed to insult me and my friends, and you absolutely refuse to compromise or listen to anybody's opinions but your own! I cannot stand talking to you, and I find it hard to believe that Charles puts up with you! Caroline's affection for you I can understand, because she has the brain of a flea and cares only for appearances. But Charles has always seemed quite sensible to me, so I cannot honestly account for his friendship with you!" Elizabeth glared at Darcy and seemed about to say something more, but then abruptly turned and walked out of the room

Darcy stood in the parlor, his anger fading away until he was left feeling quite stunned. He hadn't meant to make her that angry.

"Darcy? Is everything okay in there?" Charles popped his head through the door, and Darcy turned around guiltily.

"Ah. Yes. I think everything is just fine! Elizabeth just went upstairs to her room. I don't believe she was feeling well."

Charles looked at Darcy suspiciously. "What about the yelling?"

"What yelling? Nobody was yelling." Darcy looked at Charles very seriously as he spoke, and Charles sighed and gave up, returning to the living room.

There you go! I'll try to get working on the next chapter ASAP, but I'm not sure when it'll be finished.

And remember, ladies and gentlemen- the more reviews I get, the more I feel like writing! (XP). Honestly, though, I really do appreciate those of you that review. It's really nice to know what people think of my writing, and reviews always give me warm fuzzies.

So, see you next time!