I think this is my longest chapter in this story so far! Woot! Anyway, for anyone who read this story before, things have changed a bit in this chapter. Enjoy!
Elizabeth awoke on the day of the Netherfield party to the sound of loud laughter. She dressed quickly. Upon exiting her bedchamber the same sound of laughter reached her ears, she knocked loudly on the door to the room next to her own. It was opened by a high-spirited George Wickham. "Lizzy!" he shouted warmly. "I was wondering when you wouldd come and join our party." Elizabeth looked around him to see Lydia, Kitty, and John sitting in the various chairs that occupied the room. Lydia and Kitty were giggling profusely; their faces becoming quite red. John looked as though he would rather be anywhere else in the world than sitting in the room with his flushed younger sisters and George.
"Party? Is that where the noise that so rudely woke me up was coming from?" she questioned George.
George laughed again. "Asleep so late into the day Lizzy. What have you been doing all night?"
"George, I believe the question is what have you been doing all night and all day for that matter." In the room, Kitty and Lydia burst into another round of laughter.
"As charming as Meryton is, I am afraid it lacks something that I desire in a town."
"A pub perhaps?" Elizabeth looked at him sternly.
"You know me too well Lizzy." George laughed again.
"Unfortunately, you are far more charming when you are not intoxicated."
George's smile faded into a thin, straight line across his face. With apparent sincerity he asked, "Does it bother you Lizzy?"
"Why should it matter if it bothers me?"
"Does it Lizzy?" George questioned again, this time more earnestly.
"It does indeed." she responded in a whisper.
"Then I shall try my best to not be in such a state will I am here. It is quite a hassle to ride to London and back anyway." Then leaning in closer to Elizabeth and speaking in a low voice he said, "And of course we cannot forget the possibility of happening across a certain person which would truly be a most awful situation." Elizabeth laughed slightly. George smiled, "At last, the Lizzy I know and love. You have not been so much yourself since I've arrived."
Elizabeth did not speak, but merely smiled. She turned and continued down the hall. George looked after her until he could no longer see her and then closed the door and returned to his entertainment.
The carriage wheels rattle against the gravel road. The sun shone bright above it illuminating the bright blue sky. The carriage was quite small and not very ornate, but handsome in its simplicity. The people occupying the inside of the carriage were all finely dressed. All gazed silently out the small windows at the surrounding landscape. "It is quite beautiful this time of year is it not cousin?" Georgiana spoke. Her fair hair was pulled away from her thin face into an elegant bun.
A man in a red militia uniform replied merrily. "It is quite lovely in the country during the fall season. The colors are so beautiful before it gets too cold."
"Well it is lucky for us that it has not."
"It most certainly is." answered the other man, Fitzwilliam.
A large manor came into view. "Netherfield is magnificent." their cousin exclaimed.
"I hear Pemberley is even more beautiful. At least from the way Elizabeth describes it." Georgiana sighed as she imagined Bennets family house in Derbyshire.
The carriage came to a stop and a footman opened the door. Darcy exited the carriage first. His cousin followed him out and then held his arm out for Georgiana. She accepted it and allowed herself to be escorted to the door. They were led to the open door by the footman and quickly greeted in the entrance by the tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed man that Georgiana had met almost a three weeks earlier. Elizabeth soon joined him. She smiled excitedly at the party. "Georgiana," she cried out to her friend. The young ladies embraced warmly. She then turned to Fitzwilliam. Giving a slight curtsy, she greeted him with the usually pleasantries. Darcy followed in suit. She looked at their cousin puzzled for the briefest of moments before remembering about the cousin Darcy had spoke of.
Darcy quickly snatched up the opportunity to make the introduction. "Miss Elizabeth, this is my cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam." Then turning to his cousin. "May I present Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Pemberley."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Elizabeth." Colonel Fitzwilliam bow gracefully.
Elizabeth smiled. "It is my pleasure to meet you Colonel. And may I introduce you all to my brother Mr. John Bennet." John smiled graciously. "John may I formerly introduce to you Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy of the Longbourn."
John shook Darcy's hand merrily. "Mr. Darcy, good to see you again." Then smiling jokingly, he kissed Georgiana's hand very lightly. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance again Miss Darcy."
Georgiana gave a small laugh recalling their previous encounter. "The pleasure is all mine Mr. Bennet."
"I will not have you calling me Mr. Bennet," he whispered. "It is my father's name not mine. I wish you to call me John."
Georgiana laughed softly. "Very well then, I shall call you John."
"That is much better." he responded in a whisper then offered her.
The mood was merry and the wine rich. The party, though wonderful and entertaining in every way, was not quite as small as John had described. The ballroom was so full that at times Elizabeth felt it hard to breath. There was not one person in the ballroom who had not complimented the fine supper or the exquisite decorations. In an adjacent room, there was a table at which many people were in the midst of playing cards. This was where Elizabeth sat when John rushed over to his sister. "Elizabeth, you must dance with me."
"I wouldn't have the heart to refuse." she laughed in response. He led her onto the dance floor. Darcy watched from a corner as the siblings danced cursing to himself whenever another couple danced in front of his view of them. He enjoyed watching Elizabeth dance. She was graceful and refined when she danced and yet wild and carefree. His thoughts about her astonished him. He had only known Elizabeth for about two months. Besides, he knew he was below her and her family would never condone a marriage between them. Yet, he couldn't help but to hope. Then a conservation being held nearby reached his ears.
"It has come to my attention Mr. Collins that you are fond of my eldest Miss Bennet." Mrs. Bennet stated quite casually.
Mr. Darcy shifted his position slightly so that he might observe Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins without being noticed.
Mr. Collins eagerly searching for approval of the possibility of the match answered, "Indeed, she has certainly captured my special attention."
Mrs. Bennet became sullen upon hearing this. "I am sorry to inform, Mr. Collins, that we believe that my eldest is very soon to be engaged."
Mr. Collins was surprised to hear so, "That is upsetting to hear Mrs. Bennet. Perhaps Miss Elizabeth Bennet can be considered as an alternative."
It was then that Mrs. Bennet felt that she was blessed with a stroke of genius. "Again, I am sorry to say that Miss Elizabeth is quite close to Mr. Wickham and I feel that she might have some form of an understanding with him. My middle daughter, Mary, I would think has quite the temperament that you would look for in a wife though she does not equal Jane and Elizabeth in appearance." Mrs. Bennet was well aware of Mary's sullen personality and plain looks and so felt quite sure that Mr. Collins would be the only man willingly to marry her.
Mr. Collins looked over at Mary who sat by the fire reading a book of sermons silently while her sisters and the young gentlemen talked and laughed around her. Not entirely excited by her looks he was pleased by her sensible nature. "It is an interesting suggestion Mrs. Bennet. I pleasing thought that I will look into further."
The jig ended. Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins went there separate ways unaware that the two men that stood nearest to them had overheard their conversation. Wickham walked off in search of John and Elizabeth highly entertained by Mrs. Bennet's blatant falsehood that an understanding existed between himself and her second daughter.
Darcy remained in his place thoroughly shocked by the information that he had overheard. From what he understood, Wickham had no money. His good fortune had been to gain the favor of Mr. Bennet and the friendship of Mr. John Bennet. The thought that Elizabeth could have an understanding with him frustrated Darcy. "What makes Mr. Wickham more appropriate a match than myself?" Darcy found himself asking.
As Elizabeth moved away from the dancing couples, Darcy found himself making a move toward her, but another man intercepted her before he could reach her. He had the same dark, wavy locks as her brother, but he stood slightly taller. Darcy watched them with some jealousy as they danced. That Elizabeth was enjoying her partner could easily be read across her face.
"I must say Lizzy. When I had first arrived at Netherfield and saw how stiff you had become around me I began to worry."
"What worried you?" Elizabeth laughed at the idea that he was worried.
"I don't know exactly." the man responded seriously. "I suppose that some one had stolen my dear Lizzy away."
"Are you worried anymore?" Elizabeth asked him still laughing at what he had said.
"How could I be? I have never seen you behave more like yourself," he said smiling at her.
"Well, I am glad you find be so like myself."
"I have overheard the most amusing conversation."
"Tell me." Elizabeth requested.
"Mrs. Bennet informed your cousin Mr. Collins, that she believed there to be an understanding between us." Wickham laughed.
"You lie."
"I swear I speak the truth." Wickham smiled.
Elizabeth groaned, "My mother is an infuriating woman."
"I find her amusing." Wickham smiled once again.
"You are only pleased that she believes that I have an attachment to you."
"Don't you?" Wickham questioned her.
"Not at all."
"You have broken my heart Elizabeth Bennet."
"I have done no such thing George Wickham."
"You don't know that." Wickham said seriously.
"George," Elizabeth sighed. "It is safer to remain like brother and sister."
"Perhaps, but Lizzy, you know as well as I that my relationship with you is vastly different from my relationship with any of your sisters. Is it fair to either of us to continue to pretend that that means nothing?"
"Yes, it is. Nothing would come of you admitting such a thing. You are living well purely through the charity of my father and no matter what my mother says to Mr. Collins, they would never support such a match."
"I know you are right Lizzy," Wickham smiled weakly. Then smiling slyly he said, "Be aware Lizzy that the objections that your family would raise against me will surely be raised against your latest conquest as well."
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked him. Wickham looked in the direction of Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth followed his gaze. "I don't know what my brother has told you George, but Mr. Darcy is not a suitor of mine."
"Both John and I would beg to differ Elizabeth."
When the dance ended Wickham escorted her off to the side. Darcy quickly approached where the couple was standing "Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth exclaimed as he came closer.
Glancing quickly at the man that sat beside her Darcy spoke, "I wondered if you were available for a dance."
Elizabeth smiled at Darcy. She looked over at the man sitting next to her before accepting Darcy's hand. The man gave her a wink and she laughed. Darcy quickly led her onto the dance floor as Mary began a waltz. "I am curious Miss Elizabeth." he began cautiously.
"And I am willing to answer." she laughed.
"The man with whom you just danced, who is he?" Darcy looked at Elizabeth. Her eyes twinkled in amusement over his question.
"I am more curious to see who you think he is." She gave a little smirk.
"A brother who remained hidden until just recently." Darcy said for he the man did truly look as though he could be her brother.
Elizabeth laughed loudly at the comment. "No, I am afraid George Wickham is not my long lost brother."
"Wickham." Darcy repeated lost in thought.
"Yes. If it is not to bold to ask Mr. Darcy, I wonder what you are thinking." Elizabeth gazed at Mr. Darcy curiously.
"I wonder if I should be offering my long due congratulations Miss Elizabeth." Darcy was no longer smiling for he was no longer speaking in jest.
"Excuse me Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth questioned quite confused.
"I take it that you and Mr. Wickham are..." his sentence dribbled off into nothing.
"Mr. Darcy, I am not sure if I am understanding you correctly." Elizabeth was shocked to find that Mr. Darcy thought her to be engaged to George.
"I only wish you had told me from the beginning. That somebody told me from the beginning for I feel as though I have been nothing but impertinent." Darcy was now talking more to himself than Elizabeth.
"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth exclaimed. Outrage was becoming more evident in her voice.
"However, I did think that you..." Darcy had continued with his murmurings, but was unable to complete his thought. He looked at Elizabeth. She was flushed and her eyes no longer twinkled merrily.
"Mr. Darcy," she began. "I will inform you that I am most certainly not engaged to George Wickham. He is an old family friend. I grew up with him and so he is practically my brother and a brother to all my sisters."
"That is not what your mother says."
"When it comes to marriage, my mother says things with an agenda. She would never support half of the engagements she claims exist, particularly not one between myself and Mr. Wickham."
"Then, what, may I ask, is the point of our acquaintance Miss Bennet."
"Friendship, Mr. Darcy."
"I believe you have enough of those Miss Bennet."
"Mr. Darcy, I am to understand that you had different intentions? And that you believed I shared those intentions?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.
"Miss Bennet, we walked together every morning for nearly a month."
Elizabeth could think of no response because Mr. Darcy was quite correct. For her to have walked with him alone so often was highly inappropriate and she could think of no way to justify herself to Mr. Darcy. As hard as she might try to argue that her relationship with him was much like that hers and Wickham's, they were quite different in nature. Finally she replied, "That was wrong of me."
"Yes, well, if Mr. Wickham would never receive the approval then I can expect a similar response to any offer I might have presented." Elizabeth provided him with no response. As the dance came to an end, Darcy looked at Elizabeth and said, "Pardon me Miss Bennet, but I feel that we should discontinue our association.
"Mr. Darcy, I had no desire to offend you. I would truly like to continue our acquaintance."
"I am afraid I would not feel comfortable with that Miss Bennet. I fear I have compromised your honor."
"I assure you, you have done nothing of the sort."
"My honor tells me I have" Mr. Darcy guided Elizabeth off to the side and bowed graciously before departing.
"Oh what a party that was Lizzy." Jane sighed.
Lizzy looked at her sister's reflection in through the mirror that sat before her. Combing a brush through her hair thoughtfully Elizabeth responded, "Eventful, I will agree to though I am not sure I can agree to good."
"How could you not?" Jane exclaimed. "I saw you enjoying yourself all evening."
"Most of the evening Jane dear. Then I had to dance with George and everything changed."
"You are such a liar Lizzy. I know that you enjoyed dancing with George. I saw you laughing and talking during your dance with him."
Elizabeth remained silent for a time. Then decided to change the subject slightly. "I saw you enjoying yourself with Charles."
"I don't deny it, Lizzy. I cannot deny that I like Charles. I would even go so far as to say I care for him as I care for John and George. I, however, can never honestly say that I care anymore for him than that."
"Do you wish that you could?" Elizabeth questioned quickly.
"Charles is a wonderful man with wonderful manners and a delightful personality. He is just not the man for me." Jane slid under the covers.
Elizabeth joined her. "Then who is the man for you and how do you know it isn't Charles?"
"I don't know who the man is because I haven't met him yet and I just know it isn't Charles." Jane said with a small sigh.
"How can you be sure it isn't Charles, Jane." Elizabeth exclaimed. "It could be Charles and you are just ignoring the fact because you do not want to agree with John and myself."
"Lizzy..." Jane began.
"I will stop talking about it if you promise me to look at him." Elizabeth spoke firmly.
"Look a Charles?" Jane questioned unsure.
"Look at him really with no prejudice against him because of me and John. Then decide on it Jane." Elizabeth had a slight tone of pleading in her voice.
"Why do you want me to do this?"
"I love you and believe Charles with make you happy. He is the only me I could entrust with your well-being Jane."
Jane smiled at this and nodded her head. "I will try. I promise Lizzy. It does not mean I will change my mind."
Elizabeth smiled knowing that Jane would.