My Goodness, where to start. Well, firstly, this will be a slightly longer chapter. Expect much longer scenes in Act III.

To everyone reading and reviewing, once again a great big thank you. Also to Jim, my ever patient beta. To those who I have not named personally, I read and digest every word of your reviews and appreciate them. There were just to many to get through this week if you want me to post on time. And so….

Deanna – Yes, yes and yes. However it wouldn't have given us Miss Austen's amazing story in my universe.

Saphira, spygrrl, HongKong, gracey, Nanciallen, my1alias – I think I need to copyright Aunt Marianne. You will be seeing more of her.

Avanell – If you liked that, you'll love the "and a bit", however it's a few postings away yet.

Rukia, LoveToRead, and many others – please be obsessed. The story is finished and beta'd so I can promise regular updates.

Lambton, Mmefish, anedrew – what could go wrong? Please read on to find out.

Scene IV

"Are you at all acquainted with Ramsgate, Sir," Lizzy respectfully enquired. Her eyes rolled slightly with exasperation at the banality of the question. To say the man seated at Aunt Marianne's right was taciturn was an understatement. Mr. Darcy had barely spoken five words together in a single sentence since joining the ladies in the dining room. Yet his eyes missed nothing, darting between the women at the table and trying to take their likeness.

"I am not," Darcy returned with a stoic facade.

When first introduced to Miss Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy felt the elation of saving his very much younger sibling from the clutches of Mr. Wickham, due, in no small part to that lady's good judgement. With the threat neutralised, and Georgiana safety assured, Darcy returned to his usually austere countenance in company he did not know well. Lady Marianne, it seemed, left dinner conversation to the discretion of her younger companion which, in Darcy's opinion, was neither proper nor respectful of the young lady. So far Darcy had not witnessed anything out of ordinary about Miss Bennet's character or manners. In short, she had little to recommend her past the usual accomplishments proclaimed by all young ladies.

"That is a shame," Mrs. Annesley rescued the topic, taking the table's attention from her employer as she smiled at Miss Bennet, seated beside her. Understanding the young woman carried the conversation, and, so far, had been pushing a moss-covered boulder up a steep and slippery incline, Emily aided her attempts at polite discourse. "My sister moved to Cliffsend upon her marriage to Captain Neilson. Their house is situated less than five miles from the fashionable walks surrounding Ramsgate. I had many an opportunity to visit prior to taking up a position as companion. The walks along the promenade, in the early morning before the sunshine could heat the sand, are some of my fondest memories."

Lizzy directed a friendly, and thankful smile at Mrs. Annesley for her timely, and well-meant interjection, before glancing across the table towards her friend. So far Miss Darcy watched on with wide, doe like eyes as the stifling atmosphere increased. Shy in company, it seemed Mrs. Annesley, had not the time or opportunity to gain the young woman's trust on so short an acquaintance. To this end, Elizabeth tried to indicate Georgiana take her turn, and, hopefully engage her brother in the current conversation. Overawed at the conversation, Miss Darcy took some time to understand Elizabeth's oblique meaning.

Finally clearing her throat, Georgiana drew her new companion's attention when she stated in a quiet voice, "Elizabeth and I have taken to walking out every morning before breaking our fast, and then again in the evening. Perhaps," here Georgiana looked to Lizzy, ensuring her agreement and gaining her good opinion at including Mrs. Annesley and her brother in their plans, "you would care to join us tomorrow."

"I should be delighted," Mrs. Annesley smiled brightly. "What changes, I wonder, have preceded me, for I have not seen my sister for near ten years?"

"So long," Georgiana cried, her entire countenance shocked at the thought. "I should not like to be separated from my brother for such a time. Even when I marry and move away, which is expected of me, I should wish to be in Fitzwilliam's company often."

"Then," Mr. Darcy finally entered the conversation with a slight smirk curling the edges of his lips, "take care to choose a man with an estate an easy distance from Pemberley, with a well sprung carriage and good roads between us, for I would not like to lose your society."

Shocked, Georgiana worked hard to keep her countenance. Turning astonished eyes on her brother, she tried to take his meaning and failed miserably. Never had Fitzwilliam teased her, and most definitely not in company known to him for only a few short hours. Lizzy noticed the younger woman's reaction. Trying to place her at ease, Elizabeth's wit surfaced. Few situations bested Miss Bennet, and those that threatened to intimidate the young lady were answered by her courage rising and her razor sharp wit making an appearance.

"It would be difficult, indeed," Lizzy offered the comment to the table, with an impertinent note in her tone, "to visit with your brother often, should the man you choose as your partner in life hold an estate in such a far flung county as Devon or Somerset. However, your admiration and esteem for your husband, I am sure, will leave you little time to repine such a separation. What say you, Mr. Darcy, should there be a distance of two hundred odd miles between happily situated siblings?"

Lady Bainbridge's lips moved up, in a gesture reminiscent of amusement. Lizzy caught the sparkle in the older ladies orbs. This, Miss Bennet understood, was the type of behaviour Aunt Marianne expected to capture Mr. Darcy's attention and, possibly, lead to admiration. Averting her eyes from Georgiana, Lizzy looked to that man for his reaction.

"Are you teasing me, Miss Bennet?" Darcy looked slightly aggrieved. His demeanour changed, quite suddenly and completely, within the space of a single breath.

"I confess," Lizzy couldn't hold in a light chuckle, "I am, Sir. I am sure Miss Darcy has informed you that I delight in the ridiculous. We are discussing an event that may not occur for many years, for your sister is not yet out and assures me she has little intention of being so for some time. However, it is true," Elizabeth responded to her aunt's sudden frown of warning by changing direction, "that a woman can be settled too near her relations."

"And what," Mr. Darcy requested, steel blue eyes now focused completely on the young woman across the table and effectively ignoring the remaining guests, "would you consider an adequate distance, Miss Bennet?"

"I," flummoxed by this subject, one Lizzy had never considered, she needed to think on a response swiftly. Her wit failed her as she deliberated between many answers, only to discard them just a quickly. Suddenly she found the man seated across the table a worthy opponent.

"Perhaps one hundred miles of good road, or is that too much? Fifty," Darcy suggested. It seemed he'd warmed to his topic and expected a response, "under good conditions that would be an easy distance, traversed in a day."

"An easy distance you call it," Lizzy found this line of questioning slightly disturbing because she could not assign a meaning to it.

"Indeed I do call it an easy distance," Mr Darcy answered. Allowing his eyes to remain solely upon her, they demanded an answer. "Would you wish to always be near your family, Miss Bennet?"

"I confess, like your sister, I should like to be often in company with my sisters, Jane and Mary, who are currently situated in Hertfordshire," Lizzy responded, her voice becoming stronger. "Then there is my Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in town. I am very fond of their society and should not like to lose the acquaintance."

At this answer, Darcy's eyebrow rose. What, he wondered, about the mother and father? Why would Miss Bennet fail to mention them? Is that why Lady Marianne has chosen this young woman for her companion, to raise her fortune in the marriage market? And yet, as Georgiana suggested in her letters, while impertinent, Miss Bennet is all that could be expected of a gentleman's daughter.

"I hope you count me in that number," Lady Marianne added, to which Elizabeth indicated a positive response.

"Miss Bennet, your Uncle, his name is Mr. Gardiner," Darcy requested, fitting the facts regarding the young woman cleaved from Georgiana's letters and his knowledge of Lady Bainbridge, "is in trade, import and export I believe. Mrs. Gardiner is Lady Marianne's niece."

"Yes," Lizzy responded with a perplexed expression. Until her young cousin came of age, Aunt Gardiner stood to inherit the entirety of the Bainbridge estate. Elizabeth wondered how much Mr Darcy knew of her history, for she had little to boast of in the way of fortune or connections, outside of Lady Marianne's condescension.

"Are you to stay in London, Miss Bennet," Darcy requested, "before retiring to your family estate in Hertfordshire for the winter?"

"Our plans," Marianne broke into the conversation, now it offered the possibilities she wished to consider, "have not been finalised, Mr Darcy. I should like to remain in Ramsgate until Michaelmas, if the weather holds. I intended Elizabeth to accompany me to the theatre and various other amusements before the season commences in earnest, both here and in London. I cannot abide many people in one place at one time and I do not go out to be seen but enjoy the amusement. However my townhouse, in Welbeck Street, is currently let and I wish to return to my country home before full winter sets in."

"Derbyshire winters can be somewhat harder than in the south," Darcy commented ironically, wondering if the lady hinted for an invitation to his homes in either London or the north. Both Lady Marianne and Miss Bennet, attired as they were this evening, would not shame his strata of society. Yet he did not feel at ease enough with either to make such an offer this early in their acquaintance. "Georgiana and I shall remove to Pemberley by the first of December. Until then we are to stay in town."

"Do you not remember," Georgiana touched her brother on the arm. "Mr. Bingley is to let an estate, and you are to spend some weeks with him before we retire to the country."

"I had not forgotten." Darcy gave his first genuine smile as he considered the ramifications of Bingley's move into the gentry. "Pray tell, Miss Bennet, have you heard of a property called Netherfield," Darcy directed his attention, and intense stare, across the table once again. "I believe Bingley is considering that estate which is situated in Hertfordshire, and which is close enough to town to please his sisters."

Smiling at this turn of events and to the possibility of continuing to tease the reserved gentleman, Lizzy stated, "it is but three miles from my father's estate, Mr. Darcy. In-between is a small market town called Meryton, of no consequence except to the folk who live there. We are several miles from the main London road, but in a well sprung carriage and on a good day, the journey would not be a difficult one. I'm afraid you shall find the country society confined and unvarying after the delights of Town. However, should Mr Bingley design to let Netherfield, I should enjoy the opportunity to continue my acquaintance with your sister while you reside in the neighbourhood."

Darcy, this time understanding the woman's wit a little better, did not take up the challenge but considered Georgiana's expression of delight at the possibility of extending her newly developed friendship. Miss Bennet appeared only too happy to drop the subject completely when she turned her attention to other topics. Lady Bainbridge's hopes were easily decipherable to Darcy, who had evaded the matchmakers for many seasons. Once again, Miss Bennet seemed relieved as, catching her eye, Darcy understood she would not take kindly to the matriarch's promotion in that direction. It seemed the young lady neither cared for his situation in life nor his consequence, only his sister's welfare. A refreshing change. Still, Darcy needed to observe the young lady over the coming days, and, more particularly, Miss Bennet's behaviour towards Georgiana. Without fortune or connection, he could not consider her more than a passing acquaintance. As to Georgiana's attachment, given Miss Bennet's character and manners, he might allow her to continue such a close acquaintance with his sister.

And there we have it, pride filled Darcy who resents those beneath him. Will witty Lizzy be able to overcome his arrogance? I believe the answers begin to unravel in the next Act. Oh and one can't forget the ever present and watchful Aunt Marianne. Act III appearing on Thursday AWST. Until then, happy reading.