There were some pretty good guesses in the reviews - thank you to all who commented! I particularly loved reading the speculations. Now, let's see whether what follows confirms what you thought or wil lead you in another direction ...

Netherfield, Thursday evening

They had played loo the previous evening, but on this one, as Bingley sat for piquet with Hurst, Darcy had the opportunity to attend to his correspondence. He wished he could do so without Miss Bingley's fawning admiration or Miss Elizabeth's subsequent amused glances. His host's sister was nothing if not persistent.

"How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter! Pray tell her that I long to see her."

"I fear you are mistaken as to the recipient of my letter."

"But I thought you were writing to your sister?" asked a puzzled Miss Bingley.

"I am."

To this the lady did not answer. Miss Elizabeth broke the silence.

"How many siblings do you have, Mr Darcy?"

"Only two sisters."

Miss Bingley opened her mouth but did not speak immediately. When she spoke at last, her voice was tinged with caution.

"I had been under the impression that your elder sister had passed."

"My elder sister values her privacy and has no interest for the intrigue of the Ton. I imagine that, for some people, this amounts to being dead."

An awkward silence followed. Miss Bingley endeavoured to dispel it by praising the evenness of Mr Darcy's hand and his thoughtfulness in selecting words, which somehow digressed into a debate about whether impulsivity was or was not a good thing.

Mrs Philips's house in Meryton, Wednesday, November 20

Elizabeth, her sisters, and their visiting cousin, a Mr Collins, were ensconced in Mrs Philips's drawing room, waiting for the officers to come out of her uncle's study, where they were currently drinking port. The newest among them, a Mr Wickham, was present, and Elizabeth hoped to speak with him. Not only was he a fine specimen of a gentleman, but she had witnessed a strange interaction between him and Mr Darcy in Meryton the day before and longed to learn more about it.

She did not like Mr Darcy much. The few days she had been in his company at Netherfield had not been very agreeable. They had often argued with each other, and he kept looking at her as if trying to find fault. She had been used to this and knew she was not the only target of his contemptuous glare, for she had seen him also direct it at her younger sisters, her mother, even Jane! If he could find something to criticise in her dear sister, there was no redeeming himself.

When the officers came at last, she was struck again by Mr Wickham's beauty and charm, and was delighted that he elected to sit near her and, after he had claimed he did not play at whist, followed her to the table where another game was to be played. Their conversation began with trite subjects but soon took a more interesting turn, for he asked her about the very gentleman she was curious about. She was happy to answer and, when Mr Wickham enquired on whether she was much acquainted with the gentleman, declaimed warmly:

"As much as I ever wish to be! I have danced once and spent four days in the same house with him; I think him very disagreeable."

"He danced with you, yet you are not blinded by his fortune or consequence? That is astonishing! Most people would see him only as he wishes to be seen."

"I see him as he is, I am sure. He asked me to dance only because he could not act otherwise without seeming appallingly rude."

Elizabeth then assured her new friend that Mr Darcy was universally despised in Meryton, and Mr Wickham told her how ill-used he had been by the gentleman, who had gone against his late father's wishes to deny him a living, and how his pride made him a kind and careful guardian for his younger sister but had made him all but disown the other. At this, Elizabeth frowned.

"How do you mean, sir?"

"It is as if she does not exist. She fell pregnant without the benefit of marriage and was married off to a tradesman. Mr Darcy does not acknowledge her now since her husband is so beneath his notice."

Elizabeth fell silent. All that Mr Wickham had told her previously matched her observations, but that last piece of information did not. Had not Miss Bingley enquired specifically about that sister, she might have believed her new acquaintance, but though the answers he made had been short, Mr Darcy did not appear ashamed of his sister. This was confounding. So was the fact that such an indelicate reference was made by someone whom she had just met. She needed to confide in someone: Jane was too good, her father too cynical, her mother too prone to gossip, and her younger sisters too silly. She kept nodding at Mr Wickham, answering him noncommittally, while beginning mentally to compose a letter to her aunt.

Longbourn, two days afterwards

Dearest niece,
I cannot spare much time from the children, but on receiving your letter, I felt I had to answer at once. You remember that I grew up in Derbyshire; the name of Pemberley is not unknown to me, and I know the family well. I shall tell you more about this when we next meet. What you wrote of Mr Wickham alarmed me, for he is NOT to be trusted. I beg you, dear niece, be on your guard. I am aware of most of his history with the Darcy family and shall tell you what I can at a later date. For now, suffice to say that though Mr Darcy was always honourable in his dealings with the man, the reverse is far off being true.
Yours,
M. Gardiner

Elizabeth was well on her way to know by heart the short letter her aunt had sent. It raised more questions than it resolved, but this was a welcome distraction from Mr Collins's unwanted attentions. It had dawned on her, when he had applied for her first set of dances at the ball Mr Bingley was to give, that her cousin's way of making amends for the fact he was the heir of her father's estate was to make her an offer of marriage. The sentiment was well meant, but the man was far from sensible; Elizabeth could not imagine tying herself to such a man. During the week, her frustration rose when the rain began to fall without pause, preventing her from taking any walks in the gardens. Stuck with her annoyance at the weather and at her unwelcome suitor, Elizabeth had time to think about her aunt's warning. She wondered whether Mr Darcy's sister was acquainted with Mrs Gardiner. Given the fact they grew up in the same area and were now part of the same circles, that seemed a possibility and would explain how Mrs Gardiner knew of Mr Darcy's dealings. Elizabeth highly esteemed her aunt and uncle; if they saw some good in Mr Darcy, perhaps she should endeavour to do likewise. After all, if Jane were to marry Mr Bingley, she might see his friend now and then, and it would be better if she got along with him instead of being constantly at odds with him.

A club in London, Friday, November 29

Darcy was waiting for Bingley, whom he had not seen since he left Netherfield the day following the ball. The house had been closed after Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst had decided to join their brother in London. His departure had been planned, for he had some business to accomplish, but the rest of the party was to stay and await his return. Bingley was barely gone, though, when his sisters changed their plans in the hope of detaining him in town. Darcy could not remain at Netherfield alone and so went with them.

He had wished to meet his friend as soon as he was in London in order to have a discussion with him about his intentions towards Jane Bennet. Had Darcy not received a letter from his own sister, in which she had shared what she knew about Miss Bennet's temperament, he would have been worried about the younger man's attachment to the lady. Instead, he found himself worried at the thought that his friend might be as inconstant as was his usual wont.

When they finally spoke, however, it appeared that Bingley's attraction for Miss Bennet had not abated, but the gentleman seemed nonetheless reluctant to return to Netherfield. Darcy, believing him to be uneasy about her connections to trade, revealed to his friend that he knew and appreciated Mr Gardiner, calling him someone he would be proud to acknowledge as family. It soon became apparent that Bingley did not care one jot about what was the station in life of his angel's relatives. His hesitation originated from the fact that Miss Bingley had told him she did not think Miss Bennet cared for him. Darcy could not say whether that was true or not and decided to find a way to ascertain the lady's feelings before encouraging his friend to return to Hertfordshire. Aloud, he stated that his friend had to decide his way by himself and entreated him not to listen to his sister too much—yes, as a friend of Miss Bennet, she would be privy to some confidences, but he also believed that Bingley's sister might not welcome a closer connection to her.

A fashionable drawing room in London, Monday, December 2

"Mr Darcy, Ma'am." The footman closed the door after the gentleman stepped into the room. The lady who was inside beamed and rose.

"Fitzwilliam! I did not expect you so soon," she said as she embraced him.

"It is good to see you, Margaret," said Darcy, hugging her back. He waited until they were both seated to address her unspoken enquiry.

"I came back from Hertfordshire last Thursday. We should have stayed longer, but Bingley had to come to London for some matter of business, and Miss Bingley decided to close the house and follow him."

"Why would she do such a thing?"

"She was afraid that he would betroth himself to Miss Bennet and even appealed to me to help her and her sister in their endeavour to separate him from her."

"Well, I hope you told them you would have nothing to do with it!"

"I told them I should have a discussion with their brother," Darcy answered with a smile, "and so I did. Given what you wrote me of Miss Bennet's temperament, I should not like her to be hurt by him, one way or another."

"You believe he was only flirting with her, nothing more serious?" This was said with a worried frown.

"I do not know. I have never seen him more smitten with a lady, but I cannot say if it will last. I should have spurred him to return to Hertfordshire had I known her to return his feelings, but she smiles to him as she smiles to everyone, and I could not discern whether she was encouraging or merely polite towards him."

"I shall have a look at Jane the next time I see her."

"Speaking of seeing her, how is it that I never met the Bennet sisters until now? I do understand that they are not often in town, but surely, there have been times when we all were here together? I should have thought you might have wanted to have all of us at once for dinner."

Margaret laughed.

"Petulance does not suit you, Brother. You never expressed any desire for an introduction to the Bennets, why should I have forced it on you?"

"I did not even know the names of Gardiner's sisters!"

"And that is my fault, perhaps?"

"No ... it is just …" Darcy sighed.

"Fitzwilliam, you have had enough to deal with these past years without having to contend with wondering about my intentions on top of that. I must own that hearing their mother being so loud concerning potential matches did decrease my interest for matchmaking, but you could not know that."

His lips twitched.

"You met the lady, you know what I mean!"

"I do. Still, her eldest daughters are nothing like her."

Margaret's eyes twinkled. "I knew you would like Lizzy!"

"If that is the case, why did you not introduce us sooner?"

She shrugged. "I assumed that you would meet some day. Besides, the idea of being as subtle as Elinor Bennet when it comes to matchmaking did not sit well with me."

"Uncle Fitz!"

A little girl of about eight years had entered the room and all but launched herself at the gentleman. Her siblings soon followed, and the conversation soon turned towards the children's accomplishments and their joy at seeing their favourite uncle again.

Another Note: Congratulations to Pier for having hypothesised the existence of another Darcy sister! Now, is this Margaret the same person as Margaret Gardiner? What are the odds that two Margarets from both Derbyshire and the upper classes became pregnant, married tradesmen, had a daughter eight years previously, and became such close friends that the brother of one would know all about the husband of the other? Well, actually, if all the former is true, the latter might follow-similar experiences leading them to get closer.

:-)