A/N: Chapter 6 up!
In which we meet the awesome and very sweet Georgiana and see her illegitimate child Calvin. (George Wickham f-ed her. Without her consent.)
LAX, just to clarify, is Los Angeles Airport. I was rereading my old and dog-eared copy of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants….and Bee arrives in Baja California from LAX. And I just love the term 'LAX'. : ) So obviously Georgiana lives in California.
Caroline resumes her evil persona, so no one has to worry about feeling sorry for her anymore. : )
Again, I would like to thank all of the people who have read and reviewed my story. I am so thrilled you guys would stick with a fledgling author like me….
Just to review for those of you people who haven't read P and P for so long:
1) Will's mansion is Pemberley
2) His housekeeper is, in fact, Mrs. Reynolds
3) There is a difference between my version of Liz's family and Jane Austen's view. In her P and P, they're all sisters. In my (far stupider and unbelievably inferior) version, Elizabeth is only BFF with Jane and she has three sisters, who are (rather obviously) Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.
Will doesn't have a chauffeur because he deems them unnecessary. Plus, having a chauffeur (damn, that's a hard word to spell) is rather unattractive, in my opinion. Will isn't afraid of working. He doesn't need every little thing taken care of like Caroline Bingley.
'quelle horreur' is French for 'what a horror'. I know it doesn't really fit. It's just Mrs. Bennet trying to be cool.
Disclaimer: It's Jane Austen's books and all. But on the other hand, I am working on a time machine…Ha. Ha ha.
--
Will drove his car into the long, gray-graveled path that formed an elaborate loop around a huge fountain and formed a path to the back gates of the mansion.
A man came out of the awe-inspiring double doors and hurried to climb in and drive his car to the garage.
Will trudged up the front steps and entered the door that the servant had conveniently left open for him, his cares disappearing as he looked into the beaming face of his sister.
"Will!"
"Georgie!"
"I know I was expected a day later. Would you calm Mrs. Reynolds? She was so very agitated when I showed up on the doorstep, and started shrieking something incoherent to Molly about 'bachelor's' housekeeping and 'guest-appropriate' housekeeping. The more I tried to soothe her, the more upset she became."
Will laughed. "I'll do the best I can." He finally took notice of the baby carrier in Georgiana's hand due to its owner bursting into tears. "That's Calvin?"
"No, that's the CPR dummy I stole from my First-Aid Workshop the day before I went to LAX."
"Ha-ha, very funny." He and Georgiana sat down on a sofa in the foyer and passed Calvin to him.
Calvin's features had an uncanny resemblance to that of his father's, and an unspoken word of regret lingered in the air. But his very blue eyes were his mother's, and the jawline was unmistakably the Darcy jawline. And suddenly, Will forgave him for being born and under such circumstances. Georgiana did not regret it. And now, neither did he.
Their peace was interrupted by a loud and irritated war-cry.
"I WILL NOT TAKE ANY IMPUDENCE FROM YOU, RICHARD! YOU MAY BE THE BUTLER BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE-" A plump, grey-haired woman ran into the foyer, in the middle of yet another power struggle of her and old Richard.
"Miss Georgiana!" they shouted together. "And is that Calvin?"
Amidst the hugs and cooing over Calvin and fighting over who was to hold him, Will slipped out of the foyer into the parlor, where the cell phone reception, oddly enough, was much better. He had just come up with an idea.
He dialed Caroline. "Hello? Caroline, are you there?"
Will heard the distinct sound of a hairdryer being turned off. "Yes, Fitzwilliam?"
"Yeah. Listen, I-"
"You're not going to cancel, are you?"
"No, not at all. I need an assistant over here at Pemberley."
"Oh, really? Who?"
"I- I- " As his personal code of chivalry prevented him from lying, especially to a woman, Will was at a loss as to what to say.
Something in Caroline, though most assuredly not good, went through her and she said, "It's okay. I understand."
"Thank you. See you at dinner."
Will went back into the foyer and laughed and talked with Georgiana and the rest, with an untroubled conscience and absolutely no worries about the evening.
O0...0O
Caroline turned her phone off. "Tara? Too much hair gel. And Lispeth, the pale pink is far too ruddy. And Susan, I look like a haunt. Reapply the base, and choose a darker color."
She'd agreed with having Elizabeth there because she needed to shine next to her. And with the right makeup, which Elizabeth never wore, she could look dazzling. It was inevitable Will would compare them sooner or later, and Caroline preferred to have it out with her sooner and sent that impudent flat wretch back to the slums of London where she belongs.
And as for clothes? Caroline scoffed mentally, staring at the mannequin on which her custom-made dress hung. Elizabeth didn't stand a chance in that area.
And at least I can flirt with men. Elizabeth treats them like merely extra people to talk to. She couldn't attract a man if she tried.
Caroline felt something uncomfortable within her, something that was trying to warn her she was creating a delusional world for herself. But she ignored it and continued ordering the girls around.
With the feeling in her heart she was being bought, bought for a custom-made dress and Pemberley and being allowed to appear in public with an obsessively gorgeous man at her side, Caroline shook her head and adjusted the curlers in her hair.
It was time to implement Part 1 of her master plan.
"Iris? Give me my cell phone. I've got to make a couple calls to a couple of people."
O0...0O
Will closed the secret door to the study. "What is it you wanted to tell me, Georgie?"
"I…don't exactly want to tell you.."
"Why not?"
"Because…"
"I won't explode at you."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I-" Will swore- "promise!"
"I'm pregnant again."
Will breathed in and out, getting faster with each successive turn, in almost a parody of meditation.
"Will-" she whispered.
Her eyes sought his appealingly. "Will, you promised you wouldn't explode-"
"Who said anything about exploding?" Will's voice was unnaturally calm, his struggle evident in his wavering tone. "I'm not-" He ground his teeth. "-exploding. Who's the father?"
"My new husband."
"Your HUSBAND?"
"Will, you promised you wouldn't explode."
"I'm sorry, Georgie," Will said, sitting down uneasily in the antique Victorian reading chair. "I didn't mean it. I'm just so worked up about everything."
"Tell me, Will."
"We'll get to it. It's just that…I just got over the shock of Calvin, and now…"
"Speaking of Calvin's father, where is he?"
"They're still after him, but in all probability, he'll never get any punishment. He insists you were willing to…"
"I see." Georgiana paused for a while, thinking.
She finally sighed, "It's not that I want revenge on him. I wish he felt some regret is all."
"So," said Will, suddenly very, angrily interested in her new man, "tell me about your new husband."
"I'm sorry, Will. We were terribly drunk and somehow we got married and all I remember is waking up in my flat with an earsplitting headache."
"Tell me, how does one get married while stone-dead drunk?"
"Um, actually, we were conscious when we did get married, although heavily confused, but I forgot and passed out and Margie drove me home."
"Do you want the marriage annulled or do you care about him?"
"I love him."
"You love him."
"Yes."
"This is coming from the same girl who declared undying passion for Charles Bingley five summers ago and the girl who professed herself to be madly in love with…him."
"But Will, it's different now. My feelings for Sam are more-"
"Oh. Sam? That doesn't sound like a name with any family background behind it."
"Will you let me finish?" Georgiana hissed. "My feelings for Sam are more genuine. I don't just love him for his looks. He is like me."
"And you're sure he's not acting this way just to get to your money? Does he know you're insanely wealthy?"
"Yes, he knows."
"And you just expect me to stomach this? The chances are ridiculously tipped in the direction that he doesn't care."
"Well, then, I'm willing to take that chance. If Sam is really after my money, logically he would make me unhappy. But I have been so purely happy with him since I started dating him."
"And you're sure you're pregnant…"
"Yes."
"Well," Will said awkwardly, "congratulations."
"Sam's staying in a London hotel for now. Can he come tonight?"
"Tonight's not good. I've got a dinner with Caroline Bingley."
"Oh, that wonderful example of a human being."
"Yeah."
Then, after a moment of reflection, "Do you care about her?"
"She has immaculate taste, breeding, and is definitely handsome. And she is healthy enough to sufficiently continue the Darcy family line."
"Stop assessing her like a new household appliance. She doesn't deserve you. Find another woman you can actually be happy with."
Will stood up and looked down at the ancient carpet depicting a pattern that was rather inappropriate if one looked at it at the correct angle.
"Don't tell me there's no one? No one you've found more worthy?" Georgiana pushed gently.
Will's features looked strained. "No. No one."
Georgiana knew Will was hiding something from her, but also knew instinctively that this was not the time to ask him about it.
"I have to go check on Calvin," she said, rising to her feet. "See you around."
As she carefully closed the heavy secret door, she caught a glimpse of Will sinking deeper into the chair wearily, passing a hand through his hair and engrossed in thought. So there was someone.
O0...0O
"Hello?" Elizabeth spoke tentatively into the phone.
"Lizzie!" greeted her mother, a little too enthusiastically. With only one girl at home and two far, far away from her, it was impossible for her not to get ridiculously obsessive over the phone or otherwise. "Hi-how-are-you-how's-work-and-did-you-find-anyone-to-marry-or-fall-in-love-with-or-even-just-date-and-did-you-know-Kitty-told-me-she-found-an-amazing-guy-in-college-and-"
"Can I talk to Father?"
"Yes, but he might not be in the mood to talk to you."
"What do you mean?"
"He got fired, Lizzie."
"What?" Elizabeth could not believe it. "But he works at a different branch of the same company. Surely I would have heard-"
"Why don't you talk to him about it," moaned Mrs. Bennet. "One would think your father would have more respect for my poor nerves. They are in absolute shreds, Lizzie. All he talks about is bills and finding another job. It is boring me terribly, and in addition to the quelle horreur of it all, I won't be able to buy an umbrella to compete with that of Mrs. Kirkpatrick's next door! And I just know she will flaunt her umbrella in that obnoxious way she has, all finely turned out and with that new Size Two figure- Liz, I could swear she had liposuction done-"
"Can I talk to Father now?"
"Oh. Yes." Elizabeth heard vague sounds of Mrs. Bennet setting the phone down on the coffee table and screams of, "LYDIA! NOT THE SALT, I SAID CAYENNE! YOU IDIOTIC-"
"Hello?"
Her father picked up just in time. "Elizabeth. How are you?"
"How are you? I just heard…."
"Yes, well." Elizabeth heard her father sigh deeply, expressing more true feeling in that sigh than there was in Mrs. Bennet's whole list of complaints. "It was very quick, just this afternoon. Our college funds for Mary and Kitty were steadily depleting even before this, and with your mother and Lydia clamoring for the latest designer clothes and whatnot I am at a loss as to how we will eat."
"Father, I'm sending home some of my salary this month, it should help-"
"Elizabeth. Don't do that. It's not fair to you, and I know how low your starting salary is-"
"I want to. Please, Father, please-"
"Not now," said Father irritably. "Tell me about Jane and work."
"Jane's fine. She's actually dating one of the executives, Charles Bingley. My work is atrocious due to the fact I'm under the command of a certain arrogant bastard by the name of Fitzwilliam Darcy."
Elizabeth's father said nothing, and Elizabeth gathered he was about to tell her something important. "Father? Are you there?"
"He was the one who wanted me fired," he said noncommittally. Then, as Elizabeth accidentally hung up in shock, "Elizabeth? Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth stared at the window, not really seeing it but Will in sheer amazement. He'd taken his hatred of her out on her father.
Then…fury. Plain fury. Anger that he would sink so low, and the sensation of something hitting her so hard she could not recover for a while, perhaps forever.