I woke still wrapped in Darcy's arms. I knew immediately where I was, and I snuggled closer to him. His arms tightened around me.

"Are you awake?" he whispered.

"Yes," I said into his chest, "But I would much rather go back to sleep."

He laughed and rolled over so I was draped across his torso. I propped my chin on his chest and looked him in the eye. For no reason at all, we both dissolved into quiet laughter. It was cut short however, when he rolled us back over and kissed me quite thoroughly.

"Mmm," I sighed when he allowed me to breathe again, "I think I quite like waking up like this."

"If I have a say in anything, then we shall be waking up just like this every morning," Darcy replied.

He kissed me again, softer this time, and then rolled over and got out of the bed. I couldn't help the small sigh that came from my throat at the loss of contact. But I knew that it was no use; we had to get up anyway and Darcy had to go back to his own room before the Gardiners or anyone else discovered us.

Then I remembered. We were going to tell the Gardiners today. I crawled out the bed after Darcy and hurriedly pulled him in for one last kiss. I didn't know the next time we would be alone.

He slipped out the door and started down the hall to his rooms. Once he was gone, I paused for a moment and just let my mind wander. My emotions were so conflicting, it was confusing me. On the one hand, I was immensely relieved that Darcy was here, because that meant that everything was going to be all right. If it got to be too much, he could just sweep me up and we would ship back to America and leave this entire mess behind us. On the other hand though, we couldn't run from our problems forever. We were going to have to tell everyone sooner or later and try to resolve everything.

For some reason the prospect of doing that scared me. But then I righted myself. How stupid! Why did I even care what all of these people thought of me, and of us? When we went back to America, we would set an entire ocean between us and them. And from there, everything would be fine. Besides, right now, I had Darcy here with me. Everything was going to work out.

I kept repeating that to myself, that everything was going to be fine, and began to dress and gather my things for the trip. I casually glanced at the clock, and my heart nearly stopped. It was a quarter to seven, and we were going to leave at seven!

I practically tore my nightgown off and jumped into my dress. Then hastily grabbed the covers on the bed and threw them up and fluffed the pillows. There, not even a sign to indicate that Darcy had been here last night. I grabbed my bags, took a deep breath, and calmly walked into the hall and down massive staircase to the entrance hall.

A footman came and offered to take the bags from me to place in the carriage, and I handed them to him. He told me that everyone else was gathered in the breakfast room. I just looked at him helplessly. I could tell that he was holding back a laugh as he pointed in the direction I wanted to go and told me it was the first door on the left, and was probably open. I thanked him, and hurried off.

I turned around the corner and into the breakfast room. There was a small round table and surrounding it were the Gardiners and Darcy. I marveled that he was down so soon. Mr. Gardiner and Darcy rose from their chairs as I entered the room, and Darcy pulled out a chair for me.

"Ah! Lizzy!" Mrs. Gardiner exclaimed upon my approach. "Good morning, my dear. I trust you slept well?"

"Good morning," I said with a smile, as I sat in the chair Darcy held out for me. "I did sleep well, and you?"

"Splendidly, my dear. I must say that these beds are most certainly more comfortable than anything we would have had at the inn," Mrs. Gardiner said.

"Yes ma'am," I said with a slight smile, "They are indeed."

Darcy returned to his seat, and gave me a meaningful glance. I answered by hastily picking up a breakfast roll and taking a very unladylike bite from it. I could see Dracy was fighting a smile. I was not quite ready for our conversation with the Gardiners yet. I did not wish to disrupt the quiet peace we had right now.

We ate in relative silence, broken only by Mr. Gardiner asking Darcy a few questions concerning the fish in the lake. Mrs. Gardiner seemed quite absorbed by the morning paper, and I simply watched Darcy for a sign as to when we truly should tell the Gardiners.

Finally, we were finished with our breakfast and Mr. Gardiner and Darcy pulled out the chairs for Mrs. Gardiner and myself. Then Darcy walked around the table to my side. I breathed in deeply and tried to hide the shaking of my hands in my skirts. This would be the moment of truth.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner," Darcy began. "Lizzy and I have something we would like to tell you."

The Gardiner's turned to us curiously, and I saw a glint of expectancy in Mrs. Gardiner's eyes. For some strange reason I was positive that she knew exactly what we were about to say.

"What might that be?" Mr. Gardiner asked, genuinely curious and oblivious.

"We ask that you kindly hear us out before you make any decisions or judgements," Darcy implored. And then he began.

He told them about Georgiana and Wickham, and Georgiana's death and taking Georgie to America. He told them of purchasing me as an indentured servant, and then of the two of us being pressured into marriage by Mr. Collins. He continued with introducing me to Lady Catherine, and then discovering my true parentage. And then finally, purchasing my tickets to come to England.

The Gardiner's listened with rapt attention. Even Mrs. Gardiner, who had seemed so sure as to what we were going to tell her, leaned forward with wide eyes.

I told my side of the story, filling in what happened during the days when Darcy was gone. I told them some of my past with my family and life as an indentured servant, all the way up to meeting Vivian, Albert, and Charles on the boat and my first week with the Bennet's.

I saw Darcy's surprise when I told them of meeting Charles, and I sent him a look that said I would tell him more on that account later.

Finally, we had told them everything there was to tell and both Darcy and I fell silent. It was then that I realized that Darcy and I had been unconsciously moving closer together while we had told our story.

Finally, Mr. Gardiner spoke. "Extraordinary, simply extraordinary."

Mrs. Gardiner was looking between the two of us, and I met her gaze. Suddenly, she looked out the window and exclaimed, "Oh my! We must be on our way. Please, if we could continue this discussion in the carriage."

"Yes, yes, of course my dear," Mr. Gardiner replied.

Darcy took my elbow, and held me back slightly while the Gardiners exited the room. Then he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to his chest fiercely.

"Everything will work out. It will be alright," he murmured reassuringly in my ear. I stretched up and kissed him quickly on the lips. He then took my hand, and we walked through the house to the door, where the Gardiners were waiting.

Darcy excused himself for a few moments to finish giving instructions to his butler before he joined us outside and we all climbed into the carriage.

Once we were settled, Mr. Gardiner asked the obvious question. "What do the two of you plan on doing now?"

"Well," Darcy began, "We cannot tell the Bennets just yet. We are unsure as to how they will take this news. My name, as you know, is not very popular with them."

"Oh, I beg to differ, Mr. Darcy," Mrs. Gardiner cut in. "Your name is very popular with the Bennets. It is just not a good kind of popular."

Darcy gave a wry smile, "You are indeed correct, Mrs. Gardiner. And as to what we plan on doing, well that is up to Lizzy at the moment. How long she wants to put off telling the Bennets. I said we would not tell them just yet, I didn't say we could put it off forever."

They all turned to look at me, and I squirmed under their scrutiny. "Well. . . " I began, before pausing to think. Darcy was going to bring the Bingleys back into the picture and that changed things. And as for Lydia. . . "Lydia!" I cried out suddenly.

They all jumped. "What?" Darcy asked, "What about Lydia?"

"Oh dear," I worried, "I completely forgot until just now. Wickham was at the ball a few nights ago, the night before you arrived." I said, addressing the Gardiners. "Lydia seemed quite infatuated with Wickham, and he was doing nothing to deter her affections. Oh Darcy, if Wickham does to Lydia what he did to Georgiana. . . I know that Lydia is not the most pleasant girl to be around but no one deserves such a fate as that, especially not if it can be prevented."

Darcy was looking increasingly worried, "Wickham is back in Meryton? He is at Longbourn?"

"Yes," I said miserably, "He called at Longbourn once, and Mrs. Bennet seems quite determined to make him a son-in-law one way or another. And while we were at the ball, he sought me out and tried to flirt with me."

"He what?" Darcy roared, possibly putting to rest any doubts the Gardiners may still have had about our feelings toward one another.

"He has no idea who I am," I hastened to assure Darcy, "And I most adamantly refused him. And-" I paused.

"What is it?" Darcy asked tensely.

"I may have let it slip that I know who he is. And that I know what he has done," I replied.

There was complete silence in the carriage. I looked at Darcy worriedly and was surprised to find him smiling.

"Good!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Let him worry. Perhaps it will even slow his progress in trying to woo Lydia."

"Or hasten it," I cautioned. For now that I had thought it over again, I was not sure if telling Wickham that I knew as much as I did had been a good idea.

Darcy contemplated this before responding. "Well, there is not much we can do about it right now. We shall arrive back at Longbourn soon enough. I do not believe that even Mrs. Bennet could have prepared a wedding this quickly."

We all shared a laugh but it felt uneasy. There was truly no telling what the Bennets or Wickham were capable of, or what they would do next.

I woke suddenly to the carriage jolting to a stop. I had drifted off to sleep sometime during the long day in the carriage, and my head was resting on Darcy's shoulder. I had to admit that it felt nice to be able to almost curl up against him. But then I remembered that we had an audience, and I became curious about where we were exactly.

As though he knew what I was thinking, Darcy said, "We are at Netherfield, darling."

I was unable to suppress a groan as I sat up. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were already alighting from the carriage, and Mr. Gardiner gave me his hand to help me down.

It was dark, well past sunset. The four of us walked around the carriage for several minutes, loosening up the muscles that had been horribly cramped in the carriage all day.

"Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner said, "I think that we had better take you back to Longbourn tonight."

I looked at her, slightly shocked.

"It's not that we don't trust you, it is simply that with all of these uncertainties, it would be best for you to be with the Bennets so you can witness everything that is happening. If Lydia were to do something foolish, it might help if you were there to stop her."

I had to admit that I did see the sense in what she was saying. I nodded, and Darcy came up beside me and kissed me gently on the cheek.

"I'll come to see you tomorrow or the next day, I promise," he murmured.

I smiled wearily at him and then climbed back into the carriage. The Gardiners followed me and we set off once again.

We soon arrived at Longbourn and our reception was very short and consisted only of Mr. Bennet and Jane. Jane helped me to climb the stairs and change into my nightgown. I then collapsed onto the bed and fell into a blissful slumber.

I woke to shrieks and howls, and knew immediately that something was happening downstairs. I was too tired to care, and tried to drown them out by burying my head under my pillow.

Suddenly, the door opened and I heard Jane's rushed voice.

"Oh Lizzy, come quickly! I am so sorry, I would let you sleep longer but we are all in an uproar. Netherfield park has been taken by Mr. Darcy and the Bingleys!"

I groaned, and slowly crawled out of the bed and began searching for a clean dress. Jane thrust one into my hands,and then left to let me change in relative peace.

I went downstairs and was immediately bombarded by Mrs. Bennet. "Lizzy! You are finally up! Were you going to sleep all day? Oh have you heard, Netherfield Park is let! Oh, happy day!"

I simply sat down at the breakfast table and began to eat what I could. Jane sat down next to me and I looked at her. She seemed tired as she smiled gratefully at me.

"I'm sorry that I got you out of bed, but I simply couldn't bear to face mama alone," she said.

"It's quite alright," I replied, "I understand."

I looked around the room, Mr. Bennet was hiding behind his newspaper as usual, Mary was looking forlornly at her abandoned piano, and Mrs. Bennet and Kitty were absolutely ecstatic. It was then that I realized that Lydia was missing. A bolt of terror tore through my body as I sat upright, suddenly wide awake.

"Jane," I said, "Where is Lydia?"

"She was here a few minutes ago," Jane replied, looking around. "This is unusual. I would think that she would be here with Mama and Kitty. I haven't seen her since. . ." She paused and looked at me. "Since Mama first found out about Netherfield being let," she whispered.

"Lydia is at Netherfield," I realized. It was the only logical solution. "But why?" I asked.

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for such a late update! School has been a terror lately; I have been absolutely swamped. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The plot thickens!