Author's note: I do not own any characters created by Jane Austen. Full credit goes to her for all situations and information mentioned in her book Pride and Prejudice, the storyline of this fanfic is all me and the voice in my head.

The morning after the ball, we were all quite happy to enjoy the calm and quiet offered by Netherfield Park. Charles, Mr. Hurst and I withdrew to the library, while Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley went for a walk through the gardens. As they came back quite hungry - although they would, of course, never say something like that out loud - they had their luncheon about an hour before we three got hungry.

As such, it was already time for tea when we all reunited in the beautiful dining room, at the end of which we went on to play cards and discuss our day. As we exchanged impressions of the house and its surroundings, complementing both the excessiveness of the library and the beauty of the gardens, I found myself thinking that Charles might just have been right. Who knew, we might actually enjoy our time here.

Of course, that soon enough proved to be wishful thinking.

Although we soon settled into a routine very similar to that of our first days, the peace and quite I so enjoyed, often had to make room for social outings.

The villages of Meryton and Longbourne were soon discarded as being too small, too quaint, and severely lacking in fashionable items, so we all spend the larger part of our time at Netherfield Park, or walking on its extended grounds.

As a result of our attending that first ball, there were soon some invitations delivered for other happenings and balls in the neighbourhood. Most of us didn't much care to spend our time in the presence of the local people, but Charles was very much enchanted by some of the people he had met at that first ball, especially a certain blonde with four sisters. As a consequence of this, we found ourselves accepting each and every invitation we received, oft-times only hearing about it the morning of the happening.

As another result of that first ball, we were soon called upon nearly every day. Charles, Mr. Hurst and I managed to be absent for most of those calls, but as a result of Charles' infatuation (as I had come to call it) we were there nearly every time the Misses Bennet called on us.

The very first time, mere days after the ball, both Charles and I had business to attend to in the next town, so we only heard about it when, at dinner, Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst thought it fit to give us a vivid description of their day.

The six of them, for Mr. Bennet had been unavailable, had called on Charles' sisters at a little past eleven. Though I could not believe, from what little we were told about the actual conversation, that they had discussed any matters of importance, apparently it had sufficed for the ladies to form their opinions about all six of them.

As far as Mrs. Bennet was concerned, they called her a talkative, gossiping, indiscrete woman, who had apparently given the worse of her characteristics to her two youngest daughters. As Mrs. Bingley stated: it was clear that, exactly because of that, she favoured especially her youngest daughter.

The middle daughter, whom I could not at all recall from the ball, was overtly pious, and, according to Mrs. Hurst, quite mouse-like: you so easily disregarded her, as she was not at all dressed to complement her complexion.

In short: the only redemption for the family were the two eldest daughters, who were "witty, intelligent, and quite pretty, although Miss Bennet more so than Miss Elizabeth Bennet".

Had I valued Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley's opinion more than I did, I might have felt glad that the one girl Charles seemed to have taken a liking to had their approval, but as it was, the only thing I really cared to think upon was that I could not agree with their assessment of Miss Elizabeth's beauty. Although it was true that her sister was more of a classic beauty, I could not help but feel that, in her own way, there was something stunning about both her looks and her intelligence, which shone so brightly from her eyes - those very eyes I had not yet been able to make myself forget about.

Soon enough, the Bennet's visit was returned in due form. Again, Charles' sisters concluded that, indeed, only the eldest sisters were worthy of making their acquaintance. And so, every few days, one group of women would visit the other, occasionally allowing for Charles and myself to speak with them as well.

It became very clear to me, almost immediately, that Charles did indeed very much like Miss Bennet, but I could not decide if her regard for him was anything more than that of a friend, or if she was just shy, and not keen on public displays of affection.

It became just as clear to me, even sooner, that my regard for Miss Elizabeth Bennet was more than I had allowed myself to think it was. Even though there was more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, and her manners were not at all those of the fashionable world, I found the lightness and general pleasing sight of her figure, as well as the easy playfulness of her manners to quite make up for these faults. I was, however, very much aware of the difference in our stations, and so forced myself to regard her as nothing more than the sister of a girl - no, woman - who was quickly making her way into Charles' life.

At the very next assembly, which took place at Sir William Lucas', I found myself trying to stay as close to her as possible, even allowing myself to be persuaded to ask her to dance, although I was swiftly refuted.

As Miss Bingley accosted me mere minutes later, I could not help but reply that her conjecture was was totally wrong and my mind had been more agreeably engaged: "I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."

When she desired me to tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections, it was both because of my want for seeing her reaction and my need to express my feelings, even if only indirectly, that I responded, again, truthfully 'Miss Elizabeth Bennet.'

Seeing and hearing her surprise at this answer, I could not help but wonder at the irony - that I should have so dreaded the idea of coming here, of mingling with this 'lower' class of people, and should already feel so strongly about one of them - whereas Miss Bingley, who had made her intentions as obvious as she could without being impudent , I could not care less about.

A/N New update! Hurray! So, Darcy's starting to realise that he might have a problem concerning his 'high and mighty' station, and Bingley is falling in love... As always: thank you for reading, and remember: reviews, alerts and favourites make my day and help me write faster!