A/N: Hi there!... Sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter but a whole buncha things 've been goin on in my life and it's been quite hectic. Will try and keep a regular posting schedule from now on. :)

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Chapter 3

Breakfast at the Bennet household was usually quite an interesting endeavor, made even more so in the summer months, by the presence of all five daughters at the table. Over the last three years, the three older daughters had left home to live by themselves, Jane and Elizabeth shared an apartment in Boston while Mary got herself setup in an apartment in NYC. But now, it was summer and all five daughters of the Bennet family were in attendance at the Longbourne estate, Lydia and Kitty enjoying their summer holidays, Mary on a rare couple of weeks off from work, Jane with a summer transfer to the Yale Medical Center and Elizabeth, who had been drafted by her father to replace him as the interim chair for the Surgery department for the time being.

As a result, the breakfast table was hardly the quietest place in the house that morning.

"Jane... have you seen my pink shorts? I need to wear them for today's pool party and I can't find them anywhere"

Jane, who had been trying to read a couple of case files she'd brought home, looked up from her cereal bowl in a daze, before pointing vaguely in the direction of their youngest sister

"I think Lydia's wearing them Kitt..."

"Lydia!... Give me those shorts... they're mine and I am planning to wear them for the party in the afternoon"

"Nuh-uh... You wear something else... these go with my new flipflops"

"Give them back to me you cow... Mom!...Make her give me back my shorts! She's always taking my stuff and never returns anything..."

In the midst of the heated argument between Lydia and Kitty, Lizzie and Thomas Bennet seemed to be having their own little chat, this one about Thomas Bennet's classes and course syllabus, something the Elizabeth did not seem to be all that excited about, but was paying attention to her father for lack of any other intelligent conversation. She was determined to ignore any conversation arising from her youngest two sisters or her mother and with no conversation forthcoming from either of her other sisters, Lizzie had to make do with her father's sarcastic opinions about the complete and utter stupidity of his students.

Adding to the confusion was a jubilant Frannie Bennet, who had some news she was positively dying to share.

"Oh girls, girls... you're going to flip when you hear what news I have..."

As soon as she entered the room, the two youngest had forgotten their argument and were impatiently waiting on their mother's information, which was invariably good, considering Frannie Bennet was one of the society's most notorious gossip.

"Well, what is it mom?... are you e-ver going to tell us?" Lydia whined from her position, slouched down on the dining chair

"Yeah mom... I for one have a lot of things to do... so... today if you please?"

"Mr. Bingley is here!"

The blank stares that followed her statement were definitely not the reaction she expected. The silence that reigned after her pronouncement was so long as had never been heard before inside the Bennet household. Taking pity on her mother, Jane smiled at the older woman affectionately and asked the question that seemed to be on the tip of everybody's tongue

"Who... is Mr. Bingley mom?"

"Oh... you don't remember?... I told you girls before... Mr. Charles Bingley is the new owner of Netherfield... our neighboring estate. Remember I told you that his family owns Kerth Pharmaceuticals..."

More silence followed, but this time only for a few milliseconds before Lydia and Kitty were screaming in octaves only dogs and intergalactic travelers could hear, jumping up and down. Gratified at having finally gotten a suitable reaction to her news, Frannie sat back in her seat, fanning a plump hand over her red face

"Oh just the thought of having one of you girls married to him... it's making me quite flustered you know... Oh my nerves!"

"Oh come on mom!... Give it a break... We still haven't even met the guy and you're already making wedding plans. I am sure he's gonna be perfectly horrible... most men are"

"And you would know so much about men wouldn't you?, being the party animal you are... I swear Liz, if you've had more han two dates this whole year, I'll... I'll eat these pink shorts"

"Lyddie!... you are not eating my shorts! Mooom... tell her to give me my shorts back"

"Oh stop it Kitty! She's not going to wear out those shorts by wearing it one day... besides, I think it looks better on Lydia... find something else for you to wear... But none of this is going to help if we don't get an invitation to their housewarming party today. (sigh) If only... but then again... it's not like we have a dearth of things to do. I've planned to get my hair and nails done today... wanna go with me girls? We'll have a nice girls day out"

The pronouncement was met with a myriad of reactions. While Jane just smiled and shook her head no, Liz couldn't stop herself from snorting in laughter at the image of her ever wanting to go with Frannie Bennet to the beauty salon, Mary didn't even deign to answer and of course, Kitty and Lydia were already on their way out the door, ever ready for a trip to the salon.

Thomas, who was hidden behind the newspaper throughout this conversation, brought it down with a curiously wicked expression on his face

"Oh... you girls are going out are you?.. oh what a shame!... I thought we could go to the party next door sometime this afternoon. And that boy invited us so nicely too... Well, maybe some other time"

The high pitched squealing started again as Frannie joined her youngest two this time, almost jumping up and down in excitement, seeing as how her dreams of having her daughters married to wealthy young men were finally taking shape. Thomas was appropriately thanked with an overwhelming display of affection as Frannie jumped onto his lap and proceeded to kiss him in a way that had her daughters either gaping at their parents or looking away in embarrassment. Now that she had news of their being invited to the party, nothing could dissuade Frannie Bennet from her primary goal in life - to set her children up in positions that would eventually lead to their being married to men of fortune.

She and Thomas had a great life, being in love with each other, but they had also had quite a bit of financial problems, not the least of which was educating five daughters. Jane and Elizabeth had done their parts by getting full scholarships to study what they wanted, but in Frannie's mind, all that the family needed was a couple of wealthy and handsome young men. Getting her daughters set up with some of them hoping that atleast one or two of them might end up in a relationship and later marriage was her fondest wish... if some of her daughters fell in love with the young men along the way, all the better.

"Oh come on Lydia... Kitty, we have to get ready... just... four hours left to the party. Jane, do get up my dear girl... we have to make sure you look absolutely stunning today. You are by far the prettiest thing in this town and I am not going to let the young man pay attention to any other woman when he could be with you."

"Mom!... Jane is not just about her looks. Stop treating every social occasion as if it was a chance to set us up..."

"When you have five daughters Liz... you tell me what else will occupy your mind"

"Oh stop with the dialogue from Pride and Prejudice mom... This is not the nineteenth century for your kind information."

"Oh if only it were... People were so much more well mannered then... and girls used to listen to their mothers. Now get off your butt and start getting ready... there's no time to be wasted"

With a serious frown on her face, Lizzie turned back to her dad, only to find him smirking at her. While any other day, she might've joined him, Lizzie had already been feeling quite uncomfortable this week, feeling for the first time as if she didn't belong here anymore. The years she'd spent away from home, especially the last six months that she'd spent with Doctors without Borders in some of the war torn countries, had changed the young woman in ways she wasn't even aware of yet.

Elizabeth Bennet had always been a woman who took no bullshit from anyone. But she hadn't always felt so emotionally removed from everyone and everything before. Her sojourn with DWB had left her a bit cynical and quite jaded. Having seen just what some people on this planet had to go through just to survive the day, she could be excused for thinking that going to a party filled with rich snobs that had probably never known what it was to starve the whole day, was not of the utmost importance in her life... if only she knew what awaited her at Netherfield... or rather who, she might've changed her opinions. Or maybe not.

William Darcy still hadn't decided who to kill... The exhausted young man lounged in a hammock in the shade of a couple of huge oaks on the grounds of Netherfield while half-seriously contemplating murder. The moment Charlie and William had stepped foot onto the grounds of Netherfield, Caroline Bingley had attached herself to his arm like a leech. She'd even been dressed for the part, looking like the blood sucker she was in a black skin tight too short for company dress, that might very well have been painted onto her for the amount of her body it concealed. While Charlie had the decency to look apologetic, he'd done nothing to save his friend from the clutches of his sister. Will doubted whether it might've even made a difference had he tried... this was the first time in almost four hours that she was not clutching him to her side or talking his ear off about the latest fashion trends and 'who cheated on who'. Killing himself might've seemed like a good idea before, but now, it was a close competition between Charlie and his sisters.

Caroline Bingley was the epitome of things Will hated in a woman. A socialite with literally no goal in life other than to have enough money to buy whatever she wanted, Caroline had set her sights on William since the moment Charlie had introduced his friend to his family. While their parents were pleasant people, Charlie himself being one of the nicest people you could know, Caroline was a cunning and shrewd woman whose beady eyes looked at William and saw nothing but the wealth she could gain by aligning her life with his. That he was easy on the eyes was just a bonus that didn't hurt.

While Caroline was the kind that openly went after what she wanted with all the subtlety of a trailer truck, Clarissa Hurst seemed to be nothing but a groupie to her sister. Whatever Caroline did or said was reflected by her older sister, who even after being married to Philip Hurst resided with him along with her parents.

While these might be the reasons William Darcy was contemplating committing murder, the main reason Charlie featured on his prospective list of victims was the fact that while he'd told Will about his sisters being present, the younger man had never mentioned that they were going to hold a party that evening. William had gone along with Charlie to New Haven for the express purpose of avoiding stuck up parties and formal dinners that his aunt seemed to think was her duty to give... and his duty to attend. Growing up with his Aunt Catherine bent on running his life had given Will, Georgie and even Rich a pathological dislike and even hatred of social gatherings. Now it seemed he was stuck being a part of another one of those distinctly uncomfortable social occasions where he didn't know anyone other than Charlie and certainly didn't want to get to know anyone else.

Wracking his brain for any excuse he could give to try and give the party a miss, Will knew that he was in for a draining evening and an even more exhausting weekend. Only, he had no idea just what.. or rather who, was waiting for him at the party. Had he known, he might've shown a bit more enthusiasm... then again, maybe not. William Darcy didn't know it at that moment, but this evening was going to change his life... whether it would be for the better or not only time would tell.

A/N: So here it is... another chapter done. I've decided to pretty much go with the flow and write what wants to be written for now. So I just might diverge from JA's plot if the fancy strikes me for an AU story at some point of time...

Your reviews and ideas are always welcome and hugely appreciated. I love hearing from you and appreciate your support. Thank you so much :)

Lotsa luv and cookies

MB