Darcy and Caroline only had to endure one more day of the Bennet girls before Elizabeth finally decided that Jane was well enough to make the ten minute ride back home. Mrs. Bennet, of course, wouldn't hear of it but Lizzie was finished with being embarrassed at her rudeness for a while and only wanted to go back home. Though she enjoyed Charlie and a few of the other maids at the mansion, Darcy was far too quiet and Caroline was much too obnoxious. Mrs. Bennet refused to pick her up, as Elizabeth expected, so she just called Charlotte, who was a few months older and had her license.
Charlie had offered her his car that he could pick up at her house sometime later in the week, but Lizzie assured him it wasn't necessary. They all met around Charlotte Lucas' car that afternoon after school, with Jane in the back propped up with a few blankets and holding a cup of tea.
"Thanks for being sick, Jane," Charlie told her through the open window with a smile.
Jane sniffed and gave a small smile. "Anytibe," was the way it came out with a stuffed nose.
Bingley then turned to Elizabeth, "Anytime you want to come over, you just come over, got it? That includes you too Charlotte." Charlotte blushed a deep red and gripped the steering wheel, nodding to the ground.
"Thanks Charlie, you've been awesome. See you in school!" Lizzie waved to him as Charlotte revved the engine and they sped off down the road.
"Bye!" Charlie called, waving back while Darcy only raised his hand up. When the car was out of view, Charlie turned to his friend. "I'll bet you're real sorry to see them go, aren't you?"
Darcy stiffened. "I'm glad to see them go. Caroline's been more irritating than usual. Besides, she attracts more attention than I would like."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Okay Will, okay."
***
"How are you feeling Jane?" Elizabeth whispered to Jane, who had just awoken for the third time that night. Jane was staying home from school again and Lizzie was getting ready to go.
Jane coughed a little. "Better, it feels so good to be back home," she whispered back.
Elizabeth frowned. "That's what I thought. Mother was being selfish and it wasn't right for her to keep you there!"
Jane shook her head jerkily and sighed sleepily. "No, I wanted to be there, but it's good to be home."
Lizzie snorted lightly and pulled on her jacket. "Goodnight Jane."
"'night Lizzie..." Jane yawned and within seconds she was snoring again. Elizabeth lightly turned the doorknob and crept down the stairs. When she was halfway down she heard the rambunctious noises of her sisters arguing about who will get to use the straightener first.
"Lydia, Kitty, shut it!" Lizzie strictly told them off in a loud whisper. "Your sister is sleeping!"
They continued to ignore her and this put Elizabeth in a rather foul mood. One could always tell when she was upset because her actions spoke much louder than her words. It was because of this start of the day that completely threw her off, and the Latin quiz that she had first period went much worse than she would have liked. She missed a line in her theatre monologue and forgot to bring her book to class. Her mood escalated steadily for the first three periods of the day, and then came lunchtime.
Lizzie liked lunches for reasons besides eating, though it was a definite perk. On Wednesdays she usually tutored this one sophomore for History, but she had to tell the lowerclassman that she couldn't make it today due to a mental breakdown. It wasn't Kitty and Lydia's rude squabbling that made her so angry, it was the blatant disregard for manners and civility that pushed her off the edge. Imagine, an older sister is extremely ill, and the younger ones fight over a straightener. A man is kind enough to give his hospitality to a girl, and the mother of said girl extends the hospitality to fit the whole family. Without asking. Sometimes Lizzie wondered if she and her father were the only sensible ones in the family.
So she decided to take a mental health break and walk down to the Green. The Green was a park near the school that students went during lunch to play a sport, have a date with a significant other, hang out with a group of friends, or just walk. It was now officially fall and so the numbers of people on the Green were decreasing daily, which made it perfect for Lizzie to sit down by herself and think. She brought her book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and settled down on a bench for the period, setting her phone alarm to five minutes before class starts.
"Hey Lizzie," Charlotte greeted her from behind. Lizzie didn't see her but closed her eyes and exhaled. She really didn't want to see anyone at the moment, but she figured she had to be nice to her very best friend.
"Hey Charlotte," she replied, putting on her best happy face.
Charlotte took a seat right next to Lizzie, who regretfully put a bookmark in her book. "You didn't look too happy in History today."
"I guess I've just been thinking too much again," she shrugged. Charlotte gave her a look that clearly told Lizzie that her vague explanation wasn't good enough. She sighed and tried again. "I just feel that none of my family members think rationally. I mean, either they're too selfish, too giving, or too... I don't even know what mother is. Sometimes I think I just carry the family on my shoulders."
Charlotte listened intently and nodded understandably. "Yeah, you know how many brothers and sisters I have. It gets kind of crazy. Besides, did you know that Maria has a boyfriend now?" Lizzie rolled her eyes, for both Charlotte's sister and the fact that her friend completely missed the point. "It'll never last, but now I'm reminded more than ever that I'll never have a boyfriend."
"Charlotte, don't talk like that! Besides, with the IB do you really think that you could keep hold of a boyfriend and juggle your schoolwork? I mean, some people can do it, but still!"
"Yeah, well at least people are interested in you," Charlotte replied softly, studying her fingernails and rubbing at an inkprint on her forearm.
"Name five," Lizzie joked, her bad mood suddenly evaporating as she realized the silliness of jealousy over younger sisters' boyfriends.
"Oh please," Charlotte chuckled and pushed Lizzie in the shoulder. They sat in silence, watching the colored leaves drift across the slowly dying grass. "We're some pair aren't we?" Charlotte commented softly.
Lizzie turned her head to her friend and smiled. "The very best." They shared a look, and Lizzie put up the hair that had been blowing in her face for a few minutes "Just wait for your prince, he'll come. Wait and see."
And with that, Lizzie turned her attentions towards the plane overhead, making messages in the sky, while Charlotte's easy smile disappeared and she stared at the moss covered pavement stones. Some of us can't afford to wait...
***
Jane got better within a matter of days, and she had plenty of work to do when she returned to school. Luckily the work wasn't too overbearing yet so she was able to get it all done by the following Monday, but other kids whose immune system decided to bail out on them later that winter had much more work loaded up on them with the threat of the IB exams overwhelming them.
Jane had gotten better before the Halloween dance, and Bingley kept his word by going. It wasn't very much fun, for not many people showed up and the ones that did kept on trying to dance with him when all he wanted to do was dance with Jane.
They became unofficially official that night, when Charlie had decided to be a gentleman and get her some punch. Soon after that the rumor mills started to churn again, for Jane's sickness had temporarily stopped them, and soon they were thriving. The stories went from Charlie punched out a drunken hobo that had stolen Jane's purse to buying her a diamond promise ring. Though most of the school knew that the rumors weren't true, it was still a lot of fun making them and Charlie and Jane took the teasing with good humor. Elizabeth and Darcy however, were not happy with the extra attention and Elizabeth became even more angry with her sisters. It was their fault Charlie went to the dance in the first place.
In this way the fall and winter seasons dragged on, Jane and Charlie hovering on the cusp of a relationship, Darcy and Elizabeth caught in the middle.
Elizabeth woke up particularly irritable one morning in late February, and Mary made the wrong choice of asking to borrow Elizabeth's good raincoat. After a few shouts and the way she slammed her glass of juice on the kitchen table told Mr. Bennet of her obvious anger at the breakfast table that morning.
"Wait for it, it's about to get a lot worse," Mr. Bennet warned her. He had a sheet of paper in his hand, written in very feminine cursive. He hadn't even touched his coffee and Mrs. Bennet, for once, kept her mouth shut.
Elizabeth's anger at her sisters immediately evaporated at the sight of her father's obvious discomfort. "What is it dad?"
Mr. Bennet seemed not to hear her for a moment, running a hand over his furrowed face and brows. He did though, and in response he shook his head. "Not now Lizzie. I'll wait for your sisters."
"You're not telling me first?" Elizabeth asked, shocked. "It must really be bad."
It took a good few minutes to get all of the girls around the same table, and even longer to get them all quiet.
"Girls," their dad spoke gravely. "I'm afraid that your grandmother's oldest friends' son Willy Collins is coming over next month to visit us for a few weeks." Worried whispers erupted from the family members and their voices all steadily rose with the desire for one to be heard above another.
"But I thought he was teaching kids how to read the Bible in Indonesia?" Mary asked, confused.
Mr. Bennet shrugged wearily. "Yes, well it seems there was a bit of a miscommunication and they didn't want him there in the first place. He's decided to go back to Arizona to meet with his provider, and then he will come over here to visit us."
"Oh great, we've got the weird one coming to visit. Perfect," Lydia rolled her eyes. "We're not even related, why does he even keep showing up?"
"He's not weird," defended Mrs. Bennet slowly. "He's just lonely."
Kitty adopted a deep monotonous voice and replied, "One cannot be lonely when one is surrounded by cats and prune juice."
"Oh my goodness Kitty, you sounded just like him!" Lydia squealed, the terror of Collins already forgotten.
"No," Mary protested. "His voice isn't that deep. He stopped midway through puberty so sometimes his voice cracks. So instead of saying 'cats' it should have been 'cAts'!"
The twins burst out laughing. "You're right!" Kitty gasped through her tears.
"Shame on you three!" Jane scolded. "So he's a little weird, we're all a little weird! I'm sure he's a nice person!"
"A nice pedophile you mean," Kitty murmured under her breath.
"Stop that," Mrs. Bennet said firmly to the still giggling girls, though a smile threatened to pass over her own face. "It takes a special person to decide and be a priest at only twenty two! Besides, he lives a comfortable life. We're going to take him in our home with dignity." Lizzie wanted to correct her mother and say that Collins wasn't quite a clergyman of the Evangelical church yet.
"Fine," Mary agreed stiffly. "But if he even tries to kiss up my arm again, I swear..."
"Please Mary," Lydia rolled her eyes. "That was six years ago, I'm sure he's gotten much creepier since then."
"Guys, stop it," Jane scolded. "He probably didn't mean it. Besides, he's almost family and I doubt he'd ever try and make a move on you. Besides, he's four years older than me. If he tries anything, dad'll call the police. Right dad?"
"I wouldn't hesitate," Mr. Bennet assured the girls. "That's another reason why he'll be sleeping on the other side of the house."
"We shouldn't get him angry though," Mrs. Bennet warned, getting up to put her breakfast dishes away. "He has powerful influence through the person he rents from, Mrs. Catherine Bourgh."
"The ex- fashion designer?" Lizzie frowned. "Oh yeah, I remember him talking about her all the time. It really was very annoying. Didn't she quit when her daughter tripped on the stage during a special needs show when she had a coughing fit?"
"Yeah that was awful!" Jane agreed, remembering the incident. "The way she treats her poor daughter is terrible, like she's not worth her time or effort."
"Poor dear," Mrs. Bennet agreed, picking up Lydia, Kitty, and Mary's plates and bringing them to the dish washer.
"Yes anyway, we've got to try and be nice to Mr. Collins, or how did he want us to call him? Oh yes, Cousin Willy." Mr. Bennet rolled his eyes and straightened his tie. Standing up, he brushed his lips across his wife's cheek and picked up his suitcase. "I guess it's time to get myself down to the store. Have a good day in school, everybody!" The rest of the family called out their goodbyes and after he left the girls began getting their own backpacks.
Jane and Lizzie still went on the bus because it cost much less for five bus passes than all the gas it would take to drive every day. Once they were on, Lizzie turned to Jane. "So, Cousin Willy?" she raised an eyebrow and Jane giggled at her. "You know," Elizabeth said in a mock- grave voice. "I think our dear Wil-ster has a bit of a crush on you."
"Oh no my dear sister, I'm afraid you must be mistaken," Jane replied back in the same deep mourning voice. "As I remember it, it is he who has the crush on you!"
"Well," Lizzie challenged jokingly, her voice returning to normal. "We'll just see when he gets here, eh?"
***
It was in April that Mr. Collins decided to show up. It was perfect for him, due to the fact that it was a few weeks after Easter. Work was picking up for Jane but she handled everything with grace and poise so sometimes it was hard to tell that she had big exams in only a few weeks. This is only another reason why the arrival of Mr. Collins was inconvenient and stressed the family out considerably. The day before he came was a nightmare, in which Mrs. Bennet rushed about the house yelling orders at everyone. Apparently the bed sheets weren't the right color, the nightstand wasn't in the right spot and the silver wasn't polished to her liking.
It was so much for Jane and Lizzie that they actually found peace in their volunteer work later that day, which was putting books back on their shelves in the library. Normally a tiresome job, that day it was much nicer than being yelled at continuously for not folding something right.
Cousin Willy decided to make his appearance at precisely five o'clock that afternoon, exactly when he said he would. Lizzie could have sworn that the rain followed him across the entire United States, for when he got there it began to pour.
"Hello! I am so happy to see you all again," he exclaimed after being let in my Mr. Bennet. He was wearing all black, and instead of that being flattering that seemed to emphasise his chubby face. He already had thinning hair on the top and his eyebrows were far too high up on his forehead, always giving him the look of surprise. The girls imagined it would be very amusing to watch him attempt to be serious during sermons. That didn't mean that they would want to watch him however, and they all had the very bad feeling that they were going to.
"Would you like me to take your coat?" Mrs. Bennet asked politely.
"No thank you, I get very cold when I come to the East Coast, that's why I like to roast in Arizona," he winked at the girls, whose fake smiling faces contorted into a sort of disgusted smirk.
"Yes well, dinner will be ready in a few minutes... would you like to sit down with us?"
"Nothing would please me more," he announced, following Mrs. Bennet into the dining room and she led him to his seat at the foot of the table. "So what have you been up to? It's been six years, right?"
They all were more than happy to tell him every second of their lives since they last saw him, due to the fact that when he stopped it would mean his turn to speak. They already made a silent pact to make the man speak as little as possible. He put in a comment whenever there was an opening in conversation but the sisters made sure there were little to none. Mr. Bennet was smirking at his daughter's antics but did not stop them when it was obvious that Collins wanted to talk.
"So Mr... sorry, Cousin Willy, how is Mrs. Bourgh?" Mrs. Bennet seemed to miss the silent agreement and actually engaged Collins in conversation, this action brought the glares of the girls, and she just shrugged confusedly in response.
"Ah yes, she is lovely as usual. She stops by every so often to make sure I didn't blow the house up," he chuckled and the Bennet family gave each other shocked glances. "I've never actually," he covered up himself and coughed into his hand. Lizzie made a face to Jane, who looked as though even she had difficulty making an excuse for Collins. "I would like a tour of this house after dinner, Mrs. Bennet. Or can I call you Gertrude?"
Mrs. Bennet made a face at her first name but nodded. "This dinner is stupendous, Gertrude. Did you make it yourself?"
"Yes, of course," Mrs. Bennet replied stiffly. "We grow the lettuce in our garden."
"Lovely! That's just what the world needs, more people like you Gertrude."
She nodded briefly. "Thank you Cousin Willy."
Collins had been glancing at the three older Bennet girls since he got in and this comment made him frown. "You see Gertrude, I've been thinking. I think you should call me Mr. Collins. I am an adult now and Cousin Willy seems much too informal. I'm not really related to any of you, right?"
The glances made to Lizzie made her feel uncomfortable and she furrowed her brows, knowing where this was going. "But you might as well be!" she smiled uncomfortably at him.
Collins blushed. "Oh, yes. Well, I'd still liked to be called that just the same." He pushed his empty plate away from him. "Goodness, I am full! How about that tour! Then after we can start a fire and I can read to you last Sunday's practice sermon, I do believe it's the best one I've ever made. I'm not actually doing masses yet, so I'd like to practice on you all, how does that sound?"
"Great," Jane assured him, earning her some glares.
***
The tour of the house mainly consisted of Collins comparing everything the Bennets owned to something else owned, or not owned, by Mrs. Catherine. And his practice sermon worried Lizzie. If that was his best one and it almost made her doze off, what would the bad ones to? Put her into a coma? She didn't doubt it. And what she didn't like most of all was the looks he kept giving her and Jane. Mary got some, but after she fell asleep in the middle of the sermon, Mr. Bennet let her go to bed. From then on the looks were mainly given to Jane and Lizzie.
"Goodnight girls!" he called cheerfully as they climbed the stairs to bed that night. "I'll see you off tomorrow, I insist!"
"I'm so upset I could cry," Lizzie moaned, collapsing into her bed. "He's just about the weirdest person I've ever met."
"Oh stop judging. It's only the first day, he could get better," Jane was brushing out her hair.
"Kitty and Lydia are so lucky, tomorrow Auntie is taking them into Boston for another soldier convention."
"Who knows, maybe she'll take you along. I have to stay here and study for my exams."
"Let's hope so," Lizzie yawned. "I don't think I can bear much more of him, and it's only been four hours."
Their Aunt did allow Lizzie to come with them to Boston, but the downside was that Collins insisted upon coming. So instead of being able to hide somewhere in the house for a few minutes, she got to be trapped in a city with the man. This weekend was not going the way she would have liked, and she couldn't even count the days until Collins left because he was staying indefinitely.
"This is George!" Lydia introduced Lizzie and Collins to a tall soldier. Lizzie was less than enthusiastic, even though this soldier was attractive, he was about the thirtieth one she'd met that day.
"George Wickham, private," he shook her hand first. His grip was strong and his eyes captivating, and this caught Lizzie's attention.
"Hi, I'm Lizzie. Kitty and Lydia's sister."
"Oh yes, they've both talked about you. Briefly, but yes I've heard of you." He smiled, completely ignoring Mr. Collins. "Would you like to walk with me?"
"Sure, you can walk with us," Lizzie smiled a little at the look of disappointment that crossed his face for a moment. 'Poor thing,' she thought, 'he actually believed I was going to walk alone with him after just meeting him. He's not THAT cute.' Kitty, Lydia and Collins were internally fuming, each believing that someone had just stolen their beaux from under them.
Though Lizzie and Wickham walked ahead of the others, Lizzie made sure that they were always within eyesight. He showed her around to the different booths, and at one point asked of her interest in officers. She replied to each of his questions in a manner that even surprised herself. 'I'm being a flirt!' she frowned.
"So I hear that the famous William Darcy has come to your school? Or at least that's what Kitty and Lydia've been telling me. Don't mean to offend, but they're not the most reliable source."
"It's not offending, it's true. Yeah, Darcy and Bingley are going to school with us."
"And um," he began conversationally. "How close are you with them? They're both only a grade older than you right?"
"Yeah, they're both alright. I tend to like Bingley more than Darcy, but you know."
George seemed to relax for a second. "Yeah."
Just then Aunt Phillips came up behind them. "Dears, it's time for us to go."
George stopped and turned around. "Well then, I insist upon escorting you to your taxi."
"I'm sure you have a job to do," their Aunt protested. "I wouldn't want to take you away from it."
"It's fine, I'm only a private." His face was cheerful, but his voice held a bit of resentment in it, though that thought flew from Elizabeth's mind when he won the argument and escorted them outside.
"Look! It's Charlie!" Lydia called across the street when they left the building.
And so it was. Charlie Bingley and William Darcy were walking across the street with their bodyguard not very far behind. "Hey girls!" Charlie called across the street and made a move to cross the street. They were halfway across the road when Darcy suddenly stiffened and walked briskly the other way. Lizzie looked up confusedly at Wickham, whose lips were tightened.
"Sorry girls but I've got to get going!" Charlie apologized quickly and turned to run to his quick walking friend who was already a long way away from him. "Hey wait up Will!"
"What was that about? It wasn't something I said, was it?" Lizzie asked.
"No, I'm pretty sure it was me," George muttered darkly. He then woke up and hailed a taxi quickly for them.
"Thank you, young man!" Aunt Phillips thanked him. "Would you like to have dinner with us?"
He smiled, though it seemed a bit forced. "No thank you Mrs. Phillips. I'm busy tonight. But I would love to visit you three anytime I can get down to the Cape."
"Here's our number!" Lydia thrust out a pre made card with the home phone number on it.
"Erm, thank you. See you around!" He closed the door and the taxi began driving away. Lizzie turned around, and the last thing she saw was George Wickham looking nervously down the street that Bingley and Darcy had turned into.
"What a nice young man," their Aunt commented. Lizzie didn't even get a word in before Lydia launched into a story about how she met him.
So Lizzie just closed her eyes and ran over the events of the day, sensing that things didn't quite add up.