A/N: Afraid we just passed the threshold from Novella to Novel about 3 chapters back, so suck it up. You're reading a novel. I am so loving the thoughtful comments and reviews, so keep them coming. This particular story has a real resonance, quite beyond what I expected. Wade

There was something noticeably odd about Lizzy. Of course, we all knew to expect that before we left Longbourn. One would expect a certain amount of oddness based on the circumstances of her marriage, and her subsequent letters seemed to prove the case. It was as if Mr. Collins wrote her letters for her, they were so bland and innocuous. I could not possibly believe anything could produce a year's worth of such dull letters except something extraordinarily bad. Even the pain of her forced marriage and her forced company with the stupidest man in England should have eventually worn off as she found a way to cope with her new situation, and stay out of the way of her husband as much as possible. I could well imagine her setting herself up her own parlor where he was banned, sending him to Rosings every five minutes to fawn on his patroness, and sending him to his garden the rest of the time so she only spent a few minutes in his company each day and had the rest of the time to herself. Or she might spend a large part of each day visiting parishioners, establishing her own society independent of her husband. She might even have made friends with the de Bourgh daughter and enjoyed her time that way. Those were what I expected, but those would have eventually produced a sensible letter. No, something very very bad must have happened, and I was determined to find out from the moment I walked around the edge of the parsonage and saw her there among her poultry looking every bit the prosperous farmer's wife.

We were all diverted from any possible pursuits by the sheer joy of reunion, and we all were completely caught up in the moment for some time. There was laughter and tears and hugging and all else you would expect after a year apart, but eventually the excitement died down and I got my first unguarded look at her while she examined my sisters. Something fundamental had been changed. Something had definitely been lost. The happy-go-lucky girl seemed to be completely gone as if she had never existed. She was replaced with a woman that was hard and unyielding. To be honest, I found her a bit frightening, but I could not put my finger on why. I thought of this as more of a visceral, instinctive reaction than a proper analysis; because she gave nothing away with her countenance… I mean… nothing. I had once been the one person in the world who knew her the very best and was privy to all of her secrets. Now I did not know her at all. I felt the loss more keenly than I had ever felt the loss of Mr. Bingley, which was a trifle by comparison.

I had just barely managed to absorb the enormity of the change, when she completely shocked all of us by apparently conjuring Mr. Darcy of all people from thin air. One moment there was not the slightest sign of him, and the next moment he was greeting my sisters as if they were his most cherished acquaintances. He had either the arrogance to chide my sisters on their deportment, or the kindness to ease their comfort after Lydia tried to do the same. It would be some time before I could hazard a guess as to which, but it was indeed perplexing.

I indicated my surprise at his presence, with him being the last man in the world I expected to encounter next to my sister Lizzy, and he entered on an even more perplexing explanation that apparently included his use of Lizzy's given name. I simply stared in confusion as he talked cordially to each of my sisters as if… as if… it was almost as if they were important to him; or at least their good opinions were. Perhaps he was looking forward to the day Lizzy was a respectable widow, which I had heard was not so very far in the future. Charlotte and I had thought he stared at her quite a lot in admiration, although she just scoffed at us. Perhaps, he was back to stake his claim?

My ruminations were deferred for a while when both Lizzy and Mr. Darcy started herding us towards the parsonage, both at the same time, and both seemingly working together like a couple that had been shepherding children for a decade. I watched in amusement as he snagged Lizzy's hand to his arm, and caught a bit of perhaps surprise, perhaps confusion, perhaps approval in her eyes, but she did not object.

During the entire encounter, nearly everything he said about Lizzy, and everything he said to her was confusing, and I was determined to work it out as soon as I might.

During the short walk to the front door, he showed that he had a sense of humor deeply hidden, as he indicated he had invited his sister, some cousin and apparently an earl or maybe the Prince Regent to a supper. We all looked confused, so Lizzy explained that by some unparalleled and odd circumstances, she had managed to invite Lady Catherine to dine at the parsonage on the very next day. We all abruptly stopped at that unexpected news, but she simply told us to stop fretting; she was only a lady, and we were not intimidated by Lady Lucas, were we? Something told me that other than her sex, Lady Catherine would have nothing whatsoever in common with Lady Lucas, but Lizzy simply acted as if she invited the lady to the parsonage every week.

There was a very odd sort of communication between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy. Something had happened between last year and that day, as they now seemed to communicate things between themselves with nothing but a glance.

After we were all settled in the parlor, we were once again shocked by Mr. Darcy cordially greeting Lizzy's companion Mrs. Hews, whom we all adored instantly, and the story of their acquaintance was quite amusing. Once that task was complete, and Lizzy had given us our instructions for our safety and the news that we might be obliged to work for our keep, we set about the task of preparing for our stay.

Elizabeth thought for only a moment before dividing the sisters between the bedrooms. She oddly enough assigned Lydia and I to the master's bedroom, saying she had not stepped foot in it in some time, and something in her look told me she never would again. How she knew Lydia and I would share a bedroom was beyond me, but it suited us. Mary and Kitty could share another room leaving a spare for guests, or they could disperse themselves between the others. We all decided to pair up as we were accustomed to by now, and leave one room prepared for any of us to go to without question when we wanted to spend an evening or a night alone, or to handle any guests. All we needed were Charlotte and Maria to make our old group complete.

Mr. Darcy then showed yet a different side of himself. Lizzy just glanced at him to make sure he was watching her (of course), then glanced at a stool in the corner, and at a quilt that was hung over the front of the stairway, and a cabinet in the entryway. Mr. Darcy surprised us all by divesting himself of his waistcoat. Then we simply walked to the corner, carried the stool to the stairway, jumped up on it like a little boy having some fun, and proceeded to remove the quilt before once again jumping to the floor. The whole thing took only a couple of minutes, and Lizzy watched him with a touch of amusement. When he landed on the floor next to me, without a word he handed me one end of the quilt, and we proceeded to fold it neatly as if we had been doing it together all our lives. He put it in the indicated cabinet, then as Lizzy led us all towards the stairs up to the first floor, he took another stairway that looked like it might go down to a kitchen and disappeared… all without a word.

We all followed Lizzy upstairs, and she showed us to our respective bedrooms. My suspicions were confirmed when she pointed out the bedroom for Lydia and I from across the hall, and would not come within two paces of the door. I made no effort to coerce her, and told Lydia my suspicions when we were along together for a moment. Later we would all do our best to make sure Lizzy never had to climb the stairs again. She told us she was perfectly happy with Mrs. Hewes on the ground floor; and in fact she much preferred it.

When we all wandered into our respective rooms to inspect them and plan where our things were going to go, we were once again surprised by Mr. Darcy, who seemed intent on acting as far out of the expected character as possible. He appeared in the rooms carrying a bucket of coal in each hand, and proceeded to spend the next hour or so acting like some kind of cross between a footman, a scullery maid and a master. He carried coal to each bedroom, and then carefully cleaned out the fireplaces, even though Lizzy and Mrs. Hewes seemed incapable of allowing a speck of dust in their home anyway. Once it was clean, he not only laid a fire in the grate to ward off the winter chill, but then he gathered each of us together for lessons in how to light and manage the fires safely and efficiently. First we were afraid of him, then we were all perplexed by him, and now we were in awe of him. Lizzy just watched all of his antics with an expression that as much as said he was incapable of surprising her any more.

Once all of that was done, Mrs. Hewes put a nice luncheon of cold meats, bread and cheese in the breakfast room. The parsonage did not have a formal dining room, and Lizzy had obviously not planned for ten people at her supper on the next day, but we all spent a half hour discussing how it could be done and finally came up with a more or less workable plan.

Immediately after luncheon, Mrs. Hewes and Sergeant MacDonald offered to take some of the girls into the village to acquire our trunks, and check with the butcher and baker for victuals for the supper. The Sergeant told us he knew a boy with a pony cart that would deliver our trunks and anything else we needed, so most of the sisters went to the village with them, leaving only Mr. Darcy, Lizzy and myself doing some cleaning and arranging of the rooms.

An hour or so later, I came to the parlor just in time to see Mr. Darcy enter carrying a try with tea and biscuits, and Lizzy following behind. Apparently, Mr. Darcy was capable of acting as other kinds of servants, and I think he surprised both Lizzy and I at the same time by pouring the tea exactly the way Lizzy would, including a few of her slightly eccentric mannerisms. I was unsurprised to see he knew how to prepare Lizzy's tea, but astonished to know he knew how to prepare mine.

We sat down to our tea, and for the first time that day, or really, the first time ever, I noticed Mr. Darcy showing some real nervousness. It may be that the skulking about he did in public places like that first assembly was another sign of nervousness, but this was different. He was quite bothered by something.

Lizzy noticed as well, and finally said, "Out with it Fitzwilliam! It cannot possibly be any worse than the other things we have discussed this past week!"

He looked carefully at both of us, and said, "It may be. I have one more confession to make to… to… to both of you. I am sorry I did not tell you earlier, Elizabeth."

She said, "Yes, I am certain you had ample time during all the idle chatter we have engaged in."

She said that with a bit of a grin, but also a look of some nervousness. Whatever the two of them had discussed, sounded like it had been of some import, but I was not going to pry into it. If he had something to say to the both of us, I assumed it could only have some subject.

He looked carefully at me, and seemed to be gathering his courage for something unpleasant, so I forestalled him.

"Are you going to tell me you had something to do with Mr. Bingley's abandonment, Mr. Darcy?"

His head snapped up to look directly at me, and he simply nodded and said, "Yes, I am afraid I did. I conspired with his sisters to convince him to leave. It was… it was… it was badly done. Miss Bingley would have had no chance of convincing him without me. He looked up to me in many things, and he did in this matter as well. I thought I was doing it in service of a friend, but I was wrong in so many ways."

He looked like he was going to cry, and Lizzy looked like she was going to murder him. Neither outcome seemed like it would suit me. Mr. Darcy had shown that there was more to him than any of us had supposed, and Lizzy looked like she had just lost her only friend in the world.

I said calmly, "If I may ask Mr. Darcy, what were the objections? Was it our fortune? Our lack of position in society? Perhaps the abhorrent behavior of my mother and sisters? Did you think me unaffected but mercenary?"

His attention had been focusing on Lizzy, as I truly believed it should, but it snapped back to engage me fully.

Before he had a chance to say anything, I locked eyes with him and stared him down enough to know I was not the meek lamb I had been a year ago, despite my propensity to let Lydia talk for me and said calmly, "Hold that thought a moment, Mr. Darcy."

Then I turned my attention fully on my sister, and said, "Lizzy, before I go any further, I wish you to abandon any thoughts of mayhem against this man this instant. He is obviously your friend now…"

At the surprise in her eyes, I added, "You can fool yourself Elizabeth, but you cannot fool me. Now you will forgive your friend right here, right now, and then I will finish my discussion! This is not your business!"

Elizabeth was as surprised by my unaccustomed bout of aggressiveness as I was with myself, but she stared at me for what seemed a very long time, then stared at Mr. Darcy, and nodded. The man looked like she had just saved him from an execution, and I was no longer in doubt about what Mr. Darcy was doing here. As usual, Lizzy had not the slightest idea, but he did not seem a man that would walk away a second time.

When Lizzy put her daggers away, I turned back to Mr. Darcy and said, "Pray continue, sir. This may be your one chance to say your piece without upsetting Elizabeth, so please be comprehensive."

Over the next several minutes he relayed the sorriest tale of confused affections ever told, and eventually concluded that he believed he was saving his friend from a loveless marriage to a women who did not truly esteem him but would do her duty as a daughter.

I stared at my hands on my lap long enough to truly think through everything he said, and everything that had happened in that six weeks the previous year, and eventually came to a conclusion, while he and Lizzy sat waiting patiently as if they were quite accustomed to heavy thoughts that took some time.

At long last, I glanced back at Lizzy to make sure she was still calm, then looked steadily at the gentleman and said, "May I ask for some clarification, Mr. Darcy?"

"Of course, Miss Bennet! You may ask anything of me you desire."

I queried, "How is it that while you have all of these responsibilities at Pemberley, you have time to manage Mr. Bingley's fortune, and his servants, and his coachman, and his grooms, and his horse, and the stage line between London and Meryton?"

He looked confused, and then looked at Lizzy which I took to mean he either thought she would help his confusion, or that he was accustomed to her leaving him befuddled. It could have been either one.

At last, he said, "I do not understand. I control none of those things."

I said, "Exactly my point. You did not prevent Mr. Bingley from returning. He prevented himself."

He looked unsure of the answer, and I asked another seemingly disconnected question.

Mr. Darcy, do you remember the very first conversation you had with Lizzy, last winter at that first assembly in Meryton?

He looked pained, and said, "I have recently been trying to make amends for that. It was very badly done."

I was puzzled for a moment, and then said, "Oh dear! You are thinking of your insult about Lizzy's handsomeness. That is hardly a conversation Mr. Darcy, and considering you have all of your fingers, toes and hair still in place I assumed you have already profusely apologized for that debacle."

He nodded, and surreptitiously seemed to be checking his fingers while running his hand through his hair; then he smiled at the reference.

I continued, "I mean the very first words exchanged. I will remind you. They were about poetry."

I saw him searching his memory for some time, and like any good governess, I allowed him the time to work it out for himself. That had been before Lizzy really attracted his attention, so it required some effort but his efforts were eventually rewarded, as he managed at length to quote her verbatim.

"… I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of
poetry in driving away love!"

"I have been used to consider poetry as the food
of love."

"Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything
nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only
a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced
that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away."

He looked at me in understanding, and I told him why I was no longer either heartbroken or angry, although I had been both for quite some time.

"That is what Mr. Bingley had, Mr. Darcy… a slight, thin sort of inclination. It did not even take a sonnet, just the words of a friend and a pernicious sister."

His head snapped up at that, and I said, "I forgive you Mr. Darcy, as you did in fact act in service of a friend. After today I can no longer think badly of you; but make no mistake! So long as you are in company with my sisters, you shall never again be on the same side of a dispute with Caroline Bingley. You now know better, and I am not the girl I was."

He nodded his understanding, while I tried my best to understand both why I was suddenly so aggressive with such a powerful man I hardly knew, and why exactly I was not worried by my complete lack of propriety and manners; but then I had one more important thing to say.

"Mr. Darcy, Charlotte and Lizzy both told me I did not show enough of my feelings, so I must own to my own share of the blame. Mr. Bingley should have been in no doubt, and impervious to argument. To fail to admit my part and blame everything on you and your friend would be as ill‑informed as what you did; and I can honestly say I believe anyone trying to escape being shackled to my mother is truly just showing good sense. May we say the whole affair behind us?"

He looked at me with what I thought was probably a newfound sense of respect, and for the first time in possibly a year, I smiled at a man.

He said, "Miss Bennet, I may learn slowly, but I do learn. I believe your sister has taught me more of real value in six days than I learned in a decade in society, and now you have offered the same. You may rightly consider me to be on your side in all future endeavors."

Lizzy looked like she may or may not want to have some share of the conversation, so I preempted her by saying, "Mr. Darcy… Lizzy… Since this is my business, I now wish a permanent embargo on the subject, save one exception."

Mr. Darcy agreed immediately, and Lizzy reluctantly, so I laid down my terms.

"Mr. Darcy, should you wish to fully drop the load I suspect you may still be carrying, I give you leave to relay this entire conversation to Mr. Bingley. All of it or none of it if you please. Once you have done so, you may tell Mr. Bingley that I am no longer a girl. If, and I must stress this condition, if he is no longer a boy, he may cautiously approach me the next time I am engaged in an assembly or a ball, and he has my permission to ask for one dance. After that dance, I will either grant or deny him permission to ask for a second on another night. Should he not accept these conditions, I ask that should we ever meet again, he treat me as the most indifferent acquaintance he knows. Those are my terms."

Mr. Darcy nodded his understanding and said, "I owe him the same explanation as I owed you, Miss Bennet, and I will give it as you have instructed."

I looked at him carefully, and I saw a look of true contrition and understanding, and for perhaps the first time, I saw things in a different light.

I said, "Mr. Darcy, you did this all in service of a friend, did you not?"

He nodded somewhat sadly, and said, "Yes, Miss Bennet, I did."

I gave him a look of calm understanding and said, "I agree you did, but there is one thing you may not comprehend."

"Please enlighten me"

I gave him perhaps the first true Jane Bennet smile that had graced my face in some time, as I felt a burden had been lifted that I had not even known I was carrying.

I said, "You could not have known at the time, but the friend you were in service of was me. Mr. Bingley and I, as we were last year, would not have survived the test of time. We, neither of us, had the strength of character or fortitude for a long and felicitous marriage. You did not know it, but even then, you were acting as my friend. Should you feel so inclined, I would feel privileged if you would call me Jane when not in company."

He nodded in understanding, gave the biggest and frankly handsomest smile I had ever seen on his face, and spoke his appreciation with his eyes. I could see how he and Lizzy managed to carry on whole conversations without a word. It was not difficult at all when he quit guarding his expressions.

At that very moment, I decided that I truly liked Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, faults and all. I liked him very well indeed. In fact, he was my favorite man in the world. Yes! He would make a very very very fine brother. The best of brothers!