Dear reader,

Happy Friday! here's the next chapter. I appreciate all the encouraging comments sent to me. I will keep posting weekly for those who are reading and for those who have sent me pm's, yes the story is up on Amazon. You can check it out if you like or read it here, whatever works best :) Thanks again!

Regards Janie (mj)

Chapter 8: Invitation to Netherfield

Darcy sat at his desk thinking about Elizabeth and the coincidence it was that Georgiana chose her to be the photographer to do her portraits. He sighed, this was the fifth time today he allowed himself to become distracted with thoughts of her. He decided maybe the best thing to do was to throw himself into his work and just really get focused on the tasks in front of him. He was beginning to get annoyed with himself. It was unlike him to be so unfocused with his thoughts. He grabbed a folder on his desk and opened it determined to get some work done. His plan to occupy his thoughts with anything other than Miss Elizabeth Bennet didn't get far when he realized the file in front of him was the one he asked Richard to do for him on the Bennett family.

He shook his head and laughed as skimmed over the file again. When he came to some of the information about Elizabeth Bennett he found himself reading more carefully. She was born on the fifth of June and was twenty years old. She graduated early from school and had gone on to attend university in London for two semesters. She had several boyfriends during that time but none of them of any serious nature or long duration. She was a photographer, self-employed who did occasional free-lance work for some travel and fashion magazines. She still lived at home with her four sisters and both her parents. He reread over the rest then closed the file. He was rather surprised at how thorough his cousin was in obtaining the information. Darcy had a new appreciation for Richard's intelligence gathering skills. Richard's time in the military taught him a good deal more than jumping out of airplanes.

After placing the file aside, he opened his laptop and began going through his emails. Most of them were pressing and in need of his attention, but he saw one from Bingley that he decided to read over first.

Darcy,

It was wonderful having you out to the house last night, but I feel you barely had time to get to know Jane. I have invited her and her sister Elizabeth to stay the weekend with me so that she can get to know both Louisa and Caroline better. Would love for you to come as well. Before you give me the line about needing to work, remember all work and no play ...well you get the idea.

Please do come.

Charles

After reading Bingley's email, Darcy thumbed through his calendar. He thought maybe he should go and keep an eye on his friend. He wanted to be sure that Charles didn't give in to a moment of weakness, and ask this girl to marry him. He reread the email, Charles mentioned having invited Elizabeth as well. That worked out perfectly; it would give him the opportunity to get to know her better. He told himself it was his responsibility to do so since she was going to be working with his sister. It wasn't that he had any real desire of his own to know the lady, but for Georgiana, he was willing to make the sacrifice. He spent the rest of the afternoon going through his emails, taking meetings, and going over his files. By the time he sat back down at his desk and glanced up at the clock, it was already past five o'clock. He decided to head home; he wanted to have a chance to speak with Georgiana about her day and find out how things went? He couldn't explain why but he was eager to hear all about Georgiana's time with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth walked through the back door. The kitchen smelled wonderful. She was so hungry. Hill was cooking one of her favorites for dinner, roast chicken breast with potatoes and fresh bread. "Oh, Hill you spoil us so much with your amazing cooking."

"Well I know you had a long day and I wanted to make some of your favorites for dinner this evening. It's my way of saying thank you for doing those lovely portraits of my grand-niece," she told her.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," she told her. "It was my pleasure to do Susie's pictures. I must say she's one of the cutest baby girls with her chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes."

"Thank you, Elizabeth, that's so kind of you to say," Hill told her. "Her parents are very proud of her; they show her off all the time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't get a lot more business your way, they have been showing those pictures to everyone."

It was the sound of her mother's approaching voice that interrupted their conversation. Elizabeth grabbed her things and quietly headed up the back staircase to avoid her. She was tired and didn't feel like hearing her mother carry on. She would get enough of that at dinner time. Once Elizabeth was safely in her room, she sat down at her laptop and downloaded the images she had taken of Georgiana. There were several shots that came out very nice, and she was happy with what she had.

Elizabeth thought about her new friend and how in some ways she was like Jane. They both were so unaware of how beautiful they were. Most other women she met or worked with who were beautiful were very aware of their outward appearance. They used their beauty to manipulate men and get their way, but not Jane or Georgiana. Maybe it was because they both had good hearts and truly cared about other people. She smiled as she came across just the perfect picture to send to her new friend. It was taken just outside of Michael's salon as they waited for the car to be brought around. The sun was in a perfect position, and the background almost made it look like one of her modeling shots. Elizabeth edited the picture and then sent the email to Georgiana with the caption, "A new beginning."

"Lizzy, come to supper," Kitty called out to her.

Elizabeth closed her laptop and tucked away her camera before heading downstairs to join her family for dinner. Tonight's topic was sure to be a rehashing of the party from the night before. She put a smile on her face and braced herself for what she expected would be a long meal. She knew by now her mother must have heard about Mr. Darcy's rude behavior at the party and she would talk about it all evening. She took in a deep breath and headed downstairs.

Mrs. Bennet cried out in her shrill voice as soon as Elizabeth walked through the door. "Oh Lizzy, I heard from all the neighbors how that obnoxious Mr. Darcy declared to everyone that you were not pretty enough to dance with."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Her mother was right on cue as always. "It was nothing Mum."

"It was terribly rude of him to behave in such a way!" she exclaimed. "Imagine that man thinking he's so superior to everyone else that he couldn't even dance with our poor Lizzy."

Mr. Bennet looked over at Elizabeth and smiled. "I dare say, Lizzy doesn't look too terribly broken up about it," he told his wife.

Elizabeth smiled at her dad. "That's because I'm not."

"You see my dear wife, our Lizzy knows better than to pay attention to such ignorant remarks," Mr. Bennet told her. "And that's precisely what it was my dear," he whispered to Elizabeth and patted her hand.

"Well I think it shows clearly just what kind of man Mr. Darcy is, rude and ill mannered," Mrs. Bennet said. "Of course we can't find any fault with Mr. Bingley because his friend is so rude."

Jane looked over at Lizzy. "I'm sure Charles didn't mean to hurt your feelings with the conversation he and Mr. Darcy had."

Elizabeth laughed, "Truly my feelings were not hurt. In fact, Mr. Darcy did come over and ask me to dance just a few moments later, so it was really no big deal."

Mrs. Bennet's eyes opened wide. "Did he really?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes, he did," Elizabeth told her.

Mrs. Bennet smiled, "Oh Lizzy that's wonderful," she began to say. "Perhaps he regretted his unkind remarks, and it was all just a misunderstanding."

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what his thoughts were since I didn't dance with him."

Mrs. Bennet dropped her fork. "You refused him?!"

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Yes, I did."

"Why ever would you do that?" she demanded to know.

"Because Mum, I didn't feel like dancing with the man after he behaved so rudely all evening," she reminded her. "It wasn't just his comments to me; he behaved rudely to everyone there."

"Oh, Lizzy you will never marry if you don't give people a chance," Mrs. Bennet snapped at her.

Mary shook her head in disbelief. "Mum you just said yourself that he was rude for saying the things he did about Lizzy; how can you be upset with her for turning him down?"

"That was before I knew he came and asked her to dance," she corrected her daughter.

Elizabeth ignored her mother's remarks and turned to Jane. "Jane, you and Charles looked perfect together. He's a very sweet guy."

Mrs. Bennet let out a small sigh and turned her attention to Jane. "Oh yes Jane, the two of you do make such a perfect couple. Just think once you are married you will have such beautiful children."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Mum, we are just dating! Please stop talking about us getting married all the time."

"Yes Fanny, before we start talking about marriage and babies, let's see where the relationship goes," John said, then continued. "Now Jane, I wanted to tell you that Charles Bingley seemed like a very nice fellow, and I approve of him."

"I'm glad you liked him," Jane said.

Mrs. Bennet laughed out loud as she stuffed another large piece of bread into her mouth. "Of course you approve of him, John. He's worth millions!"

Mr. Bennet shook his head and sighed. "And on that note, I am going to leave you all to finish your dinner while I go to my study and spend the evening with my books."

Elizabeth gave Jane a sympathetic smile and finished her dinner. The discussion around the table went back to the party. Her mother, Lydia, and Kitty talked endlessly about every detail of the night. Finally, after hearing all about the college boys from Lydia for the third time, Elizabeth had enough and went up to her room.

Georgiana was sitting on the sofa near the fireplace reading a book when Darcy came into the room. He walked over and sat down to read the daily news without noticing the changes in her appearance. "So how did things go with Miss Bennet, today?"

She waited for the past two hours for him to return home. "They went very well," she said, hoping he would notice her new hair style and makeup.

Darcy thought she would have more to say about the meeting with Miss Bennet because of how excited she was that morning, so he put his newspapers down and looked over in her direction. He was shocked by what he saw. His little sister looked beautiful. She had her hair done. It looked as if she had highlights added and she now wore long layers that framed her face perfectly. He also noticed she was wearing makeup for the first time, although it was still very modest and tastefully done. "Georgie, you look beautiful."

"Do you really think so?" she asked him as she put her hand up to her hair. She still felt a little self-conscious about the changes.

"Yes, I do," he told her, still surprised by the transformation in his little sister.

"I know it is very different, but I thought maybe it would be good for me," she told him. "You don't think it's all too much, do you?"

"No, certainly not. You look very lovely, and I like it very much. I was just thinking how very much like our mother you look standing there," Darcy told her, then asked. "Did Miss Bennet help you with your hair and makeup?"

"Yes, she did," Georgiana told him. "She introduced me to her friends, Michael and Anna. Michael is a hair stylist, and Anna does makeup. I spent the afternoon getting my hair done; then Anna taught Elizabeth and me how to do several different looks with our makeup. It was so much fun."

"You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?" he said, seeing how relaxed she looked. He was glad that she was willing to be out of the house and spend time with other people again.

"I really did, and with Elizabeth there with me I wasn't afraid when I met Michael and Anna for the first time," Georgiana told him. "Elizabeth is such a wonderful person. I'm surprised you didn't mention having seen her at the party last night."

"You and Miss Bennet talked about last night's party?" he asked a bit surprised.

"Yes," she told him.

Darcy wondered if Miss Bennet spent the day gossiping to his sister about the things he'd said about her. "What did she have to say?" he asked trying not to sound overly curious.

Georgiana walked over and picked up her book. "She said that the two of you were never actually introduced, but that she thought you were the most handsome man in the entire room."

Darcy was shocked. "Really, she said that about me?"

"Yes, although she did tell me that appearances didn't matter to her as much as kindness, honesty, a sense of humor, as well as a genuine concern and compassion towards others," Georgiana told him as she sat back down on the sofa.