Dear Reader

Thanks to everyone who has written me and left me comments and reviews. I really appreciate that. So here it is Friday again and I have another chapter for you :) Kindest regards Janie

Chapter 9: A Sister's Sacrifice

"I will be gone over the weekend. I'm going to stay with Charles after all," Darcy told his cousin.

"What brought about this change of heart?" Richard asked him. "I thought you had too much work to do."

"Honestly, there are a couple of reasons," Darcy told him as he sat down at his desk. "I think Charles may be thinking of asking this girl to marry him, and I want to have a chance to talk with him before he makes a huge mistake."

Richard let out a small sigh, "I will set aside the fact that you are still seeking to interfere in Charles personal life for the moment, and ask what is the other reason you have decided to go?"

Darcy defended his first reason for going, "I'm not interfering in his personal life."

"Of course you aren't," Richard said sarcastically. "What's the second reason for going?"

"The second reason is Georgiana. She just made friends with Elizabeth Bennet last week. She has hired her as the photographer for her portraits, and the two of them have become friends. They spent most of this past week together taking photos. Photos I'm not allowed to see apparently until Miss Bennet decides they are ready for me to view," Darcy said.

"You sound rather annoyed by that," Richard commented.

"I'm not annoyed," Darcy told him. "I just don't like being kept in the dark."

"I can tell you that Georgie did mention they have been to several exciting locations around the city," Richard smiled and said to him. "Since I know where those places are because I've seen the photos, I can set your mind at ease. Miss Bennet is an excellent photographer."

Darcy furrowed his brow and asked, "How is it that you have seen the pictures, but I'm not allowed to see them?"

Richard smiled broadened, "I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm Georgiana's favorite cousin."

"I hardly think that's the reason," Darcy shot back.

Richard laughed, "You're probably right. It probably has more to do with the fact that Georgiana likes Miss Bennet and knows how critical you can be of things. She probably just wants to make sure that all the photos are the best they possibly can be before letting you criticize them."

Darcy took offense, "I'm not critical, certainly not of Georgiana. I just want to make sure that Miss Bennet isn't taking advantage of how vulnerable she is right now and that her true intentions are to be a friend to my sister and nothing else. That's why I'm going to spend the weekend with Charles."

Richard leaned back in his chair and warned him. "Be careful Darcy, at least where Charles's relationship with Jane Bennet is concerned. He's your friend I know, but he's a grown man who is plenty capable of making his own decisions. You don't want to be meddling in where you have no right doing so. Even if you think his marrying this girl is a mistake, he has the right to choose for himself."

"I would usually agree with you Richard, but he's not thinking clearly where this woman is concerned. Even his sister, Caroline asked me to come and stay with them. She sent me an email, and she hinted that as his best friend I should advise him because she's concerned that Charles is rushing things," Darcy told him.

"Is this girl really that bad?" he asked. "I only ask because the information I gathered for you in that file didn't reveal anything that would raise alarms as far as I'm concerned."

It's not that Jane is so terrible, it's more her family. The mother is unbelievable, I mean it, she's the worst. She spent the entire night of the party talking about Charles's money and how wonderful it will be for Jane to have a wealthy husband. She was obnoxious in her opinions and kept asking the most inappropriate questions for someone who had just met him. Her father spent the entire night laughing off the ridiculous displays that his wife made. While the younger sisters were completely annoying," Darcy told him, then corrected himself. "Well that's not entirely true, Elizabeth was fine, it was the other three, they were awful. The two youngest were loud, wild and out of control, while the other one was opinionated, and obviously thought very highly of herself. She kept bringing up topics that she didn't know that much about and insisting her opinion was the right one."

"Come on Darcy were they really as bad as all that?" Richard asked, knowing full well his cousin didn't like social engagements, especially ones with a lot of strangers.

"Much worse, in fact, on several occasions, the mother suggested that once Jane and Charles were married, her sisters would be in a better position to marry some of his wealthy friends," Darcy told him. "It's clear that money is all that's on this woman's mind. Besides, I didn't see any real displays of affection from Jane Bennet that made me think she's truly in love with Charles. For all I know, maybe she's only interested in the money too."

"Well if what you say is true then maybe it is best that you go stay with him," Richard said. "In case he needs you to be the voice of reason. Just remember all you can do is give him advice, then he must make his own decision. As for Georgiana's friendship with Miss Bennet, I can see no harm coming from that unless you think she's using her to further her photography business by selling to the gossip rags?"

"No, she doesn't work for them, and as far as I can tell she never has. I had that checked as soon as Georgiana mentioned that she hired her to do her portraits," Darcy said. "I just don't want her to be hurt that's all. She's still so vulnerable, so I think it would be best for me to get to know Elizabeth better myself."

Richard sighed, "Darcy, I really believe that you should let this friendship develop. Besides, it will do Georgie some good to make a female friend. We can't shelter her for the rest of her life. Miss Bennet could be the guiding hand that Georgiana needs in her life right now."

"I realize that of course. But ever since that business with Wickham I have felt the need to be very protective of Georgiana," he told him. "I don't want to let her down again."

"I understand that," Richard said. "I really do, just be careful that you're not too protective of her. You don't want her to feel smothered."

"I'll keep that in mind." he told his cousin, "In the meantime, Mrs. Ansley is staying with Georgiana while I'm away. Do me a favor and check in on her, will you?"

"Of course I will. I'll pick Georgiana up in the morning and take her shopping and then out to lunch." Richard told him. "Darcy, I do think some of the influence Elizabeth has had on our girl has been good for her. The pictures came out great. Georgie sent me one that Elizabeth took for fun just after she had her makeover. She looked lovely in it…" He paused for a moment, "No it was more than that," he said. "She looked happy."

"I know, she does look happy, and that's something I haven't seen in her, in a long time," Darcy said acknowledging the positive influence meeting Miss Bennet had been thus far.

"Do me a favor then Darcy," he told him. "Keep that in mind this weekend when you are with Elizabeth Bennet. It would make it very uncomfortable for Georgiana to be friends with her if Elizabeth knows you disapprove of her family. Don't let your opinions of her parents and sisters cloud your opinion of the woman herself," he told him.

Darcy was surprised, "Do you think I would behave rudely toward her?" he asked him honestly.

Richard smiled, "Let's just say when you are uncomfortable around strangers you can tend to become critical and opinionated."

Darcy let out a small sigh, "I will keep that in mind," he told him as he pushed back from his desk.

Richard got up and was just about to leave the office when he stopped and asked, "Do you want me to handle the Wellington meeting for you or shall we postpone until you can be there too?"

"Just go ahead with it. I will send you my notes, and you can handle things for me. I should get going it's at least a half hour drive to Netherfield. I told Charles I would be there early," Darcy said as he finished packing his papers and headed for the door. "Call me if you have any question about the meeting. I will have my cell phone with me as usual."

"I will," Richard assured him.

When Darcy got to his car, he thought about Charles and how he should handle things with him. After all, if it truly was so important to Charles for Jane to spend more time with his family than he must be considering a more committed relationship with her. At least with both Jane and Elizabeth coming to spend the weekend, he would have a better idea where things stood. Although he didn't enjoy most of his evening in Meryton, there was one person that he did want to see again. He couldn't quite explain it, but Elizabeth caught his attention in a way no other woman ever had. He smiled when he thought about the way she turned him down when he asked her to dance. She obviously didn't have the same love for money as her mother because she had no problem putting him in his place for his comments about her looks. Darcy stopped himself; he realized that once again he was getting caught up thinking about Elizabeth. He took in a deep breath, if he wasn't careful, this could develop into an obsession. He laughed at the irony of it, here he was considering whether to separate Charles from his girlfriend, and all Darcy could do was think about Jane's younger sister and her gorgeous brown eyes.

Elizabeth sat down in front of her bedroom mirror staring at her reflection. She thought about Mr. Darcy's comments about her looks again and felt irritated. "Why is this bothering me still?" she mumbled softly as she looked at herself. She knew she was not as gorgeous as Jane. Very few women were, but she always thought of herself as pretty. She wondered why William Darcy came over to ask her to dance so soon after insulting her to Charles if had no interest in her in the first place. Was it supposed to be a joke to him, she wondered. "Insult me in front of the entire room, then see if he could persuade me to dance? If that were the reason, it was a very mean thing to do," she mumbled. "It makes no sense, at the party, he was so rude to everyone, but then Georgiana described her brother as the kindest man in the world. Who was the real William Darcy?" It was the sound of someone knocking at her door that interrupted her thoughts.

"Lizzy, can I come in?" Jane called to her.

"Yes Jane," she called out.

Jane opened the door and smiled, "Who were you talking to just now? I thought I heard you say something?" she asked has she sat down on the end of the bed. "I'm not interrupting a phone conversation, am I?"

"No, I'm not talking to anyone, other than myself," Elizabeth laughed. "So what did you want from me?"

"Why do you assume I want something from you?" Jane asked sheepishly.

"Because you have that look on your face that you have every time you want something from me," Elizabeth teased her.

"Alright I do need you to do something for me," she told her. "I sent you a text about Charles inviting me to Netherfield over the weekend earlier in the week, and I was hoping I might be able to talk you into coming with me."

Elizabeth let out a small sigh. With the busy week, she had with Georgiana she forgot all about Jane's text messages. "Oh, Jane do you need me to come?" It was Friday, and she was so looking forward to a relaxing weekend and catching up on some of her proofing. "It's just that I have been in and out-of-town so much this week with work that I have barely had any time to do my proofing on the photos I have taken. I just don't want to get behind."

Jane nodded her head, "I guess I don't need you to come. But I would be so much more comfortable if you did come."

Elizabeth let out a small sigh, "Oh alright I will come on one condition..."

"What is it, I will do anything," she promised her.

"You don't have to do anything, just tell me that Mr. Darcy isn't going to be there too?" Elizabeth said.

"He's not going to be there. I know that for a fact because Charles told me earlier this week that Darcy was extremely busy with his work and couldn't break away," she assured her.

"Alright then," she agreed. "You know this just might work out to my advantage anyway," she commented as she walked over and looked at the list of homes that Michael sent to her.

Jane was puzzled by her comment, "How so?"

"Well, Michael sent me over this list of homes for that new magazine layout that I took," she explained. "And Netherfield in on the list. So, while you are spending time with Charles, I can get some pictures of his new home for Architectural Heritage. You won't mind if I spend some time working, do you?"

"Of course not. Besides you always have your camera with you," she teased her. "I think it has become a part of you."

Elizabeth ignored her sister's teasing and asked, "When do we leave?"

"I'm already packed so as soon as you can throw some things together, we can drive over," she said glancing down at her watch. "Maybe even be there in time for lunch."

"Alright then, get out of here so I can get ready," she told her as she headed into her bathroom to take a shower. It had been a long week of work with Georgiana, but she did enjoy herself very much. The two of them explored Pemberley on Tuesday, and then various locations all around London on Wednesday and Thursday. Elizabeth got some lovely photos of her young friend. She knew there would be no reason for Mr. Darcy to use any other photographer unless he was just being stubborn in his dislike of her. She smiled, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad weekend, after all. She could spend time with Jane and get to know Charles without having to put up with his obnoxious friend.