A/N: Hey, so sorry this took so long…I've been hit with a wave of laziness not having classes anymore so I've been kind of slacking off. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading and please leave a review, it's greatly appreciated. This is pretty short, mostly because I am a bit uncertain of what to do with the story now, so leave a comment telling me what you think I should do. Thanks, again! And in case I don't post before Friday, Merry Christmas!

Chapter Thirteen

Lizzie was entirely too exhausted to deal with her mother's incessant complaining once she had returned from Yellowstone the day after Charlotte's wedding.
Charlotte and Ricky left the same day, flying to New York to enjoy their honeymoon. Lizzie was extremely torn watching her friend leave with him, but was soon confronted with a greater source of mixed feelings that was going back home. During their brief time in Helena before Lizzie left for the wedding, Jane had improved remarkably. She was smiling almost as much as she used to, and based on a phone call the day before, she had met Lydia's new boyfriend and reported to Lizzie that he was "extremely friendly and suited Lydia nicely."

Lizzie was settling back into her favorite childhood hiding spot in the top of a tree in their backyard when she felt the paper of Will's letter in her jacket pocket from earlier that day. She pulled it out and unfolded it for the millionth time; after she read it the first time she could hardly believe what it said and read it countless more times trying to fully grasp the gravity of its contents.

Dear Lizzie,

Please don't think that this is any repetition of what I said to you this evening. I simply want to defend myself for the accusations you laid at my feet. For your sister, I am truly sorry that I caused her grief, but what I did was what I believed to be right for Charlie at the moment. I didn't know that he had left without saying anything to her; I never asked and assumed he had called her.
For George Wickham, I do not know how you came to know him; I believed he was still in New York. In fact, a few days before I came here I saw him in Ithaca with my sister. George is the son of my father's business partner. They began the company together, unfortunately, George's father died before any profit came from the company. My father took George under his wing and continued to provide for him. Once my own father died when I was in college, the stocks my father had owned were split evenly between the three of us, my sister, myself, and George. George soon sold me his stocks, claiming he did not want any part of the company and simply asked me to fulfill my father's wish and pay for his school. I obliged and he attended Boston University. About two years ago, George and my younger sister began a relationship. I had known George in college, and his habits among women were not something I wanted my sister to be exposed to. I tried to tell Gigi about his behavior but she became angry and did not speak to me. George soon convinced her to sell her stocks to him; Gigi later also revealed that he told her his intentions were to share the stock's interest. I surprised her in Ithaca, trying to make amends, and her own guilt and conscious led her to tell me about the trade with George. Once I spoke to George I learned that he had no intention of sharing anything with my sister. Gigi was devastated when he left, after I assured him he would be getting none of the stocks. I am not sure how they thought it would go unnoticed since I am the CEO of the company, I imagine George was desperate and Gigi was unaware. After he left, I had not seen him until he was in Ithaca last week. My cousin knows about Gigi's experience with George and can vouch for its validity.
Finally, for the comment you thought was about you at the party. I am very sorry you thought I said that about you. In actuality, I said that comment about Caroline, and I let my foul mood get the better of me when I said that. I am sorry for the misunderstanding, and I hope you now know that I could never say something negative about you. For the truth to this, you can ask Charlie.

Will Darcy

Lizzie folded the paper back up and slid it into her jacket. She leaned her head up against trunk and sighed, taking in the splotches of blue through the verdant foliage.

She felt guilty; and ashamed that she had believed George's story so readily. She did not imagine herself as someone who was so easily affected by charming manners and a handsome face, but was coming to a realization that she, perhaps, had been wrong. In regards to her sister, Lizzie felt relatively unchanged, though she appreciated the effort at remorse. Now that her sister was feeling better and moving on, it was difficult to bring up what Will had told her, and she decided not to let her know.

"Lizzie," Jane called from the base of the tree, "dinner's almost ready, why don't you come down?"

"I'll be right there," Lizzie began her precarious descent. Part of her wanted to stay angry at Will, but she came to the realization that she would probably never see him again, and decided not to waste her effort.