Well, I have literally crisscrossed the US this week and gone up and down the eastern seaboard. The benefit of all of those planes, trains and automobiles is that I worked out some major plot issues in my mind. Now just to write them... Thanks for everyone who has favorited, followed and left reviews. In response to those I couldn't get to directly, Lizzy is a junior in college which makes her about 20/21. Darcy is 27 about to be 28 so similar to canon. Yes, I probably didn't have enough greats in Darcy's ancestors. I am not sure how much this story will push into immigration rights but it will explore the theme a little through the implications it has on Lizzy, her choices and the impact on the individuals in her family and their relationships. Yes, many can see where this story is going but it will take some time to get there. Happy reading!
Lizzy looked up and indeed, it was William Darcy sitting next to her with concern wrinkling his brow. The words finally penetrated her tears, "Are you hurt?"
"Oh, no. Thank you for your concern. I'm fine." Lizzy said while furiously searching her backpack for tissues. Failing to find any, she used both hands to wipe the tears away from her face.
"I know that we've only seen each other twice before, but it's fairly clear that you're not fine." Darcy said.
"Ever the astute one, no wonder you are being given degrees from both the business school and the law school." Lizzy teased.
"Now that seems more like the Lizzy I've met. Is there anything I can do for you?" William asked.
Lizzy looked down to her lap, "Unfortunately, no one can help me."
"That sounds serious. My sister tells me that while I'm not much of a talker but I am a pretty good listener." Darcy offered.
"You have a sister?" Lizzy asked.
"Yes, she's 15, actually almost 16. She's is in school in Maryland." Darcy responded and pulled out his phone. Opening up the photos app to reveal a picture of a brightly smiling girl, with long wispy blond hair and clear blue eyes. He stared down at his sister's picture with a wistful smile. "This picture was taken about a year ago. I should probably update the pictures."
"She's a beautiful young woman. She's lucky to have you to listen to her." Lizzy said with a smile.
The train started to pull into Harvard Square, "Well, this looks to be my stop. Thank you for, um, distracting me. I'm just going to head back to my room and call it a night I think."
He didn't want to let her go. He felt almost protective of her and he could tell there was something that was still upsetting her. She seemed distant and distracted. "It appears to be the stop for both of us. Can I walk you back to your house? It's probably best for you to not be walking about at night by yourself." William offered as they exited the train.
"Oh, thank you. I'm afraid I won't be very good company. As you could probably tell by my brilliant red nose and eyes, I'm a bit overwhelmed by some information I received today. I think I'm better off on my own." Lizzy said quickly walking towards the exit.
"There seems to be a lot of that going around." William muttered. Lizzy looked up at him quizzically. "It's still not that late. Why don't we grab a hot chocolate over at Burdick's and then I can walk you home. We can talk about your internship to distract you some more."
On this suggestion, Lizzy burst into tears. The mention of her internship and the reminder of such a happy night out with friends overwhelmed her. She looked up at William and whispered, "I'm sorry, I just can't." She turned away from him, racing up the stairs but not really thinking. His words brought it all rushing back and she needed to be alone to clear her mind. At first he simply stared at her departing back. When he realized she was running away, William started to run after her but she was gone.
William sighed, his shoulders slumped, clearly not understanding what he had done and at a loss as to what he could do. Unfortunately, he was getting used to feeling completely useless when it came to making a woman feel better. He was at a loss as to how to help his sister and now, when he had offered to buy a woman hot chocolate, she burst into tears and ran the opposite direction. Maybe Georgie was better off with Aunt Catherine as a guardian.
It was that thought that snapped him out of his funk. The notion of Aunt Cathy doing a better job than he would was completely irrational and he would not let some overly emotional college kid distract him from his priorities. Turning towards the river, he took in the cool autumn air and began walking towards his apartment contemplating all that his uncle and aunt had told him. One thing was certain, he would not give up Georgie!
Will felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He looked at the phone to see Richard's smiling face beaming up at him. Pressing the accept button, he put the phone up to his ear. "Hey Rich. Have you spoken with your parents?"
"Yea. I can't believe Aunt Cathy convinced your dad to add on such an idiotic condition to his will. She clearly took advantage of a moment of weakness. That woman certainly knows how to push a person's buttons."
Darcy grimaced, "My thoughts exactly. I will try to reverse it but I'm sure your parents have done all the same leg work that I'm planning and I won't be able to fight it."
"So what will you do?" Richard asked.
"I'm not sure. I really don't know. I don't know anyone that I would want to marry. I actually thought tonight that maybe Georgie would be better off. I haven't done the best job so far, so maybe Dad was right. Maybe he knew I couldn't really handle it and so he was doing the right thing."
Darcy sounded defeated. Richard had never heard him like this before. "Hey Darce? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Georgie's problems last year can be laid squarely at your father's feet. HE trusted Wickham and that is why Georgie did. You've been terrific for Georgie. You're the one who saved her. Beating yourself up is not going to help solve this problem. We need a plan and we will come up with one."
"Thanks for the pep talk. I've had kind of a rough night."
"Did anything happen besides the dinner with my parents?" Rich asked.
"Well, there was this girl, but, nevermind. It doesn't actually matter." Darcy mumbled.
"What? A girl? Who, what, where, when. I need answers man." Rich insisted.
"No, its really nothing. This girl I met, I saw her on the train tonight, crying and really upset. When I tried to make her feel better she just burst into tears again and ran off. It's just that winning Darcy charm at work." Darcy attempted to joke.
"Darce, it sounds like something was seriously troubling her before you showed up. You can NOT take that on. I know you feel like you are responsible for the entire world but you truly are not. So, am I going to see you at Thanksgiving? I want to take you out and get you plastered. You need it." Rich urged.
"Yea, although I'm not sure what to do about Georgie. She doesn't want to come to Aunt Cathy's and I can kind of understand, especially if this codicil is a topic of conversation. She's finally doing a little better and the last thing she needs is her world turned upside down again." Darcy shared.
"Well there's a chance my dad is gonna be stuck in DC over Thanksgiving for some kind of budget showdown. He mentioned to me last week that he might not make it up to Maine for Thanksgiving. Maybe Georgie could stay in DC with my mom and dad and we could cover Thanksgiving for the family." Rich offered.
"That sounds like a reasonable solution. I'll call Georgie and float the idea. I just don't want her to think that I don't want to spend Thanksgiving with her. It's really just about giving her an out. Are you certain about your parent's plans?" Darcy asked.
"Only one way to find out. I told them I'd call them back after I spoke to you. I'll send you a text if the plan is confirmed. Does that work?" Rich asked.
"Sure, sounds like a plan. Thanks Rich. I'm glad I have you to think this through." Darcy sighed.
"Anytime, bro. I love ya." Rich said sincerely.
"Right back atcha." Darcy replied and ended the call.
During the call, Darcy had slowly made his way back towards the tower that housed his apartment. For the last few minutes of the call, he had waiting outside the building not wanting to cut off the call with his cousin. Looking up at the lone hi-rise he took a final breath of fresh air and then walked in. Upon exiting the elevator to his floor he entered his apartment and took a look around. It had beautiful views of the Charles River. It was clean, organized and comfortably decorated, and it felt a little empty. He walked over to the kitchen to set his things down and grab a glass of water. Looking over to the dining room he found his cat Groucho, sprawled across the dining room table. "No, don't bother to get up and welcome me Grouch. It's just me anyway." Darcy said to the well-fed cat. Groucho lifted his head, blinked his yellow eyes and went back to sleep.
His phone buzzed and sure enough Rich had texted that all was set with his parents for Georgie to spend Thanksgiving in DC with them. Ok, now time to call Georgie.
"Hello?"
"Hey Georgie, it's your favorite brother." Will responded.
"Will, you're my only brother." Georgie deadpanned.
"Then I better be your favorite or else we have some serious trouble." He joked.
"We both know you are the best brother ever so I don't think you have anything to worry about. But I have a question for you. What in the world are you, a handsome, wealthy, and incredibly kind man, doing at home, calling your sister on a Saturday night? Shouldn't you have a woman hanging off of each arm or something?" Georgie teased.
"I think you have me confused with your cousin Richard. He's usually the one with women hanging off of him. You might remember me, the shy, silent, stoic one who can't figure out how to talk to a girl?" Darcy rejoined.
"Someday William. Some girl will see through your shy demeanor and find the treasure within. And it won't be about your hundreds of millions. It'll be all for you, the person." Georgie said sincerely.
"From your lips to God's ears, my dear." William responded.
"Ok so you didn't call me to talk about your burgeoning love life, so did you call to talk about Thanksgiving? I really don't want to go to Aunt Cathy's. She kind of scares me." Georgie begged.
"Actually, you're right. Richard and I cooked up a plan to spare you but it means we won't be able to spend Thanksgiving together. I'd much rather be with you than Aunt Cathy. I hope you know that. You are the most important person in the world to me." William said with full sincerity in my voice.
"I want to see you too. I hope that you don't think that I want to be away from you. It's just that, I've spent some time talking about this with my therapist and I'm trying to build confidence in myself. Aunt Cathy has a way of making me question myself all over again. Do you think we could get together maybe after Thanksgiving?" Georgie asked in a small voice.
Darcy hated when she retreated back. He wanted the old Georgie back. The one who would tell him exactly what she thought and would push him. He heard glimpses of her at the start of the conversation but then she faded away. When there was any uncertainty, she would almost fold into herself. "You name the date and I'll be there. Like I said, for you, I'll do anything."
"Thanks. I love you Will."
"I love you too Georgie. You're the best sister I could ever ask for." Will responded.
"Ok, enough of that. So tell me again why you are at home on a Saturday night?" Georgie probed.
"Enough!" He laughed. "I had dinner with our aunt and uncle tonight and so I didn't make other plans. We arranged that you'll be spending Thanksgiving with them in DC and Richard and I'll brave Aunt Cathy on behalf of the Fitzwilliam and Darcy families. Richard has promised to get me drunk to help deal with the onslaught of guilt from Aunt Cathy."
"Well, at least you have your partner in crime. And thank you Will. I really appreciate you making it possible for me to skip Thanksgiving with Aunt Cathy. You're a better person than I am. Although I'm not old enough to drink so maybe that factors into it." Georgie added.
"Anytime. I should probably let you go to sleep and I might turn in as well. Nothing keeping me awake so I might as well get some rest. Talk to you soon?" Will asked.
"Talk to you soon Will. Love you." Georgie said and they ended the call.
With that taken care of, Will headed into his room to turn in for the night. It was close to 11 and he really had nothing keeping him awake at this point.
Lizzy woke up, fully dressed in the clothes she had worn home on Saturday. Her eyes were puffy from crying so much the day before. She knew she should get into a shower and head over to the library before Charlotte woke up and started questioning her for being back on campus. Ordinarily she didn't come back until Sunday afternoon, after she had gone over the books and had Sunday dinner with her family. She wasn't up for explaining her early return.
A quick shower and a change of clothes and she was out the door before Charlotte had even stirred. Interesting that Jane was still not back form Charlie's. Hmmm. Things seem to be going well in that camp at least.
Walking through the yard, it was still and quiet. Climbing the stairs to Widener Library, Lizzy could recall her feelings of overwhelming awe when she first came to campus to visit as a prospective student. She had achieved so much in her early life that she simply couldn't believe that she would now be thwarted. She had to find a solution and the library was a reasonable place to start. Lizzy logged into the campus library system in order to access the legal libraries on line. As the hours ticked by, Lizzy became slowly more frustrated. She was not going to be able to navigate this by herself. She needed help but had no idea where to turn.
The hours passed and Lizzy felt someone tugging on her shoulder. She jumped and looked quickly around to see Charlotte standing over her. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask the same of you? First, I come home at 3am to find you asleep yet fully dressed. Then I wake up and you are gone without a note or a word to me. Then, I wait all day for you to come back to the house, calling and texting you. It's 8:00 at night and no one has seen you all day! I called your sisters and they said you left yesterday at 4:00 and didn't expect you to return. Why did you come back to campus yesterday?Why are you asleep in the library? What's going on?" Charlotte pressed.
"I, um, I really can't talk about it. To anyone. Please don't be offended but I simply can't." She sighed. "Well, I've probably done all of the research I can for today so I might as well come back with you." Lizzy answered solemnly.
"Have you eaten? You look like you've been here all day." Charlotte asked.
"I'm not really hungry. Don't worry about me." Lizzy urged.
Charlotte wasn't convinced. Lizzy's clothes were rumpled, her hair was coming out of her ponytail on all sides, her eyes were red and swollen and she had dark circles under her eyes. "I insist that we stop and grab a bite on the way back to the house. You're skinny as it is and I don't want you fainting on me. I already have one sick roommate. I don't think I can handle another one."
"Yes ma'am." Lizzy teased. They grabbed ice cream at Lizzy's in the Square and walked back to Pforzheimer House. Charlotte tried to probe a few times but Lizzy shut it down each time. Charlotte knew that Lizzy was a very private person and would only talk when she was ready so she told her some amusing stories from the party she had gone to last night. Charlie had apparently told her about some Law School party and Charlotte grabbed a fellow housemate to go with her. She had hooked up with some third year law student, Bill, who was very impressed with himself and the internship he had done over the summer with DeBourgh & Fitzwilliam, a high-priced law firm in DC. She had woken up in his bed at 2:30 in the morning and decided to high tail it back to the house. The girls had a good laugh about beer goggles as they made their way back to their room. Once inside their beds, Lizzy's thoughts drifted back to her train ride home, how incredibly sad and hopeless she felt, and the kindness offered by William Darcy. He probably thought she was completely off her rocker by the way she had reacted to him. Oh well.