Hi Ho. As I mentioned last week's travel gave me some time to write so I am posting at a faster pace. I'll be back likely sometime next weekend with details of how Monday is spent. Sunday is finished up here. For the guest question on the need for a blood test, some states still require a blood test in advance of getting married. The test is for certain sexually transmitted diseases although interestingly not HIV. Only ones that can be treated. Maine doesn't require this however. Happy reading!

"Hey girly girls!" Lizzy called out as she entered her room at Pforzheimer House.

"Lizzy! Welcome back. I can't believe we both beat you back from vacation. Did you have a good time with the Gardiners?" Jane and Charlotte each hugged her.

"It was certainly a busy week and I have a feeling the next few will be as well. How were Florida and New York? Whatd'ya think of Charlie's parents Jane? Are they totally in love with you?" Lizzy teased.

"It was a wonderful week and his parents were great although..."

"Although what?" Charlotte and Lizzy both asked.

"Well, it's just that I'm not so sure about his sister Caroline. She seems a little, well, she might be a little snobbish at times. I mean I don't like to speak ill of people but there were times when I got that vibe from her. I don't know maybe I'm judging her harshly." Jane blushed.

Lizzy and Charlotte snorted with laughter. "Jane Bennet, did you just make a negative comment about someone? And seriously, a little snobbish? That girl has her nose so high in the clouds I'd be shocked if she didn't know the weather before the rest of us." Lizzy cried. Charlotte was actually rolling around the floor laughing.

"Do you really think she's that bad?" Jane asked.

Finally regaining control, Charlotte added, "Jane the very first night we met her she wanted to leave the restaurant because it didn't have valet parking. In the dictionary when you look up the word snob, I'm sure her picture is there."

"Oh well, the rest of Charlie's family is really quite lovely. I hope you get to meet them. Lizzy why don't you fill us in on your week off?" Jane asked trying to change the subject.

Lizzy flopped down on her bed, trying to figure out how to bring up the one topic she had avoided for the past few weeks. Her body language signaled something was up so Jane and Charlotte decided to sit and wait to see what she had to say. Lizzy looked at her two friends, "I was hoping I could talk to you about what's been going on with me for the past few weeks. I'm so sorry I haven't shared what's going on with you. I trust you guys but it's very, very complicated and it's been a really hard time for me. I just couldn't bear the idea of losing your friendship with everything else that was happening."

"Lizzy, I can't imagine anything you've done that could change the way we feel about you." Charlotte offered. " I promise I will listen with an open mind and won't discuss anything you share with us unless you give us permission to do so."

"I promise too Lizzy. Please trust us. We've been so worried." Jane added.

Over the next 30 or so minutes, Lizzy shared everything that she had learned about her immigration status since her first conversation with her papa. She shared with them her discussions with Professors Gardiner and Gilpin and how William had been helping her through his work at the Legal Aid clinic. If this hadn't been enough to shock them, Lizzy handed them the letter her papa had left when her family left town. The final straw for them was her description of her broken relationship with Maria and Jane wrapped Lizzy in a tight hug.

Charlotte and Jane listened closely, not interrupting. They each understood how hard it was for Lizzy to share her difficulties with anyone. She was an intensely private person as they had learned their freshman year - the last time she had closed herself off to them. Because they knew her nature, they weren't offended that she hadn't, to this point, told them. She had needed to come to this point in her own way and they were grateful she finally had. Jane and Charlotte looked over at one another and knew they were of the same mind. They would do anything they could to protect their friend. Jane spoke first.

"Oh, Lizzy. I can't believe you have been carrying this burden these past few weeks. We love you and I wish you had trusted us. We would never do anything to betray you." Jane released Lizzy as soon as she'd stopped speaking to hand her a packet of tissues.

"Lizzy, you've done nothing wrong. You didn't make the choices that led to your current situation. You are blameless. I wish you wouldn't take this on as your fault. It simply isn't true. We'll stand by you Lizzy, whatever happens. I just can't believe your parents and Maria either. I'm frustrated and angry for you!" Charlotte added. With that it was Charlotte's turn to pull Lizzy into a hug. Their support and love unleashed something in Lizzy and for the first time in weeks she began to cry. She wouldn't lose her friends. She hadn't realized how truly worried she was about that until they'd hugged her.

"Now, I think we need break out the chocolate I brought back from break. This conversation is far too serious and after all you've been through Lizzy, you deserve a treat!" Jane said as she stood to get the chocolate from her bag.

"So, do you have a plan? Have you and William found a way to fix this?" Jane asked.

"Well, actually, yes. William has. I'm more than a little nervous about it and this plan will impact all of us, although me and William more than anyone." Lizzy said quietly.

"Ok, spill then. We'll do what we can to help but we need to hear the details." Charlotte added impatiently. Lizzy didn't usually dance around anything. She was direct, usually overly direct, and so this was uncharacteristic for her.

Taking another deep breath, Lizzy mused that she should really should find that yoga class. She quickly pushed the thought aside and in one quick breath said, "Yesterday morning, William asked me to marry him." Pulling the ring from her pocket she slid it on her finger. "We're getting married next Sunday up in Maine. Apparently, it's easier to get married there. I'd love for you both to be there with me but I understand if you already have plans or its too last minute."

Of all of the things they might have expected Lizzy to say, this was definitely not one of them. Jane as usual, was the first to react. A high pitched squeal emerged from Jane as she took Lizzy's hand to examine the ring. "Oh, Lizzy how beautiful! It's wonderful. Of course, getting married is one of the ways you had said you could fix this and William is a wonderful person. Charlie is always praising his friend to the moon. We wouldn't miss it." Pausing Jane looked at Lizzy, "I do have one question, do you love him?"

Lizzy smiled. Of course, this is how Jane would respond. Alway positive and more concerned with her heart than any of the practicalities. It was part of what she most appreciated about Jane.

"I can't say I love him but I do like and respect him. And, William feels the same way. He has he own reasons to get married. They are his reasons and he has shared them with me, but, before you ask, I am not at liberty to say what they are. It's his story and I don't feel it is my place to tell it." Lizzy calmly responded. As she said the words, it was as if, for the first time, she had fully accepted the plan. It was becoming real to her.

Charlotte sat pondering this new information, analyzing it without emotion. As she thought about it, she really liked this plan. Over the past two-and-a-half years Charlotte had begun to appreciate how much Lizzy took on in her life. If it hadn't been for Lizzy, her parent's restaurant would have likely failed. She'd managed the books and ensured the staff had wages and benefits. Meanwhile, she'd excelled at school and was a wonderful, caring and thoughtful friend. Lizzy deserved to be taken care of and William could and would take care of her.

"Lizzy, I think you're absolutely doing the right thing and Jane and I will be there to support you every step of the way. I'm glad that you're letting William help you. You deserve to be cared for. I assume however that you will no longer be living in the dorm with us. It's a price worth paying to keep you safely in the country, at school and able to pursue your dreams." Charlotte said.

"Thank you both. I don't know what I did in this life to deserve such wonderful friends but I am ever grateful to have you." Lizzy said with a smile.

"Enough sappy stuff. We have a wedding to plan and only a week to do it. Do you have a dress and a ring to give to William?" Jane asked with a grin from ear to ear. This was her element. "You have something old, the beautiful engagement ring that William gave you. Now we need to get you some new, and something blue. And I am sure we can find something between us for you to borrow." Jane continued. "We will need to take you shopping. Let's go online and see what we can find in the way of shops open tomorrow so we can be most efficient."

"Um, Jane. I really appreciate this but I don't really have a lot of money to get all of these things. I'd love to borrow something from you or Charlotte for the day but as for the rest of it, it's just a quick wedding with the local magistrate. We don't need to go to all this trouble. I'll need to get William a ring and I'll just put my money towards that." Elizabeth said.

"Elizabeth Grace Benetez, you have lost your mind if you believe that we'd allow you to get married and not make it as special as you deserve. It may not be ideal circumstances but we've been talking about our future weddings since freshman year and you will have a beautiful one!" With that statement Jane stormed out of the room.

Charlotte just started laughing, handed Elizabeth another piece of chocolate, and told Elizabeth to eat up. When Jane was on a mission there no stopping her and in this mission, Charlotte completely agreed.

After making arrangements for Richard's trip to Maine, Darcy called Charles and told him about the upcoming wedding and the need for secrecy. Charles was dumbfounded when he learned about all that had been happening in his friend and Elizabeth's lives these past few weeks. Of course, he'd keep this confidential. He was delighted to be one of Darcy's three invited guests to his wedding and would gladly stand up with his friend. Darcy and Charles were chatting when Charles saw that Jane was trying to call him as well. "Hold on a sec Will."

"Jane, did you hear Lizzy and Will's good news?" Charles enthused.

"I most certainly did, and while we only have a week to plan this blessed event, I need to ask William a very important question. Can you give me his number?" Jane said forthrightly.

"Actually, Will's holding on the other line. Why don't I just merge the call so you two can talk now." Charlie offered. "Hey Will, Jane wanted to ask you a question and so I've joined the lines so you can talk to her now."

"Hi Jane, is everything ok? How's Lizzy?" Darcy asked. He couldn't imagine why Jane Bennet wanted to talk to him.

"Lizzy's great but what's the budget?" Jane simply stated.

"Budget? What do we need a budget for?" Darcy responded.

"Ughhhh! Dress, shoes, jewelry, veil, flowers, dinner. You can't expect Lizzy to get married in her parka and jeans! She may need to get married quickly but she deserves to have as lovely a wedding as we can manage in the time alloted. Charlotte and I can't accomplish it on the $30 Lizzy has in her wallet and the small amount of money in her bank account," Jane said in frustration. Men, they never think of the details.

"Oh, of course. Spend whatever you want. I don't care. Do you want one of my credit cards? What can I do?" Darcy said, trying to take in an angry Jane. He'd never seen or heard her in this state before and he was torn between being amused and being a little frightened.

"That will do for now. Perhaps you can give it to Lizzy when you see her. For the rest of your responsibilities, tomorrow, you can call the Charles Hotel and organize a celebration dinner at Rialto. You can invite any friends of yours that you might want to have there. I'll send you a list of email addresses of Lizzy's friends to be invited. Professor Gardiner and his wife should be there and likely Professor Gilpin and his wife. She's told us how helpful he's been over the past few weeks. Taking into account all of us, the Gardiners and Gilpins plus the names I will send to you, assume 20. Add to that however many people you plan to invite. If Rialto can't accommodate us, ask the Charles Hotel to find a room to host us all. Of course, they'll want to send us menus. We can look them over tomorrow night and decide what should be served. I'll go onto Paperless Post tonight and we'll design the invitation so that you can send it out once you have the details from the hotel. Do you understand?" Jane asked in her command and control voice.

Charlie and William both swallowed loudly, slightly stunned by this version of 'in control Jane'. "Um, yes. Of course. I'll get right on it." William finally responded. They learned an important lesson tonight. Sweet Jane Bennet could be scary when she wanted to be. With their agreement, Jane thanked them, wished them a good night and disconnected from the call.

Charles checked to see if William was still on the phone. "Will are you there?"

"Yes. I'm still here."

"Ok, then. How can I help you?"

"I'm not really sure. Have you ever heard Jane like this before?"

"No, not really. I heard a new side of her tonight but it taught me that I don't want to see 'angry Jane' so why don't you work on your list. I can call the Charles Hotel tomorrow before class. How many do you think from your side? Another 10?"

"Yea, that sounds about right. So tell the Charles, 30 total. I'll get together the email addresses from my side. Actually, why don't you come over around 9 and we can make the call on my speaker phone so we can figure out the answers to their questions. I have no idea what those might be. It might be better to use your name in the organizing as I don't want word to get out that I am getting married. We can just say William and Elizabeth. I'll take care of the bill after the ceremony." William said as he thought through this out loud.

With the boys taking care of their assigned tasks, Jane returned to the triple, laptop in hand. "Lizzy, when you see William tomorrow he's going to give you his credit card. I think we should get your dress first since, if you need alterations, we'll want to give them a few days to get them done. There's an adorable boutique on Newbury Street that I think we should start at."

"What are you talking about? I can't take William's credit card to buy myself a wedding dress!" Lizzy exclaimed.

"Of course you can sweetie. I just spoke to him and his exact words were 'spend whatever you want.' You know, what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours and all that. This is your wedding and you are going to look drop dead gorgeous when you walk down that aisle."

"You called him to ask if I could spend his money?" Lizzy spluttered.

"Lizzy, I simply asked him what his budget was for the wedding. You can imagine that it's his wedding too and that he will want to have some special memories of the day." Jane implored hoping that Lizzy wasn't too offended.

Charlotte had been watching this interaction and thought this might be a good time to jump into the conversation. "Lizzy, I know how you are about money but in this marriage you will have to think about what's important to both of you and take money out of the equation. For William Darcy, the billionaire, money has likely never been a factor in his decisions because he has always had it. I understand that its different for you."

Lizzy decided she needed to speak with William about this before she made any firm plans. "You make some good points. I need to think about this. It's all been a whirlwind and I'm still trying to process it all."

"Will you agree to go dress shopping tomorrow? You need a wedding dress Lizzy and I can be available to shop until 3:00." Jane was resolute on this point.

"I can probably skip my 10:00 class but need to be back for my 2:00 class. What about you Charlotte." Lizzy figured she could try and talk to William tonight about this and gauge his reaction.

Looking at her weekly planner Charlotte added, "I have a lab tomorrow but can probably make it up later in the week. As long as we're back by 2:00 it can work for me too."

Lizzy excused herself from the room after they settled on their shopping plan. Apparently Jane had previously scoped about places to shop for wedding dresses - Lizzy would have to probe on that more in the future - and so Lizzy decided to put herself in Jane's capable hands on this front. Making her way to the common room she was relieved to find it relatively empty.

EB: Are you awake?

WD: Yes. Just making some phone calls to arrange things for next weekend. Spoke to Jane. Are you ok?

EB: I think so. Can you talk now?

A few moments later her phone began buzzing.

EB: Hi

WD: Hi, How did the conversation go with Jane and Charlotte?

EB: They're being very supportive. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. I should've trusted my friends a bit more I think. It's just been so nerve wracking.

WD: I'm not surprised in the least that they'd be there for you. You inspire loyalty and love. I never doubted they'd support you.

EB: Thanks.

EB: Will, Jane mentioned she called you about a budget for the wedding. I want you to know that I had no idea she was doing that. But she and Charlotte made some good points, this is your wedding too and we should probably talk about what we both want.

WD: I am excited for next weekend and I should have thought about a budget and all of that. I'm sorry. You'll find that I don't tend to worry about these kinds of expenses because, well, I've never really had to. I know its been different for you. After Jane called I decided that tomorrow morning I'll call my lawyers and have them set up an account for you with our bank. There'll be enough in there that you won't have to worry about how much you spend. If you find a $20,000 wedding dress, it won't make a dent in our resources. I told Jane that you should spend what you want. I mean it. I want this to be special for you.

EB: You should understand that spending a lot of money on a dress won't make it special for me. But I do want it to be special for us.

He smiled. This was Lizzy he was talking to and he needed to keep that in mind.

WD: Go shopping every day this week. Spend as little or as much as you want, ok? I know all too well that money won't dictate happiness but it can be fun to buy something special. Focus on that and don't look at price tags if you can help it.

EB: Thanks. I'll try. How will this work practically?

WD: Once I set up the account, I'll text you the name of our banker. If you find something you want, call him and he will ensure it is taken care of.

EB: William, can we meet up tomorrow evening for dinner? I'd like to talk more about next weekend and everything. I know you have plenty of food.

WD: I'd love that. Sweet dreams Lizzy.

EB: Sweet dreams Will.

A/N: Reviews? Thoughts? Some controversy in my inbox around whether or not Darcy's aunt and uncle should be informed in advance. Still thinking through Georgie's reaction. I love your feedback. What worked. What didn't. Did I portray Jane and Charlotte legitimately?