Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. It's given me some extra time for writing and I've taken advantage of it! Happy Harvest Festival to the Brits and happy November to the rest of you!
I have a few thank you's to bestow. First to Tess, who will find her idea incorporated below. Also to Nor, who shared a link to a fantastic article about the challenges of children who have benefitted 'kind of' from Obama's policies and yet their parents are still in limbo. If you have interest in this topic, I suggest you simply go to and search for illegal immigrants or undocumented immigrants. You'll find a wealth of information...
Lizzy woke a bit disoriented. It was incredibly bright in their bedroom and she was surprised to find herself all alone. This was the first morning she woken by herself and she had to admit, she didn't like it. Eyeing the clock she was shocked to see it was already 9:30. She never slept late, although considering how little sleep actually took place during prior night, perhaps it wasn't so shocking after all. Once she'd assured William she was feeling up to it, he had been, well, rather insatiable. Her robe was laid out across the foot of the bed. William must have left it for her when he'd gotten up. Wrapping herself in the warm fuzzy robe, she padded her way down the hall to find William.
"Morning sleepy head." William said as he saw her enter the kitchen. He was sitting at the breakfast bar sipping his coffee and reading through emails. "I was wondering when you were going to get out of bed."
"Perhaps I would've been up earlier if someone hadn't kept me up all night. How are you already showered and dressed for the day and I haven't even had my first cup of coffee?"
"I tried to bring you some coffee over an hour ago but you pushed me away and rolled over." William pouted.
After pouring herself some coffee, she slipped onto the bar stool next to William and rested her head on his shoulder. "Somehow, after everything last night and I believe, very early this morning, I'm not feeling sorry for you in the least." Lizzy grinned. "I'm surprised you're up and dressed though. Aside from studying, and the continuation of our fashion show, I wasn't aware of any plans."
William's face and demeanor turned serious. "Lizzy, I have to get this issue with Caroline resolved today. I need to determine once and for all, her culpability and take any appropriate actions."
Lizzy raised her brows, "What do you mean, 'take appropriate actions?' Who are you the CIA?"
William had to smile. "No, but I can't simply allow her actions to go unacknowledged. I want Caroline to know exactly why she's never to be allowed within 25 feet of either of us. I'll get a restraining order if that's what's necessary. And I need to talk to Charlie. He's my closest friend from school but he has to understand the damage his sister has wrought. At a minimum, he has to understand, respect, and enforce our desire to keep Caroline, or any mention of her, out of our lives. If he can't, it will put a serious strain on our friendship."
He looked so sad. The prospect of losing such a close friend had to be hard. William didn't have a lot of friends. He just wasn't the kind of guy who brought a lot of people in close. "William, I trust you'll do whatever feels right. I don't want you to end a years-long friendship for me though. I don't want to have Caroline hanging around but that doesn't mean that you and Charlie can't still be friends."
"I hope you're right. If he truly values our friendship he'll respect my desire to exclude his sister from our friendship. There really is no compromising on that point." William stood up, preparing to leave on his task. 'Why did this feel like he was off to the gallows? Just get it over with Will,' he answered himself.
Lizzy followed, stretching up to kiss him goodbye. "When do you think you'll be back?"
"I'm really not sure how long this will take. I'll call if it looks like I'll be out past one."
"Ok, be careful with our little friends outside." Lizzy said, reminding him of the press who were potentially laying in wait.
"Thanks for the reminder. I may need to enjoy a bit of a joy ride to shake them first before heading to Charlie's." William said with a sigh.
"Hey Will. I'm surprised to see you without your lovely wife?" Charlie greeted him ginning from ear to ear. "Whoa dude. What's up with your hand? Don't tell me she's beating you up already." Will wasn't smiling. "I was just joking. Seriously, come in. I'll pour you a cup of coffee if you tell me what happened to your hand."
William decided not to tell Charlie that he was so pissed at their respective sisters he punched a wall and prevaricated instead. "Oh it was stupid. I was trying to hang a picture on the wall and missed the nail and hit my hand instead. I then hurt my hand so much that I then hit the wall with the hammer. There's a nice hole in the wall now in addition to the self-inflicted wound on my hand."
"Ouch. Well at least you now have someone around to nurse your wounds, and your ego. And you might want to leave the picture hanging to the professionals. I'm sure Lizzy would prefer you use your hands for better things." Charlie's grin broadened.
"That's my wife you're joking about. She's off limits to jokes from you or any other Bingley for that matter." William growled.
Charlie finally picked up that something was definitely wrong. Sitting down across from his friend he looked William over. "Before I get my head bitten off again, why don't you tell me what I've done wrong. You're clearly pissed at me and I feel like I keep walking into a closed door without realizing it."
William stood up and started pacing. He really didn't want to have this conversation with Charlie but knew he had to. Forcing himself to sit back down, he began, "So the security team thinks they've been able to deduce who provided the pictures to the press and supplied the information about Lizzy, her immigration status and the all the stuff about her family."
"Wow. That's great Darcy. How'd they do it?" Charlie asked, relieved for his friend but still confused as to his attitude.
"There really weren't a lot of people who were common to both the wedding and reception. There was only one staff person, if you'd call Mrs. Reynolds staff, common to both events. Also, no staff person was close enough during the actual wedding to take those pictures without having a very obvious camera. We also checked all of the pictures from the photographer but the angles on the photos were different. Given all that, the staff were pretty easily ruled out." William looked up to see Charlie eagerly listening, elbows on his knees, hands clasped.
"It's great your team could figure that all out. So they think it was a guest? That seems pretty improbable though. It was such a small wedding and everyone there was clearly happy for you guys."
"Yes, that's what we'd hoped. Based on the pictures taken, who's in them and who isn't, and with the help of the professional photographer's own pictures, we were able to initially narrow down the suspect list to three people. One, my cousin Matt, was ruled out when we realized he missed part of the ceremony because he was dealing with his daughter. The second person was my sister, Georgie."
"Georgie? Well you know it wasn't her. She loves you too much to ever hurt you." Charlie suggested."
"We didn't exclude anyone or make assumptions about motivations for anyone in this Charlie. But, we've been able to clear her because, quite simply, while she took a lot of pictures with her phone, Lizzy wasn't in any of them. Richard and our security team examined all of her electronics and found she was in the clear for that issue at least." William sighed and ran his hands through his hair before continuing downheartedly, "Georgie seemed to have purposefully cropped Lizzy out of the pictures and our technicians are confident she didn't provide the photos or have direct access with the press. Georgie did provide one person, however, with very confidential information about Lizzy and her family. Information that found its way into the newspapers."
"Oh Darce. That's awful. I can't believe Georgie would do something like this. I mean, your marriage is sudden but what would ever possess her to share that kind of information with anyone, let alone someone who would hand it over to the press?" Charlie sympathized. He truly felt bad for his friend.
William looked again at his clueless friend. He still had no idea. Of course, if someone came to him with such a situation, would he think of his own sister? Likely not. He needed to give Charlie a break on that much at least. Taking a deep breath he decided to rip off the band-aid. "Charlie. The person Georgiana shared all of this private information with was your sister Caroline. She is also the only other person the security team couldn't rule out based on their examination of the photos and her location during both the wedding and the reception." He stopped speaking watching Charlie as his words sank in.
"Are you accusing Caroline of being responsible for leaking all of those pictures and information to the press?" Charlie asked, almost testing out the idea as he was saying it.
"Yes."
"But, but, but that's impossible! What would ever possess her to do something like that? What would be her motivation? Our own grandmother snuck across the border from Mexico in the 1940's when she and her brother - and all other German's for that matter, were denied access to America in the lead up to WWII.
William was shocked. He didn't know a lot about Charlie's family except some distant link to Ireland. At least that's how he'd always explained the red hair to everyone. "Wait, your grandmother was an illegal immigrant?"
"Yea, until she met my grandfather and they got married. She and her brother came here trying to escape the Nazi's and America blocked them. She met my grandfather selling apples to soldiers at the naval docks. Caroline knows all about it. It came out a few years ago and was a big deal in the family when we all found out but Carrie's always been especially close to our grandmother. She was her staunchest defender in the family. I can't see why she'd do this."
William was still trying to process this information but then remembered all of the details that had been shared about Lizzy and regained his resolve. "Charlie, I don't know what your sister's motivation might have been but right now, all of the evidence points to her. If she can't clear herself, Lizzy and I will never have anything to do with her ever again. If I have to, I'll get a restraining order against her." William stated.
Charlie swallowed hard, hoping against anything that his baby sister didn't do anything so cruel and stupid. He was just about to get his coat and wallet when he heard the front door opening and a sing-song voice calling out. "Charlie, its me. You just have to come outside to see what I've bought." Spying William and Charlie in the living room she stopped. "Oh good. William you'll get to see my little Christmas present to myself too. I just lucked into some cash and that, combined with my trade-in, got me the sweetest little red convertible you've ever seen." Caroline gushed. "Come, come. You've just got to see it."
The boys followed Caroline outside to see a Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class Roadster in cherry red. "Isn't it gorgeous and perfect for me." Caroline said with glee.
William took one look at Charlie and noticed that all color had left his face. Trying to sound natural, Charlie asked, "Caro, this must've cost a bit. Where did you get the money? I know mom and dad weren't going to give it to you."
Caroline looked a bit flustered but then responded, "I told you, I recently came into some money. I've been doing a little work on the side and got paid this week so I decided I deserved a treat."
William looked down at his phone and then put it back in his pocket. "Caroline, do you mind if I borrow your phone for a minute. Mine seems to be dead."
"Of course William. Feel free to use my things whenever you need to. That's what friends are for." Caroline added with a wink as she handed him her phone. "The passcode is my birthday, 0821, but of course, you knew that."
"Uh, Thanks. Charlie, I'm going to head inside and plug my phone in for a few minutes to juice it up while I make this call. I'll be back out in a few."
"Sure thing Will. We'll be here."
William walked into the condo and quickly unlocked Caroline's phone. He hooked it up to a small hard-drive to copy the contents of the phone. While it was downloading he scanned the texts, thoroughly disgusted to read the exchange between his sister and Caroline. He then looked through the pictures. Sure enough he recognized seven or eight he'd seen online. Finally, he scrolled through her email. Checking her sent box, he noticed several emails that went out on Monday to various news organizations. One thing was sure, she wasn't very bright. He had all the evidence he needed to assure himself she was the culprit. While it probably wasn't enough to get a court-ordered restraining order it wouldn't stop him from threatening her with one.
William decided to keep one particularly damning email open when he handed the phone back to Charlie. It contained an offer of $5,000 from one prominent news organization for wedding pictures of Lizzy and Will with the Senator and his wife. Walking back outside he called out to Charlie, "Here, catch."
Charlie caught the phone and noticed the email that was open. He went from white to gray. "Caroline, how could you?" he gasped.
"What are you talking about now Charlie?"
Turning the phone towards her, she saw the email he'd been looking at and flushed a brilliant red. "Oh, well, that. You see I can explain. I was just helping out a friend you see. She was distraught at the wedding and I wanted to help her out. It was really nothing."
For the second time in two days William found himself ready to explode. He couldn't lose control again however. The look in Lizzy's eyes last night had been too much for him and he never wanted to give her cause to see him like that again. Slowly, he looked up and, mastering his fury, began. "So it was nothing. Selling the private details of my life and my wife's life is nothing? Let me tell you what is nothing. You. You are nothing. And if you ever come near me or Elizabeth or Georgiana or any other member of my family for that matter, or if you ever try to contact any of us, you will live to regret it. You are not welcome in our homes and I never want to see you again." Turning from the pair, he walked to his car, locked the door and drove away.
Lizzy realized she hadn't really spent much time alone in their condo. Relishing the time, she decided to take a bubble bath before getting dressed. Stepping out refreshed and dressed in some loose fitting clothing, she went back into her room to see if she could find a suitable picture to put over the new hole in the living room wall. They'd received quite a few silver picture frames as gifts and the photographer had sent over two lovely 8x10's she'd developed quickly as a gift. She decided on a wedding photo with their wedding party included. It showed the support they had, something she felt they might need to be reminded of in the coming months. Grabbing a hammer and nail, she lightly tapped the nail into the wall, careful to not do anything that might make the hole larger. Stepping back, Lizzy was pleased with her first imprint on their home.
The house phone began to ring signaling the arrival of guests. Lizzy ran over to the phone by the door and answered, "Darcy residence."
"Hello Mrs. Darcy. I have a Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas here to see you. Can I send them up?"
"Please do. And thank you." She was relieved her friends arrived a little before Aunt Sophia. She loved William's aunt but found her a bit overwhelming and Lizzy hadn't figured out how to establish any boundaries with her yet.
It didn't take long for the bell to ring. Lizzy opened the door and was engulfed in Charlotte's hug. "I've missed you Lizzy B!"
Hugging her back Lizzy realized, with a bit of a twinge, that she missed her prior life somewhat. Her life with William was wonderful but so very different from living with her two best friends in a college dorm. "Charlotte! I'm so glad you could come. I've missed you too."
The girls were laughing and catching up as they made their way to the kitchen. Lizzy pulled out a minestrone soup that Mrs. Reynolds had left for them in the freezer and started to warm it for lunch.
"How are you hangin in there? Jane told me about last night. Are you ok?" Charlotte asked, always the most forthright of the three of them.
Lizzy laughed, "We're doing well. Just a little tired of being judged by everyone."
Jane piped up, "Where's William this morning?"
"Oh he needed to um, take care of the publicity issues. He headed out about an hour ago. I'm not sure when he's returning."
"So, spill, tell us all about married life." Charlotte prodded.
Lizzy shrugged, "There's not much to tell. We've been getting used to living together. Figuring out bathroom schedules, sleep schedules and the like. It's a little disjointed given where we are in the semester. I guess it'll get more normal at the end of January when classes start again and then will change again when we are down in NYC this summer. I'm just trying to go with the flow."
"Lizzy, that is not the part of married life we're interested in. How's the sex life? Is he good in bed. We want the details." Charlotte asked unabashedly.
"No way. You're not getting any of those details. I'm not the kind to kiss and tell." Lizzy asserted.
Jane then rallied, "Just give us some kind of indication that you're happy and ok."
She looked at her friends and blushed, "I'm so happy and I love him. He can be incredibly sweet and gentle...and very protective."
"Lizzy, Jane told me about how he lost his temper last night. Do you feel safe?" Charlotte pressed.
"Yes." Lizzy stated emphatically. "We've both been dealing with a lot these past few weeks. Last night, we found out we were betrayed by someone, really two people, very close to him. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. And that's why he's out this morning. To deal with one-half of the problem. Jane, I should probably tell you now. We believe Charlie's sister was the one who provided all of the photos and details to the press. William's gone to Charlie's this morning to discuss it with him. I'm sorry." Lizzy said shaking her head.
"I suspected as much based on Sophia Fitzwilliam's comments last night." Jane became quiet, biting her lip.
"Jane, what are you thinking?" Lizzy implored.
"Just that the next few days will tell me a lot about Charlie, and our future together. Either he demonstrates he can have a backbone where his sister is concerned and put what's right above what's easy, or there won't be a 'we' anymore."
The girls were silent for a minute when Jane decided to change the subject. "Charlotte, you've got to see the damage done to Sophia Fitzwilliam's credit card sitting in the other room." The girls decided to let the prior subject drop, nothing more to be said at this point, and ventured into the spare room.
William walked into his home hearing the sounds of laughter coming from one of the bedrooms. He detected Lizzy's giggle and the first smile in two and a half hours crossed his face. After leaving Charlie's he had driven randomly trying to calm down and order his thoughts before coming home. There had been nothing satisfying about proving to his friend how awful his sister truly was. The look on Charlie's face continued to haunt him. He really didn't know what would happen to their friendship at this point. "Lizzy, I'm back," he called out.
Three women spilled out into the living room, Lizzy dressed in a gorgeous coppery bronze silk taffeta dress which warmed her skin and highlighted her green eyes.
"Wow. You look stunning." William uttered as she emerged.
"Thanks. Did everything go ok?" Lizzy asked.
"It's done. And yes, she was responsible for this mess, beyond a shadow of a doubt." William shrugged.
Lizzy could see the strain in his eyes. It hadn't been an easy morning. They'd need to talk but not while Jane and Charlotte were visiting. Looking at the clock she was surprised to see it was already after noon. "Hmm. That's strange, I thought your aunt said she was coming over this morning. I hope everything's ok."
"I'll go give her a call to check in while you three continue whatever it was you were doing."
"That'd be great. I defrosted some of Mrs. Reynold's minestrone soup for lunch. It's on the stove and just needs to be warmed a little."
William gave her a quick kiss and headed into the kitchen. He tried his aunt's cell first but there was no answer so tried their home phone next. "Good afternoon, Fitzwilliam residence." The housekeeper's voice sounded across the line.
"Good afternoon Sarah, it's William calling for my aunt. May I speak with her?" He thought he heard shouting in the background but couldn't credit the noise. Perhaps something was happening on the street outside.
"Hello William. Your aunt is a bit tied up right now. Could she return your call in an hour or so? I hope she'll have broken free by that time."
"Is everything alright? We expected her an hour ago. It's very unlike my aunt to not call at least."
"Well, you see, that is, your other aunt arrived from Maine unexpectedly this morning and she's been a bit engaged with her since she first arrived. Your uncle arrived home about 45 minutes ago and the three of them have been locked away in his office since that time. I will let Mrs. Fitzwilliam know you've called as soon as she breaks free." The long-time housekeeper offered.
William sighed, 'Just what they needed, opinions from the north.' "That won't be necessary. I'll be over in 20 minutes. I'll call when I'm arriving. I'd like to come in through the kitchen door if that's ok. Please don't tell anyone I am coming."
Sarah understood exactly, "Of course, I'll be waiting for you to arrive."
He needed to eat something before he faced his Aunt Cathy. Pouring the soup into a travel mug, he went to find Lizzy before heading out again. He found the girls sorting through a mountain of clothes. He hadn't realized just how overboard his aunt had gone. "We may need to hire a builder to come in and construct additional closets if you plan to keep those."
Lizzy laughed, "Can you believe these are the clothes I'm not keeping? The clothes I will be keeping are already in the closet. Fortunately, I didn't own much before so my closet was relatively empty. We were just trying to figure out how to get the remaining clothes back to Saks. Any ideas?"
"That's a relief. I'm heading over to my uncle's house now. I can probably get my aunt to call her personal shopper to arrange a van to pick these all up. That way we don't have to mess with it."
"I think I can get used to this kind of service," Lizzy joked. "Did you talk to your aunt? What happened to her this morning?"
"Sounds like she had an unexpected guest that kept her occupied this morning and she lost track of time. I need to speak with my uncle so I was going to head over now." William added.
"We're done here. I'll come with you so I can thank her properly." Lizzy offered.
"No, no you should stay here. Enjoy your time with Jane and Charlotte. I'll be back in a little while." William leaned down for a goodbye kiss, these small bits of intimacy were among his favorite parts of being married.
"Actually, we need to head out too. This was about as much of a break as I have time for today." Charlotte said as she began to get her things together.
"Thanks for the lunch Lizzy and letting us participate in your fashion show." Jane said as she squeezed her former roommate in a tight hug. Charlotte joined in and the girls went to get their shoes and coats.
"So that settles it. I'm already dressed and ready so I can come with you now." Lizzy said beaming up at William.
"No. I mean, I think it will be better for you to stay here. You know, the press and all. I'd feel better if you didn't go out until you needed to." William insisted.
Lizzy was confused and a little disappointed, "Oh, ok. But don't be gone long. I want to hear about your conversations this morning and you do need to get some studying done today Mister," Lizzy teased.
"Yes ma'am." With a salute and a wave good bye to Charlotte and Jane, he headed to the door.
It wasn't sitting well with her. He was a little too demanding she stay behind. His tone had been a little too urgent. Opening the door again, William and the girls were still waiting for the elevator to arrive. "Hold on a minute. I really want to come with you. I'll be right there. Don't leave without me." Hurrying Lizzy threw on her boots and brand new winter coat. Checking to ensure there were no hanging tags, she opened the door, relieved to see William waiting for her. He'd sent the girls on ahead.
"You're hiding something Mr. Darcy and I intend to come with you and find out what it is." Poking him in the chest, Elizabeth began, adding in a glare as she looked at him. "We're not starting off this marriage sneaking around so you might as well tell me what's going on."
Shaking his head he debated what he should say but decided that honesty was the best option. "I wasn't sneaking around. I am heading to my uncle's house, I didn't make that up. It's just that I'm afraid its going to be an unpleasant scene. When I called over, the housekeeper mentioned my Aunt Cathy had arrived unexpectedly this morning. My two aunts have never had, what you might call, a cordial relationship. Apparently my uncle came back home and I could hear some yelling in the background. I'm sure its about us, and I just didn't want to subject you to anymore stress. You have a final tomorrow and I'm worried about you. Besides, my Aunt Cathy is simply not worth it. She's a bully and, knowing her, is saying all kinds of inappropriate and untrue comments and you and us. I was trying to spare you one more scene." He was gripping the steering wheel of the car tightly, knuckles white. Lizzy reached over and put her hand on his.
"We're in this together Will. I appreciate that you want to protect me but what will she think if I don't show up. I don't want to give her any impression that I'm scared of her and her opinion. She's your aunt and just like your sister, I'm going to give them every opportunity to meet the real Elizabeth Darcy. Then they can make their judgements."
"You're assuming she'll give you a fair shake. She won't." William warned.
"That'll be her loss. But she also won't think of me as someone who's afraid of her and her threats. There will be no mistake about that." Lizzy added fiercely.
"Alright tiger. Let's see if her claws are as sharp as yours then." William grinned.
They'd arrived at the back of the Fitzwilliam townhouse, parking in front of the garage. William stopped the car but before getting out, reached over to place a gentle kiss on his wife's lips. Keeping her close he stated, "Lizzy, whatever she says, remember that I love you."
The pair walked hand in hand towards the kitchen. William realized he'd forgotten to call the house before arriving but Sarah was waiting at the door and hurried them in. A tray with sandwiches and water pitcher was resting on the counter. "I'm glad you've come. I've been trying to stall bringing up lunch until you arrived. I figure the element of surprise might help."
Handing their coats to the housekeeper, William offered, "Thank you Sarah. We can bring this in so you don't need to enter the fight." He picked up the tray to carry it towards his uncle's office. There was no yelling but all that meant was that they were likely shooting evil looks at one another, resting up for the next round.
Lizzy pushed open the door and William walked in to find his three relatives had arranged themselves on opposite sides of one another. Not allowing a word to be spoken from his aunts and uncle, William launched into his soliloquy, "Lizzy and I arrived to find poor Sarah cowering in the kitchen afraid to deliver lunch to a group of lunatics waging war in my uncle's office. That seemed ridiculous so we volunteered to deliver lunch. Perhaps you can gather round and share some sandwiches and ice tea and we can all speak civilly to one another."
Aunt Catherine watched as William set the tray down on the coffee table, "Do you see? She's already turned him into a servant delivering lunch trays and the like."
Lizzy tried with every ounce of self restraint to keep from rolling her eyes. "It's lovely to see you Mrs. DeBourgh or should I call you Aunt Cathy now?"
"There will be no need of that young lady. I've been speaking with my brother and offering my counsel as to how we might get this mistake reversed as quickly as possible," Mrs. DeBourgh stated.
Standing from his chair on the opposite side, Henry began, "And I was reminding my sister that there has been no mistake and there will be no reversal of the events last Sunday. She seems to have developed a hearing problem that has prevented her from receiving the message however."
The attack continued when Aunt Sophia added, "There's an excellent eye and ear hospital just down the street. We'd be happy to make arrangements to have you admitted there Cathy."
Lizzy was having a tremendous amount of fun watching the ping pong match when she looked over at William who seemed to be extremely upset with the conversation. Placing her hand in his she gave his hand a squeeze which forced him to look at her. The merriment was clear in her eyes as she mouthed to him, 'I love you.' It seemed to calm him down a bit and gave them an opportunity to reconnect.
These moments oriented William's thoughts, "I find it amazing that the three of you have so much to say about our marriage. I appreciate your support Uncle Henry and Aunt Sophia, truly I do, but Lizzy and I just want some peace. I'm so sick and tired of everyone intruding and messing up our lives. From the codicil, Lizzy's abandonment by her family, the press criticisms, and now you, Aunt Cathy, storming down from Maine to make everyone miserable? Does it ever occur to you that people don't really care what you think? If you can't support us, then honestly, I want nothing to do with you. I loved my mother, and I'd love for you to be a part of our life. You remind me so much of her. But if you can't simply support us and be there for us, well, we don't have time for that. Family should see you through the good and the bad. Right now I'm not feeling any support from you." By the time he'd finished his speech, he was towering over his Aunt Cathy and she had shrunk back into her chair. The room was filled with silence, Lizzy still holding William's hand, certain she couldn't let go, yet uncertain of anything else she should do.
"I'm sorry William," Catherine deBourgh rasped out. "I only want the best for you and Georgiana. I loved my sister and I love her children. Forgive me."
"Of course Aunt Cathy. I love you too. But there are boundaries and you've seemed to overstep them recently. You too, Aunt Sophia. If you can't call ahead, I'm going to need my key back. You were fortunate last night, but I don't want to find you in our apartment without our prior knowledge." William said forcefully.
"I understand, you certainly deserve a measure of privacy." Sophia acknowledged.
"Do you think we might manage a few moments of calm here?" William asked.
"Let's have these sandwiches that Sarah put together." Uncle Henry offered.
The five of them arranged themselves around the coffee table. Lizzy merely sipping iced tea while the remaining four helped themselves to sandwiches. Lizzy could tell that Aunt Cathy wasn't thrilled that she was a part of the family but wisely stayed quiet. She valued her relationship with her sister's children and didn't want to be isolated. William had made it clear that isolation was in the cards if she didn't play nice.
"It was wonderful sharing a bite with you all. We'll be returning home now to study. Lizzy has a final tomorrow for which I want to make sure she's prepared. We will see you all on Christmas Eve. Until then, we wish you a wonderful holiday season." Placing kisses on each of his aunt's cheeks, William prepared to depart. Lizzy was stiffly hugged by Aunt Cathy and warmly embraced by Aunt Sophia and Uncle Henry before they departed.
Breathing in the crisp December air, Lizzy felt that the storm was beginning to die down. Maybe they could have a couple of days of peace. 'That would be lovely,' she thought.
So Caroline and Aunt Cathy both received set-downs by one, super forceful William Darcy.
Thoughts? reactions? Disappointments? I wanna hear em...