It's short but I decided it was better than nothing and you've all been so patient. Work and life has been nuts but I'm still making progress. I've actually written more than I've posted but not enough of the rest of this piece to post everything so I'm going to leave you with this and a promise to update in the next 7 days with more. So? Here you go...

Henry Fitzwilliam easily wove his way through the cubicles and offices of Fitzwilliam & DeBourgh towards his destination. More then once he waived off a young assistant who tried to direct him or get him to wait in reception. Even though he hadn't worked in his family's firm for almost two decades, he was still a Partner of the firm and they should know who he was. His impatience was not so overwhelming however, that he couldn't pause to knock on Matthew Fitzwilliam's door before entering. The younger man looked up in surprise.

"Senator!" He exclaimed, "Is everything alright? I didn't realize you were coming by."

"Matthew, there's no need for formality. It's good to see you. How's Elise and the baby?"

"Both are very well. Thanks for asking. You know how children are, they grow and change every day and you need to pay attention or you'll miss it."

"I know that all too well. I just have to look at our baby, Rachel. She's a junior in college now and I hardly know where the years went. Enjoy every moment and don't work all of those moments away."

"And yet somehow I believe you're here to add to my workload."

Henry Fitzwilliam chuckled as he pushed the door closed and sat down in a chair across from Matthew's desk. Henry pulled a folded set of papers out of his jacket pocket and pushed them across the desk. "I think this document should look familiar to you."

Unfolding the papers, Matthew looked through them quickly. "This is the codicil to George Darcy's will. As I recall, the document was only provided to you and William this past Fall."

"Yes. At the time I was bothered by the fact that George hadn't discussed it with me. In my anger, I couldn't see past my, well you know, I wasn't thinking clearly about it. I mean, he was my best friend. He married my sister." Henry Fitzwilliam trailed off, looking at his hands before he began to speak again. Some of the exasperation was gone from his voice. "My wife is the only person closer to me. I realize now that I should've done more digging. Of course, our attention was refocused once William had married and all of the chaos around that. Now I see that Cathy is not to be deterred. She's determined to cause problems and, as much as I'm loathe to admit this, I don't trust my sister." He seemed a bit sad to acknowledge this truth. With a bit more determination, Henry continued, "This entire codicil never made any sense and I want it figured out. William has so much on his plate. I want to do this for him and for George."

Matthew picked the document back up and looked at it again. "I remember briefly looking it over when William first called. I wasn't the right attorney to review it then because, as you can see, my father is the attorney listed. I feel a bit conflicted here."

"But don't you see? That's another thing that's so odd. Your father was barely practicing at that point if he was at all. Didn't he pass away around the same time as George? I remember feeling like I was at a never ending funeral."

Matthew looked down at the date. "It is kind of odd. Dad had a pretty serious stroke that year. I can't remember exactly what happened when. I'll have to talk to mom about it and compare it to the dates on this document."

"If you could that would be helpful. If you'd rather, I can ask Sophia do it. She might have a softer touch given the topic."

"Thanks but I should call my mom anyway. I owe her a call and this will give me a reason to carve out time during the work day to call her."

"Sounds good. I'll also talk to Sophia about having you, Elise and the baby over. My wife is itching for a grandchild and none of my children are close to producing one. Your daughter might tide her over for a little while." Henry smiled as he stood to take his leave. "I appreciate your help Matthew."

"Anytime. Don't ever hesitate." The two men shook hands before Henry Fitzwilliam strode confidently out the door, down the hall, and out through the lobby cutting a wake in his path.

Lizzy had started the new week with a spring in her step. Longer conversations with William on Saturday and Sunday, combined with the familiarity and comfort of spending time with her sister and the Gardiners had lessened the underlying sense of loss she'd been carrying since William's departure. She knew he'd be back soon, Friday night in fact, but that didn't stop her from feeling her loneliness profoundly. As the week wore on, and she'd returned to their empty condo and their short conversations, her spirits began to flag. Recognizing her mood for what it was, she called Charlotte to see if they could meet up to study. It was no crazy night out but the relative buzz of activity to be found in the common rooms at PhoHo was far better than the silence which greeted her at home.

Lizzy dropped her backpack onto the table where Charlotte had set up her books for a long night of Physics homework. They were in the quiet room so they had to keep their greetings to a whisper. "Hey there."

"Hi. I thought we'd study for an hour or so before grabbing a bite in the dining hall," Charlotte offered.

"Sounds good." Pulling out the dog-eared copy of Measure for Measure, she began to read the play. It was the only one of the five Shakespeare plays they'd cover this semester that she'd never read. William had taken the same class as as undergrad and fortunately still had the books on his bookshelf. It didn't take long for her to become engrossed in the familiar pattern of iambic pentameter to lose track of time.

A group of students were whispering in a corner of the room. The ability to be discreet seemed to be lost on them and their whispers began to grow to low murmurs after several minutes. Lizzy had been fairly effective at ignoring the disturbance until she became convinced she'd heard her name uttered a second time. Looking up, she noticed a number of the group quickly turn away.

Lizzy tried to maintain her focus but after several minutes, she had to admit her attention to the text was lost. Tapping her friend on the shoulder to get her attention, Lizzy suggested, "Charlotte, I'm getting a bit hungry. Do you think we could take a break now to grab some dinner?"

Eyeing the clock, Charlotte agreed and they began to pack up their valuables, leaving their books in place on the table. Making their way out of the room, Lizzy began asking about Charlotte's plans for spring break in an effort to distract from the snickering group in the corner. Over dinner, the tension Lizzy had been feeling in the study room began to dissipate as she reunited with friendly faces and soaked up the old but familiar atmosphere.

It was likely because her guard had fallen so much that Lizzy found herself engaged in conversation with two from the whispering crowd. "Hola chica. Que pasa?"

Lizzy greeted the pair with a quick smile. "Hi. Excuse me." She started to slip past the two, heading towards the bathroom when she found the pair positioned in front of her once again.

She couldn't quite figure out what they were up to and once again attempted to slip past. "I'm just heading to the ladies. Excuse me."

"Sure. But we were just thought you'd want to know."

"I'm sorry. John and Aidan right? I'm not sure we've actually ever been introduced."

"That's right. So I guess marrying a Senator's nephew is a sure fire way to stay in the country. They probably won't kick you out now."

Lizzy crossed her arms and raised one brow. She was debating whether she should walk away or engage. "I'm sorry but I don't tend to discuss my personal affairs with near strangers. If you'll excuse me." She turned and began to walk in the other direction when John, she thought, yelled out. "We'd just been wondering how you felt about costing the university $10 million."

She stopped. She knew she shouldn't take the bait. Her brain was urging her legs to continue their walk forward but her emotions overtook rational thought. Slowly turning, Lizzy waited until the two boys caught up with her again.

"Guess we got your attention." They looked smug and it irked her. At this point however she felt committed to her impulsive action and wanted to get this discussion over with.

She shrugged, "For a moment. You were saying."

Aidan was the one who piped up next. "We heard there's some law student who's family was planning to give the college $10mm for financial aid but when they heard about you, they started to look into the financial aid policies a little more. They were horrified to learn that the school gave money to illegals like you so the pulled their gift."

Her heart dropped. Would someone really do that? Because of her? Her thoughts had scattered and she could scarcely hold her face in a neutral position. She could tell Jerkface and A-hole, for that was what their names were to her now, were watching her reaction closely. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her upset. It took every ounce of control to simply shrug adding, "It's their money. They can do with it what they will." Quickly turning, she hurried to a bathroom on the second floor. Hiding in the stall it was quickly becoming apparent that her effort downstairs had taken a lot out of her. She was shaking. All she wanted was to be wrapped in William's arms. It was the only place where she truly felt everything was alright.

'This is definitely a young person's business,' William thought as he pulled himself out of his hotel bed. Sixteen hour days filled with meetings, lunches and dinners, with short pockets of time he used to hastily type his notes into some kind of coherent conclusions. Each night he found himself barely upright, collapsing into bed. He'd been surviving on five to six hours of sleep a night. At least his exhaustion had finally overtaken his jet lag and he slept soundly when he actually found himself on a horizontal surface. He was confident the sleeping pills he'd packed for the flight back home would stay safely packed in their container. There would be no need for anything to induce him to sleep.

He'd be seeing Lizzy in a little more than two days and if there was anything he craved more than sleep it was to simply hold her. He missed everything about her. Her feel, her smell, the way her lips twitched when she was holding back a laugh. She'd dominated his dreams, always just out of reach, on the other side of a room, unable to hear him when he called her. He woke up frustrated and tense before shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. Today was his last full day of meetings. He'd be having breakfast with Marc tomorrow morning before he got on a plane back to Boston. He couldn't wait to get to the end of this trip.

A thirty minute run, showered and dressed, William sipped on his coffee as he scanned through the emails that'd come in from the US overnight. He'd received a sweet note from Lizzy. He was glad she was meeting up with Charlotte for the evening. He didn't like the idea of her all alone in their condo. Although he was getting a bit jealous of their cat. She'd sent him a few pictures taken with her phone of Groucho sprawled across her lap and cuddled up against her chest. That's where he wanted to be.

There was also a note from his uncle. It was somewhat cryptic but indicated he was investigating the origins of the codicil to his father's will. He was grateful for his uncle's attention to the issue. He simply did not have the bandwidth to further investigate the codicil right now.

The one final email that drew his attention was from Louis Wickham. He'd been grateful for the older gentleman's perspective and insights on how to deal with Marc Bradley. It wasn't an easy situation. Marc was well liked by their clients, that much was obvious, and he moved easily between the distinct Asian cultures in the region. No easy feat as he experienced himself over the past week or so. His respect for Marc's cultural intelligence had grown as they'd spent more time together. Those were the positive elements and he knew how hard the Pemberley management team had searched for someone with this specific skill set. Reigning Marc in, helping him adapt to Pemberley's culture, was another story altogether. Marc had acted as a lone ranger, more inclined to break the rules and apologize later rather than ask for permission. Louis' advice was welcomed as William attempted to navigate this delicate situation. Ultimately, William and Louis had come to the conclusion that only a direct message, combined with meaningful financial incentives was their best way to get Marc to listen. Marc would continue to get his sales bonuses but his potential for an equity stake, and thus a share of the firm's profits, would be tied to playing by Pemberley's rules. Asking for forgiveness after the fact would have a direct impact on his share of the firm's profit pool. Marc would do well if he continued to bring in new business and retain those clients. However he'd be very wealthy if he was successful in his day job and followed the rules. Louis had sent along some spreadsheets that would drive the point home. Marc was a smart guy and a bit greedy. If this didn't motivate him to change his ways, nothing would.

Closing his laptop, William dialed Lizzy's cell. He wasn't sure if he'd reach her but hearing her sweet voice would make his day go much better. Her phone went straight to voicemail. Resigning himself to voicemail he left her a quick message before heading to his first meeting of the day. "Hi love. I'm running off to a meeting but wanted to wish you a good evening and let you know I love you. See you in just about two days. I can't wait."

So a little progress on investigating the codicil, Lizzy's hiding in a bathroom at her former college residence and William's solving problems while counting down the minutes until he's home with Lizzy.

Thoughts, questions, comments are helpful and soooo appreciated :)