A/N Once again, our dear Miss Austen has rendered assistance; her words have been italicized. And kudos to the guest reviewer who spotted an illegal substitution in the last chapter: Mrs. Annesley, not Mrs. Reynolds, should have been the fourth whist player.

Mr. Darcy, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, and Miss Bennet, were just about to leave the inn for their walk to the church when a maid hurried up with two letters, one thick and one very thin indeed, for Miss Bennet.

Elizabeth took the letters. "They're both from Jane. I've been hoping to hear from her." She looked at the thick letter "Look, it's marked that it had been missent elsewhere. No wonder, as Jane had written the direction remarkably ill."

Elizabeth looked at the letters she was holding and then gave her companions such a woebegone look that Mrs. Gardiner laughed, and with a wink at Mr. Gardiner, said "Lizzy, why don't you stay here and read your letters. Mr. Darcy, if you could arrange for a maid to act as a chaperone, you can stay here, and when Lizzy has finished her letters, you can escort her to the church."

As all were in agreement, arrangements were made, and soon a maid was sitting by the door, doing some mending; the Gardiners were off on their walk; Mr. Darcy was standing at a window staring out at nothing in particular, and Elizabeth was sitting by another window reading the letters, the thick one first.

Mr. Darcy could hear the crinkle of the paper as Elizabeth turned a page, and he smiled to himself, when he heard her chuckle at something she had read. But then he heard her gasp and cry out "Oh! where, where is my uncle?"

He spun around. He saw Elizabeth on her feet, all a white, swaying on her feet. He hurried to her and helped her to sit. He turned to the maid and told her to run towards the church and fetch back the Gardiners.

When the maid had gone Mr. Darcy said "Good God! what is the matter? … Let me call your maid. Is there nothing you could take to give you present relief? A glass of wine; shall I get you one? You are very ill."

"No, I thank you," she replied, "There is nothing the matter with me. I am quite well; I am only distressed by some dreadful news which I have just received from Longbourn."

She burst into tears as she alluded to it, and for a few minutes could not speak another word. Darcy, in wretched suspense, could only say something indistinctly of his concern, and observe her in compassionate silence. At length she spoke again... "[Jane was written] such dreadful news. It cannot be concealed from anyone. My younger sister [Lydia] has left all her friends—has eloped; has thrown herself into the power of—of Mr. Wickham. They are gone off together from Brighton. You know him too well to doubt the rest. She has no money, no connections, nothing that can tempt him to—she is lost for ever."

Mr. Darcy stood there, feeling stupid and guilty, he had known all about Wikham, but had done nothing. He was winding himself up to give himself a mental beating when he noticed that Elizabeth had dropped the other letter, the thin letter, on the floor. He bent down, picked it up, and handed it, along with his handkerchief, to Elizabeth.

She took them, wiped her tears, blew her nose, and stared at the thin letter for a moment, then she opened it and started to read.

Mr. Darcy watched her with anxious anticipation. She read the single page, once, twice, three times. She turned the page over to see if there was anything written there. There was not.

She stood and looked at him. She sniffed, and then gave him the most glorious smile. She held out the thin letter to him. "We are saved! Lydia has been rescued from Wickham! By Mr. Bingley!"

Mr. Darcy did hear all of the words she said, but the word he really heard was 'we', taking her to mean, as only a man in the throes of the most ardent love would take it, she and him, the two of them, not even thinking she might mean she and her sisters, and so he ignored the letter and instead drew her into an embrace. Perhaps Elizabeth agreed with his interpretation seeing as she enthusiastically reciprocated his embrace.

Which is how the Gardiners found them when they returned from their walk towards the church.