Only one chapter today, sorry everyone - the next chapter has become too long again and needs a little more work (I don't know whether I want to leave it as one or not...). In addition, Lydia Bennet is not happy with her role in this story and has forced me to start a separate little variation where she is fully in charge! So spoiler, she has already started to write my next story, where she is not behaving quite as usual.

Chapter 8 - Christmas

Charles Bingley and his sister returned to Netherfield as planned. Miss Bingley complained all the way in the carriage and her brother was feeling angry and exhausted by the time he was welcomed by the senior staff.

"Mrs Nicholls," he started, "my Aunt Bingley will be arriving in the new year to act as my hostess." The housekeeper showed no emotions, despite feeling relived. "Please make up the green suite of rooms that Caroline decorated last month for my sister, as I would like the mistress chambers to be cleaned and prepared for Aunt Agatha."

He breathed deeply and continued: "I would also like some of the furniture moved in the two sitting rooms. I do not like the blue and green chairs, so could you get footmen to move these to storage and replace them with the chairs and sofas the owners had left." Bingley did not add that the chairs Caroline had chosen were extremely uncomfortable, but all presents understood.

"But Charles," his sister interjected, "the colours will not work at all, the chairs you want back are beige and brown!"

"Well," he answered, "we can send to Meryton for some fabric or throws to cover them, I will not redecorate again unless I decide to renew the lease in nine months. You will have to ignore your sensibilities regarding colours for now unless you want to pay to repaper the rooms out of your next allowance."

That was, perhaps, vindictive and petty, and should not have been voiced aloud, but after more than three hours alone with her in a carriage, he deserved a small revenge.

The staff remained professional; however, Bingley saw what looked suspiciously like a smirk on the butler's face as he turned away to resume his duties.

The following day, Bingley went to visit some of the neighbours to apologise for the confusion surrounding his departure; he timed these visits so that as much as possible the ladies would be out, after all most of them regularly went to town shopping, or more likely looking for the latest gossip, so that he could briefly talk to the men of the house and move on at each estate.

The last estate he visited that day was Longbourn, where he found Mr Bennet and his eldest daughter at home. Jane Bennet still looked like an angel, and still spoke with calmness and poise; Bingley wondered whether she had missed him or been worried by his sister's letter and the scheming contained in it, as her behaviour betrayed no feeling of anger, pain, or, he thought sadly, joy at his return.

"Mr Bingley," Jane calmly said, "it is very good to see you sir. Did Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst join you at Netherfield for Christmas? I would love to see your sisters again."

Unknowingly, she had brought up a topic that Bingley did not want to discuss, and it made him wonder whether she preferred the company of his supercilious sisters to his, or perhaps she was just like Caroline and pretending to like his family to make herself agreeable to him. Neither answer made him happy.

"Caroline is staying at Netherfield; however, she will not be acting as my hostess, one of my aunts is coming from Scarborough. I am sure my sister would appreciate a call from you and your sisters soon."

With her father remaining in the room, the rest of the conversation was superficial, mostly around the planned festivities, as well as the customs for celebrations with the tenants in the areas. Bingley made a mental note to check with Mrs Nichols, his housekeeper, what had been planned for Netherfield, and to add a little more himself to each basket as well as getting a few trinkets for the servants.

The visit did not exceed the conventional fifteen minutes, as Mr Bennet was not in a sociable mood, and Bingley departed after accepting an invitation for his sister and himself to dine later in the week. Despite the longing he had felt for Jane while in London, this first meeting had left him dissatisfied, though he could not say exactly why. Part of him wanted to ignore Darcy's warnings, yet her placid appearance that day put further doubts in his mind.

While her brother was out on his visits, Miss Bingley attempted to reaffirm her position as mistress of Netherfield by stopping the footmen who were rearranging the furniture Bingley had previously mentioned, under the careful eye of the housekeeper. While politely listening to all her comments, however, Mrs Nichols continued with her tasks and the two main sitting rooms were soon filled with the comfortable, if unfashionable, furniture the estate owners had chosen years before.

Frustrated, she retreated to her new chambers, just a guest room with dressing room attached, instead of the beautiful suite she had initially chosen for herself, and angrily cried for some time. Once calmer, Miss Bingley called her maid, the only servant she could trust to be loyal to her and not her brother:

"I need a way to force Charles back to town, and you will help me," she stated, "I need you to gather all and any new gossip, anything I can use against the local community, especially those Bennet chits. The servants at Netherfield may not know much, so you will need to go to town to purchase a few trinkets and a couple of new novels, so you have an excuse to talk to shopkeepers and servants." The maid nodded and left to start her enquiries.

The following day during diner, she very happily shared the gossip she had learned from the servants.

"Charles, you will not believe what happened. Miss Eliza Bennet has been cast out of her home, sent to London, not to shop for her trousseau as her family pretended, but to make her own way in life without support from her family." She was jubilant, and Charles felt sick at the thought that his own sister would rejoice in the suffering of the vibrant and kind young lady he had met in autumn. He reflected that neither Miss Bennet, nor her father, had mentioned Miss Elizabeth's departure the previous day, and that did not sit well with him either. Mrs Nichols may be able to give him more details about what happened, without Caroline's vicious interpretation.

Caroline had carried on talking while he was thinking, "I cannot wait to share this with Louisa; that hoyden reduced to seeking for a position in service; this is such delicious gossip, you were right to come back to Hertfordshire." She was snickering.

Bingley said nothing; he was disgusted and would need to write to Darcy and ask him to find Miss Elizabeth and help her; perhaps she could go to his uncle's family in the North to help with the children, she would be safe there.

"Perhaps now you can invite Mr Darcy to join us again after the festive season," his sister suggested, "now that the impertinent chit who constantly argued with everyone is gone, we could enjoy a lovely time in his society."

"Darcy will not come," Bingley answered, gesturing for the footmen to leave the room, "he was made aware of the letter you wrote Miss Bennet. Perhaps you want to explain what you wrote yourself, so I can see whether there was any misunderstanding."

Miss Bingley blanched. "It was nothing really, just a note to inform her we had returned to town, nothing important."

"Caroline, in case you have not noticed, you have already lost many privileges due to your behaviour. Do you think lying to me now will improve the situation? Unless you reply truthfully, and please remember I will call on Miss Bennet tomorrow and she has no reason to protect you, I will release your dowry to you and let you set your own household." Bingley's tone was calm and even.

"Why does it even matter, I wanted the chit to stop chasing you, that is all." She spitefully replied "I told her we would not come back; I told her all we all felt for her was friendship and to forget us as you would make a much better match. She is nobody and what I wrote is unimportant."

"What better match do you feel I should make, sister?" Bingley asked, still cold and calm.

Miss Bingley sighed, knowing she had no choice but to answer, but she was still defiant "I wrote that you would be getting engaged to Georgiana. She would be perfect for you, perfect for me and our family."

"I have no intention of pursuing Miss Darcy, as I have told you before. She is far too young for a start, and far too shy to be a good match for me. Do you realise that if your letter were to be seen in town, Miss Darcy's reputation would suffer. You would not force a marriage between the two of us, as Darcy would never approve to anything except a love match for her, but you would harm her." Anger was making him shake as he spoke.

"Nobody knows of my letter." Miss Bingley was getting worried.

"I know, Darcy knows, and that was without talking to Miss Bennet," he answered, "none of us has any idea how many more people are aware of your spiteful letter and its content. You have gone too far, Caroline, and now you will reap the consequences. Darcy will no longer acknowledge you in public, so that any rumour coming with your name attached is ignored by the Ton's gossip mill. Should you try and use his name or any of his family, not only will they cut you, but they will also ruin you completely, so that no harm comes to Miss Darcy. You have destroyed any chance you ever had of marrying well. You never had any chance to marry Darcy as I repeatedly told you, he despises your petty behaviour, but now you cannot even use that connection to reach even the lower circles of the Ton."

Miss Bingley was shocked and struggled to understand his words. "No, you must call on him, tell him to marry me, tell him I will be ruined, and he must save me. He cannot abandon me, not after all these years; I am his friend and will be the perfect mistress of Pemberley." She was near hysterical, tears were running down her face, but Bingley was unmoved.

"I cannot help you any longer. For years, I have told you to stop chasing my friend, and he is my friend, not yours, to let him be as he would not offer for you, but your delusions continued. You have tried to control my life for the last time. Darcy is willing to continue his association with me if I never bring you to his notice again, and I will not risk losing his friendship." Bingley sighed, tired beyond words.

"I am sorry Caroline, but you brought this on yourself. The saddest part is that I have not even decided whether I will pursue Miss Bennet or not yet, so your spite was useless. You now need to decide whether to change your behaviour completely and stay here with our aunt as hostess, or whether you prefer to start a life of your own. If you do, I recommend avoiding London, as you cannot afford to rent a house in a fashionable part of town. Bath or one of the northern cities would suit better I expect. And whatever you decide, I will no longer provide you with extra funds. You will live off the interests of your dowry, and I will no longer cover any of your expenses."

He paused, but realised he might as well communicate all at once. "I have discussed the situation with Hurst, without details about Miss Darcy of course. You are no longer welcome in his town house, and neither Louisa nor him will have any funds to spare for you, as I will no longer fund their lifestyle either. Our brother is keen to keep you away from Louisa from now on as you have a bad influence on her. Let me repeat this as I need you to fully understand what I am saying here; whether you stay here or go, I will not provide a carriage for you, nor will I supplement your allowance which will now come directly from the interest on your dowry; Gerald and Louisa will not welcome you in London, and you were banned from his parent's estate many years ago, so cannot go there."

Bingley was done, he needed peace after this long overdue argument. "I will see you in the morning, Caroline, you will have until twelfth night to make your decision. Anything you damage at Netherfield after today will be listed and replaced from your dowry, so you should refrain from having any of your temper tantrums."

With that he left the room. Miss Bingley sat without moving for over an hour, then silently went to her room, not noticing any of the servants, not even her maid who helped her get ready for bed. Tomorrow was Christmas eve, she had but two weeks to decide her future. For the first time since she left school, Caroline Bingley was scared.

The carriages had passed the estate gate house, and Elizabeth was standing just outside the front door, impatient to see her Mr Darcy. More composed, and slightly amused, Isabella stood next to her cousin with her Uncle Anthony who had arrived the day before and had been fully briefed on Elizabeth's situation.

Finally, the front carriage stopped, while the one carrying the servants and luggage continued to the kitchen entrance. Elizabeth was rewarded for her patience when Darcy stepped out and beamed at her, before turning to help first Georgiana and then Richard out. Before Sutton had fully stepped down, Darcy had already rushed up to the house and taken hold of Elizabeth's hands, while their eyes locked together, smiles matching. Neither noticed the chuckles around them.

Isabella broke the spell by placing her hand on Elizabeth's back and inviting everyone to step inside the house to warm up.

"Welcome to Adlington Hall everyone. Please come in. Mr Darcy, you can perform the necessary introductions out of the bitter wind."

Once inside, the introductions were quickly completed, and the guests were taken to their respective rooms to refresh themselves after the journey. Darcy came back first, in search of Elizabeth.

"I am glad to see you, Elizabeth," said he, sitting himself next to her on a sofa and taking her hand once more, "these nine days were torturously long."

"I agree with that sentiment, although Belle has made certain I had as little free time as possible each day, so that I would not pine quite so much after you, sir." Was her teasing answer.

"Will you not call me William? It is now appropriate to use given names as we are engaged; I prefer not to use Fitzwilliam as it gets confusing with three of us around."

"William…" Elizabeth tested the name, "yes, it suits you very well, William, my William, my dearest William."

The look in her eyes was, to Darcy, irresistible, and without taking his eyes off hers, he slid his free hand in his pocket and slipped the engagement ring he had selected on Elizabeth's finger while saying "I cannot wait to have you as my wife, Elizabeth. You have made me the happiest man in the world." She gasped seeing the beautiful heirloom, and Darcy lifted her hand to kiss it. She was speechless, but the joy and love radiating from her were a balm for Darcy's soul. The love he had always wanted but never thought to attain was his.

"I am so grateful it was my carriage passing on that lane as you walked towards Meryton. I had been thinking about you, and about all our interactions when I saw you; I could see you had just been crying, and my heart broke for you." He closed his eyes, remembering his feelings as she told him of her grief that day. "When you spoke of the proposal you had just rejected, I could not stop myself thinking that I should be the one proposing. You were so brave, and so beautiful."

Elizabeth lifted the hand she held and kissed it, unable to talk as her emotions threatened to overpower her.

"The morning after, before we came to see you, I explained everything to Georgiana. As I spoke, and saw her emotions on her face, I understood more and more how badly I had treated you. You, who were all kindness, I was not worthy of your love, but I needed it."

"You are worthy, William, I believe you always were, even though you forgot who you were for a time. I always suspected your value, and now you have proven it, not just with your behaviour with me, but with your care for Georgie and all your family; all the staff at Darcy House loves you and trusts you. How could I not fall in love with you?" Her smile changed into the playful one he loved so much.

"Do not worry about forgetting your true self, my love, for I will make it my life mission to tease you and make you display your handsome smile several times every day for the rest of our lives."

Soon after Isabella and the other guests arrived, the conversation became general, and tea was served.

"As today is Christmas eve, we have planned a family diner to welcome you all." Said Isabella. "This will be our first Christmas at Adlington Hall, so it will be rather quiet, but we have planned a few activities for tomorrow, after a tour of the house so you do not risk getting lost, and of course we will be receiving the tenants, servants and their families on boxing day for the distribution of boxes and presents."

Georgiana and her brother could not remember a happier Christmas; from before Georgiana's birth, their mother's health had prevented any extensive celebrations, and after her passing their father had stopped celebrating the season altogether.

Just as Darcy had predicted, Richard was charmed by both Elizabeth and Isabella, and even Henry admitted his cousin had chosen his future wife well.

At Darcy's request, Elizabeth composed a long and warm letter for Lady Susan, thanking her fiancé's aunt for her welcome and good wishes despite not having met yet. Elizabeth's open nature came through strongly in the letter; she included many anecdotes, personal opinions and feelings, so that when the Lady received the missive, her opinion of Elizabeth improved even further, making her more impatient to meet her future niece and the cousin she was so close to.

It would take very little time for the friendship between her Ladyship and Elizabeth to deepen, and in years to come their respective husband would often joke that no courier could ever travel from one estate to the other with business or estate mail without carrying letters or often small presents from one of the ladies.

The tenants from Longbourn were disappointed not to receive any present or basket of food on Boxing Day; they were not surprised, sadly, as in previous years the young Miss Elizabeth they all loved had arranged for all the celebrations on the estate.

Charlotte Lucas and Sir William had worked with the parson to still provide some food and a few presents for the poor of the parish, although they lacked Mary's personal knowledge of all their individual needs in order to choose the most useful presents; the families were genuinely grateful nonetheless and Sir William promised the rector that some of his younger children would start getting involved.

At Netherfield, Mrs Nicholls and Bingley had worked together to provide some boxes for the tenant and servant families. This would become one of Bingley's favourite activities on his estate, together with organising a yearly Harvest ball for the tenants, in years to come.