Chapter 3

Lily woke up the next morning after a restless night feeling a little out of sorts. She phoned her sister to give her the download, "Jenna, can you believe it, my dream job lands in my lap, and it turns out the owner of the house is that jerk friend of Cal's from the bar." Lily smiled as she listened to her sister, "Of course, I'm not going to leave, this is what I've fantasized of since I was a little girl, watching Jane Austen movies and imagining being the person to uncover the living histories of these amazing houses." She sighed, "I'll just give Liam Darcy a wide berth and try very hard not to engage with the man."

"Jenna, I have to tell you I had the strangest dreams last night." Her head wrinkled in thought as she struggled to figure out how to explain, "It almost felt like watching a movie on fast forward, I could only catch a little bit of the action." She shook her head and answered her sister's question, "No, it wasn't modern, it was more like the regency period. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me as I have to wonder if the dreams were a byproduct of my excitement at being in this house. Even the people in the dreams seemed familiar somehow." Lily's eyes lit up with an idea, "Wait, maybe that is the answer, the owner was showing me some of his family portraits and one of those was an ancestor of his who has the same name as me, I think it may have been her and her husband in the dreams. Jenna, I'm going to go and investigate to see if am correct. I'll call you later."

Lily sprinted for the portraits corridor and found the painting of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. She stared Elizabeth in the eye and asked, "Are you trying to tell me something?" She shook her head, "If so it's too much and I can't figure out what you are trying to tell me."

§§§§§§§

A tall young girl with blond hair stepped from the coalesced shadows. It appears you two have failed at your mission, I will need to intervene. She held out her hands in greeting, Georgiana Darcy at your service. She stepped into Lily with a wave of her hand. Georgiana concentrated on a beautiful memory and allowed Lily to experience the moment with her.

For an all too brief time, Lily was transported through the passage of time and was standing in the middle of a beautiful rose garden on the grounds of Pemberley. She was a witness to Fitzwilliam Darcy talking to his sister, Georgiana, this was Mother's favorite place in all the gardens. I know you do not have any memories of our mother and I want you to know her better. There is no better place than here amongst the roses that she loved best. Fitzwilliam Darcy's eyes were full of his love for his mother and his sister. He was very happy to be able to pass on his memories of Lady Anne Darcy to Georgiana. She did not leave anything to chance, she chose every rose and every color so there would be harmony. He pointed to the beautifully decorated English wrought iron garden bench. She chose the exact placement of this bench so she would be able to come every day and enjoy this location.

I love it, brother, I shall come every day in tribute to our mother. Thank you for this gift, there is nothing I would wish for more than this wonderful moment. She took her brothers arm as they strolled the rose garden her mother had created. At the conclusion of the memory, Georgiana stepped out of Lily.

Once the moment faded, Lily felt the loss keenly, "Lady Anne's rose garden, that was incredible, thank you so much for sharing your precious memory with me."

Georgiana explained, I showed her one of my memories and it appears she was able to share the experience with me.

Well done, Georgiana, what a proud brother I am. The ghostly form of Georgiana Darcy blushed. It was very effective, so much better than the confusion that our idea caused. Elizabeth praised her sister's ingenuity.

"Can this interaction go both ways?" Lily asked but didn't expect an answer as she held out her hand. "I will share the answer to a question I wouldn't answer for Liam."

Elizabeth nodded her head toward Lily, Georgie, as this was your idea, you should complete the experiment. Georgiana grasped Lily's hand and was enveloped by Lily.

The ghostly girl found herself in a home that was very different from Pemberley and was enchanted.

Georgiana immediately recognized the younger version of Lily. She was sitting on the floor with a much younger girl and was encouraging her, "Come on Lara, you can say my name. Eeee – Liiiiz – aaaaa – beeeeth." She drew out every syllable to help her sister.

The girl screwed up her face in concentration, "Liili beh."

Lily smiled, "Much better." She encouraged Lara, "How about this one Lili …" She was cut off when Mrs. Bennet came through the door.

"Leave your sister alone, she'll get it when she's ready."

Lara had latched onto the last thing Elizabeth said and shouted excitedly, "Lili… Lily… Lily."

"Such a smart girl, Lara." Mrs Bennet crooned as she picked up her daughter, "Lily, is so much easier for you to say and I like it, so from now on, Elizabeth will be, Lily."

Georgiana smiled as she withdrew from Lily and formed her own likeness. The reason you are called Lily. She merged with the shadowy figures and soon all of the ghosts of Pemberley knew what Lily had refused to tell Liam.

§§§§§§§

Liam watched with amazement as Lily sprinted past him and into the portrait gallery. He watched in fascination as she questioned and seemed to interact with someone that he could not discern.

Once the interaction was completed, Liam traversed the space between them and touched Lily on the shoulder, "What was the answer you wouldn't give me?"

Lily smiled mischievously, "You'll have to ask them." She waved at the space in front of her.

"Who are you talking about?"

"That's also something you're going to need to find out for yourself." She giggled as she moved away from him, "You'll need to excuse me, I have work to do."

Liam walked to his parent's portrait, "I don't know what to do with her. Lily is unlike any woman I have ever met, but I screwed up everything with her before it could even start. You two had such a perfect relationship, you were inseparable down to the last moment in the car accident that claimed your lives way too early." Liam's emotions threatened to overflow, "I wish I could have what you both had with each other." He smiled, "Everything would be so much easier if I had Dad's 'way with women.'"

§§§§§§§

You didn't tell him that. Liam's mother, Annabeth chided her husband. To say you had a way with women is a bit of an exaggeration. Annabeth smiled up at her husband, James whom she adored. You need to show him.

James's ghostly form moved away from his wife and merged with his son to show him the truth and shared his memory of one particular meeting with Annabeth. The intervening years faded away as Liam was pulled into the memory of his parents past.

James watched her as she moved through the bar full of college students, she was lively and seemed to know everyone as she laughed and joked her way around the room.

"Everyone can see the way you've been looking at Annabeth, why don't you just go for it and ask her for a date." His friend, Rob was speaking to him, and James was annoyed to have been pulled out of his reverie.

At Rob's words, James's face grew sullen, "Ask Annabeth Daniels for a date, I don't think so." Rob was motioning to his friend to try to get him to stop talking. But he ignored his friend, "I'm not so desperate that I need George's sloppy seconds."

Rob groaned, "Oh dude."

An angry feminine voice came from behind James, "What do you mean, George's sloppy seconds?"

James turned to face his accuser, although he already knew who it was, "Annabeth, I know everything, George told me all about the two of you." James blushed, "How you were so hot for him that you were all over him at Henry's party and had relations right there on the balcony where anyone could have seen the two of you."

Annabeth's eyes flashed with anger as she snarled at him through gritted teeth, "Your friend is a damned liar, James Darcy." As her anger drained away, James saw unshed tears, "The only thing I did wrong was believe George when he said you were on the balcony waiting for me." Her emotions seemed to change again to a steely determination as she moved toward him and whispered, "I won't get into the gory details, but he tried to force me to have sex with him right there on the balcony. Your friend, George found out the hard way that was a very bad idea." She looked him in the eye and one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Your friend already learned the truth and now it's your turn." She forced her knee into his groin with all her strength and as he doubled over in pain, gasping for breath, she put a hand on his shoulder and stated, "I will not be a victim."

Annabeth walked away and never looked back as the memory faded to black.

James spoke to his son and hoped he would understand, I showed you this memory to prove that anyone can come back from a bad start, if I could. If she is that important to you, show Lily who you really are and maybe you can overcome your beginning.

As the spectral image of James re-emerged, Liam seemed to be in a daze, he walked blindly to his office to absorb everything he had just experienced. He couldn't quite believe it. Were there really ghosts at Pemberley.