Disclaimer: No mine, everything belongs to Jane Austen, etc.

Summary: See Previous Chapters

Chapter Three

Wickham had said a great deal of not very much at all before duties called him away. Lydia might have wheedled more information out of Denny and Chamberlain, who were happy to boast to a pretty face, but Lady Lucas appeared to summon Maria home to help with Charlotte's wedding clothes, which obliged Lydia and Kitty to also take their leave. They walked in relative quiet until they were out of Meryton, at which point Kitty glanced around before pulling a moonstone covered in runic carvings out of her reticule. Activating it, a thin barrier of light settled around them, an illusion that would cause anyone trying to spy to see and hear nothing but two young ladies discussing the latest fashions.

This would not be the first time Kitty's runes had come in useful.

"What do you think Mr Wickham's mysterious venture is? Something supernatural, or an attempt to blackmail our brother Darcy with some rumour or charming falsehood?"

Lydia hadn't even considered that Wickham might resort to more mundane attempts. "Do you think that likely? What could he claim to know that our brother would need to pay to keep quiet? Trying to expose the Warriors against the Dark would see him committed to Bedlam faster than he could draw any profit."

Mr Darcy had married a poor country girl rather than one of the noble or wealthy heiresses that had pursued him, but neither he nor Lizzy were ashamed of that, and Lydia rather pitied anyone who tried to make an issue of it. It would be years before any daughter Lizzy produced was old enough to be presented, and Georgiana had indicated an eagerness to put off her own Season as long as she could reasonably get away with. Any minor scandal caused by the new Mrs Darcy's background would be long displaced by then.

Kitty made an unknowing gesture, equally unable to think of anything, but unwilling to discount the possibility. "A rumour, perhaps? He is rather persuasive, and Mary is always claiming that a reputation is as brittle as it is beautiful, and all the more precious for its fragility."

"Well, we shall inform the Colonel when we return to Longborn, and perhaps he will have the missing pieces that we lack."

Wickham had been more flirtatious than usual, in the wake of Lydia's empty-headed guise, but surely he could not be so foolish as to trifle with a girl who would soon be under his commanding officer's protection?

Besides, all of them knew better than to elope, even if the idea of a lifetime with Wickham hadn't been utterly abhorrent.

Lydia had never seen the sea before.

Oh, she had heard of it, heard descriptions and stories from those better travelled than her, but to hear the pounding waves and see the water stretching endlessly to the horizon was another thing entirely! Lydia immediately resolved to buy Mama a pretty souvenir of some kind to thank her for persuading Papa to let them go. Georgiana had been to the seaside before, but her face glowed in delight watching Kitty's reaction, and she smiled at Lydia's excitement and Mary's more subdued wonder.

The Darcys and Bingleys were waiting for them at the townhouse, where they detoured first. Lydia would be staying with the Forsters, but they had agreed that it was only proper to greet her sisters first, so Lydia had abandoned The Forster's conveyance for the Darcy carriage, sent to convey Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgiana and Kitty, at the last stop to change horses.

Marriage suited Lydia's sister, and it showed in their happy demeanours and the subtle touches and gentle glances shared with their husbands. Was it Lydia's imagination, or did Jane seem a little plumper around the middle? Well, she was on her wedding tour, and would not have been quite as active as she was at Longbourn, sitting in a carriage rather than walking or riding to visit the tenants or tend to the supernatural residents of the estate.

Lizzy ushered them all inside. "I rang for tea when we heard the carriage pull up, but I am sure you will want to change and refresh yourselves first. Lydia, I know you are staying with Colonel and Mrs Forster, but we prepared a room for you here as well, just in case."

In case Lydia's spying on Wickham and his friends made it too dangerous for her to remain with the Colonel, she did not say. In case Mrs Forster had other visitors and not the room to house them, or Lydia felt like visiting her sisters overnight, was likely to be the public explanation. However practical the reasons, Lydia still felt a rush of warmth as a tiny knot in her stomach eased.

Warm wash-water was waiting in the room set aside for her, a day dress - simply cut, but of fine quality and the latest fashion! - hung in the closet, while a nightshift and underthings were folded in the clothes press.

For all the recent changes, some things remained constant. Jane and Lizzy might be married now, but they would always be her caring older sisters.

Staying for tea was only the polite thing to do, especially as it afforded the Forsters some time to arrange their rooms in the boarding house to their pleasure without Lydia's input. Jane poured, while Lydia tried to think of a conversation topic that wasn't terribly forward and better saved for sisterly gossip late at night. "Thank you for being willing to go along with the ruse. I know it must have been inconvenient to cut your wedding tour short."

Mr Darcy was the one to answer, with the slight upward quirk of his lips that would be a full-blown smile on anyone else. "Truthfully, we were glad of the excuse. The Dalrymples and Elliots are trying company at the best of times, even individually, and there are only so many ways to avoid their company without being directly rude."

Lizzy's smile was as wide and mischievous as ever, "I did notice that you were very relieved to be able to introduce me as your wife, my dear. Sir Walter was rather horrified to hear that I was merely the daughter of a country gentleman of little means or fortune."

Georgiana leaned forward to offer a stage-whisper, audible to everyone, "Miss Elliot has been holding out for a match with her father's heir for some years know, but has hinted that our family wealth and history could entice her to overlook the lack of a title, should Fitzwilliam show interest."

Mr Darcy shot his younger sister a severe glance, and was met with a bright, unrepentant smile. Lizzy patted her husband's hand. "Clearly, she was hiding her disappointment that you failed to notice her. Like so many other young ladies we encountered."

Lydia tried and failed to suppress a giggle. Colonel Fitzwilliam winked at her from behind his teacup. "Was there a sudden family emergency to call the evening short, or did they manage to contain themselves?"

Mr Darcy huffed. "We attended school with the Viscount Dalrymple; the Dowager Viscountess wouldn't dare use such a transparent excuse. More is the pity."

Lydia decided that she would leave that out of her next letter to Mama, who would be in raptures at the notice of her daughters dining with a Baronet and Dowager Viscountess.

Kitty pressed a carved charm into her hand as Lydia waited for the carriage to be brought around, even though Colonel Forster's lodgings were within easy walking distance. Her new brothers had insisted, claiming that a large port like Brighton was different to Meryton, and did not have the benefit of being filled with people that Lydia had known all of her life. "Keep it close. If you are in danger, throw it to the ground and break it, and we will be able to find you."

Lydia hoped that it would not come to that.

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A/N: The next chapter is nearly finished, and should be up in a few days.