Progress for ODC

Long chapter alert.Starts on 20th March 2024

Will was at Elizabeth's chambers well in time. She stormed in 5 minutes late looking absolutely furious. She rolled her eyes at herself, as if this day could get any worse. That stupid stupid woman, Lady Catherine De Bourgh had detained her to talk about absolutely inane things in the most officious manner possible… And now, the man who had somehow become a thorn in her side was sitting in her office looking like something out of a magazine. Ugh, she hated days like this. But she reminded herself, it's a good thing that both these things happened in the same day, rather than spread out throughout the week. If you had to do unpleasant things might as well do it all at once.

Her fury made her more beautiful than he had ever seen her. But he would never want it turned on himself. He felt things he hadn't in a long time in that moment and just tried to get himself under good regulation for this conversation. She went and sat next to him without saying a word, except a nod in acknowledgment. She took a few breaths in and out to calm herself.

"Alright, Ms. Bennet?"

"Alright," she graced him with a small smile.

He wondered how did she change her moods so quickly, when she'd come in she was all fury, now she was calm and graceful. It was curious. "I got us thai, I hope you like it. It's one of my favourite cuisines."

"Love a curry. Thanks, Mr. Darcy."

He started and stopped a few times and then settled on saying, "shall we drop the formality, I'm Will, or Darcy if you prefer."

She nodded but said nothing more.

He'd hoped she'd let him call her Lizzy like her family did. But why did he hope that where did that even come from? He took a breath and said, "I promised to tell you about what happened 4 years ago from my perspective. But to truly understand it, I've got to go further back."

"Before you begin, tell me, Will, what do you hope to gain by telling me this?" She tested his name out and found that she quite liked calling him Will.

He smiled softly, knowing that she would ask astute questions and decided in that moment to be honest, "you know, I'm not entirely sure. It's just you've heard one side of the story. I'm told I was at fault. I should've done more, but I didn't. But Georgie should've listened to me too…" He quickly sidestepped what he said and added, "if I can't identify my faults how can I be better?"

"And that's what you want? To be better? I'm not your therapist, Will," she said in a startled tone.

"No, I know that. But it would help if someone saw this from my perspective."

She quirked her eyebrow, "and you think that would be me? From what I can tell, your take on life and mine are like oil and water. I doubt I'll see it from your side."

He shrugged feigning nonchalance. "You may not. But if you see something in it that deserves less hate than what Georgie currently thinks of me then maybe you can tell her too."

She knew it would come down to this at some point. And while she didn't totally approve, she was also curious and wondered whether he'd actually listen to her. So, she let him begin his story without protest.

"Wickham and I have known each other more or less our whole lives. His father was a hardworking manager at Pemberley. He refused promotions a few times to look after his ailing wife because he knew that a promotion would mean more travel and didn't want to take time away from her. Overtime he and my father became close friends, and his son would stay with us on occasion when his wife needed to be at the hospital as they had no other family. Wickham's mother died a few years later, when he just turned 16, and he was hurting. I became closer to him as I had already dealt with the death of a parent by then. He stayed with us more and more. Wickham senior died a year later in a car crash and his son was now an orphan at 17, so he came to stay with us. My father even paid for his last year of boarding school and later university for him. After his father died, Wickham became angrier and angrier at everyone even those who tried to help. He saw that I still had a parent and hated my good luck. He blamed everyone around him for everything. It was only later when we were both at Cambridge that I realized that he was gambling and drinking. When I was 25 my own excellent father died he'd set aside some money for Wickham. I gave that to him. My father also said that if Wickham wanted to work at Pemberley that I should hire him. I didn't want to, I admit it. I wasn't sure he was up to the responsibility. So, when he asked me for money to start up his own business instead, I agreed. It was stupid, I should've looked closer at the details rather than just being happy that he was out of my hair. It was my first big business decision, and I lost a hundred thousand pounds. I vowed that day to never make a bad decision again and to always think through my decision with pure reason. Of course, when it comes to an 18 year old girl as Georgie was about to turn, I realized that pure reason isn't as helpful as it might sound."

He hung his head low in his hands. Elizabeth could see the hurt on his face. But said nothing waiting for him to continue.

"Georgie had a bodyguard who helped Wickham in exchange for a piece of her trust fund when he got control of it. I found all that out later. But it's all he wanted. He wanted money without working for it. He saw that I was wealthy but didn't see how hard I work for it. How hard my father worked for it. He went to Cambridge, the man could've gotten a job anywhere but instead thought being your own boss was a better deal. He started out with a good idea, which is why I even invested. I digress..." He cleared his throat as if to pull himself back on track, "she was shy of 18 when Wickham re-entered her life through Adelaide Younge, her bodyguard. Georgie thought she was in love with him. When I realized I was fighting a losing battle and I tried the one thing I could. I ordered her to leave him and consider what she was doing to our honour and reputation. She laughed at me and said that I cared too much about things that I shouldn't. We had a big row and she left. I thought she'd come back, but she didn't. I kept track of her for a few months and then after that it seemed to make less sense. I couldn't find her after I lost track. It was only when she left him and he called me angry weeks ago that I realized my mistake was even bigger than I imagined."

Elizabeth's heart was hurting for this man, who foolishly lost his own sister. He didn't seem deceptive. He was being genuine. Every bone in her body knew that. She wanted to help him more than she could, knowing how she was bound by confidentiality. So, she said the only thing she could. "Will, she doesn't hate you. She thinks she let you down and needs to heal a bit more, find more confidence before she can see the person she thinks she let down badly."

He looked almost hopeful, "then why won't you let me help in some way. I did so many things that were wrong back then. But I can be better now, for her. Let me help, please."

She wanted to, but she knew what she had to do, "there's too many things to consider here. Let me see if I can help her first though. She is my priority."

"I understand, but will you at least tell her that I miss her. That I'm not upset or angry and that I just want to help?"

She nodded, "the hour is up. I have work to do. I'm sorry to cut this short."

Neither of them really wanted to leave. Will saw that he had made some progress with her. Nothing he said was untrue. He did want to protect Georgie, he did want to help. He may have started this all as a pretense, but he realized as soon as he saw her face how much he wanted to understand her better.

She was happy that it seemed like she could help this gremlin of a man in front of her. She could never stop herself if someone needed help, it's why she thrived in doing what she did. After all, her mission was 'I'm here doing good things'. This seemed like one of those things. But the question was would he actually be receptive, willing to change? She wasn't sure, but then again, she did like a challenge. Or was she trying to take on a burden that wasn't hers?

Hesitating, he asked, "could we perhaps talk some more about this soon?"

"Give me a few days, Will. I'll let you know."

He felt crestfallen that she didn't agree immediately. But he just nodded.

…

The end of her workday she realized that she needed to talk to G. She knew that strong feelings were going to be involved and so she borrowed copious amounts of dessert for herself and G from Longbourn.

Janie, I've borrowed some desserts from the café. ~LB

Borrowed, Lizzy? How much is some? ~JB

Well, more like taken since I can't actually give them back. But it's not much, a few cookies, a few brownies, a few pieces of pie, and some cake. ~LB

What did you do Lizzy? You never need that much unless something happened and you're trying to soften the blow. ~JB

No blow, just need to talk to G about Will. ~LB

Will who? ~JB

Darcy. ~LB

Since when do you call him Will? ~JB

Since today. ~LB

She looked at Charlie while he was sipping tea and the look on Jane's face made Charlie drop his cup in concern.

"What is it, love? Can I do something?"

"I'm worried about Lizzy. She's always looking out for everyone else. She goes through life trundling through..." She took a breath and continued, "I'm worried about this situation with G." She was the older sister, but Lizzy had always been the protector of her people as she called them. But someone had to take care of her, and there was no one else to do that right now.

"Aren't you making a bigger deal out of this then you should?" her asked.

"How can you say that!" she looked at him intensely.

He sighed, knowing that Jane was probably right. He decided that he'd talk to Darcy and see if he could explain to his old friend that he needed to tread lightly. He thought of his hard headed friend, knowing that it would be as much a losing battle as if he were talking to Lizzy. He was in for a supremely awkward conversation. "I suppose I could go down to London this week and have lunch with him or something." He hoped he knew what to say to Darcy by then.

…

Lizzy stepped into the kitchen at the centre and G was already there waiting with a cup of tea. "Hello dearest." She went and kissed her on the forehead. "I brought dessert!"

G smiled, unsure why Lizzy wanted to meet this late. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be good, but knew to give her time. Lizzy brought up the topic of her brother and G realized that something must've happened. But she patiently answered Lizzy's questions and told her a little more about everything that happened with her brother back then; how guilty she still felt about running away and the shame that she was dealing with about having been so wrong; her anxiety and fears that Will wouldn't accept her ever again. How she couldn't go back to a stifling environment with him. With each word that Georgiana spoke, Lizzy was convinced that she wasn't ready to meet Will and maybe not even ready to hear what he had to say. But she would give her the option. For now she just listened.

When G was done talking, they sat letting the silence wash over both of them. Lizzy knew she needed to give her some explanation of what had happened. So she said what she'd come to say and let the chips fall where they may. "Will has been coming to my office. He's tried to explain what happened back then. He seems to want to understand what he did wrong then. He's been asking about you. I won't tell him anything until you're ready. For now, just concentrate on yourself. You needn't worry about anything else."

22 March 2024

Lizzy dropped by earlier and we talked about so many things. I told her more than I've ever told any other person apart from Jackie. We even spoke about Wills today. It was quite cathartic to talk about all that. But at the end of the conversation she said that Wills had been meeting her and asking about me. I know I can trust Lizzy to not divulge my confidences or share my story with anyone. I'm not surprised at the lengths he's going to. But he was never a social person. So, for him to spend time with someone like this is weird. He probably just thinks of her as a lawyer or something. My mind is all muddled and the thoughts confused. I wish I could see a way through all of this to the other side. But I know life doesn't work like that, no matter how much I might want it to. Hopefully, one day I will be healed enough and confident enough to want to see Wills again. Not yet, though. Not yet.

At around midnight that night, Lizzy got a text from Lee about his search for Wickham:

Have picked up a trail in London – he's still in touch with Younge. I'll update you within the week once I see his routine. ~Lee

She saw the message and smiled to herself. Will Darcy might think she needed help. But it looks like he was wrong.

…

It had been two days, since she met Will and she still had questions about his motives. When she got a text, she groaned realizing she didn't know how to let him off gently.

Have you had a chance to talk to Georgiana yet? ~WD

She didn't respond until the next day. When she got another message from him, causing her to roll her eyes.

Please, tell me? ~WD

She didn't understand the hurry.

She's not ready yet. Please don't hurry this. ~LB

He was growing increasingly frustrated. What was he supposed to do. This timeline from Richard weighing heavily on him. But he also knew that Elizabeth was right.

May we talk tomorrow? ~WD

The man was so weirdly polite at times that it grated on her. No one really spoke that formally. She'd always wondered if it was pride, now she wondered if it was shyness or reserve. She couldn't put him off forever but maybe this would help stall him a bit more.

I'm working this weekend. Sunday 6pm my office? ~LB

He wasn't sure if this meant that he should take food or not. But he decided that he might as well. He picked up ramen and headed over to her office. Unsure why they always met there, but he would take what he could get.

He walked into her office and saw her sitting at her desk, her head in her hands, her hair in disarray, nothing like the put together person she normally was. He put down the food and moved toward her desk too quick to wonder about his own reaction, "Elizabeth, are you alright? Can I help?"

Her head jerked up, forgetting for a moment why there was a loud baritone voice in her office. "Woah, Will. I'm fine. Just this case, the pieces of the argument aren't falling together as they should, and I can't figure out why. I need to figure this out tonight, otherwise I'll have to deal with the opposing counsel again, and I can't stand that oily man."

He smiled, so she was just deep in thought. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pull you out of your work like that. It just, you looked, look, perturbed."

She wasn't sure what he meant but then she smelled the food and all thought of anything else left her mind as she stared at the containers in front of her. She was surprised at the gesture, but given that she'd been working for hours without a break she was overjoyed. She tamped down her reaction to the food and said, "thank you for bringing food. It's quite considerate."

His lips were in a thin line, did she think so poorly off him? Surely not, he was after all a gentleman. Perhaps she was flirting, not that he'd know much about flirting. Maybe she was genuine, but the surprise in her voice threw him off. He took out the containers of ramen and asked which one she wanted. She took the one closest to her and opened it up. He wasn't sure what to say so he went with, "thank you for meeting with me."

"Well, I suppose the food is a payment of sorts since I don't charge you my regular fees. Though, I doubt that it would put a dent in your income," she smiled wryly.

It made him wonder if maybe now she was in fact flirting with him. Why did looking at her make him want to smile? It was an interesting feeling. One he hadn't had since he was much younger. "No, I suppose not. Human rights work must not be very lucrative though?"

"I'm not in it for the money," she said sharply. She wondered for a moment if she was being harsh and maybe all he was asking was because of curiosity. She continued, less tersely, "most people pay what they can. I'm good at what I do, I generally get paid when the court awards my client lawyers fees. It's not much, but I get by. What do I need money for? The mortgage on my apartment is mostly paid off, the rest is just bills. I barely have time to go out anyway. So, this is enough for me."

He was surprised at her candid attitude. Then he again remembered Georgie, "you said you took on Georgie as a client, whose paying you for that?"

She shrugged, "I took her own out of my own desire to do so. I've no need for the money."

He had an idea, "let me pay for that at least?"

She shook her head, "Will, I can't let you do that. I can't tell you what I'm doing for her, I won't even let you see her. My first priority is her. Money from you would confuse the issue."

He admired the resolute look in her eye. Knowing that she had the right of it. Her ethics would never let her. "If everything turns out well in the end, will you at least tell me what all you did and let me compensate you for some of that?"

She laughed, "well, much of it is already done. I should know legally in the next couple of weeks I suspect. But as for turning out well… I don't know if I can guarantee that. I don't know if she'll ever be ready to see you."

He frowned, "why do you think she won't ever be ready to see me?"

"I can't say either way, Will. I just think she needs time. You need to be prepared that it might be months before you see her."

He paled, "months?!"

She was surprised that he had taken that badly, "yes."

"But I don't have months."

"I don't understand, are you dying?" she asked confused.

"What… No. That's a strange question!"

She laughed and laughed and sputtered unsure what to say, "I'm sorry. I just don't understand. The only reason you don't have months is because you're dying or leaving the country never to come back or something."

He calmed, he saw what she was saying. But how would he tell Richard? "There're some external pressures, Elizabeth. I'm not sure what to do about them."

"Go back to work and have something to take your mind off all this. I'll reach out to you when she's ready."

It sounded sensible. But the idea of not having anything pulling them together was strangely sad. Wait, where did that thought come from? "I have 2 more weeks of leave."

"Don't you own your company? Penbreley wasn't it?"

"Pemberley." He was surprised she didn't know much about him. He'd internet stalked her and was surprised and a little hurt that she'd not done the same?

"Yes, whatever. So go back. No one can really stop you," she dismissed his correction as if she didn't care.

Oddly he would believe that she didn't care about the name of his company. She was so unlike any other woman he'd ever met. The rest were social climbers after his money. Had no interest in him or his well-being, here Elizabeth had taken his sister in, what he thought was the most shameful thing in his life and she seemed to like Georgie better than she liked him. She didn't stop surprising him. And he found himself telling her more than he thought he would. Sharing his secrets, "Wickham eloped with her for her trust fund. Me and my cousin were tasked with guardianship with a contract your uncle drafted, requiring both of us to sign off once she turned 25. My cousin, he's as eager to find Georgie, but he won't try and do it any way other than his own way. And his way would be to bombard you with questions and force you to tell him."

She laughed again, "Will, I'm quite adept at defending myself. I assure you he won't get past me."

"But he has other means at his disposal. I'm not sure I want to leave this up to him and his methods of persuasion." He found himself feeling quite protective of this petite woman in front of him who could be formidable when she wanted to be. But it was such a strange feeling, and he didn't understand it.

She shrugged, "who am I to tell you what to do. It was just a suggestion. Do what you think is best. But your cousin won't have it so easy. Trust me."

She said it with so much earnestness that he actually felt like he could trust her. He nodded once and said nothing. He knew that he also didn't want to let go of meeting this beguiling woman a few times a week. Maybe, if nothing else, he could ferret out her secrets. "Let me think about it for a few days. Maybe, maybe we can meet early next week to discuss it?"

"Why would you want to meet again? I'll call you when G is ready," she was giving him an out. The look in his eye was something she wasn't so sure of as if he wanted to see her again, it almost looked like fondness. But no, it couldn't be that could it? There was no way. He had his world and she had hers and they'd never meet in the middle.

He waved good bye, without saying much. Lost in his own thoughts as he was.

…

Will was waiting for his perpetually late friend for lunch. Finally, Bingley walked in. He never understood how Bingley could never see how problematic it was to always be late. But then Will had grown up always being taught to be perfectly on time and always prided himself on it. It wasn't to the point of arrogance, just one of the things he was proud about. He found that lately he'd been reminding himself of many similar things that weren't arrogance but simply points of pride. Partly because the conversation with Harriet kept circling in his mind and he just couldn't answer the question: was he actually a conceited arrogant prig?

Charles took a seat opposite him, still nervous about the topic of conversation. "Hello old man. You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

Darcy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh well, apologies and all that," Charles said bashfully.

Darcy almost chuckled, surprised at his own mirth. He wondered again if Harriet was right, he did need a break. But it was more than that. It was changes, small changes that had occurred in his life almost without his recognition. He would have to think about that later. "Well, you asked me for lunch, so what'll it be?"

"Let's order first. I'm soooo hungry. Janie only gave me one scone for breakfast and refused to give me a second one from the café saying that there'd been too much pilfering lately. I bet it was Lizzy. She's got a mighty sweet tooth." He grimaced that he had brought up the topic of this awkward conversation earlier than he meant to.

"Oh? Does she?" he filed that information away for later.

Charles switched the topic of conversation slightly to business things under the pretext that he wanted some advice from Darcy.

"Charles you're your own man, your business is thriving you don't need my advice. If anything my advice would've led you astray had you listened to me about Jane."

"That's true. But it's not matters of the heart that I'm asking for advice on now, is it?"

Darcy smiled. No, it certainly wasn't. His heart, he hadn't thought about that for a long time. His heart was stone, but then some scrappy creatures worm through, and all he saw was Elizabeth's twinkling eyes. Why? Oh, what's Charles' saying? "yes, quite." He responded not sure what he was talking about.

"I know she's not very good as a lawyer. But have you told her that you're going to start searching for a new head of legal?"

"What? She's a fantastic lawyer? Why would I tell Elizabeth that? Do you think she'd be interested?"

Gads, this was worse than he imagined. He hadn't said anything about Lizzy in the past 15 minutes of conversation. They were talking about his annoying sister and Darcy was still stuck on Elizabeth. "Man, why would I talk about Lizzy. She's very happy at her job and very good at what she does. She'd never join the man."

"What, and I'm the man?"

Charles stared at him dumbfounded, "you're a solid representation of the British establishment, if there ever was one."

"So, what you're saying she won't work with me?"

"No, I doubt it. Why are we talking about Lizzy?"

"I don't know. You brought her up?"

"I was talking about Caro, not Lizzy. But it'll make this easier," said Charles rubbing his eyes not wanting to look at Darcy.

Darcy sat there open-mouthed fork halfway to his mouth, wondering how they started talking about Elizabeth and what that topic would make easier.

"Darce, this is complicated. Lizzy'd chop my balls off if she knew I was here. But I need to do this for her."

Darcy was getting increasingly confused as this speech went on. "Spit it out, man."

"Good, yes. I know you and Lizzy have been meeting off and on at her office. Lizzy is a big talker so she's a good lawyer. And in that domain she is magnificent. That's where she shines. In reality, she's a very sensitive person. She's extremely good at reading people in her professional life but applying the same stuff to her personal life is hard for her."

He sputtered on his drink, Charles was being completely serious. He didn't understand where this was all coming from. "I won't hurt her, Charles. She's just helping me with something. That's all."

Charles raised an eyebrow wondering what Lizzy could possibly be helping him with since she wasn't telling him about Georgie.

Darcy continued, "I'm sure some people would find her attractive. But I've got no intention of anything vaguely romantic. I could never be with someone like that. There's no credibility, she's a human rights lawyer with no money." Somehow that came out calmer than he felt.

Charles looked at him knowingly, "Darce, not once during this conversation did I say anything about being with her. Is that where your thoughts are?" Darcy flushed feeling like he'd been caught out. But before he could defend himself, Charles' thought of the end of his answer and continued sharply, his ire rising at the man who still lived with a stick up his arse, "you certainly haven't changed, have you? That's something I thought I'd only hear from the likes of Caroline, perhaps you should consider her as a partner." He took a breath and said, "Will, you really need to grow up and see what's important here. Have the past few years taught you nothing? Pandemics, your precious tories flailing about. Good god man. Lizzy, she sees the world differently than you do. And someone with your arrogance and disdain could certainly learn a few things from her." Charles thought to himself that it would be rather fitting if Will did fall in love with Lizzy because the rejection might do him some good.

Will was surprised by this turn of the conversation. he knew lunch was over and he had much to think about apparently.

…

Kit made a decision and she was nervous to tell her sisters. How could she not be without them thinking that she was being impulsive? She drew up her courage and finally told them that she was planning to move to Paris in late May to settle into the city and take courses in the summer session to speed up her degree. Lizzy understood but she couldn't hide that she was simultaneously happy and sad for her sister. Jane could see how it impacted her, even if she didn't say it. One day when it was just the two of them Jane watched her sister, "say it, Lizzy. I know you want to."

"I don't know what you mean," she crossed her arms.

"My darling, you're allowed to feel your feelings even if they're terribly conflicted."

"I'm happy for her. But our family is breaking up. I don't like it. But I have to let her make her own choices."

Jane said, "yes, and you can be sad that her choices are taking her away from us, for now. But look at it this way. Our family is also growing."

Lizzy thought of Livy and then looked at Jane smiling. She saw Janes hand on her stomach and exclaimed. "Really! I'm going to be an auntie again? That's so exciting."

Jane laughed, "we're not telling anyone yet. But I couldn't keep it from you. It's just 8 weeks from what the test tells me. You'd better not blab."

Lizzy nodded, "this is going in my confidential vault." The sisters found themselves in a loving embrace.

As they drew apart, Jane broached a subject she'd been wanting to for sometime. "Will's visited you a few times in your office. What's going on?"

"It's nothing, Jane. He's worried about G. I'm stalling him and keeping him away from her as best I can. G needs time. I told him that and hopefully he understands."

"Darling, that's not what I mean. I've no doubt you have that handled. But what do you think of him?"

Lizzy shrugged, "think of him? I don't know. At first, I thought he was an arrogant sod. Now I think he's mainly misguided in his actions. He thinks he does the right thing, but his primary motivations are money and 'what will people say'. I have no time for that stuff as you know."

Jane, astute as ever tried to break through Lizzy's walls, knowing that unless Lizzy willingly let her in there'd be no point. "You're deflecting. You're reading his characteristics but not what you think of the man coming to your office You wouldn't be doing this if there wasn't something in your mind you didn't want to share. I just want you to be careful." With that Jane left her to her thoughts, knowing that Lizzy wouldn't let her in sooner or later.

When Lizzy went home, she spent the rest of the evening thinking about what Jane said. She knew that Jane was right about this stuff more often than not. Be careful, of what? It's not like she would get hurt, nothing to get hurt to. Her heart might be healed from emotional abuse, but she wasn't in danger of giving it to anyone. Least of all a man like Will. He was good looking, but so what? Everything else about him was totally wrong.

Hi all, a small request as I've never posted on this website before this story and so I'm not sure why there's such few reviews. Please leave a line or word it can be super great to engage with people reading the story.

Is the timeline helping anyone but me? Haha, I'm happy to keep it going. Just wondering if anyone else is paying attention to it?