Chapter 4

The four scholars met at the school entrance and paired off to travel the mile to the Longbourn Coffee Clutch, a favorite hangout for the students from their school. William offered to buy the round and they settled into two small tables next to each other to discuss the assignment.

"So we each have to write a short essay about the differences in our stories and how we came to write them, including inserting ourselves into the story." stated William. "Lizzy we know why you chose that character to write about," here he winked at her. "But, what made you decide to give Darcy a chance?"

"I never liked the way Elizabeth treated Darcy after his proposal. Yes, it was probably the worst proposal ever made, but she was supposedly a smart girl and should have given him a chance to explain himself instead of just ranting at him. I understand that he was too emotional at that point to discuss it calmly with her, but I think they could have decided to table the discussion until a future time. The fact that he wrote her a letter, explaining everything, didn't help since he didn't stay around to give her a chance to talk to him afterwards. Communication is a two way street. I think they were both a couple of idiots and deserved their delayed satisfaction as the story was originally written." she looked to the ceiling. "Forgive me Miss Austen."

William chuckled and took up the discussion. "It would have been a very short novel if they had solved their differences so early in the tale. I suppose you could have expanded on the bodice ripper theme though."

"Hey! It's not a bodice ripper! It's Regency porn. Get your genres straight!" Lizzy said with mock incredulity.

"My apologies madam." William said as he bowed to Lizzy. She stood and curtsied. They all broke out laughing.

"What about your story, William? It was so sad, I wanted to cry and hug Mr. Darcy by the end of the story." Lizzy said earnestly.

William wanted to shout "Score!" but instead he said, "That is exactly the feeling I was looking for. I know I am shy. Having to interact with a new proofreading buddy each week has been hard for me. I know I need to learn to talk to new people more easily."

"Well, you're doing an A plus job today." said Lizzy softly.

"Thanks." was all William could reply.

They sipped their drinks, Cafe Mocha for William and hot Black tea with lemon and sweetener for Lizzy. Their attention turned to Chuck and Jane who had been discussing their stories.

Jane was saying "When you write fiction, of course you can write anything you want, but," she paused "if you want the reader to stay with you, it needs to be believable on some level. No respectable gentleman during the Regency period would have suggested an elopement with a gentleman's daughter. With no marriage contract to protect her, he could have tossed her over at anytime and she would be left ruined, possibly pregnant, with no protection from the law and most likely would have been shunned by her family. Especially if she had sisters who still needed to marry. An elopement, even if it all ended well, would be a mark against them and would make it hard for them to marry well." she paused to see everyone staring at her. "Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. Having a dad who taught this stuff has rubbed off on me a bit."

Chuck found it fascinating. He found her fascinating. "No, don't apologize. I'm learning a lot. I read the book of course, but didn't pay attention to the realities of the time. Now a days we think of women as independent beings, able to look after themselves without a father, brother, uncle or husband to take care of them. That wasn't strictly true until the past, oh, 50 years or so."

"Yes," replied Lizzy. "As much as the pretty clothes and fancy balls of Jane Austen's era sounded alluring, I'm glad I was born when I was." They all nodded agreement.

"So Chuck, what did you think about Jane's story?" asked William.

"He didn't like it." injected Jane.

"No, that's not true Jane." replied Chuck. He quickly summarized the story for William. "I said I didn't like the sad ending, to which you said it was a happy ending for Miss Bennet and the Earl's son. Which is true. But, yeah, I didn't like that MY character didn't get the pretty girl in the end, but he was taught a valuable lesson in constancy. Maybe he will get the pretty girl in the sequel."

"Oh, are you going to start writing Fan Fiction?" quipped William. Everyone, except Chuck, got a laugh out of that.

The study group shortly broke up as they all had family obligations to attend. Each scholar had formed the basis of their rebuttal story in their minds. "See you in class." William said to Lizzy.

"Yeah, see you then." Lizzy replied with a shy smile. They all went into their respective vehicles and prepared to leave for home.

"So," Chuck said to William. "When are you going to ask her out?"

"What? No!" sputtered William. "Why would you think I would ask her out? Did you know she's only a Sophomore? She skipped a grade and is a year accelerated in English, Science and Math. She's only 15! She's taking Pre-Calc and Physics as a Sophomore. She's worried about what classes she will have left to take her senior year!"

"Oh ho! So a lady has finally impressed the unimpressible William Darcet!" Sounds like it was an interesting conversation on the way to 'study group'." Chuck said, again adding the air quotes.

"You're annoying Bingley. I suppose you already asked Jane out on a date."

"Hey, I'm a fast mover, what can I say?"

"Just be sure you know what you're on about. Don't play with her."

"Why would you care?" Chuck studied the stern look on William's face. "Oh, I see. You do care for Lizzy and don't want her sister to get hurt. Alright, I'll be a good boy and do my best to not break her heart. If her essay is prescient, she wouldn't give me the time of day if I play games. See, I can learn from literature."

"I'm leaving for Cambridge in the fall. I don't intend to have a long term relationship with anyone during college." Bingley interpreted this to infer that he did like Lizzy, but didn't want to date her long distance.

"Did you discuss what Jane plans to do next year?" asked William.

"She has been accepted into a dance troupe in New York. Did you know that she's a kind of co-teacher for the Dance Arts class here? She's been dancing since she was three and has been in several local productions."

"Well, that's convenient if you decide on Columbia University."

"Yeah, we touched on that subject a bit on the way over. Too soon to tell though. She said Lizzy was looking at early admission and skipping her Senior year altogether. She has enough credits to graduate next year. She didn't mention where she wanted to go for college or what major she was interested in."

The rest of the drive home was silent as each of the seniors had a lot rolling around in their minds.