Sunday, July 22

Bing walked back into Netherfield alone, having dropped Jane and Caroline off at the front door before pulling around to the garage. Alone, but more happy than he could ever remember. He had spent the day with two of the most important women in his life, driving free and winding from vineyard to vineyard in the bright sunlight. Caroline had, he thought, been quieter than usual, but then she had been seated behind him and Jane in the convertible, the wind preventing much conversation. That same wind had teased Jane's hair enchantingly, and her delight in experiencing wine-tasting for the first time had fueled his own. She was delightful, lovely, and the sweetest woman he had ever known. He cared deeply her, and after today he felt almost convinced that she cared for him too.

Almost.

That was Darcy and Caroline's doing. "I've never met anyone that smiles that much" had been Darcy's verdict after watching Jane at the Gibson wedding. Of course, he had also said she was the only pretty woman in the town, so Bing had taken his words with a grain of salt. But Darcy had persisted over the following weeks, insisting that he was being impulsive and would one day regret Jane. Caroline, on the other hand, was not worried. "Have you seen anything to show that the feelings are reciprocated?" Jane wasn't hard to read, she insisted. "You just have to look."

So Bing had looked. And he had seen Jane smile, just as Darcy said. Everyone she met was gifted with that sweet, luminous smile. Everyone. Bing wasn't jealous when she smiled at other men. He wasn't that kind of guy. He just wanted her to smile at him differently than she did at everyone else.

Like today, for instance. One of the tasting-room attendants had evidently been struck with her and had accidentally spilled wine all over her arm. Caroline had snapped at the man for his clumsiness, but Jane's smile had not dimmed one bit as she mopped up the mess. Only after the man left had she wrinkled her nose at the smell and the stain.

Did Jane wrinkle her nose, so to speak, when she was away from him? Was Darcy right, that her mother gave her no choice but to encourage him? Bing truly didn't think so. He just wished he could be sure.

Once in the house, Bing left the wine he and Caroline had purchased in the wine cellar, then stopped by Darcy's room to return his car keys. Darcy accepted them with a nod but seemed not to want to talk, so Bing let him be. He was not ready for the day to end, though, so he moved on to the guest wing, hoping Jane would join him for a movie.

In the guest wing, he followed the sound of Jane's voice to Lizzie's room a couple doors down. The women sat at the end of Lizzie's bed.

"Hey, Lizzie," he said after seating himself beside Jane. "It's too bad you couldn't join us today. You missed some great wines, but we bought some Sauvignon Blanc that you can try later." He looked up then and saw that Lizzie's camera was still on. "Oh, hi Charlotte! Wow"—he looked back to Lizzie—"this is a really long video letter."

"It isn't actually a video letter," Jane began, but Lizzie interrupted.

"No, let me tell him." She took a deep breath. "Bing, I…I have a video blog."

"Oh! Well that sounds like fun. But I can leave if you're in the middle of—."

"I've had it since April. And the last few weeks…I've been filming it here."

He was confused. She'd said that like it was a confession. "Lizzie, you're our guest. You can treat the house as yours. It's fine if you film your videos here. I know Caroline will feel the same way."

"But you're in them! I let you think they were letters to Charlotte, but they weren't."

Bing's eyes cut to Jane. It was she who had first told him they were video letters.

"I mean, Jane actually was filming a letter to Charlotte that time," Lizzie clarified, speaking more and more rapidly, "but Charlotte also edits all my videos, and I let her post it. And later, when you asked about a movie for Jane, I put that in my videos too. On Youtube. It was deceptive, and you're probably getting all kinds of creepy comments from the internet now, and…I'm sorry."

Bing looked slowly from Jane to Lizzie's camera and then to the woman herself. "Lizzie, it's fine. I'd have said yes if you'd asked me about posting those videos. If you want, you can post this one too. You're my friend, and Jane's sister, and…it's fine."

"Oh, um, thanks," Lizzie said, still looking nervous. Then her phone rang. "Oh, that's Charlotte. Finally! I've been trying to get hold of her all day. Um, excuse me." She walked out of the room and down the hall as she answered.

"Thank you for being so understanding," Jane said, touching his hand. "I'm sorry too. I didn't think you'd mind being in Lizzie's videos, but I shouldn't have just assumed that."

"No, you were right. I don't mind." He glanced back at the doorway, through which Lizzie's voice could be heard faintly. "Lizzie seems really stressed over this. Did I say something embarrassing on camera that I've forgotten about?"

"No, no, you were always super sweet." The sincerity in her words and smile sent his heart floating somewhere in the stratosphere. "Lizzie is just upset because Darcy found her filming this morning. He gets to her sometimes, and then she vents about him in her videos. And she's embarrassed because, um…". She began to blush. "She talks about us a lot too, and about Mom's…". Her voice trailed off.

Well now he was definitely curious. But he was also a gentleman. "Jane, if what's in the videos makes you uncomfortable, I'll just not watch them, ever. I'm not some stalker who has to spy on you any way I can."

Jane looked away from him, one hand fidgeting with her hair. "No," she said finally, "I don't want you to feel like I'm keeping secrets from you."

"I won't think that, I promise. I trust you."

"Thank you," she said with an uncertain smile, "but…I want you to watch them."

And with that, his evening plans were settled. Lizzie's laptop was on the desk in front of them, and Jane quickly navigated to a playlist. Bing angled his body slightly to see the screen and wondered what he was getting himself into. On the face of it, Lizzie talking a lot about him and Jane in her videos seemed promising…but why did Jane seem so nervous?

Lizzie appeared on the screen, and the next few minutes were full of confusion. The high view count on her first video was unexpected, and while he was amused by her descriptions of the 2.5 WPF club and why most rich, single men weren't actually eligible, he was stunned to realize he was the reason she had chosen that topic for her first vlog. Apparently he had been the subject of intense gossip when he bought Netherfield—"rich, hot, and single…jackpot!," as Lydia put it.

Lizzie's next video about her sisters also began unsettlingly. Lydia, she said, was a "stupid, whorey slut," and she was just describing how Lydia "marked her territory all over town" when Lizzie herself walked back through the door. Bing turned to her and tried to hide his confusion. He had never heard her use language like that before.

"Ok, I'm…oh my G-, you're watching the videos?"

Jane leaned around him to say, "It's ok, Lizzie. I want him to watch."

Some unspoken communication passed between them. Then Lizzie said, "Ok, I guess I'll…um…make myself scarce."

Jane was on camera when he returned his attention to the videos. He smiled at the sight of her, and again at the real woman beside him. She, he noticed, did not speculate about his arrival or his fortune.

His first meeting with Mr. Bennet was the subject of the next video. Bing relaxed a bit as he watched it, amused by Lizzie's comically inaccurate version of that encounter. Perhaps, he thought, she exaggerated in her videos for entertainment purposes. And she did correct herself now and admit Lydia wasn't as she'd described. He did not quite understand her…but that was nothing new. He liked Lizzie, but she was sharp and clever, and sometimes her debates with Darcy went way over his head.

Even with that understanding, the title of her next video horrified him. "My 500 teenage prostitutes?" Had the speculation about him taken a sickening turn?

"She doesn't really mean that," Jane said, hands clenched in her lap. "Just…keep watching."

He did, and was further shocked. Mrs. Bennet had stalked him to the point of stealing his mail? He looked to Jane, hoping she would confirm that Lizzie was exaggerating again, but she would not even look at him. What had she thought of his arrival? He could not begin to guess, now. And Lydia confirmed that her mother had bribed her to drive by his house, so Lizzie's account could not be wholly exaggeration.

"After the Wedding" came next, and Jane was on camera again. Would she mention meeting him? At first it appeared she would say nothing. Lizzie, dressed as her sister, gushed that he had stolen her heart, that "it was like the stormy clouds of loneliness parted, and his face was the sun shining happiness down into my life." Bing knew even before Jane protested that she had said no such thing. He could not imagine her gushing like that, no matter what the subject.

Then Jane donned a plaid shirt of Lizzie's and began to portray her sister. "You and Bing did hit it off rather well. Maybe Caroline will be your sister someday, and be less mocking than your current sisters."

Bing's whirring thoughts abruptly stilled, his heart pounding. Had Jane just said what he thought she'd said?

Lizzie as Jane countered, "Or maybe we'll just date for a little while, get our sexy times on, that kind of thing."

"Maybe, and maybe that will lead to something more pure and wholesome."

"It's not like me to speak so hastily of commitment, especially with a man that my mother picked out and practically stalked for me and my sisters."

Jane looked uncomfortable at the mention of stalking but did not let that deter her. "No, but sometimes things just happen, and who knows, maybe this is just meant to be."

Bing swallowed hard. In that moment he could not care, nor scarcely remember all that had unsettled him. He turned to Jane, whose eyes skittered away immediately. The serenity that had always seemed innate to her was gone; she seemed even more embarrassed than before. He wanted to set her at ease, but he was stunned, speechless.

Maybe this is just meant to be. He had thought that too, after that first magical night of dancing and talking with her, but the voice of self-doubt in his head had thrown cold water on it. Now he knew that, beyond his highest hopes, Jane had felt the same way from the beginning.

Bing slowly took one of her hands and kissed it. She did not pull away as she had last time, when she was sick. Instead, she met his eyes.

"I felt the same way," he said quietly. "I still do."

Jane smiled and visibly relaxed. Bing smiled in return and threaded his fingers with hers.

The playlist continued, and Lizzie's vehemence in the next video quickly caught his attention, but happy as he was, not even Lydia's rather crass portrayal of him or Lizzie's speculation that Darcy paid him for his friendship could perturb him very much. Lizzie's vehemence was explained in the next video, which did perturb him.

"I'm sorry she heard that." He frowned as Lizzie mimicked Darcy's verdict on her as "decent enough." He was glad she hadn't heard Darcy continue on that theme later that night, when he'd tried to defend her as attractive. "I would as soon call her mother a wit" would only have hurt and infuriated her further.

It was several more videos before Jane appeared again. This time she was ecstatic, eyes and face alight, clapping with excitement as she told Lizzie of the flowers he'd sent. Bing grinned at seeing the reaction he'd hoped for. He had selected the flowers with care, after scanning her pinterest boards for ideas, and had sent them to her workplace because he knew her career was important to her. But he'd been uncertain at the time whether she really liked them. She had called and thanked him politely, of course, and he had made himself content with that. He didn't want to be the guy who had to get thanked all the time. It was just that…he liked making people smile, giving joy to those he cared for. He always had. Even Caroline, usually so self-possessed and cynical, could occasionally be reduced to happy squeals by a well-chosen gift. It thrilled him now to see how happy his flowers had made Jane.

A dinner invitation had accompanied the flowers, and that dinner was the topic of Lizzie's next video. Bing was pleased—he found he enjoyed reliving the past like this. Then, partway through the video, came an exchange of utmost interest, as Lizzie and Charlotte disagreed over whether Jane should continue to "play it cool" toward him.

"I think it's obvious she really likes him," Charlotte said, buoying him even more. "I just think we're the only two people who can tell." A clever bit of editing showed her, as Jane, greeting someone she really liked, her mortal enemy—did Jane even have such a thing?—and the mailman with an equally warm, "Oh hi! It's so good to see you!" Charlotte continued, "We, as life-long scholars of the many moods of Jane Bennet, can tell the difference. I'm not sure Bing can."

"Well, he's a smart guy," Lizzie retorted. "He'll figure it out."

"I'm sure he could, if he put his mind to it. The question is, will he put in the effort if he's not getting any encouragement?"

"Well if he's not going to put in the effort, he's not worth her time," Lizzie concluded.

That…was very informative and thought-provoking. Bing's mind was racing, trying to take it all in, when Jane opened the next video with, coincidentally, "Oh hi! It's so good to see you!"

"I guess I do say that a lot," Jane said from beside him. He had been too wrapped up in the on-screen conversation to register her reaction to it. He looked down now to find her cheeks flushed, her forehead furrowed.

"You make people feel welcome and appreciated," he said reassuringly.

She smiled slightly before taking a steadying breath. "Is Charlotte right?"

"Um…," he floundered.

"I mean, I know I'm reserved," she continued. "It's part of who I am, and…and maybe a little bit because I'm overcompensating for Mom's…enthusiasm. But is it really very hard for you to tell what I'm feeling?"

It was an important question and deserving of a thoughtful answer. Bing reached to pause the video, buying himself time. "It is, sometimes. I feel like the opposite, myself, that I'm too obvious when I like someone. That's what Darcy says, anyway. And I guess it's harder to read people who are different than us. But…," he continued, thinking aloud and realizing the truth of it even as he spoke, "Lizzie is right. If we're going to be together, it's my job to become an expert on the, uh, 'many moods of Jane Bennet.' I think I'm up to the challenge. And Jane"—he trailed the fingers of his free hand down her cheek—"there is nothing I'd rather do."

Jane's eyes were achingly wide as she listened, and when he finished she grasped his fingers and kissed them, echoing his earlier gesture. "Thank you, Bing," she said quietly. "I'll try to work on being more open with you too, and not hiding what I'm feeling or what I want. I—I don't want you to doubt that I care for you."

"I don't, now."

How was it possible to be so exhilarated and yet so at peace? Bing wrapped an arm around her waist when they resumed the videos. They were both enjoying them now, laughing as Lizzie alternately portrayed both of them in costume theater and then again when Jane impersonated Darcy.

"Lizzie's viewers loved this one," Jane informed him, looking adorably pleased with herself.

"I think even Darcy would enjoy it," he replied. He caught the gist of the sketch, too, and the possibility of Darcy being fixated on Lizzie made him thoughtful.

The videos still had their awkward moments. Bing's eyes widened at the sight of the molded green beans in cranberry jello. He rather thought Lizzie exaggerated again with talk of her mother's convoluted plan involving a white-gowned Jane, the jello, and a freak rainstorm, but then Jane blushed and hid her face against his shoulder.

"She really would have made you do that?" He would have treated Jane respectfully and honorably, even in such a situation, but any number of other men would have taken advantage of the situation…of her. He wondered if her mother had attempted such a thing before, and felt a little sick.

"I hope I could have talked her out of it," Jane said, leaning back and smoothing her hair distractedly. "I don't think it actually rained that day anyway. The…drought, you know." Her brow knitted. "I know it sounds unhinged, but she just…she wants so desperately for all of us to be happy. It can be overwhelming sometimes, but…". Her voice grew firm. "I love her for that."

Bing nodded slowly. "I think I understand." He smiled a little. "She and I both want you to be happy, so we have that in common."

Lizzie and Lydia also shared that desire. Lizzie choked down the jello concoction in question—provoking Bing to gratitude and sympathy—and despite their embarrassing speculations, both women were clearly thrilled when, after a later party, he and Jane spent the night talking and connecting at a deeper level.

Time in the videos approached the present as yet another convoluted plan brought Jane and Lizzie to stay at Netherfield. Bing was actually looking forward to his own appearances by this point, but his pleasure in them was mingled with surprise.

Caroline had found the videos. She encouraged Lizzie to keep filming, which pleased him, but he couldn't quite understand her reasoning for not telling him: "I think we can both agree that the men discovering your video diaries would be catastrophic, especially for your sister's budding relationship with my dear brother." Catastrophic how? He would have been bewildered, of course, if he'd seen only Lizzie's first few videos. Perhaps that's what Caroline meant, that she was trying to protect him. But why would she encourage Lizzie to lie to him about the videos?

It didn't quite make sense. But it didn't have to, not right now. The hour was late, and Jane had already begun to yawn and lean against him, drowsy and warm. Bing closed Lizzie's laptop when the last video ended and helped Jane to her feet. They found Lizzie in the sitting room a few doors down, pacing rather than sitting.

"We're done," Jane said, her smile stretching itself into yet another yawn.

He kissed her forehead. "Let's get you to bed. Goodnight, Lizzie."

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It was late, very late, by the time Lizzie returned to her room. As she did, she saw that the camera was still on. Charlotte had been sending her texts for the last hour, pestering her to send the footage so she could edit it and get to bed. Her job meant there would be no time for editing in the morning. Lizzie turned off the camera, sent Charlotte the footage and some brief instructions, then tried to get some rest herself.

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This was such a fun chapter to write! I enjoyed the challenge of writing Bing and Jane for the first time, and in a scene unlike any we see between them in Lizzie's videos. I would appreciate any feedback about my portrayal of them and their LBD marathon!