Thanks all! I've demoted the story – hopefully the AN in chapter 1 is enough of a warning.
Many of you had it right! I was so worried that I was coming out of left field. I promise lots more shenanigans.
Both people in the room turned and Will thought he was falling. The man staring back at him, "Richard, what the hell are you doing here?"
Richard stared at him open mouthed, "Darce? How do you know Bea?"
He balled his fists, "who the hell is Bea? That's Elizabeth Bennet."
"I know her name," he said rolling his eyes. Wouldn't he know the name of the person who's hand he was holding? He couldn't understand why his cousin was here all red faced stating the obvious.
"Will, good morning. I told you, that you don't need to come and check in on me. I'm fine," chimed in Elizabeth.
"You two know each other?" Darcy asked, ignoring Elizabeth's remarks.
"Yes, how do you two know each other?" asked Richard.
"I'm getting a headache. Shall we just do introductions?" asked Elizabeth, tired and not understanding the tension that had suddenly filled the room.
They nodded dumbly, still looking only at each other.
"I know Will from some work I'm doing for a client. Ruff, that is Richard and I have worked together on some MoD and FVEY things over the years. He's my best friend."
There was an open emotion on Darcy's face that looked like fascination. He wondered if he was reading his cousin right. If he was, a well-placed jab might reveal the situation. "A little more than that, love."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Richard's response. Richard jovially continued, seeing that Darce indeed was jealous. His mind raced through the possibilities. Bea and Darcy were possibly very well matched. In the past few meetings between him and his cousin he'd seen him trying to change. If he could finally remove the stick from his ass the two of them might have a relationship that could light the world on fire. And while the expression on Will's face showed a certain amount of affection for her, Elizabeth clearly wasn't going to go that easy. "Ok, yes. She's my best friend in the world. So, I'm here taking care of her."
Darcy stared at them incredulous, seeing the intimacy of their clasped hands and wondered if there was anything more that neither of them were saying. What kind of a small world was this? It seriously made no sense. "Richard is my cousin, and Elizabeth is my, is my friend. She knows where Georgiana is. The intermediary that I told you about."
"Oh, you're the one keeping Georgiana safe?" he looked at her. Ah, so that's why they'd come in contact. When he'd recommended Will ask Lee to find Georgiana, he hadn't known what he was setting into motion.
"Oh my, you're cousin Richard? This is a small world. I did what I had to do to keep her safe. The man currently waiting summary judgment in court is Wickham, her husband."
Will's head was spinning. She was already deeply intertwined with his life in ways he'd never considered. She did what she did for Georgiana. She knew Richard. The world must have gone through some portal dimension where everything was the same but different 6 weeks ago. There was no other way any of this made sense. He slumped down on the chair and vaguely heard some voices in the background.
She grinned at Will's expression, "go check on him. I think it's like an information overload. Take him out to get some tea or something. I'm going to rest. Send in Charlie and Jane, please?"
He took her hand and kissed it. He knew he should've been more careful with Darcy but it was just too much fun not to poke a little. He winked at her, she rolled her eyes and with that he appeared near Darcy. He pulled him up and took him to the coffee shop. He stopped on the way out seeing Bing and Jane.
"Richard, glad you're here," said Charles, patting him on the shoulder.
He saw the camaraderie between the two and immediately guessed, "you knew, you knew they knew each other and didn't say anything."
Charlie shrugged, "why would we say anything? Richard wasn't even around who knows what goes on between those two. I find it best to stay out of it."
Jane laughed. She kissed Richard on the cheek, "thanks for last night."
He embraced Jane, "you know I'd do anything for her. This was easy as pie, after everything she's done. And clearly more I don't even know about. She didn't tell me about Georgiana."
"It's not like she could anyway." Jane smiled serenely at him. She knew that she had nothing to worry about when it came to Richard and Elizabeth, they cared deeply for each other. He understood her like no one else, sometimes she wondered if Richard knew more about her than even her sisters. Will, though. He was an unknown commodity in this situation. She whispered to Richard so no one heard, "talk to him about her. He's falling for her. It could end in misery or absolute happiness. But so much of it depends on him."
Meanwhile, Charles took Darcy to the side, knowing that Jane wanted to talk to Richard for a minute. "You look like crap."
He looked at his friend and said the only thing on his mind, "I don't think I understand the world anymore, Charles. Ever since the Elizabeth came to my office the first time, everything is crazy. Nothing makes sense."
Charles laughed, "I've no doubt that it will soon enough."
Darcy looked curiously to the side and saw Jane and Richard talking softly. How could this ever make sense?
Richard took Darcy to the coffee shop knowing this was going to be a long conversation. Once he got him some tea and Darcy looked like he was somewhat more aware of his surroundings Richard started talking. "Darce, listen to me ok. Don't interrupt me. Just try and listen. Let me start with the most important thing. You were absolutely right to trust Bea with Georgie, no one in the world will protect her better. I mean she's here with cracked ribs and a concussion just for Georgie. So stop worrying. When Bea and Georgie are ready, she will reach out to you. I was wrong to tell you to push things in 6 weeks. Had I known it was her, I wouldn't have. There isn't a single person I trust more in the world. And it's killing me that I didn't apprehend Wickham myself. If I'd done that years ago instead of listening to you, Georgie and Bea would be fine now. But I listened. She's always going on and on about choices. I suppose we all made our choices here. What's done is done." He ended with a groan.
Darcy looked at him unsure what to say but also sure that he was right to trust Elizabeth. "Why do you call her Bea?"
He deflected, "Darce why don't we head over to your place. This is a long story and I need something a bit stronger than tea."
He rolled his eyes, "It's 11 am, Richard. I barely saw Elizabeth. I'm not day drinking with you."
He knew his cousin could be stubborn, but he knew he was right, "trust me, you need space and time right now. And you will want something stronger by the time I'm done too."
Darcy nodded, he wasn't sure what he'd say if he did see her. There had been too many revelations this morning. On auto pilot Darcy walked out of the hospital and drove back to London.
Richard went back to her room, "well Bea, looks like you've thrown my cousin for quite a loop."
Elizabeth glared at him, "I've done nothing. He just wants his sister and he's not getting to see her yet. I suppose you want to know where she is too."
He snorted, "you forget how well I know you, love. I know exactly where she is, obviously the centre. But I agree with you. Right now just take care of yourself and we'll figure out the Georgiana situation when the time is right. I suppose she's choosing not to meet us right now."
Elizabeth beamed at him knowing that he did understand without her having to say anything.
Richard continued, "I'll be back soon. I've got time off after everything. After that, Charles, I hope you don't mind if I come and stay with you all for a little while. I'm sure you'll take her with you once she's discharged." He saw the look on Charles face, and added, "where else would she go?"
Elizabeth piped in, not wanting to inconvenience anyone, "Ruff, what about work. You can't. I have my sisters."
He crossed his arms across his chest, "what am I chopped liver? Of course, I'll be there for you. How could I not? There you'll be my captive audience not allowed to leave having to hear all my stories and terrible jokes. Once I tell Mark what happened, I'm sure he'll give me extended leave. Working in the government has its perks."
Elizabeth groaned. She really didn't want to be coddled.
Richard added knowing exactly what she was thinking, "love, if you didn't want to be babied, you should've knocked Wickham out earlier."
They all laughed. Lizzy sputtering because laughing made her ribs hurt. It was easy now knowing that she would be alright.
Charles never really understood the relationship that Richard and Elizabeth had. While platonic, they also deeply loved each other. It wasn't sibling like, but it was a different kind of admiration and love. He never understood why it didn't tip over into actual love. And he wondered if that was Lizzy or that was Richard. But somehow he just couldn't picture it. He walked Richard out, "take care of Darcy. He seemed very addled and confused." He thought about Darcy and Lizzy. While his wife seemed to think there was something there, he couldn't picture that either.
Richard laughed, "that's where I'm going. Do talk to your wife Bing. She understands things better than you."
He left a confused Bingley and drove back to Darcy's penthouse.
Darcy had been home for half an hour. The entire time he just tried to piece together some of the information he had. There was so much missing, it was as if he was trying to use the pieces from different puzzles to complete this one. And the story he had created in his mind made no sense to him. How was any of it possible?
As Richard let himself in, he saw Darcy pacing up and down the long hallway. The man hadn't even looked up to see who had entered his home. As Richard went and poured himself a glass of scotch, he set one down on the table for Darcy too. "Darcy, just sit and relax, ok. I understand that you're confused right now and don't understand things. I'll make this as easy as I can, though it's a bit of a convoluted story."
Will asked him the simplest question he could think of, "why do you call her Bea?"
He nodded, "yes, I'll get to all that."
Darcy agreed eagerly.
Of course he was, Richard thought. Bea was special, and the fool in front of him was in love with her without truly understanding her. Was that even possible? He knew that feelings don't need to be understood they simply demand to be felt. If you try and infuse rationality into feelings it rarely works. He'd seen Bea struggle with that too. Though she was getting better, protecting her heart was still something that was deeply ingrained in her. "I met Bea when she was setting up her own chambers a few months before Georgie eloped. She needed clients. The FVEY was looking for human rights lawyers to do ad-hoc consultation on a few projects. Lady Hale recommended her. She said no initially, not wanting to get her hands dirty by getting connected with what we did. Lady Hale recommended she try because we needed her expertise, something about 'would you rather a bad lawyer help them interpret international law, human rights, and humanitarian law, who barely understands Geneva conventions or you?' She met me on her recommendation. So, I met her. We took to each other instantly. She started doing some consulting work for us. It was going well, she was a young idealist lawyer, I suppose she still is. But she has a toughness I've rarely seen. If you were with her in the 10 minutes after she knocked out Wickham you know exactly what I mean."
Richard took a long sip of his scotch before he continued, giving Will a few moments to digest what he'd just said. "Bea is amazing. No, amazing doesn't cover it really. She's been through so much. But she's pulled through it each time through sheer resilience. I've seen her at her worst and now this past year, very much at her best. I've been proud to be part of that journey with her. And it isn't just me who'll say that to you. She has my entire team at FVEY and my boss wrapped around her little pinky finger. If I tell any of them what happened, they'd find a way to deport Wickham to some unnamed island."
Will looked up at Richard, surprised at what he was saying. He saw it too, Elizabeth was indeed fantastic, but to hear that so many people felt the same thing was disconcerting. "You love her?"
"Patience, Darce. I'm going to tell you things about her that she wouldn't want you knowing. I shouldn't. She will probably never talk to me again if she found out. So please, for the love of god, don't fucking tell her."
Will nodded quickly, needing to know more about her.
"Lydia, her youngest sister ran away from home at 16. It changed all the Bennets. I didn't know them then and so some of this is hearsay. But I've pieced it together pretty well over time. Jane went from living in London having the life of a in demand pastry chef, to becoming a recluse rarely baking. But she also became even more astute, if at all possible. She has this uncanny knack of seeing things other people miss. She told me this morning that you were falling for Lizzy without truly understanding her. It's because of what she said and what's all over your face that I'm doing this, Darce. You need to understand her. You think you do. But you don't."
He looked abashed at being called out so easily. But only said, "that much is clear, Fitz."
"You're not denying that you have feelings for her?"
He shrugged, but knew better than to try and dissemble to his cousin, "I don't know what I feel. I also don't understand what Jane said. But at this point there's so much I don't understand that that's just a drop in the bucket."
Richard looked at him, seeing that he was telling the truth he honestly felt something without understand either the emotion or it's object. "Like I said, it changed all of them, Bea was in a corporate job, long hours, making so much money. She hated it with a vengeance. She told me once, that wasn't why she became a lawyer. She wanted to do good in the world and that wasn't good work. She took time off, hiked around Europe, came back and set up her chambers. That's when I met her. She was already very resilient by nature, but she decided that it was her mission to help as many people as she possibly could in the world and that's what she does now. I'd tell you more about Mary and Kitty, but it's not relevant for this story. They all changed because of what Lydia did."
"That's why she switched careers?" So, Caroline did have some of it right.
"Yes, and she is unbelievably good at what she does. She works more than ever and even does some pro bono work. But because she enjoys it, so it works for her." He took a few breaths before beginning the hardest part of what he had to divulge. "Back to her and me. We were out of country in the December of 2019, I can't say more most of it is still classified. She shouldn't have been there, but she insisted that she needed to understand the situation on the ground. What she did there, and everything we saw, it would've eaten at most people for the rest of their lives leaving them changed in unanticipated ways. The work I do, it's not for everyone. Instead of letting it change her she took her anger, turned it into passion and channelled it back into the work she does every day. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if it didn't affect her, it did. It devastated her. But she came back stronger. That's who she is."
He took a few sips. Saying the next part in a monotone, not wanting to remember it himself, "despite the armour we were wearing, she was badly injured, she had internal bleeding, shrapnel wounds, it was bad. We weren't sure she was going to make it. I thank the stars every day that I was with her. It'd have killed me had I not been with her. I was injured too, but she took the brunt of the attack because she ran ahead to pull a kid when she saw a grenade. I don't even know how she saw it, but she did. When we came back and she was ok I was angrier than I had any right to be. I asked her if it was worth it, if being so reckless to save a kid would have been worth it if she'd lost her life doing that. She looked at me and said, 'I made a choice. You need to respect that even if you don't like the one, I made. If you can't do that, then you're not the person who I thought you were.'" He smiled then, knowing what was important about their relationship for him, "I can't talk to anyone about my work, either because it's classified or because it's too much for people to understand. The guilt, the fear, the devastation, I truly hate myself sometimes. But she gives me something that I never thought possible. And she will always be that person for me. But that's what we are. Both of us know what we are to each other, and that's what matters. So yes, we love each other, but we're not in love with each other. I doubt I'll find anyone, but she might find someone, might be you. Who knows?"
Darcy was getting increasingly agitated during this speech and he didn't exactly know why. But he knew what could be the right thing to do, "Richard be serious, I've never heard you talk about anyone like this. If you love her, my feelings are immaterial."
He shook his head, "Darce, you're not listening. She and I will be in each others' lives no matter what. But we're not romantic, we never have been. It would never work."
He didn't understand it, "you say that now, but it makes no sense. Why wouldn't it work?"
He tried to be as honest as he could in words. But it was mostly just feelings of certainty about the way it had to be for them. "We're not right for each other and we both know that. Being in love is different from loving someone. Both she and I understand the difference. If I loved her and I was a woman you wouldn't question our relationship. It'd just be two girlfriends. Just because we're not doesn't mean it can't still work that way for us. It's something different, something I can't name and have no real need to name."
He asked one question he was dying to get an answer to, "so you're saying if you saw her with someone else it wouldn't bother you?"
Richard shrugged, "if I like the guy, if I approve of him, certainly not. Bea deserves only the best. So, you have an advantage there, I already quite like you."
Darcy laughed, he was truly starting to understand. He knew he'd need more time to figure it out. But he was getting there.
Richard got up realizing how much time had passed and said, "I'm heading over there for some time. You need more time to think, and I wasn't able to properly visit her this morning."
Darcy waved him off, knowing Richard was right. And he did think. He'd barely registered the story about their mission before. She really could take care of herself. If he had to be with her, he couldn't be officious or protective. He would have to let her be exactly what she was and take the risks she took. Letting her make her choices as Richard said. He'd felt it this morning, a kind of deep and ardent love for this woman who'd turned his world upside down and somehow his world was better for it than ever before. How was that possible. It was a sinking feeling he'd felt as well though, what if she didn't want to be with him? She didn't seem to understand that he was drawn to her. He'd have to show her that he cared. Beyond the need to find his sister. He didn't know how. But he knew that he had to leave behind some of his ways when it came to her. His mind went back to Harriet's question. What was it to be happy? He knew now that it looked like her. In whatever way, in whatever capacity she would let him. It looked like being in her life, it looked like prancing in the snow, it looked like dinner with her. He was surprised at the change in his priorities. But he knew that it had been a long time coming. He'd thought more about his mother in the past few days and remembered more about her, about the love and affection shared by his parents. And now, more than anything, more than Pemberley, he wanted that.
How do you feel about that? There's been some hints I've dropped - here's some of them:
- how do you think Darcy found Lee to follow G? Richard gave him that info (perhaps I should've made that connection more clear as this was always in my mind!) and is now clarified in this chapter because I can't remember if i said it earlier or not!
- who did you think that Lizzy referred to when she olivia was born Lizzy said, "Only one person was missing. She tried not to think about that, else she would become rather morose. This was it. Her family." Who did you think was missing - Richard of course!
- Belarus was a clear clue too, I think!