Chapter Twenty Three: Twists

"I know I've said this a hundred times, but that horse, Peter… My God!" Hugo was effusing from the driver's seat, 'Peter Hayward' sitting next to him and 'Anna and Rosa Hayward' in the backseats. It was two weeks later and they were on their way to Edinburgh for a weekend at the races.

Eddie Gardiner, Stacy Gardiner and Lizzy Bennet had another motive for going.

100,000 of them in fact.

Of course, they couldn't be sure, but this was the least amount of money they expected to be in possession of come Monday morning. It had all been so easy. Hugo Chamberlain had fallen for it all hook, line and sinker. Lizzy felt a brief flash of guilt for the poor man, before she quickly pushed it away. Hugo wasn't a good man, she should have no issues taking a fraction of his wealth. She would not let guilt ruin her first big score.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking along those lines. There was still a long way to go, still a whole weekend to get through. Hell, maybe Hugo wasn't even going to do what they thought he was going to do. Maybe he wouldn't offer them any money for the worthless horse that was rolling around their fake stables. But they were pretty sure he would. They had played it to perfection, had picked the mark who was overwhelmingly likely to take the bait, and had executed. Now came the final push. They had to maintain that perfection.

Lizzy leant her head against the window and closed her eyes, briefly reflecting on how far she'd come in the space of less than a year. She'd returned from Las Vegas changed, hardened, humiliated, having been taught a lesson. She realised that before she had been naive to the point of ignorance, arrogant to the point of delusion. Will Darcy had shown her that. And instead of shrugging it off, she decided to use it, use the lessons learnt to become someone not different, but someone savvier, someone better, someone who could play this game seriously. Gone were the dreams and the delusions, replaced with pragmatism and a reality check. Didn't let her forget herself though, didn't let him completely shatter her self belief. She had skills, she knew that. One of the best short con players working in North London, she knew that too. Came to a fork in the road when she had touched down in London. Did she take Lady Catherine's advice, walk away from what she was, what she loved, or did she listen to Darcy, use her talents and run with them?

She went with Darcy because, well… she didn't know any other way to be and perhaps the other option was just too scary.

As soon as the decision was made, she got to work. She moved away from the Bennets, indeed she hadn't seen most of them in months. Still lived with Jane, still saw Lydia every now and again despite how distant her sister had become, but she focused her attention on others, people who could help her achieve her goals. For a few months, she picked up where she left off with Cyclops, running some solid grifts, building up a small reputation and some new contacts. One of those new contacts was Stacy Gardiner. Stacy was around forty years of age and Lizzy and Cyclops had stumbled across her when they accidentally barged in on one of her scores, a clever twist on the classic Rag. The Rag was a scam that encouraged the mark to invest in stock market shares illegally that turned out to be worthless in the end. Indeed, the score they were currently playing was a version of this. Lizzy and Cyclops had been staking out Stacy's mark for a couple of weeks, keen to play a similar scam on him. They hadn't realised he was already in the midst of being taken. Lizzy had attempted to reel the mark in, all in front of Stacy Gardiner, who had to seek them out and warn them off before her own scam came down around her. Lizzy promised to walk away, as long as the woman gave her her number. She realised that this was a woman who she could maybe learn something from and she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. They got on well, Lizzy used all the charm she could muster and after a couple of months of meeting up occasionally, she met Stacy's husband, Eddie, the second part of the duo. They were long con players who had spent the last few years in the States building up a respectable reputation in grifting circles over there before deciding to return to England for the last few years of their career. They were going to retire at 50. The Rag scam had been their way of settling back into the British game with something basic, and they were ready to press on. And they needed a crew. Lizzy begged them, said she'd start out at the bottom, said she'd do anything just to be involved. Her pride took a dent, but she knew that this was what she had been waiting for. The Gardiners appearance in her life had been no accident, fate had brought them together and Lizzy was fucked if she was going to let her pride stand in the way of that. After some coercion, they had agreed. Lizzy would come on board in an observatory capacity initially. Eddie was the roper, Stacy the inside woman, and completing the crew was a fixer by the name of Hakim 'Hacker' Ali whom Eddie had flown over from the States. Hakim was twenty one years of age and a complete genius. He'd spent his teenage years as part of the Anonymous collective, executing some of the biggest cyber attacks the world had ever seen, before he decided the risk was too high and got out while he still could. His friends were dropping like flies and it was too much for the young man. At some point, he had collided with Eddie, and he and the Gardiners were now like family. Lizzy had been a bit jealous at first but she'd soon got over it. Hacker was an overwhelmingly nice guy as well, shy, nervous, all vocal tics and stutters, with a good heart and an uncanny knack for grifting. This was all child's play for someone who had spent their actual childhood hacking into the most secure locations in the world. Lizzy suspected he welcomed the change of pace.

Lizzy had watched them, watched how they worked, how she could incorporate that into her own game and now she was finally taking part in her first long con. She had been despairing for a couple of months, thinking that Stacy was never going to give her the nod, but she stayed patient and it had come. She was to be the roper, with Eddie and Stacy playing the inside on this one. Her job had been to reel Hugo in, become someone he'd like, and introduce him to Eddie and Stacy. She became Anna Hayward. And she'd played it well, Eddie and Stacy had expressed how impressed they were. Initially the plan had been for her to step out when she'd reeled Hugo in, her absence being explained by 'Anna's' boarding school. Instead, due to her good work, she stayed on the inside, growing closer to Hugo, reinforcing their cover. And now they were about to take his money. It had all been so smooth.

Until that one word.

Pemberley.

She hadn't been able to help her reaction. The wounds were too fresh. And just as they were perhaps scaling over, here he came again. Will Darcy, the man who was swiftly becoming her actual nemesis. Managed to gloss over it at the time and Hugo had not been suspicious, but there was no fooling Stacy and Eddie. Told them her history with him. She said there was nothing to worry about, quickly confirming with Charlotte that Lady Catherine was nowhere near Scotland. Will Darcy was in prison, she had no doubt about that. The lack of fanfare surprised her though, she had expected Catherine to shout about her victory for all the world to hear. But instead, nothing. Darcy had gone dark, there had been no mention of any of his legendary crew for months, it was a mystery in the London grifting circles. Only Lizzy knew that he was in prison, serving time for attempting to rob his aunt of Pemberley.

How ironic that her big break was going to come at the place where he had called home. Somehow, the two of them had become entwined, Elizabeth Walker and William Darcy, as different as two people could be, yet bound together by some unknowable force. She despaired of it. Perhaps her opinions had softened after his letter, that outpouring of history and emotion making him seem like a human being whose mistakes were as big, if not bigger, than everyone else's. He'd been through some shit, no doubt. A lot of his own making, sure, but still, you couldn't help but understand someone a little better and sympathise a little more when they told you their life story. She was still angry about her sister, but even that had faded. Jane had done well to shrug it off, any embarrassment she felt put aside, in fact she claimed that in some ways it was better this way. At least now there was a reason that Charlie had left, at least now she could console herself with the fact that it was not due to some shortcoming on her part. And Jane had surprised her again by half agreeing with Darcy's take on the whole situation. It's all in the game, that's what she had said, and Lizzy realised that she, and to a certain extent Darcy, were right. Lizzy and Jane were criminals, they were con artists, they scammed people everyday. So, did they have the right to be offended when it came back on them, when they were the ones played? Probably not, she concluded after time.

That was the past though. Now, she was living her future. Thanks to Lady Catherine she would probably never see Will Darcy again. But she would be going to a place that would be forever linked with him.

"You alright there, Anna?" Hugo Chamberlain's voice shocked her out of her head. "You look miles away…."

"Oh, you know me, Hugo," she grinned childishly back. "Always dreaming about something!"

Hugo laughed before continuing his conversation with 'Peter' leaving Lizzy free to shake herself from her musings and turn over the plan in her mind.

This was it.

Perfection is required at every stage.

The game was on.

It's not about the money.

They arrived in Edinburgh early in the afternoon. They stopped at a pub, one of those awful gastro pretensions, for some food, before they began the short drive out of the city towards Pemberley. Lizzy couldn't help the nerves coursing through her, due to both the score and the place they were headed. In what seemed like two minutes, Hugo announced they had arrived.

She had to hold in a laugh of disbelief when they drove up the wide driveway and Pemberley was revealed in all its glory. It was stunning. The grounds were vast and littered with beauty, a huge lake taking pride of place, running straight up the middle and flowing right to the building itself. It was like no hotel Lizzy had ever seen before, more National Trust than Hilton. Traditional yet modern, gleaming but weathered, old money but new money, it was hard to describe. It took her breath away. In some ways it was everything and nothing she had been expecting from Will Darcy. And to think, this could have been her future, her home even, if things had turned out different. From being abandoned on the streets of London to this castle, it would have been quite the turnaround.

She had to forget about all that though, she had a job to do, people who she cared about were relying on her.

So, she went to work. Acted with the childlike wonderment that was Anna Hayward's trademark as they came to the entrance, giggled like a schoolgirl as her bags were taken from her by the concierge, grabbed Hugo's arm as they entered, thanking him profusely and pointing out everything around them with excitement. Making him think that he was in charge, that he was dealing with country bumpkins who didn't know real luxury, that he had the high ground. As they reached the check in desk, they were greeted by a rosy cheeked woman who she would guess was in her late fifties. Introduced herself as Mrs Reynolds, the hotel manager. Again, Lizzy was surprised. This woman was nothing like the usual hotel employees, all cold professionalism and judgemental looks. She was friendly, bubbly, even slightly scattered, veering from one point to the next with little logical trail. She gave the place a family feeling, as if this was a place where the guests were people coming home from their holidays, not the other way round. Not what she was expecting from a hotel owned by Lady Catherine De Bourgh.

Mrs Reynolds showed them to their rooms, which were as beautiful as she had come to expect by now, not those modernistic pods that were all the rage, but homely with stunning views across the grounds. They were all offered a tour of the hotel, but Hugo had arranged for him and 'Peter' to go into town to some members clubs to meet his friends who were already there. It was men only apparently, one of those awful traditions of the privileged, but in this case Lizzy was just fine with that. It would give Stacy a chance to go and check in with Hacker, who was stationed at a bed and breakfast a couple of miles away in the tiny village of Lambton. This left Lizzy alone. She was too curious not to take the tour, so she waved everyone off and then sought out Mrs Reynolds.

"So, Anna was it?" Mrs Reynolds asked as she led her through the grand lobby, not waiting for an answer. "What do you think of Pemberley so far?"

"It's beautiful." Lizzy replied breathlessly, making sure to stay in character. Didn't need anyone getting suspicious at this late stage.

"I'm glad you think so!" Mrs Reynolds exclaimed happily, taking Lizzy's arm.

"Have you worked here long?" Lizzy asked, couldn't help but want to probe for a little information.

"Oh yes, some thirty years I'd imagine. I've seen it all here. To be honest, it used to be a bit of a dump this place when Mr and Mrs Darcy, God rest their souls, were in charge. Became a little seedy in my opinion. I don't mean to speak ill of them, don't get me wrong, they were fantastic people, but they focused more on the gambling aspect of the place, attracting all kinds of chancers. It was their son who turned it around, young Master William. Inherited it after his parents died. It's all done to his tastes, see, all the rooms, the grounds, the decor….."

"Is he still here?" Lizzy asked, fully aware of the answer but interested to see what the spin was.

"Oh, not at the moment," Mrs Reynolds replied sadly. "He's run into a bit of trouble with some outside business, but we hope he'll be back soon."

Lizzy snorted inwardly at the delusion, she suspected that the woman knew full well that Darcy wasn't coming back any time soon. Perhaps she was kidding herself, telling others the lies so she could somehow legitimise it in her mind. It caught Lizzy off guard though, the warmth with which this woman spoke about Darcy, like a proud mother. Couldn't imagine Darcy inspiring that in anyone. Refrained herself from asking any more questions, didn't want to seem too nosy, it may raise suspicions.

"Ah, yes, here's the gallery," Mrs Reynolds pushed through some double doors to reveal a high ceiling marble room, sparsely populated with all sorts of artwork, from portraits to sculptures. She wandered around for a little while before her eye caught the far wall. Adorned on it were three large portraits. Ran her gaze over them. The first showed a middle aged couple wrapped around each other, laughing with ease. The next showed a young blonde girl of about twelve she'd guess, a slight smirk on her face that promised mischief in the otherwise adorable features.

She couldn't hold the catch in her breath when she looked at William Darcy. All her interactions with the man came flashing back, hurtling through her mind at a million miles an hour. Who was Will Darcy? Try as she might, after all that had happened, after all he had done, she couldn't help but keep lingering on the question. Picasso, a spoilt rich boy, an orphan, a brother, a friend, a betrayed friend, a leader, a genius, a chancer, a lucky man, a bad man, a good man, something in between the two, scum, criminal, thief, addict, in love with her, in love with the idea of her? Who was Will Darcy? In this picture, in this moment captured in time, who was he? Which incarnation was she looking at? He was smiling slightly, his eyes reflecting this, relaxed and alive. Perhaps more alive than she had seen him before. There had always been something lifeless about him she realised, the sense that this was a man drifting through his existence. The few times he had animated himself, when he'd talked about the long con, when he'd shared a quiet joke with Richard, when he'd confessed his love for her, when he'd poured out his whole self in that letter, that was the Will Darcy she was looking at right now.

"He's handsome, isn't he?" Mrs Reynolds said quietly from next to her, causing her to jump.

Lizzy smiled slightly before she frowned.

"Yes, I suppose he is."

"Hey, Hacker, what's up?" Lizzy spoke into her phone. She'd been taking a walk around the grounds alone, despite the ominous clouds overhead. This was Scotland after all.

"Just l … le…..letting you kn…..kn….kn….know we're good to g….g….go." Hacker's tinny, stuttering voice echoed back.

"All set up, yeah? You got with Stacy?"

"Y…ye….. Yes."

"Good. Alright. don't really see why you need to be here to be honest, I'm sure you've got better things to do than drive ten hours just to sit and watch."

"We do this together." Stacy's voice cut over Hacker's stuttered agreement with Lizzy.

"Alright, alright. I'll see you later."

Lizzy clicked off and looked to the sky, hearing the rumble of thunder approaching. Could affect the races tomorrow she supposed, but that didn't really matter. That's not why they were here.

Just as she was making the decision to head back to her room, the first drops of rain fell, soon becoming more frequent and within a blink becoming an all out downpour. The grounds were vast and she had wandered pretty far through the private forest. Wasn't sure she even knew the way back. Stupid girl, getting caught up in her mind, not focusing on the score, not being ready if she was needed for some reason. This was the type of thing she was trying to eliminate, that self obsessed streak that had her too much in her own head. She was Anna Hayward, not Lizzy Bennet. She was here to do a job, not worry about her past.

Looked desperately around her, the rain soaking through to her skin, causing her to shiver and wrap her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm. Stumbled back in the direction she thought she'd come from, searching for some cover. After a while and after almost giving up hope, she finally spied shelter in the form of a half hidden stone pavilion about fifty metres away. She broke out into a run, reaching it in record time. Let out a breath of relief as the rain cascaded around her, hammering into the soil with ferocity. Took off her jumper, one of those awful preppy things that posh girls wore and called fucking sweaters, and began to dry her hair with it. Inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and her nose detected a sweet foreign smell, something that she knew all too well from her youth.

"Fucking Scotland, man…" a woman's voice called out from behind her in a light Scottish accent.

Lizzy spun round in surprise.

A young woman was smirking back at her from her position sat on the cold stone leaning against one of the pillars, legs stretched out in tight black jeans and ratty converses, pixie hair cut blackest of the black, eye liner deep ocean blue, head crowned by the smoke from the spliff dangling from her mouth. Piercing on her nose, tattoos covering her bare arms, this girl was something different, Lizzy knew that right away.

Stay in character though, Lizzy. Stay in character, Anna.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Lizzy exclaimed in her Anna voice. "I didn't realise anyone was here…."

The girl said nothing back, just stared at her with piercing grey eyes, that smirk still present.

"I just need somewhere to wait out the storm…" Lizzy tried again, this time being met by a raise of an eyebrow.

"Free country," the girl finally looked away, taking out a lighter and burning off the edge of her joint again. God, Lizzy could do with some weed….

Stay in character, Anna,

"Thank you so much!" Lizzy said, gratefully. "I didn't mean to disturb you, I just got a bit lost, these grounds are massive aren't they? I mean, I grew up in the country, but this is something else!"

"Quite." the girl dismissed, Lizzy would wager that she wasn't listening at all. Couldn't blame her, Anna Hayward was one boring motherfucker.

"I'm Anna," she wrung her hands together nervously, "I'm staying here for the weekend."

"Good for you."

Silence descended. Lizzy looked around, desperately hoping for the rain to stop so she could get away. But if anything it was getting heavier. Sighed inwardly, resigning herself to being Anna Hayward for a good while longer in this girl's presence. And that meant nervous chatter and social awkwardness, not sitting in silence.

"It's such a beautiful place," Lizzy grit her teeth and got on with the job. "Are you staying here too? It's really something, you know? Can't believe I've never heard of it! I'm going to the races tomorrow, how cool is that? Yeah, Hugo, he's a friend of mine, he's got us a private box with all the luxuries. I can't wait, he's such a nice man…."

"Look," the girl interrupted with a sigh. "I'm pleased for you, I really am. I hope you and this Hugo have great sex and that you enjoy being waited on by the commoners tomorrow. But can we, like, not do this? I just wanna smoke in peace."

"Of course, yes," Lizzy replied, holding back the laugh that she wanted to let out. This girl had balls. "Sorry, I do tend to talk too much, always bloody chatting away, that's what my Mum says. She's here as well, and my Dad, Hugo invited them too, he's so generous, after all we've been through the last few months he's been a real ray of sunshine, you know? You know when you meet someone who's just really nice….."

"Oh, God, make her stop…" the girl muttered, raising her eyes to the pavilion roof.

"Just really nice and friendly," Lizzy ploughed on. "He's been so good to us, we had some problems you see, Mummy and Daddy won't tell me but I know. I'm not stupid. Daddy did something bad, made all our friends, not that I had many anyway, not talk to us. But Hugo, he doesn't care about all that, he sees past it…."

"Fucking hell, stop!" the girl raised her voice, and Lizzy fell silent, doing her best to look nervous and oblivious. "Look, love, this Hugo is only after one thing, you see that right? No man is as nice as that. He wants to fuck you, yeah? You know what that is, right?"

"Well, yes.. But I don't think….." Lizzy looked confused.

"They think about food and sex. That's it. And you're hot, in that Daddy's princess kind of way, so trust me, he's going to try it. The real question is, do you want him to try it?"

"I um…. Um…."

"Yeah, you totally do," the girl laughed, looking out into the rain. "Fair play to you, pal. Get it where you can, that's what I say."

"Get what?"

"Sex, kid. Never turn down a fuck."

It was taking every ounce of self control for Lizzy not to lose it and burst into laughter. The girl reminded her of herself, all vulgarity and too cool for anything attitude, carried off to perfection. The Scottish accent always made everything sound better as well.

"Oh… right." Lizzy recovered, moving a few steps away and perching on a bench that was opposite the girl.

"Peace at last." the girl chuckled, closing her eyes and taking a big drag and blowing smoke rings out methodically, as if this was a ritual done many a time.

They stayed silent for a while, Lizzy eyeing the girl cautiously. She seemed somehow familiar, she was sure she'd never seen her before, but had the feeling that maybe she was wrong about that. The rain wasn't easing. Checked her watch and realised that though she still had plenty of time till they were due to meet on the casino floor at eight o'clock, she would need to move within the hour. Couldn't believe she might fuck this up. Her first score and she'd gone for a fucking walk. Idiot.

Felt eyes on her.

"You said your name was Anna?" the girl asked, tilting her head to the left, eyes appraising her with alarming perception.

"That's right." Lizzy crossed her arms, glancing around.

"So, you're one of those rich country girls then?" the girl continued. "Weekends at the races and city breaks, spending Daddy's money, clutching on to the nearest man in bad khakis and hunting jacket."

"I suppose…." Lizzy looked down, not keen on where this was going.

The girl continued to look at her, eyes unwavering, making Lizzy feel slightly hot.

"No," the girl narrowed her eyes after what seemed like hours. "No you're not, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you come in," the girl ignored her. "Earlier in the lobby. Latched onto that dim looking bloke, gazing round and exclaiming at everything. Dressed in those God awful clothes. And then this, the spiel, the chatter, the oh so boring white noise. You're good, I'll give you that. But who are you really?"

"What are you talking about? I'm Anna, I've told you."

"You're a liar."

"Excuse me?" Lizzy began to panic.

"It's an act, isn't it? A good one, but an act all the same. Almost had me fooled for a bit, although I'll blame the weed for my slower than normal brain."

""I'm Anna…."

"Maybe you are, maybe you're not. Hey, listen, it's fine. I won't tell anyone." the girl winked.

"Seriously, you're really confusing me."

"No, I'm panicking you," the girl corrected with a smirk. "But you're keeping it up. Props to you. You got skills but you're a liar all the same."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

The girl sighed and closed her eyes.

"I know when to spot one is all," she spoke quietly, a hint of vulnerability poking out. "I grew up with a liar, I fell in love with a liar, I lived with liars. It becomes all you ever know after a while. It's fucking tragic is what it is, but still…."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lizzy snapped, recognizing the mistake immediately. Anna Hayward would never do that.

"There we go," the girl laughed. "There you are, it's always just below the surface isn't it? The part you want to hide. I could tell you that it's the way you walk, the way your eyes constantly look for escape routes wherever you are, the boredom that sets in when you're going off on those faux stream of consciousness monologues. You know what really gave it away though? No wide eyed spoiled rich girl wanders the woods alone in the rain when there's a luxury spa and swimming pool waiting for you indoors. Basic things, girl, basic things. But you know what, it's your shit, none of my business really. I couldn't give a fuck what you really are. Working girl, escort, thief, grifter, dealer, cheat, whatever."

The girl stood up abruptly.

"Well, looks like the rain stopped. Better make the most of it, it'll be a temporary reprieve. We are in Scotland after all. Go straight ahead from where you are, come to the clearing and you'll see the hotel from there. And good luck with it, whatever your game is. Tighten it up, girl. Tighten it up."

With that and one last smirk, the girl crushed the last embers of her spliff underfoot and walked away into the trees without glancing back.

Lizzy took a deep breath and walked quickly in the direction she was told, panic almost overcoming her. Because if Lady Catherine had taken Pemberley, if she was now running the show, if Will Darcy was in prison after losing everything…...

Well, if that was true then what the fuck was Georgiana Darcy doing here?

AN: Thanks for reading, hope you're having a great day!