French Kiss -- Section I

By Paula J.

Section I, Next Section

Chapter 1

Posted on Wednesday, 09-Dec-98

"First day of the semester," thought Elizabeth Bennet, taking a deep breath and mentally squaring her shoulders as she faced Meryton Hall. "I hope that my students will be as wonderful as last semester's." She began climbing the outside concrete stairs to the second floor.

"Hi Miss Bennet," chorused a small group just inside the large entrance doors.

"Hi guys! Are you taking French II this semester?"

"Yeah, we found out your line number and we all transferred in. Don't tell Prof Dineen, though. We went through a lot just to find out and he hates having people try to pick their own Grad student teacher!" offered one of the group, a vivacious brunette named Tamar.

"We couldn't break in another Grad student, ya know," continued another as they walked with her to the classroom.

"That's great!" Elizabeth beamed. "I won't have to 'break in' many second semester students, then! Did you all have a good holiday break? Or maybe I should ask that en francais?" She deposited her armload of books on her desk as the group groaned collectively.

"Already? Can't we just warm up slowly?"

"Slowly? That's beginner's stuff! Let me set up and we'll start in 5 minutes." Elizabeth turned her attention to writing assignments on the chalkboard and checking the number of handouts against the roster. After taking attendance and doing basic introductions, she launched smoothly into the day's teaching plan and was surprised when the end of class bell rang.

"See you all tomorrow...a demain," she smiled, "and don't forget to review your passe compose for oral drills tomorrow!" Several made faces at the announcement and left, loudly proclaiming her their favorite slave driver. Elizabeth good-naturedly waved good-bye and re-collected her books, heading for her small office in the basement.

"Oh, hi Jane!" she exclaimed, almost colliding with her oldest sister who suddenly rounded the corner. "What are you doing in Meryton Hall? Isn't the Psych Dept. still in Lion Hall?"

"Hi Lizzy!" Jane replied as Elizabeth winced. "Sorry, Elizabeth. I can't help it...I called you Lizzy all our growing up years. It's not easy to change overnight."

"Overnight? Jane, it's been a whole semester since I asked you. Maybe I should call you Janie again!"

"No, that's okay. I'll remember, I promise! Want to get some lunch?"

"You came over just to eat...here?" Elizabeth looked at Jane sceptically.

"Well, that and give you some great news I just heard. Remember that article that I read to you on new techniques for family therapy?"

"Vaguely," Elizabeth replied, stifling a yawn. Jane shot her a dirty look.

"Anyway, the author, Charles Bingley has transferred here to work with Prof Lucas!"

"To work with Bill? Why?"

"Because he's renowned in the field, Li-Elizabeth. Anyway, I'll get to meet him at a get-together the Department is having Friday night."

"Sounds terrif. Hope you have fun."

"I hope you will, too."

"I'm not in the Psych Dept, Jane."

"I'm inviting you. Don't look at me that way. Please, for moral support???"

"Oh, all right, but you owe me one. Dept parties are always the most dull, useless..." her voice trailed off as her eyes while sweeping the main floor cafeteria room, happened upon a dark-haired, muscular Adonis engrossed in reading. "Hmm, too mature and studious for your normal undergrad, unless he is pre-med...gorgeous, simply gorgeous. What do you say, Janie?"

Jane was furiously yanking on her arm and was hissing, "Let's get out of here!"

"Where's the fire, sis?"

"That guy with the one that you were scoping out--that's Charles Bingley. I recognize his face from a photo I saw." Elizabeth stole a quick look behind her to the sandy-haired companion of the dark Adonis and noticed that the former had obviously seen Jane as evidenced by the same glazed-over, open-mouthed looks that Jane usually attracted. He noticed Elizabeth's glance and smiled a wide, friendly smile before saying something to his friend. The Adonis slowly looked up from his book, coolly assessed the blue jeaned, nondescript sweater-wearing Elizabeth and Jane's departing back briefly before returning, uninterested, to his book. His friend smiled sheepishly, and slightly raised his hand from the table in a clandestine wave. Elizabeth grinned, rolled her eyes at Adonis' head and followed Jane into the food line.

Chapter 2

Posted on Thursday, 10-Dec-98

"So, you're interested in Charles Bingley?" Elizabeth enquired as they walked toward her office.

"In his work, yes," Jane replied, blushing as she spoke, "after all, I don't know him personally, at all."

"It didn't seem like he was against making your acquaintance..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because while your back was turned, I made eye contact with your Mr. Bingley."

"He's not my Mr. Bingley..." Jane said emphatically, struggling not to smile. "Let's go see if Charlotte is in your office. I'll bet she's hungry, too."

"Nice segue, Jane. Don't think that I'm done with the Bingley topic yet!"

"As far as I'm concerned, there's not much else to say." Jane said blithely as they entered Elizabeth's cramped office that she shared with Charlotte Lucas.

"Hey Charlotte, what's up?"

"Same ol', same ol' squared," Charlotte smiled wearily at them from behind a mound of papers and books piled up on her desk.

"Don't tell me that you gave them homework already, Charls!" Jane said in mock horror. "Why, think of all the psychological damage..."

"Yeah, to me when I grade them!!" Charlotte retorted. "Actually, I'm getting my thesis research in order...or making a feeble attempt, anyway."

"What's it on?"

"Not quite sure. Something on Marcel Pagnol and childhood psychology." She gave Jane a lopsided smile. "Got anyone you'd suggest that I include in my research?"

"How about Charles Bingley?" Elizabeth suggested sweetly, casting a sly look at Jane who stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"Charles Bingley? Now, why is that name familiar? Oh, yeah, he's going to be working with my Dad. Why Jane, you're all red! Is he that much of a studmuffin?"

"I wouldn't know," Jane protested, turning a deeper shade of scarlet. "I barely saw him in the snack bar, but his work is wonderful!"

"Hmmm," Charlotte seemed loath to respond. "It's not my area, really. Dad was really put out when I didn't follow in his footsteps and took up this 'unprofitable course of study'. But I'm sure that he must be good if he was able to work with Dad. Hopefully his stuff is slightly more interesting than Dad's!"

"Are you going to the do on Friday?" Elizabeth asked.

"I suppose. I hope that you'll be there, Elizabeth or I'll be forced to actually listen to all that drivel and be exposed to pseudo-psychologists...no offense, Jane."

"None taken."

"Yes, Jane is making me go with her."

"Well, gotta run." Jane stood up to leave. "My first class is in ten minutes and your Dad hates it if anyone is late."

"Tell me," muttered Charlotte. "Bye Jane, see you on Friday."

"Bye!" Once Jane had gone, Charlotte watched Elizabeth settle into her desk before asking:

"So, what's the 411 on Charles?"

"Normal-appearing.."

"That's a plus!"

"As I was saying...nice smile, pleasant."

"Sounds boring."

"But his friend...yowza!"

"He has a friend?"

"Saw them in the cafe. He's quite the gorgeous man-of-the-year type. But, sniff, sniff, I don't think that he's into women."

"Why's that?"

"'Cause he barely noticed Jane."

"So, he's blind?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"How are your sisters doing this year?"

"Mary's still in Philosophy. Graduates this year, and acts like she discovered Kant. Catherine, well, Kitty is in a sorority and Lydia is a wannabe Little Sister."

"Little Sister?"

"Meaning that she follows Frat guys around to get noticed so that she can hopefully pledge a sorority next year. Duh. How's Mariah?

"Same as ever. Not quite as hyper as Lydia about boys, but progressing that way rapidly. I suspect that she's sneaking out at night to go to the Jazzhaus, though."

"Fake I.D.?"

"So it would seem. Well, gotta go research. Want to come with?"

"Can't. My first seminar with Prof. de Bourgh is on and I better go now. Ancien Provencal...I wish that I could just take 20th century and skip the old stuff."

"I think that the Beckett class has gone to your brain!"

"It's early in the semester, so I at least still have one! I think. See ya." They parted and Elizabeth went upstairs to her first class. Upon entering the room, she was startled to notice that Adonis was also seated at the long table with the other students, most of whom she had known for quite awhile. He looked at her without apparent recognition or interest and looked at the Professor who came in after Elizabeth.

"Oh, William, there you are," said Prof. de Bourgh. "Have you met everyone yet? I think that everyone else knows each other already."

"No, I haven't."

"Well, let's all get acquainted, shall we?" asked de Bourgh but it sounded more like a command. They all did as she requested and told about their level. William Darcy, the Adonis was a Phd student, working with Professor Gardiner on his dissertation on Marcel Proust.

William, in turn, discovered that Elizabeth was doing her thesis with Professor Eliot on Beckett and modern theoretical physics. His eyes widened in respect on hearing her topic and he began to watch her a little more closely as she spoke in class.

During the class, Elizabeth felt the strength of his gaze upon her, but she studiously ignored him until at the very end of class when she stubbornly widened her eyes at him in annoyance and stared him down. He refused to look away and their impasse was broken only by the siren ringing class dismissal. Elizabeth rose and almost sprinted for the door, colliding with William who seemed almost as in a hurry as herself.

"Ow. Sorry. I have to go teach now."

"Sorry, Elizabeth is it?"

"Yes. If you could let me by..."

"Oh, of course." She pushed past him impatiently and was surprised that the slight body contact gave her a jolt. She looked back at him, to see that he was still staring at her, with an unreadable expression on his face. She shrugged and took off at a dead run. William watched her disappear around the corner, and leaned against the door jamb as if for support.

"All that and a brain, too! I think that I'm going to like this University." He smiled to himself and went off to his own office.

Chapter 3

Posted on Friday, 11 December 1998

The week passed slowly for Jane, but normally for everyone else. Jane managed to talk Elizabeth out of her ever-present blue jean ensemble and into a long slim skirt and matching blouse. Although Elizabeth knew that she was no match for Jane and her drop-dead looks, she was still very satisfied at her image in the mirror.

"Hey Janie, what do you think?"

"You actually look normal, kind of like a Professor, if Profs ever wore slit skirts!"

"Maybe I'll start a new trend, once I get my Phd, in about ten years!"

"Is that why they call it tenure?" Jane felt Elizabeth's purse hit her in the arm. "Ow, it was just a joke…"

"A very bad one at that! Where is this shindig anyway?"

"It's at Prof Lucas's house. Didn't Charl tell you?"

"Nah. She doesn't care about the party that much. Well, if it gets really boring, then Charl and I will go up to her room and listen to CDs."

"I guarantee that it won't be boring."

"I suppose that's because Charles Bingley will be there, humm?"

"Stop it, Elizabeth. You are so maddening."

"Especially when I'm right!" They pulled up in front of the restored Victorian mansion that belonged to the Lucas family and got out, Elizabeth with much reluctance and Jane with many different emotions racing through her. They were met at the door by Charlotte, who had been looking out the window for their arrival.

"Gee, took you long enough!" Charlotte said. "I almost had to make small talk with some of Dad's gradual students."

"Not nearly punishment enough for the likes of you," Jane said in a teasing voice, while Charlotte looked at her in astonishment as Jane walked past her into the great room.

"What's with her? I could almost swear that she was teasing me…so unlike Jane," Charlotte watched her disappear into the room.

"Charles Bingley, in a word," replied Elizabeth.

"Oh, the man of the hour. Well, he hasn't shown up yet. Fashionably late, I presume. He's supposed to be bringing some people along, a friend and some family. I guess torturing us wasn't bad enough, he wanted to torture his family and friends, too."

"Charl, you are too much!" said Elizabeth with glee. "Better keep those thoughts to yourself or you'll be entertaining them with things to analyze!"

"Yeah, yeah. I wanted to listen to some real good background music, but Dad insisted on this weird Lori Anderson crap. Sorry. We can always go listen to our stuff in my room."

"I think that I'll hang for awhile, just so that I can show Jane that I'm keeping my promise."

"Okay, suit yourself. I'll stay with you for awhile, but when it gets too painful, I'm out of here!"

"Deal!" They both began to circulate around the room together, making small talk with the students and faculty present. Finally, after about 10 minutes, Charlotte changed the music to a less cacaphonic CD and smiled wryly at her father, who didn't even seem to notice, as he was engrossed in conversation.

All conversation in the room ceased and every eye turned toward the door when Charles Bingley entered the room, followed closely by two women in their early 30's, one slightly pudgy, bored looking man and William Darcy from Elizabeth's Provencal class. Professor Lucas hurried to their side to make them more comfortable and Elizabeth noticed with amusement how the two women swept the room with obvious disdain.

"Hey Charl, get a load of those two."

"Charles' sisters, no doubt. The redhead is married to the stubby one. Their name is Hurst. The other one is still single and very actively seeking marital status. I think that she's seeking it with William Darcy, there, Bingley's best friend. What a gorgeous man, that one!"

"I guess, if you like that kind."

"Well, I don't know of anyone who wouldn't, quite frankly!"

"He's not my kind."

"Since when is tall, dark, and extremely handsome not your type?"

"He's rude, arrogant and thinks very highly of himself."

"Too bad. Well, we can still look at him….you know, like art."

"He might notice and get an even more inflated ego."

"So we'll just be subtle, as always!" They both snickered together and started to mingle with the other party-goers, making derisive faces at each other from across the room. William missed none of their interplay and, although it helped him to pass a rather boring evening in the company of people that he cared very little for, he began to think of Elizabeth as rather childish, and not at all like his idea of a grad student. He continued to watch them, occasionally being struck by the animation in Elizabeth's eyes, but overcame those thoughts as he focused on her 'immature behavior.' He was thus ruminating when he was accosted by Caroline, Charles' single sister.

"Delightful party, n'est-ce pas?" she commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Is it?" William replied in a bored voice.

"Why don't we just leave Charles here and go find something more…exciting to do," she slipped her arm through his suggestively.

"Actually, I doubt very much that there is anything very exciting to do in this town," he responded coolly, disengaging his arm from hers pointedly. Elizabeth and Charlotte took in this interaction as they were standing only a few feet from them and they both burst into laughter, which caused William's placid expression to become irritated.

"Hey Charl," Elizabeth whispered to her friend, "Let's go find something 'exciting' to do!"

"I thought that you'd never ask!" They linked arms and went to sit outside on the large porch swing, whispering as they went. William watched them leave, with some reluctance, as they had at the least provided some entertainment. He turned his attention to Charles who was across the room, talking to a very beautiful blonde who seemed to be hanging on his every word.

"Odd," he thought to himself. "Charles doesn't usually get that kind of reaction." Out of curiosity, he edged over to Charles' part of the room to try to hear their conversation, and was surprised to find that they were only discussing Charles' most recent research on family therapy. William was surprised because, although the conversation was riddled with what he deemed psychological jargon, both people seemed almost to have a second level of understanding and both were obviously admirative of the other.

"Blah, blah, blah," he thought. "Now where did Elizabeth go? Oh, yeah the porch. Maybe I'll just nonchalantly wander out there, to get some fresh air. Yes, that's a good excuse." He opened the door and was astonished to see the two friends, comfortably seated, and rocking back and forth on the swing, conversing easily in French. They stopped when they saw him, and gave him the 'yes, what is it?' look.

"Pardon me for intruding."

"That's okay. You're not really intruding," Elizabeth replied flatly with a look that indicated the contrary.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the unoccupied portion of the swing. Charlotte flashed an amused glance at Elizabeth before answering:

"Sure, go ahead."

"What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing," said Elizabeth at the same time that Charlotte said "the summer institute program in Paris." Elizabeth shot Charlotte a warning look that Charlotte chose to ignore.

"Yes, I've heard about that. Prof de Bourgh is in charge of it, isn't she?"

"Yes, I believe that she is this year. It seems that you already know Prof de Bourgh," Elizabeth stated.

"Yes, she's my aunt." William replied as both women looked at him, Elizabeth's mouth slightly hanging open.

"You must get along really well, then, if you're taking a class from her."

"Sort of. It's a love-hate relationship, actually. Anyway, I need to take the Provencal class to fulfill a requirement."

"Me, too." Said Elizabeth with a sigh. "It's actually not that bad, though. I looked through the text and it's doable."

"So, you're working on Samuel Beckett. I thought that he's an Irish writer."

"He is, but he wrote a lot in French, so it is included in the curriculum. I love some of his stuff, it's so…"

"Vague, blurry? Incompressible?" offered Charlotte.

William hid a grin. "Well, his work is rather, um, interesting, to say the least."

"The very least," retorted Charlotte. "I prefer to understand what I read. That's why I like Marcel Pagnol so much. His style is so much more accessible."

"I must speak in defense of my Beckett," Elizabeth interjected.

"Someone obviously should, before we all lose interest," said Charlotte with a huge smile.

"That's not fair, Charl, I don't bad-talk Pagnol."

"That's because he is impossible to bad-mouth…such an exquisite writer…"

"If you like that type," Elizabeth replied with a meaningful look at her friend. "Some might find that style too…pretty."

William looked at them both with a puzzled expression on his face. "Something tells me that you're speaking in code."

"And smart to boot!" Charlotte laughed. "So, William, why do like Proust so much? I know that he's a great author and all, but why specifically?"

"I like how he expresses himself…"

"In such few words!" Elizabeth chortled but was silenced by a withering look from William. "Sorry, couldn't help it. Please go on."

"He's very descriptive and truly captures the essence of the moment. I'm fascinated by his sentence structure."

"Yes," Elizabeth said merrily, "all five of them!" William looked offended and she hastened to add, "I'm sorry, William. I do like Proust, but you have to admit that his sentences are infernally long. Why, by the time I get to the end of one, I've completely lost the original train of thought!"

"His writing is very elegant," William said stiffly and looked as if he would prefer to be elsewhere.

Charlotte took pity on him and changed the subject. "Have you ever been to France, William?"

"Yes, I studied for awhile at the Sorbonne. You?"

"Not yet, unfortunately. Elizabeth has, though."

"Where did you study, Elizabeth?" he asked in a formal tone.

"Grenoble. Very pretty spot, but a little too cold in the winter for my taste. I prefer the climate of the Cote d'Azur."

"Who doesn't?" William was beginning to say when the door swung open, and Caroline stood there, hands on her hips.

"So here you are. I've been looking all over for you." Her voice was tinged in irritation. "Charles thought that you'd left, but I volunteered to find you."

"I'll bet you did," he muttered as Elizabeth and Charlotte exchanged amused looks. He got up from the swing slowly and said "Please excuse me, I must return to my group, apparently." He looked behind him at the two who smiled their good-byes and reluctantly went in the house. Caroline shot them a triumphant look and followed him in. The rest of the evening was spent in the same manner, the two women in private conversation and the rest of the household milling about, with one rather put-out male studying the group and not seeming that happy with what he observed. Finally, the guests started to leave, and Charles' group managed to pry him away from Jane, with a promise to call her soon, and they all left.

"Whew, that torture is over for another year!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Only once a year?"

"At least here in our house. There are others, but they usually spread them out to the other faculty members, you know, so everyone can be equally tortured."

"You're such a social person, Charl. How did you ever get to be daughter to Prof Lucas?"

"Luck of the draw, I guess. Why were you so hard on William Darcy?"

"He deserves it, pseudo-intellectual."

"Are you sure that you're not secretly attracted to him? I saw him staring at you all night."

"As if. He's about as interesting to me as a bowl of mush. Proust, yeah."

"I think that he's kind of nice, once he loosens up. You ought to try to be nicer or I might just snag him up."

"I think that you'd have to wrestle Caroline for that right!" They both laughed loudly and hugged good-bye.

"See you tomorrow, Charl!"

"Bye Elizabeth. Sweet dreams…of William!"

"Nightmares, you mean!" she called back over her shoulder as Jane looked at her quizzically.

"What's that about William?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all."

Jane smiled to herself in the dark and said nothing.

Chapter 4

For Elizabeth, the following week seemed to be almost a repeat of the previous week with teaching, her one grad class with William Darcy who continued to stare at her and make what she thought of as pseudo-intellectual comments and conversations with Jane that were filled with Charles Bingley. A repeat until that Thursday, when she walked into the French class that she taught.

"Hi class, is everyone ready to drill?" she asked and then noticed a new male student slumped in his chair, who straightened up when she looked at him and flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Wow!" she thought. "I thought that faces like that only came in magazines!!" She picked up her roster from behind her on the desk and tried to calm herself down by pretending to scan the contents.

"Monsieur…" she began.

"Wickham, Georges Wickham," he replied with a perfect accent. "Je vous demande pardon mais, …sorry, I had this whole thing memorized, but for some reason I've forgotten the rest. I just got back from Europe, there was a plane strike and so here I am, finally."

"But you're not on my roster. Are you sure that you're supposed to be in this class?"

"Most definitely this class." He smiled at her again, this time with meaning and Elizabeth could feel her face starting to get warm.

"Well, okay. I'll check with enrollment later. Do you have your admission slip to this class?"

"Right here!" He brought it to her and his fingers brushed hers purposefully. She took the paper from him and said,

"Thanks. We were just getting to the oral drills of the future tenses: the irregular ones. You can follow along on page 50."

"Thanks, Miss Bennet," George replied, emphasizing the 'Miss'.

Elizabeth tried to ignore him during class except when she had to call on him to make it seem fair, but whenever she did, he looked at her with such an intense look that she couldn't call on him again for 10 minutes. Finally the class was over and George insisted on staying after to help her erase the chalk board and to straighten up the chairs.

"So, you been teaching long?"

"This is my second semester."

"You're great. I heard some good things about you from my Frat buddies, so I got into your class even though everyone said that it was closed. You must be popular."

"Hardly. Everyone's sections are full."

"But especially yours. I checked."

"So, what were you doing in Europe?"

"Things. How long have you been interested in French?"

"As long as I can remember, even as a little girl, I was always fascinated by it. My mom bought some learn-French-at-home records and I used to listen to them and pretend that I was the one speaking."

"That's cool. Say, would you like to get some lunch together? I know this great place…"

"Look, George, it would be really nice to go have some lunch with you, but I do have to tell you straight up that I can not date my students. It's against the code. I hope that this doesn't come off sounding weird, but I want to make things clear from the get-go."

"That's fine. I would have liked to have taken you out, but professional relationship it is, then," he smiled and mock-bowed to her. "Then, Madame, I will trouble you no further. I must make a feeble attempt to get to my next class, no matter how late."

"You had a class to go to and were standing around talking?" she asked incredulously.

"It was worth it, definitely worth it!" George smiled at her. "See you tomorrow, teach."

Elizabeth watched him leave with a sigh inside. "Well, they are either students or stuck-up or unavailable. Just my luck." She walked downstairs to tell Charlotte all about her newest undergrad.

Chapter 5

"Say, Lizzy, what are you doing tonight?" Jane asked that Friday night. "A bunch of us are getting together and are going to Johnny's. I hear that there will be band there."

"Ugh. That smoky old bar? Why do you guys like to hang out there?"

"I don't know. It sounds like fun though. There is this one lead singer, a woman named Kim who does Aretha and Bette. She gives me goosebumps when she hits those high notes. She also does Janis Joplin…"

"Low blow, Janie. What time are you guys leaving?"

"In about an hour and a half. Say you'll come."

"Oh, all right. But I'm not going to wear a dress this time!"

"Fine, me neither."

"Next time, can we go to the Jazzhaus? I like the atmosphere much better."

"Okay. Maybe I can talk Charles into going there tomorrow night."

"You seeing a lot of him, or something? When do you have time to study?"

"We study together every day at the library, for your information."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that you're probably not making much progress on scholastics!"

"Actually, we get a lot accomplished." Jane blushed furiously.

"I'll bet," countered Elizabeth. "Well, I'm first in the shower, unless you need to go first…"

"Go ahead, I'll just watch some CNN while you do," Jane picked up the remote and switched on the TV, flopping into the nearby couch.

They were just putting on the last touches of make-up when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Jane cried as she ran to the door. "Oh, hi Charles, you look nice. And William, so nice that you could come, too. Is that Caroline behind you? Hi Caroline."

"Hello, Jane. Is this where you live?" she took in the poor college student apartment and sat gingerly down on the edge of a chair as if afraid of contracting a disease from it.

"Isn't it great?" Charles said enthusiastically. "Why this place is practically rent-free. Their father owns it and they don't have to worry about getting evicted or anything."

"Yeah, like I wouldn't want to get evicted from a place like this," mumbled Caroline under her breath. Charles shot her a quick look telling her to behave.

"That's the best part about it, other than being so close to campus," Elizabeth added, coming out of her bedroom. She smiled at everyone, but her smile lost some of its luster as it passed over William and Caroline. "Oh man!" she thought to herself. "If I'd known that they were coming, I never would have agreed to this. I'm going to kill Jane."

They all crowded into William's 4x4 and Elizabeth sat in the back as far away from him and Caroline as possible, but that didn't keep her from having to make conversation with them as Caroline insisted on talking to Elizabeth over her shoulder from the front seat.

"So, Elizabeth," she drawled. "You study French. Have you ever even been to France?"

"Once."

"Did you study there?"

"Yes."

"Where did you study?"

"Grenoble." Caroline was beginning to tire of her one word answers and determined to take up a different tact.

"How many students do you have this semester?"

"30."

"Are they all pretty good?"

"For the most part, I'd say," Caroline had finally hit on a topic that Elizabeth was willing to discuss. "Teaching is just the best thing in the world. There's nothing like sharing the knowledge that you have and having someone else get interested in it, too!"

William had been looking into his rear-view mirror occasionally and was watching her face animate as she spoke of her class and teaching. He was drawn so much to her observation, that the vehicle started to drift into oncoming traffic.

"Hey, William, are you trying to get us all killed?" Charles yelled. "I know that you didn't want to come out tonight, but that's no reason to kill us…"

"What? Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something else."

"Better think about your driving," Caroline said sharply, for she had noticed the origination of his inattentive driving. Soon they had passed over the bridge and turned into the parking lot of Johnny's where the loud music of Motown was blasting from inside.

"Sounds like a party!" Jane said and she and Charles beamed at each other, while the rest piled out of the vehicle, more stony-faced than before. They entered the smoke-filled bar just as the band's lead shouted,

"How many of you want to shout?" The crowd roared in anticipation as the opening bars of the Isley Brothers' famous 'Shout' came from the loudspeakers. "Oh, you make me want to shout, kick my heels back and shout…"

"Jane, let's dance!" Charles grabbed her arm and began to drag her through the throng already crowding the small dance floor.

"Do you ever dance, William?" Elizabeth asked politely, but without interest, just in case he thought that she was hinting.

"To this kind of music? Are you kidding?" Caroline replied for him. "William wouldn't be caught dead in this middle of this rabble." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at him and he looked as if he was going to respond when a loud voice proclaimed:

"Miss Bennet, you're here! When did you get here!" A small group of undergrads practically surrounded Elizabeth as she turned to answer the main questioner.

"Hey there! Just got here. Is the band any good?"

"They rock!! Will you dance with me later?" came another.

"Sure Jon! I guess that we can maintain a teacher-student relationship if it is a fast dance!!"

"Hey, I won't put the moves on you…I'd hate to flunk!"

"Well, I'll just have to drill you in verbs while we dance so that it's legit!" Elizabeth teased.

"As long as I don't have to be tested on tonight!" he retorted. "Well, we have to get back to our seats before someone claims them. I'll be back to get you later!"

"Great!" Elizabeth responded and happened to notice that William had a disapproving look on his face. "It's all in good fun, William. Besides, it's not like a date or anything. Very proper."

"I didn't say that it wasn't." he answered formally.

"You didn't have to," she said in a defensive tone. "Your expression said it all. Excuse me, I'm going to get me a drink." She swiftly left and bought a small drink and caught sight of a pay phone in the corner. She smiled and hurried over to call Charlotte who arrived within minutes.

"Hey Charl, I'm dying here!" she moaned in mock agony.

"What's up?"

"William. He's such a party poop. Some of my students want to dance with me and he makes it sound like we were going to do the Lambada or something."

"I'll dance with him."

"Good luck. He apparently doesn't dance to this kind of music, too vulgar or something."

"Hey Miss Bennet, I'm claiming our dance now!"

"Thanks Jon, I really like this one." They wandered off and Charlotte occupied herself with watching those around her as she normally did, taking in William's apparent fascination with Elizabeth's dancing style. She couldn't quite tell if he was enjoying it or not, as his expression was unreadable. She had almost determined to ask him to dance when another grad student from their department accosted her.

"Hi, Charlotte," he said hesitantly.

"Hi Bill," she responded flatly. "What brings you to Johnny's?"

"Well, a grad student needs entertainment as much as the undergrads, don't you think?"

"Actually, I don't give that much thought to undergrads."

"Do you dance, Charlotte?"

"Sometimes. If I feel like it."

"Would you like to dance with me?" his eyes pleaded with her to say yes.

"Okay." Charlotte followed him reluctantly to the dance floor. She didn't really want to dance with Bill Collins, the kiss-up of the department, but she didn't want to stand around all night either. After she had danced with Bill for a few minutes, she began to see the wisdom in standing around all night, as he flailed about wildly and stomped on her foot several times until she was almost ready to cry or belt him one. He managed to worm his way next to Elizabeth and attempted to crowd into her dance space but Elizabeth's partner frowned at him menacingly and he moved quickly away. William, watching all this from a short distance found himself tolerably amused, even in that setting.

"Don't you want to dance, William?" Caroline purred into his ear, as he jerked away, startled out of his thoughts.

"Not really. Why don't you find someone to dance with, Caroline?"

"Hey, I'll dance with you!" said a rough-hewn looking man standing near them. "Cmon honey, let's dance!" She looked back at William in horror as the man pulled her forcibly into the dance area just as a slow song was beginning. He smiled back at her and nodded as she gave him a drop-dead look of hatred. He noticed that Elizabeth had stopped dancing and was leaving the dance floor so he headed straight for her.

"Would you like to dance, Elizabeth?"

"What?" she answered in a shocked voice.

"I said, would you care to dance?"

"Are you asking?" she questioned, stalling to come up with a good answer.

"Yes."

"Well…"

"If you don't, that's okay." He seemed a little put out.

"Oh, okay. I don't usually dance slow with guys that I don't know very well."

"Me neither."

"So you normally dance with guys."

"You know what I mean," he said in an almost angry tone before he realized that she was teasing him, and his lips started to curve into a smile. He noticed that her touch was light and hesitant and very distant. He pulled her closer and felt the curves of her body against his own. From his vantage point, he could smell the scent of her shampoo and inhaled softly. He felt her body relax slightly as she began to sing along with the lead singer:

Everybody wants somebody to be their own piece of clay…

"Do you usually sing while you dance?" William asked.

"Yes, usually. It helps me to relax in tense situations."

"Is this tense for you?"

"Yes, but this Marvin Gaye song is helping. Just listen to the words and move to the music." He took her advice but mostly because she relaxed back into him and their bodies were swaying together in a way that he found to be almost like coming home. He looked at her face and she had a slight, dreamy expression on it that almost made him catch his breath. The song ended and he felt her pull away from him with regret.

"Another one?"

"Okay, I like this song, too." She noticed that he could move very well on faster dances and caught herself several times more than admiring the way that his jeans fit his muscular frame. She also noticed that he had started to sing along with the band:

You are my brown-eyed girl

"You like Van Morrison!"

"Reminds me of summertime." He smiled but then a most serious look came across his face and erased all traces of happiness. "I always loved summertime."

"You don't still?"

"No, not since my parents died. But, I don't want to talk about it. Not here, not now." He danced, but with listless steps until the song ended and he quickly left the dance floor, with Elizabeth trailing behind him, a saddened expression on her face.

"Hey, the music's not that bad!" the lead singer stopped them as she was going on break.

"It wasn't the music, really," Elizabeth said. "You guys are fantastic!"

"Thanks, we try," she answered modestly. "Well, I'd better let you get back to your gorgeous boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He sure looked like he wanted to be!" she replied as she walked away.

"yeah, sure," thought Elizabeth. "Although tonight he didn't seem quite so stuck-up as usual. Maybe there's something human in there after all."

"Hey Elizabeth, I'm glad that we found you so fast. William wants to go home, and since it is his vehicle…"

"Okay, I'm coming. Let me say good-bye to Charl." She found her friend chatting with some attractive guys with a rare look of contentment on her face, and since Charl was loath to also leave, they said their good-byes with a promise to get together the next day.

Elizabeth climbed into William's 4x4, as Caroline had been saying "…been so glad to leave a place in all my life. It will take me forever to get this nasty smell out of my clothes."

"Uh, I think that it comes out if you just wash them," Elizabeth offered in her best trying to be helpful voice.

"Really?" Caroline replied snottily and turned back to the front of the vehicle. They were silent all the way back to Jane and Elizabeth's apartment. Once there, Charles offered to walk them to the door, and held Jane's hand the whole way. Elizabeth left them at the doorstep and immediately went to her room and shut her door.

"It is still pretty early for a Friday night," she thought. "Maybe I'll be able to get up early and get to the library for some research." She shut out the light and promptly fell asleep.

Chapter 6

Posted on Saturday, 12 December 1998

Elizabeth woke up early the next morning, determined to spend a greater part of the day at the University library. She quickly found the main books that she needed and procured a comfortable place to read them. After a few hours of continuous reading, her eyes began to have a slight burning sensation, and she decided to take a break by looking at some of the archived books in the stacks. She noticed that the stack area was practically deserted and went back for her books so as to study there. As she placed her books on an available desk, she noticed that she had chosen an area next to the Proust collections, which made her immediately think of William.

"Wonder how William got started on Proust?" she wondered out loud.

"My father and mother used to read him to each other in the evening," came a very familiar voice from a corner not far away.

"I didn't know that you were here," Elizabeth said.

"Yes, I'm sure that you didn't," replied William, walking toward her.

"How long have you known that I was here?"

"When you first walked into the stacks."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"You looked like you wanted to be alone to study. I like my solitude, I figured that you must too, to pick such an isolated area."

"It is very secluded down here."

"Quite. So, are you studying Provencal or something a little more in depth?" He looked over her books piled on the desk.

"My thesis research. I'm trying to get as much done as early as possible. I crammed in my undergrad days, but I don't think that this is something that I could cram for at the last minute. But, then, you look like you never crammed a day in your life."

"There's a lot about me that would surprise you, I'm sure."

"Like what, for instance?"

"Let's see, like the real reason that I like the stacks so much."

"So, you don't just come here for the books and the solitude?"

"No, not entirely."

"Well, what then?" She noticed that he had moved a little bit closer to her and was looking intensely into her eyes.

"I have this fantasy…"

"About librarians?" she interrupted.

"If I could continue…"

"Please do. Sorry to interrupt!"

"Anyway, I have this fantasy that a gorgeous girl will wander down to the stacks, kind of lost, sort of, and she would come to me for directions, and our eyes would meet…" his voice trailed off as he locked eyes with Elizabeth and she began to be drawn into their intensity.

"Go on…" she said, hoping that she didn't sound as breathless as she felt.

"And then I would lean forward like this…" he leaned toward her to demonstrate and she leaned toward him as if in a trance as their lips softly met and his arms pulled her into a sensual embrace as he backed her slightly into the large metal bookshelf. His mouth explored hers slowly at first then with more passion until resounding footsteps caused them to break apart abruptly. Elizabeth swallowed hard, looking at his lips, wishing for more, but the person coming into the stacks seemed determined to stay in their area, searching for a book and mumbling loudly about the horrible catalog system.

The spell broken, William smiled wistfully at Elizabeth and picked up the book that she had left fall on the floor during the kiss.

"I believe that this is yours, Miss," he handed it to her.

"Thank you Sir," she murmured. "Remind me to thank you properly for its return sometime," and smiled such a beguiling smile at William that he would have grabbed her there and then in front of the intruder but for the look of warning in her eyes. The intruder wandered off down another row of books and Elizabeth reached her hand out for the book.

"My book, please."

"As you wish," he handed it to her, but kept his hand on it and on hers.

"William, that person might come back…"

"Hey, this is my fantasy. He wouldn't dare!" and with that he covered her lips with his again and again until she felt quite breathless with passion and the excitement of possibly being discovered. She was about to suggest to William that they go somewhere a little more comfortable when a buzzing sound rang throughout the building.

"What is that incessant noise?" she complained. "And why are you being so rough?" because William had started to tug and pull on her shoulder. "Stop that! Why are you doing that?"

"Well, are you going to sleep all day or what?" came Jane's voice into her consciousness. "I thought that you were getting up early to go to the library."

"I'm up!" she shouted. "Stop shaking me and go away!" she heard Jane leave the room and sighed. "A dream? It seemed so real. I can almost taste his lips still…" Elizabeth reluctantly got out of bed and headed for the shower. "At least I have a social life in my dreams!" She began to get ready for a long day at the library.

Chapter 7

Posted on Monday, 14 December 1998

Elizabeth spent the greater part of her Saturday in the library, studying in the stacks. She prolonged going home as long as possible, but realized the ridiculousness of the situation when she could no longer keep her eyes open and the words on the page refused to register in her tired brain.

"Okay, time to go home," she thought with reluctance. "Nothing left to be gained by staying here." She went to her apartment and threw herself onto her bed, ready to take a much-needed nap when voices from Jane's room made her sit up with a start.

"Oh, no! It's Mom," she groaned. "And I'll bet that she heard me come in with those sonar ears of hers. Maybe I can just sneak back out…" She tiptoed softly to the front door and placed her hand on the door as her mother's strident voice was berating Jane about dating and men:

"…and if you were more open and friendly and smiled more, you'd have as many dates as Lydia and Catherine. Of course, poor Mary can't help it that she's….Elizabeth, Elizabeth is that you? Come here this instant!"

"Yes Mom," came the dutiful reply. "I didn't know that you were here." She kissed her mother on the cheek and raised her eyebrows at Jane as she did.

"I was just telling Jane that she needs to get out more."

"Well, I don't think that you really need to worry about Jane's social life, Mom," responded Elizabeth, seeing Jane's frantic 'No' a little too belatedly.

"What's this?" Mrs. Bennet's eyes gleamed in excitement. "A new beau? Oh Jane, you're a sly one to keep these things from your mother."

"It's not like an engagement or anything," protested Jane. "I've gone out with him once or twice. Nothing to get bent out of shape about…don't go ordering the invitations or anything."

"So, what's he like? Handsome, rich? At least rich, I would hope."

"I don't know, Mom. He's very nice." Jane sounded tired and waited for Elizabeth to come to her rescue.

"I was really just teasing Jane," Elizabeth said. "I doubt that it's serious. They are both in the same department and enjoy talking about the same psych things. No biggie."

"Humph." Mrs. Bennet looked like a deflated balloon. "Well, you can't blame me for trying. I would hate to see any of my girls end up old maids, alone like a dog."

"I don't foresee myself ending up that way…" Elizabeth retorted. "But if it will make you feel better, then I will go out and buy a dog collar, just in case."

Her mother glared at her and said coldly: "Go ahead, mock me. I was just trying to help motivate you girls. Well, I see that my advice is falling on deaf ears. Elizabeth, your father expects to see you at Sunday dinner."

"We'll be there." Jane said, hugging her mother good-bye.

"Well, see you tomorrow then," Mrs. Bennet said, opening the door and casting a last baneful look at her daughters. As the door closed on her retreating figure, Elizabeth and Jane stifled the laughter that was welling up inside them.

"Great save, Lizzy! Although the dog collar remark might have been a little much!!"

"I just had the image of her trying to match us up like we were some of those pedigree breeders that she raises and the thought was out before I could stop it!"

"You're too much! How was the library?"

"It was the library. Books, people studying, you know, the usual."

"See anyone interesting?"

"You mean Charles?"

"No, for yourself."

"Not a soul. The stacks were pretty barren."

"You studied in the stacks?"

"Yes," she said with a sigh. "Long story. I think that I'm going to crash for awhile."

"Okay, I'm going to go study at the library now, but I think that I'll sit a little closer to the door, just in case…well, the stacks are just too claustrophobic for me."

"Yes, there is a better view of the door at the first tables!"

"Oh, wicked Wanda!" Jane retorted. "You make it sound like I'm scoping out the guys or something."

"You mean that you aren't?! Do you want to end up with a dog collar?"

Jane laughed and slung her backpack over one shoulder. "I'll be back in time for dinner, but if, for some reason I'm late, I'll give you a call."

The next day, the two sisters passed the whole of it at their parents who lived in the same town. Their three younger sisters were also in attendance, the younger two apparently with much reluctance, as they complained that it cut into their social lives. For Elizabeth, it was more of the same at her Mom and Dad's: her mother's incessant health issues, imaginary and otherwise, and her father's support of herself and Jane all the while distancing himself from the others in his library retreat.

"Small wonder that I didn't go into Psych instead of Jane," she mused to herself. The visit was finally over, with a promise by the two youngest, Catherine and Lydia, to come and see them that week at their apartment. Elizabeth and Jane left, both breathing a collective sigh of relief once safely in Elizabeth's old Chevy Impala.

"What a beginning to our week!" Elizabeth said with mirth as she and Jane sped off, leaving the Bennet residence far behind them.

Chapter 8

For Elizabeth, the fledgling relationship between Jane and Charles was, at the very least, interesting. Jane had so rarely requited any male's attention, so Elizabeth was thrilled and a little bit protective of her new relationship. As for Charles' friend, Elizabeth continued to dream romantic and provocative dreams at night and be embarrassed to actually meet his gaze by day. Her only consolation to herself was that he appeared to be as intellectual and staid as ever, but with a small difference. He didn't stare at her anymore in class and seemed to avoid eye contact with her. Any physical contact that they had was quite accidental: passing handouts to each other in class, bumping into each other in a rush to be to the next class, and so forth.

On the other hand, Elizabeth noticed that George Wickham seemed to be determined to wait after class for her and to walk her wherever she happened to go, or to show up at places that she had slightly mentioned that she would be. As always, she maintained a professional relationship with him, at all costs, she was beginning to think, because he was so very attractive and her night 'life' was starting to make her see romance in the most unusual campus spots. One Friday, as she was preparing to lock up her office at a time of day when most the building's occupants were already long gone, she heard a sound outside her door. Peering around the corner, she noticed a long-stemmed yellow rose near the door, with a tag that had her name on it. She picked up the rose, smiling and smelled it before turning over the card.

"What is he thinking?" she asked herself out loud incredulously. "He knows that this can't be!" Still, in spite of all her better judgment, she had to admit that it was a romantic touch. She heard footsteps in the hall and hurried back to her office. A minute later, she was amazed to see William Darcy knock at her open door. He started to speak, his eyes fell on the rose, and then said in a cool voice:

"Charles and Jane would like for us to join them tonight at the Jazzhaus. I thought that I see if you needed a ride to your apartment. My car is outside."

"Thank you, that would be nice." She hesitated before gathering up her books nervously and stuffing them into her backpack.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked looking pointedly at the rose laying on her desk.

"What? Oh, yes. I almost did forget it. By Monday, it would have been toast."

"A secret admirer?" he asked in a colder voice.

"No, not really." She replied defensively. "More like a student run amok." His eyes narrowed at this revelation.

"A student?" The words were like icicles. "You are allowing the interest of a student?"

"No, I'm not," she retorted, equally icy. "He had taken it quite upon himself, I assure you, though why I have to defend my honor to you is beyond me!" He started at this outburst, then his features took on an unreadable and unapproachable look.

"Shall we go, then?"

"Yes, let's." She followed him out to his car parked in the short-term lot and her eyes widened when she saw the Lotus parked sideways, taking up two lots. "That's quite a car," she remarked dryly.

He looked at her quickly, trying to understand her tone, "It was a graduation gift from my parents a few years back."

"Oh." He disarmed the car and opened the door for her and she stepped in and sat down. Very far down, she thought, wondering how she would ever be able to get back out of the seat gracefully. They rode in silence to her apartment, with Elizabeth plotting ways to escape the impending torture of a night with such a pompous, judgmental man. Her apartment building finally came into view although the ride took less than 5 minutes and she would have gladly climbed out of the car quickly, but for its low-slung chassis. She waited for him to come around and extract her from the car.

"Madam," he said, holding out his hand in a mock-gallant pose.

"Sir, I thank you. That is very chivalrous." The humor returned to her eyes and William visibly relaxed. He bowed to her and watched her walk toward her door for a moment before slowly following her, taking in her lithe, graceful moves, a small smile appearing on his lips.

Once inside, he looked around the apartment, wondering what could have been keeping Charles and Jane. He heard the sound of running water and looked at Elizabeth questioningly when she re-entered the living room area.

"I'm running a bath, but I won't be long. There's cable on the TV, if you're interested. If you'd rather read, there are some good books on the shelves." She pointed toward the wall. "I won't be long, I promise." She left and he immediately went to the bookshelf to read the titles displayed.

"Hmmm, quite the selection. Freud, Skinner, Camus, there's even Sartre. Hey, some Proust. I didn't think that she had ever read it!" He picked up a very dog-eared paperback copy of 'A la recherche du temps perdu' and the book fell open to an apparently favorite spot. He lost himself in the description of Proust's childhood evoked through the act of dipping a madeleine in his tilleul (lime leaf herbal tea) and it was thus that Elizabeth found him when she emerged from her room, smelling faintly of spring flowers. He slowly looked up at her with an glazed-over expression of intense reading as she came over to take the book from his hand and turn it over.

"Proust, I might have known!" she said teasingly. "Don't you get enough of that in your research?"

"I'm not working on the first part of his series, actually," he smiled back at her, enjoying her tone of voice. "What do you read when you aren't researching? Poetry, psychology?"

"The psych books are obviously Jane's. The poetry: Baudelaire, etc. are from classes. It has been so long since I really read just for pleasure. But I do like Jane Austen, and Dickens. Mostly historical-set romances."

"A romantic?" he began to take on a teasing voice.

"Yes, a romantic. Don't make it sound like a disease!"

"I wouldn't dare. Actually I do enjoy Jane Austen myself."

"You do?" she sat down on the couch next to him in disbelief. "I thought that you never got out of the French intense authors."

"There is a lot about me that you don't know," he began to say when he noticed her expression. "What is wrong? Did I say something weird?"

"No, I just had the strangest feeling of deja vu just now. So what is it about you that you think that I don't know?"

"Have you ever spent much time in the stacks?" he asked as her mouth dropped open.

"Yes, actually I have. Why?"

"I have to admit that…" the door opened and Elizabeth glared at the intruders, who turned out only to be Charles and Jane, who dropped hands when they saw both Elizabeth and William sitting together on the couch staring at them.

"Did we interrupt anything?" Jane asked innocently, wondering why her sister's eyes were full of daggers.

"Nothing at all," Elizabeth said glumly.

"Let's go, then!" Charles led the way out of the apartment. Elizabeth followed Jane out but then turned suddenly to William who was pulling their door closed.

"You will tell me later what you were about to say?" she pleaded.

"Not in mixed company!" he replied grinning at her obvious curiosity. "I'll tell you later tonight if we're ever alone."

"Then I will make sure of it!" she said archly as his eyebrows waggled at her comically. "I didn't mean it that way, so get that look off your face."

"Darn!" he said emphatically. "There go all my best laid plans."

"Yeah, right!" she retorted, marveling at the change in what she had previously thought his personality to be. He could certainly be stiff and formal, but in the past hour had become, in her opinion, quite interesting.

At the Jazzhaus, they crammed around a small table near the dance floor and Charles and Jane left the two to go to the bar for their drinks, not waiting for the besieged waitstaff to make its way to them. The band began its first set with a some bluesy jazz and William seemed to momentarily retreat into his own world.

"So, you were going to tell me about the stacks…?" Elizabeth began hesitantly.

"Let's dance first," he said abruptly and pulled her up from her chair without waiting for her answer.

"Okay."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rough. I was thinking about something else. What did you want to know?"

"Well, what were you going to say about the stacks?"

"I don't know if I should really tell you."

"You big tease! You better tell me!" she said, thumping him on the shoulder.

"Okay, if you're going to beat me up and all…hmm the stacks, the stacks, what was I going to say about the stacks? Oh, all right," he said as she gave him a warning look. "I just find the stacks to be so stimulating. Intellectually speaking, of course."

"Of course." Elizabeth tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice, but it crept out anyway.

"Were you expecting something else? Something a little more…risqué?"

"No!"

"Well, actually, I have to admit, although why I'm telling you is a mystery, that I also find the stacks stimulating in other ways, too." He pulled her a little closer until she could feel his muscles against her body.

"In what ways?" she said, her mouth going dry.

"For instance, to me intellectual stimulation is also emotionally stimulating." He began to move one hand up and down the small of her back.

"MmmHmm," she managed. "And is that all?"

"No, to tell the truth, I actually have a fantasy about the stacks that I've never told anyone about. I'm in the stacks, alone, when this…"

"Woman wanders up, kind of lost…" Elizabeth interrupted as their eyes locked.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I kind of have that same fantasy, except that it is a guy that comes around!"

He lowered his lips to her ear and whispered:

"I think that the library is still open, if you'd rather be there."

"What would Jane and Charles think?"

"Who cares?"

"We really shouldn't run off. It might actually ruin the mood."

"I doubt it. Not for me, anyway. Will you meet me then, in the stacks, sometime?

"And if I do?"

"We could see if we have the same fantasy!"

"Sounds like we do already."

"We could make sure of it."

"You make it sound so tempting."

"I'm trying. Will you meet me there tomorrow night?"

"Well, I do have a lot of studying to do…"

"Say yes, Elizabeth," he began to nuzzle her ears as parts of her became warmer.

"Yes, about 7 p.m. I think that I could get away then." The song ended and a more energetic one took its place so they sat down, bumping legs as they did. She felt his hand slip underneath her thigh and his thumb began to stroke her thigh in a way that made her even warmer.

"Where have Charles and Jane gotten to?" she asked, although in her heart, they could have fallen off the face of the planet and she wouldn't have given two straws about it.

"Let's get out of here." William said. "I'm not comfortable being around all these people. Can we go back to your place?"

"Sure, let's find Jane and tell her."

They rose at the same time to search for her sister when Elizabeth turned her head at a familiar voice.

"George, what are you doing here?"

"I heard that you'd be here and…"His voice trailed off as he looked past her into the steely gaze of her companion.

"Oh, where are my manners…George, this is William Darcy. William, this is George Wickham."

"Yes, we've met before." They both said at the same time, one glaring the other turning red. Elizabeth looked from one to the other in astonishment.

"George is one of my students this semester," she added lamely, feeling like a dark cloud had altered the atmosphere of the evening.

"Is that so?" William said as a look of comprehension came over his face. "I think that I am leaving now. Elizabeth, are you coming with me?"

"Sure." She waved good-bye at George who had recovered from his initial discomfort and was smiling widely at her. She had to hurry to catch up with William's long strides as he left the room and practically ran down the stairs, leaning against the outside wall once he had left the establishment.

"Who is George to you?"

"Long story. And not one that I'm willing to go into right now."

"Okay. So, where to?"

"Your place?"

"Let's walk around for a bit. I need to clear my head, I think." They walked together somberly and finally William reached for Elizabeth's hand. "I'm sorry. George is someone from my past that I'd just as soon forget ever existed. Forgive me?"

"Of course." They continued to walk until they arrived at Elizabeth's apartment.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure. I'll fix you a tilleul. I don't know if I have any madeleines around, though." With her remark, she noticed a wan smile cross his face.

"I think that I like this arrangement all ready!" he remarked as Elizabeth opened the door.

She smirked back at him and headed straight for the tiny kitchen, dumping her purse and coat on the nearest couch.

"What do you like in your tisane?"

"Honey."

"I think that I have some here. That's how I take it, too. Why don't you make yourself comfortable and I'll bring it in when it's ready."

"Okay." He sat down on the slipcovered couch, looking over their collection of framed posters of famous artwork. "Looks like you like impressionism."

"Yeah, I picked some stuff up in Paris, things from the 'Jeu de Paume'. My favorite though, is this Renoir one. Can't you just feel the heat of the afternoon light on that sleeping cat?"

"It's quite good. Oh, thanks."

"Careful, it's still pretty hot. And I wasn't kidding about the madeleines. I made them yesterday in a fit of baking madness."

"They are tasty." He looked at her intensely, so much so that she was forced to look away, her face becoming warm. "Did I embarrass you?"

"A little. Sometimes it seems that you say one thing and mean another."

"Yes. I guess that I do that. A lot of people aren't that perceptive."

"Do you need any more honey? I didn't know how much you would take."

"This is sweet enough." He put down his cup and moved closer to her. This made her put down her cup in anticipation. "I wish that I could tell you about George, but I think that I'll wait until I know you a little better. It is a rather personal story."

"That's okay."

"Just one thing, though. We aren't on the best of terms and I would advise you to take anything that he might say with a grain of salt."

"I trust you, William." He saw the truth of it in her eyes, and leaned forward to kiss her, pulling her face closer to his with gentle hands.

"That means a lot to me," he whispered and traced the outline of her face, her eyebrows, her nose and her lips as she sat there, eyes closed in contentment. "When I'm with you, it feels like coming home…but to a home that I've never known before." He took her into his arms, holding her and feeling her snuggle into him.

"I feel the same way, just now," she said, a small sigh escaping her. She looked up at him dreamily. "This isn't a dream or anything? Pinch me hard, because if I wake up this time, I'm gonna be peeved."

"This time?" he asked. "What did you mean, this time?"

"Nothing," she said, sitting up.

"That didn't sound like nothing."

"Okay, since we're doing the true confessions thing here, let's just say that I've had some…um interesting dreams about you."

"Well, this is no dream," he said and pinched her hard on the arm.

"Ow! I guess that this isn't a dream or my arm wouldn't hurt so bad!"

"I'm sorry that I did that so hard. Here, let me…" He picked up her arm and began to plant slow, soft kisses on the reddened spot, then moved to her inner elbow, down to her wrist and fingers and then worked his way back up slowly to her shoulder and neck. By the time that he got to her waiting lips, she grabbed his face and pulled it to hers, her lips parting and seeking his own. He was surprised that in her passion, she was rubbing his back and pulling his body closer and closer to his. It was with great reluctance that he heard her say:

"William, you have to go. I really am a good girl and you are driving me crazy. What is with my face? It's starting to kind of burn."

"Offhand, I'd have to say that you got some stubble burn. Sorry, I thought that I had shaved better than that. Here, let me kiss it better." He started to kiss all over her face until she could feel her resolve crumble.

"Sorry, you must go now! I mean it. Say goodnight, Gracie!"

"Only if you walk me to the door." She looked at him warily. "I'll behave."

"Okay, then." She walked him to the door and he grabbed her and pulled her to him.

"Hey, you promised to behave."

"I had my fingers crossed!" They kissed deeply one last time before he said softly, "See you tomorrow, Elizabeth."

"Bonne nuit, William. Fais de bons reves."

"Si je reve de toi…" He smiled at her and watched as she gestured, closing the door. He headed back toward his house, his heart lighter than it had been in many years.

Chapter 9--The Stacks

Posted on Tuesday, 15 December 1998

Elizabeth awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed and full of even more energy than she was normally. Happily for me, she thought, I only have to teach today and can spend the rest of the day doing what I please. She got dressed and went on campus, hanging out in the French Dept. lounge in hopes of seeing William, but no William showed up. She went upstairs to teach her class. As usual, George was waiting for her by the door to the classroom and his face lit up upon seeing her.

"Did you enjoy the Jazzhaus last night?"

"Yes, it was pretty fun."

"I noticed that you left kind of early. Were you having problems with your boyfriend?"

"No, and if I did, that would be a personal thing between me and him." she said and looked at him sharply. He chose to disregard the look and continued to talk casually.

"So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Studying."

"Where do you usually study?"

"At home or in the library. Why the 20 questions?"

"Just making conversation, trying to get to know you."

"Okay," she answered, looking at him suspiciously but he looked back at her with innocent eyes and she felt ashamed of her inner thoughts. "Let's get to work." He followed her into the class room and sat down at his desk and made no further attempt to engage her in private conversation.

After class, Elizabeth gathered her books and walked home, still hoping to see William on the way, on any part of campus. "Hmm, must be off studying or something." She went home and took a long, hot bath, carefully put on make-up and selected one of her most flattering outfits. When she entered the living room, Jane looked at her in astonishment.

"Wow! You sure look nice. Do you have a hot date or something?"

"Yeah, with the stacks."

"Well, the stacks must be agreeing with you. Since when do you get dressed up and put on make-up to go study by yourself in the stacks?"

"Can't a girl try to look nice without someone making a big deal about it?"

"Are you trying to avoid the issue here? Very unusual behavior. Hmmm."

"Okay, Jane. Save your analysis for the patients. I'm your sister."

"Exactly. Well, have fun in the stacks." She watched Elizabeth slip into her coat. "Aren't you going to take your backpack?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," she grabbed her backpack, trying not to look flustered. "See you later, Jane!"

"Bye!" Jane turned back to her TV program and had been watching it for about 2 minutes when all of a sudden she smacked her head. "Crud! I forgot to tell her about her phone calls. Oh, well, maybe they weren't all that important anyway."

Elizabeth made a beeline for the stacks and although she tried to study, her watch seemed to indicate that the time was passing infernally slowly. Seven o'clock came and went and no William. Finally, at ten past, she heard some steps behind her and standing up and folding her arms, she refused to turn around.

"You're late, Mister." She said in a stern voice. He came up behind her and encircled her waist from behind.

"SSSShhhhh," he whispered, nuzzling her ears, then moving slowly down to her neck.

"MMMMMMMmmm," she moaned, "that feels so good. What took you so long?"

"Shhhhh," he whispered again, nuzzling her other ear and nape of her neck.

"Oh, William," she sighed as she heard a second set of footsteps and looked up startled into the eyes of the approaching William. His jaw set and his fists clenched as he took in the scene before him.

"William, I…" she turned to look at the nuzzler. "You! What the…." She turned back to look at William, but he had already gone. Turning back to George, she spat out: "You better start to explain yourself before I beat you to a pulp." She looked into his eyes with a gaze full of anger and contempt and was surprised to see a glint of triumph there.

Chapter 10

Posted on Tuesday, 15 December 1998

Jane looked up from her book as Elizabeth stormed into the apartment, slamming the door as she entered.

"Hi Lizzy! Oh, I forgot to tell you before you left that you had two phone calls."

"Oh, really." Elizabeth dropped her backpack on the floor with a thud.

"Are you okay? You look mad."

"Just peachy. What are the messages?"

"William called. Said that he would be late meeting you. And some student called. I didn't know that you gave out your home phone."

"I didn't. What was the message?"

"He wouldn't give his name. Just wanted to know how to reach you to talk about some upcoming test. I told him that you were going to the library. Did he find you?"

"You might say that." She replied through clenched teeth.

"What's wrong Lizzy? I know that look." Jane listened in horror to Elizabeth's recounting of the meeting in the stacks and then said gently but firmly: "You have to go see William or at least call him. Don't let him think that it was like that. Here's the phone book."

"He wouldn't be in the book. His number is too new."

"Okay, then I'll call info for it." After calling the number for information, Jane hung up the phone with a sad face. "Sorry, Sis, his number is unlisted. Oh, maybe Charles would know it." Her face brightened at the thought and quickly dialed Charles' number. As she spoke to him, her face fell and Elizabeth heard her say,

"Okay, well thanks anyway. I'll talk to you later. Bye. He's pretty upset and Charles said that he doesn't want to talk to anyone. He has his answering machine screening his calls."

"It's so hopeless, Jane. He'll never believe that I thought it was him. George had better be prepared to flunk because he's on my list now!"

"Elizabeth, you wouldn't flunk someone for personal reasons!"

"Wanna bet? How am I ever going to face him in class now?"

"Your student?"

"Oh, who cares about him? I mean William." Tears started to stream down her face. "How did George know where to find me? The stacks are so remote."

"Um, I might have mentioned that you usually study there…"

"Great. Thanks a lot."

"Want to go for a drive?"

"What?! Do I look like I want to go for a drive?" By now Elizabeth's voice had raised almost to a shout.

"Calm down. I just thought that you might want to drive past William's place. He doesn't live that far from Charles. Netherfield condos are close to Pemberley Estates."

"Okay, but I don't know if I'll have the courage to go talk to him."

"At least you'll be in the same area."

"True. Well, lead on, oh wise one." They got into Elizabeth's old Impala with Jane driving. They drove south of campus for awhile until the city disappeared behind them.

"Are you sure that you know the way?"

"Hey, it's out here in this really exclusive area, okay? I'm not lost. Mary is the directionally-challenged one, remember?"

"This is it?" she gasped as Jane drove up to a massive gate protecting the elegant mansion behind it. "Now I know that I don't have the nerve to talk to him."

"We're here, you might as well see what happens." She stuck her arm out the car window and pressed the intercom button. After speaking briefly to the person on the other end, the gates swung slowly open and Jane advanced toward the house. Once parked, she half-drug Elizabeth out of the car and they walked cautiously up the flagstone steps.

"Your turn," Jane said, nodding at the door bell. The door opened and a formally-dressed manservant stepped into view.

"May I help you, Miss…?"

"Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet to see William Darcy, please."

"He is not accepting visitors, Miss."

"Could you at least tell him that I'm here. Please?"

"Very well, Miss." The butler left and returned, his face impassive. "I'm sorry, Miss. He does not want to be disturbed this evening."

"Thank you anyway," Elizabeth turned her face to hide her tears. "Let's get out of here, Jane. I told you that he wouldn't believe me. He doesn't even want to hear what I have to say." Jane followed her out at a close proximity, helping her open the car door, as her tears were blurring her vision and they quickly left William's estate.

In a dark room of the estate, William sat in front of a terminal, playing and replaying the security tape of Elizabeth and Jane, zooming in on Elizabeth's face, full of pain. His stony expression revealed nothing , but the tear trickling down one cheek spoke volumes.

Chapter 11

Posted on Wednesday, 16 December 1998

Elizabeth was not surprised the next day when George didn't show up for class. Nor was she very surprised when she found his transfer notice in her departmental mail box.

"Well, good. Now Charlotte can worry about him. Maybe she'll even traumatize him a little." The thought of George transferring into a harder class (it was rumoured) lifted her spirits slightly, but then her next thought was of her impending Provencal class with William. She knew that she didn't dare skip class, not with Prof de Bourgh anyway. So she went to the bathroom, gave herself a pep talk, then marched into the classroom.

William was seated at his usual spot and didn't look up when she came in.

"So that's how it is going to be," she thought miserably. "What a pleasant semester this is turning out to be."

"Class," said Prof de Bourgh as she entered the classroom, "I have an announcement to make." All eyes turned toward her. "As chair of the Summer Institute in Paris, it is my great privilege to announce to you the graduate student chaperones for this summer's Study Abroad program in Paris: William Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet."

The class applauded, although many were obviously overcome with envy at the prospect of them being paid to go to Paris and watch over undergrads. Elizabeth didn't know where to look, but a stolen glance at William filled her with even more dread. His mouth was open and his eyes were filled with what she interpreted as indignation. She held in her tears until class ended then moved toward the door as quickly as she could, bumping into William who obviously was doing the same.

"Sorry," Elizabeth managed in a small voice.

"That's okay," he replied noncommittally, still trying to get past her.

"William, I...I need to talk to you about last night."

"What's to talk about?"

"I wanted to explain."

"No need to explain."

"Yes, there is." Her eyes pleaded with him. "Please William."

"I'm not sure there is anything to say on the matter. I know what I saw. Please let me get to my next class." He started to move away from her.

"No, I won't." Elizabeth grabbed his arm which he merely looked at then back at her. "I will defend myself. I didn't know that you'd be late. Jane didn't give me your message until after I got back home. By then it was too late. William, I swear I thought it was you kissing me in the stacks. I didn't even look at that person until I saw you coming up."

"Are you in the habit of not knowing who you are intimate with in secluded places?" William looked at her in astonishment which made all the frustration welling up inside of her explode into anger:

"What kind of a person do you think that I am? I thought that it was you. I'm a one-man woman and I certainly wouldn't have had anything to do with George Wickham."

"You'd be the first." William muttered.

"What does that mean?"

"Never mind. Is that all you wanted to say?"

"Yes, I guess so." Elizabeth began to feel very tired.

"Okay then." She watched him walk away from her with a hollow feeling of loss, and turned toward her apartment to go home for the day.

Chapter 12

Posted on Wednesday, 16 December 1998

From a distance, William saw her uneven gait as she left and the cold anger in his heart mounted.

"Where's Wickham? I'm gonna kill him this time. He's not going to get away with this kind of crap again." He strode purposely to the only area where he knew that he could find the information that he needed.

George was, at the moment, in the only safe place that he could possibly be: in class. At least, safe from William. He was sitting through an afternoon French class with Charlotte Lucas and was being to feel that he had been a little too hasty about transferring out of Elizabeth's class, in spite of the circumstances. Charlotte didn't give him a moment's peace and it didn't occur to him, as he flashed her his most seductive smile, that she might already have sufficient ammunition against his charms via Elizabeth's confidence in the situation. When he continued to make little headway, his eyes wandered throughout the room, in a bored manner until he happened upon an attractive redhead that Charlotte was calling 'Mary'. He made eye contact with her and spent the rest of the class involved in sending visual cues to his newest interest, who shyly reciprocated. None of this was lost on Charlotte, who made a mental note to pass along the information to Elizabeth later that day.

After class, George was making a beeline for Mary when his attention was diverted by an attractive brunette who came in to speak to Charlotte. There was something about her that seemed very familiar, and since she appeared to have very little sense, but a 'party-time' attitude about her, he ambled over to the two and waited to see if he could be introduced.

"...well, Lydia, I think that she went home. She wasn't feeling too well." Charlotte was saying to the girl who looked at George when he approached and almost forgot that she had been talking to Charlotte.

"Hi there!" said the girl brightly. "You must be one of Charlotte's students."

Okay, so she's not the most intellectual girl on campus, he thought, but said aloud, "Yes, Miss Lucas is a great teacher." He smiled ingratiatingly at Charlotte, who looked back at him blandly. "I'm George Wickham...and you are...?"

"Lydia. Lydia Bennet." She smiled widely.

"Bennet? Why is that name familiar to me?" he asked with feigned innocence.

"She's Elizabeth's sister." Charlotte broke in coldly. "Excuse me, I need to go to my office. See you later, Lydia, Mr. Wickham." She shot George one last acidic glare which he chose to ignore and Charlotte could hear their animated conversation part way up the hall as she left them.

"So, you're in a Frat?" Lydia practically squealed. "I'm a Little Sister!"

"No way!" George said, trying to act surprised as he wrapped one arm around her familiarly. "We have so much in common..." They walked down the hall together and were soon out of Charlotte's hearing.

"I better go find Elizabeth. I don't like the looks of this..." Charlotte thought to herself.

It was much later in the day when William was finally able to catch up with George in his fraternity house, and as he was initially surrounded by his friends, William decided that the best approach would be fact-finding. The pummeling would have to wait.

"Hello George," William said evenly. "Can we go talk somewhere a little less noisy?"

"I'd prefer to stay right here, if you don't mind." George smiled at him insolently, secure in the knowledge that he, for the present, was relatively safe.

"Let's cut to the chase, George. What were you doing in the stacks with Elizabeth?"

"You mean that you didn't see it?"

"I saw what you wanted me to see. What did she have to do with it?"

"Well, she wasn't exactly fighting me off, now was she?"

William's hands instinctively clinched tightly, a gesture not lost on George.

"Calm down, Darcy. You'd hate to get into it with me and all my friends." His voice oozed confidence, until, with William he looked around the room.

"Is that so? It would seem that your buddies are all more interested in the pizza they are being served than your hide."

"Okay, this time the girl had nothing to do with it. That's the truth. She didn't even look at me, just assumed that she knew who I was. She even called me William as I was kissing her neck!" Within a fraction of a second, George found himself laying flat out on the floor, looking up into William's face whose eyes had gone black with rage.

"I will kill you, you low-life scum!!" William hissed at him, as a horde of fraternity guys, hearing the scuffle had come running from the dining room.

"Try and punch your way out of this one, William Darcy," smirked George as they closed in on him menacingly.

"William Darcy? The William Darcy?" asked one. "Hey guys, I wouldn't touch him if I were you. His father was one of the founders of our frat." He put out his hand to George, who stood up, looking very uncomfortable. "Whatever is going on, is entirely between you two, in my opinion." The others voiced their assent and left the two of them there, returning to their now cold pizza.

"You had better stay out of my way," said William to George in a warning tone, "and out of my life, or I will make you wish that you'd never been born."

"Is that a threat?" George attempted a more cocky tone than he really felt.

"No, a promise. And no-one will bail you out this time, no Daddy, nobody."

"Sure Darcy, that's easy for you to say. What about your father's promise to me?"

"This is my promise to you. Remember it. My father's promise to you ended when you pulled that stunt with Georgianna. Had he seen that, you wouldn't have been his fair-haired favorite. I'm warning you, Wickham, I'm not going to take this kind of crap one more time."

"I'll try to remember that!"

"See that you do, or it won't just be your jaw that will be rearranged."

"Tough guy. Okay, okay, I'll remember. Do you want me to explain things to Elizabeth?"

"What? You've done enough, don't you think. Stay away from Elizabeth, I mean it." William left the fraternity house scowling while back inside George shrugged.

"Well, he didn't say anything about her sister..." he thought with a sly smile. "She looks like she'll do just fine." He went to his room, a cheshire grin on his face.

Chapter 13

Posted on Friday, 18 December 1998

William found that as the time passed, it was harder and harder for him to speak to Elizabeth, to apologize and make things the way that they had been. She avoided his eyes in class and never went out with Charles and Jane, saying that she had too much research to do. She never went back to the stacks, that he knew--he had tried in vain to catch her there.

One day, in desperation, he sought out Charles.

"Do you have a few minutes?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I need to ask your advice on something." Charles looked at his friend in amazement.

"Well, this is a switch. So, is it advice or more on the order of counseling?" William gave him a sharp look.

"Advice. I don't need therapy." said most emphatically.

"Okay, shoot!" Charles stifled a smile.

"What should I do about Elizabeth?"

"Talk to her."

"How? She won't even look at me."

"Do you blame her?"

"Well, what was I supposed to believe after what I saw?"

"And your experience with Wickham, too."

"Exactly. How do I talk to her?"

"Why don't you start with 'hi'? Become her friend again."

"And if she doesn't want to talk?"

"Then we'll have to resort to plan B."

"We?"

"Jane and I. We're not blind, you know."

"Just what do you think you see?"

"Two people miserably in love."

"She doesn't love me--not after how I treated her."

"I think you'll find that people are more resilient than you give them credit for."

"Since when did you become so astute?"

"It's my job!" Charles' eyes twinkled. "Start slowly, like I said. Say 'hi'. Compliment her work. Try."

"Okay."

"And I'll be sending the bill to your home address, of course!"

"Yeah, right. Whatever."

"Oh, by the way. Valentine's Day is in two days. Maybe you'll want to do something..."

"Like for instance?"

"Duh. What do you think?"

"Flowers?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, it's a start." Charles shook his head. "Boy, are you out of the loop."

The next day William woke up determined to talk to Elizabeth. It was, after all, Wednesday and that meant Provencal class. He got to class early and waited impatiently but she didn't show up. He went to the departmental office to ask about her and found out that she was out with the flu.

"Charles, she's sick. Now what do I do?" came William's worried voice on his friend's phone.

"What did you do when Georgianna was sick?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks--you're a pal!"

An hour later, Elizabeth heard her doorbell ring. Jane was not yet home, so she walked wearily to the door. She opened it to find a large basket filled with chicken noodle soup, echinacea herbal tea, vitamin C tablets, orange and grapefruit juices and a single, long-stemmed rose. Her wondering eyes glanced down the hallway...empty. As she bent down to pick up the basket, a small card fluttered out. She picked it up and opened it to read:

Get well, brown-eyed girl.

She gasped and looked down the hall again but only heard the distant slam of a car door and a car racing away. She put the rose to her cheek and felt the cool, velvet petals against her feverish skin.

"Yes, this will cure me quite nicely," she smiled to herself and took her basket into her apartment.

Chapter 14

Valentine's Day found Elizabeth still home sick, but in much better spirits. Her basket was much depleted and her face had lost most of its sickly pallor. She had just propped her feet up on one end of the couch when the doorbell rang, causing her to jump.

"I'm not expecting anyone..." she was thinking when her eyes fell upon the basket from the day before. "Well, better answer the door. Might be worthwhile!" She ran to open the door and found a stranger on the other side, oddly costumed and carrying a balloon bouquet. When he saw her, he asked:

Elizabeth Bennet?

"Yes."

and he burst into song:

I am your singing telegram
Someone bought me
and so here I am
I've brought some balloons
'cause he thinks you're really cool
and because your friend knows
that he acted the fool!

The person did a quick tap-dance, bowed and handed her the balloons, disappearing as quickly as he had sung.

Grinning ear to ear, Elizabeth examined the balloons, a collection of red, pink and white hearts of varying sizes. One contained two small stuffed bears locked in an embrace. Her eyes filled with tears as she took the balloons into her bedroom.

"Hmmm. No card this time. This is my best Valentine's Day ever!!" She sat on her bed, gazing at her balloons and hugging herself tightly.

Chapter 15

Posted on Saturday, 19 December 1998

Elizabeth felt so much improved after the balloon delivery that the next day she returned to campus. Her class applauded when she entered the room. She went to Provencal with a little trepidation which melted away completely under the warmth of William's smile.

"I see that you're feeling better." he ventured.

"Yes, thank you."

"How did you get over the flu so quickly?" asked another student.

"I had a very special doctor administer to me," she said, stealing a sideways look out of the corner of her eye. To her great astonishment, she noticed a faint blush creeping up William's neck. Professor de Bourgh came in and immediately dispensed with all conversation, turning everyone's attention to the translation of a medieval text. After what seemed like an eternity for both Elizabeth and William, class was finally over and they were free to resume their conversation.

"No jerk would have sent me those things while I was sick."

"Will you forgive me?"

"I already have. Friends?" She held out her hand which he took and raised to his lips. Before he could place the intended kiss upon it, a gushing female voice interrupted them.

"Oh, there you are, William! I've been looking all over for you." Elizabeth recognized Charles' sister Caroline who came up to them with a strange smile on her face. "Oh, hello Elizabeth. I see that you're no longer at death's door!" Without waiting for her reply, Caroline continued:

"William, could you please help me with those conjugations again for the passe conditionnel? I just can't seem to get them right and I have a test tomorrow."

"You're taking French?" Elizabeth asked with surprise.

"Yes, and William is the best private tutor." She stressed private and William looked at Elizabeth quickly but her face said nothing. "Just last night he drilled me over and over and I think that I finally got the hang of it. William, could you please drill me again?" She touched his arm and looked at him suggestively, none of which registered with William, but was taken in by Elizabeth.

"Excuse me. I have some work to do." Elizabeth said evenly, noting the momentary gleam in Caroline's eyes. "Bye." She turned and walked away rapidly, leaving William to look after her in astonishment. Then, realizing what Caroline had said and its implication, he turned to her, his face livid.

"What do you think that you're doing?"

"What do you mean William?" Caroline gave him her best wide-eyed innocent look.

"Don't use that fake acting 101 on me. You know very well what I mean. How could you make her think that you and I...that we?" He looked at her in distaste. "We're going to find her and clear this up. NOW!" He practically stomped to Elizabeth's office, half dragging a squirming Caroline in an iron grasp. William was dismayed to see a note posted on her door which read:

Sorry:

No office hours today due to illness

--Elizabeth Bennet

Chapter 16

Posted on Monday, 21 December 1998

"Oh well, we'll have to try again sometime," Caroline said unconcernedly until William gave her a look of death. "Or, we could try at her apartment..."

"I'll drive, it's faster," William said in clipped tones. They practically ran down the hill to the nearest parking lot, slipping and sliding in the mushy snow.

"I hope you drive more carefully than you run," she muttered, brushing snow from her jeans and stamping her feet. William didn't even deign to look at her as she clumsily lowered herself into the car, barely pulling her leg in and closing the door before he pulled out of the lot with a screech, causing the car to skid sideways.

"Get it through your head," he snarled, "We are not, have never and never will be a couple, intimate or anything like it. You are the sister of my best friend and that is our only connection."

"You've made that very clear. Thank you." she replied sarcastically. "And if I don't want to clarify anything to Miss Elizabeth Bennet?"

"Oh, you'll want to, believe me."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because if you don't, I'll tell Charles about your frat party escapades."

"Fine." She sat back in silence as they pulled into Elizabeth's apartment parking lot. They got out of the car and walked quietly up to her door, both thinking of the situation and how to rectify it, although with different emotions. The door was answered by Charles and they could see Jane sitting on the couch, visibly upset.

"What do you want?" Charles asked with a protective edge in his voice.

"Is Elizabeth here? Caroline has something she needs to tell her...don't you Caroline?"

"Well, I...okay, yes I do," she answered, prompted by William's glare.

"I'm here," said Elizabeth coolly, as she left her room, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against a wall.

"You see..." Caroline began as all eyes turned her direction. "I, um..made you believe that William and I had something going on but the truth is, he has never been intimate or anything but my brother's best friend. There, are you satisfied?" she looked defiantly at William who continued to glare at her.

"Actually," Elizabeth said, "I have something to say to you, Caroline." Caroline looked back at Elizabeth and smiled a social smile, one of her best. She was unprepared for the stinging slap that Elizabeth gave her or Elizabeth's curt:

"Now get out." Caroline half-gasped, putting one hand to her reddened cheek.

"Charles, would you drive me home?" she asked and slammed the door upon exiting. Charles followed her, pausing to open the door, flash a thumbs-up sign at Elizabeth and closed the door quietly behind him.

Chapter 17

Posted on Wednesday, 6 January 1999

Elizabeth's hand dropped to her side, horrified that she had actually struck someone without thinking of how her action could have affected Jane. She looked cautiously at her sister, whose usually placid face had gone pale and her hand was still over her mouth.

"Elizabeth!" Jane exclaimed. "You hit her!"

"I don't know what came over me!" Elizabeth cried. "It was as if my hand just had a mind of its own." She remembered that William was still there and she looked over at him, afraid of what she would read in his eyes. His face was expressionless except for the mirth shining out of those dark eyes.

"That's some right hook you have there," he said nonchalantly and Elizabeth noticed that Jane's face relaxed into a smile and then she burst out laughing hysterically...

"Did you see the expression on her face?"

"Actually it is kind of etched into my mind," Elizabeth replied wryly. "At least Charles didn't seem too upset by it."

"That's the understatement of the year!" Jane said. "He was so upset with her. He's been trying to get her to understand that you're not interested in her, William."

"Good luck. I've been trying for years!" William responded with a smile. "Elizabeth, do you have any more energy left or did you use it all on Caroline?"

"I'm feeling fine, actually. Still have some of the adrenaline pumping, though. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to play some racquetball and take a hot tub afterwards..."

"Sure! I'd go get my suit and change into some sweats. Is the court far from here?"

"Not too far," he said, winking at Jane. " I think that it's very convenient."

"Okay." Elizabeth disappeared into her room and returned quickly, changed and eager to leave. "Is Charles coming back?"

"I imagine so," William answered for Jane. "He can't seem to stay away from here...don't know why!" Jane only smiled, her face expressing her happiness. "Let's go!"

"See ya Jane!" Elizabeth called over her shoulder. "I'll be back in awhile."

"In a long while," thought William to himself as he caught her profile in the dull street lamp.

Chapter 18

Posted on Saturday, 9 January 1999

Parked a distance from that same streetlight was another car, less distinct in nature, whose sole occupant crouched low until William's car was visible only by its red taillights. Starting the engine, the shadowy figure slowly followed the couple at what he considered to be a safe distance until he saw their destination. He smiled wickedly to himself then turned down a side road to return to campus.

Unaware of their tail, Elizabeth chatted about the upcoming Spring Break and Summer Institute until she noticed William's distraction.

"Something wrong? You keep looking in the rear view."

"Nothing."

"You aren't acting like it's nothing."

"Well, I could have sworn that we were being followed. But, whoever it was turned off, so I imagine that they were just also going the same direction. No biggie."

"Are you used to being followed? Maybe by throngs of adoring females…"

"Not so that you'd notice! They usually think that I'm the original Ice Man."

"Maybe what you need is a good thaw…" He looked at her quickly to see if she was being suggestive but her attention was drawn to their surroundings.

"We're at your place."

"Yes."

"Do you have a racquetball court here?"

"Yes, actually I do. Jane and Charles play here often. Jane's pretty good."

"She may seem like a pushover but when it comes to sports, my sisters and I are pretty competitive."

"That's good to know!" He parked the car in a cavernous garage filled with the usual rich man's collection of automobiles.

"Holy cow!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Do you have the Batmobile here, too?"

"Nope, it's in the Batshop for repairs," he retorted. "The court is this way." He led her through what appeared to be a maze of long corridors lined with doors until they came upon a glass window which lit automatically as they approached.

"Motion sensor," he offered as he noticed her curious look. "If you stand still for a minute…" Within a few minutes, the lights switched off, leaving them very close in the dark. Elizabeth felt his face leaning toward hers and she raised her lips, waiting for the slow sensual kiss, but the lights turned back on, causing them both to laugh.

"Very motion sensitive, I'd say!"

"Quite." He replied in a disappointed voice. "Well, let's play some racquetball." She followed him down a flight of stairs and through the door leading to a brightly-lit court with music filtering from the overhead speakers.

"Wow! I could get used to this!!" She said, looking around, then blushed as she caught William's amused look. "I didn't mean…oh garbage. Where's a racquet?"

"Do you want some practice shots?" He watched with interest as she peeled off her sweat bottoms, revealing the trim biker shorts underneath. He struggled to look away as she began to lift off her sweat top, almost taking off the underlying t-shirt, flashing a well-toned midriff that made him feel very energetic. She noticed that he leaned back into one of the walls.

"You okay?'

"Do you think that it is a tad warm in here?"

"Maybe you ought to change into shorts, unless you usually play in slacks."

"What? Oh, right. I have some clothes in the locker room next door."

"I'll just practice some shots while you do…" She picked out a racquet, and turning to look at him, caught a glimpse of William tugging his shirt off as he entered the locker room, a well-muscled back that bespoke weight training. She felt her throat go dry and she swallowed hard, mentally slapping herself back to the task at hand.

"Racquetball, Elizabeth. Practice racquetball." When William returned, he found her vigorously returning the ricocheting ball with much skill and determination, sweat beginning to bead up on her forehead.

"Ready to play?"

"Rock and roll!" He served first, gently lobbing the ball against the wall. She let the ball go by and put her free hand on her hip.

"Hey. You gonna continue to serve down to me or what?"

"Okay then. You asked for it!"

"Bring it on!"

He served low and hard which she deftly returned and he soon found himself in the midst of a hard-charging game. That is, until, while watching her return a particularly challenging shot, the fit of her shorts distracted him, and the ball bounded off his head.

"Ow!"

"Not watching the game, hmmm?" she smiled at him slyly. "You all right?"

"Luckily it was just my thick head," he replied ruefully. "I think that I need a break. Want to hot tub now?"

"Sure."

"Changing room is there, to the right. There are robes and towels in the overhead bins. The hot tub is upstairs to the left. I'll just meet you there."

"Hope that I don't get lost." She mused to herself entering the spacious changing room. "Now, this is a bathroom!" Her wide eyes took in the black granite and creamy marble inlaid floor and the marble-lined steam shower. "Better than Architectural Digest!" She quickly replaced her sweats with her one piece suit, slipped a terry robe over it and went to find William sitting in the hot tub, a large grin on his face.

Chapter 19

"Find everything okay?"

"Yes, that room is amazing. Where did you find granite like that? I love those copper flecks."

"Cool, huh? My interior design team found it. Come on in!" He tried to look casual when she dropped the robe by the side of the hot tub and stepped in.

"This feels so good," she sighed as the warm water bubbled around her.

"How about this?" He picked up her nearest foot and began to massage it.

"MMmm, heaven!" she leaned back, closing her eyes. "Could this possibly be any better?" He let out his breath and started to massage her calf, working slowly up her leg until her eyes flew open in alarm.

"Umm, you better do the other foot now." He smiled and dutifully began on her other foot.

"So, do you have any hot tub fantasies?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Not really. I find that a hot tub is self-fulfilling in a way. I do have one about a train…"

"Is that so? Care to elaborate?"

"Not tonight. I'm just going to enjoy this hot tub."

"Okay. Maybe during Spring Break?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I thought that I'd research, maybe spend some time in the stacks…"

"You are bad!!!" she splashed water at him.

"But, let's not talk about Spring Break…" he inched closer to her. "Turn around and I'll do your back."

"Do you hire out?"

"For you, it is free!" His strong fingers and thumbs made circular motions, kneading her tense muscles until she began to make soft noises in her throat. That made him increase the intensity of his massage, his hands trailing down her back until he could hold back no more. She felt his lips brush the nape of her neck and move up to her earlobe, a slow, almost rhythmic massage of tongue and gentle nibbling. She leaned back into him. and his hands circled her waist, which she covered with her own hands. She laid her head back and from that position, he was able to work his way from her ears to her lips. She turned her head into his soft kiss and then turned to face him. The motion lights went off and there was nothing but the dark, the sounds of water churning and an occasional sigh of pleasure.

"Elizabeth, I…" He began huskily when the sound of footsteps approaching made them jump apart guiltily, like teenagers caught necking on a parent's couch.

"Mr. Darcy," said the butler, when he came upon them. "Begging your pardon, sir, but you have an important phone call. I would have called on the intercom, but it doesn't seem to be on right now."

"I'll be right there. Thank you." The man disappeared and William looked apologetically at Elizabeth. "I'm sorry to interrupt our nice time. Apparently this is important. At least it had better be…" He climbed out of the pool and quickly slipped into a robe, grabbing a towel. "I'll be back as soon as I can. You can take a steam shower while you're waiting or whatever you want. There are some things to drink in the little fridge in the changing room. I'll be back as soon as I can." He cast one last longing look at her and then walked purposely down the hall.

Chapter 20

Posted on Friday, 15 January 1999

Elizabeth watched him leave for a long moment, then climbed out of the hot tub.

"Well, I could try out that steam shower--or maybe a cold shower would do the trick!" She cinched the robe around her waist, picked up her towel and went into the changing room. The steam shower fascinated her with all its different settings, so she undressed and turned it on tropical rain, feeling the light rain-like shower water gently hit her skin. She switched it over to steam and sat on the marble seat, closed her eyes and replayed the hot tub scene over again without the interruption. A bang on the outside door brought her back to the present and she opened the shower door slightly to yell:

"Be out in a minute!" She hurriedly turned the shower off, redressed and almost ran out the door. A solemn William was waiting for her.

"I'm sorry to cut our evening short. I need to go see someone...actually my sister Georgiana. She's not doing very well."

"Okay. Is there anything that I can do?"

"No, it's a private matter. Georgie is pretty close-mouthed and doesn't want anyone to know."

"All right. I'm ready to go."

"This way." They walked in silence to the garage, and Elizabeth noticed that William's preoccupation made him appear very distressed. When he walked her to her apartment door, he took both of her hands, kissed her cheek and said:

"Tonight was wonderful. I'll call you." and almost sprinted back to his car without looking back. Elizabeth heard his car leave the parking lot quickly and then went inside, feeling let down.

Chapter 21

Posted on Friday, 15 January 1999

The next week, Elizabeth was surprised to not see William in class and by Friday, she was determined to have news of him by hook or by crook, as her father would say. Her answering machine held no answers, so she tried the subtle approach with Jane.

"So, Jane, do you and Charles have plans this weekend?"

"The usual." Jane was engrossed in a Discovery channel program and her eyes were glued on the set.

"Are, um, you guys going to play racquetball at all, do you think?"

"Don't think so. Charles is sore from a big workout at the gym yesterday. His squats did him in, I think."

"Did you work out at William's gym?"

"No, up on campus...it was between classes. Liz, do you mind? I'd really like to watch this show."

Elizabeth sat back into the couch, her mind intent on finding out how William and his sister were doing. As she was pondering another tactic, there was a knock at the door, a courtesy knock, apparently, as Charles entered immediately afterwards.

"What are you watching?"

"The mating habits of bees," Jane said quickly. "Shhh."

Charles raised his eyebrows at Elizabeth and said:

"Do you mind if I get a glass of water? I'm thirsty."

"Go ahead." She followed him determinedly into the kitchen, and took a deep breath. "Heard from William lately?" She hoped that she sounded casual enough.

"Yes, I have."

"How is his sister?"

"She's doing better."

"I don't want to pry..."

"Yes, you do!"

"Okay, so I do. Can you tell me what is going on? I'm so in the dark."

"I don't think that William would..."

"Please Charles. He hasn't called or anything. I'm very...well, I'm going crazy, I think."

"Is this a bid for my services?"

"Whatever. What can you tell me?"

"Well, okay, but I didn't tell you anything, okay?"

"Right."

"All right. Well. Georgiana got the news somehow that an old boyfriend that she still cared deeply about was serious about someone else. She started drinking and almost died of alcohol poisoning. William has been with her every waking minute since. His cousin, a Colonel Fitzwilliam is taking leave next week and is going to take his turn during Spring Break."

"Why didn't William call me?"

"Pretty to the point, aren't you. He has been so busy. Georgie has been severely depressed and he couldn't trust anyone but Richard, his cousin, to be with her besides himself. I only know because he wanted some professional advise."

"So he'll be back for Spring Break?"

"That's what he said. Are you going somewhere next week?"

"Nope. Same old, same old, minus the students and classes. Lots of research and writing."

"Sounds so...boring. Jane and I are going to road trip to the Ozarks. I have a cabin reserved on White River."

"You going to be gone all break?"

"Yes, if we're lucky! I hear your sisters are going to go to South Padre Island."

"Yeah, one of their friends has a condo there. Well, the friend's parents have a condo and I hope that they still do after break!"

"Is Mary going with them?"

"Yeah, right. She's staying behind to work on a paper." Charles looked longingly at Jane sitting on the couch.

"Oh, go to Jane!" Elizabeth said teasingly. "Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome. Remember...don't tell William that I said anything."

"About what?" she smiled back and watched him make his way quickly over to Jane, where he draped his arm around her and settled in for what appeared to be personal bee research of his own.

Chapter 22

Posted on Friday, 15 January 1999

Within a few days, all those that Elizabeth was the most closely associated with had packed their bags and were heading out for the Spring Break festivities. Her two younger sisters had even stopped by on their way out of town to say good-bye and ask for money.

"Lyd, why is it that you don't ask Mom and Dad for money? It's not like I'm rolling in it and all."

"Well, actually she did!" offered Kat, at which Lydia shot her a withering look.

"Oh yeah?"

"It's not like that," whined Lydia. "I did spend it on necessary things. Why, just look at this bikini I bought. It's a Gottex and it was on sale. I couldn't pass it up. Why, when, George gets a load of this on me, he'll be putty in my hands."

"George? George who?"

"I don't know his last name. Anyway, no one that you'd know. He's my new boyfriend. We're almost inseparable. We're meeting in South Padre. He has a condo there, just like my friend."

"Sounds like a rich boyfriend."

"You should see how he dresses. I just had to spend Mom and Dad's money to look right at all the parties that he's going to take me to."

"Well, this is all I have to spare. It will pay for gas and some food, I guess."

"Thanks. And Kat has some money, too. We'll spend hers when we run out of yours."

"Wonderful."

"Thanks Lizzy!!" the two cried in unison.

"Be good."

"Yeah, okay." Lydia rolled her eyes at Elizabeth and they both ran off to their car, giggling loudly as they went. Elizabeth heard the car start, the radio start blasting the college station and a screech of tires on asphalt told her that they had already begun their Spring Break.

"Well, nothing left but the lynching." She sighed. "Hmm, what to do first? I think that I'll take a walk down to the Natural History Museum and check out the bees!" She pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes and headed in the direction of the museum.

Once inside, she climbed the stairs and stood in front of the bee case for a long time, watching the bees enter and depart by a small opening to the outside. "I should be so industrious." She thought to herself, beginning to mentally list all the things that she needed to accomplish during the break. How long she stood there, writing her list, she didn't know. A soft voice caused her to jump:

"Have you forsaken the stacks for the bees?"

"William! How did you know where to find me? When did you get back?"

"Because of your admission that you loved the museum and about half an hour ago."

"How's your sister?"

"Better, thanks." His handsome face clouded over at the thought of his sister. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry that I had to run off the other night. I meant to call you, but it was touch and go for awhile. I got so little sleep that I feel like a zombie."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe what you need is a massage…" her eyes glinted mischievously.

"Is that an offer?" his expression had gone seductive.

"Want to go to my place?"

"I thought that you'd never ask!" They left the museum quickly, with William practically dragging Elizabeth, he was walking so rapidly. Flushed and out of breath, she unlocked the door to the apartment and dropped her backpack on the floor.

"Well, lay down on the floor over there and take off your shirt." She directed.

"I don't want to lay on the floor…it's too hard."

"Weeell, I guess that you could lay down on my bed. No funny stuff, though!"

"I don't know what you mean." He said in his most innocent tone.

"Mmhmm. Thirsty?"

"Yes." He gave her a meaningful look.

"Behave…I told you!" She left him in her room and went to get some cans of soda. Upon returning, she found him sprawled on her bed, shirt off and sound asleep. "Gee, I didn't think that I was gone that long!"

She sat the drinks down softly on the nightstand and looked over his muscular back. Slowly she began a light massage, her hands kneading him lovingly, rolling over every tanned inch of his back, lingering on his lower torso. She lost herself in the thrill of touching his skin and drinking in his scent. He moaned slightly, and turned over, looking at her sleepily.

"Sorry, I fell asleep," he muttered thickly. "Cmere." She lowered herself into his outstretched arms and felt his breathing return to the slow, rhythmic breathing of a sleeper. From her position, she could see his long, dark eyelashes and a tiny scar on his left temple. She couldn't stifle the impulse to plant soft kisses along his firm jawline, which caused his eyes to flicker open.

"You're not supposed to start without me, you know," he smiled sleepily and his lips came down softly on hers, parting them slowly, and then more passionately as he began to wake up. "Oh, Lizzy, I've dreamed about you so often while I was gone." He moaned again, but this time it wasn't from fatigue.

It was Elizabeth's turn to moan as he kissed her along her collar bone and up to her waiting lips as their legs locked into each other and he ran a hand up and down one hip. She shifted her body until her calves were firmly planted around his and there they remained until she could feel his discomfort.

"Big problems?" she grinned at him.

"You might say that!"

"Well, you could always take a cold shower…"

"I already have…several times."

"Or you could stop kissing me."

"Not an option." He replied decisively.

"Or you could keep doing what you're doing."

"I might explode!"

"Can I watch?"

"Voyeuse!"

"Or I could…"

"Yes, do that!" She rolled over on top of him and they resumed their passionate kissing until William started to reach under her shirt to pull it off.

"I can't!" She sat up, pulling down her shirt nervously.

"Yes, you can! See, watch!" He tried to put a hand on her shirt again but she twisted away from him.

"Um, William…I'm a virgin."

"Okay. So you're a virgin."

"On purpose."

"What are you trying to say, Elizabeth?"

"I'm not having sex until I get married."

"Okay, marry me then."

"Some guys are so anxious for sex that they'd say anything." She turned away from him, offended.

"Elizabeth," he said softly. "I'm sorry. It didn't come out right. I think about you all the time and dream about you. Please ease my suffering and be my wife."

"Do you think that we know each other well enough?" she sounded skeptical.

"I know that when I'm with you, I feel at peace. And when I'm away from you, all I want is to be with you."

"You could just be infatuated, or obsessed!"

"I'm in love with you Elizabeth Bennet. Marry me? Look, I'm kneeling down even." She did have to admit to herself that he was quite the tempting sight, half-dressed and with a look of fiery love in his eyes.

"Yes, Mr. William Darcy, I will marry you. Want to elope?"

"Don't tempt me! We could get married after the semester is over and honeymoon in Paris with the Summer Institute…you could be my roommate."

"MMMmmm! Now that's a picture of Summer Institute that I think that I like!" She slid over to him, him still kneeling and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, William." She kissed him full on the lips until he got up suddenly and shouted:

"Where's the shower!" She laughed loudly as he ran to the bathroom and she could hear sounds of water running.

Chapter 23 - Lydia's Spring Break

Posted on Saturday, 16 January 1999

It was a bright and sunny afternoon when Lydia, Kat and their friends arrived in South Padre Island. Lydia got out of the car, stretched and took a look around. There appeared to already be more guys, more good-looking guys than she had ever hoped would be possible. Not that that mattered, she reminded herself…she had George. The condo was all that her friend had said that it would be…wide, open balconies facing Laguna Madre Bay with a view to die for. Now this was the life, she thought, very pleased with herself for having such a rich friend. Time to get dressed, call George and hit the beach.

Once in her new bikini, she picked up the phone and dialed the number that George had given her.

"Hi!"

"Hi! What's up?"

"Just got here. Are you coming to the beach right now?

"I have to do something first, then I'll be down."

"Are you watching some soap or something? I can hear voices in the background."

"Uh, yeah. Something I just turned on…listen, I'll see you in a little bit."

"Okay! Bye sweetie!"

"Yeah, bye." George hung up the phone and walked back into the living room. "Well, Mary, now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"

Lydia and her friends went to the beach and set up 'camp' as they called it. Cooler, tanning lotion, towels and a big umbrella. Lydia's suit (or lack of it) drew a lot of attention and soon the girls were surrounded by willing suntan lotion applicants. The afternoon passed and as dusk fell, Lydia began to notice that George had not yet arrived.

"So, Lydia," said one of the admirers. "Do you have plans for tonight? We're going to have a kegger a little up the beach a ways…about 10 miles north of here."

"Well, I was supposed to meet someone today…but since he hasn't arrived, maybe I will take you up on your kegger party, Denny."

"All right! Lydia's coming to the kegger!!" Denny almost shouted while the rest of the group smiled. "Should we come get you in about an hour?"

"Sounds great! If my friend shows up, can he come along?"

"Well, okay." Denny's tone was a definite, 'if he must'. "Is he cool?""

"The coolest."

"All right. Pick you up in an hour." The group waved good-bye and went off to organize their party supplies. Lydia, Kat and Moira left for the condo. As they were walking up the steps to the property, Kat asked her sister:

"Lyd, what ever possessed you to accept an invitation for George? He might be offended since it was from a group of guys…of very hot guys, no less."

"Who cares? George didn't bother to come to the beach, so if he shows up, then he goes with. If not, well, there are many guys to ease my broken heart!" They all laughed at the thought of Lydia having a broken heart and entered the condo just as the phone was ringing.

"Hi!"

"Hi, could I talk to Lydia?"

"You're in deep doo-doo pal!"

"No doubt. Just put her on, Moira."

"It's Lover Boy!" Moira snickered and on the other line, George grimaced.

"Well, long time no see." Lydia said coldly, rolling her eyes at her sister and friend. "So, did you meet someone else or what?"

"Lyd, you know that you're the only girl in my life. A friend called and needed my shoulder…a very old, dear friend."

"What's her name, George?"

"How did you know it was a girl?"

"Duh, George, like I don't know you very well…"

"Her name is Mary…very dumpy and freckled. She's no competition, Lyd."

"Like I was worried. Are you going to get your butt over here or not? We're going to a kegger about 10 miles north of here. Want to come?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" George laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Lydia hated when she was not in the loop.

"Well, the location sounds choice. Great spot and definitely great scenery."

"Okay, be vague. I'll find out when I get there, right?"

"Oh, I would imagine so! I'll be there in about 20 minutes. I have to shower first."

"If you're late, you'll just have to meet us there."

"Okay, see you soon, Love of my Life."

"Bye Sweet George." She hung up the phone and said with a shrug. "Well, he wants to come. He said. If he doesn't show this time, no big loss, huh girls?!" They all parted ways to prepare for their first party of Spring Break and before long, a knock was heard at the door.

"Hey Babe! You look incredible!" George grinned at Lydia. "Are you sure that you don't want to just forgo the party and go dancing? I hear that Kelly's Irish Pub has a band tonight."

"Sorry, I have my heart set on this party. We could go dancing tomorrow. Puleaze?!?" She gave him her most endearing look.

"Okay. The party it is. I wouldn't miss this party for anything!"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, I guess that you'll just have to wait to find out, little Miss Curious."

They all piled into George's jeep and headed out for the beach. Once there, Lydia took out her flashlight and started to shine it around.

"Kind of a secluded place…hmmm, what is this?" Her flashlight beam picked up an axe in the sand with writing on it. She walked closer to get a better look and almost dropped her flashlight.

"Clothing Optional Beach!!"

Chapter 24

Posted on Tuesday, 19 January 1999

George felt Lydia slug his nearest arm.

"So, you knew about this site?" she snarled.

He shrugged and said, "I didn't think that you'd be bothered by it, given the type of swimming suit that you usually wear."

"That is besides the point! All nude is slightly different than mostly nude, you moron!"

"Yeah, whatever. Are you coming or not? Chances are, the clothing will stay on anyway, so what's the problem?"

"Okay, I'll go, but I'm keeping my clothes on." George shrugged again and Lydia, Kat and their friend looked at each other for support.

"Okay then, let's go!" They followed George slowly, as he made his way through the sand to the bonfire that was already blazing. Once to the fire, they noticed that all the partygoers still were clothed and passing out cups of the beer that Denny was drawing from the keg.

"Hi guys. Hi Lydia!" he said as they approached. "Want a beer?"

"Thanks Denny," Lydia said with a tone that made George look at her possessively. "This is my friend George."

"Nice to meet you." George said flatly.

"Likewise." responded Denny.

"Soooo, Denny," began Lydia, "Why is this shindig at a clothing optional beach?"

"Thought that it would be fun...not to mention give everyone a heart attack once they saw the sign!"

"I'm not taking my clothes off!" Kat said firmly.

"Suit yourself! That's why it says 'optional', you know."

The group moved away from Denny and closer to the fire, but George noticed that Lydia's attention was still drawn by the self-appointed bartender. He quickly downed his beer and went back for more.

"You'd better slow down, George!" Lydia warned. "We want to get home in one piece and you're the designated driver."

"I know how to handle myself, thank you very much." George retorted and chugged the beer that Denny handed him, then had him refill it. He smiled at her. "Want to go check out the sand dune?"

"Nope, I'm staying by the fire."

"Okay." George left the group and wandered down the beach a short distance. Satisfied that he was completely alone, he reached into his pocket for what he had been saving and sat down on the sand.

A short time later, he made his way back to the group, noticing that Lydia and Denny were sitting very close to each other. Lydia looked up as he sat down between them.

"Hi George! I guess I don't have to ask what you've been up to..."

"That obvious?"

"Duh."

"Got anything to eat here, Denny?"

"Chips, pretzels and M&Ms."

"Want anything, Lydia?"

"I'm fine." Please just go away, you stoner.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay." Don't hurry on my account. She watched him stumble to the food area and sighed. "Looks like I am going to drive this time. I think that I'll take him home and come back." She scrambled to her feet. "Wait for me?"

"Forever!" Denny smiled back at her. He watched her walk over to George, take him arm and lead him back to where his jeep was parked. The jeep started and soon the vehicle was gone.

In a short time, Lydia and George were at his condo and she was patiently walking him in the door, anticipating a swift departure. He turned to her and said:

"Thanks for bringing me home. And I was beginning to think that you had the hots for Denny!" He bent down and started to kiss her passionately, gradually removing her desire to return to the party. Oh well, she thought, Kat and Moira will be able to get a ride from Denny. George picked her up and carried her to the bedroom where they continued their passion until both fell sound asleep.

It was very early the next morning when Lydia's sleepy brain registered pounding on the door.

"George, what's that?" George continued to sleep. From outside the condo, she could hear pounding and a petulant woman's voice:

"George, wake up. Wake up...I forgot my door key. George...what are you doing...wake up!" The voice started to get louder and more frantic...and took on a tone of angry belligerence. Lydia prodded George until his eyes opened and then hissed:

"I think that your 'friend' Mary wants in!" George sat upright in bed.

"Quick, get your stuff. Go to the bathroom and don't say a word. I'll get rid of her as soon as I can." Lydia dutifully picked up her things, and walked sleepily to the bathroom where she closed the door and folded her arms, almost drifting back into sleep. The door opened and she heard the low voice of George and the woman 'Mary' who appeared to be appeased until all of a sudden she let out a shriek:

"So, whose shoe is that? Is she here? Where is she, George?" Before George could answer, Mary stormed through the condo, and threw open the bathroom door, leaving Lydia to blink at her impassively.

"What? What is she doing here? Why didn't you tell me?" Mary began to shout and cry at the same time, but Lydia just looked at her without expression.

"I was just getting ready to take her home, right, Lydia?"

"Yes, and I had to go to the bathroom." Mary didn't look convinced and Lydia was beyond caring. "Can I go home now, George. I'm pretty tired."

"Sure. You go out to the jeep and I'll be out in a minute." Lydia collected her stray shoe from the living room and went outside. Within a few minutes, George rejoined her and they rode to Moira's condo in silence.

Chapter 25: Lydia's Plan

Posted on Wednesday, 20 January 1999

As soon as George stopped the car in her condo's parking lot, Lydia opened the door. She heard George try to stop her but she ignored him and ran into the condo, slamming it behind her in frustration. Her friend looked up from the late night TV show that she was watching and casually remarked:

"Have a good time? Oh, and thanks for the ride back!"

"Sorry that I ran off. I did mean to come back…really, I did." Lydia insisted as she saw her friend's skeptical look. "It's just that George, well…"

"Spare me," Moira responded. "If he was all that, then why do you look like crap?" She was surprised when Lydia burst into tears.

"Oh, I never want to see him again. What a lying two faced-jerk!" She told the story in detail to her friend who sat there listening with her mouth open.

"Well, " she said as soon as Lydia had finished, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Never see him again, duh!"

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all?"

"No plan to get even?"

"I hadn't thought about anything. Do you usually think revenge is the answer to break-ups?"

"No, not usually. But then there is the exception…"

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Do you know where he's staying?"

"Yes, I do. I had to drive him back last night."

"Okay, then here's the plan…" The two spent the greater part of the early morning hours plotting their revenge until they both fell asleep on the couch. When Kat got up around 10 a.m., she noticed them on the couch and the previous day's newspaper strewn around on the floor.

"Slobs!" she said, bending down to pick up the pages. Her eyes lit on several pages that had bright red rings around the article titles and she brought them into viewing range. "What are they…?" Her hand touched a sheet of notebook paper that had been torn out and had Lydia's writing on it, a list of sorts. As her hand rustled the papers near Lydia, it caused her sisters' eyes to flutter open.

"You're being too loud!" Lydia said petulantly. "Can't that wait?"

"You guys made a real mess of things here. What were you two doing?" Lydia closed her eyes again and pulled a pillow over her head.

"I'll tell you later, okay? Could you just go get me the morning newspaper, since you're up and all. There's a 7-11 just around the corner. And some donuts, too. Bear-claw, cinnamon roll or filled anything. Thanks."

"Sure." Kat said sarcastically to herself. "No problem. Like I have a life anyway, right? Slave to Miss Sociable of the Year, that's me." She let herself out quietly and went to the convenience store. She picked out several donuts and took a newspaper from the rack.

"Let's see what is news here in Padre…hmmm 'motor home joyride', 'driver dodges dog sled in Alaska', 'Erik the Red's Catering burglarized'…this place is really hopping." She folded up the paper and stuck it under her arm, balancing the juice and donuts as she re-entered the condo. To her surprise, both Lydia and Moira were awake and apparently waiting for her to return.

"Did you get the paper?"

"Right here! Not much news, except for a burglary."

"Really? Let's see!" Moira snatched the paper out of her hand and eagerly read the article to Lydia, whose expression of excitement puzzled Kat.

"What is so exciting about that?" she asked.

Lydia and Moira exchanged a secretive look. "Should we let her in on it?"

"Can you be trusted?" Lydia asked.

"To do what?"

"To keep our secret…and to help, a little."

"What does it involve?"

"Well, first of all, we need for you to…" Lydia whispered the rest to Kat, whose eyes widened and who burst out laughing.

"I can't believe that you're going to do that! Why are you doing this to George?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you over the donuts! Oh, and we are going to need Denny today. Do you think that he will be available?"

"I imagine. He only talked about you all night."

"Think that he would be willing to help out?"

"Are you kidding? He thinks that George is slime."

"Great! We have all the actors that we need and all the info, too! What a day George is going to have! Remind me that I need to buy a pair of field glasses, too. They'll come in very handy." They all laughed at the idea of what they were going to do to George and sat down to breakfast.

Chapter 26 Lydia's Revenge

Posted on Thursday, 21 January 1999

For George, the day began fairly normally. He woke up around 2 in the afternoon, having spent the greater part of his early morning hours trying to reasonably explain away Lydia's presence in the condo to Mary King. They finally made up, made love and went to bed, once George had explained that Lydia was just a friend who was having boy friend problems. George stretched luxuriously as he sat on the side of the bed, looking at Mary who was still sound asleep. "Am I good or am I good?" he thought to himself, rather pleased with his performance. "Now, what am I going to say to Lydia?" a smile crossed his lips as he hit upon the perfect excuse and he rose to shower and dress. Once dressed, he picked up the phone in the most remote part of the condo and dialed Lydia's number.

"Hi, is Lydia there?"

"Oh, hi George!" came Kat's saccharine-sweet voice. "I'll get her for you." Kat made a face at Lydia, like she was sticking her finger down her throat. "It's George."

"Hi George. Why are you calling me after last night?"

"You didn't give me the chance to explain."

"What's to explain?"

"Lyd, don't be that way."

"What way?"

"So cold…that's not like you."

"And is it like you, then?"

"Can I explain last night?"

"You can certainly try!"

"Mary is an old friend of the family. It's actually her condo that I'm staying at, and she told me that her dad would go ballistic if anyone else stayed there. Her dad doesn't even know that I'm there or he'll have a cow."

"Mhmm," was the noncommittal response. "And why exactly are you staying there anyway?"

"To save money."

"I thought that you just got a big student loan check last week."

"Well, that's for school. I have to save money where I can, Lyd. That way I can take you out and stuff."

"So, you're not shagging Mary?"

"Are you kidding? Mary? Did you get a real close look at her? C'mon Lyd, you know that you're my one and only."

"Oh, George, you're so sweet! I'm sorry that I ever, ever doubted you. Pick me up in a couple of hours?"

"You bet! See you soon, my sweet!"

"Okay, honeykins!" They both hung up the phone thinking 'sucker!'.

"He bought it, hook, line and sinker!"

"Wow, Lydia, I didn't know that you were such an actress!" Moira said admiratively.

"I did!" Kat deadpanned and ducked as Lydia heaved a pillow at her. "So, Denny, did you make your phone calls, yet?"

"Actually, yes, before I came over. Lydia, make sure that you get him to take you to a really expensive restaurant. Does his jeep already have gas in it?"

"Yeah, last night it was on full."

"Great! He won't know what hit him until it's too late!"

"What about the other call?"

"A piece of cake. I imagine in about 5-6 hours it will all hit the fan!"

"Excellent! Now, Denny, do you have time to take me shopping? I need some new lingerie!"

"And a Fedex package, hmmm?"

"No, I have a better idea!"

"Awesome! Let's hurry so that you're back in time for 'Lover Boy'!" They linked arms and left the apartment.

Chapter 27: The Icing on the Cake

George pulled up to Moira's condo, smiling the easy smile of one who anticipated a quick victory. He climbed the steps and rang the doorbell, looking around to check out the beach for future reference. Lydia opened the door, seductively dressed in a short, cleavage-revealing dress that immediately gave George ideas of how they should spend the next few hours.

"I'm hungry, George."

"You and me both. You look good enough to eat!"

"Food. I want some food. Moira doesn't keep much food in this place."

"Okay, we'll go out but we'll go back to my place for…dessert."

"Your place, George? I thought that it was Mary's."

"Semantics. Ready?"

"Just a second, I need to get my purse. I'll be right back." She went to her bedroom where the others were waiting. "In the palm of my hand!" she whispered and Kat gave her a high five. "See you guys in about 2-3 hours…or less if his money runs out!" They gave her the thumbs up sign and she left, saying loudly, "I wonder where Kat and Moira are. They went out a little bit ago to go shopping and I haven't seen them since." The others heard the door slam shut and they trouped out of the bedroom.

"Time to see if Mary is still at home!" Moira said, dialing her number. When Mary answered the phone, Moira asked sweetly:

"Is George there? He gave me his number and told me to call him anytime. Are you his sister that he talked so much about?"

"No, I'm not his sister." It sounded like she was talking between her teeth.

"Oh, well then, the maid. Well, could you tell him that I can't meet him for lunch after all. Something came up and I'll have to call him later. Thanks!" Moira hung up and let loose her pent-up laughter.

"Boy is he going to get it when he gets back!"

"It will be my turn in a few minutes!" smirked Kat. "But I think that we should send her on a little wild goose chase. Let's get in position first!" They left in Denny's rental van and parked in front of Mary's condo. "Hand me the binoculars! Great! The curtains are open and I can see her. Hand me the cell phone."

Kat made her call which had the desired effect. Mary left the apartment in a hurry and Kat called Lydia on her borrowed cell phone.

"Hey Lydia, incoming! Make up some excuse and get out of there. We're right on schedule."

"George…" said Lydia, giving him the Look. "I don't think that I'm that hungry…for food anymore."

"We're out of here! Waiter, my check please!" He gave the waiter his credit card and stared lustily at Lydia. "I guess that we're skipping right to the dessert, then!" Within a few minutes, the waiter returned with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Sir, I'm really sorry, but your card has been declined."

"What? Oh, never mind," he said impatiently, still fixed on Lydia's cleavage. "Here's some cash, keep the change." He grabbed Lydia's hand and they left the restaurant quickly. "My place is closer, let's go there!"

"Sounds like a great plan!" Lydia's eyes gleamed, but not for the reason that George was thinking. Once in Mary's condo, he grabbed her and started to kiss her passionately. "George," Lydia said huskily, "Will you excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom. Why don't you meet me in the bedroom. Close the door, I don't want you to see the surprise before it happens!" George groaned but walked rapidly to the bedroom, closing the door in anticipation. He took off all his clothes and got into bed. Outside the door, Lydia went to the bathroom and turned on some water. She left it running while she softly walked over to the couch where she had dropped her purse and pulled out a silky pair of underwear and put it on the floor, a few feet from the door. She kicked her shoes off and left them there and went back to flush the toilet and turn off the running water.

"Here I come!" she said in a sultry voice. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, come to me now!" said George. She opened up the door and saw him in bed, wearing only a grin. She left the door open and climbed on top of him and began to kiss and tantalize him. "Why did you put that music on so loud?" He managed to say before she attacked him again.

"Mood music…does that bother you? Maybe this will get your mind off the music…" George moaned and began to kiss her savagely, not hearing the front door open and the gasp that came from Mary as she took in the underwear, the high heels and, eventually the scene that was before her in her own bedroom.

"You big piece of….!" She yelled and George's ecstatic expression turned to one of horror.

"Mary, wait, I can explain!" Lydia picked herself off of the bed and straightened her dress.

"Looks like you two need some quiet one on one!" she said, smiling maliciously at George. "See you later. Oh, and I'll let myself out." She walked out into the living room, pausing to put on her shoes and pick up the underwear that was still laying there. Once outside the condo, she could still heard the strains of a loud argument and she smiled with satisfaction.

"Phase one complete," she said to herself . "And now for phase two!"

Chapter 28--Phase Two

Posted on Thursday, 21 January 1999

Lydia climbed into the van and shared her victory with her accomplices.

"So, how long do you think that it will take for the police to arrive?" she asked Denny.

"Well, I told them what you said about his habit of staying home only in the afternoon, so they should be here any time now...look, here's one now!" They all crouched down and waited for the two officers to exit their vehicle and walk toward the condo.

"I sure wish that we had the place bugged! This would be so great!"

From inside the condo, the officers could hear a heated argument and the sound of breaking glass. They knocked forcefully on the door and George answered it, looking slightly disheveled.

"Yes? What can I do for you officers?"

"We're looking for a Mr. George Wickham."

"That would be me. What is this about?"

"We would just like to ask you a few questions in connection with a burglary at a local catering service."

"Sure. I have nothing to hide."

"Oh yeah, you scum!" Mary shouted from the bedroom.

"Women!" George shrugged as if trying to make a joke, but the officers didn't smile back.

"Where were you last night between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.?"

"I was right here."

"Were you alone?" At this question, Mary came out of the bedroom and looked meanly at him with her arms folded.

"No, no I wasn't." George began to be a little concerned with the officers' no nonsense attitude.

"Would you mind telling us who you were with?"

"I was with a girl named Lydia Bennet."

"We would like her information so that we can verify this information."

"Sure, here is it." He produced a notepad where Moira's condo information had been written down.

"Thank you. Mr. Wickham, we would advise you not to leave town for any reason until your story checks out."

"I'll be right here. I'm not planning on going anywhere!" he smiled at them as they left, still with grave expressions on their faces.

"Is that so?" yelled Mary as she started to chuck his clothes off the balcony the minute the police car was out of sight.

The four in the van doubled over in laughter watching the flying stream of personal effects and clothing coming from the condo, and how George was scrambling below to gather them up and stuff them into the piece of luggage that had almost landed on his head.

"She's a good shot!" said Moira. "Not bad. Should have beaned him, though."

"When do you think that he'll find out about his bank account being frozen?" asked Kat.

"I imagine about the time that he starts needing money for another place to stay!" laughed Denny. "Looks like he's moving out, wouldn't you say?"

"He could always stay in his jeep…" began Kat as Moira shook her head.

"We super-glued the locks! He won't be going anywhere soon!" The four started up the van and headed off to the beach. It had been a full day and they felt a desperate need for some R&R.

Chapter 29

Posted on Saturday, 23 January 1999

The day before all the university was to return to their classes, Elizabeth and William were at her apartment, enjoying a quiet evening of videos and romance. The calm was shattered with a loud knock at the door, followed by loud, boisterous voices demanding to be let in. Elizabeth went to the door reluctantly to let in Lydia, Kat and Moira.

"We had the best Spring Break!" Lydia began before being interrupted by Moira.

"Wait 'til you hear what we did to Lydia's now former boyfriend!"

"I'm afraid to ask!" Elizabeth said with a slight frown on her face. "What do you mean, former boyfriend?"

"Well, it would seem that George was not exactly a one-woman man, if you know what I mean."

"Lydia," William broke in. "Who is this George anyway?" He was hoping beyond hope that it wasn't who he thought it was.

"His last name is Wickham."

"Wickham!" Elizabeth and William cried together looking at each other in dismay.

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"You might say that," Elizabeth replied, turning red with anger and frustration. "So, what happened in Padre?"

"Well, it all started out that George was going to stay at a separate condo with an old friend of his, that's what he said. But his 'old friend' turned out to be a girlfriend, Mary King."

"How did you find out?" William asked with extreme curiosity.

Lydia related the kegger night's events and how upset she had felt inside. "And then, Moira had this brilliant idea that she got from the internet…"

"Go on!"

"Well, at first we just wanted to get a little even with him, but we found so many funny things to do to him that we just couldn't resist. My new boyfriend Denny helped us."

"New boyfriend?"

"Long story. Anyway, to make a long story short, we called in George's name to the police as a suspect in this burglary case, and made sure that he didn't have an alibi for that time frame. Then, well, we took care of his excess girlfriend problem!"

"No doubt. I'm going to love to hear this, I'm sure!" Elizabeth said dryly.

"I'll have to tell you in private." Lydia added, glancing sideways at William who only raised his eyebrows at her.

"Go on… tell her about the bank account!" Kat prodded.

"Oh, that. We just called his bank and told them that all his account stuff had been stolen and so they froze his account. We did that for his credit cards, too."

"Nice touch," William commented wryly.

"Well, we managed to get him taken into the police station for questioning, got him kicked out of his residence and made him poor on top of it all. Not to mention that he probably had a hard time getting into his jeep, what with all his doorlocks superglued and all."

"Remind me to stay on your good side!" William laughed. "Does this revenge gene run in the family?"

"Probably something that you don't want to find out?" Elizabeth replied.

"I'm starved!" exclaimed Lydia. "What do you have to eat? That was such a long drive and the only thing that kept me going was the thought that you'd feed me."

"Let's see. William and I didn't eat all the Nutella, so you could have a sandwich of that. Or there's some left-over chili in the fridge. Oh, there are chips and dip from 'Pancho Via's', if you want."

"Man, you guys must have eaten a lot of this Nutella stuff. The jar's almost empty."

"Well, try the salsa, then. It's pretty good." The three girls ate quickly, still talking loudly of their Spring Break adventure and all the hotties that they had met. Just as quickly they were gone, leaving behind a kitchen full of dirty dishes and food crumbs.

"Tornado Lydia!" Elizabeth said with a small degree of exasperation as she looked over the mess left for her to clean up. William picked up a sponge and some cleaning spray and began to clean the counters as Elizabeth washed the dishes. "Thanks, William. That was so sweet of you to help clean…"

"My pleasure!" he said softly, looking into her eyes and pulling her close. "Your wish is my command."

"Then sit back on the couch with me and kiss me until your lips fall off!"

"As you wish!" he mock bowed to her and led her to the couch. "Before we get all involved, I need to tell you something about George that will maybe make you a little more accepting of what Lydia and company did to him."

"How did you know that the revenge thing made me uncomfortable?"

"I'm starting to be able to read you a little," he said, kissing her cheek. "Besides, I know that that is not your style."

"You've got that right."

"Let me tell you how George has impacted my family…" William began slowly, taking Elizabeth's hands in his and facing her on the couch.

Chapter 30

"…and so you can see why I didn't believe that you weren't involved with George when I saw you in the stacks with him." Elizabeth nodded slowly. "And when I think of how my sister Georgiana took his infidelities…I just want to pound him."

"I guess that Lydia probably took out a lot of people's frustrations on him!"

"Not nearly all that he deserved, unfortunately. But at least her association with him was short-term. So, the effects appear to be minimal…which is good."

"How is your sister now?"

"She's doing much better. In fact, I think that Lydia's story will cheer her up quite well. Let's hope that Mary King is doing okay."

"Oh, poor Mary. I had forgotten about how she must feel."

"Well, it's all for the better. At least she knows what kind of a man he is."

"And I know what kind of a man you are, William Darcy!" She reached over and kissed him softly. "Now, about those kisses!" He pulled her almost on top of him and that's where Jane and Charles found them when they came into the apartment an hour later.

The rest of the semester passed by rapidly and soon finals were over and the two sisters were making plans for their double wedding. Charles and Jane had become engaged over Spring Break and were as inseparable as Elizabeth and William. After a brief ceremony at the small chapel on campus, the two couples were spirited away to their first nights together in white horse-drawn carriages. Elizabeth and William spent their wedding night at Pemberley.

When Elizabeth and William entered the mansion, the lights were all out and lit candles dotted the rooms which seemed to lead to the master suite.

"Would you like to take a jacuzzi, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth?"

"I thought that you'd never ask!" She followed him to the hot tub room, where fresh flowers and lit candles perfumed the air.

"Do you still remember the way to the changing room?" he asked.

"Yes, it's this way, right?"

"Yes, I'll meet you back here!" He watched her leave and went to his own changing area, stripping off his clothes. He looked at the bathing suit hanging on the rack, and with a grin, walked quickly out to the hot tub and slipped in, leaving the suit right where it had been. He heard the faint noise of bare feet slapping along the marble and glanced up to see Elizabeth standing before him, an oversized robe cinched around her waist.

"I hope that you don't mind," she said with a sly look on her face, "but I just couldn't seem to find a suit that fit as well as my own…" she let the robe drop, revealing her lack of attire and slipped into the hot tub next to him. "Now, where were we before your butler interrupted us last time?" She put her arms around his neck, drawing him into a warm, sensual embrace before wrapping her legs around his torso and smiling a deep smile of satisfaction:

"Mr. Darcy, I can't wait to be with you in Paris tomorrow night!" she moved closer to him.

"Mrs. Darcy, I wouldn't mind if we just stayed here, if you're going to wear that suit!"

The butler, upon doing a last security check, noticed the system was shut down around the jacuzzi room with a note that read…"Interrupt me tonight and die!" He left the room with a grin on his face. "Yes Master!" he thought and went off to bed.

The next evening ( US time), as they flew into Paris, Elizabeth scanned the sky for familiar sites. "Oh look, William, there's the Eiffel Tower!" His hand tightened around hers and he leaned over to kiss her.

"Did you know that your eyes light up whenever you're really excited?"

"Well, they must be like Las Vegas by now!" she said suggestively, putting her free hand on his thigh. "I'm so glad that we have a few days here before the students arrive."

"Yes. Isn't it something that Professor de Bourgh decided to oversee the student flights herself and let us leave early?"

"Yes, isn't it…"replied Elizabeth absentmindedly as William had started to distract her with his free hand. "Stop, everyone will see us!"

"Like the French are going to care!" Sure enough, several people smiled widely at them and nodded their approval. The plane landed, they got off, hailed a taxi and went to their hotel, where a balcony overlooking the city awaited them. Elizabeth unpacked rapidly and left for some mysterious errand.

Upon her return, William smiled to see the baguette tucked under her arm and a sack from the nearest grocer. "What did you get?"

"Ne sois pas si impatient!" she turned around so that he couldn't see her pull an item out of the sack. Grinning, she turned back around and triumphantly held a jar aloft. (don't be so impatient)

"Nutella? You went out and got Nutella?"

"It's best when you buy it here in France…fresher and creamier."

"What, you want a sandwich or something?"

"Or something!"

"Why Mrs. Darcy, what ever could you mean?"

"Well, some of my colleagues at the University were telling me about Nutella use at my bridal shower. It seems that Laura, Danielle and Teg all agreed on the best way to use it!"

"And what might that be?"

"Come here and I'll demonstrate…" She opened the jar and waved it temptingly in his direction. "Viens, mon petit chou, j'ai quelque chose pour toi!"*

"J'y suis deja!"* He dipped his finger into the jar and started after her, chasing her through the hotel room, both of them laughing hysterically. The couple passing by their door outside, shook their heads, giving each other a knowing look.

"Ah, les amoureux!"* and opened their door, revealing a room stocked in Nutella.

Translation: Come, my little cabbage, I have something for you! I'm already there! Oh, the lovers!

The End.

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