By the Book

Judy-Lynne

Posted on Sunday, 13 April 2003

William Darcy sat back and gazed upon his latest acquisition. It was a leather-bound first edition of a book of poems that he'd been coveting for some time. He had very nearly gotten his hands on it two years earlier in a silent auction. The winning bidder, with whom Darcy constantly competed for rare gems like the book in his hands, had recently fallen on hard times and William was more than happy to acquire the volume in a private sale brokered by a dealer of antiquarian books. He wrapped the book in the tissue paper it had been shipped in and placed the book back into its box. Then he picked up the note enclosed along with the book and dialed the number at the top of the sheet.

"Hello, Bennet Booksellers."

"Good afternoon. Am I speaking with Miss Bennet?" There was a muffled snort before the woman replied.

"Which Ms. Bennet did you want to be speaking to?"

"There's more than one?" Again, William heard a muffled snort of laughter.

"Yes! The place is lousy with Bennet girls."

"I beg your pardon?"

"There are four Ms. Bennets on the premises. Five, if you count Kitty, but she never does enough work to justifiably consider her an employee."

"I see," William said, as he stared at the flawless penmanship on the handwritten note. "Ms. Elizabeth Bennet, please."

"Hold on please." William overheard a brief exchange between two of the five Bennet siblings as he waited. "Lizzy, it's for you. Some guy with a really sexy accent."

"Is that how he identified himself or did he actually give you a name?"

"Neither of the above; he just sounds really hot."

"Lydia, go and help Mary with the outgoing orders. And if you're back here again and the phone rings, don't answer it!" There was a moment of silence and then--. "Good afternoon, Bennet Booksellers. This is Lizzy Bennet speaking."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Bennet," William smiled. "This is William Darcy."

"How do you do, Mr. Darcy?"

"I take it you're the senior Ms. Bennet on the premises," he said affably. Lizzy, nonetheless sighed as she realized her youngest sister had probably said something inappropriate to one of their father's prominent customers.

"The eldest save one, Mr. Darcy," she replied. "What may I do for you today? I hope your shipment arrived in good order."

"I just received it in an hour ago," he assured her. "It's in even better condition than I expected! When Vickers and I spoke about it he led me to believe that it had a bit of damage along the spine and some foxing among the pages."

"I suspect that Mr. Vickers was pulling your leg, Mr. Darcy. The book is in immaculate condition. Perhaps he wanted to ease your disappointment when he outbid you for the book," Lizzy said amusedly. William heard the smile in her voice and was enchanted.

"You're undoubtedly correct, Ms. Bennet. Vickers and I have been friendly rivals for years. He takes great delight in gloating over his acquisitions, but always in a dignified and self-effacing manner."

"And, of course, you'd never resort to such behavior, Mr. Darcy," Lizzy teased. "After all, your collection is nothing to brag about, is it?" William was taken aback for a moment before he laughed at the comment. He was certain that Ms. Bennet was aware of his extensive collection of first editions.

"No, not at all. I would never dream of lowering myself to such behavior," William replied.

Lydia was certainly right about his voice, Lizzy thought as she tried to imagine what sort of man would be attached to such a rich, caressing voice. Just as someone familiar came to mind she was abruptly jolted out of her reverie when he began speaking again. He was talking about another book.

"The last time I spoke with Mr. Bennet--he's your father, is he not--he told me about a new shipment of books he was expecting shortly. He said that there may be a few items among the shipment that I might be interested in."

"Yes, Mr. Darcy. The shipment my father spoke of arrived just this morning from an estate that had over 500 rare and antique volumes in it its collection. If you let me know what you're interested in I should be able to find a few interesting items on the manifest."

"Would it be possible for me to take a look at that manifest?" William asked.

"Well, we don't usually..." Lizzy considered his request and decided that there was no reason not to fulfill his simple request. After all, he'd just spent several thousands of dollars on one book. Why not encourage him to buy more? "I suppose I can fax you a copy as soon as all the items have been inventoried. Would that suffice?"

"That would be excellent." He gave Lizzy the fax number and thanked her again for her help with his previous purchase. When she hung up the phone Lizzy sat for a moment, just savoring the sound of the lovely voice as it faded from her thoughts.

"Shall I bring you a cup or would you prefer to go and stand over the ficus in the corner?" Lydia said as she entered the small office where Lizzy handled special orders.

"Don't be so cheeky," Lizzy snapped as she unsuccessfully tried to hide her embarrassment. "Have you and Mary finished inventorying all the new books?"

"Yes--dusty old things," Lydia pouted. "I can't understand why anyone wants to buy musty old books, anyway."

"Strange question for a girl whose father has made a career of selling 'musty old books,'" Lizzy chided.

"You got a fax, Mr. D. It looks like a booklist or something. In fact, if it wasn't for the note attached, I'd have thought it was sent mistakenly. It's from Bennet Booksellers."

"Oh, I'll take that, Jo," William said eagerly. He had been looking forward to seeing the manifest from the estate purchase, hoping to find a few choice items to add to his collection. It had been two days since Lizzy had promised it to him and he'd been sorely tempted to call her back one more than one occasion. When his assistant handed him the list he easily understood the cause of the delay. But he found himself far more interested in the note that accompanied the 13-page list. Once again it was written in Lizzy's elegant hand.

Dear Mr. Darcy,

I can imagine that you have been anxiously awaiting this list. I thought it best to postpone sending it along until I had a chance to look at each of the items for myself. I found your customer profile on our database, which not only gave me an excellent clue to your tastes but a list of specific books you were looking for. I am delighted to say that we have seven of them. I have also included the titles of several others (53, actually) that fall within your area of interest.

I entered each of the books on my spreadsheet program so that you can see for yourself what is available. Each entry specifies the book's title, edition, provenance, condition and price--although my father tells me that you often negotiate prices for your purchases. I am willing to engage in such negotiation for any item on the list you may wish to acquire.

William read on, admiring the crisp businesslike tone of Lizzy's correspondence, which somehow also managed to convey a warm, friendly personality and a liveliness of spirit that made him smile. He tore himself away from the note and his contemplation of the woman who'd written it to examine the list. It was impressive. Lizzy had obviously taken a great amount of time and care to prepare the list. He supposed that she did it for all of her father's important clients, but he was impressed nonetheless. He reached for the phone.

"Bennet Booksellers. Lydia Bennet speaking." William recognized the voice and smiled as he imagined Lydia being subjected to a stern lecture on phone etiquette after his last call.

"Good afternoon, Lydia Bennet," William smiled, deliberately turning on the charm and accent. "May I speak with Elizabeth Bennet, please?"

"You can do anything you want if you ask like that," she gasped in reply. William bit his lip to prevent laughing out loud. "Oh! No, I'm sorry. She isn't here." William was more than a bit suspicious at her statement.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, I'm certain," Lydia said with the impatience of youth. "She went to some auction house to look at some moldy old books. And she's never here on Tuesdays, anyway. She goes to school on Tuesdays. Can you imagine--you actually have to go to school to learn to be boring enough to become a librarian?"

"Don't you like books, Lydia Bennet?"

"Well, some books, yeah. I read Bridget Jones's Diary a while ago and it was cool. Have you read that?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, you should. The book is set in London and there's lots of British stuff in it you'd understand a whole lot better than me. And there's a guy in it with your name," Lydia said with a giggle. "But I don't want to be librarian like Lizzy. I can't imagine anything so dull."

"What would you like to be?" William asked in spite of himself. Something about the impertinent teen appealed to him.

"I don't know yet. I just know I don't want any boring old job. Say, what do you do?"

"I'm an investment analyst."

"Oh, lord," Lydia blurted out before she thought better of it. "But I bet you make a lot of money."

"I can afford your father's books," William said mildly. "Perhaps I should continue this conversation with him," he suggested.

"Yeah, okay. Um, you aren't going to tell him what I said about books being dull, are you?"

"I see no reason why I should divulge your secret," William said wryly. Your father is not an idiot.

"Daddy!"

"There's no need to bellow, Lydia," Thomas Bennet replied. "Give me the phone and go do something--preferably in someone else's store."

"Give me twenty bucks and I'm out of here. Oh, and that hot-sounding English guy is on the phone. Thanks! Bye!" William heard Mr. Bennet's weary sigh and laughed.

"If she didn't look so much like me I'd swear she was adopted. Hello, William."

"Thomas, how are you?" The two men briefly exchanged pleasantries before William got down to business. "Your other daughter sent me a fax today--."

"That would be Lizzy, my second eldest and the family's greatest hope." William smiled. "I trust you were impressed by her diligence."

"Indeed," William said. "I'm only surprised that she didn't include scans of each item on the list."

"Oh, she made scans. She just didn't trust a fax machine to do them justice. She'll probably have them up on our website before the day is out, depending on how tired she is after class tonight."

"I understand she's training to become a librarian," William said, curious to learn more about the lady under discussion.

"Yes, she's her daddy's little girl, following in my footsteps every step of the way. From the time she was a little girl she's shared my love of books. I am happy to say that she's the future of Bennet Books. She's not only learned every facet of the business she's expanded our inventory, doubled our business by going online and is now aggressively seeking out rare and unusual books for private collections like yours. I'm quite impressed."

"So am I," William admitted. "So am I."

The two men talked for some time, as they usually did. They shared a love of books and other ephemera as well as a strong mutual respect. After about twenty minutes, William hung up the phone with a promise that Lizzy would call to follow up on his prospective purchases the next day. He could hardly wait.

William was disappointed when he returned from a meeting to find that he'd missed Lizzy's call. He asked Jo to call her back and offer his apologies while he participated in a scheduled conference call. He was very surprised and pleased a short time later when Jo buzzed him to say that she'd finally managed to reach Lizzy after several unsuccessful attempts.

"You'll never guess where I found her, either," Jo said impishly.

"Where?"

"In my office."

"What?" William rose and opened his door. In the outer office sat three women. Two of them were well known to him. The third he was eager to become acquainted with. But the two older women pressed forward and laid claim to him.

"Hello, Will," the first of them said. She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek as he bent to receive her greeting.

"Hello, Grandma Bess. This is...unexpected," he said awkwardly as he allowed his eyes to wander toward the beautiful woman looking on with amusement.

"Hello, gorgeous," the second woman said as she reached up to take her turn at William's face. "Eat your heart out, sugar," the woman said as she reached up and kissed him full on the lips, albeit briefly. "When you get to be my age, they don't fight you off."

"When they're her age, Carmo, they don't want to fight them off. Stop pawing my grandson and let him speak to the pretty girl." William turned beet red.

"Thank you, um--," he flustered.

"Grandma Bess."

"Yes. Grandma Bess," William said as he took a few steps toward Lizzy. By this time he was openly staring at her. She rose as he approached and smiled.

"Mr. Darcy?"

"Mr. Darcy? Oh, crap! She's here on business. I thought she was a potential love interest. And here I was trying to stir the pot," Carmo said.

"You were just trying to fulfill some sick fantasy and you know it. She would have done that even if you hadn't been here, Lizzy," Bess said reassuringly. William spun around.

"You two know each other?" he asked.

"We've been having a lovely chat while you were on that conference call. This is Lizzy Bennet. Lizzy, this is the handsome grandson I was talking about. If he doesn't appeal to you I've got another one that'll knock your socks off."

"You go for that one, Lizzy and I'll stick around to knock William's socks off."

"Carmo!" Bess and William cried in unison. Much to William's relief, Lizzy was laughing.

"Why don't you take Ms. Bennet into your office and leave me to deal with these two hellions?" Jo suggested sweetly.

"No need to get out the mace, dear," Bess said. "We just stopped by to see if William was free for lunch. Apparently, he isn't, so we'll be on our way."

"Of course, we'd be willing to wait, if you want to make it a quick meeting with the babe," Carmo said with a waggle of eyebrows. William sighed, quickly gathered his wits and ushered Lizzy into his office.

"Please go right in, Ms. Bennet. You," he said softly with a resigned smile for Carmo, "go away." He kissed her on her forehead and did the same to his petite grandmother. "Scat, you troublemakers!"

"Tomorrow, handsome?" William rolled his eyes.

"Jo, check my book and pencil in these two if I'm available." He shook his head and closed the door.

"So who is this Lizzy Bennet and why is she seeing William?" Bess demanded of Jo as soon as he was out of earshot.

"She's a book dealer. William's been chomping at the bit to speak to her all day," Jo said conspiratorially.

"So you have a number for her?" Bess extended her hand and Jo handed her the note William had written her earlier asking Jo to make the call. "Thanks, Jo. You're the best. Let me know if anything develops on this end."

"You've got it, hon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bennet," William said as he reluctantly claimed the seat behind his desk. He would have preferred to sit in the chair beside Lizzy, but he didn't trust himself just yet. His nerves had been rattled by the unanticipated appearance of his grandmother and her closest friend.

"Oh, please call me Lizzy. You're on a first name basis with my father; I see no reason why you and I have to be so formal," she said. "Unless, that is, you prefer--."

"No, no, I'm all for dispensing with formalities, Lizzy, although I must say I rather prefer the name Elizabeth."

"You may call me that if you like," she smiled, "although if I mistake you for my paternal grandfather it'll be your own fault."

"Why should you mistake me for your grandfather?" he asked curiously.

"You both sound very much alike. My father was born in Sussex, you know."

"So he told me. I didn't realize I sounded like a man from Sussex. I was born considerably north," he said as he braced his chin and gazed into Lizzy's laughing eyes. "You must call me William, by the way."

"Must I?" Lizzy teased. "Your grandmother told me your name was really Fitzwilliam." William rolled his eyes.

"She would tell you that. I was named after my grandfather and she's very proud to see me bear the name. But I prefer William, if you please."

"All right," Lizzy pouted. "I gave you a choice, though." William flinched in surprise, and Lizzy averted her eyes to her attaché and pulled out a folder. "You're probably wondering why I'm here. After I missed your call earlier, I thought that I'd drop this by for you. It might facilitate your selection." William took the file from Lizzy, observing her left hand and noting that it bore no rings.

"You needn't have gone to the trouble," William said automatically as he opened the file and saw the scanned images of each and every book on the list Lizzy supplied the previous day.

"I was in the neighborhood to see a client anyway, so it was no trouble," Lizzy assured him.

"Well, I appreciate your taking the time to bring these, nonetheless. They will help immensely."

"Have you had a chance to peruse the list?"

"I did and I have to say that your father was correct in saying that you have an infallible sense of what your clients want. Well, this one, anyway; I found myself wanting nearly everything on the list."

"I'd be more than happy to make that sale," Lizzy said archly. "But I suspect that you'll want to narrow down your choices somewhat."

"Yes, although I will ask you to put those seven books on reserve," William replied as he found himself drawn back to Lizzy's face rather than the image in his hand.

"Is there something wrong, Fitzwilliam?"

"You know, you look exactly as I thought you would," William blurted out before he could stop himself. Lizzy looked up and smiled. "And I mean that as a compliment, I assure you. Everything I have seen or heard of you before now prepared me to meet a very lovely woman." Lizzy blushed becomingly.

"I have to admit that you look nothing like my grandfather," she said puckishly. William was smitten on the spot and was immediately determined to prolong their time together.

"Have you eaten yet, Elizabeth?" Lizzy shook her head and William rose to his feet.

"Why don't we continue our conversation over lunch, then? We have an excellent dining room in the building." Lizzy smiled and agreed to the plan. A few minutes later they were sitting at a sunny table in the corporate dining room.

"So my father has been talking about me again, has he?" Lizzy said as a way of distracting William. She was well aware that he'd been staring at her. She enjoyed the attention, although she found his intense gaze unnerving.

"His pride in you seems justifiable," William said as he closed the menu. "You appear to be a very accomplished woman; one master's degree in business administration and another one in progress--."

"Oh dear, he gave you that speech, did he?" Lizzy said as her cheeks glowed. "This is the one in which he refers to me as his "greatest hope," if I'm not mistaken." William nodded. "Would the Greek salad be a good choice?" she asked as the waiter appeared, giving her an excuse to change the subject.

"It's very good, although I'm partial to the Caesar salad with roast chicken breast," William said with a nod to the waiter. Lizzy sighed and ordered the Greek salad.

The pair soon found themselves in a deep discussion about their mutual love of books. Lizzy spoke of her love of fairytales, William about his love of English poetry. The pair was sipping coffee when William asked Lizzy to name her favorite book of all time.

"Do you mean a personal favorite or a book that I would acquire if I could?"

"Both," William said, leaning forward slightly to study her glittering eyes.

"Well, if I could have any book on the planet I think it would be a Gutenberg Bible, but that's just being selfish," she laughed. "As for my absolute favorite, I'd have to say that it would be The Secret Garden by--."

"Frances Hodgson Burnett," William said. "Yes, I recall reading it as a child. I've often wondered why it was considered a children's story. It seems to me that the story had much to teach readers of any age."

"Indeed! I've lost count of the number of times I've read it and I never cease to come away deeply moved." William found himself deeply moved by the passion and sparkle he saw in Lizzy's eyes as she spoke. They focused on him and William's smile broadened.

"What's your favorite book, Fitzwilliam?"

"You're really going to call me that, are you?" Lizzy boldly refused to relent, declaring that she liked the name as much as his grandmother. William countered by refusing to name his favorite book, leaving Lizzy to guess. William reluctantly returned to his office with a smile on his face and an appointment with Lizzy at the shop on Saturday morning.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" Mary Bennet said to the two women staring at the cover of an 1870 book of erotica in a display case. Both women started and looked up.

"We'd like to speak with Lizzy Bennet, please."

"Oh, Lizzy isn't here, I'm afraid. She had a meeting with a client. I'm her sister Mary. May I be of assistance?" Bess and Carmo exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"No way," Carmo muttered under her breath. But her comment was heard by at least one other person in the shop.

"Will I do, then?" The women turned around and found themselves face to face with Thomas Bennet. "I'm Mr. Bennet, the proprietor of the shop. Good afternoon, ladies."

"Oh! Good afternoon, Mr. Bennet. We met your lovely daughter in an elevator and struck up a conversation. She told us about the shop and we decided to pay her a visit. It's such a shame she's not here."

"Well, I'd be happy to let her know that you stopped in Ms.--."

"Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't remember us," Bess said. "But your daughter! My, my, what a beautiful and charming girl!"

"What a honey! Such a lovely girl," Carmo agreed. Thomas was quite amused by the pair and wondered what the ladies were up to.

"Did you come just to see my Lizzy or is there something else I might help you with?" he asked.

"Well, as long as we're here we may as well look around," Bess said. "Lizzy was telling me about what you have here. I had no idea that old books such as these had such value. I have quite a few old first editions that have been in the family for generations. Lizzy suggested that I have the collection appraised and insured. May I make arrangements for that with you or would I have to speak to her about that?"

"My daughter and I are both qualified appraisers," Thomas said proudly.

"How much is this book?" Carmo said, nodding toward the item in the display case. "William's got a birthday coming soon, right Bess?"

"I most certainly am not going to buy my grandson a book of Victorian erotica!" Bess sniffed.

"Who said anything about you? I'd be more than willing to buy it for him if the price is right," Carmo said.

"It's $275," Mary said.

"I wasn't talking about the book's price, honey," Carmo said suggestively.

"Pay her no mind," Bess told Mary. "Now how do I go about arranging an appraisal?" she asked Thomas.

"Oh dear," Lizzy said as she hung up the phone. She'd been on the phone with her father, who'd called to inform her that he'd twisted his ankle playing golf the previous afternoon and would be unable to keep an appointment for an appraisal. He spoke of the client as new and potentially very important and Lizzy didn't have the heart to tell her father that she'd already made plans for the morning with William. She reluctantly plucked a card from her Rolodex and dialed William at home.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully when he heard her voice. "You didn't think I'd forget our plans for today, did you?"

"Of course not," Lizzy sighed. "But I'm afraid something came up. My father scheduled an appraisal for this morning but he turned an ankle playing golf yesterday and asked me to go in his place."

"I see. I suppose that has to take priority over our meeting," William said glumly.

"Would you mind terribly if I offered a rain check?" Lizzy said meekly. "I'm afraid it'll probably take all morning.

"That's all right. I'll just come by the shop in the afternoon--."

"I'm sorry, William. I'm afraid I've another appraisal scheduled for this afternoon," Lizzy said morosely. William was equally disappointed, but only for a moment.

"I have a better idea," William said boldly. "Have dinner with me this evening."

"We can't examine rare books over dinner, William," Lizzy said as she felt a little thrill race through her body.

"Who said anything about examining books? I was thinking more along the lines of taking the night off and just enjoying each other's company," William replied.

"That sounds lovely," Lizzy said. By the time she finished the call she was convinced that her father's injury was an act of providence.

William decided to spend the morning puttering around in the neighborhood. He picked up his laundry and dry cleaning, picked up a few groceries and read the Times at a local coffee house. When he was done it was the early afternoon and he decided to take a walk over to his grandmother's house for a surprise visit. She welcomed him warmly and drew him into the kitchen.

"This is a pleasant surprise! I just got home myself. I've been running around all morning looking for a pair of shoes to wear tonight. I don't want to be an embarrassment to you."

"Embarrassment? Tonight? What are you talking about?"

"Fitzwilliam Darcy! Don't tell me that you've forgotten that we're attending that fundraiser for the public library tonight? You promised to be my escort!" William slapped his palm to his forehead.

"Oh lord! I completely forgot!" William ran a hand over his face. "I went and made--."

"What's wrong, William?" Bess said with a frown of concern. William lifted the hand that covered his eyes and sighed. Then he told her about Lizzy. "Well, she was kind of a babe," Bess said sympathetically. "I can't blame you for pursuing her." William chuckled at her use of slang. "Look, I didn't find any shoes I liked out there. Why don't you take Lizzy instead of me? She'd look better on your arm, anyway."

"I couldn't ask you to give up your big night out, Grandma Bess!"

"You didn't! I'm volunteering. Besides, you needn't worry about me. I've had another offer anyway. I was only going to go with you to make Carmo jealous."

"Is that so?" William said, allowing himself a trace of a smile. Bess grabbed his face and turned it up toward hers.

"Look, Will. I saw that pretty girl and how she made your eyes light up. Hers were putting out quite a few watts, themselves, you know. Take her to the gala. It's a fundraiser for the library! How much better can it get?"

"But you've been looking forward to this! You were the one who invited me!"

"Yes and I can get another date with a ticket. Trust me; he asked not three days ago."

"But you turned him down! You can't just call him up now and say you changed your mind!"

"Watch me!" Bess went to the phone and, pulling a card out of her pocket dialed a number. As it rang, she looked up at William and smiled. "Don't you think you'd better call Lizzy? I'd bet she's going to need shoes."

Five hours later, William stood in front of his mirror and straightened his tie. He smiled as he recalled Lizzy's reaction to the news that he'd be taking her to the gala.

"You don't mind, do you?" he'd asked.

"Mind? Are you kidding? I'd give anything to go to that gala! They're supposed to open the newly renovated wing I can't wait to see it. I have a friend who is an archivist there and she's had a peek. She said it was fabulous!" William smiled as he listened to Lizzy chatter on about the library.

"I forgot you were a librarian," William said mildly at his first opportunity to speak. "I suppose the idea of seeing the new wing would turn you on."

"Oh no, am I babbling like an idiot?" Lizzy said. "I'm sorry, but to me a library is like a temple and I'm about to start blathering again when I should be thinking about what to wear to a black tie event on such short notice."

"I apologize for that. I completely forgot that the gala was tonight or I'd have asked you sooner," William said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Bess would have undoubtedly been as willing to spare him a day or two earlier as she was that afternoon. Now, as he prepared to leave the house, he thought about all the potential such a night held: dinner, dancing, a peek at a temple to the literary arts--all with Lizzy by his side. She had insisted on meeting him at the library, freely admitting that she'd probably be running around like a headless chicken getting ready and that she'd probably get too nervous if he came to pick her up.

William waited on the steps outside the library's main entrance, leaning against the stele that held one of the institution's two famous sculpted lions. He was trying to figure out if he was waiting with Patience or Fortitude when he spotted her. Lizzy emerged from a cab, looking radiant and breathtakingly beautiful. Her eyes were wide and glittering with anticipation. She wore a short black beaded dress that showed off her legs and William admired them as she made her way up the steps. William had to struggle find his voice; Lizzy's appearance had temporarily rendered him speechless.

"Good evening, Lizzy," William said. "You look lovely."

"Thank you, William," Lizzy replied as she took his offered arm.

"You do realize that you've spoiled my image of librarians forever," he said huskily. Lizzy giggled as they turned to mount the remaining steps to the entrance. They entered the massive lobby and stood for a moment admiring the scene. Then William took Lizzy by the hand and waded into the fray. It was like a dream to Lizzy. She was surrounded by noted scholars, authors and lovers of books, seekers of knowledge all. She was in the hallowed halls of one of the world's most prestigious libraries on the arm of a man she was growing increasingly fond of by the minute.

William seemed to know everyone and everyone seemed to know him. She quickly lost track of all the introductions she'd been subjected to. All were forgotten the moment William took her out onto the dance floor and put his arms around her. They danced several dances and Lizzy found herself living out the fantasy of a lifetime. They couldn't take their eyes off each other and before they left the floor Lizzy knew she was falling in love. But she saw that William seemed to be distracted as they retreated to the sidelines and asked what was wrong.

"Oh, it's nothing. I thought my grandmother was supposed to be here, is all. I suppose we'll see her at our table."

"No, there she is," Lizzy said as she looked over William's shoulder. "She's dancing with some young hottie." William glanced in the direction where Lizzy had pointed and smiled.

"That 'young hottie,' as you put it, is my cousin Richard. I think he's brought a date tonight. Bess told me she would be here with a date of her own. Oh well, I guess we'll find out later." When dinner was announced William led Lizzy to the table and introduced her to his cousin and his date, his cousin's parents and his own before they settled in. "Where's Bess?" he asked no one in particular. He frowned when Lizzy's mouth dropped open and then turned to see what had surprised her. His own mouth fell open.

"Good evening everyone," Bess said merrily. "I'd like you to meet my escort. Thomas Bennet, these are my two daughters, Anne and Kathleen and their husbands, George and Hugh, respectively. This gorgeous young man is Kathleen and Hugh's son Richard and his companion Olivia. I believe you and my other grandson, William, are well acquainted. And of course, Lizzy needs no introduction," Bess said as she sat down.

"Why not?" Anne asked.

"Because she's my daughter," Thomas said proudly. "Hello pet," he said as he bent to kiss Lizzy before sitting down. "You look beautiful tonight." Lizzy and William exchanged a glance. William opened his mouth to speak but Hugh chose that moment to make a toast.

"You are going to explain this," William said to Bess at his earliest convenience.

"What's to explain? I traded one young stud for another a little closer to my own age." She smiled smugly and turned her attention to her meal. Lizzy, however, ate very little and William fared no better. Lizzy's stomach was aflutter with nervous anticipation. William was too besotted by the woman beside him to care about the food on his plate. As William absently slipped his hand into Lizzy's as the plates were cleared, Bess and Thomas observed the couple with satisfaction.

When dinner was over, William collected Lizzy's wrap and they walked outside to get a breath of air.

"So clue me in," Lizzy said. "I suspect that the appearance of my father and your grandmother together tonight was not merely coincidence."

"Does it matter in the grand scheme of things?" William said as he wrapped his arms around Lizzy. "The important thing is that they think we belong together. I think we belong together. The only thing I care about at this moment is whether or not you agree."

"I do," Lizzy said simply. William didn't waste a moment in showing his happiness. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

"You told me you loved fairytales the other day. Do you believe in them as well, Lizzy?"

"I think you could make me believe anything at this moment," she said breathlessly.

"Then believe that I love you," William said before he kissed her again. He took her back inside only to take his leave of his family before he whisked Lizzy to his penthouse apartment. They spent the night making love and planning their future together. Theirs was a fairytale romance with the inevitable happy ending.

When they were married three months later, William's gift to Lizzy was an autographed first edition of The Secret Garden. Her gift to him was a custom-made glass front bookcase for his most treasured books.

It was on their wedding day that the truth finally came out. Thomas and Bess had conspired to arrange for Lizzy and William to attend that magical evening where the couple first declared their love. Thomas's "accident" was contrived to keep Lizzy and William from meeting that morning. Bess' job was to call William and cancel their "date" for the gala on some excuse and suggest Lizzy as an alternate, but when William came over and told his story Bess was only too eager to take the path of least resistance. Lizzy was so besotted with William at the gala that she didn't even notice that her father danced the night away, his ankle apparently miraculously healed. As it was, she was too busy dancing in the arms of the man of her dreams.

There must be a moral to this story. It can probably be found in a book, new or old. The important thing is that Lizzy and William lived happily ever after--of course.

The End

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