“Ok, here we have you coming back to the bar where Elizabeth is. You leave together. Now Pete spliced in the video from the lobby camera…yeah, you’re not at your best here…and a young woman in a little black dress walks into the lobby, laughs and takes those now infamous photos…
Darcy watched in disgust, seeing himself as he never had before. “Ugh, this is painful to watch.”
“You can fast forward if you want…. Let’s see…. Press play right here. This is you pulling Elizabeth into the little onsite chapel, both barefoot at this point… She’s laughing and appears to be resisting going in but you kiss her and she goes in. By the way, there’s another video Pete purchased of the ceremony itself, if you’re interested. Moving on, you exit the chapel and go to the upscale jewelry store next to the chapel where you bought a ring…Speaking of which…Pete says you paid a hundred grand for the ring. At least Elizabeth got something for her troubles.”
“She returned it to me.”
“Did she now?” the surprise in Fred’s voice unmistakable. “Well, back to the video…you two barely made it to the elevator and there’s another splice where you finally get your keycard in correctly and the door closes.”
Will stayed sitting at his desk for an hour after Fred had gone. He had plenty of work to do but had no interest in doing anything about it. Things had been handled and Fred was confident the backlash wouldn’t be permanent. It had already calmed down tremendously compared to just a few days ago.
Will still felt ashamed… but now it was of how he’d lashed out at the woman he could easily fall in love with. He had already fallen hard for her and the thought of never seeing her again made his heart ache. He had to find a way to fix this.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Oh Lizzy, this isn’t going nearly as well as I had hoped,” Jane said anxiously, chewing at her bottom lip and looking around the half-empty room.
“It’s early yet,” Lizzy assured Jane, although she was also feeling concerned over the lack of attendance at this latest fundraiser organized by her sister. “Maybe more people will turn up a bit later?”
Jane glanced at her watch and shook her head. “I think this is going to be it. What am I going to do? The thought of not being able to raise enough money to feed those hungry children in the after school program! They count on us!”
“Please calm down, Jane; don’t upset yourself so much. We’ll do our best. It’s all we can do and it’s not your fault.”
“But it is! Maybe if I’d advertised a bit more, campaigned a bit harder.”
“Jane, no one works harder than you for these charities! Anyway, Mom’s needed us more than usual this past month. That stint in the hospital really rattled her. And then there was the adjustment period of starting a new medication, as well as her daughter made a fool for all the world to see. We can only do what we can do. No one can expect anything more.”
“I guess you’re right,” Jane said, still looking miserable.
“Good evening, Jane, Elizabeth.”
Both women turned to see William Darcy beside them. He appeared even more aloof and detached than ever this evening and kept his look entirely on Jane, avoiding all eye contact with Elizabeth.
“Oh, Mr. Darcy, good to see you,” Jane said with genuine warmth. Her sweet disposition couldn’t help but remember how kind he had been to her family that night at the hospital. She was sorry he had faltered in his conduct towards her sister afterwards, but she sincerely felt there was good in him. She kept her feelings to herself, knowing it wasn’t a popular opinion to express in the presence of her mother. For weeks now Mrs. Bennet had talked of little else than what an evil man Mr. Darcy was, and how he had used her daughter and discarded her like an old shoe.
“Please, call me Will. You remember my sister, Georgiana?” Elizabeth’s first thought was to wonder if Jane would greet him with quite as much enthusiasm if she knew that he had sent Charles away. She hadn’t told her.
“Of course we remember! It’s so good of you both to come. As you can see we’re a bit short of attendees tonight.”
“It hadn’t escaped my notice,” Darcy agreed, glancing around the room. “If you will excuse me Georgiana, ladies, I’m afraid I have some very important phone calls to make.”
Elizabeth glanced at Jane as Darcy walked away to a quiet corner, not exactly hard to find this evening. “Well, that was a bit rude,” Georgianna commented. “It’s very unlike him to be so. It must be something very important.”
“Not at all,” Jane replied. “He’s a busy man. The fact that he took some time out of his schedule to come at all is appreciated. I’m not going to complain about him making a few business calls.”
Elizabeth smiled at her sister. It wasn’t surprising that this was how she’d look at it. Even if she did tell her about Darcy sending Charles away – which she wouldn’t – Jane would probably excuse him for it and find a way to see his side. That’s just how she was. Sometimes it made Elizabeth feel like she wanted to give her a shake and tell her to be tougher, but the truth was that in her own way Jane was more than strong enough and Elizabeth wouldn’t change her for the world.
“Right then, what do we need to do first?” Elizabeth asked her.
“Just mingle while everyone has their glass of champagne that was included with the price of the tickets. I do hope the serving team didn’t open all the bottles in advance. I think there might be quite a few left over.”
“Enough! No more of that kind of talk. Positive thinking and all that.”
Jane nodded. “Yes. You’re right. No more. Let’s just work this crowd and see how much money we can persuade them to part with.”
“That’s the spirit! Georgianna, would you like to accompany me?”
Georgiana’s face lit up. “Oh, I’d love to help!”
The three women made their way around the room greeting everyone and explaining more details regarding the particular charity they were here to support tonight. Elizabeth was pleased when she spotted another two couples walking in the door. She caught Jane’s eye and gave her a wink. Jane grinned back at her. Every little bit would help.
When another couple, then another, then a group of eight walked in within the next half hour, Elizabeth grew puzzled. Although she’d tried to use it to reassure Jane earlier, she knew that people weren’t normally late for events such as these. They liked to be seen at these things. It was good for their image. They enjoyed the informal chatting time at the beginning where they could ensure that word would get around of how generous and supportive they were. Elizabeth realized she might be being a bit over cynical in her thoughts and reminded herself there would be many here who were genuinely aware of the charity and wanted to do their best to support it for entirely altruistic reasons. Still, neither reason explained why this room was suddenly filled with the busy chatter of a very large crowd when it had been practically empty less than two hours ago. Suddenly suspicious, she glanced over to where she’d last seen Darcy.
He was still standing in his corner, watching events unfold. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought that might be a look of satisfaction on his face. When he felt her gaze, he glanced in her direction. She turned away quickly and hurried to meet another party that was entering the hall.
“I’m afraid you don’t have much time to enjoy your glass of champagne. I believe the organizer is about to ask you all to take your seats for the dinner,” she apologized to them.
“Oh, that’s no problem,” a woman in an expensive-looking cocktail dress replied. “We’ve actually already had dinner. We didn’t know this event was happening tonight but I’m glad we could pop in; it sounds like a very worthwhile cause.”
“Oh it is,” Elizabeth replied quickly. “I’m sure you’ll be very glad you did when it comes to the speeches and you learn the full details.” Her suspicions were growing even stronger. She couldn’t help but ask, although she kept her tone casual. “How did you hear about it at such short notice?”
“Oh, a friend of ours
called us and explained the event and asked us to come down.”
“You got off easy,” another man that had arrived earlier called, overhearing the woman’s words. “He called me and gave me a good talking to for not being here!”
The woman laughed. “Well, that’s Darcy for you! He’s not one to mince words. How are you, James?”
The group moved off to join the others, leaving Elizabeth standing in a haze of perfume and confusion. This was Darcy’s doing after all?
Georgiana was still beside her. “Now that’s the Will I know and love. He’s always doing things like this!”
Elizabeth listened to the girl and was more confused than ever. His sister seemed sincere. She really thought well of her brother. Had he really called all these people and cajoled or bullied them into attending? But why? She couldn’t figure it out. It would seem out of the character she attributed to him to do it for Jane’s sake, but maybe that was it. Maybe saving this disaster of an evening was his way of apologizing. Well, if that was the case it was a very nice gesture but it didn’t even come close to making up for what he’d done to her.
Her own anger about his accusations against her had lessoned substantially. After a few weeks the legal side of her brain, being far more rational than the emotional side, kicked in and she had been able to look at things from his point of view. She had both opportunity and motive. She was forced to admit that from a different perspective, she was the most likely candidate to seek revenge against him.
She risked another glance at him, easily spotting him in the crowd. Once again, he caught her eye. She took her place at the dinner table; glad that they were in groups of eight and that Darcy wasn’t sitting at hers.
He managed to surprise her yet again when he stepped up onto the stage beside Jane just as she was about to address the audience and introduce the charity. Elizabeth looked on, bemused as she saw him touch Jane’s arm and talk to her in a low voice. She saw Jane smile and nod, before stepping aside to give him access to the podium.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “I’d like to thank you all very much for giving up your valuable time to be here tonight. Of course, that goes more for those that were here from the beginning. The stragglers have some making up to do and I fully expect them to atone appropriately by delving very deeply into their pockets.”
The crowd laughed at his joke and Elizabeth saw several people nodding or giving him a wave of agreement. By the looks of it, thanks to him, it would turn out to be a very successful night after all. She listened intently as his face turned serious.
“All joking apart, I think there is no worthier cause than the support of our local community. There is one woman here who has been fighting endlessly for causes that affect us all for a long time. Someone who has been organizing these delightful events for us to enjoy while at the same time working tirelessly to ensure that they actually provide the help and support for which they are intended. I would like you all to join me in giving a big thank you to Miss Jane Bennet.”
Darcy stepped aside to let Jane take the spotlight while the crowd applauded and cheered. She was blushing furiously but still looked pleased. Elizabeth felt a lump in her throat over how proud she was of her sister. Jane was so flustered it took her a while to get into her stride in her speech but soon it was done and the band was playing, couples were dancing, and Elizabeth and Jane were down by the stage organizing the raffle to be drawn later.
“Isn’t this amazing,” Jane said as she folded the tickets to be drawn. “I really thought this night was a complete bust. You see, Lizzy? You were thinking Mr. Darcy was being rude by going to make calls and from what I’ve heard, he was actually rallying all his important and wealthy friends to come here and save the evening. This charity must really be important to him.”
“Oh, I know it is!” Georgiana continued to sing his praise.
“I’m glad the evening turned out to be a great success for you,” Elizabeth replied.
She was reluctant to say much else in response. She wasn’t so sure that it was caring about the charity that had caused him to act or his own guilt. Mind you, would a man like him even feel such a thing as remorse? On both occasions that he’d mentioned her sister, he’d seemed entirely unrepentant over his actions and stood by them. Yes, he’d explained in that epic-length email that he didn’t think it was serious, that he didn’t know exactly how Jane felt, but that still didn’t give him the right to mess with people’s lives the way he’d done and at no point did he actually sound that sorry about it.
She thought about the emails he had sent her after their last encounter. She had refused to open them, deleting each one. It was doubtful that he’d had such a sudden change of heart. That of course left Elizabeth wondering exactly what his motives were for being here and helping out tonight.
“Oh look, there he is,” Georgianna said, waving him over.
Elizabeth grimaced. She knew what would happen next, and she really didn’t want to watch Jane thank him profusely and certainly had no intention of doing so herself. It might leave her with some explaining to do afterwards if she didn’t though, as Jane would think she was being incredibly rude. It was a dilemma.
“Ladies, I was wondering if you could spare me a few moments of your precious time. There are some important clients that I think it would be very beneficial for you to meet. Let’s just say they’re the type of lucrative supporters that you would want on your side.”
“Why of course, Mr. Darcy, I’d be delighted to. Lizzy, would you come with me? You always know the right thing to say in these situations.”
“You don’t really need me.”
Georgianna gave her the sweetest smile, her eyes imploring her to come.
Lizzy couldn’t resist them both. “But sure, I’ll come along.”
Darcy led them towards a group that was occupying a table at the back of the room. As they made their way through the crowd that parted to let them pass, Jane stopped in her tracks, causing Elizabeth to walk into her. “Jane, what’s...?”
As a man stood up from his seat and came into Elizabeth’s view, she knew exactly what was up with Jane. Charles Bingley. She could practically feel Jane’s heart pounding from where she stood!
“Charles!”
Jane couldn’t help but let her enthusiasm and delight show. Remembering their last conversation, she did her best to conceal it and tone down her reaction. “I mean, hello, I didn’t know that you were back.”
“I didn’t have much time to give anyone any notice. It was all done in rather a hurry and I arrived back less than two hours ago,” Charles said, stepping away from the table and making his way towards Jane. “Darcy informed me that he’d arranged a replacement for me and that my flight home was booked. The client was furious at the news. I told Darcy that he was being an idiot and that he could lose the client over this, but he insisted that I was needed back here. I can’t say I’m in the least bit sorry. It’s so good to see you; I’ve missed you so much.”
Jane looked up at him through shy, lowered lashes. “I’ve missed you too.”
Feeling she should let them have their private moment, Georgiana whispered to her brother that she had spotted Caroline and was going over to say hello. Will nodded, too distracted by what was happening in front of him to make any further reply.
“You did?” Charles took her hands in his. “Enough to forgive me for my foolishness in saying what I said, for making that ridiculous decision that felt so right to me at the time? I’m so sorry. It was just so hard. I would look forward so much to hearing your voice, then we would always seem to miss one another and I—”
“Charles, it’s okay. I understand exactly why you did it. I understood then and I understand now. It’s not important. What is important is how you feel now that you’re back.”
“Like I never, ever want to leave your side again. Oh Jane, can you really forgive me? Can we start over from the beginning?”
In the special moment that eve
ryone in the vicinity was watching with baited breath to see where it would lead, Jane’s cell phone rang out shrilly. “I’m sorry, that’s the ring tone I use for my father. I have to answer it.”
Elizabeth looked on in alarm as Jane’s face turned pale but she didn’t interrupt, knowing she would find out sooner if she had patience. As soon as Jane hung up, she looked helplessly at Charles.
“Please excuse me everyone, but I have to go.”
“Jane, what’s happening?”
“We have to go home. I’m so sorry to abandon the evening…”
“Don’t concern yourself. I’ll handle things from here,” Darcy told her firmly. “I do hope it’s nothing serious. Is your mother ill again?”
“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s, oh, I’m not even sure how to say it. It’s Lydia, our youngest sister. My father has just found out that she’s snuck out of the house to meet some guy she’s been chatting with on the internet.”
“Oh no!” Elizabeth exclaimed, instinctively turning to Darcy to explain. “Lydia’s only sixteen, and as you saw for yourself at Charles’ pool party, she’s rather willful, headstrong, and reckless at times. For all her thinking she’s grown up, she can be incredibly naïve and trusting. This could be an absolute disaster. I’m sure you know some of the statistics of young people being groomed on the net. Has Dad spoken to Kitty? If anyone would know anything about this guy then it would be her.”
“He’s asked, but Kitty said she doesn’t really know much at all, except that he’s a bit older and his name’s George.”
Alarm bells rang in Elizabeth’s head. She automatically glanced at Darcy, who returned her worried look. “It couldn’t possibly be the same George that we both know could it?”
She answered her own question before Darcy had a chance to respond. “No, that’s stupid. There must be thousands of George’s in the local area alone, so there’s nothing to say it’s George Wickham. I’m completely overreacting.”
Jane looked confused. “Lizzy, what’s going on? Is there something happening that I’ve missed? Who’s George Wickham?”
Legally Darcy: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice Page 18
