by Wendi Sotis
“I swear that Richard and I won’t try to set you up with anyone, if that’s what’s preventing you from coming.” The last time they were all together, Richard suggested a blind date. William had become very angry at the suggestion. “After what you told us about Caroline, I can definitely understand why you’re unwilling to go out with someone you’ve never met. Why would Charles expose you to a woman like that in the first place?”
“You don’t know the whole story, Anne. Please don’t ask him that question. Charles feels incredibly guilty as it is. Not only did he expect to be fired, but he also thought he’d lose our friendship as a result. I can’t blame him for what Caroline did, and besides, who would suspect that from his own sister? Actually, that’s what I called about—I really need to talk about all this, if you wouldn’t mind listening, and I think you should be prepared in case the press gets wind of any of this. The judge tried to keep the news people away from court, but you never know who will leak news.”
“You know I don’t mind. You never did tell me the details of what happened with her.”
“Well, it sounds even worse when all the pieces of the story are put together, as the attorneys have been doing in court during the past few days.
“Caroline had been pestering her brother for years to have us spend time together. Knowing his sister was a little—intense was the word he used on the witness stand—Charles had tried to avoid it, but finally he asked me to do him a favor and have dinner with the two of them just to get her off his back. Charles had no idea his sister would turn into a crazed stalker and couldn’t have predicted that she would snap the way she did—if that’s really what happened. You already know that for a couple of years, she would show up almost everywhere I went.”
“How could I not remember? Whenever she’d come up to us at an event I attended with you, you’d beg me not to leave your side.”
“As it turns out, my instincts were correct. Charles kept misplacing his cell phone whenever he was at home, which I always thought was odd since he didn’t lose it anywhere else. Personally, I think Caroline was hiding his cell phone so that he would have to use the house phone, but there was no way of proving that in court. The police found something attached to the telephone system at her brother’s house. She had told her brother that she hired someone to install equipment that would supposedly help stop the feedback on his hearing aid, but it turned out to be monitoring equipment. She must have been listening in on the call when I told Charles that I was going to my beach house on Long Island for a quiet weekend alone.
“You can’t imagine what I found in the Hamptons, Anne. Her lawyer claims that she went nuts and honestly thought she was my wife. When I arrived, I found several trucks for workmen that I had not hired.
“Caroline had contracted with a construction crew to redecorate my house, including my mother’s favorite room—the very room that I had just gone to so much trouble to restore to its original condition after the water damage from flooding from the super-storm. Caroline was in the backyard, sunbathing in the nude, within view of half a dozen workers.
“As bad as it was, it could have been a lot worse. When the police tried to take her into custody, she turned absolutely wild trying to get to me. If she had been carrying the gun she had used to threaten the staff, I’m positive that someone would have been shot. I try not to think about what could have happened if Georgiana had been there.” William sighed. “This morning, Caroline Bingley was officially declared insane by the court, and she’ll be forced to get some much needed psychological help. I honestly hope it does her some good, but I doubt it will.”
“You don’t think she is insane?” Anne asked.
“Not in the way she was portrayed at the trial.” William was furious. “The part I don’t understand at all is how, if she really had been insane, did she have the presence of mind to learn how to get the better of my state-of-the-art security system and think of providing food and other essential needs to the two staff members she locked up? Why would she have locked them up in the first place if she really thought she was my wife?
“And think about all the planning she had to do. The construction company verified that they’d had a work order sitting around for weeks. They had been promised double the amount of the estimated cost to come over the moment she called—as long as no questions were asked. She must have watched the house for several days to know that it would be empty at the time of day she had someone come to give her the estimate. I can’t figure out why the jury didn’t seem to be as impressed by any of this as the District Attorney and I were.”
Anne did not wait for him to finish before making a comment. “Wow!”
“Since she will most definitely lie to her doctors, I’m sure the therapy she receives won’t be very helpful. I can only hope that she won’t be released until after the doctors find out what is truly going on with her.”
“I had no idea it had been anywhere near that bad, Will. After hearing all this, it sounds like you need to get away even more than I thought.”
“Maybe next time, Anne.”
“I can understand why you’re putting it off right now, but you do know you’ll have to give in and meet my friends someday. Jane and Lizzy are beginning to think you’re a figment of my imagination.” Anne laughed half-heartedly. “Well, maybe not Lizzy.”
“I should go. It’s been a very long day. Thanks for listening.”
“Call me anytime you need to talk, Will. I’ll see you next week when I come to help Georgiana get ready for university.”
Why’d she have to remind me of that? William furrowed his brow. “Are you sure you don’t want to get an apartment with Georgiana? I still have doubts about letting her stay in the dorm.” His opinion on this subject kept flopping around like a fish out of water.
“Sometimes you make me so angry, William. Why don’t you just say it like my mother did? ‘A de Bourgh will not live in a dorm with commoners!’” Anne imitated her mother’s haughty tone so well, William almost laughed. “We’ve gone through this often enough already, but I’ll explain it all again.” It almost sounded like she was ticking off items on a checklist as she went on. “You know what living in the dorms and being exposed to more people did for me, and I was even shyer than Georgiana—at least she’s had some contact with the outside world, while I’d had very little. I’ll be there. Charlotte, Jane, and Lizzy are very nice and will be protective of your sister. We’ll all help her with her studies, though I doubt she will need it. Please believe me; the experience will be good for her. You know that Georgiana met Charlotte years ago, and they got along well. She really enjoyed the weekend with Jane and Lizzy when they were in the city last month. One of the reasons I suggested that you join us this weekend was to meet them, so it would set your mind at ease.”
William felt a pang of guilt. When he had first heard that Elizabeth would be in the city staying with Anne and Richard for the weekend, he had worked himself up to the point of frenzy, torn between anticipation and fear of finally meeting her. One reason he had forced himself to agree to meet her was that he was becoming alarmed and frustrated by what he perceived as his cowardice. The deciding factor was his need to protect Georgiana—he really should meet the girls that his sister would be living with. When he had become ill with the flu, there was no choice but to bow out. He still wasn’t sure which part of his reaction had been more potent, his relief or his disappointment to have missed the opportunity. When the stories he had heard of the things Elizabeth had enjoyed most while in the city matched his irrational expectations of her flawlessness, disappointment had won out.
But, after sitting through the trial for the past few days, he was definitively not at his best. If there was the slightest chance that Elizabeth really was as wonderful as they all said she was, he didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why can’t I just accept the fact that she could not be that perfect without it being a façade?
/> “I just can’t right now, Anne. You and Richard wouldn’t urge me to trust them if you thought there was any chance that Georgie would be harmed. I feel obligated to try to support Charles through the verdict for his sister. It was partially my fault—there had to be something I could have done differently. Maybe I shouldn’t have feared insulting her because she was my friend’s sister, or maybe I should have been more forceful when letting Caroline know that I had no interest in her. I—”
Anne interrupted his self-bashing session. “Stop! You can’t take on the responsibility for everything, Will. What Caroline Bingley did was not your fault.”
Nothing Anne can say will ease my worries right now. William was disgusted with himself. “I have to go. Enjoy your visit. We’ll talk again in a few days, when you get here.”
Chapter 3
~Late August - a couple of weeks later
Georgiana and William sat in a traffic jam. According to the radio, a car was stalled near the exit to the university. Normally, he would have no patience for such a thing as “rubbernecking,” but this delay gave his mind a chance to wander to the one subject he had managed to avoid while concentrating on driving.
Elizabeth Bennett.
This was it! Absolutely nothing could keep him away from helping Georgiana move into her room at school. He would meet the Bennetts today, he was certain of it, and he was once again filled with very strong mixed emotions about meeting Elizabeth in the flesh.
William shook his head. Flesh... why did he have to think that word? Anne had sent him a copy of one of her photos that won an award in an amateur photography competition. It affected him deeply—he couldn’t seem to get it out of his mind. Elizabeth was lying on her side, facing away from the camera, her long, dark hair hung over her shoulders, and she was wearing nothing more than a towel casually draped low over the swell of her hip, accentuating her small waist. It was simple and tasteful, exposing nothing more than if he saw her back while wearing a bikini, but he was certain the memory of the smooth caramel of her skin would drive him insane.
Rubbing his hand over his face, he realized he been in such a state this morning that he had forgotten to shave. A new sense of panic gripped him. Traffic was barely moving. Maybe he could get out and dig his battery-powered razor from his luggage. What would Georgiana think if he were to use the rear view mirror to shave?
He shook his head at the thought.
Trying to distract himself, he looked over at Georgiana, who smiled widely in return. Since meeting Jane and Elizabeth during the summer, his sister had been excited about starting college. Meanwhile, as each day passed, William became more nervous.
In addition to all of Anne’s reasons for Georgiana to stay at the dorm, his cousin Richard’s arguments ran through his mind again. At least this year they knew all the girls sharing the dorm suite. While Anne and Charlotte would stay on at Longbourn University for graduate work, both Bennetts would graduate in the spring. He had no way of knowing who would occupy the other two bedrooms next year. Maybe Anne would reconsider the idea of an apartment for next fall?
No, he needed to concentrate on this school year before he started to worry about the next.
Over the summer, Richard—usually not the heart-to-heart-talk type—had noticed William’s increasing agitation. When William voiced his concerns about his baby sister leaving home, Richard was satisfied with that being the only thing that was bothering him. His cousin had raked his reasons for being upset over the coals, much like Anne had done.
Of course, both Anne and Richard had been right, and William knew it, but he could not shake a few lingering doubts.
Georgiana interrupted his thoughts. “Do you mind if I listen to my iPod, Will? I forgot that Anne wanted me to hear this new band that she and Lizzy are going to see next week. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, and I’m supposed to tell them if I want to come along.”
“Sure, go ahead.” He sighed quietly. Now that Georgiana would be living with Elizabeth, he’d probably never stop hearing about the woman.
The night he had talked to Richard about Georgiana, Richard must have kept refilling his drink without William realizing it. By the time he had told his cousin about his fears for Georgiana, William had been very drunk.
He wasn’t sure how he ended up there, but the next morning, he woke up in Anne’s spare room. The room spun and light filtering in through the drapes pained him. He closed his eyes and lay perfectly still, concentrating on a very pleasant fragrance in the bedroom where he slept.
Later, after assuming it was Anne’s perfume, he asked her for the brand name. Anne surprised him by explaining that while Elizabeth stayed there a couple of weeks earlier, she had spilled her perfume on the rug. She apologized that she had forgotten to clean it more thoroughly.
The scent had begun to spur on much different feelings within him, and he had instantly abandoned all his previous thoughts of buying it for his sister.
He sighed. This obsession is definitely becoming a problem. Lately, everything seems to lead to thoughts of Elizabeth. Only in fiction do people fall in love with a person they have only seen in a photograph or heard on the phone.
Love? I have gone insane.
Elizabeth would turn out to be a mercenary shrew, at least when it came to him. It was easy to ignore someone who had the personality of a selfish witch, no matter how beautiful she was.
Georgiana’s voice pulled William from his thoughts once again. “I hope you aren’t going to be wearing that scowl when you meet my suitemates.”
“Sorry, Georgie, I was just... thinking.” He shook his head. I will never get through this day without making a complete fool of myself.
~%~
William lifted a large box out of the hatchback of his SUV. As he turned, he saw Georgiana wave toward the building. Anne leaned out of a third floor window slightly, waving back at them.
The siblings made their way up the stairs and found Anne in the hall waiting to greet them.
“Hi Georgie, Will. Welcome to Longbourn.” Anne showed William and Georgiana around the suite. There were five bedrooms and a bathroom off the common room. William insisted on retrieving the remainder of his sister’s things alone while Anne showed his sister around the dorm.
On his fourth trip up the stairs, William entered the room, his polo shirt clinging to his skin, damp with perspiration.
“You’re all finished moving in, Anne?” He hoped he would not have to bring some of her things up three flights of stairs, too.
“No, I—” Anne looked up and her eyes widened. “Sit down for a little while, Will. You look like you’re going to pass out. It’s so hot today!” Anne motioned to the couch in the common room. William gratefully accepted the cold bottle of water she brought him from the fridge as he slumped into the couch and rested his head on the overstuffed cushions behind him.
Anne sat in a chair across from him. “Being part of a family that’s one of the university’s major contributors has its perks.” Anne wiggled her eyebrows. “The university honors my choice of staying in the same rooms every year, and I get to leave my things here during the summer break. I keep duplicates of everything I need at home so I don’t have to lug everything back and forth. I’m surprised you didn’t just buy everything that Georgie needed new, too.”
“I did, but we needed to get it here—though now I wish I’d hired somebody. Couldn’t you have chosen a building with an elevator?”
Melodic laughter came from behind him and William’s breath caught. Absolutely certain that Elizabeth Bennett had just entered the room, he was suddenly re-energized. He sat up straight and turned to look in that direction.
As her gaze briefly met his, and then moved on to his sister, William was sure his heart stopped beating. If the shock of meeting her would kill him, having witnessed the smile that brightened her face would make it worthwhile. Just seeing it could improve the mood of anyone, anywhere, even under the worst of circumstances.
Her voice gave his hea
rt the jolt necessary to begin beating again, and it pounded wildly in his chest. He drew in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself.
“The stairs are part of the exercise program here at Longbourn University. Climbing three flights several times a day works wonders to counteract some of the junk food we eat during late night study sessions.”
“Lizzy!” Georgiana squealed and rushed across the room to greet Elizabeth with a hug.
As the two girls exchanged a few words of greeting, William took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy her beauty more fully. Though shorter than he expected her to be, the woman who stood chatting with his sister was even lovelier in person than photographs had depicted. Her silky brown hair framed a cheerful expression. William did not believe that he would ever see a woman appear more alluring than she did in a mere white tank top and jean shorts, with no other adornments than a “peace” ring on her right forefinger and two plain gold studs in her ears.
Elizabeth turned her emerald eyes upon him again, and her smile changed slightly to one that, he hoped, spoke of attraction. She returned her gaze to Georgiana.
He swallowed hard. The woman before him was practically the sole designer of the Lambton Village project. She had nearly read his mind when it came to every building without his ever having spoken to her directly about what he had envisioned, even designing his dream house for the very land that his father had selected before Elizabeth had been born.
Right now, he lived and breathed the Lambton project, and he would continue doing so for some time. Even if Anne and Georgiana didn’t share the same dorm suite as she did, Elizabeth Bennett would have been thoroughly involved in his everyday life.
Thanks to Anne’s photography hobby, he had seen so many aspects of Elizabeth’s personal life that he felt he knew her, but it all could be an illusion. Could the flesh and blood woman live up to the Elizabeth of his dreams?
