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"Why don't you two go across the hall?" Bess suggested. "I want to lie down for a while before dinner." Richard and Olivia exchanged a glance and left her to her nap.

"I think she wants me to see your room," Olivia grinned as they crossed the hall. Richard turned on the lamp.

"Can we see, too?" Olivia turned to see Corrine and Caitlin smiling at her from the doorway. She smiled back.

"Hey, there," she said amiably. But Richard muttered something about hanging garlic above the door to ward off evil.

"You two didn't want to be alone, did you?" Caitlin smirked as she strode in and sat at the edge of the bed. Corrine walked over to Olivia and with a sweeping gesture, gave Olivia a mock tour of Richard's room while he glared at her.

"Welcome to Richard's chamber of horrors--."

"Also known as the dump," Caitlin added, "Although it's suspiciously clean in here."

"Maybe he was expecting company," Corrine teased.

"It doesn't look so bad to me," Olivia observed. The handsomely appointed room was fairly neat, save for a chair piled with discarded clothes and a stack of computer magazines on the desk that appeared to be on the verge of toppling. The suit jacket that Richard had worn to the party was hanging on a hanger on the knob of a closet door. "Has it been worse?" she asked, joining the sisters on the bed.

"Oh yes!"

"Far worse!"

"When he was ten, we lost him in here one day..."

"One..." Richard growled.

"He used to have his clothes all over the place. Mother finally got him to stop throwing them on the floor--."

"By putting up a basketball hoop over the hamper." Richard gritted his teeth. It made him crazy when the twins finished each other's sentences.

"Two..."

"Too bad, Ricky was such a lousy shot!" The twins giggled.

"Don't call me 'Ricky.' Three..." Richard continued ominously.

"So why did Ricky bring you in here?" Corrine asked with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Four..." Olivia sighed.

"I doubt that I'll ever find out as long as you two stay here." She smiled benignly.

"Oh!"

"Excuse us!" The twins rose and left. Corrine winked at her brother as she closed the door. Richard stared at the back of the door for a moment.

"I can't believe that worked!" he said. Olivia sat up and grinned.

"They'll ask questions later." Richard sat on the edge of the bed.

"I can live with that," he said as he stroked Olivia's hair. Olivia took hold of Richard's hand and kissed it.

"We should talk," she began.

"I'm listening."

"We've made a point of keeping our relationship private..."

"Yes..."

"And fooled no one in the process..." Olivia added.

"That wasn't exactly the point. I just didn't want all the pressure. After I stopped seeing Lizzy and she became involved with Fitz, everyone focused his or her attention on trying to repair my love life," Richard confided. "And I don't mind telling you how much worse it made me feel. Corrine called up a few of her old girlfriends in the area and they hounded me for weeks. A couple of my old prep school buddies tried to--well, never mind what--. The point is I just wanted to get on with my life without all the scrutiny I suddenly found myself under. And then when I saw you again..." Richard paused to gently stroke Olivia's cheek. "The minute I realized that I was interested in seeing you I knew that it would be tough with everyone watching our every move. I mean, it would have been one thing if I had gone out with someone who was a complete stranger to my friends, but you happened to be Lizzy's best friend. And on top of that, Fitz has been trying to make it up to me for the whole Lizzy thing. I just wanted us to be able to be whatever we were meant to be to each other without having everything orchestrated by a bunch of well-meaning busybodies!" Richard leaned back on the pillows and Olivia scooted over to curl up in his arms.

"I think we've done okay on our own, but as I said downstairs, we can't hide from the world forever. Especially now." Richard looked down at her.

"What do you mean 'now'? Why? Is there some telltale mark stamped on our faces that says 'we did it'?" he laughed. Olivia pursed her lips.

"I don't know about your face, but according to Grandma Bess...she knew the moment she saw me. She said I glowed," Olivia said with a blush. Richard laughed.

"She told me she'd made an impertinent observation about how we'd spent the afternoon! I always thought you glowed," Richard confided. "Is that why you were hesitant to come upstairs?" Olivia waited for him to stop laughing. "Look, Angel, you and I are consenting adults--."

"I had noticed that..." Olivia replied archly. Richard kissed her temple. "...But we can't pretend anymore."

"I haven't been pretending, and neither have you. If you want me to make a public declaration of my--." Olivia put a finger over Richard's lips.

"I prefer that we keep those declarations private. Especially the ones we made this afternoon. And I don't think anyone else should know about the ring yet." Richard placed a hand on Olivia's waist.

"Remind me to thank Grandma Bess for giving you that chain. I bet she had no idea how you'd put it to use. Come to think of it, that would be the last place --."

"Did you find out why he brought you in here, yet?" Caitlin asked from the door. Richard reached back, grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. Caitlin closed the door just in time to evade the plump missile, but opened it once more. "It's time for dinner, if you are hungry--for anything else beside each other, that is." With that she walked off, leaving the door ajar. Richard slid off of the bed and offered his hand to Olivia.

"I find it hard to believe that she's a thirty-three year-old mother of two. Don't you?" The couple stepped out into the hall, where they encountered Bess. Richard offered her his arm and the three made their way down the stairs and into the dining room.

When Lizzy and William got back to the house they that found Charles and Jane were in the den occupying pretty much the same positions that William and Lizzy had earlier. Charles was watching a college bowl game and Jane was fast asleep in his arms. He raised a finger to his lips when Lizzy entered the room. Lizzy put down the bag from the yarn shop and tiptoed out of the room. William went in search of Mrs. Reynolds to check on dinner arrangements.

"Mr. Brandon called to say that he'd be staying in town tonight and I haven't seen or heard from the two young ones yet, so I assume that it will be just the five of you for dinner this evening," Mrs. Reynolds reported as she reached into the cabinet for glasses.

"Just four, Mrs. Reynolds. Olivia will also be out this evening," William replied. He thought he saw a hint of a smile dance across the housekeeper's lips, but it faded as quickly as it had appeared.

"Would you like to eat now or would you like to wait a while?" she inquired.

"I don't know about anyone else," Lizzy declared as she entered the kitchen, "But I'm famished." William and Mrs. Reynolds exchanged a little smile and she reached for the plates.

"I didn't realize that you'd be dining with us tonight, Olivia," Kathleen admitted. "We usually eat an early dinner when it's just family and we don't do anything fancy." Olivia was amused by her apology, given the rather decadent coq au vin that was being served as a second course.

"Oh, but this is lovely! Coq au vin is one of my favorite dishes," she replied. Kathleen and Olivia discussed a few of their favorite chicken dishes. Kathleen, for all that she rarely cooked, was very knowledgeable about cooking, and collected cookbooks in the course of her travels around the world. Richard, meanwhile, chatted with his grandmother.

"So what else have you been up to on your computer?" he inquired.

"I looked at Darcy Corporation's website, but it only had annual reports and press releases and the like."

"No pictures?"

"No. Maybe Olivia can fix that when she begins to work with William."

"Grandma, Olivia is going to work for DARCO, not the Darcy Corporation, and she's not going to be the web designer at DARCO." Bess looked at Richard oddly.

"Then what on earth did he hire her for? And even if it isn't her job, why couldn't she just fix it--you know, jazz it up a little! It's as dull as a doorknob now." Richard chuckled at her.

"By the way," Bess asked a minute later. "What does ROTFLMAOPIMP mean?" Everyone at the table under the age of fifty choked on his or her wine.

"So Olivia is dining with the Fitzwilliams tonight," Jane repeated as she buttered a slice of bread. "Hmmm, meeting the parents."

"She met the parents last month before they went out, remember?" Charles reminded her.

"I know, but this is like--well, you know it's different meeting the parents once you're dating."

"How so?" William frowned. "And I thought that only applied in the case of the lady's parents."

"I think that Livy has already made quite an impression on Richard's parents. Kathleen treats her like a favorite daughter in law," Lizzy contributed as she dug into her fettucine.

"Isn't that an oxymoron?" Charles quipped.

"Count your blessings, Charles, you won't have any mother in law problems," Jane said. "And neither will you, William," she added with a wink toward Lizzy. Lizzy blushed and looked at William, but his eyes were focused on his plate as though he had not heard Jane's comment at all.

"So how long will you be staying here?" Olivia asked the twins.

"We were about to ask you the very same question," Corrine replied.

"Who knows? Maybe Richard will get the bug and want to become engaged, too," Jane persisted. Charles looked up.

"Why do you think so?"

"He looks at--and after--Olivia as though she was the most precious creature on the planet," Jane answered matter-of-factly.

"Like a man in love, you mean," Lizzy translated with a knowing look at William. He looked back at her with pretty much the same expression that Jane had just attributed to Richard.

"Uh huh. I give him three months, six months tops before he proposes. When a man looks at a woman like that a proposal is imminent." Lizzy arched an eyebrow. William buried his eyes in his glass of wine.

"So when are Jane and Charles going to tie the knot?" Corrine asked.

"And when are you and Olivia going to tie the knot?" Caitlin followed up.

"Have another slice of apple tart, Caitlin. Childbirth has already spread your hips; a little more fat won't show." Richard dropped his fork as his grandmother slapped his wrist.

"Not everyone is as eager to get married as we are," Charles cautioned, trying to dissuade Jane from continuing her train of thought. "It took us three years to get to the point of becoming engaged."

"Yes, but you were just starting out in business. Both Richard and William are already independently wealthy and well-established businessmen. Why should they wait three years?" William could take it no longer.

"Sometimes it's not the man who's reluctant," he blurted out. He averted his eyes as Lizzy colored.

"Lizzy? Has William proposed? And you...oh!" Jane paled and Charles looked equally shocked for a moment. He found his voice and quickly suggested that everyone move into the other room for coffee.

"Olivia, why don't you spend the rest of your stay in Connecticut with us? I'm sure William wouldn't mind and Hugh and I would love to have you."

"Not to mention, Richard," Corrine snickered. She dropped her fork when Grandma Bess glared at her from across the table. Olivia put her napkin to her mouth to suppress a giggle.

"I did not! You never proposed to me, you just--."

"I know what I did, Lizzy, and I know how you reacted. For all intents and purposes, Jane is correct in her assumption," William insisted.

"I know how I reacted. But I don't like the idea of Jane thinking that I rejected you," she pouted. William put his hands on his hips. Lizzy looked at him from where she still sat at the dining table.

"Do you mean to tell me that you are worried about what Jane might think about you?" William burst into laughter and bent over Lizzy's chair so that he was face to face with her. "I hope she does think very ill of you! And," he added for good measure, "I hope she turns the full force of her meddling powers on you. It'd be fitting after what you said about Olivia this afternoon."

"I didn't say anything about Olivia this afternoon. I just...want her to be as happy as we are," Lizzy finished as she put her arms around William's neck.

In the family room, was Olivia curled up with Richard watching a movie. Corrine came into the room and sat beside her on the sofa.

"Aren't we all cozy?"

"We are cozy. You are annoying," Richard spat.

"You're behaving like a nine-year old," Hugh called from his chair at the other end of the room by the fireplace. "Why don't you leave the two of them alone?"

"I want to see the movie, too," Corrine pouted.

"Here," Richard hit the remote and ejected the DVD. "You can take it home with you to California. Soon, I hope." He rose and retrieved the disk and tossed it onto Corrine's lap. Then he took Olivia by the hand and left the room. Corrine remained where he left her, stunned.

"She's only going to follow us," Olivia said mildly as Richard led her away.

"She can try," he smiled grimly as he went into the kitchen. He let go of her hand and began rummaging through the pantry.

"What are you looking for?"

"Breakfast. Suddenly your idea of being snowed in at the playhouse sounds very good."

"You want to hike all the way back to the playhouse in the dark on a stormy night?" Olivia cried.

"We can drive right up to the door...as soon as I get a few things." Olivia watched with amusement as Richard collected a few items and placed them on the counter.

"Would you mind if I arranged the menu?" Richard bowed to her superior knowledge. "I take it there are things to cook with out there?" Richard told her that there were basic cooking supplies in the kitchen, but he led Olivia to a drawer and suggested that she collect any utensils she thought she might need. Olivia gathered a whisk and a wooden spoon and returned to the counter, where she disdainfully set aside the can of ravioli and organized the other items to be put into the bag Richard brought to the counter.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Stay here," Richard said.

"All right," Olivia whispered amusedly. She put the items in the bag and then went to the refrigerator for a few eggs and some milk. She was looking for something to pour the milk into when she heard a noise.

"Running away from home?" Olivia jumped when Grandma Bess spoke from behind her.

"I think we'll be spending the night at the playhouse." She found a drawer full of containers and poured out a ration of milk.

"But it has no--. Oh, you two are young. It'll be an adventure," she concluded with a grin. "I had an adventure in the playhouse once," she sighed wistfully. Olivia looked up expectantly. "It was with my husband, so don't look at me like that. We got caught in the rain one summer afternoon," Bess admitted. "And there was no fireplace and no electric lights in the cabin then, just an oil lamp. We only had our love to keep us warm. Nine months later we had Stewart and Peter!" Bess and Olivia shared a secret smile. Bess was about to say something more, but Richard returned with a backpack.

"Ready?" Olivia nodded. "You won't give us away, will you?" he pleaded with his grandmother.

"My lips are sealed." Richard and Olivia kissed her cheeks simultaneously, and pausing only long enough to collect Richard's jacket, they disappeared into the night.

Part 17

Richard stoked the fire before he wandered into the tiny kitchen and wrapped his arms around Olivia, who turned her head only long enough to kiss him before returning her attention to the task before her.

"Tell me something," Richard said as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Where is it written that when a man and woman spend a night together the woman has to get up and put on his shirt the following morning?" Olivia smiled.

"I can't speak for New York or Connecticut, but it's the law in Pennsylvania."

"Really? I wonder who sponsored that bill?" Richard mused.

"A group of female state legislators who realized that it was the ideal way to have your cake and eat it, too." Richard lifted his head.

"Huh?"

"Wearing the man's shirt allows the woman to get up in the morning and get things done and still have her lover's arms wrapped around her." Olivia turned and held up her arms so that Richard could turn back the sleeves of the red Henley top she wore. "My luck, my lover has the arms of a gorilla," she snickered.

"Hey!" Olivia silenced him with a brief kiss before turning back to the bowl where she was cracking eggs. Richard rested his head on her shoulder once more.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Very well, thank you. Why didn't you tell me yesterday that the couch opened into a bed?"

"Well, the first time you fell asleep in my arms the last thing I wanted to do was to wake you. As for later, well...who was thinking about furniture, then?" Olivia rolled her eyes and began to whisk the eggs. "Where did those come from?

"Chickens, Richard. Specifically, from female chickens," Olivia teased. She jumped when Richard pinched her.

"Where did you find those eggs?" Richard repeated carefully.

"I brought them from the house."

"What are you making?"

"Waffles. I noticed that there was a waffle iron on one of the shelves yesterday afternoon."

"There is?"

"Yes, an antique one, so I brought fixings from the house to make some."

"Does it still work?" Olivia laughed. She held up the iron she had taken from a shelf and washed earlier.

"Of course it still works. It's not electric, silly! Look, you just pour the batter in here, and place it on the stove or stick into the fireplace."

"That's a waffle iron?" Richard had never noticed it before.

"Yes, my sweet, that is a waffle iron. What did you think it was, a fishing lure?" Richard shrugged, and then smiled boyishly.

"I love waffles," Richard groaned in delight.

"Well, this will be far from my best effort. I haven't used one of these in a long time," Olivia warned.

"Hey, as long as I can sit and look at you across the table--and especially those legs--I guarantee I won't be picky," Richard replied enthusiastically. Olivia laughed as she opened the cabinet in front of her and peered at the few items on the shelves.

"Have you any idea how long this coffee has been here? I guess it doesn't really matter; the package is still sealed." She opened the package and looked inside. "Who in your family grinds his own beans in a postage-stamp sized cabin?"

"My dad," Richard acknowledged as he dug into a lower cabinet for a grinder and coffee pot. "He believes that instant coffee is the work of the devil." He measured out and ground the coffee beans. Then he turned his attention to setting up a bistro table and chairs for their meal. He had just emerged from the closet when he heard a telephone ring. He fumbled around in first his own jacket and then Olivia's, until he found the right phone.

"Good morning, Mrs. Reynolds," William greeted the housekeeper. He took a seat at the table and leaned over to kiss Lizzy, who had arrived at the breakfast table before him. William placed his cell phone on the table. "Georgiana and Garren will be home in a while. It seems that they're--." He aborted his report when Lizzy impulsively grabbed the phone, hastily looked up Olivia's number and dialed. "Who are you calling?"

"Hello, Richard."

"Lizzy!" William shouted.

"What are you doing answering Olivia's phone at this hour?" she asked pointedly as William shook his head at her reproachfully.

"Just saying goodbye to an old friend. Been nice talking to you, Bright Eyes."

"Oh, no! Don't hang up!" Olivia came out of the kitchen and placed plates and utensils on the table. Unlike the previous meal Richard and Olivia shared in the cabin, their breakfast would be eaten from the simple ironstone table ware she found in the cabinets.

"Who was that?"

"Lizzy," Richard said as he put the phone on the table and began to unfold the chairs.

"How did she get my new phone number?" Richard shrugged.

"Maybe she's using Fitz's phone. I programmed your number in, since he's your employer," he revealed.

"But not your own?" Richard put his arms around Olivia and kissed her.

"Right now, you are the only person in the world who can reach that line and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible." The phone rang again and this time Olivia reached for it.

"Hello," she sighed as she looked into Richard's eyes. "Oh, good morning, William...no need to apologize...I know," she said with a glance at Richard, who smiled at her knowingly. "Would you like to speak with him? Here," she handed Richard the phone and slipped out of his arms to return to the kitchen. Richard said hello to his cousin and listened on the line for a moment. Then he smiled.

"Fitz! You must describe in perfect detail exactly what Lizzy's face looks like!" he laughed.

"At the moment, her eyebrows are threatening to disappear entirely into her hairline, her jaw is three inches from the ground, and...wait, now she's pouting and her eyebrows are furrowed," William reported. Richard's laughter made Olivia poke her head out of the kitchen to look at him oddly.

"I could tell you what Lizzy once said she wanted to have put on her tombstone if she was to die in my arms and she'd never know!" William smiled.

"Not on an empty stomach, please!" Richard replied. "I take it that you have a legitimate reason for calling?"

"Oh, yes. Are you two at Harpy's? I tried reaching you at the house but Pierce said that you weren't home."

"We're at the playhouse. I could take just so much of the evil twins before I had to bail out of there last night."

"Why didn't you just go to one of the guesthouses? They're far more comfortable."

"Fitz, it amazes me that you can hold onto a woman at all with your lack of romantic sensibilities." Richard teased.

"I have wonderful romantic sensibilities," William countered defensively. "But I prefer to exercise them in something larger than a shoebox."

"Ah, but a shoebox can have a great deal to recommend it when..." Richard's voice trailed off as Olivia came out of the kitchen with a bowl of waffle batter and the waffle iron. She looked at Richard oddly as she passed him and placed the items on the end of the hearth. Richard watched her in silence as she returned to the kitchen. "Trust me," he continued. "A shoebox can be a wonderful thing." William chuckled softly.

"Sounds very serious and very romantic. As to my reason for calling: are you and Charles still on for a trip into the city?" Richard smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Yes, although I forgot to call my banker yesterday." Olivia came out of the kitchen with a few paper towels, a large spoon, and a bottle of oil. She passed by Richard with the same bemused expression on her face. He followed Olivia to the hearth and watched as she carefully oiled the inside of the waffle iron and set it into the fire to heat up.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Don't have any," Richard muttered, fascinated at the display before him. "Why?"

"I thought we might all go into town for the day. There's that show at the Met we've been dying to see, and Lizzy wants to pick up something from her place. And maybe we can meet up with Christopher and have dinner in town before we return," William suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. I give my banker a call and we'll be over there after..." Richard checked his watch. "Breakfast. Want to say ten?" William agreed and Richard changed from Olivia's phone to his own. He selected his banker's number from his preprogrammed list and left him a brief message. "Remind me to give him another call after nine, will you?" Richard said as he sat back down on the floor beside Olivia.

"You have your bank on speed dial?" she asked.

"My banker, yes. Why?" Richard asked ingenuously. Olivia shook her head. "Don't you ever call your banker?"

"Richard, I don't have a banker, and I suspect that most people don't," Olivia began to make up the bed and Richard rose to help her.

"Oh," he answered simply. "I guess..."

"...That most people don't have a million dollars in their bank accounts? You'd be right about that!" Richard smiled sheepishly. Olivia squealed suddenly and rushed back to the fireplace, where she promptly burned her hand on the hot waffle iron. Richard quickly grabbed Olivia's turtleneck, which had been discarded on the floor and used it to protect his hand from the heat. He pulled the iron from the fire and opened it to reveal two slightly burned waffles.

"Those are yours," he smiled.

"The first ones always burn," Olivia admitted as she held up a plate and deftly removed the waffles from the iron. She quickly scooped more batter into it and Richard returned it to the fire.

"Is that another Pennsylvania statute?" he quipped as he took Olivia's hand to examine the burn.

"Universal truth," she replied. Richard got out the first aid kit and applied something to soothe the small wound before he allowed Olivia to return to the fireplace where she soon produced six additional perfect waffles. Richard meanwhile, found the bottle of maple syrup Olivia had packed, as well as the butter and the coffee, and brought them to the table. The couple sat down at the table. Olivia watched as Richard took his first bite.

"Mmmm, just like mama used to make--well somebody's mama, anyway."

"Silly man," Olivia smiled, before she tucked into her own waffles. "They turned out better than I thought they would." Richard took her hand and kissed it.

"My compliments to the chef," he smiled. But he had a sudden thought and frowned. "You aren't going to turn into my mother after we're married and only visit the kitchen every once in a while just to test your memory of its location?" Olivia laughed.

"No, I have no intention of giving up cooking in the foreseeable future. I love to cook. Besides, if I didn't feed you, who would?"

"The cook," Richard replied with his mouthful.

"Cook? You mean to tell me that you have a cook at home?"

"At my apartment, you mean? No. But I do have a part-time housekeeper who comes in a few times a week to pick up after me, and she--."

"...Does all your cooking," Olivia finished for him.

"Hardly. She makes something for me twice a week and leaves it in the fridge. I cook for myself, otherwise, or go out." Olivia smiled knowingly, but she changed the subject.

"So what was that stuff about shoeboxes earlier?" Richard smiled.

"Fitz was comparing this place to a shoebox and wondered why we didn't spend the night at one of--."

"You told Fitz...I mean William...you told him where we were?" Olivia reddened.

"I didn't see any harm in it. He already knew where we weren't." Olivia glared up at him. "Don't worry. He won't tell Lizzy."

"Richard, the two of you were discussing where we spent the night and I guarantee you that Lizzy was nearby, hanging on his every word," Olivia cried. Richard smiled wickedly.

"She may have tried, but I'm certain that she couldn't."

"'Couldn't' what?" Olivia asked, not at all amused.

"Hang on to any of Fitz's words. He was speaking Gaelic." Olivia opened her mouth to reply, then shut it. She furrowed her brows and finally, she spoke.

"William speaks Gaelic?"

"Doesn't everyone but Lizzy?" Richard winked.

"I take it, then, that you...of course, you would have to. Are you fluent?" Richard nodded.

"Somewhat, in both dialects. I am both a Scot and an Irishman, after all."

"And which does William speak, or is he also fluent in both?" Olivia asked, nonplussed.

"To the enduring disappointment of dear old dad, Irish."

"What was that all about? Some sort of secret code?" Lizzy pouted at William.

"Yes, a secret code, known only to about ten million or so Celts." William grinned as he sipped his coffee.

"Huh?"

"Would you like to go into the city today?" William asked casually.

"Oh, come on, Will, you can't blame me for being a little curious!" Lizzy protested. William ignored her complaint as Mrs. Reynolds placed an omelet before him.

"We can go to the Metropolitan and see that show at the Costume Institute that you wanted to see and Fitz and I can see that exhibit of Japanese armor."

"You aren't going to tell me anything, are you?" Lizzy said exasperatedly.

"There's absolutely nothing to tell." Lizzy made a face at William before she gave up and began to eat her own omelet. Charles and Jane entered the kitchen and bemusedly observed the scene unfolding before them.

"Now what?" Charles asked Jane, who shrugged.

"Maybe they've been having another 'discussion'!" she replied, emphasizing the last word and earning a glare from Lizzy. The couple sat down and William filled them in on his proposed trip into the city. Charles and Jane readily agreed to the outing and as soon as breakfast was done, the men retired to William's study to discuss business options.

Olivia took a deep breath and opened the front door of William's house. She briefly looked around and sighed in relief. Maybe she'd make it to her room before she was confronted with a few dozen questions. She headed straight for the stairs while Richard wandered into the kitchen. He paused in the doorway and listened to the banter between the two Bennet sisters at the counter. Lizzy was scanning the paper William had left behind, but Jane seemed eager to talk.

"Now that we're alone, Lizzy, tell me. When did William propose?"

"Jane," Lizzy sighed. "I told you last night: William hasn't proposed."

"No? I find that very hard to believe. William was just a little too quick to comment last night." Lizzy rolled her eyes as she stirred her coffee.

"Go on believing what you want, Jane. But that won't make it so."

"Maybe I'll just ask William about it," Jane threatened. She sipped her coffee and looked up to see Richard at the door. "Good morning, Richard! Would you like a cup of coffee? Mrs. Reynolds just made a fresh pot."

"Where's Livy?" Lizzy asked. Richard pulled off his jacket and hung it on a convenient knob and took a seat at the counter.

"Upstairs, I hope. That's where she was headed the last time I saw her," he replied as he poured milk into his coffee.

"You brought her home?" Lizzy glared at him incredulously and Richard realized that she had misunderstood him slightly. He saw no reason to disabuse her of her error for the moment, so he played along.

"Of course I brought her home. What did think I would do? Leave her alone in the middle of the woods?" Lizzy shook her head in disbelief. "But I'm far more interested in hearing about William's proposal," he added, with a surreptitious wink at Jane.

"William has not proposed," Lizzy replied through gritted teeth. "He just...well, we talked about marriage once, okay?" Richard leaned on the counter and waited.

"And?" Jane prodded impatiently.

"And we aren't engaged," Lizzy said with an air of finality. Richard looked at Jane.

"Which one of them has the cold feet?"

"Lizzy, I think," Jane said. Richard raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You aren't still carrying a torch for me are you? I mean, I'm very flat--." Lizzy pushed Richard away and he nearly fell off the stool laughing.

"You wish!"

"Actually, I don't, thank you very much. I could do without such a complication to ruin my present happiness." It was Lizzy's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What does that mean?" A sweet smile suffused Richard's handsome face.

"Ladies, you are looking at a man in love," he responded without hesitation. Both women gasped.

"With Livy?" Jane asked.

"Of course with Livy, what are you, nuts?" Lizzy turned back to Richard. "So have you told her yet?" she pressed.

"I thought she should be the first to know," he grinned. Richard suddenly felt very lighthearted; perhaps going public was good for the soul.

"I trust she took your news well," Lizzy continued.

"Actually, she did a lot of crying yesterday," Richard said with a slight frown. Lizzy and Jane exchanged a glance, but Richard chose that moment to go in search of Charles. "Where's Bingley?"

"Uh...he's in the study with William," Jane managed.

"Thanks for the coffee, ladies," Richard said as he picked up his mug and left the room.

"Why do you think...tears of happiness?" Jane surmised.

"Knowing Richard, he was just making it up."

"About her crying, or about the whole thing?" Lizzy smiled.

"Oh, I doubt that he was lying about being in love."

Charles and Richard were ensconced in the study going over some papers when Richard knocked and entered.

"Morning, gentlemen," he said as he sat down. "What's up?"

"We were just about to call you, Fitz. For a while, I thought you had decided to stay at the cabin." William smiled.

"I was very tempted, believe me. But I've been here for a few minutes, entertaining your ladies in the kitchen. So what are you two up to?" Richard asked as he peered at the papers before him.

"We've been looking at Cherry Blossom's business plan and now that you're here, I have an idea I'd like to bounce off the two of you," William began.

"What kind of idea?" Charles asked.

"Well, if push comes to shove and Caroline decides to make trouble...we'd talked about one possible strategy..."

"I'd buy out Lizzy," Charles said as Richard quietly observed the pair.

"What about if we chose to do the reverse? Allow Lizzy to buy you out?" Charles immediately paled. "Now, hear me out for a second," William said. "It in all likelihood will never come to this, but if you wanted to push her out of the company, she may be more eager to sell if she had to deal with Lizzy rather than deal with you." Richard smiled.

"But, I think..."

"It's just an idea, Charles," Richard chimed in. "And I like it!"

"But it's my company and I'd be out of it entirely!" Charles reasoned.

"Only temporarily, and you could still be president and chief operating officer. Think about it, Charles," William urged.

"I frankly don't like the idea of giving up ownership of the business I created," he said. "You do have a point, but I'd rather focus my energies on preventing the need for any sort of buyout that doesn't include relieving Caroline of her share of Cherry Blossom."

"And that's exactly what we're going to do. Let's get going. Morgenthau is expecting us at 11:30." Richard rose and led the men down the hall to the living room, where Lizzy and Jane were waiting.

"Where's Olivia?" William asked. Richard shrugged.

"Here I am," she said as she entered the room. She had taken a quick shower and changed her clothes. "Good morning, everyone."

"Shall we go, then? I'll drive Lizzy to Brooklyn; does anyone else want to go with us?" William offered.

"Jane will drive us to Brooklyn in her car and Olivia will go with us," Lizzy amended. You boys go to the bank. What time should we meet up?" William exchanged a glance with Richard, who in turn looked to Olivia, who shrugged in surrender.

"We shouldn't be in the bank for more than a half hour, probably less. Why don't we just say 1:00 in front of the Met, just to be on the safe side," Richard suggested. Lizzy kissed William and went outside with Jane. Richard walked out with Olivia. He paused at Jane's car and stroked her cheek.

"See you later, Angel," he said softly and kissed her before he joined Charles and William at the Range Rover. Olivia slid into the back seat of Jane's car, a wry smile plastered on her face.

"Looks very serious," Jane smiled as she directed the car down the long drive from William's house.

"Well, we already know that it is," Lizzy teased. "Richard told us so." Olivia looked up.

"What did he tell you?"

"Only that he's in love with you," Lizzy revealed. "What I want to know is why you made him bring you back last night. Everything was perfect for you to stay over with him and break that God-knows-how-long dry spell of yours."

"What?" Olivia was thrown by the last half of Lizzy's comment.

"She wants to know why you didn't spend the night with Richard," Jane translated.

"I--." Olivia blushed.

"For a while I thought you had given up on men entirely after that disastrous breakup with Stephen--what is it now, two years ago? And now you have this gorgeous sweetheart of a man declaring his love for you and you--."

"Lizzy, I did spend the night with Richard. What made you think otherwise?"

"He said that you were upstairs!" Lizzy exclaimed.

"When did he say that?" Olivia was curious.

"When he came over," Jane explained. "He said he'd brought you home and you were...oh! I get it!" Olivia laughed.

"Well, I don't," Lizzy complained.

"Yes, you do, silly! Richard did bring Olivia home...this morning."

"Oh!" Lizzy smiled. "That sly little rat!"

"Hey! That sly little rat is in love with your best friend," Jane pointed out. Olivia stared out of the window, oblivious to the conversation in the front seat. Richard told them that he loved her! For some reason, it made her very happy to hear that.

"So..." Lizzy began, but Jane prodded her with an elbow.

"Don't Lizzy! She didn't ask about what happened between you and William!"

"Who cares about what happened between her and William?" Olivia murmured as she continued to stare out vacantly.

"There, Lizzy! I think you have your answer," Jane giggled.

The men rode into town with very different thoughts in their heads, although William was cognizant of a slight change in Richard's demeanor. William was very happy for his cousin, and smiled to himself. They found a parking space off Madison Avenue and walked to the bank. The banking institution where generations of Fitzwilliams had entrusted their finances stood on the corner of 63rd Street and Madison Avenue in a building that was erected in 1784. Its brick façade and steep slate roof were incongruous with the rest of the more modern buildings in the area. The building had inspired awe in a young Richard Fitzwilliam on his first visit to the institution twenty-five years earlier and it still inspired reverence in him to this day.

He was greeted by name by the clerk, who led the trio directly to the offices of Mr. Morgenthau, the banker who had been handling Richard's trust fund since the day he was born. Going to his office was like visiting a stern, but well-respected uncle who gave him valuable advice and always looked out for his best interests. Mr. Morgenthau had some reservations about giving Charles an unsecured, no-interest loan, but Richard was firm and even threatened to make the amount a gift, if Morgenthau would not permit the loan. The banker relented then, and would have issued a banker's check for the sum of $250,000, but Richard had it wired directly to Charles's bank account instead.

The men left the bank with plenty of time to spare, so they sauntered up Madison Avenue and looked into a few boutiques before they headed north to the museum. They passed a shop that sold imported lingerie and William insisted that they all go in. Charles and Richard glanced at each other warily, and then reluctantly entered the shop. William asked to see a nightgown that was on display in the window, while the others looked around.

"May I help you?" a pretty young sales associate asked Richard.

"Oh, we're just waiting for him," Charles blushed slightly, pointing at William.

"I'm just looking," Richard added absently.

"For your sister, right?" Richard turned and looked at the woman, who winked suggestively. Richard walked over to where William was, shaking his head. He peered over his shoulder.

"Nice!"

"I think Lizzy will like it. I'll take it in a medium, please." The sales associate took the nightgown away to be wrapped up. "Why don't you two buy something?"

"I doubt that anything here would fit me, quite frankly," Richard deadpanned. William laughed.

"Go on! I think you and Olivia are on...shall we say, 'intimate enough terms'?" Richard smiled. The sales associate appeared, unbidden, at Richard's elbow. He pretended not to notice.

"It's too early, I think. Besides, I don't know what size she wears," Richard replied as he did a slow spin and took in the merchandise.

"Well, I found something I'd like for Jane," Charles announced eagerly. He went to the young sales associate, who seemed rather put out at having to serve him rather than Richard.

"Why are you being so coy, Richard? Surely you've bought lingerie for a woman before," William teased.

"Well, yes, but I've never seen Olivia in lingerie before...I mean, I don't know what she'd like." The sales associate who was serving William, a mature Frenchwoman, overheard Richard's comment and smiled.

"It's not so much a matter of what she'd like, mon cher. It's what you'd like to see her in!" Richard smiled in agreement but declined to make a purchase in spite of William and Charles's good-natured cajoling. The two men made their purchases and everyone left the store smiling.

"Aw, do we have to the museum, now? I mean, if we met up with the ladies and headed back up to Connecticut right now..." Charles grinned.

"Why you eager little beaver!" William laughed. The three men were in excellent spirits by the time they reached 79th Street.

The women, meanwhile, made it to Brooklyn in good time. They entered the house and Jane gathered up and sifted through the mail her tenant had brought in while Lizzy went directly to the dining room and began going through a box of zip disks on the table next to her laptop.

"Aha!" she cried. "Okay," she said as she returned to the living room. "I got what I came for."

"You came all the way to town for a zip disk?" Olivia asked.

"Not just any zip disk. Wait until you see what's on it," Lizzy hinted. "I want to make a few modifications to the file and then I'll show you something that will knock your socks off!" She wouldn't say anything further on the matter, so Jane went up to her room to pick up a few things, while Olivia went to the kitchen for a drink with Lizzy in tow.

"Seriously, Olivia, I've never seen Richard looking so happy. I'm glad that things are working out for you two," Lizzy admitted.

"Thank you, Lizzy."

"I could say 'I told you so'."

"You could, couldn't you, as trite as that would be and in spite of the fact that I wouldn't care, anyway," Olivia replied archly. Lizzy snorted at her sharp retort.

"Are you as happy as he is?"

"I think so," she replied with a radiant smile. "But what I'd really like to know is: are you going to get off my case now?"

"Of course I am, now that I've achieved my objective," Lizzy replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! You just take good care of Richard."

"I intend to," Olivia said with a wicked look. Lizzy's eyes went wide and the friends began to laugh. Jane came into the kitchen, lured by the sound and suggested that they be off.

William, Charles, and Richard stood on the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Charles periodically danced up and down to keep warm.

"Do you want a hat?" Richard offered, pulling one from his pocket.

"I think he just wants to go back to Connecticut," William quipped as he spied Jane's car coming down the block. The men descended the stairs to the car. Lizzy and Olivia got out and Charles got in and accompanied Jane into the garage.

"How did things go at the bank?" Lizzy asked.

"Everything is copasetic," Richard replied, his eyes fixed on Olivia's.

"What the heck does that mean?" Lizzy asked William as he took her arm and led her into the lobby. Richard took Olivia by the hand and, pausing to share a quick kiss, they followed. Charles and Jane caught up with the others and Richard and William showed their membership passes to gain admittance for the group.

"Where do we go first?" Jane asked after they had checked their outer garments. She looked at Lizzy and Olivia and it was quickly decided that they'd go to the Costume Institute exhibit on clothing of the 18th and 19th centuries. They entered the gallery and Olivia was immediately taken with a Victorian ball gown.

"Women must have been very short in those days," Charles observed.

"Some still are," William noted with amusement, as he observed Lizzy standing between the two other women, who were half a head taller.

"She's tiny, but she's scrappy," Richard chuckled. William punched him playfully on the arm and they turned their attention to a display of 19th century corsets.

"We didn't see any of those in the shop!" Charles observed. Jane came up behind him.

"What shop?" Charles reddened and ignored the question.

"How would you like to have to wear all this every day?" he said with a wave toward the display. Lizzy and Olivia joined the men.

"Oh, my! Was all that necessary?" Jane gasped at the array.

"Not for Livy," Lizzy quipped. Olivia pouted and Richard, who couldn't help remembering their discussion of the previous day, smiled.

"Good things come in small packages. You ought to know that, shortie!" Olivia sneered. Lizzy gasped and turned to confront her. Jane sighed and shook her head.

"This is an old fight, once a year, every year, whether they need to or not. I call it the 'height versus hips' debate," Jane said airily as she joined them to act as referee. William and Richard exchanged an interested glance. Just then Richard heard his name being called.

"Richard Fitzwilliam!" He turned in the direction from which the cry came and smiled in recognition of the woman before him. "Mr. Fitzwilliam, I could kiss you! In fact, I think I will." She grasped his shoulders, stood up on her toes and planted a chaste kiss on his mouth. Richard continued to smile as he looked up saw that Lizzy, Jane and Olivia were staring back at him open-mouthed.

"You all remember Dr. Fields, don't you? Well, you two should, anyway," he said to William and Lizzy. "Doctor, I don't believe you've ever met Jane Bennet, Charles Bingley, or Olivia Crenshaw."

"Oh, yes, the girlfriend," she said self-consciously. "Forgive my over-exuberance, Miss Crenshaw, but this man... I have been volunteering my services for the past three years to a group home for pregnant teenagers. It's been a personal crusade, a labor of love, and an uphill struggle. I'm a doctor, not a fundraiser. I don't how you found about it," Dr. Fields eyed Richard wonderingly. She turned back to the others, "But last week I received a check for $10,000 for the home. It was a godsend! Thanks to your generosity, Mr. Fitzwilliam, we'll have a decent onsite medical office and be able to deliver quality pre and post natal care for a good while." She took his hand in hers and shook it warmly.

"I'm very glad to hear it, and you can count on my continuing support. Don't hesitate to call on me should something come up." Richard dug into his pocket and pulled out a card.

"I don't know how to thank you," the doctor said.

"I got both excellent care and excellent advice from you, Doc; a simple Christmas card didn't seem like enough of a thank you." Dr. Fields remembered the conversation to which he alluded and cast a quick glance at Olivia before she peered at his forehead critically.

"Maybe I should have been a shrink!" she smiled. "How's your head?"

"Quite recovered, thanks."

"But he lost his heart," Lizzy said with a smile. Olivia blushed slightly as Dr. Fields turned to her.

"You take care of that gorgeous man, you hear, 'cause if you don't there's a lengthy waiting list for him at the hospital...and I'm at the top of it!" Dr. Fields wished everyone a happy new year and went on her way. The three couples continued their tour of the exhibit. Olivia grabbed hold of Richard's arm.

"She's right, you know."

"I'm gorgeous?"

"No! But you are worth holding onto." Richard pouted as they strolled on.

Caroline looked disdainfully at the stack of papers on Mr. Hong's desk, hoping that she wouldn't be made to read them all. Se wanted answers, not more questions.

"Did you find anything of use, Mr. Hong?"

"Your brother has a very shrewd attorney, Ms. Bingley. There is nothing in this contract that gives you any leverage against him. The only way you can gain control of the company--if that's what you want--is to gain majority ownership."

"And how might I go about doing that, Mr. Hong?" she said bitterly. The attorney shrugged.

"I doubt that Mr. Bingley would be interested in selling his shares. What about the other owner?"

"Lizzy Bennet?" Caroline was about to abandon the idea when she reconsidered. "Suppose I made her an offer she couldn't refuse?"

"Couldn't you just see William in that?" Lizzy sighed as she stood before a magnificent suit of black armor chased in gold.

"No," Jane answered bluntly.

"It'd very painful for him, I should think. That thing could barely fit me, much less a man his size," Olivia added. Lizzy looked from one woman to the other in disbelief. When she returned her gaze to the armor, Olivia and Jane exchanged a smile.

"Let's see," Jane smiled as she walked down a row of suits. "There! I'd like Charles in that one," she said pointing to a suit of Italian dress armor.

"Okay, Livy, your turn," Lizzy said. "Which one would you pick for Richard?"

"Any one of them would do," she said with a wicked smile, "So long as it came with a can opener." William, Richard, and Charles turned to look at the three women who were on the other side of the gallery giggling. They shrugged and turned back to the display of Japanese ceremonial helmets. William was a collector of Japanese armor and he was particularly interested in seeing this touring exhibit. Richard and Charles were equally fascinated as they strolled from case to case. William gave the men a guided tour of the exhibit while the women strolled the gallery paying the armor only perfunctory attention.

"By the way, ladies," Lizzy smiled as she pulled the zip disk from her bag, "Remind me to show this to you when we get back to Will's house."

"What is it?" Jane asked. Lizzy smiled enigmatically.

"You'll see."

"If you're trying to whet my appetite, you're failing," Olivia smirked.

"Oh, you'll be interested," Lizzy smiled. "I was just thinking...Livy, you aren't still on speaking terms with Stephen by any chance, are you?" Olivia looked at her in surprise.

"Not by any chance. Why?" Lizzy didn't answer. Instead she continued through the gallery thinking of other people who might be of use to her, should she need to carry out the plan that was forming in her head. The six met up and went to lunch and afterwards, they wandered through the galleries of Egyptian and Roman art. Lizzy expressed an interest in visiting the Impressionists and so they went upstairs and wandered through several more galleries. As their energy began to flag, they combed the museum shop, where William bought the catalog on the armor exhibit and Richard bought a cookbook on Egyptian cuisine for Olivia while Jane and Charles went to get the two vehicles. The group met up and piled into the vehicles, Charles in Jane's car and the others in the Range Rover. They drove to William's house, where they rested until early evening, and then walked a short distance to a restaurant in the neighborhood. Christopher was waiting for them.

"So how was your interlude in the Big Apple?" William asked his old friend.

"Splendid. How did things go at the bank?" he replied.

"Copasetic," Lizzy chimed in, with a glance at Richard, who winked back.

"Very nice. Now all we have to do is wait and see what Caroline does next," Christopher smiled.

Caroline held the door open so that Lily Church could get into the elevator before the door closed.

"Hello, Caroline."

"Lily. Thank you again for having me over for Christmas on such short notice; you were a dear to be so thoughtful."

"Oh, not at all. I'm sure you would have done the same for me. By the way, have you heard from William?" Caroline lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"I can't believe he wouldn't try to contact you after what happened. That little skirt of his probably made up some flimsy excuse!" Caroline looked up at her, thinking it odd that Lily seemed so eager to think ill of Olivia, but she nonetheless did not scruple to dissuade her from her dislike.

"What do you have against Olivia Crenshaw?" Caroline asked. The elevator stopped at her floor. "Why don't you come in for a minute?" The two women entered Caroline's apartment. Caroline's eyes involuntarily looked down at the spot where Richard's blood could still just barely be discerned. Lily removed her coat and accepted a drink

With the return of Christopher, William regained possession of his car and he drove Lizzy and Christopher back to Connecticut while Jane and Charles, and Richard and Olivia rode in the other two vehicles. Along the way, William filled Lizzy and Christopher in on the details of what had transpired at the bank. Christopher had done a little homework of his own while he was in town. He'd found out the name of Caroline's attorney.

"Not that it means anything at this point, but it helps to know what we may be up against," Christopher suggested.

"Yes," Lizzy said enigmatically. "I think we should be prepared for anything when it comes to Caroline, and be prepared to fight fire with fire." William glanced at Lizzy, but she turned her attention to looking at Jane, whose car was in the next lane.

"Have you given any thought to my mother's invitation?" Richard asked. Olivia hesitated a bit before Richard squeezed her hand to prompt a reply.

"Yes, I have. I don't know...it seems so soon. I mean--."

"You will have your own room, you know. I'm not pressuring you to--."

"I know, Richard. It's not that," Olivia admitted.

"What is it, then?" he asked.

"Well, the evil twins, for one. They'll be around for a few days more, and I really don't feel so comfortable abandoning Lizzy and William. I know you said that William wouldn't mind, but I..." Richard squeezed her hand once more.

"If you're not comfortable with it, then don't do it."

"I don't want to disappoint your mom, though. I think she's expecting me," Olivia worried.

"I'll have a word with her. She's used to hearing disappointing things from me," Richard grinned.

"Will you tell her that I'd love to come up at another time?" Richard nodded.

"Now tell, me, "Caroline insisted. Whatever did she do to you? You never really said the other night." Lily Church related the story of their first meeting at Darcy Corporation and about later seeing her at the Christmas party, embellishing the details of their brief confrontation to make Olivia sound quite obnoxious.

"And you say that William stuck up for her?"

"Yes, and irrationally so! He'd never let one of his senior staff speak that way to a subordinate, so the last thing I expected was that he'd allow this little nobody to speak that way to me." Lily smiled coolly. "So how did she behave at William's house?"

"Oh, she was as meek as a lamb. She was all over Richard every minute he was around, as if she was trying to torment William. Everyone was sick of her by the end of two days, although Richard seemed to enjoy himself," Caroline insinuated.

"And what about William?"

"He seemed intent on fighting fire with fire. He was all over Lizzy. She's another piece of work. And she's too stupid to know that he's just using her."

"William is using Lizzy?" Lily scoffed. "Oh, no, you have that wrong, dear. Lizzy's got 'trophy wife' written all over her. If he's using anyone, he's using Olivia."

"Then her tenure at DARCO should be very brief," Caroline smiled for the first time.

"She has a one year consulting contract with a four month exclusive. It's renewable, but based upon what you say, I doubt that she'll last even that long."

"Size eight is a matter of mind over matter," Lizzy grunted as she tugged the zipper of her jeans up one last inch. William opened his eyes and raised his head. Lizzy froze for a moment; William turned over and went back to sleep. Lizzy moved quietly toward the door but William spoke before her hand touched the knob.

"How long will you be?" Lizzy froze once more.

"I don't know, really. I...I'll give you a call later." Lizzy stole a peek at William, who by all appearances was still fast asleep. She went over to the bed and tousled his hair.

"Thanks," he smiled. Lizzy kissed his brow and slipped out of the room and headed downstairs. When she reached the kitchen she found that Olivia was already there. She was making breakfast as she talked on the phone.

"Would you do me a favor, Richard? Ed Ferrars left me a message yesterday saying that he had a bunch of material that he wanted to give me. Would you be a dear and see if you can pick it up? That way he won't have to mail it all to Pennsylvania." There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Richard?"

"You live in Pennsylvania," Richard said dully. "I forgot about that." He sighed wistfully, and Olivia tried to suppress a laugh.

"I've been avoiding thinking about it myself," she admitted. She noticed Lizzy she quickly changed the subject. "Hey! Lizzy's here and breakfast is almost done. When will you be back?"

"Early in the afternoon, I should think. I'm only going to check on things and make a few calls. Where will you be?"

"I hardly know. It depends on how long this little project of Lizzy's takes and how much stuff Grandma Bess wants to upload," Olivia replied as she deftly slid an omelet onto a plate and placed it before a grateful Lizzy.

"I'll try my parents' place first, then. Still love me?" Richard asked.

"Hopelessly!" Olivia hung up the phone and focused her attention on her own omelet.

"You know, I like the way this story has turned out." Olivia looked up.

"What story, Lizzy?"

"My story, or should I say our story? The story of a girl who went on a lousy vacation and returned to meet the man of her dreams, only to subsequently find out that the man of her dreams was in fact the men of her dreams, a pair of men each too good to be true." Lizzy smirked as Olivia sat down beside her and began to eat.

"Is there a dragon in this story? I love stories with dragons!" Olivia cried mockingly.

"Let's leave Caroline out of this, shall we?" Olivia snorted and laughed into her napkin. "Unfortunately, when the girl was finally able to sort everything out she was forced to make a sacrifice."

"The way I heard the story she wasn't the one making the sacrifice," Olivia corrected.

"Well...my story reached a happy ending only because of the extraordinary stubbornness of William, who refused to give up on me, and Richard who insisted on giving up on me. I refused to accept that for a while, so I was a bit stubborn, too."

"A bit?" Olivia arched an eyebrow. Lizzy chose to ignore the comment.

"I think that in the end, each of us had to sacrifice a little, and no one was really comfortable for a while." Lizzy grew silent for a minute. Jane entered the kitchen. Olivia rose to make her an omelet, but Jane told her to finish her breakfast; she could fix her own eggs. Olivia sat down once more.

"Thus began Richard's quest for his own true love," Lizzy continued and Olivia chuckled at her.

"It wasn't much of a quest. You shoved me down his throat before he even knew he was on one!"

"So it was a very short journey. But all's well that ends well."

"Amen!" Olivia raised her cup in a toast.

"So what exactly what are you two doing, again?" Jane asked as she joined the others at the table.

"We're going over to Richard's house. Lizzy will use his computer while I do some work on Grandma Bess's web page," Olivia explained.

"And you want me there to...?" Jane was by no means a stranger to computers. The proud owner of Companion number 7 (Charles owned number 8) was an enthusiast, but her skills were by no means anywhere near the level of those of the other two women. She couldn't understand why her presence would be needed at all.

It had been decided that the three women would go over to Fitzwilliam House to do some work after Lizzy made a startling discovery in William's study the previous night. When the seven returned to the house after their day in town, the men all retired to the pool room while Jane and Olivia joined Georgiana and Garren in the kitchen, where they were baking brownies. Lizzy closeted herself in William's study to work on William's computer, only to appear minutes later in the pool room.

"William, your computer doesn't have a zip drive!" she cried incredulously. Charles, Christopher, and Richard tried to hide their laughter as the recipient of William's ruined shot--the eight ball--caromed off the table and rolled to a stop at Lizzy's feet. William straightened up and merely blinked at her, open-mouthed. "You're the president and CEO of a computer company...two! How can you not have a zip drive?"

"It's very simple. I have no use for one," William said with a patient sigh.

"But even if you never use it, I would think that a man in your position would have a state-of-the-art set up." Richard stepped around the pool table to reason with Lizzy.

"Bright Eyes, William is not a geek. He's a business man who makes his fortune off the backs of geeks like you and me, and Bingley," he explained. Charles chuckled as he chalked the tip of his cue. Christopher also found this depiction of William amusing. Even Lizzy smiled, as William fixed an annoyed glare at his cousin.

"If you need a zip drive, I have three," Richard continued. "One for each of my home computers. What's the size of your disk?" Lizzy held it up for inspection.

"Then you'll have to go to the house. There's a zip drive in my room and one in Grandma Bess's that will accommodate that." Lizzy sneered at William.

"Oh, so your own grandmother has a zip drive and you don't?"

"I spec'd her machine," Richard said proudly. Thus it was arranged that Lizzy would go over to Fitzwilliam House and use his computer. Olivia offered to accompany her and make some additions to Bess's web page. Lizzy insisted that Jane join them, but Jane still couldn't understand why.

"I really want you to see something," Lizzy argued, but Jane wanted to do a little shopping at the post-Christmas sales and Lizzy was forced to yield. "Okay. I'll polish my little gem and you can see it later."

"What is this 'little gem' of yours?" Olivia asked. Lizzy smiled enigmatically and refused to explain herself. She finished her coffee and went in search of the keys to William's car for the short drive to Fitzwilliam House.

Pennsylvania. The word reverberated in Richard's head as he sorted through and opened some of the week's worth of mail that had piled up in his absence. After a while, he was able to console himself with the knowledge that whatever the separation that must inevitably occur, it would only be temporary. Olivia had agreed to marry him; it was just a matter of when the nuptials would occur that remained to be determined. Richard sighed and continued reading his mail. The phone rang and he spoke briefly with a client he had put a call in to earlier. When he was done, Richard remembered Olivia's request and turned to his computer screen. A search of the Darcy Corporation directory revealed Ed Ferrar's number in the DARCO division of the conglomerate. Richard dialed the number and waited.

"Ed Ferrars."

"Good morning, Ed. This is Richard Fitzwilliam."

"Hi, Richard, what can I do you?"

"I'm calling on behalf of Olivia Crenshaw. She said that you have some material you needed to get to her. I'll be seeing her later today and she asked if I'd pick it up from you."

"Great! I was hoping to hear from her today. I just wanted her to have the latest spec manual on the Companion. The one I gave her last week was just revised." Richard looked at his watch.

"I've got a few things yet to do down here. Why don't I stop by your office sometime before noon?"

"Let's see...I have an 11:30...why don't I leave it at the receptionist's desk and that way it'll be available to you whenever you come by?" Ed suggested. After a few minutes of small talk, Richard hung up the phone and went to speak with his assistant. Ed, meanwhile, put the manual, along with a memorandum and a few other papers, into a large envelope and wrote "Olivia Crenshaw" in large letters on its front. He took the package out to the front desk, where he smiled apologetically to the receptionist and the woman she was engaged in conversation with.

"Lydia, Mr. Fitzwilliam will be here sometime this morning to pick this up. If you go to lunch before he comes, let your relief person know to expect him," Ed said. He nodded to the women and returned to his office. Lydia looked down at the envelope with disdain.

"Speak of the devil! She has certainly moved to the top of the food chain very quickly," she said.

"Oh?" Lily Church replied innocently. Lydia was only too happy to elaborate.

"Oh, yes! A few months ago, all the buzz was about the Companion launch, and plans were in the works for the Traveler's Companion and the Investor's Companion. I even interviewed for a position on the Investor's Companion team. Thought I'd get a raise and an office and away from this desk... Anyway, all of a sudden the Companion launch gets pushed back indefinitely and no one knows why. Next thing you know, the Investor's Companion is totally scrapped--along with my job, of course--and suddenly everyone is talking about the Cook's Companion and Mr. Darcy himself comes down to our floor to pick out an office for this new person who he personally hired out of the blue. He even had furniture sent down from the 40th floor, as if our stuff isn't good enough for his Ms. Crenshaw. And the day she shows up both Matt and Richard Fitzwilliam were up here falling all over themselves to get to her." Lily pumped her for more details. Lydia clearly had no great love for Olivia, but there was nothing else she could tell and lacked the guile to make up a story to satisfy her inquisitor.

"She doesn't even come in! I mean she's not officially on payroll until after the new year, but even then, she won't be required to come in. Wish I had a job where I didn't have to work," Lydia said derisively.

"Maybe she was just given the job to put her on the payroll," Lily suggested.

"You think so? Why would anyone do that?" Lydia asked ingenuously.

"Why would a man like Mr. Darcy put a beautiful woman, who no one has ever heard of, in charge of a project no one's ever heard of--and for a big salary, I take it?" Lydia nodded. "Use your imagination," Lily said airily as she headed for the elevator.

"Come in Lizzy! Come in, Olivia!" Kathleen said as she hugged each of her guests in turn. "Richard told me to expect you. May I offer you some coffee or tea?"

"Oh, no," Olivia smiled as she handed her jacket to Pierce. "We just had breakfast." Olivia took hold of Kathleen's hand. "Did Richard give you my message?" she asked softly. Kathleen nodded.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry. I should have thought--. You will come and spend some time with us next time you come north?" Olivia nodded and agreed to visit with the Fitzwilliams some time in the near future. After a few minutes of chatting, Kathleen excused herself to allow the women to get to their work. "Go on up to Richard's room. You know where it is, Livy," she smiled, and headed off to an appointment.

"What was all that about?" Lizzy asked out of curiosity.

"Kathleen and Hugh invited me to spend the rest of the holidays with them. I felt a little uncomfortable with the idea, though," Olivia explained.

"Why? I'm sure that Richard--."

"Oh, it had nothing to do with Richard, or his folks. But his--."

"Hello!"

"Hi!" Caitlin and Corrine stood at the top of the stairs, embodying the discomfort that Olivia was about to disclose.

"What are you two up to? Ricky isn't here." Corrine declared bluntly.

"I know Ricky isn't here," Olivia replied.

"Who's Ricky?" Lizzy asked.

"You ought to know," Caitlin retorted.

"You made the mistake of dating him," Corrine continued. "Sorry, Olivia, but he is a sad excuse for a human being." Olivia just shook her head and smiled as she walked past them toward Richard's room.

"Oh, he's not so bad. I've gone out with worse."

"Far worse; trust me," Lizzy added helpfully. Olivia glanced at her pointedly. The twins followed the pair down the hall as Olivia explained the purpose of her and Lizzy's visit. Olivia reached for the knob and opened the door to Richard's room. She was stunned, as were the twins: Richard's room was immaculate. All traces of dirty laundry had disappeared. The closet was orderly, and the magazines that had all but covered his desk were stacked in neat piles on the floor by the chair. Olivia and the twins exchanged an impressed glance. Lizzy, the only stranger to the room, looked around while Olivia coped with the impertinent questions of the twins.

"So, Olivia, where did you two spend the other night?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes, we thought you two went to one of the guesthouses..."

"...But we couldn't find you there."

"Did you go back to William's?" Corrine finished. Olivia had learned to wait until both twins came to a complete halt before responding.

"Now, girls, do you really expect me to tell you?" Olivia replied with a saccharine smile.

"You know, I can see why Ricky fell for you," Caitlin smirked.

"Yes, you're just as mean as he is..."

"...Only prettier."

"Why thank you!" Olivia smiled.

"You are a little skinny for Ricky, though," Corrine said. Olivia frowned.

"Yes, he's usually more attracted to women with Lizzy's...oh!" Caitlin glanced at her sister, who saw the small gaffe as a signal to leave. Olivia laughed good-naturedly as they left. Lizzy was carefully examining the dozen or so photographs on the walls and bookshelves around the room. Olivia sat down on the bed and watched her for a moment.

"Find anything interesting?" she asked after a while.

"Uh huh!" Lizzy replied emphatically. "Didn't you look at these when--oh, never mind," Lizzy quickly retracted the question. But Olivia shook her head.

"I was only ever in here for about ten minutes, Lizzy. And for half that time, the twins were with us." Lizzy gazed at her doubtfully. "We didn't sleep together here, all right?" Lizzy nodded and turned back to her perusal of the pictures.

"Well, there are some great pictures of Richard here. He was an adorable child!"

"I know," Olivia smiled.

"And he wasn't bad as a teenager, either, although I believe he perfected his looks as an adult...but I don't think I have to convince you of that," Lizzy laughed. "Oh baby!" she cried suddenly. "Livy, look!" Olivia scrambled across the bed and went to Lizzy's side. Lizzy was holding a photograph of William, only he looked very unlike the William Darcy Lizzy thought she knew. He was dressed only in a pair of cutoff jeans and he was perched in a tree. One arm was draped over his raised knee, and his other hand was embedded in hair that fell almost to his shoulders. He was unshaven, as though he'd spent a few days in that tree. William--Lizzy's urbane, sophisticated William--looked somewhat feral: sensual and dangerous.

"It seems as though William was quite the lad as well! I wish I'd met him during his college days," Lizzy sighed. Olivia peered closely at the photograph.

"This isn't from his college days. In fact, I doubt that this picture is even five years old," she concluded.

"No way! Look at him! He had to be twenty-one, twenty-two tops in that photo. Can you imagine William looking like that as the head of Darcy Corporation? No way!" Lizzy said, as she took the photo over to Richard's desk. She propped it in a place where she had a good view of it and tapped the keyboard. The screen came to life and Lizzy laughed at the flashing welcome message Richard had left for her. She cleared the screen and began to get comfortable in her seat as Olivia leaned over her to examine the photograph once more. In the background she could just make out the playhouse.

"No, I'm certain of it. This is a relatively recent photograph. See that building in the background? It's the playhouse Richard took me to, and it wasn't moved to that spot and renovated until about five years ago. And you see that small dock? It's less than three years old." Lizzy looked at her friend with interest.

"So that's the playhouse." A wicked smile played along her lips. "And did you play there?" Olivia rolled her eyes and walked over to the armchair and sat down. "I'll take that 'grinning like an idiot' smile as a yes. Was it romantic? Oh, really! And Richard...oh, my!" Lizzy teasingly continued a to hold a conversation with herself, knowing that Olivia would give no verbal answers--not that any were necessary when Olivia's face told Lizzy even more than she wanted to know.

William peered over his glasses at the ball of tweed yarn in his hand and smiled. He was happy with his choice of color as he turned his attention to the pattern in his other hand. He read the first paragraph over twice, moving his lips but making no sound as he did so. William caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and looked up as Jane passed by the door of the den. He called out her name and she appeared before him a moment later.

"I thought you went with Lizzy and Olivia to Aunt Kathy's," William frowned. Jane sighed and took a seat beside him on the couch.

"I was planning to," she said as she absently picked up the ball of yarn and examined it. "But they really had no use for me and I thought I might go to the mall instead. But I just heard the weather report. Last night's snowfall left the roads covered in ice and slush and I'm not so sure that an opportunity to stock up on discounted underwear is worth risking my life for."

"I assure you, it's not," William grinned. "By all means, stay here."

"What are you doing?" Jane asked, giving in to her curiosity as William began to cast on stitches.

"I'm starting a knitting project Lizzy and I decided to take on together," William said pleasantly. Jane smiled.

"You're full of surprises, Will. I had no idea that you knitted."

"You never asked."

"If this is supposed to be a project you're doing together, shouldn't you wait until Lizzy's here before you start?" William shook his head as he silently counted stitches. "I doubt that she'd agree with you on that," Jane smiled after a moment. William shrugged and began to work the ribbing. Jane watched him work for a minute then looked through the pattern book.

"Do you knit, Jane?"

"Not really. Mrs. Crenshaw tried to teach me as a young girl, but to be honest she didn't get very far."

"So she's the one who taught Lizzy to knit?" William asked, turning his work.

"No, I think she gave up on both of us. Livy taught Lizzy to knit--three times, I think!" William chuckled and they fell into a companionable silence for a few minutes. Jane picked up a magazine and began to read. She put it down again when William spoke.

"So where is your better half this morning?"

"In bed. I think he was so relieved after mailing that check off to Caroline that all the tension he'd been carrying around for the past week or so completely drained out of him. I thought he deserved a good sleep," Jane explained. William nodded.

"So have you two made any progress with the wedding plans?" he asked, making conversation.

"Well, we've found a caterer," Jane quipped. "And we were thinking about late summer or early fall for the ceremony."

"You can get married here, if you like. We can raise a tent and accommodate a couple of hundred for a sit down dinner," William offered. "There's also a party space on the Fitzwilliam property you can use."

"That's very kind of you," Jane responded, her eyes growing wide. "But we plan on an intimate ceremony with less than a hundred people, if we get our way.'

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Jane sighed. "Ever since we began talking about the wedding, Caroline has been making 'suggestions' for the guest list." William shook his head.

"Good luck."

"Hey, it's my wedding--I mean our wedding," Jane quickly amended, "But you know Charles. He isn't confrontational and doesn't like to upset his sister, so I have had to sit and listen to her dictate her 'ideas.' She makes me so crazy that I'm half-ready to abandon a few of the things I want to do simply because she liked them." William laughed.

"Charles may not be so patient with Caroline in the future. I think he reached the breaking point on Sunday and his actions yesterday could definitely be read as his declaration of independence."

"I doubt that Caroline will see it that way. And I have to admit, Will, I'm afraid that she might make things worse for him if she does," Jane revealed.

"Well, if he continues to let his baby sister lead him around by the nose now that he's gotten out from under her thumb he deserves whatever he gets," William declared with exasperation. Jane observed him with a wry smile.

"And you've never been lead around by the nose by your own baby sister?" Jane challenged.

"Gee has never tried to run my life," William retorted.

"How much do you think I would have to offer her?" Caroline asked her financial advisor.

"Ms. Bingley, I don't know this Ms. Bennet. You can make an offer for what the shares of the company are actually worth--the figure I gave you earlier, but Ms. Bennet would be well-advised to seek as much of a profit she could get on such an offer."

"Advised by whom?" Caroline asked suspiciously. Mr. Bergman sighed patiently. He was growing weary of the somewhat obtuse questions posed by the heavily perfumed woman before him. He could see right through her--she wasn't so much interested owning Cherry Blossom as she was in forcing out her perceived enemies. If that was all she wanted, all she need do is appear on this Ms. Bennet's doorstep with a truckload of cash. All the pretense of making a sound financial investment was unnecessary.

"I assume that Ms. Bennet has a financial advisor, or possibly an attorney that she'd want to consult before she made any decision about selling her share in the business, Ms. Bingley."

"And what would this advisor or attorney tell her?" Caroline persisted. She knew she'd probably only have one shot at Lizzy. She wanted to make sure that it worked the first time.

"Just as I said, Ms. Bingley. Her advisors would counsel her to sell to the highest bidder," Mr. Bergman said with thinly veiled impatience.

"Highest bidder? You mean someone else wants to buy her out?" Mr. Bergman rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say that--."

"Well what are you saying?" Caroline snapped. Mr. Bergman had had enough. He threw down his glasses and paused for a moment to try and control his anger.

"I'm only saying that if you make Ms. Bennet an offer for her shares in Cherry Blossom, she may very well choose to entertain other offers for her shares in the company."

"Who else would even want them?" Caroline scoffed.

"There is a third partner, in Cherry Blossom..." Caroline snorted derisively at the suggestion. "Or there may be other potential investors among her acquaintance..." Caroline suddenly went pale.

"She wouldn't dare! Oh!" Caroline grabbed her purse and grabbed up her fur coat as she made a mad dash to the door. "Thank you, Mr. Bergman, you've been most helpful," she called over her shoulder as she ran out into the street and hailed a cab.

"Oh, my!" Olivia burst into laughter. "Lizzy, whatever possessed you!"

"To all outward appearances, Caroline and I have always seemed to get along okay, but the truth is that she has been a pimple on the butt of my existence since the day we met. I would have told her where to stick it, but she is the sister of my business associate and dear friend and now she's Jane's future sister in law--poor Jane. Anyway, when Charles and I were drawing up plans to incorporate Cherry Blossom, she insisted on playing a role since she was the 'backer' of the business," Lizzy explained. "She nitpicked everything...you remember how crazy she made me. We spoke about it at the time. But I could never say anything to her or speak to her about her attitude out loud for fear of wrecking the whole deal so I decided to create my own Caroline and tell her exactly what I thought of her. My little Caroline surrogate became my escape valve. I'd come home, bring her up on my screen and vent my spleen every night. When that no longer did the trick, I brought her to the office and spoke with her between meetings. I even began to add embellishments. I created my own private world in which I got to kick the crap out of Caroline whenever I felt like it."

"So I see! I particularly like the "Kick the Caroline" page. Very Monty Python, the way her limbs fall apart like that when she's hit," Olivia giggled.

"But that's not the best part!" Lizzy laughingly revealed. "One day, Charles and I were in a meeting and Caroline showed up unexpectedly and went into this tantrum about not being consulted on something so insignificant and mundane that even Charles began to lose his temper. He got an important phone call and left the two of us alone. Caroline started in on me and I silenced her by showing her this page." Olivia's mouth fell open.

"She saw this?" Lizzy shook her head.

"She saw an earlier incarnation of this. It's been improved a bit over the last two years or so," Lizzy replied archly. "Anyway, I showed her the page, and I asked...as her eyes bulged with rage...if she knew anything about uploading a site to the Net. She said no, so I offered to show her." Lizzy smiled maliciously. Olivia staggered backward and collapsed on Richard's bed laughing.

"You didn't!"

"I did!"

"What did she say?"

"I believe that she was beyond speech at that moment, so I told her I'd hold off on the demonstration till a more suitable time. She immediately got my drift and sat through the rest of the meeting in virtual silence."

"I don't believe it!" Olivia cried. "And you've been fine-tuning your little masterpiece since then?" She managed to get to her feet and go back to the computer. She knelt at Lizzy's side for the tour.

"Welcome to Caroline's Cottage of Doom," Lizzy said in a dramatic voice. The screen showed a lurid hot pink, lime and orange cottage. The door opened and animated Caroline emerged. The figure looked like something constructed of various body parts clipped from a magazine. Only Caroline's face was recognizable as her own. The figure came forward and forward and forward until it collided with the screen, smashing its face into the glass. It backed up, leaving a red lipstick smear behind, and began to speak. The figure took the visitor on a tour of the cottage. Room 1: Kick the Caroline room. Room 2: Give Caroline a Makeover room, complete with spare body parts hanging on meat hooks. Room 3: Give Caroline a Bath Room, where the visitor can lace Caroline's bath water with lye, battery acid, crude oil, or a "mystery fluid" and watch the results as she steps in. A Gym was the fourth room, where visitors get to abuse a giant head of Caroline, which was constructed out of several photographs of her.

"When I created the site I only had the Gym, but as you can see, it's much improved," Lizzy said proudly. Olivia looked into Lizzy's eyes.

"And what exactly are you planning to do with your little masterpiece?"

Continued In Next Section