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Chapter 14

In what seemed like very little time, the Fall term drew to a close and Christmas exams became the topic of discussion at most of the tables in Leonard Cafeteria. Having survived midterms, most students took the news of Christmas exams in stride and spent the week before Christmas study week, devising ways of releasing some end-of-term tension before bearing down and studying for their exams.

On the last day of the Fall term, pandemonium broke out on McNeill 4 as the girls unanimously agreed to do absolutely no work that day. At first, Ann came and told them in a very firm voice to celebrate quietly, followed closely afterwards by Anne who told them to be more considerate. However, they both relented when Lizzy pointed out to them that the whole floor was being loud and no one was working. After being thus reassured by the girls, Anne left for work, leaving Ann and Tim, the floor senior from the brother to fend off the girls by themselves.

It had snowed the previous day and the children at Queen's day care were playing outside on the fenced-in lawn when Anne arrived for her shift. After helping them build a snowman, some of the children insisted that Anne watched them make snow angels on some unmarred patches of snow. She was watching one particularly rambunctious little girl flail her arms wildly in the snow, when she heard someone call for her from outside the day care's small lawn. It was Harville.

"What are you doing here?" Anne asked, picking her way through the sea of children and angels. She stopped when she spotted Frederick with him

"Frederick and I were just going back to my place," said Harville.

Anne's eyes darted towards Frederick who was looking at the rambunctious little girl with what appeared to be forced interest.

"We're planning on going to a movie tonight," Harville continued. "You interested?"

"Of course! I haven't been off campus to do something fun in ages." Anne then realized the presence of the children around her and frowned with concern, "But when is the movie? I don't get off work until seven."

"The movie starts at seven-thirty," said Harville. "Can't you get off work early?"

Anne shook her head, "No, one of my co-workers is home with the flu today so I really need to stay until the end."

"I can give her a lift," said Frederick gruffly, taking both Harville and Anne by surprise.

"Are you sure?" asked Anne, but her voice was drowned out by Harville who said, "That would be perfect!"

Frederick nodded curtly, and said to Harville, "I need to come down to campus to see one of my undergraduate students anyway. I'll just pick up her and meet you all at the theatre."

"Thank goodness you have a car!" rejoiced Harville. He turned to Anne. "So, Frederick will come by and pick you up after work. We'll save you two seats if you're late."

"Thanks," said Anne. "I hope it won't be too much of a bother for you."

"It's not," Frederick grunted; he still hadn't looked at her. "Come on Harville, I think it's time we leave so she can get back to work." He turned and walked away, leaving Harville to say a hurried goodbye to Anne before chasing after Frederick.

Frederick's ambivalent treatment clouded Anne's mind as she returned to her duties. She desperately wanted a moment of peace to sit down and mull over the details of the meeting, but upon spotting a curious little boy on the brink of eating some peculiarly coloured snow, all miscellaneous thoughts were cleared from her mind. She herded the children back into the building where they were set down in front of the television with warm cups of milk. With the children settled, Anne retreated into a quiet corner in hopes of having an opportunity to meditate on the recent meeting. Scarcely had she begun to recollect her thoughts when a small sticky hand demanded to be taken to the bathroom. After the child had been tended to, a small squabble broke out amongst a group of youngsters over some crayons. Anne resolved the small dispute by bringing out the art box and starting the art hour. She was then obliged to walk around the room admiring the children's work. The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar fashion. Thus, by the time seven o'clock arrived, Anne felt more relief than anxiety, at getting off work.

Calling a goodbye to her co-workers, Anne pulled on her coat and walked outside to the porch where her boots lay. She could see Frederick sitting in his car waiting. He was looking straight ahead as if he was here to pick up an inanimate parcel instead of a person. Feeling too tired to be wounded by such a display of indifference Anne knelt down to pull on her boots.

A pair of small arms wrapped itself around Anne's neck just as she had finished lacing her first boot. Anne turned to see which little child had snuck out of the nursery-- it was Walker, a hyper little boy with a deceptively cherubic face.

"What are you doing out here in the cold Walker?" asked Anne as she tried to pry the boy's arms from her. "Don't you want to go inside where it's nice and warm?"

Walker shook his head and tightened his arm around Anne.

"You should get inside before you get into trouble," warned Anne.

Still Walker held on, bouncing up and down on Anne's back shouting, "Pigga-back! Pigga-back!"

Being quite stout for a child of two years of age, and the impact of Walker's weight on Anne's back was not an entertaining matter. She was forced to stick her hands out in front of her to save herself from falling down the porch stairs.

"Stop it Walker!" cried Anne, who was now on her hands and knees with the boy clamouring onto her back. "Get off right now, or I'm going to get angry."

But not a bit did Walker stir.

Suddenly, Anne heard footsteps hurrying up the porch stairs and striding across to where she knelt; in another moment, the child's weight was lifted from her back. For a split second, Anne thought the boy's parents had come for him, but that was put to rest when she raised her head and saw Frederick tossing the boy up into the air, much to Walker's delight. She rose and attempted to utter a phrase of thanks, but before she could even begin, Frederick opened the door to the daycare and took Walker back inside.

Anne felt her cheeks burn as she bent back down to tie up her other lace. This was the second time today he had needed to help her out of a predicament. How weak he must think her, to be unable to deal with a toddler!

Anne stood up and brushed the snow off her knees. By the time she had pulled on her mittens, she was quite resolved to thank Frederick for his help today. Anne thought she no longer cared what his feelings were towards her, or even what she felt towards him. She believed it was on principle that she wanted to make her gratitude known. Being misunderstood was something that Anne was accustomed to, but not letting a person know how much she appreciated them was something Anne felt she could not do.

The screen door to the daycare swung open and Frederick came back out. Upon seeing him again, Anne's throat went dry and she could only stare down at her mittens.

"You all right?" he asked. Perhaps Anne imagined it, but his voice seemed less gruff this time.

"Yes," answered Anne in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.

The two of them stood awkwardly on the porch not knowing what to say, or how to act around each other. Plucking up her courage, Anne opened her mouth to start to thank Frederick, but he didn't want to give her the chance. Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, Frederick walked down the porch steps and back to his car, where he stood waiting for Anne to follow.

Letting out a small sigh, Anne trudged through the snow and got into Frederick's car. She would have to wait until another day, when Frederick was not so mad at her, to make her gratitude known.

Chapter 14 (ii)

Ann Taylor was having a more enjoyable evening than Anne Elliot, back on McNeill 4: the girls had finally disbanded and formed smaller, more intimate groups. Earlier that evening, some of the boys from Leonard Hall had joined the girls, making the noise level on the floor the loudest it had been all year. They finally quieted down when Ann threatened to fine them for disruption of peace on the floor. Presently, Lizzy was sprawled out on Elinor's bed chatting with Elinor, Marianne, and John; Emma, Harriet, and Robert were having a very interesting conversation with George Knightley, who was in Toronto and had to shout into his phone in order to be heard by everyone in Emma's room; Jane, Chuck, Caroline, and Will were cooped up in Jane and Caroline's room talking about goodness knows what.

At nine o'clock, Lizzy left Elinor and Marianne's room to call her parents. Halfway down the hall to her room, Lizzy saw someone come up the stairs and stop to knock on Caroline and Jane's door. The person looked oddly familiar. It didn't take long for Lizzy to recognize that person as Richard Fitzwilliam, Will's cousin, whom she met during Thanksgiving weekend. Acting against her better judgement, Lizzy slipped into a bathroom to find out what business he had with Jane or Caroline.

The door open, but where she expected Jane or Caroline to appear she saw Will instead.

"What are you doing here Richard?" asked Will, who stepped out and shut the door behind him. "Is Georgiana alright?"

"She's fine. I checked on her just last weekend. I think she's hit the shopping phase. She's been asking for more money every week."

"How much extra pocket money does a little girl in a private school need?"

Richard shrugged. "I think it's just a phase. My sisters went through it too. But what bothers me is that Georgie has nothing to show for all the money I keep giving her. She might be using it to watch movies or plays, but two hundred dollars in movies per week on top of the hundred dollars we're already giving her seems a bit much."

Will looked contemplative. Finally, he said, "I'll call her up this weekend and ask her about it. Anything else?"

Richard reached into his briefcase and pulled out a magazine. "We're part of the cover story. We tried to talk them out of it, but you've got to let them write about it sometime. It's been over a year!"

"So what?" demanded Will sounding a bit annoyed. "It hardly seems newsworthy if it's been over a year."

"Look, the articles are more on the current events of the company and it's operations than on you and your family. Be grateful they didn't write about you personally. Besides, it's good for investors to know about the new changes. The picture isn't too bad, you know. You blend right in with the other people on the cover."

Will sighed took the magazine from Richard. "So, there's nothing on me personally?"

Richard looked uncomfortable. "Well, there's a picture of you on the cover, so they have to mention a little bit about you, but don't worry, it's just a passing note that's all. Nothing really personal."

Will looked at the cover and winced. "I'm on the cover with a whole bunch of old men! Yeah, I'm that noticeable at all."

"It's better than being on it all by yourself." Richard pointed out.

"True," sighed Will. "When's this hitting the newsstands?"

"It's already in some selective bookstores. It'll be everywhere by Monday."

"Then I guess there's no point in me reading it to correct them, is there?"

"That's the spirit."

"So, is this why you can down to Kingston?"

"Yeah," said Richard. "I wanted to make sure you were prepared. You know just in case some people around here notice it and ask you questions about it."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Richard turned as if he was going to leave, then he turned back. "Wait! There's another thing I need to ask you.

"What?"

"What are you doing in an all girls residence on a Friday?"

"Get away from me."

Richard laughed, "I'll see you later Will."

Will nodded, and opened the door to Jane and Caroline's room and went back in.

Lizzy waited until the door was closed before coming out of the bathroom. She always knew Will was hiding something, and tonight, she had finally been given a means to find out what he was trying to hide.

The next day, under the pretence of needing groceries, Lizzy set off for the big bookstore on Princess Street to find the magazine that Will and Richard had been talking about yesterday. She was just on her way across campus when, passing the music building, she was arrested by the music coming from within. She immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Marianne. She was singing a song that Lizzy had only heard once before, when Marianne was just starting to write it. She seemed to have gotten further in her song writing, because at the place where Lizzy was expecting Marianne to stop, a whole new theme had been written in its place. It was a beautiful theme and, like most of Marianne's songs, carried an air of longing passion.

Following the sound of Marianne's music, Lizzy rounded the corner of the music building and found herself in the presence of an oddly familiar looking man. He was staring up at the window Marianne's voice was coming from with an enraptured expression; he didn't seemed to have noticed Lizzy's arrival at all.

"Hello," Lizzy said to the man.

The man turned slowly as if he had been disoriented momentarily, and when he finally spotted Lizzy standing right in front of him, he startled and said hurriedly, "Sorry, I didn't notice you there. I hope I'm not in your way."

Lizzy smiled, "No, I just thought I recognized you from somewhere."

The man blinked, and regular consciousness returned to him. He studied Lizzy for a while then said, "At the music concert in Grant Hall just a few weeks ago in November. You were one of Marianne's friends."

"Yes," exclaimed Lizzy, "That's right! You're Christopher Brandon right?"

Christopher nodded then said, "Sorry, I don't remember your name."

"It's Elizabeth, but most of my friends call me Lizzy." After a short pause, Lizzy said, "So, what brings you to stand underneath this window?"

Christopher looked sheepish, "I was just walking by this building when I heard Marianne singing, and stopped to listen."

"She's good isn't she?"

"I've never heard anyone this good before," admitted Christopher. "Is this her first year at Queen's?"

Lizzy nodded, "We all live on McNeill 4 together."

Christopher sighed, "She doesn't perform like she's only in her first year."

"Her sister told me that she's been playing in concerts since she was fairly young. I guess she got over her stage fright with practice."

"No. There's something about her playing that is more than just comfort on stage. I just can't put my finger on it."

"You seemed to know a lot about music," said Lizzy, impressed, "Not many lay people can truly appreciate the depth of Marianne's playing. Are you a music student here too?"

"I did play piano when I was younger, but I never really made it my career. I'm here doing my residency in KGH."

"Oh are you a doctor?" asked Lizzy, even more impressed. "I think I ought to introduce you to Emma. She was also at the concert that night, if you remember her."

"No, I don't believe I remember her. Why would you want us introduced?"

Lizzy grinned playfully, "Emma's an aspiring doctor, so she's trying to meet as many medical students and doctors as possible to get the inside edge."

Christopher laughed, "Ah, yes. I remember doing that myself when I was doing my undergraduate studies. You ought to tell Emma not to worry. She's only in her first year."

"We've all tried," said Lizzy wearily. "Anyways, you shouldn't just stand out here listening to Marianne play. Go inside and knock on her door. She loves showing off her music to other people."

Christopher looked uncomfortable, "No, I really shouldn't. She wouldn't remember me anyway."

"True, but I still say you should go in and let her know how much you like her. Girls generally like that."

"What did you say?" asked Christopher, turning slightly pink at Lizzy's statement.

"You heard me," said Lizzy with a secretive smile. Then after a quick, "See you!" She hurried away leaving Christopher standing bewildered underneath Marianne's window.

Chapter 14(iii)

As it was a frosty Saturday morning, the big bookstore on Princess Street was swarming with people. Like a woman on a mission, Lizzy made a beeline to the magazine section as soon as she entered the bookstore, and began combing through the display. She didn't know what the magazine was called for Will and Richard never mentioned the title, and she had been unable see it from the place she was eavesdropping. She deduced that the magazine must be in the business section, which narrowed her search significantly. Starting with the bottom shelf, Lizzy methodically scanned every magazine cover for Will's face. Finally at the top shelf, she found him. Will looked so different on the cover that Lizzy almost put the magazine away before her mind clicked and she retracted her hand to bring the magazine back. Upon second examination, Lizzy wondered how she could have missed spotting him the first time.

There was a collage of pictures on the front cover, and true to Will's observation yesterday, he was the only person of his age category there. However, even though Will did look physically younger than the rest, the exacting look in his eyes was comparable to those of the oldest magnate.

Flipping hastily through the magazine, Lizzy came to the article that was featured on the cover. She skimmed the article, not really caring what it was about. Her eyes roved through pages and pages of business jargon and uninteresting facts on the other business tycoons, scanning for Will's name. The article ran for five pages, and on the very last page, buried in the second paragraph, was the name Fitzwilliam Darcy. Her memory stirred and Lizzy backtracked to the first paragraph. The name sounded oddly familiar, as if she had heard or seen it before; where exactly, she was unable to pinpoint.

Lizzy made herself comfortable on the floor and began to read. The passage concerning Will went as such:

Perhaps the paragon of international recognition and prosperity by a family company is Imperial Trade and Industrial Corporation (ITIC) based in Canada. Established in Ontario in 1841 by F.W. Darcy, a wealthy landowner from Great Britain, ITIC has developed from its humble beginnings as a raw materials trading firm, to one of the major manufactures and distributors of steel and construction raw materials in the world. With property holdings and various subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, Germany, Singapore and Japan, ITIC is poised to become one of the biggest transnational companies the world has seen from Canada since Nortel Networks, Nova Corp and Bombardier. However, with such potential, many analysts are wondering why ITIC has not announced further expansions and plans to go public with its holdings.

Recent interviews with the Chief Executive Officer of ITIC, Lewis Bingley, and its young owner and chairman of the board, Fitzwilliam Darcy, are reflective of the developing rift on the board due to this issue. Although Bingley denied any intentions of the board in taking the company public, its owner attests to the opposite. "The demands for our products and services have been growing exponentially throughout the last five years, and further growth has been projected for the near future. With such demands on [ITIC] it is seemingly impossible for us to accommodate these growing needs without going public. In order to maintain our competitive edge in the global market, it is not a choice for us to go public, but a necessity." These decisive and confident words came from the twenty-year old owner and chairman, just six months ago, exactly one year after the death of his father, right before he went off to school.

Uncertainty and instability has been the constant companion of ITIC ever since the death of the previous owner and CEO, George Darcy, and the transfer of ownership from father to son. Since then, Thomas Willoughby, the Chief Financial Officer of ITIC, the man who was to be ITIC's new CEO, has been charged and prosecuted with corporate crime. Former Chief Operations Officer, Lewis Bingley, was instated by the board of directors as the company's new CEO in his stead.

With such a young person at the helm of a mammoth corporation on shaky ground, many would surmise that if ITIC were to release some shares to the public, the demand for them would be less than tepid; the converse is actually true. Investors are looking beyond the uncertainty of ITIC and more into the potential of the company. In the annual company prospectus published six month ago, ITIC generated annual revenues of $10 billion dollars in the Canadian steel department alone, the company is estimating a twenty percent gain in this department for the next fiscal year. Investing companies such as Merrill Lynch & Co., and mutual funds companies that emphasize safe yet profitable investments, such as Janus Capital Corp., are now standing at ready, to jump on the ITIC bandwagon at the first available opportunity. Whether they will be given the chance still remains to be seen.

Lizzy looked up, and she took in, what seemed like, her first breath since she began reading the article.

"You'd think, judging by what they wrote, that he got it all morally."

Lizzy felt as if she had received as jolt, and spun around to see who had been spying on her. It was John Willoughby.

"John!" Lizzy exclaimed. "What were you doing reading over my shoulder?"

John smiled amicably, though Lizzy thought the smile looked rather strained, and said smoothly, "It's not illegal to read over someone's shoulder, is it?"

"I suppose not," Lizzy replied.

John took a seat next to her on the floor, "So, how come you're reading this article?"

"Oh, I just came across it when I was looking at the magazines," Lizzy quickly lied.

"Interesting that you should be reading business magazines when you are a chemistry student. Since when did you become actively interested in the Canada's Top Ten Private Corporation Owners?"

"And it is also interesting that you've been lurking behind me, reading the article when you could very well have gotten yourself another copy of this magazine to read. Since when did you become so well acquainted with Canada's Top Ten Private Corporation Owners that you could state with such confidence that they are the equivalents of robber barons?"

"Robber barons?"

"I know a few business terms even though I may not be a business student."

"Is there anything you don't know?"

"I don't know why, just a few moment ago, you could tell me these people didn't get their fortunes morally."

"Not these people in general, just the people in the last company mentioned in the article."

"Alright, so why did you say that Will's company didn't get his fortune legally?"

John scoffed, "Will's company. What a load of--"

"Look, are you going to tell me, or are you going to continue beating around the bush? I have a lot of work to do this weekend, so if you aren't going to speed things up I'm going to head back to campus."

"You never miss a beat, you know that?"

"I know. Are you going to tell me now?"

John took the magazine from her, and flipped it to a certain page then handed it back to Lizzy, "See this name?"

"Thomas Willoughby," Lizzy read aloud, and she understood before John even needed to explain, "One of you relatives?"

"My dad actually."

Lizzy gasped, "Your father was charged with corporate crime?"

"By Will too. Know why?"

"Why?"

"He didn't want my dad running his company."

"He didn't!"

"Yes, he did. He wanted Chuck's dad in the head position, because Lewis is a pushover, and Will knew it and wanted to take advantage of it. He knew that if Lewis became CEO, he could be the puppeteer of the Lewis Bingley puppet. My dad had big plans for ITIC, but Will wanted things to stay the same. He and my dad got into an argument one day about the direction of the company, and in the end, Will decided to get rid of my dad once and for all. He accused my dad of embezzlement, and had him convicted to ten years in jail."

"But your father was innocent! Shouldn't he be able to prove his innocence?"

"No one can prove their innocence when they're up against a panel of high priced lawyers, and that's to say nothing of the judge either."

"He didn't bribe the judge did he? That's illegal!"

"I'm not saying he did, but I think the judge was given some unofficial counsel as to what to do with my dad. In the end, I guess you can say that he showed us some mercy, because he allowed my mom and I to keep our house and enough money for me to go to school. We're still having problems getting ends to meet, but that's all right. I just found a job here working for an auto-mechanic, and I send my mom all the money I make each month."

Lizzy leapt to her feet, and John followed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong?" repeated Lizzy. "Just listening to how Will treated your family makes me want to-- How can you talk about it so calmly? I'm mad enough for you and your mother!"

"There really isn't much point in getting mad at him, you know. It doesn't solve our problems."

"What about proving your father's innocence? It's not right to have an honest man accused and jailed for something he didn't do!"

"You don't know Will. He's really proud--"

"No, I knew that already."

"See? No matter how hard my mom and I try to prove my dad's innocence, Will and his team of lawyers will find some way to keep my dad jailed."

Lizzy thought for a moment, "Wait, why didn't Will just ask your father to resign?"

"Then you really don't know Will Darcy. He would never take the peaceful solution when he is given an opportunity to flaunt his power. He's been waiting for his dad to pop off so he could own a majority of the shares in the company. Currently, Will owns about 40% of the company, if you don't count his sister's 15%. But since he votes for his sister during the board meetings, you might as well say that he owns 55% of the company. You'll soon learn Lizzy, that rich people always win, and honest, hardworking, citizens, like you and me live at their mercy."

Lizzy looked out the window, hoping that Will Darcy would be walking by at that moment so she could rush outside and hit him hard across the face. John seemed to have sensed it for he said, "There's no point wishing him ill Lizzy. Things will always come full circle, and he'll get what he deserves in the end."

"Well, if you can be so calm about it..."

"I am calm about it, and I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Will that we had this little chat. He might come after me, and ruin my life some more. You don't know him like I do. Did you know that his dad was my godfather? We basically grew up like brothers."

"And yet he still did that to your family?"

"He did what was in his nature. I know that his father would not have approved, but Will was always given his own way." John checked his watch. "Look, I've got to run to an engineering meeting. Promise me that you won't tell Will about our little secret?"

Lizzy sighed, "Fine, I won't."

"Good girl."

Chapter 15

When the entire group assembled for dinner on Monday, Lizzy stayed true to her word and endeavoured to act with as little animosity toward Will possible. Even if she had displayed any sign of revulsion toward Will, it would have gone unnoticed anyway for Marianne was dominating the table with her enthusiastic chatter about a certain visitor who had knocked on her door while she was practicing on Saturday.

"He told me he had been listening outside, and finally decided to come in and see me in person," said Marianne her face aglow with pride.

"Looks like you've met your biggest fan," observed Emma. "Or you're first stalker."

"Ha, ha," responded Marianne. "Mock me all you want, but he has this genuine appreciation for music that I've only seen in a few people in my life."

"Well, you haven't lived for very long so I'm sure there are tons more like him out there," remarked Elinor sardonically.

"Can I please tell my story without the peanut section making snide remarks after every other sentence?" snapped Marianne.

"Sorry," muttered the crowd; Emma and Elinor weren't the only ones who had been offering Marianne little comments throughout her anecdote.

Marianne sat up a little straighter to look more dignified and continued, "Anyways, I didn't know his name at first, but I knew I recognized him. I invited him into the practice room and we chatted for a bit. It would have been rude if I didn't ask for his name after talking to him for so long, so I asked and he told me his name was Christopher Brandon. You guys remember that guy we met at the concert in November? That's Christopher! Apparently, he's doing his residency at Kingston General Hospital."

"A doctor?" exclaimed Emma. "Care to introduce me to him?"

"Funny you should say that Emma, because I told him about you and how you wanted to talk to some people who were studying medicine so they could give you some tips on getting into medical school. But then, he told me that he had met someone outside who told him the exact some thing! Did any of you guys meet Christopher outside the Music Building yesterday?"

Lizzy put up her hand. "That would be me. I needed some groceries, and passed by the music building when I was heading off campus."

Marianne seemed to be satisfied with Lizzy's answer and continued, "He asked me about the piece I had been playing and some of the other stuff I had been working on. Then I told him about the Christmas concert next Saturday and he practically promised to come!"

"Okay, he's definitely a fan, not a stalker," said Emma.

"I know!" Marianne clapped her hand in glee. "Someone besides my mom, and my friends who admires my work. I'm so excited. Anyways, I've invited him to join us for the Christmas gathering in Lizzy's room after the concert. You guys don't mind do you?"

Lizzy shook her head, "Nope. At least I don't. My room's not that big, but I'm sure we'll find room for an extra person."

Jane however, had one concern and she ventured it with the same timidity she used for all delicate matters. "Marianne, have you thought about how John would feel about you inviting Christopher to the party?"

John was not at the table today; Marianne had told the group when they were all assembled that he had to work. Out of curiosity Lizzy looked at Will for some reaction, but he sat as stoic as ever, stirring his coffee and poking at his custard.

"Good point," said Marianne. "I've never thought about that, but do you think John would mind? It's not as if I invited Christopher to the party for personal reasons. I just figured he would get along with everybody. I got the impression he didn't know many people in Kingston when I was talking to him in the practice room. I think it would be nice to add Christopher to our group. Maybe we could set him up with Emma."

"Since when did this innocent Christmas party invitation turn into a match-making ploy?" asked Emma.

"You're always saying how you want to date doctors," Harriet pointed out. "In fact, just a few moments ago you asked Marianne to introduce you to him. Here's your chance."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Remember what happened last time, when I tried to set you and Phil Elton up? Take my advice: Don't play matchmaker. It can blow up in your face like a bad chemistry experiment."

"Yes, but that's because you were the matchmaker," said Marianne loftily. "Just because you're incompetent doesn't mean the rest of us are."

Emma stuck out her tongue at Marianne, who then made a face in retaliation.

"If John's suspicion is going to be a problem, why doesn't someone else say they invited him?" suggested Lizzy. "I could do it, since it is my Christmas party. Or Emma, if we are going to set the two of them up."

"Girls," ventured Chuck, "As one of the few men at this table, I must say, if I got invited to a party, and then was told when I got there, that I had to say somebody else invited me, I'm going feel a tad uncomfortable."

Lizzy nodded, "That's right. I didn't think of that. Well, since you poked a hole this plan, what do you suggest?"

Chuck grinned good-naturedly, "Don't ask me. I'm just a guy. Scheming and dealing under the table are women's forte."

"Jane, hit him for me, will you?" Lizzy requested, but Jane only shook her head and gave Chuck a humouring smile. Lizzy often thought a rare combination of stars must have been aligned when Jane and Chuck got together. In the two months they had been going out, never once has anyone heard them quarrel. The two were just too perfect for each other.

"Why can't we just not tell Christopher anything?" asked Harriet.

"But then John's going to find out at some point when Christopher comes to talk to me," said Marianne. "Maybe we could tell Christopher not to mention who invited him when he's around John."

There was a moment of silence at the table and finally Will spoke, "Is it necessary we tip-toe around John?"

At this, Lizzy lost control of her temper for a moment and blurted out, before she could stop herself, "Just because you don't care about the well-being of John and his family, doesn't mean the rest of us are as cold-hearted as you!"

Will looked as if Lizzy had dealt him a physical blow. He took in a breath to say something, but sighed and shook his head instead. Without another word, he picked up his tray and left the table.

"What was that about?" asked Emma.

"Don't worry about Will," reassured Chuck. "He's been pretty distracted lately."

"Yeah, but Lizzy, why did you say that stuff about John and his family?" asked Emma.

Lizzy shook her head and lied, "I don't know. It just came out of my mouth. I don't know where it came from and why I said it."

"I hope this teaches you a lesson to think before you speak," berated Caroline from where she had been sitting at the end of the table.

"Could you, for once in your life--" Lizzy began irritably, but she never got to finish her sentence; Jane had subtly squeezed her arm and stopped her. "Never mind, I have an exam tomorrow. See you all later." She left before anyone could ask further questions.

As it turned out, Lizzy and Will needn't have argued on how to deal with having Christopher and John in the same room.

Dr. Christopher Brandon did not come. In fact, when the time proposed for the Christmas gathering after concert drew near, more and more people began to doubt whether or not they would be able to find time in their study schedules to attend both the Christmas concert and the social gathering in Lizzy's room. In the end, Lizzy felt it would be more practical to cancel the Christmas gathering altogether. She initially feared that Emma would be disappointed at the loss of an opportunity to be set up with the good doctor, but Emma was not at this time in a state of spirits to care about Dr. Christopher Brandon's not coming to the party. The acquaintance at present had no charm for her. She wanted rather, to be quiet, and buried in her books, much like the other girls on McNeill 4.

Although the girls were now experienced university exam takers, the Christmas exams were completely unique to any of the other exams they had written. It was a rite of passage, and the girls, like cattle to be branded, dutifully filed into designated arena sections, and gyms to write their final exams. They all emerged feeling either much wiser or more cynical, depending on their perceived performance. Emma found the nerve racking process, quite inspiring and told George Knightley that she would write a poem about it. However, he knew, better than she did, that it was just a passing frivolous fancy, and would soon pass. He was right.

It was now the evening the girls were to disband and return to their respective homes and provinces for a well-deserved Christmas Break. A thick blanket of snow had fallen the night before, and the girls, excluding Jane and Caroline, along with John Willoughby and Robert Martin were taking advantage of the fluffy unmarred snow by building a snowman outside the entrance to McNeill House.

With much huffing and puffing, they erected a lump that resembled a rather hunchbacked sort of snowman. Using little pebbles they gave him a wide grin that was too big for his holly-berry nose, and too friendly for his beady eyes. With his general physiognomy constructed the creators stepped back to admire their work.

"He's missing something," said Lizzy squinting her eyes at the snowman.

"Who said, it's a he?" asked John.

"Of course it's a he," said Emma. "We've been calling it the snowman all this time. If it wasn't, we would have called it the snowwomen."

John took two handfuls of snow and stuck them to the middle portion of the snowman. "There, now it's a snowwomen."

Elinor snorted, "No, now it looks like a lumpy snowman."

Marianne tutted disapprovingly and said, "Dust those things off John, they look ridiculous."

"Lighten up Marianne," said John, rolling his eyes. "You've got them, what's wrong with the snowwoman having them too? Unless you're jealous that I might like the snowwoman's better than yours."

"Oh grow up," snapped Marianne. She reached over and brushed the lumps off the snowman herself.

John crossed his arms, "What's wrong with you lately? Ever since the Christmas concert you've been acting like you're suddenly better than everyone else."

"No, I haven't," denied Marianne. "Since when did I act like I'm better than everyone?"

"You didn't answer my phone calls that night after the concert."

"That's because I went out with a friend afterwards."

"You told me you would come straight home after the concert to tell me how it went."

"Well, plans change! Besides, you wouldn't have to find out from me how the concert went if you actually came to the concert this time."

"I understand what the problem is now. You're mad because I didn't go to the Christmas concert." John stepped forward and took Marianne's hand, "Look, baby, I couldn't go to this concert. I really wanted to, but I had an engineering meeting. It came up last minute."

Elinor, who had been wrapping her scarf around the snowman, turned and looked at her sister. However, after failing to catch her sister's eye, she looked towards Lizzy instead. Lizzy understood.

Both girls were getting the sense that most of John's last minute engineering meetings had been fabricated to dissolve any promises he had made to Marianne. Back in November, an engineering meeting had conveniently kept John from attending Marianne's first solo performance at Queen's University. Unbeknownst to the rest of the girls, with the exception of Elinor, John had cancelled every date he had planned with Marianne during the term. Marianne had not mentioned this to anyone. Elinor only knew because she was the one Marianne would sob to every time John cancelled a date due to various engineering meetings and assignments. And now, counting the most recent bail out two weekends ago on the night of the Christmas concert, Elinor's suspicion concerning John's character was beginning to arise. Lizzy however, was still hesitant to pronounce her judgement on John. The knowledge of John's troubled past appealed to Lizzy's compassion and she found it difficult to believe he would deliberately hurt Marianne in any way.

Eager to avoid a display of open hostility between John and Marianne, Lizzy clapped her gloved hands together, and changed the subject.

"You know what our snowman needs?"

"What?"

"It needs arms! Man or woman, our snowman is not a victim of a workplace injury!" Lizzy turned to Marianne, "Go and get us some sticks."

"Do I look like some sort of dog that should fetch sticks for you?"

Lizzy performed a quick appraisal of Marianne then said, "Actually, now that you mention it, those earmuffs you're wearing do make you look like one of those French poodles. Useless dogs that wear little golden bells around their necks and yap all the time."

"Poodles prance, they don't fetch," griped Marianne, but she set off in search of the sticks anyway; she didn't really fancy the alternative, which would have been to stay and listen to John's excuses.

There were maple trees across the street from McNeill House and Marianne set off towards them in search of ideal branches. Since a week's accumulation of snowstorms covered any branches that had fallen during the autumn, Marianne looked up into the trees for any branches within her reach. She found the perfect branches and was about to jump up to break them off when she heard a voice calling her name. She turned and saw that it was Christopher Brandon.

"Hey," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Christopher came closer. "You told me that you were going back to Edmonton tonight, so I came to wish you happy holidays before you left, and perhaps offer you a ride to the bus station. Why? Is this a bad time?"

Marianne shook her head, "No, no. It's just that-- well, the bus to Toronto actually picks us up from campus so we don't need a ride."

"Oh," said Christopher. Marianne thought she heard a hint of disappointment when he spoke. Christopher noticed it too, and to cover up, said in as casual a tone as he could manage around Marianne, "What were you doing sniffing around this tree?"

"My friends and I are building a snowman," she pointed to the group, who were putting the finishing touches on their creation. "They sent me off to look for some arms."

Christopher smiled, "That would explain why you're looking around these trees."

"Yeah, the bushes around McNeill just wouldn't do and I could never reach the trees outside of Leonard. They're too tall." Marianne jumped and tried to grab one of the lower branches. "Come to think of it, I don't think I can reach these either."

She jumped again and lost her balance as her foot sank into a patch of softly packed snow. Luckily, Christopher stepped forward and grabbed her before she toppled onto the muddy street.

"Careful," he said softly, still holding onto her.

Standing rather lopsided, Marianne looked up at her saviour and smiled; even in the dark, she noticed that Christopher's face had changed colour. She pulled her foot out and regained her footing. Only then, did Christopher release his hold on her.

He looked up at the branch Marianne had been trying to reach, and said, "Is this the one you wanted?"

Marianne nodded, "But don't bother. I'll find something else."

Without another word, Christopher leapt up and pulled down the desired bough. "Here you go. Is there another one you wanted? Your snowman needs two arms doesn't it?" He circled the base of the same tree and after spotting a similar looking branch pulled it down for Marianne too.

"Thanks!" said Marianne. "You really didn't need to."

"It wasn't a problem," said Christopher shrugging. "But if I get arrested by campus security for destruction of school property, I'll be blaming it you."

"I'll risk it," said Marianne, taking the freshly plucked branches from Christopher. "Walk back with me. I want you to meet my friends."

She grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards her friends.

"No, I don't think that's such a good idea," Christopher protested, digging his heels into the snow.

"Nonsense, of course it's a good idea. I've been telling them about my biggest fan for ages and they all make fun of me. If I bring them tangible proof they'll have to believe me."

Still Christopher was hesitant, "But they don't know me."

"Lizzy will know you, and so will my sister. I'm sure Emma and Harriet will remember you from the concert too," reasoned Marianne. She gave Christopher's hand another tug, but he still refused to budge. She had to use her secret weapon. Rearranging the expression on her face into the classic Marianne Dashwood Pleading Look, Marianne said in her sweetest voice, "Please, Chris. It would mean a lot to me if you came to meet my friends."

Christopher shook his head and laughed, "That expression always works doesn't it?"

Marianne tilted her head to one side and raised her shoulders, "Maybe. So will you come now?"

"You did say that the expression usually works..."

"Great!" She began to pull him forward again, except this time, Christopher picked up his feet.

"What took you so long?" asked John, when he spotted Marianne approaching. He frowned when he saw she was holding the hand of another guy. "I see that you've brought a friend back."

Marianne ignored him and handed Lizzy the sticks. "Here are the arms. We have Christopher to thank for them. He broke off the branches for me."

"Why is it that you always get to play the damsel in distress?" teased Lizzy.

"I was not in distress this time!" insisted Marianne. "Right Chris?"

Christopher, who had been standing slightly behind Marianne, stammered out his answer, "No... not really... Well, not in that much distress anyway."

Lizzy laughed, "Look, we've made him feel uncomfortable."

"You can come a little closer you know," said Elinor. "It's not as if we're strangers."

"Yeah," said Emma. "We've met twice already. Once at the concert in November, and again at the Christmas concert."

"You were at the Christmas concert?" asked John, looking suspiciously at Christopher.

"Yes," said Christopher, but being a perceptive man, he quickly added, "I had a little time after work that day and dropped by."

"What do you do anyway?" asked John.

"I'm doing my residency at KGH."

"What, are you a doctor?"

"Yes I am."

"That should make Emma very happy," said John. He turned to Marianne with a cruel smile and asked, "Why haven't you introduced him to Emma? Or are you saving him for someone else?"

Marianne looked desperately around at the rest of the girls for some assistance. For a person who enjoyed being at the centre of attention, Marianne was not revelling in the spotlight John was shining on her.

The girls were all at a loss as to what to do. They had never seen John act this malicious before. He always came across as being a fairly even-tempered person, who had a few eccentricities, but never any that was cause for concern. Whilst all four girls were busy racking their brains for something to say that would divert the attention away from Marianne, help came from another source.

"I've been looking for you guys!" called Chuck, who had just dashed out of Leonard Hall, followed closely by Jane.

He skidded to a halt beside their snowman and said, "I have come to issue an invitation."

"Invitation?" repeated Elinor. "I'm intrigued."

"It's my birthday on the weekend after the first week of classes. I was thinking of throwing a party and you are all invited to come."

"You're planning this early?" asked Lizzy.

Chuck smiled sheepishly, "Well, I had to run some things by my parents before I started asking people to come."

"Is it going to be at your house in Toronto then?" asked Emma.

"Yeah," answered Chuck. "I'll also provide the transportation and the living arrangements if that's going to be a problem. So, who's interested?"

Who would refuse a chance to get away from campus and Kingston? Of course everyone consented-that is, everyone except for Christopher.

Chuck noticed and asked him, "You coming?"

Christopher looked surprised, "I didn't know I was invited."

"Of course you are! You're one of us now."

Christopher looked gratified, "Thank you, but I'll have to get back to you on that. I might be on call that day. When is the party?"

"Saturday. We can have Sunday to recover from our hangovers."

"Ooh! Booze is provided!" exclaimed Emma in glee.

Chuck laughed, "Of course! A party is not a party without some alcohol." He turned back to Christopher. "Will you be able to come up to Toronto at least for Saturday evening?"

"I don't know," said Christopher. "But I'll definitely try to change shifts with someone."

"What are we going to be doing at this party?" asked Lizzy. She didn't want to be caught in the same predicament she encountered the last time she went up to Toronto.

"I think it's dinner and dancing. My parents told me to leave the organizing to them. I'm only allowed to bring as many friends as I want."

Lizzy made a mental note to go shopping for new party clothes when she got home to Vancouver. If Chuck's parents were anything like Caroline and were responsible for organizing a birthday party, then none of her clothes in Kingston would be appropriate for something that lavish.

Very little could be said afterwards for the taxi that Lizzy had ordered to take Jane and her to the airport arrived. Unlike Marianne and Elinor, Lizzy and Jane had been fortunate enough to procure a flight to Lester B. Pearson Airport from Kingston. The group helped Lizzy bring their luggage out to the taxi. They took their time so Chuck and Jane could have a little more time by themselves to say goodbye.

The Bennet girls hung out of the window of the taxi, and waved until the troop disappeared when they rounded Queen's Crescent.

"Jane?" said Lizzy after they had been riding in silence for a while.

"Yes?"

"Have you and Chuck ever talked about Will?"

Jane turned away from the window and look at her sister, "Sometimes we do. Why'd you ask?"

"Has Chuck ever told you anything about Will's family and the company?"

"No," answered Jane. "Why are you suddenly so curious about Will?"

Lizzy then related to Jane what had passed between John Willoughby and her a few weeks ago. She took care to censor full names of individuals and did not mention the name of the company. Jane listened with astonishment and concern. She knew not how Will could be so unworthy of Chuck's regard; and yet it was not in her nature to doubt the veracity of friends.

"Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding," suggested Jane. "You can't say that the legal system has never made mistakes before, and maybe both parties are victims of a third variable that was not considered."

"Would that then make your boyfriend's family the third variable?"

"That could be a possibility," said Jane, who didn't sound like she meant it, "but there must be other factors out there. Surely Will was not the sole cause of John's strife. Think of what a disgraceful light it places Will, to be treating his father's godson in such a manner. And how could he have kept it from his closest friends and the general public. News as big as this generally don't stay quiet for long."

"I don't see Will hanging around with many friends, but I can more easily believe that Chuck has been the one imposed on, than that John would invent such as history of himself. He gave me names, facts and other details, all mentioned without hesitation. If it really isn't true, then let Will come out and say it. Beside, there was truth in all of John's looks."

Jane sighed, "This is a most distressing and difficult thing to have been told. I don't know what to think."

Lizzy crossed her arms, "I beg your pardon, but I know exactly what to think."

Chapter 16 (i)

Using the large tub of salad in her arms, Anne rang the bell to Patrick Harville's house. From where she stood, she could hear the soft murmur of voices and the clinking of glasses from beyond the door.

It was Christmas Eve, and Patrick Harville had invited Anne and a few friends who were not going home for the holidays to a Christmas dinner. He had promised to cook the turkey and stuffing, and doled out the responsibility for the other dishes to his guests. Anne had been assigned the salad.

Charlie Musgrove opened the door.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas Charlie!" greeted Anne. She turned to set the pasta salad down on the table by the door, but found that a gooey chocolate cake was already on it.

"Here, I'll take that," said Charlie extending his hands.

"Thanks," said Anne. Charlie was about to walk away with the salad when Anne asked, "That cake isn't the one that I brought for the Thanksgiving dinner, is it?"

Charlie laughed, "No. I should know because I finished the last piece of your cake during Thanksgiving. Lou brought that one. She somehow found out that Frederick really liked the cake you made for Thanksgiving and baked it again especially for tonight."

Anne felt as if her stomach had suddenly dropped out from under her.

"Are the two of them going out now?" she asked bravely.

"I don't know. Lou's dropped some hints, but nothing is definite yet. Frederick has taken her out a couple of times, but it's always in a group." Charlie walked away, but tossed over his shoulder before he disappeared into the kitchen, "Who would have thought, Captain Wentworth and my little sister!"

Anne tried to laugh, but she couldn't; instead, she bent down to undo her shoelaces. Perhaps it was because her fingers were shaking uncontrollably, and tears were slowly clouding her eyes, but Anne found the simple task of taking off her shoes more difficult that it should have been. There was the sound of footsteps coming up the porch stairs, and Anne quickly wiped away a few renegade tears before they were spotted.

The person outside knocked and Anne opened the door.

"Anne!"

"Merry Christmas Frederick."

"Same to you."

This was the first time Frederick had directly responded to anything Anne said without malice.

"How are you?"

"A little cold."

"I'm so sorry. Please come in." She stepped back to let Frederick into the house. There was a shopping bag in his hand and Anne offered to relieve him of it. He consented and she took it from him. The contents inside the bag clanged noisily.

"What's in here?"

Frederick grinned apologetically as he kicked off his shoes. "It's the cranberry sauce. I thought Harville knew me well enough not to give me something as complicated as the cranberry sauce to make. I actually spent a whole day on the Internet looking for the easiest way to make the goop, but in the end I vouched for the lazy way out and bought the canned stuff."

"I guess Harville should have assigned you omelets to make, shouldn't he?"

Frederick looked at Anne thoughtfully, he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and moved to get past her.

She stepped aside to let him through, but before he passed, she blurted out, "Thanks for your help with Walker a few weeks ago."

"Who?"

"That little boy you got off my back the night we all went out to see a movie."

"Oh that. It wasn't a problem" It looked as if Frederick's old antipathy was back. He began to walk away.

"I also wanted to thank you for the ride to the movie that night too."

"That wasn't a problem either." And he turned into the living room.

Dinner was as jovial as it was during Thanksgiving. Harville's lack of carving abilities was the running joke throughout the dinner, along with Frederick's can-moulded cranberry sauce. Charlie got a few laughs from his baked yams that turned out to be not so baked, and no amount of his insisting that the root vegetable tasted better crunchy could mask his blunder. After the last morsel of food had been consumed, everyone rose to help clean up the dishes and prepare the dessert.

Anne stood next to Emily, drying the dishes she handed her. With her stomach full of the rich Christmas feast, Anne, at first, listened lazily to the conversation between Harville and Emily. It was not until the word "Frederick" was mentioned that Anne became fully alert once more.

"Have you heard anything from Frederick on Louisa?" asked Harville. "Charlie's been asking me about the two of them. Apparently, Lou's getting a little impatient waiting for Frederick to take them to the next level."

Emily turned to look at Frederick and Louisa, who were back in the dining room cutting the chocolate cake and putting them on little plates. Forgetting that she wasn't supposed to be listening, Anne turned to look too. She watched as Louisa held up a piece of the cake to Frederick who was going to take it with his hand until Louisa shook her head and he was obliged to open his mouth and let her feed the piece to him.

Anne felt her heart clench and she let out a small dispirited sigh. Emily gave Anne a sympathetic look, which Anne saw, before returning to her drying.

"I haven't heard from Frederick directly."

"He's really got to make up his mind," said Harville. "It's not fair to keep a girl waiting for so long."

"You shouldn't talk like that," said Emily. "Anne might get the wrong idea and think we're planning a shot-gun wedding. You seem to have forgotten that I had known you by character long before."

Harville smiled adoringly at his fiancée, "Well, and I had heard of you as a very pretty girl. Since you fulfilled my requirements, what were we to wait for besides?"

Emily splashed some water at Harville. He leaned down and kissed her as retribution.

"Anyways," continued Harville. "Louisa's nice a girl, and I think she deserves to hear something from Frederick on his opinion of her."

"She's good humoured and easy to get along with," said Emily in a tone that suggested she still had some reservations about Louisa. "It would be nice to have another couple in the group, but--"

She never got to finish that sentence for the coffeemaker maker, on the other side of the kitchen was overfilling. Charlie had put in too many filters.

After all the dishes had been dried and put away, dessert and coffee was served in the living room.

It was then that Anne found herself sitting by James Benwick, whom she had been avoiding all evening. The last time they had talked, Anne and James had shared an accidental kiss. Nobody had noticed it except Frederick, and from the expression on his face at the time, it had irked him. No matter how hard Anne tried to avoid James's looks and approaches during dinner, she found that he was not going to be discouraged from getting near her. He took the empty seat next to Anne when dessert was being served.

"You've been avoiding me all night," said James quietly, after making sure the rest of the guests were occupied in other conversations or tasks.

Anne denied his accusation, even though she knew it was true.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't blame you" James said. "My behaviour during Thanksgiving was inexcusable. I must have bored you out of your senses that night. I thought that I had gotten over the death of Phoebe, but after seeing the old camp crew, the memories just came flooding back and overwhelmed me."

Anne felt surprised and relieved at the same time. Instead of dwelling on the accidental kiss, James was actually concerned that their discussion of Phoebe during Thanksgiving had driven Anne away. She decided to set James at ease, without any reference to the kiss, which had been the real reason for her avoiding him.

"I wasn't trying to avoid you James. There is just a lot of stuff going on tonight." James started to protest again, but Anne continued, "I actually wanted to talk to you, and see how you've been after we had that little chat during Thanksgiving."

"So you're not trying to avoid me?"

"Of course not! So tell me, how have you been?"

"Pretty good." James weighed his thoughts for a second then said, "I've started seeing a counselor now about my problem."

"That's good," encouraged Anne.

"It's helping a little bit, but I'm having problems accepting some of the things the counsellor is telling me to do."

"Like what?"

"She said that I should actually start dating again. Apparently, I've accepted the fact that Phoebe has died, but I've somehow distorted the event and that's why I'm feeling responsible for her death."

"But do you feel that you are responsible for Phoebe's death?"

"I honestly don't know. In a way, I feel like I jinxed her."

"You jinxed her?"

James laughed, "I know, it sounds crazy, but if you have my record in causing harm to girlfriends then you would wonder about it too." He began to count them off. "I got my first girlfriend was when I was in the sixth grade. She broke up with me after I dropped a lunch tray on her and broke her toe. Then I went out with another girl when I was fourteen and one day when I was giving her a ride home on my bike, I fell over and she broke her wrist-that relationship ended there. Then there was Phoebe when I was eighteen and you don't need me to go into the details on that one."

"So you're basing your belief that you are jinxed on three girls?"

James nodded. "I haven't dated anyone else since Phoebe. I'm just bad luck, and no girl deserves to be harmed or die, just because of me."

"What is it that your counselor is asking you to do then?"

"She said that I should start going out with girls again. She told me to start it off slow and friendly, preferably in a group. I'm not sure how to start though."

"Have you found anyone you would consider going out with?"

James's eyes darted over to where Louisa was standing handing out her chocolate cake to the other guests. He knew whom he would like to go out with, but there was another obstacle in the way, aside from his own insecurities.

A hand clapped down on James's shoulder.

"James, you sly dog," said Harville loudly, "If you want a date with Anne, just ask. There's no need to beat around the bush about some counselor."

Everyone turned to look at Anne and James.

"No, you've misunderstood--" Anne began.

"Nonsense," dismissed Harville. "I haven't seen James talk so much to a single person in years. That's all the evidence I need."

Anne and James sputtered, trying to explain the situation, but nobody was listening. Apparently, everyone agreed with Harville that Anne and James would make a great pair.

"A double date!" cried Charlie. "Frederick and Louisa, and James and Anne! How perfect would that be?"

Frederick quickly stepped forward to excuse himself from such an event. He had work to do in the lab.

Charlie waved the opposition away, "You can't be busy working in the lab all Christmas. There's got to be one day that all four of you are free."

It was like being caught in a whirlpool. No matter how hard James tried to explain, how desperately Anne pleaded, and how firmly Frederick refused, within fifteen minutes the date was set. They were to go out to dinner next Sunday, at one of the nice restaurants down by the lake. Charlie called the restaurant after the two couples had been forced to accept.

When walking back to McNeill House after the party, Anne made a mental note not to attend anymore of Harville's gatherings. Last time she left with a misunderstood kiss, and this time, it was a misunderstood conversation that led to an arranged double date. She wasn't sure how many more misunderstandings she would be able to endure.

The Sunday of the arranged date arrived much sooner than Anne would have liked. One moment, it was Christmas Eve, and she was eating dinner with some of the dons who had stayed behind, next it was Christmas morning, and she was talking on the telephone with her father, who had to cut the conversation short because of Ms. Russell's holiday luncheon, and before she knew it, Sunday afternoon had arrived and Anne had to pick out something to wear for dinner. She took much longer than usual in dressing for the date. Just as Anne was putting on the finishing touches to her apparel before going downstairs to meet James, the phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hello."

"Hey Anne, it's James." He sounded like he was out of breath.

"Are you downstairs?"

"No, I'm still at home. My car won't start, and none of my neighbours are home, so I can't jump start it. I tried calling a taxi, but they say that it'll take them fifteen minutes to get one to my place."

"What are you going to do?"

"There's bus that's going to come by in five minutes. I'll take it downtown and then I'll walk over to campus and we'll walk down to the restaurant together."

"It's much too far of a distance between campus and downtown for you to walk. We'll be late for our reservation. Just take the bus down to the restaurant. I'll walk from here. It won't take me long."

"Are you sure? You don't mind? I was supposed to go and pick you up, and now I'm feeling really bad that I can't even do this simple thing right."

"Don't say that. I honestly don't mind. If I start walking now, I can get there before the reservation."

"Okay," said James, he sounded like he wasn't really sure that Anne would not be mad at him.

"I'm being truthful James. I don't mind walking," Anne reassured him. "Now hurry, or you'll miss the bus."

"Be sure to dress warmly then."

He hung up.

Checking her appearance one last time in the mirror out in the hall, Anne quickly pulled on her coat, slipped into her shoes, and hurried out of the building. Although the shoes she wore with her outfit were ill suited for walking in the winter road conditions, it took Anne less time than she had anticipated to get down to the restaurant. As it was too cold to wait outside for everyone to arrive, Anne went in and inquired after their table. After being told that their table was not yet ready, she made her way up to the bar, ordered a ginger ale, and waited for Frederick, Louisa and her date to arrive.

A college football game was playing on the television over the bar, and Anne watched it to curb her boredom, keeping one ear out so she could hear James when he arrived. A trail of conversation drifted to where Anne was sitting, and she thought she recognized the voice.

"And so he was made to come tonight. I always make it a rule that a person should not back down from something he or she has promised to do. It doesn't matter if it was arranged through a misunderstanding. The point is that everyone took great pains to arrange this thing and if he, Anne, you, or me was to turn it down, then it would be offending all the people who helped set us up on this double date."

"James would have backed out of this double date then, if it wasn't because of your persuading?"

Anne took in a sharp breath. That was unmistakably Frederick's voice. The other speaker must be Louisa.

"That's right. He called me up the night after the date was arranged, because he was still unsure. He's always asking me for advice on asking girls out to dates and where to take them. I usually give him a little lesson and then I tell him to use his own discretion."

"Happy for James to have such a friend as you to guide him on matters he feels lost on. I've always felt that it is better to be overly confident and assertive than to not have opinions of your own and become too dependent on the persuasion of others. Imagine how boring it would be, carrying on a conversation with someone who would agree with everything you said and would never offer new perspectives because they have become so reliant on professing the opinions of others."

"I know exactly what you mean." Louisa lowered her voice, but Anne could still hear her. "Did you know that Anne and James actually didn't want to come tonight? I heard from Emily who had heard the entire conversation between Anne and James. The two were talking about James's problems after Phoebe died, and just when James was telling Anne about his counsellor's recommendation for him to start dating again, Harville heard and misunderstood it for James wanting to ask Anne out on a date. Those two are just too easily persuaded that they've ended up on a date that neither really wanted."

There was a moment's pause then Frederick asked, "Anne didn't want to go on this date?"

"That's right!"

Great, thought Anne. Having Frederick think that she was a spineless jellyfish was exactly what she needed to improve his opinion of her. Anne wanted to hear more, but no more was said for James had arrived.

"Sorry, I'm late," he panted from behind her.

Anne turned. "It's alright. Our table isn't ready yet. I just went and asked."

James looked relieved. "Has anyone else arrived yet?"

"I don't know," Anne lied. She pretended to look around, making a conscious effort to avoid the area where Frederick and Louisa sat.

James however spotted them and waved them over.

"Oh good, we're all here!" chirped Louisa. She turned to Frederick, "Freddy could you go ask them if our table is ready?"

If Anne hadn't overheard the conversation between Frederick and Louisa, she would have burst out laughing at what Louisa had just called Frederick. Frederick hated being called 'Freddy' with a passion. He had told her so that year at camp during one of their intimate chats. Anne stole a look at Frederick and they exchanged commiserating looks for a moment before he went away to ask for their table.

For a date that had been forced on her, Anne rather enjoyed herself that evening. After exchanging a few civil phrases with her, Frederick dropped his cold demeanour and they began to talk like their turbulent past had never happened. He told her about some of the field studies he had conducted for his master's thesis, and the proceeded to describe his plans for the doctoral dissertation. It sounded like Greek to Anne, but she was so glad to have Frederick back on speaking terms with her that she didn't care what it was he wanted to talk about.

Half-way through dinner someone came to their table to introduce himself to Anne.

"Do you remember me?" he asked her.

With the eyes of everyone at her table fixed on her, Anne tried to recall who this person could be, but drew a blank.

"I'm sorry, but I don't seem to recognize you," she answered.

"I'm Eliot Williams, don on the brother floor."

"Oh, that's right," said Anne, who wished desperately for him to go away.

"I didn't know you were hanging around for the holidays." He leaned an arm casually on her chair back. "Dinner with friends?"

Anne then introduced Frederick, Louisa, and James to Eliot. He nodded politely with each introduction, and then much to Anne's relief he announced that he had only dropped by to say hello and promised to call her tomorrow.

As soon as he was out of earshot Louisa let out a small squeal.

"What?"

"I can't believe you know Eliot Williams!" Louisa exclaimed.

Judging from Louisa's tone of voice and facial expression she wanted Anne to ask her why it was unbelievable that she should know Eliot Williams. To own the truth, Anne didn't care who Eliot Williams was, aside from being the don on the brother floor, and that she knew already. From the few times she had met Eliot on her way to classes, or during her contemplative strolls, she had decided that she didn't like him very much. He was rational, discreet, and polished, but he was not open. He frequently offered to walk her to classes so they would be able to stay outside her classroom and chat. And although he talked well, professed good opinions, and seemed to judge properly, Anne felt his ability to walk-the-talk was questionable. On top of suspecting that he was a hypocrite, she was beginning to tire of allowing him to walk her to her classes early so she could escape for a few moments of peace after he had gone away. It had never occurred to her that she could refuse him.

"So, who is this Eliot Williams?" James asked Louisa.

"Have you ever read the Queen's Journal?"

"I look over the headlines every now and then," answered James, "You know, to keep up with the issues on campus."

"Eliot William writes for the Journal's Op-Ed section," Louisa finally informed them. "He raises all these interesting and controversial issues and apparently he's running for AMS president. I can't believe he was so down to earth! I always thought that he was like a walking brain."

Nobody was looking very impressed.

"Reminds me of those popular jocks in high school who think too highly of themselves," criticized Frederick.

"That's a poor comparison. Eliot is not a jock. He's an academic."

"And how would you know?"

Louisa shrugged, "He sounds really knowledgeable in the paper, but maybe Anne knows him better."

"No, I don't!" Anne quickly protested. There had been too many misunderstandings over the past few days, and this was one misunderstanding she would not allow.

"But he came over to talk to you and said he was going to call you tomorrow," Louisa pointed out.

"Yes, but I really don't know him well at all. In fact, I hardly ever talk to him. You saw how I couldn't remember who he was."

"True," said Louisa. "Anyways, now I'm really curious as to why he came away from his dinner just to talk to you, and made a point of telling you that he's going to call tomorrow."

Frederick gave Anne a momentary glance-a glance of deep affection, which seemed to say, "That man is struck with you, Anne Elliot, -- and even I, at this moment, can't blame him."

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully. The five-course meal they had ordered concluded with a savoury tiramisu that left all four diners feeling stuffed and contented; they no longer felt the desire to harangue Harville. After dinner, James suggested that they walk down to the lake, and all consented. Once down at the shores of Lake Ontario, Louisa voiced a desire to walk on the frozen lake.

Frederick advised her against it. "I don't think that ice is thick enough."

Louisa walked closer to the edge of the lake. "It's been pretty cold lately. I'm sure the ice is thick enough by now."

A gust of wind swept by and Anne could hear the ice groaning from the lapping waves underneath. "Actually Louisa, I think Frederick is right. I can hear the ice shifting from the movement of the waves. It'll be thick enough by January, why don't you try it then?"

But Anne and Frederick had reasoned and talked in vain.

"No, I'm determined I will walk on the ice. Besides I'm not walking that far."

Since there was no stopping her, the group watched with bated breath as Louisa walked out onto the ice. For a moment they all thought that she was going to fall in, but the ice held and the three on shore released the breath they had been holding.

"This is fun!" exclaimed Louisa as she slid along the ice, further and further away from shore. She jumped up, did a little spin, and landed with a slight wobble. "Oh, I wish I had my skates with me. It would be so much fun to skate on the lake. I wonder if my jumps would work."

"You're going too far out," called Frederick. "The ice might not be thick enough out there."

Scarcely had this caution left Frederick's lips when without a warning there was a loud crack, a splash, and an ear piercing scream. Louisa had fallen in!

"Louisa!" cried James. Both men dashed onto the ice to help Louisa out of the lake. They had barely reached halfway to where Louisa was, when the ice began to protest to the stress of their weight.

"Come back!" Anne called. "The ice is not going to hold your weight."

"But Louisa's still out there!" James yelled back, refusing to budge from where he stood.

"Let me go! I'm much lighter than both of you and if the ice cracked under Louisa's weight it is not going to hold the weight of one man, let alone two. Now hurry back before there are three people in the water."

In spite of their panic the two men saw the logic in Anne's reasoning and hurried back to the pebble paved shore.

"Hang on!" they called out to Louisa. The poor girl was indeed hanging onto a chunk of ice from the large hole she had created when she fell in.

"Hurry!" she pleaded. Her voice sounded shaky, perhaps from fear or from the cold.

Once the men were off the ice Anne took off her high-heeled shoes to get better traction, and got on the ice to retrieve Louisa. The distance to where Louisa was bobbing up and down, shoulder high in freezing waters, seemed to stretch on forever. Anne listened for signs of the ice cracking as she slowly made her way to Louisa. Every now and then she could feel the ice move from under her, but she would rally her courage and continue on. Once at the spot where Louisa had fallen in, Anne got on her hands and knees and reached out to grab Louisa's hand.

"I'm numb all over," Louisa moaned as she allowed herself to be heaved out of the lake.

From that, Anne assumed she probably would not be able to walk. She grabbed Louisa from under her arms and began to drag her back to the shore. Anne moved as quickly as possible away from the thin ice, hoping with all her might that the ice would not give way from both her and Louisa's weight.

"Can you move your hands?"

"I don't know," Louisa said faintly. Judging from the tone of her voice, she was about to fall asleep.

From the first aid training Anne had received during her time at Camp Wilderness she knew that Louisa was going into shock.

"Louisa!" Anne said loudly. "Don't fall asleep. We're almost there."

"My head hurts," Louisa complained in the same faint and shaky voice. "I think I slipped and hit my head."

"We're almost there." Anne repeated. "Frederick will take you to a hospital as soon as we get to shore."

Louisa mumbled something incoherent and Anne began to feel anxious and desperate. Although her muscles were cramping from the exercise and the ice was slowly freezing her feet, she knew that shore was only metres away and forced herself to continue.

Once back on shore, the two men pounced on them. Frederick lifted Louisa up in his arms and dashed across the road to the Kingston General Hospital Emergency room. James lent an arm to Anne so she could catch her breath and pull on her shoes. Judging from the way James kept shifting restlessly from side to side, Anne knew he was impatient to get to the hospital and see if Louisa was all right. His behaviour this evening had enlightened her of his partiality to Louisa Musgrove and since Anne knew how frustrating it was for a third party to delay the gratification of seeing the person one truly loves, she recovered as quickly as possible and suggested they follow Frederick to the emergency room to check up on Louisa. As expected, James was more than happy to agree with her request.

Frederick was sitting in the waiting area when they got into the emergency room. He looked haggard and mortified.

"They wouldn't let me go in with her" was the first thing he said when he saw them.

"Did you tell them what happened?" asked Anne.

"Yeah. They told me to sit here and fill out some forms for her," he handed them a clipboard with a personal information sheet. "Problem is, I don't know any of this information."

James looked down the sheet, and said quietly, "Do you have a pen? I think I know some of this stuff."

Wordlessly, Frederick handed James the pen the nurse had given him. Then they sat in silence as James filled out the personal information sheet. When he had gone away to give the completed sheet to the nurse at the counter Frederick turned to Anne and asked, "Are you alright?"

Anne nodded, "Just a little cold, but I'm slowly warming up."

"Back there, I'm really glad you kept a cool head and stopped James and I from doing something stupid and rash."

"It was easier for me to stay cool because I didn't have any emotional attachments to affect me."

"Emotional attachments?" Frederick looked perplexed for a moment. "Oh right. Me and Louisa."

Anne was surprised that Frederick actually needed a moment to recollect his attachment to Louisa, but considering the circumstances at this point, she didn't want to pursue the matter further.

Frederick cleared his throat to fill the uncomfortable silence. "Do you want to be taken home?"

"I can walk from here," said Anne.

But Frederick offered her a ride. "You just walked on the ice in your bare feet. It would be better if I drove you home."

"Don't you want to stay here with Louisa?"

"James will be here. He's much more useful to her now than I would be."

He would not brook a refusal and went out to get his car before Anne could turn him down again; it was almost as if he was eager to leave the hospital.

"Where did Frederick go?" asked James when he came back to the waiting area.

"He's went to get his car so he could drive me home."

"Good, good. I didn't want you walking in the cold after what you did for Louisa," he said absentmindedly.

Anne didn't know how long she would have before Frederick showed up with the car, but she decided that she would take her chances anyway.

"James, I noticed something tonight and I want to ask you if I am right."

"Okay..."

"You like Louisa don't you?"

James laughed nervously, "What gave you that idea?"

"Just judging from your behaviour this evening. I think you've loved her for a while and never told her or anyone else because you are afraid that you would not be respecting the memory of Phoebe. It's not because of your superstition that you are unwilling to go out into the dating circuit again. I think you didn't want to date other girls because you only want to date Louisa. It's time to let go of the memory of Phoebe, James, and stop feeling guilty that you are starting to love Louisa as much as you loved Phoebe."

"But what about Frederick?"

"Let Louisa decide."

Continued in Next Section