Beginning, Section II
Jump to new as of December 28, 1998
Jump to new as of January 9, 1999
Part 8
"So, how did it go?" Meg asked as soon as the Bingleys and Bennets had departed.
"How did what go?" Will asked almost sullenly as he kept his head down, ostensibly brushing 'Juliet's' tail.
"That ride you and Lizzy went on while Jai and I had to contend with Caroline," Meg sounded frustrated "And stop doing that - the poor horse's tail's going to fall out soon they way you're going."
Will straightened up with a sigh.
"Nothing happened." He sounded almost disgusted, whether it was at himself or Lizzy Meg had no idea. "But how did you know that we split up from Charles and Jane?"
"Judging by the way those two were practically joined at the hip when you lot returned, it was a logical conclusion." Jaime put in as she passed them with some gear. "So what stopped you two from doing otherwise? I have never seen two such difficult people in my life." She grizzled, as she walked off to the tack room.
"She's right," Meg agreed. "You still have a crush on her, don't you?"
He nodded.
"Then do something! She's probably waiting for you to make the move." Meg shook her head. "Why can't you two see? You're perfect for each other!"
William gave a snort, but could think of no rebuttal.
"Caroline planned this," Meg concluded five seconds after stepping into Netherfield about a week later.
Charles rolled his eyes "How did you guess?" he whispered conspiratorially. "In case you haven't noticed, both Dad and I are hopeless at this sort of thing, and Caroline was only too anxious to play 'hostess'." He shuddered as they passed under the floral-festooned archway that led to the garden "She's like Mum gone mad."
Meg had no desire to meet the ex-Mrs. Bingley, if Caroline was any indication of what she was like. The invitation to the 'party' had read 'formal' - probably an attempt to display that the Bingleys were considerably better off than any of their neighbours. Not even Caroline had missed Will's interest in Lizzy, or that it was reciprocated (almost everyone noticed except the people concerned).
This party had been the talk of the small town since the invitations had been issued a few days ago. Caroline had timed the invitations so that there was just enough time to finalize the arrangements with regards to numbers, yet difficult for any of the guests make enough time to go shopping for new clothes. This, presumably, was to make Caroline's clothes look more sophisticated and fashionable than most of the local girls. Even Meg had to admit grudging respect for Caroline's cunning.
The issue of clothing was not too much of a challenge for Meg, or Will, but it had involved a day's drive to and back from their respective homes, and also to Jaime's to collect hers. Sensing Caroline's motives behind the timing of the invitation, Meg invited Lizzy and Jane along for the ride, saying that a delay of an hour or so in one of the major shopping districts for them to buy any clothes they needed would hardly make all that much difference. Will had given his old friend a warning look, which was ignored. However, he made very little objection when Meg invited Jane to sit in the front passenger seat, leaving Lizzy and Will in the back seat with comparative privacy, as Meg kept Jane in conversation for most of the trip.
The trip up north to collect Jaime's, Meg's and Will's clothing was straightforward. They stopped in town for a couple of hours for Jane and Lizzy to shop, and for Meg to go and collect a certain box from the bank which would contain another few items which would assist in providing some discomfort to Caroline. Meg was determined that Caroline's plans with Will should backfire. Again she thanked whatever deities existed that she had taken the Saab - if she'd taken the Ferrari, Jane and Lizzy might not have been able to come, and if she'd taken a larger car, Caroline may have decided on accompanying them. Will was left to wander around town for over two hours, but to his credit, only complained a little on the drive back.
The party was just in its beginnings when Will, Jaime and Meg arrived. Caroline, having the time of her life as hostess, cut off her conversation with Mrs. Lucas to scurry over to them. Her eyes widened at the sight of Jaime, looking almost nothing like her normal self in midnight blue and sapphires, but managed to ignore the woman for the rest of the evening. Meg merited a slightly warmer greeting (Caroline had thought that she would look more favourable in Will's eyes by being nice to his friend. Even Caroline could see that they had no romantic interest in each other), but Caroline moved to claim Will's arm as soon as possible.
Meg could barely hide a smile as she watched Caroline attach herself to her prey, not unlike some poisonous parasite. She certainly did look poisonous, in her orange lycra sheath dress trimmed with sequins, lips and eyes loaded with what appeared to be the entire MAC makeup counter. Meg thought that perhaps she was trying to look more mature to attract Will's attention, but seeing as she was only two years younger than they, that was hardly going to make a difference.
Meg herself was going deliberately low-key, so as not to detract attention from either Lizzy or Jane, who had yet to arrive. The short-sleeved, full length, empire line black silk dress did not scream out its cost, nor did the jewelry - black onyx set in silver, in a streamlined, minimalist design - at throat, wrist, and a hair clip which highlighted the simplicity of her style.
Will was scrupulously correct in his immaculate suit, walking around with a slight grimace as Caroline dragged him around, her orange-and-gold-painted nails digging into his sleeve. He looked at least five years older than his real age, which made Caroline, already looking like a child in her mother's make-up, appear all the more laughable.
Charles was slightly less rumpled than usual in a navy suit (he'd even shaved and combed his hair - two events that, until then, Meg had thought were mutually exclusive), and he was an amiable enough companion until the Bennet girls arrived. Then he was, like everyone else, silent.
Meg smiled in satisfaction as Jane and Lizzy appeared after their parents, who had slipped, as unnoticeable as they could be, into the crowd. The twins were perfect - almost completely opposite in looks, they were like two sides of the same coin.
Meg practically had to pick Charles's jaw up from the ground as he stared at Jane - her classic, 'fairy-tale princess' looks further enhanced by her choice of clothing. She wore a long ice-blue shift with thin straps, and over it, a transparent gauze dress of the same cut, embroidered with various shades of blue - the colours of the sky and the sea. It went perfectly with the jewels that Meg had lent her; black opals set in platinum. Well, Meg silenced that part of her that questioned the wisdom of lending such valuables to anyone, even a friend. I have enough, and the ones I lent Lizzy and Jane don't really suit me anyway, so better that they be put to some use than sit in some vault for all eternity.
When she stole a glance over to the other side of the garden, she saw, with some satisfaction, that Caroline was digging her nails into Will's sleeve with all her might. Meg's satisfaction increased when she observed that Will didn't notice, so intent he was on Lizzy. He pried Caroline's fingers off his arm one by one and moved closer to the door as if drawn by some invisible force.
Lizzy's pre-Raphaelite looks were set off by the rich, dark red dress, which rippled and flowed like a living flame. The effect was played up by the jewels that glittered - a set of necklace, earrings, bracelet and hair ornament - rubies and garnets set in gold, a priceless collection over a hundred years old.
Sometime during that evening, while she was intent on miring Caroline in a hopeless conversation with some local bores, Meg would glance over at the two couples with some satisfaction, and perhaps, just a nagging twinge of envy. Jaime had maneuvered them to various secluded places around the garden, where they were engaged in conversation, oblivious to the outside world. Looking at them, Meg wondered where the next step would come.
The months raced by. It seemed to be hardly any time before that event that had seemed so far away. Graduation. The actual ceremony was boring, as usual, but what everyone looked forward to was the traditional graduation party in the Prefect's lounge. They were the last all-boarding year - the school had already begun to change to a day school.
The girls were in their room, packing for their departure the next morning and getting ready for the party.
"A year since…" Meg trailed off, unwilling to allude to the events of a year past. Yet, that was what brought them closer together, especially Lizzy and Will. Over the past year, they had become virtually inseparable, to the point that Meg was having to throw Will out of the girls' room practically every evening. As far as Meg was aware, they were 'best friends', with no open indication they wanted to progress to anything more. If they had been, they would have been in Will's room - he had that luxury of luxuries, a room to himself, since his roommate, a William Elliot, had left to go to drama school. If Lizzy and Will wanted to declare their transparent feelings, it had to be soon. Will would be going for his Grand Tour almost directly, and after that, he and Charles would be going to a University on the other side of the country to Lizzy and Meg's. Meg had been accepted into a pilot program with the Defense Department where she would study at the Military Academy and also a University simultaneously. Her grandfather put up token resistance, but agreed, thinking it better that she had too much work than not enough.
As for Charles and Jane, apart from an exchange of Christmas cards, it appeared that their romance was nothing more than a summer fling. Meg had thought otherwise, but she decided that she was wrong.
The party was already in full swing by the time she came down to the lounge. With a grimace, Meg noticed that nearly all the fruit juice and soft drinks were gone, leaving only alcoholic drinks available. The loud music blasted away, threatening to give her a migraine. Will and Lizzy were, as usual, together near one of the windows, drinking what appeared to be fruit punch. Meg took a glass of the reddish liquid and examined it. It had less alcohol that everything else in the room, yet there was already considerable amount of plonk in it.
Charles was dancing on one of the tables, beer bottle in hand and already slightly inebriated. Meg gave a snort of almost-disgust - she couldn't stand the taste of beer, nor the degradation one exposed oneself to when under the effects of it. Overall, parties were really not her scene. She stayed for about another half-hour, losing whatever respect she might have had for most of her classmates as they overloaded their systems with alcohol. It seemed that it was only Lizzy, Will and herself who were anything approaching sober.
She went over to the couple, who were completely unaware of the rest of the room, absorbed completely in each other. They were the only ones still at the punch, everyone else having moved onto the stronger stuff. It wouldn't be long before they starting smoking all sorts of strange stuff and Meg wanted to leave before then. She gave some polite excuse to Will and Lizzy (who probably didn't hear her, given the noise and their own preoccupation with each other) before heading for the door.
She gave a glance back at the couple, who were still in polite conversation, when everyone else was practically senseless. With a flash of something that she never really worked out, she moved back to the punch bowl. She gave another glance to make sure that nobody was watching her.
Meg often wondered, in the years that followed, what might have happened had she behaved differently that night, would things have been better, or worse? But it did not matter after the event. In a reckless move that was so uncharacteristic of her, Megan DuBois Carter emptied two bottles of vodka into the fruit punch before going up to bed.
Part 9
It was just after dawn the next morning when Meg was woken by the sound of running in the corridor outside her room Odd, she thought who would be in any shape to be running around now? To the best of her recollection, the party had ended scarcely three hours ago. Her questions were answered as Lizzy burst into the room, sobbing. She did not have to tell Meg where she'd been and what she'd been doing since the previous night. Lizzy's hair, usually an artless tumble of curls, were even more tousled than usual. She wore only just enough clothing to cover any decency laws, carrying the rest of them (very much rumpled) in her arms. Her eyes were red with tears and she had a look of disbelief on her face.
Meg struggled out of bed, trying to make sense of it all. She was not a morning person. With a growing sense of dread, she took in all the details. What have I done? Please, please don't let it be what my dirty little mind is telling me?
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" she said out loud, even though it was becoming more and more obvious as Meg woke up. Any answer Lizzy might have made was interrupted by a knock at the door. After taking one look at Lizzy, Meg went to answer it.
Will's own appearance confirmed Meg's suspicions, his hair had the appearance of a particularly messy bird's next, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He was wearing a mismatched T-shirt and shorts, and looked as though he had been running through his worst nightmare.
"Is Lizzy there?"
"Yes," Meg answered, hoping that they could clear things up as soon as possible It wasn't meant to be like this, a drunken tumble. The smell of alcohol on his breath threatened to smother her. She made as though to let him into the room.
"No," Lizzy's voice was strangled. "I don't want to see him."
Meg turned back to Will to see a look of disbelief on his face. She stepped out of the room and softly closed the door behind her.
"Maybe you should just give her time…" she suggested awkwardly. This was definitely not what I hoped for. The smell of alcohol had her cough. "How much did you two drink anyway?"
"Just the fruit punch," Will answered "what's the matter?" he asked, seeing an unreadable look cross his friend's face.
"Nothing." She said. "Perhaps you both need some time. Why don't you drop in on her on your way to the airport next week?"
Will nodded, and, casting one last glance at the door, he stalked away.
Meg had invited Lizzy up to her paternal family's estates that summer. About two weeks after school had finished; Meg made the journey down to Lizzy's house to drive her up to the estates.
She took one of the sports cars this time, a dark red Ferrari that virtually purred. As she pulled up in the small town, Lizzy came out from her house and got into the passenger seat without a word. She shook her head when Meg asked whether she should say hello to Lizzy's family.
The drove for about an hour before Lizzy felt comfortable enough to talk.
"Will came by last week." She said neutrally
"Oh? What did he say?" Meg was curious as to what had transpired between them. Will had not replied to her e-mails or phone calls.
"I didn't let him say anything. I just slammed the door in his face and told him I never wanted to see him again."
"Why?" Meg had thought that two such intelligent and rational people could work out something like this by themselves.
"Because I'm so confused," Lizzy continued "I was happy with us the way we were. I didn't want this. So it's better that we forget it and move on."
"Precisely!" Meg agreed "So you both agree on something and go back to the way things were."
"Things will never be the way they were." Lizzy said sadly "That's why it's better that we just go away and forget each other."
"You can't just throw away a friendship over something like this!" Meg was insistent "Think of all the other things you've shared."
"And it's better for us if we just remember those things." Lizzy countered. "Not our last, and biggest mistake."
The continued in silence for some minutes.
"Tell me Meg, is your family really wealthy?"
Meg thought this a rather odd question. "Well, I can afford most things I want and I don't really need that grant the Defence Department gave me, if that's what you mean."
"Whereas I wouldn't be able to study Law if I hadn't got the scholarship." Lizzy mused.
"Would you say that your family is pretty far up in the social scale?"
"Depends which characteristics you're looking at," Meg was wary. What was Lizzy getting at?
"Do you think that you're going to end up higher or lower than Will on the social scale?"
"About the same, I think. We are very distant cousins." Meg said neutrally. "Why are you asking all these things? I never knew you were concerned about things like that."
"But others are. Don't you see? If I go any further with Will, they'd all assume that I was his girlfriend, and I'd have all those people looking at me."
"So? You never cared what some spoilt brat thought about you."
"You wouldn't understand." Lizzy muttered, as they turned off the freeway to the road that would lead to Meg's estates.
As they passed the wrought-iron gates, Lizzy gave a gasp of awe, and another as they drew up at the huge mansion.
"This place is huge!" she breathed. "You never told me you lived in a place like this!"
"I don't." Meg answered "My grandfather never did like my father much. I don't spend much time here." She got out of the car as people spilled out from the house.
For the first time, Lizzy noticed that Meg was not dressed, as she had supposed, in the T-shirt and jeans that Lizzy herself wore, but charcoal grey linen trousers with hardly a crease and a silk/lycra mix short-sleeved top. When she removed the leather driving gloves, Lizzy caught the glimpse of a diamond-set watch. Lizzy watched as others removed her bags and carried them into the house, and someone else drove the car to the garage.
"Lizzy," Meg tried to get her friend's attention "won't you come in?"
They crossed a huge marble-laid entrance hall. Lizzy noticed that Meg laid her gloves down on a small table without a thought, for someone else to pick up. The house was beautiful, but cold. Was this the life that Meg was used to? Lizzy felt that this Meg was nothing like the Meg she knew at school. By extension, was this the life that Will was used to? Could she ever fit into something like this, as she would have to if she continued with Will?
'Would you like to see if your room's all right?" Meg was asking as they climbed the stairs.
"Oh…yes…" Lizzy muttered vaguely, gazing at the portraits around them.
"The Hall of Ancestors." Meg informed her wryly. "But personally, this place gives me the creeps."
It was obvious that Meg had got her dark hair and pale skin from her Welsh ancestors, and her height from various minor Scandinavian nobles (according to Meg). Lizzy was almost easy about Meg's ancestry until an examination of the name plates indicated that they had a differing definition of 'minor' nobility, and that she could trace the Welsh part of her family further back than the British Royal Family could. And Will's in this league, Lizzy thought. Who was I fooling when I thought I could fit in here.
But nowhere did she see where Meg had obtained the green eyes or the rather distinctive, rather over-refined facial structure with its too-high cheekbones.
Lizzy stopped in front of a portrait that reminded her of someone. It was of two people, a man and a woman, dressed in the classically inspired style fashionable in the early nineteenth century. The man appeared confident and assured, in the prime of life. He had a strong, exceedingly handsome face, with one's attention drawn to the sensuous mouth and dark, bottomless eyes. His choice of clothing emphasised the strength and yet agility of his figure, and somehow, he reminded Lizzy of someone she knew. It hit her like a rock. That's what Will is going look like in about ten years, she realised with a jolt. She could barely stop a gasp at the sight of the woman. She looked…well, like how Lizzy might look in five or so years time. Visually, she was a worthy match of the man, her dark curls drawn artlessly away from a face not quite beautiful, but certainly very pretty. Like the man, her eyes drew the watcher in, dark and full of secrets and laughter. Who were they?
"Lizzy?" Meg tried to shake her friend out of her reverie. She looked at the portrait. "Oh, those are the ancestors Will and I have in common. Sir Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, Lady Darcy. Is something wrong?" she asked as Lizzy gave a sharp intake of breath. "This is a copy of their portrait which hangs in the hall at Pemberley," she flicked her eyes over to Lizzy "Will's home. It's much bigger and grander than this place. If you like we could visit - it's only an hour or so away…"
"No!" Lizzy's voice was almost too forceful. "No…it's perfectly all right. It's just a nice painting, that's all."
"They look like you two." Meg observed, then realised that was exactly what Lizzy was thinking. "Would you like to see your room?" she changed the subject quickly, and Lizzy followed Meg up the hall.
"None of these people really look like you," Lizzy observed.
"Grandad will be pleased," Meg's voice was rather bitter. "He never did like Dad much. He thought that he wasn't good enough." She met Lizzy's startled glance. "He's a bit of a social snob. He never forgets that he, and by extension myself, are members of practically every defunct royal family in Europe."
"Oh?"
"He never stops reminding me either." Meg had the tone of one for whom this was a long-standing grudge "Never forget the blood of the Bourbon Kings runs through your veins, nor the Valois, the Capets, etc, etc, etc.." Meg sounded disgusted. "And he's better about it than my grandmother. You should have heard her - you're from the line that produced Peter the Great, Alexander II, you share the blood of those who ruled an Empire that covered one-sixth of the world. Blah. Blah. Blah" Meg sounded extremely irate by the time they reached the guestrooms.
She held open the door to a suite that was even beyond Lizzy's vivid imagination. The outer room was stacked with the books and CD's she liked, the inner bedroom filled with every imaginable thing she would want, the ensuite contained a spa. From the balcony, there were sweeping views of distant mountains and calm forests. She nodded at Meg's polite inquiry as to whether the rooms were suitable. After Meg left the room, she sat on the outside balcony and brooded. This was the life that Will was used to. How could she fit into this world if she went any further with him? It was a world filled with jewels and money. A world that Meg and Will had been born into and would live in. For all the protestations of equality in the modern world, Lizzy felt like an intruder in this untouched world of power and wealth. She could not belong here any more than she could imagine Meg blind drunk and acting like Lydia.
Outside, Meg was perplexed. What had she done wrong? I may have psychopaths, dictators and others in my family, but what's so strange about it? What is going on here? I hate it when I don't know where I've stuffed it
Confused, Meg stalked off to her own rooms for a nice long swim in the scented water of her spa.
Part 10
"What's been bugging you?" Meg asked bluntly over dinner "I've never seen you like this before."
Lizzy took a while before speaking. How could Meg understand? She looked around at the 'informal' dining room. It looked like something out of a big-budget period movie, a priceless museum piece, yet it was a part of Meg's life. How could she explain that she just didn't fit in here?
"It's Will." She said at last.
Meg laid her knife and fork down. Idly, Lizzy noticed that the cutlery was real silver, inset with a coat-of-arms done in tiny stones.
"I don't know where we're going to go. We'll never go back to where we were, and we shouldn't go further."
"Whyever not?" Meg tilted her head.
"You don't see, do you?" Lizzy shook her head "Look around you. You and Will, and nearly everyone else at school, you've all grown up like this, surrounded by wealth and privilege. Compared to you I'm just a country yokel who happens to have a brain. If I continue this relationship with Will, I know that I'll be miserable, and make him miserable. Better we end it now, no matter how we feel personally."
"But it's never concerned you before this," Meg put in reasonably "why should it change just because of one night?"
"Because that one night changed everything," Lizzy was adamant "it's going to be well-nigh impossible for us to be 'just friends' after this, and I know I couldn't stand up to being his girlfriend."
"Why not? You do like him, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" Lizzy sounded almost offended. "But there's more to it than that. Everyone will think I'm only after him for his money. I'm so inferior to the lot of you. And eventually he'll get married, and if it's to me, everyone will still think I'm a fortune-hunter, and if not me, I'll have to go. I won't be the girlfriend of a married man."
"But you've never cared about class before," Meg was confused about the change in her friend.
"That was different. I was just friends with him. But now…where would I be? I might be just as smart as him or you, but you know so many things that I could never get. The things that define 'good breeding', so to speak. I can't judge jewels, I don't know which fork to use with what, I don't know how to carry on polite neutral conversation. I can't do any of those things that Will's girlfriend should be able to do."
Meg was beginning to understand. "But if you love each other, it shouldn't matter what others think. You're barely eighteen, for crying out loud. No one expects…" she cut herself off.
"…it to be serious." Lizzy finished. "But what will happen when it finishes? It'll be splashed all over the tabloids."
"Are you done with that?" Meg asked, motioning to the remains of the main course.
"Oh? Yes…" Lizzy did not quite catch the change in topic and watched as the server removed the plates.
"Desert?" Meg nodded to another of the people stationed at the door. "Berry sorbets with fresh fruit," she supplied for Lizzy's benefit. "Other side," she motioned as Lizzy leaned the wrong way and blocked the server.
"See what I mean?" Lizzy tried to make light of it.
"Little things like that can be learned," Meg told her "is that all you're worried about?"
"I don't know…"
After dinner, Meg gave Lizzy a guided tour of the house. If it was designed to make her friend feel more comfortable with such wealth, the move backfired badly. Where Meg tried to make Lizzy see that it was just a house like any other, if a little larger, Lizzy saw a world that was inaccessible. The library alone was about the size of Lizzy's entire house, three stories high and filled with practically every book ever published, and a growing collection of electronic data. There was a gym, sauna, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, billiards room, shooting range, basketball courts, fencing gallery, a running track and long-jump pits, and a entire storeroom filled with top-class sporting gear, most of it unused. For the more artistically inclined, there was a fully equipped dance studio, a relic from Meg's brief foray into ballet years ago, a music room with grand piano and harp, and an art studio that gave breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. There were stables and an attached riding ring for the numerous horses housed there, as well as a garage full of expensive cars and motorcycles (most of which were presents - Meg didn't actually have a license for motorcycles yet). The 'video room' looked like a small cinema, the 'communications room' like something out of a spy movie. The whole estate appeared to be the size of a small principality, but Meg assured Lizzy that it was just the planning that made it appear that the estate was miles from anywhere else.
Over the next few days, Lizzy did get used to the huge house. She played tennis, rode, swam and watched videos with Meg, gradually becoming less wary of the luxurious lifestyle. It is nice, she told herself, but it's not me. I'm not a creature of luxury and pampered idleness. I need something to do. But Meg's not exactly idle rich. The counter argument went, she's no different from any other girl friend I've had. She's risked her life to save the rest of us, she's done so much. She doesn't have to go to Uni, or to the Academy. What is her motivation? Not money, surely?
"I get bored easily," Meg's voice startled her. "You shouldn't think out loud if you don't want me to hear it." Lizzy looked at her friend, startled.
Meg shrugged "I have good hearing. Listen," she became earnest, "some neighbours have asked me to look after their daughter for a few days while they go overseas. Do you mind staying here in the morning while I go and get her?"
"No," Lizzy shook her head "Do you mind if I just watch some videos? It's going to rain tomorrow."
Meg waved a hand "By all means. You know where they are." She dismissed the walls of videos, arranged by category in alphabetical order.
Meg was gone by the time Lizzy woke the next morning, so she wandered into the kitchen to grab some breakfast before heading to the video room. Looking at the kitchen, it was no wonder that Meg had never learned to cook. With her meals cooked by master chefs, she never had any need to learn.
Lizzy examined the walls of videos. Every imaginable film, documentary, TV series worth recording was there. But she turned aside from all of those, to a plain tape labeled 'Debut.'
At first glance, it appeared to be footage of people in very formal clothes meandering around a exquisitely beautiful ballroom. At the centre of attention was a girl in a long white dress, engaged in a deep curtsey to her partner, a dark-haired young man in white tie and tails. They were the people that Lizzy would have to associate with if she continued her relationship with Will. They didn't look so bad. Perhaps Meg was right. They were only people. She sat back to enjoy the show. The footage was obviously taken by someone with a lot of talent, as they panned the crowd, Lizzy recognising many famous faces. The footage didn't appear to be very old - maybe two or three years, at the very most. She still had not managed to get a close look at the couple at the centre of attention, though the music had started and they began what looked like a very complicated version of the waltz, which Lizzy had no chance in a million years of ever learning. She took the time to admire the girl's dress. It was not one, as had first appeared, but rather, two. The underdress was of pure white silk, simply cut in the empire style, with broad straps across the shoulders and the hem just touching the ground. The overdress was made of a very fine, almost transparent silver gauze, which shimmered and clung to the bodice, and then flared out over the skirt to form a short train. The girl held the train and a small fan in one gloved hand, the other resting lightly on her partner's shoulder. In addition, she also wore a spectacular diamond and platinum necklace and bracelet, but her crowning glory was the platinum and diamond tiara which seemed to have no part in holding up her simple coiffure. She was perfect. She was what Lizzy would have to be to fit into this world. Then she turned her head. It was Meg, and her partner was William Darcy.
"That was my sixteenth birthday," came a quiet voice behind her. Lizzy yelped, and then turned off the TV guiltily and turned around.
Meg leaned in a relaxed pose against the doorframe. "Most people don't find my home videos as interesting as you do. Now," she bent down, Lizzy noticed a small girl with reddish-blond hair standing next to Meg.
"Gigi," Meg said to the girl, "this is Elizabeth Bennet. Lizzy, this is Georgiana Darcy, Will's little sister."
There was very little physical resemblance between Georgiana and her brother. But while she was probably only about five or six years old, she already had that unconscious grace and dignity that Lizzy already noticed in Meg and Will. The knowledge that one day you would be rich and powerful, that others will defer to you. That quality, which would become arrogance if left unchecked.
"Oh…hello…" Lizzy bent down awkwardly to the little girl's level. Georgiana gave a shy smile and bobbed what might have been a curtsey, before retreating behind Meg's tall figure.
"Gigi's a bit shy around strangers," Meg explained almost apologetically, in case Lizzy should have been offended. She gave Lizzy a smile as she twisted around in some anatomically impossible contortion and spoke to the little girl.
"Imogen's just had her litter," she said slowly "do you want to go and see them?"
Georgiana was a mass of giggles as she was swarmed by small bundles of soft grey fur. The puppies were as curious about her as she was about them. Further back, near Lizzy and Meg, the puppies' watchful mother kept a careful eye on her brood.
"It's not just the fact that I was there that made you react like that to the video," Meg fixed an unwavering gaze at Lizzy as they bent down over Imogen to make it look as though they were petting her.
"No," Lizzy admitted, stroking the dog's ears, "that video showed me everything that you've tried to convince me doesn't matter. You don't see it. All of this, as I keep telling you, this is you. It's not me. Which is a problem, considering all this is Will. And now we're back to the same old topic." Lizzy was silent as she scratched the shaggy grey fur underneath the wolfhound's chin.
"Look," Meg became exasperated, "why don't you just talk to him? I have his number - we can just go up to my study and…"
"No," Lizzy's voice was firm. "I won't. He'll think I'm after more than what he's willing to give…"
"But how can you know what he's willing to give? From what I've seen and heard you've barely exchanged ten words over the topic!"
Lizzy shook her head, stubborn, "I need time. Just time to sort out what I want."
It was almost too convenient that Meg's pager decided to beep at just that instant. Getting up, Meg asked Lizzy to keep an eye on Georgiana and come up to the main house when they were finished with the puppies.
Once outside the kennels, Meg gave one look at the pager, than ran up to the house.
She raced up the stairs two at a time, bursting through the heavy double doors that led to her study. It looked like a CEO's office, which it had been when her father was alive. She plunked herself into the comfortable chair and turned to what appeared to be a wall of boring account books.
"Show screen." The wall of books slid noiselessly apart to reveal a video screen the size of the wall.
"William Darcy," she said, apparently to thin air. The video screen had a momentary blur of light and colour before it all melded into a figure sitting in what appeared to be a hotel room.
Meg looked disparagingly at the young man on the screen. "You took your time deciding to call," she scolded before resting back into the chair. "It's about Lizzy, isn't it?" she barely gave time for the figure to nod.
"Honestly Will, you disappear for weeks then condescend to let me be your agony aunt. What is the problem?" A flash of compassion in her eyes belied her exasperated tone, and that was what Will took to heart as he began to speak.
Part 11, Conclusion and Aftermath
Georgiana allowed herself, reluctantly, to be torn away from the puppies when the kennel master announced that it was time for them and their mother to get some rest. Georgiana skipped ahead of Lizzy on the path up to the main house, and then disappeared up a flight of stairs. Lizzy, worrying that the girl might have been going somewhere she shouldn't, raced up the stairs after her.
She found herself at the end of a long corridor in a part of the house she was pretty sure Meg hadn't shown her around. Georgiana was looking through the keyhole of a heavy oak door at the other end of the hall. Lizzy moved to the girl.
"Georgiana, I don't think it's very nice to spy on people…" she began awkwardly, as the child turned around.
"She's talking to Will" Georgiana informed her "And they're talking about you."
Lizzy didn't need to hear more as she moved closer to the door. She caught the sound of Meg's voice at the end of a sentence.
"…and I don't care." Meg was saying, "You get back here and sort out this little problem before I drug the two of you and lock you both in the dungeons of that Crusader castle I have next door to the mess in the Middle East."
"There's always a mess in the Middle East." Lizzy heard Will's voice, rather surly, as though he were in the room with Meg.
"What's that to the purpose?" Meg's voice was sharp, as though she was at the end of her tether. "For the last time, come back into the country, and try to make it up to Lizzy before I take matters into my own hands."
Will made a gargling sound before it was cut off by Meg's decided, "Close transmission."
There was silence for several seconds, as Lizzy and Georgiana moved further away from the door. It opened, to reveal Meg, who was definitely not surprised.
"If you wanted to talk to Will, you were more than welcome to come in," she told them, before walking off down the corridor.
Lizzy stayed another week at Meg's house. She did not know whether to be disappointed or relieved that they had no more contact with Will for the time. Lizzy was fairly certain that Meg did try to call him regularly, but she never asked, and Meg never volunteered any information. At the end of her stay, Meg drove Lizzy back home. On the trip back, they spoke of school, of Uni, of everything except what they most wanted to talk about - Will and Lizzy.
On her return, Lizzy found her email full of messages from Will, likewise letters, and a myriad of messages that were luckily taken by Jane, all of them offering an apology and all but begging her to talk. All of the messages suffered the same fate. The verbal messages were ignored, the letters and notes burned, the emails consigned to electronic oblivion.
Will did call, in the weeks that followed, but their conversations seemed confined to a shy "Hello" from him before Lizzy cut the line. When she called Meg for advice, the older girl was no help, rather unhelpfully telling Lizzy simply to talk to him. Years later, Lizzy could see Meg's point, but then…then she simply could not. It was something that Meg never understood about Lizzy, though she respected it, and never went ahead with her threat to imprison her and Will in Krak des Chevaliers, even though there were times she felt that it would have been easier, and less time-consuming, certainly, to do so.
Several weeks like this passed before it was time for Lizzy to start getting ready for her departure to University. Meg had bought an apartment about halfway in between the University and Military Academy, so she would not have too much traveling time to get to either destination. Lizzy privately also thought that it was also a good way of escaping the cramped conditions that were so much a part of living on campus. Meg had asked Lizzy whether she would like to be her flatmate, and the offer was accepted.
It was during the few weeks they were settling in to the place that was to be their home for the next few years.
It was not exactly the best time or place for them to find out about the event that would change their lives so much.
It was a Saturday morning.
It was in the supermarket.
In the toiletries aisle.
Lizzy first realised something that she hadn't thought about for weeks when Meg placed a couple of packages into the basket. Lizzy hadn't needed to use them since…three weeks before school ended. That was over two months ago. Lizzy stopped stock still in the middle of the aisle, almost causing the little old lady behind them to run over her with a shopping cart.
"Lizzy?" Meg's voice penetrated through the fog. "Are you all right? What's the matter?"
Lizzy's eyes were fixed on those seemingly inoffensive pastel-coloured packages with an indescribable look on her face. Meg followed her friend's gaze and then muttered something under her breath, before taking Lizzy's arm and dragging her out to the checkout, shopping unfinished, and then to the chemist.
Lizzy was sobbing on the couch after throwing the offending stick with it's all-too-revealing pink stains halfway across the room in a fit of temper. Meg was trying to comfort her friend when the doorbell rang.
It was Will.
"I…" he trailed off, "Jane said Lizzy was staying with you." He said awkwardly. Meg noticed he had a bunch of flowers in his hand.
"I…" Meg had no idea what to say. She looked back behind her, to see Lizzy on the couch, tears streaming down her face, begging her not to let him in.
"I…Sorry Will, this has to be said. I don't think she wants to see you now. Maybe it would be better if you left her alone for a while."
He stared at her in shock. "I see." His voice was tight. "Good-bye."
He turned abruptly and stormed down the hallway. He threw the flowers against the wall before rushing down the stairs. Meg closed the door softly behind him, unaware of the tears slowly making their way down her cheeks, but all too aware that her last link with her childhood had just been broken.
Aftermath
"Lizzy…" she'd pleaded - she who never "Just tell him. He has a right to know…"
But she didn't. And she made Meg promise that she wouldn't either.
No one told them how hard it would be to try and raise a child while going through school. They worked it out all by themselves. Meg, Alex's godmother, had no idea what she was in for when she offered to 'help' with the baby, but it was enough to convince her that she was never going to have children, and opinion that remained unchanged for over ten years.
Lizzy was top of their class and after graduation joined a large law firm specialising in corporate and commercial law.
Both Charles and Will did well at their respective studies, though Will cut off contact with Lizzy and Meg. Charles and Meg would sometimes meet for a coffee and a chat, but their meetings were never known by their respective best friends.
Will did attempt a reconciliation of a sort when he invited them to his graduation party, but Lizzy was already busy moving into her new apartment and sent her 'regrets'. Meg, however, was genuinely upset to miss it, even though she sent a present. She was due to leave on her first tour of duty on the Laconia, with others of her graduating class, such as Frederick Wentworth.
She was barely a week into the voyage when an urgent summons brought her home. Her grandfather was dying.
So, Megan DuBois Carter inherited one of the largest business empires in the world, which was promptly restructured so that she could control its doings without being constantly mired down in board meetings. Business, however interesting, was not her cup of tea.
She remained in the Navy, and reached the rank of Vice-Admiral, though after her time on the Laconia she was never on board a battle ship for more than a day or so. She was transferred to military intelligence (though initially she thought it was a bit of a contradiction in terms), where her early field work with Jaime Bond caught the attention of many. After Jaime's death in rather uncomfortable circumstances, she began to work with Richard Fitzwilliam, a cousin of Will, in those cases which required people who could move in the so-called 'first circles' without arousing suspicion.
But for many years, the close-knit group they had been was no more. Frederick, who followed a more conventional naval career, never seemed to be in one place long enough to send them a decent e-mail. For many years, the icy barrier of pride kept Lizzy and Will apart, and certainly made things uncomfortable with Charles and Meg. Meg herself seethed, choking against the promise she had made Lizzy when Alex was born, waiting, waiting for a chance to bring them back together, to be with each other, where they belonged.