Section I, Next Section
Part 1
"Had you already heard that Netherfield went bankrupt at last?" Mrs. Bennet asked her husband.
"No, I hadn't heard that," Mr. Bennet replied from behind his sports magazine.
"Some of their players are coming over to us," his wife continued in an excited manner.
"Really?" Mr. Bennet was more interested in an article about the De Boer twins.
"You do not seem to excited."
"I do not see why I should be excited about a few new players."
"Just think about it! One of them has offered to coach our girls!"
"I wish him luck. There is no stupider team in this world than Longbourn's Ladies' First. They have absolutely no insight in the game."
"Oh! How can you say something like that, when five of your daughters play on that team?"
"They are all equally bad, though Lizzy may be a bit quicker than her sisters."
"I think you should go to their practise and introduce yourself, as a committee member, to make them feel at home."
"No way," said Mr. Bennet, and he read on.
"Holy cow!" Lydia cried. "Who is that? We haven't got anything as cute as that playing on our Men's First team."
"He's new," Charlotte Lucas informed her. "His team ceased to exist." Her father was the club's president and he knew everything that went on in the club.
"Chips! What's he coming to us for? He is built like a National First Division player."
"His name is Charles Bingley, and he was tenth on the First Division's top-scorer list."
"He's cute," Jane remarked. "He looks nice."
"He will also be our coach."
"Whoa! Are you sure you'll be able to keep our eyes on the ball during a game, Jane? Who's the other one?" Elizabeth asked.
"He's Fitzwilliam Darcy. He was sixth on the top-scorer list."
The girls were still in the hall and they were watching them through the window. Elizabeth thought he was cute as well, cuter than Charles in fact, but he looked very arrogant and bored. She stared at his excellent physique and the way he threw a ball across the length of the pool like it was nothing. "Charlotte, what are they doing at Longbourn if they are First Division players?"
"We are first division players too," Lydia objected.
"The first division of the district, Lydia," Elizabeth said dryly. "They play national." Lydia had never understood that one promoted from the first district division to the national third division..
"Let's get changed," Jane suggested, tearing her eyes away from the cute Charles with difficulty.
"Geez, Jane. It's not even a quarter past. Practise starts at seven thirty. We'd be much too early," Kitty protested.
"I don't care," Jane said and she walked to the changing rooms.
When they entered the pool, Elizabeth's eyes fell on two girls in the water. "Who are they?"
"They'll be on our team. That's Louisa, and that's Caroline. From the same team the guys came from. They're Charles' sisters."
Jane looked relieved.
"Yikes. They're awfully good," Elizabeth said as she watched Louisa rapidly pass balls to Caroline, which she all caught and then threw backwards into the goal in a quick, fluent movement, without missing a shot or dropping a ball.
"Hello!" Charles said cheerfully. "You must be my new pupils. I'm Charles."
"Introduce yourself, Jane," Mrs. Bennet yelled from the gallery. "You're the team captain."
Jane introduced her teammates to Charles and his haughty sisters, and to the equally haughty Fitzwilliam, or William as he seemed to prefer. Soon they were all in the water, except Charles who was coaching them from the side, and William who was balancing a waterpolo ball on his finger with a bored expression on his face. Charles ordered them to pair up and pass the ball for fifteen minutes, and he dove in himself to do this with Jane, because there was an uneven number of girls. He had overlooked that Elizabeth had gone to the bathroom, so when she got back, he swam to the side and addressed William. "Hey, could you jump in and throw the ball over with Elizabeth?"
"No, I'm not in the mood to pass balls to a failed swimmer who probably can't even catch," William said.
Elizabeth overheard him and she was pretty nettled. A lot of swimmers went on to play waterpolo if they lost interest in swimming, and it was true that they were not the best ball handlers, but that arrogant William had not even seen her with a ball yet. Duh! And I'm not even a failed swimmer. I bet you are, though. One of those weenies who couldn't bring themselves to go to swimming practise anymore. "I'll go with Jane," she said curtly.
Later, in the changing room, she made fun of it to Charlotte, and she did not care that Charles and William were in the one next door, with only a two metre high wall between them. They could overhear anything the girls were discussing, provided that it was not whispered. If they stood on the bench they could probably even see the girls, but apart from the odd eight year old, no one ever did that.
Louisa and Caroline were not in their changing room, or she wouldn't have said those things about William. "Where are they?" Charlotte asked.
"I bet they are in another one," Elizabeth said. There were six of them. "Or in a cubicle. They do strike me as the cubicle type."
"What is a cubicle type?"
"Someone so arrogant that she doesn't want to socialise or get dressed with the rest of us. I like Charles, though."
"Yes, he is very nice," Jane agreed.
"Of course you'll need to confer a lot with him, as team captain and coach," Elizabeth teased her sister.
"Do you think so?" Jane said eagerly, and Elizabeth laughed.
Part 2
William very soon started to regret his comment. He was deeply mortified that Elizabeth had overheard it. He did not really mean it, but sometimes, no, a lot of times his words did not come out the way he meant them. Elizabeth did not drop more balls than the average player, he noticed, and he also noticed that she was really pretty. Damn. Trust me to antagonise the only pretty girl on this team. Maybe I should apologise? Nah. No way she would believe me. She'd think that...well, I don't know what she'd think, but I'm sure it wouldn't be positive.
He and Charles and Caroline usually carpooled to the pool because they lived in the same village. Sometimes Charles and Caroline would drive with Louisa and her husband, but Caroline preferred William's car because it was more classy.
"Such nice girls on this team," Charles exclaimed in the car.
"They're a load of crap," William said. "There is not one decent player on the whole team."
"William!" Caroline cried from the back. "Did you forget that Louisa and I are on this team now as well? By force, of course, but still..."
"Crap?" Charles asked. "They may not be extremely good, but they are very nice, you must admit." He was thinking of Jane. "I do think they have potential to get better."
"Yes, now that we have joined they may," was Caroline's opinion. "The amount of goals scored will double, or triple."
"Jane has a very good shot," said Charles. "She could be a very good player because she swims well too."
"Yes, she does, but she is too sweet. She'll give up the ball at the slightest sign of an attack," William said with a slight hint of contempt.
"She is a sweet girl indeed," Caroline added. "Louisa and I like her best from all the girls."
Elizabeth always taught the younger members of the club before her own training, and she had noticed that William, having arrived too early, had been watching her a few times. "What does he mean," she said to Charlotte, "by coming so early? Does he want to see how bad I teach? I wish he wouldn't sit in the gallery! Couldn't he go to the restaurant?"
"I don't know, ask him."
"If he does it again, I might, because it makes me very nervous."
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, William had been spotted by Mr. Lucas who thought he could ask him if he could help Elizabeth out, since she had about twenty children to look after and he had to go to a meeting. He thought he was doing Elizabeth a great favour when he yelled up the gallery to William, saying, "could you come down and help Elizabeth out? She has too many children here."
Elizabeth started. She absolutely did not want William to help her. "Mr. Lucas, I can manage, really."
William rather liked the idea, not to teach the children, but to assist Elizabeth, and he got up, but Elizabeth waved him off so he sat down again.
"I can manage without that arrogant jerk," she muttered under her breath.
"What did you say?" said one of the impertinent little girls. "Is he up there your boyfriend?"
"No," said Elizabeth with some surprise.
"Oh, but he asked you out, surely."
"No."
"Why not?"
Elizabeth smiled, ascribed this all to incomprehensible children's logic, and transferred her attention back to instruction.
William was joined by Caroline in the gallery. "Why are you sitting here? It is much too hot, and there is nothing to see."
Not to you, no.
"Oh, I know what you are thinking."
"I don't think so," William answered.
"Sure. You are regretting the fact that you ever came to this club. The pool is tops, but the people using it are, I hate to say it--"
No, you don't. You love to say it.
"--crap, to use your own words."
"Actually, I was thinking that some are very skilled."
Caroline looked puzzled.
"I was thinking that an skilled member like Elizabeth down there could do a world of good. She teaches them very well."
"Of course, William. You must enlist her to coach the Men's First Team then, and you shall relegate to the lowest level before Christmas, after which you will be pooled with the teams of fifty-plussers."
Part 3
"I was thinking," said Charles to Mr. Lucas, "since the season is almost over, that we could go to a tournament or two."
"Excellent idea," said Mr. Lucas. "Do you mean with the men or with the girls?"
"Wouldn't it be nicer to go with both? That way we might have some spectators, unless we are playing at the same time."
"Oh, are the tournaments mixed then? Our teams have never been anywhere."
Charles looked surprised. "Well, most tournaments are mixed, unless they are of a very high level."
"That would be nice, yes. I think everybody would like that. You will probably have to hire off a whole hotel for all the players though!"
"Tournaments are always in outdoor pools," Charles explained. "And outdoor pools have fields of grass, for tents. Everybody always sleeps in tents." Well, sleep would not be the right word, but let's not worry Mr. Lucas.
"Jolly good fun, camping!"
"Yes," said Charles, who was already planning to put his tent close to Jane's, because he was liking Jane better and better.
They had hired a bus to get all the participating teams to the pool where the tournament was being held. One of the referees had a bus driver's license and he drove the bus. On board were the girls of the first team, and the men and boys of the first and second teams, and the other referee, Mr. Lucas. The bus was not full, which was a good thing, because tall and broad waterpolo players liked to occupy two seats.
Everybody liked it that there were hardly any parents going, because parents are a nuisance when young people between the ages of roughly sixteen and thirty go camping. There would probably be an outdoor disco and lots of beer, considering how much Longbourn's men brought, and they were not even experienced tournament visitors.
It was Friday, and this was rather early to arrive since the first games would be played on Saturday, but Mr. Lucas had arranged this because he thought everybody needed five hours to put up a tent, like he did. Not that anyone minded, it was a sort of mini-holiday.
The Bennet girls had two tents, one for three and one for one. Jane, Lydia and Kitty shared, and Mary had one for herself. Charlotte and Maria Lucas shared also. Three girls of Lydia's age, Mary King and two twins called Wendy and Cindy were in a tent together too, which only left Louisa and Caroline for Elizabeth. Louisa was sharing with her husband of course, so Elizabeth had no other choice than to share with Caroline, or buy a new tent for herself, which would be a rather idiotic option. She would endure it for two nights.
Elizabeth had expected Charles and William to share, but Charles had a tent for himself. Given the fact that Jane was with Lydia and Kitty, Elizabeth thought that this was a pretty neat situation for her sister. She then thought William would sleep alone as well, not having seen him go about with his teammates much, but he said someone from another team was to join him on Saturday.
Caroline, of course, had no idea how to put up a tent, and she would not even try with William nearby. He did it for her.
Everybody knew that they would have very little sleep once the other teams would all be there on Saturday evening, so they did not make it late.
The first games on Saturday went all right, four won and four lost, and coach Charles was very satisfied. He had not expected them to win so many.
That evening there was an outdoor disco near the pool, and most of the players headed there because there was not much else to do. Elizabeth and Charlotte went there too. They were not really inclined to join the drinking party consisting of William's crowd in front of his tent. Jane was with them, they noticed, and also some guys they did not know, and they had brought bottles from home. Caroline was already hanging half over William, and Elizabeth hoped she would not throw up in the middle of the night.
At the disco Elizabeth chatted with a nice guy named George, who happened to be an ex-teammate of William's, and the stories he told her of William were not very pretty. That William was arrogant, Elizabeth already knew, but that he would go so far as to bribe the opponents to provoke George into three personal faults and thus disqualification, only to prevent George from passing him on the top-scorer's list, was a stunning revelation.
After talking to George she was accosted by William Collins, who asked her to dance. Elizabeth thought he was a creep, and besides, the music was not exactly something she would want to dance with a creep to, so she said no. He then pleaded for about fifteen minutes, but to no avail. In the end he asked Charlotte, who accepted out of boredom. Elizabeth wandered off. She was interested in George, but she did not see him anywhere. Lydia and Kitty were too embarrassing to watch, both drunk and dressed in the most seducing outfits they had, Mary was probably trying to sleep, and Elizabeth thought this was a good idea. She was tired anyway.
She zipped open her tent, but zipped it back down almost immediately. Caroline was in there and she was not alone. "I'm tired!" Elizabeth muttered to herself. "I want to go to bed." It was probably William, she concluded, Caroline was always particularly chummy with William. The drinking party had split up and there was no one to be seen anywhere. William would not mind if she slept in his tent instead, if he was in hers. And so, Elizabeth got into William's tent, which was empty, and fell asleep.
Part 4
When Elizabeth woke up she found herself lying between two guys, William, and someone she did not know. It was bad enough that she was lying next to William, but the unknown person was lying very close to her -- too close, and she pushed him off. On her other side William lay watching her with a disapproving expression. What are you looking at, idiot? I don't care what you think. You were pretty busy yourself last night. She gave him a haughty look and crawled out of the tent.
She found Caroline just waking up when she got to her own tent. "I wish I had slept in a hotel," Caroline complained. "I feel sore all over. Have you been up long?"
"You don't remember last night?" Elizabeth asked.
"Not much. Should I?"
"I think you tented with someone," Elizabeth informed her.
Caroline's eyes grew huge. She did not remember anything like that. "Who with?"
"I don't know. Couldn't you ask them to say it over the intercom? Could the person who tented with me last night please report to the reception desk?"
"It's not funny," Caroline snapped.
"I don't think it is. I think it's disgusting."
"What do you mean by tenting anyway?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "There was someone with you but I did not bother to look who it was."
Caroline was sure nothing worse than a kiss had happened. After all, she was not that kind of girl, and Elizabeth probably made it up because she was jealous.
William woke with Elizabeth between him and his cousin. He had been a little too drunk to notice anything when he had gone to sleep, but the sight of Elizabeth when he opened his eyes was a great shock. She had probably come with Richard, he thought jealously. Richard always knew how to do such things. Elizabeth gave him a look that pained him, and when she had left he addressed his cousin. "Where were you last night?"
Richard yawned. "I was with a girl."
Elizabeth? William wondered anxiously. "Which girl?"
"Gee, as if I know. All I know is that she has dark hair."
Elizabeth has dark hair. "What did you do with this girl?"
"What do you think?" his cousin answered.
William was both disgusted and impressed by Richard's ease with girls. He could get them in bed with a wink and a smile, and yet he didn't care a thing about it and only used his talents on special occasions. Which meant...that this girl was probably Elizabeth, because William had not seen any other girls worth chasing. It made him very sad to think about it. "Why?"
"Because I felt like it."
"Disgusting." He would not be able to stand it if Elizabeth had spent the night with Richard, but what else would she have been doing in his tent? "I hope you used something."
Jane was well on her way to a steady relationship with Charles, much to Mrs. Bennet's delight, but the summer holiday put an end to things. Mrs. Bennet, and Jane to a lesser extent, had hoped that Charles would ask Jane to go on vacation with him, but he did not. He went away with William for all of three months, and they could not be reached anywhere. Jane was heartbroken. She did go to visit Caroline on the latter's invitation, but when she asked for Charles' vacation address, Caroline told her several times she would get it 'in a minute' but she never got round to doing it. Jane gave up.
Elizabeth had exchanged telephone numbers with George at the tournament, and he had called her weekly, and they had even gone out several times. Elizabeth told herself she really liked George.
Disgustingly enough, Charlotte had gone out with William Collins a few times after the tournament, and she was now dating him. She had admitted to Elizabeth that she had even kissed him on the first night, and Elizabeth had been shocked. Charlotte had always maintained that she would not kiss anyone at a disco.
William had avoided Elizabeth, which pleased her, but not him. Caroline sought his attentions more than ever, but he hardly noticed. He tried to steer Charles away from Jane as much as possible. If Charles was involved with Jane, he would see too much of her sister, which was heaven and hell at the same time.
After the holidays, Elizabeth was invited to a party at the Lucases. It was Charlotte's birthday, but her father was also having some meeting with a Catherine De Bourgh. She used to be the president of William's former club, but she was also his aunt. She had brought her daughter and her nephew for the occasion, and also another nephew, whom Elizabeth recognised as the other person from William's tent. She was glad they were there, because to spend a whole evening with just Charlotte, Maria and the inevitable William Collins was unbearable. William she could do without, because he said nothing anyway, and Anne only smiled, but Richard was fun. He told her some things about William that she did not like, however. Apparently William had purposely taken Charles away on vacation to keep him away from a girl. Elizabeth knew this had to be Jane, and she was very angry with William, but she did not say anything to Richard.
William watched Elizabeth and his cousin very closely, much to Elizabeth's chagrin, but he saw nothing that spoke of there having been anything between them. They behaved like they met for the first time, and this prompted him to approach Elizabeth a day later, only he did not have enough courage to say anything. Two days after that he saw her again, and he decided to grab his chance.
Part 5
It was in a pub where he was with Charles. He saw a glimpse of Elizabeth standing near the bar with Jane and his heart skipped a beat. Then someone stepped into his line of vision and he could not see her anymore. He craned his neck, but it was dark and he could not see her very well. He moved in her direction until he was standing some way behind her. She was giggling with Jane, and he guessed she had probably already had a few drinks. If she would go with Richard when she did not even know him, why would she not go with me? It's worth a try anyway. I am not ugly, I'm reasonably good-looking, I don't see why she wouldn't.
"Hi Jane, hi Elizabeth," said Charles.
"Hi Charles," Elizabeth giggled. She was obviously in a good mood, because she said, "hi William," as well.
"What do you all want to drink?" William asked.
"I'll have an orange juice," Elizabeth said. She was pleasantly surprised that he was offering them drinks.
"A mix?"
"No, just plain." I already had two mixes.
"Really, I don't mind the price difference, if that is bothering you."
Showing off your money? "Well, okay then," Elizabeth told him. "I'll have a mix."
He got them all their drinks and found them laughing at something Charles had said. I wish they would laugh at something I said for a change, but I never know what to say until it's too late. When I'm with Elizabeth, that is. In other places I know I can be funny enough. "Did you have fun during the vacation?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded.
"Where did you go?"
"I stayed home."
"Oh." William did not know what to say now.
"Did you go anywhere?" Elizabeth asked out of politeness.
"Yes, I went interrailing with Charles."
"Was it fun?" she asked them both. "I've never done it."
"Perhaps next year we could go together," William suggested boldly.
Elizabeth stared at him in surprise for a few seconds, and then started laughing. "Sure. If you're paying. Three months!"
"All right, I'll pay," William offered.
"Deal!" she laughed again, thinking he had a strange sense of humour.
William offered to get her another mix, but Elizabeth declined. She did not want to get drunk, especially not in the company of William, reputed seducer of drunk females. She had orange juice and bitter lemon instead. They parted company at the end of the evening with some disappointment on William's side. Although Elizabeth had been more friendly to him than ever, she was terribly hard to get. Elizabeth had not shown any trace of interest in him whatsoever, and he had not dared to show any deep interest in her either. He wondered what his cousin had that he did not. Perhaps Richard states things more clearly or something. Perhaps he really says, "I like you, do you like me? Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Or one-night-stand, in his case. I wonder if that would work. If I said it. I suppose not. It sounds as if the person saying it has only one thing in mind, and I don't.
Part 6
Caroline had found out that she was pregnant when it was too late to do anything about it. It was quite a shock, because she had never really believed Elizabeth saying that she had been with someone. She did not want to face several months of questions about the father's identity, so she kept quiet about it.
Truth, however, always comes out.
One day she was kicked in the stomach during a waterpolo game. "Ouch!" she yelled. "Watch out!" Everybody was surprised when she got out of the water clutching her stomach, and most girls thought she was overreacting.
"What's wrong?" Charles quickly nodded to the only spare girl to take her place in the water.
"I'm pregnant and that idiot kicked me!" Caroline cried.
"Pregnant?" asked a dumbfounded Charles. Automatically he looked at William. If there was anyone Caroline had shown an interest in, it had been William.
"It wasn't me!" William exclaimed indignantly.
"Whose is it?" Charles asked.
"I don't know," Caroline said miserably. "Please don't tell anyone."
"What will Mum and Dad think? When did this happen?" Charles had only eyes for his sister, while William had enough sang froid to keep an eye on the game.
"During the tournament."
William turned his head. The tournament where Richard and Elizabeth...and Caroline too, apparently...Richard and Caroline? He wanted it to be true, and something told him he might be right. He was immensely relieved that it had not been Elizabeth, although he could not be sure. He said nothing to Caroline. First he would have to talk with his cousin.
The good news inevitably leaked out and the rest of the team found out about Caroline's pregnancy, but she refused to reveal the identity of the father. Her teammates thought she was being interesting. Elizabeth studied William. He pretended not to be the father, but she knew better. At the tournament she had caught them together, hadn't she? She despised his indifference. He was such a jerk! William had ignored her since the met in the pub, and now he suddenly praised one of her actions. Elizabeth gave him a dirty look.
William was devastated. She gave me a dirty look! Why? Does she think I had an affair with Caroline? Nothing could be more wrong. He decided to call his cousin as soon as he got home.
"Richard? It's William. What was the name of your conquest at that tournament?"
"Her name? That's like asking her social security number. And which tournament by the way?"
"The one where we ended up with a girl sleeping between us."
"I didn't know you were in for such things."
"Richard! What was her name?"
"The one sleeping between us?"
"No, your conquest."
"I don't know," Richard said indifferently.
"Was it Caroline?"
"Who is Caroline?"
"She is in my club. Charles' sister."
"Good heavens!"
"She's pregnant," William dropped the bomb.
"Pregnant?" Richard sounded shocked.
"Yes. It happened at the tournament, and since you both don't know who you partnered, it was probably you."
"Yeah, logic!"
"She has dark hair too, like yours."
"Sure, but I take my precautions."
"Always?" William asked.
"Yes." Richard did not protest too much. He had not been drunk and he knew very well that it had been Charles' sister. So her name is Caroline? And she is pregnant?" "But how can she be sure it happened then?"
"I guess that was the only possible moment. Are you going to be a daddy?"
"No," Richard lied. He had to sit down. He did not want the responsibility of a child and he did not even know this Caroline. What had he gotten himself into? William said Caroline did not even know it had been him, so she would never know if William did not tell her. Richard did not know what Caroline wanted. Did she want to bring up the child alone? Did she want an abortion? Did she want the father? Did she want anyone to know? She had told William. He did not know how long he had been silent before he spoke again. "Why would she tell you that?"
"Because she was kicked during a game and she panicked. She told Charles and me, but she asked us not to tell anyone. I am telling you this because I think it would concern you."
"You can't be sure of that," Richard protested.
"It would be odd if it wasn't yours."
"Why?"
"I told you before. She was too drunk to remember, and you are too uninterested in who you sleep with."
"How do we know she slept with someone? There was a witness?"
"Maybe Elizabeth told her. They were sharing a tent."
"And who might Elizabeth be?" Richard asked.
"She ended up in our tent."
"With you?"
"No, I thought she was with you," William said.
"Not with me. So, what was she doing there unless she fancies you?"
"She hates me."
"Mystery, unless she thought it was you with that Caroline," Richard said.
"Oh, I see. Yes, she would. And now she would think I am the guilty party. Thanks a lot, Richard."
"Uh oh, you fancy her," Richard stated.
"Don't change the subject, Daddy."
"Don't call me that!" Richard shouted down the line.
"Well, you're the one that sleeps around."
"I'm not sleeping around. I'm just searching."
"You got one now, and a little bonus coming too."
Richard said nothing.
"Did you...?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why? She was totally drunk!"
"She didn't strike me as that drunk," Richard defended himself.
"Shall I tell her it was you?" William offered.
"No."
"She has a right to know."
"No."
"Richard, don't be such a jerk."
"I know I can't stop you from telling her and I know that you're so righteous that you will tell her anyway."
"I thought it might be better if I told her, rather than you doing it yourself."
"If you say so."
"I'm probably sparing you some serious physical damage this way," William warned.
Richard's groaned. For the umpteenth time he asked himself what he had gotten himself into.
Part 7
Caroline sat crying in an empty changing room. She felt so bad. Why did she drink so much that she could not remember anything? Now she was going to be stuck with a baby with no father. Even if she ever found out who the father was, it would probably be some kind of womanizing jerk. She honestly did not knew why she submitted herself to the humility of coming to the training when everybody knew, and everybody probably speculated and laughed behind her back. Stuffing her clothes into her bag, she walked towards the pool. Someone said hello, but she hardly noticed who it was.
Elizabeth thought that Caroline looked very unhappy, which was reasonable if William did not want to know anything about the child. After the training, she saw William take Caroline aside and she was really curious, especially when Caroline appeared to be really angry with him. So it was true -- William was the father. She was resolved not to speak another word to the scumbag. She dressed quickly, seething inside. When she was dressed, she walked out into the hall and looked into the pool through the glass. Caroline and William were still there, and she was apparently still not pleased with him. Elizabeth had never felt much sympathy for Caroline, but she was wholly on her side now. "Tell him, Caroline," she muttered. "Yeah! Tell him what he is. Kick him where it hurts most. Aw!" she cried in disappointment when William hugged Caroline. "You fool! Don't let yourself be taken in like that."
William had approached Caroline after the training. "Hey Caroline..." he began cautiously.
"Yes?" she snapped. "Any questions, comments, disapproval? Get it all off your chest. I know what you're all thinking, so please share it with me too."
"I was just wondering what you were going to do."
"Do I have a choice?" Caroline asked bitterly. "I have no choice but to give birth to it."
"I mean, about the father and all that."
"It's not as if he's volunteering to step forward."
"He might not be aware of it."
"Oh, don't give me that crap. I don't know who he is anyway, and I do not even want to know, because he is probably some jerk. No, not probably. He is a jerk incarnate. He is..." Caroline called him a few more names.
William inhaled deeply. "It wasn't me," he said to make things absolutely clear. "But I know who he is."
"What?" she cried. "And you're telling me only now? You're just as bad as he is. I hate men! The only thing you can do is getting women pregnant and then run off, and then --"
"I didn't know it any sooner."
"I told you yesterday! You could have told me yesterday that you knew who it was."
"I had to check with the person in question first," William said.
"And he denied it, right?"
William said nothing.
Caroline cursed. "He did. You don't have to tell me. You can't lie anyway. He denied it. What kind of a moron is this jerk?"
"He admitted it later."
This was even worse in Caroline's eyes. "He knew? He knew I was drunk! He took advantage of me when I was drunk? I have no words for this...this..." She was almost hyperventilating.
"He didn't know you were so drunk that you didn't know what you were doing," William tried to defend his cousin.
"Oh, right!" she said sarcastically. "And this is a friend of yours? Why does he let you do his dirty work for him? Is he such a coward that he can't face me himself? What does he want, anyway? I suppose he wants nothing to do with it. Let me tell you -- and you can tell him this -- that I certainly do not want anything to do with him. I had rather raise my child alone than having to deal with some brainless idiot who can't control his hormones. What's in it for you? Why are you doing this?"
William saw that this was going to be very difficult. He had no idea what Richard wanted, but he had counted on a more reasonable, calmer reaction from Caroline, so that he could try to arrange a meeting between the two. The way she was ranting and raving now made that almost impossible. "He's my cousin."
"Who on earth is your cousin? I have never seen your cousin!"
"Yes, you have. His name is Richard."
Caroline was speechless.
"You know Richard, right? He shared a tent with me at that tournament."
"And with me too, apparently, if I have to believe Elizabeth and the doctor. Well, tell your cousin that if he should ever run into me, he will regret that he was ever born a boy."
"Do you want to talk to him?" William asked cautiously.
"Talk to him? Ha! I want to do lots of things to him, and talking is one of the last things on my list."
"I'll give you his phone number."
"Oh no, no way. I am not going to call him and beg him for assistance. If he wants to talk to me, he should call me. Or, better still, I want to see him in person so I can hit him."
William didn't want to get hit in Richard's place, and he saw Caroline was in a hitting mood. "All right, I'll see what I can do. Call me if you ever need help."
"Thank you. I do appreciate it, but I am just soooo..."
William gave her a hug, hoping that this whole business would cure Elizabeth of the absurd notion that he had something going with Caroline.
Part 8
Unfortunately, Elizabeth found William an even bigger jerk than before, and she was now absolutely certain that he had been involved with Caroline. She ignored him every time she saw him, which was not often, because he stopped attending their training. After that one time she had seen him talk to Caroline, he did not pay attention to Caroline very much anymore. He obviously did not want anything to do with the child. She went out with George a few more times.
One night, she was out with him, and she told him what had happened. "Remember William?"
"Yes," George answered. "What about him?"
"He got a girl on my team pregnant."
"What a moron," George laughed.
"And now he doesn't want anything to do with her," Elizabeth said indignantly.
George saw that he had better not voice his real opinion on showing some responsibility towards the mother of your child, so he copied Elizabeth's reaction. "Outrageous! Hey...are you going to that tournament in two weeks?"
"Yes, you too?"
"Of course!"
"Great!"
"I'll bring some drinks so we can party."
"Well..." said Elizabeth. "I don't really drink."
"Oh, but these drinks don't get you drunk at all. They just get you in a good mood," George promised.
William had been true to his word. He had approached his cousin with the suggestion that he meet Caroline in person, not mentioning that she would in all probability punch him a black eye, or worse. William secretly felt that Richard deserved it.
"If you say so, William," Richard replied in resignation. "I'll visit her."
"For God's sake, Richard. You were the cause of all of this yourself. Isn't it time to feel some responsibility?"
"All right, all right."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"Oh, please no," he groaned. "It's humiliating enough."
Caroline had made sure she would be alone in the house when Richard came. She opened the door and he stood there with his hands in his pockets. She looked him up and down. I did it with him? I really don't remember a thing. He's cute. What a pity... But then she remembered that he was a total jerk, and she looked angry. "Come in, you jerk."
"Oh, you know who I am?" he asked lamely.
Caroline narrowed her eyes. "How could you? How could you use me in such a way?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just didn't think, I suppose."
"You do not sound as if you care a whole lot."
"It's happened. I can't undo things."
"You think your involvement is over, obviously."
"Oh," he said in a bitter voice. "If you only knew what will happen when my parents find out."
"What?" said Caroline sarcastically. "They'll tell you not to do it again, and ground you for a week?"
"Far worse."
"They'll ground you for two weeks?"
"For life."
"Poor you," Caroline mocked.
"And poor you. They don't really approve of illegitimate grandchildren."
Two weeks later there was a tournament to start off the season. This time it was in an indoor pool, because September was not warm enough to play outside anymore. All the players would be sleeping in a gym, which would be a fun experience, although with so many people in the same space nobody would get much sleep. There would be people walking and chatting all the time, and flashlights and radios, and waterpolo balls bouncing around. But then, sleep was not what everybody would be coming for. Teams arriving late would have to squeeze in somewhere between teams that had arrived early. Longbourn secured a corner of the gym. Elizabeth decided to inflate her mattress already, so she did not have to do that just before she went to sleep when she was tired.
"Ahhh, Lizzy," Denny pleaded. "Can you do mine as well? I'll give you a cookie."
"Gee, Denny!" Elizabeth laughed, but she inflated his bed as well. She threw the mattresses down, and threw their sleeping bags over them. After that, she got out her swimming stuff and her polo caps, and got herself ready to play her first game. She had been looking around for George continually, but she had not seen him yet, although the green t-shirts of his club were visible in an opposite corner.
After the games everybody returned to the gym to get ready for dinner, which was a buffet in a smaller gym. The younger Longbourn girls were flirting with a military waterpolo team, but the older girls and some guys from their club sat down to eat and discuss their plans. "It's a bit early to hit the town yet," said one called Mark.
"Yes, it's barely nine. Usually things start to get going at midnight or so," Charles agreed.
"I have a bottle of wine, and Denny has Malibu," someone said.
"We can have a small party here first," another one suggested. Partying usually only happened at tournaments, which were only at the beginning and the end of the season, and there were usually a lot of clubs taking part. The normal league games were very serious, and only one-to-one games that lasted four times four minutes with everyone arriving half an hour before and leaving half an hour afterwards.
Elizabeth hardly ever drank, but she was enjoying herself now, having scored five goals, so she let herself be persuaded to drink with them. When they were all slightly tipsy, they walked into town to a club, where the waterpolo players were instantly recognisable: the locals were dressed to impress, and the waterpolo players were not. Besides that, they were also bigger. It seemed like all the teams were there, and there was much intermingling between the various teams and sexes. No wonder there were so many families of which all the members played, both parents and children. Even Mrs. Bennet, who now played for Longbourn's third ladies' team, had met Mr. Bennet in a pool. Of course she was not present here, since all clubs had only been able to sign up one team for the tournament. Of course nobody in his right mind would ever sign up the third team, which mainly consisted of women between thirty and fifty-five, for a tournament of this level, if they had a first team of which the eldest was twenty-seven. The older women had enough playing skills, but not the stamina to play eight games a day.
None of this was on Elizabeth's mind, however. She was busy talking to someone she did not know, and who had pressed a drink into her hand. She had no idea what it was, but he assured her that nobody had drunk from it yet, although he did not know what it was either. Since she was having a great time, she drank from it, and got even more tipsy.
Part 9
Author's Note: Thanks to J & E = Joanna & Ewa, of course. For the idea & translation. Dziekuje bardzo!
William had not gone away. He had stayed in the gym to read a book, not being very fond of crowded nightclubs and dancing. He was especially not fond of seeing Elizabeth enjoy herself, knowing he was too much of a coward to approach her. A few players from one of the foreign teams had decided to stay behind too, and one of them had a guitar. They also had vodka, but being Russians, they were sort of immune. The singer began to sing a sad song, and it suited William's mood exactly. He laid down his book.
One of the Russians saw him, and beckoned him over. "Come here. Drink?"
Why not? William thought. It's always interesting to make friends with foreigners. He walked over and sat down on one of the garden chairs that were set down in a corner, bringing a bag of chips with him.
"Want a drink?" the Russian asked. And then addressing the other Russian said, "nalej jemu stakan, mne kazetsa szto on grusnyj, Grisha." Pour him one, he looks sad.
Grisha handed him a drink.
William eyed his full glass. He was not sure if he could take it. Perhaps they were trying to drink him under the table, or was that not a Russian habit?
"I am Ivan," said the guy who invited him to join them.
"William."
The others introduced themselves too. Darcy had problems memorising all the Grishas, Glebs, Andreis and Sashas.
"Nazdarowje!"
"Cheers! How do you say it?" asked William.
"Na-zda-ro-wje." Replied Grisha.
"Na-zda-ro-wje." Repeated William and took a sip.
"No, no, you must drink all of it!" someone protested.
William downed the glass, and the Russians cheered. They poured him another and the singer began again. It was another sad song this time, and William was reminded of his own depressed state. He hung his head.
"Cheers!" Ivan cried, and everyone swallowed the contents of their glass in one gulp again.
"Ahh, are you sad, William?"
"Yes."
"A woman?" Ivan asked interestedly. He translated it into Russian for his pals, and they commented in sympathetic tones.
"Yes."
"Tell us! We, in Russia know what sorrow and sadness are. It's good to talk." Said Ivan hitting William's arm and Grisha motioned for someone to refill William's glass.
"Cheers!" And the glasses emptied again on command. William was beginning to feel lightheaded. "So, this woman," the persistent Ivan continued.
"She doesn't want me."
"Augh!" Ivan cried. He translated it into Russian again, and several more cries were heard. "Women are not worth your sorrow, my friend William. They come and go," said one of the other Russians and Ivan translated.
"This one is worth it."
"Oh, you are lost. Drink another one. We say you can drown your sorrows in vodka. Grisha, nalej jemu stakan." Pour him one.
"Pazawsta, tell us about her."
"Oh, she is..." William slurred and sighed. "I can't explain. Just great, you know. Wonderful, beautiful...oh!" He was really far gone already, and he laid his head on the table. "I am not exaggerating, Ivan."
"Grisha."
"Oh sorry, Grisha. I thought he was Grisha?" William frowned.
"Yes, he too."
William was confused. He wondered why all of them had the same name. The singer played a few more songs, while his pals continued to drink and talk to William, who had no idea what he was saying anymore.
Part 10
Meanwhile, Elizabeth had found a French girl to practise her French on. Her name was Rachelle and she was completely nuts. "Mon copin s'appelle Henri," she said adoringly. "C'est si chouette! Je suis entraîn d'écrire une histoire sur un Henry! Mais je ne suis qu'à page douze. T'as un copin, toi?" My boyfriend is called Henri. It's so cute! I'm writing a story about a Henry! But I'm only at page twelve. Do you have a boyfriend?
"Non." Elizabeth had a hard time following Rachelle.
"Ah! Pourquoi pas?" Rachelle cried. "T'es jolie! T'aimes quelqu'un, alors?" Ah! Why not? You're pretty! Do you love anyone then?
"Non."
"Mais oui! Tu veux du vin?" Yes, you do! Do you want some wine?
"Non, merci," Elizabeth said. "J'ai eu assez ce soir. Je dois jouer demain." No, thanks. I've had enough tonight. I have to play tomorrow.
"Pou! Salut alors!" and Rachelle skipped away.
Elizabeth was then approached by two girls who had overheard her conversation. "Hi, he dumped you, hey?" said the blonde one.
"Sort of."
"Welcome to the club. Joanna, polej tu zubrowki," said the other one. Joanna, pour some herb vodka.
"Z jablkowym. Bedzie miala mniejszego kaca," said Joanna. With apple juice. She'll have a smaller hangover.
"Huh?" Elizabeth asked.
"Oh, Ewa and I are from Poland. Help yourself," she said, handing Elizabeth a full long-drink glass. She drunk greedily, once she had tasted it.
"Don't worry, what's your name?" Ewa asked.
"Lizzy."
"Well, Lizzy, don't worry. Boys come and go," Ewa consoled her.
"And when they treat you badly, you do the same. There is no better way than teasing," ensured Joanna.
"I don't want to tease George, he is nice."
"But he stood you up," Joanna said, refilling Lizzy's glass.
"But he is fine. I hate another one."
"Who is he?" Ewa wanted to know.
"A scoundrel from my club. He got a girl pregnant!" Lizzy said indignantly.
"Was she your sister?" Joanna asked sympathetically.
"No."
"She's your best friend?" Ewa asked.
"No."
Joanna frowned. "But you were in love with him?"
"No!"
Joanna shrugged. "So what's the problem." And turning to Ewa said: "Niektorzy ludzie traktuja stwarzanie sobie problemow jako sport." Some people treat creating themselves problems like a sport.
"But he is a jerk," Elizabeth said.
"Musi na niego strasznie leciec," Ewa said to Joanna. She must have a terrible crush on him.
"Ale ona jeszcze o tym nie wie," Joanna said knowingly, and they giggled. But she still doesn't know about it.
"Nalej jej jeszcze. Jak sie upije to powiemy jej o tym," Ewa said mischievously. Pour her more. When she gets drunk, then we'll tell her about it. Joanna readily obliged. Lizzy was slowly getting losing a grip on herself and giggled at the two Polish girls talking in a language she didn't understand.
Suddenly someone else came up to them. It was Victor, a Russian guy who had discovered that the Polish girls spoke some Russian. "Devotshki, come with us. Grisha is having a party at the gym."
"Okay, Victor, we'll take our friend here, too." said Ewa pointing at Lizzy.
"Great," said Serhiy, Victor's friend.
Joanna took Lizzy by the hand and pulled her. "Victor, maltshik, take Lizzy here. She's a bit dizzy. Just be a good boy," she said to the Russian.
"Don't worry, Tatiana is at home and she would kill me," Victor promised.
They walked to the gym. "Victor, maltshik!" called Ivan "You have a new girl. What will Tania say?"
"She's not my girl, durak!"
At that moment Lizzy giggled, she'd swear she saw George in the crowd of guys, lying on the arm of another Russian whom Ivan addressed as Grisha, and singing with the rest of the bunch. Ivan took Lizzy and placed her next to William. "Hey, devotshka, my friend William needs to be cheered up. William, Lizzy, smile, talk. It's a party!"
Lizzy felt the scent of the guy next to her. He was smelling of Xlimited. "George, do you mind if I lie down on your lap?"
"Lie down, Lizzy."
She positioned herself on him and thought she was in William's arms or maybe they were George's... She had some more strange thoughts involving being in William's arms, seeing Ewa and Joanna singing Kalinka with Ivan and Grisha as though on film.
William wasn't sure what was happening around him. He was sure he was with Lizzy but where and how?
The clock struck two am, and the Russian coach crawled out of his sleeping bag to coax his pupils into breaking up the party and sleeping. Being essentially good boys, they obeyed him. Ivan escorted Elizabeth to her sleeping bag, but it was soaked through. "Who puts it under a leaking firehose?" Ivan exclaimed, and Elizabeth giggled. She was past caring. "You sleep in your neighbour's bed then!" Ivan decided. "She will be your teammate, and she will return when you wake up, probably." Elizabeth lay down, and fell asleep immediately.
William staggered across the inflatable mattresses and sleeping bags in the dark, and stumbled over a pair of legs. He fell down, and decided to stay there. The last thing he did before he fell asleep was to lie straight and pull some covers over him.
Part 11
Elizabeth woke up in the morning with an aching head, and a feeling of dejà-vu. It seemed like she was making a habit of waking up next to William during tournaments. The difference with the previous time was that they were now too close for comfort. He was practically on top of her. She nearly screamed. It was very unnerving to have him so close, and he smelled of alcohol too. So did she, but she did not notice. She looked at William in disgust. Last night was a blur, and she had no idea what she had done after they had returned to the gym. She vaguely remembered some foreigners, and something about seeing George, who wasn't George, but that was probably a dream. Now she was lying here with William. Had he been trying to make a move on her? She pushed him off. He was disgusting, and she was very disappointed in him.
William woke up from the push and stared right into the disgusted face of Elizabeth. He had fantasized about waking up next to her, but he certainly had not fantasized that look on her face to go with it. What had he done? He recalled getting drunk with Russians, but that was about it. He did not think anything happened between him and Elizabeth, but he was disgusted anyway, for getting drunk. With a scowl he got up and swayed towards the dressing rooms where there were showers. He glanced around quickly, but no one seemed to have noticed that he and Elizabeth had spent the night under the same blanket. His head hurt badly with every step, and he groaned. He would have to play later on, and he was sure that he would not be able to make a goal shot, not even when he was in the seven metre area. William stuck his head under a tap and tried to wake himself up properly. He sat down on a bench and leant his head in his hands. This was it. He would never get anywhere with her after this incident. She did not have to say anything. The look on her face had said enough.
It was no wonder that both Elizabeth and William played very bad that morning.
From that day on, William made sure to come to the training five minutes late so he would not run into Elizabeth. Sometimes she would still be in the shower area with the rest of the girls and women, and he always passed through it very quickly with his eyes on the ground, feeling a stab of pain and guilt whenever he saw her. He blamed himself.
Elizabeth for her part did not feel much except dislike for William. She mentally grouped him with all the other unworthy men, and did not think much more about it. Now and then she would feel a pang of regret that all handsome men would be such inferior creatures.
She had tried to be friendly to Caroline, not only to spite William, but also because she felt sorry for her. Caroline would never confide in Elizabeth, but she was polite enough, and they found great satisfaction in verbally abusing men while watching soaps in Elizabeth's room. Neither of them ever mentioned the name of the man they were particularly aiming at. Funnily enough they never went to Caroline's place. Elizabeth thought this was because Caroline was not the sort of person who invited people over. She knew Caroline had moved out of her parents' house, but she only knew the street she lived in.
Richard had told his parents about his impending fatherhood. As he had predicted, they were not too thrilled. They insisted that he marry the girl and suffer the consequences of his actions. Because his mother was secretly excited to get a grandchild, his parents offered to pay for Richard's housing, and they bought an apartment where Richard was supposed to live with Caroline to keep up the pretense, as Richard put it. They would make a poor showing to anyone who came to visit, however, since Caroline was wont to address him as 'jerk' at all times. The only time when she did not was during their marriage ceremony, which was just about as exciting as getting a new passport. He had not told many people about his new marital status, but William was one of them. Caroline had not told that many people either, and she had made Charles and Louisa swear and cross their hearts that they would not tell anyone. Whenever she could not avoid bringing Richard up, she referred to him as 'the jerk I share a house with.'
When the baby was born, Elizabeth had pressured Caroline to give her her address so she could come to visit. It had taken her a week to finally obtain the information, and another week until she had the time to pay a call. In the meantime she had seen William in the pool, and he had looked the same as usual. No happy-daddy face or anything. The jerk.
To her great surprise the door was not opened by Caroline, but by a fair-haired, blue-eyed version of William she had seen somewhere before. "Hello, I came to see Caroline."
"She is at the uni."
He must be the baby-sitter. "When will she be back?" Elizabeth asked.
"In half a hour. Would you like to wait?"
He was very cute, but where had she seen him before and why did he remind her of William? "Yes, please."
"Come in."
Elizabeth sat down while the baby-sitter retrieved the baby from his bed. Where does she get such a baby-sitter?
Caroline came back early, about a minute later. "Hello Elizabeth," she said, and did not say anything to her baby-sitter, but simply took the baby from him. "Hello darling, have you been nice?" she said to the baby.
"Yes, I've been nice," the baby-sitter answered.
Caroline sent him an irritated glance and sat down next to Elizabeth. "Is he not cute?"
Elizabeth wondered if she meant the baby or the baby-sitter. She guessed the baby, but they were both cute, so her answer did not really matter. "Very."
"Do I detect a little scepticism there?" the baby-sitter asked, while Caroline was mainly occupied with smiling at the baby.
"No, I really think he's adorable." Where on earth did Caroline get such a baby-sitter? He's funny. "Would I have offended you if I had said he wasn't?"
"Certainly," he replied with a smile.
He reminded her so much of William despite his smiles, and she frowned at him.
"Why the frown?" he asked.
"You remind me of someone."
"My cousin probably." Richard had met Elizabeth before, but she obviously did not remember.
"Your cousin?"
"By the name of William," he grinned, gauging her reaction. William had a crush on this girl, and he wondered if it was mutual.
"Oh!" That clarified things, as far as Elizabeth was concerned. William, the jerk, was too much of a jerk to take care of his baby himself, so he had ordered his cousin to play baby-sitter. She remembered meeting him, that was why looked so familiar. The only thing that puzzled her was why William's cousin would enjoying all of this.
The doorbell rang, and Caroline looked at Richard. He grimaced and rose. "That must be William now," he said as he walked towards the hall.
Elizabeth inhaled deeply. "I don't want to see him," she said, and Caroline looked at her strangely. But it was too late, for she heard their voices coming closer already.
Part 12
William greeted them politely when he entered the room. Richard had not told him Elizabeth was there, and he had to struggle very hard to keep his face impassive. Elizabeth saw he did not give the baby more than a glance. The baby-sitter seemed to care more for the baby than William did, Elizabeth thought indignantly. Caroline disappeared with the baby, and Richard poured them an orange juice.
"I have some papers for you," William said to Richard. He tried not to look at Elizabeth.
"Thanks," Richard answered.
"Do you think Caroline will be back soon?" Elizabeth asked him. She did not want to sit here with William all that time.
"Sure. She's just feeding the baby."
"Oh."
"Not really, but I have to take the bus to be at the pool by five."
"I'll give you a lift, don't worry," William spoke up.
"No, that's all right. I don't want to be a burden," she lied. "I'd rather take the bus."
He shrugged and looked faintly disappointed. "It wouldn't be a burden."
"He doesn't bite," Richard added.
No, but the consequences of his actions are far worse than those of a bite. She said nothing, and the two guys took this as a positive answer. Elizabeth let them talk by themselves for a while until Caroline returned. "I have some caps for you," Elizabeth said to her.
"Oh, yes. I'll get some money." Caroline got her wallet and first handed some banknotes to Richard before she paid Elizabeth.
She pays him generously, very generously, Elizabeth thought. "Thanks. I'd better go."
"I thought William was going to give you a lift?" Richard asked.
"No need."
"It's really no bother," William said.
Elizabeth was in William's car, determined not to say anything, but when he did not say anything either, she felt a sudden urge to upset his peace. "James is a lovely baby, don't you think?" she asked cattily.
"Yes," he answered.
"Caroline is very lucky to have such a baby-sitter."
William gave her a quizzical look. He did not quite understand what she meant. He made up his mind to tell her something. "Elizabeth...I've been wanting to tell you this for ages. I'm in love with you, and I would like to ask you if you...if you return my feelings in any way." He turned red.
"Stop the car!" Elizabeth screeched.
He obliged.
"How dare you say such a thing?" she yelled at a dumbfounded William. "How dare you tell me you love me when you are such a womanizer? Were you planning to make me pregnant too? And then leave me to care for the baby myself? No, thank you! I don't want to be used! Find some other girl to accommodate you! I despise you. Getting your cousin to do your dirty work. You probably even told Charles to stay away from my sister too! I don't want to stay in the car with you any longer." Elizabeth got out of the car, leaving a stupefied William, and her bag, behind.
William replayed her words in his mind. My God! She must still be under the impression I am the father of that child! Even after she has seen Richard. Has the idiot not told her it was him? I hate him! No wonder she reacted so strongly. I have to defend myself. He drove back to Richard.
"What's wrong?" Richard asked when he saw William's face.
"I told her I loved her and she yelled at me," William said with his head hanging down.
"You shouldn't tell girls those things. You should just feed them drunk and then make your move," Richard grinned.
Caroline glared at him angrily.
"I did that, apparently, but it didn't work. She thinks I'm James' father, that's why she yelled at me."
"Yikes, William. Is this girl of yours stupid or what? She was here. What did she think I was doing here?" Richard asked.
"Baby-sitting."
Richard laughed incredulously. "Nah! You can't be serious! Did she not see James is the spitting image of me? There is no way he could be yours."
"But she hates me now!"
"Write her a letter. If she wants to know more, she can ask me."
"She'll probably think I paid you," William said morosely.
"What?" Richard cried. "I don't understand what you see in such a dimwitted girl! She would think you'd pay me to marry the mother of your child? How stupid does she think I am? No, William. I don't believe for one minute anyone could be as stupid as that. Her opinion of the both of us couldn't be as low as that."
"What about her opinion of me?" Caroline asked. "As if I would accept a substitute."
"Haha, good one, Caroline," Richard grinned. "Since you don't remember anything, all you can do is rely on what we tell you. I may be a substitute for all you know. But does that mean you accept the real thing, me? Or are you going to divorce me next year?"
"Maybe."
"That is more favourable than I expected. I had thought you'd say you would. I know you don't fancy me," Richard said.
"I'm not going to answer indirect questions," Caroline said primly.
"What am I going to do?" William asked again.
"I told you. If she doesn't want to talk to you, write her letter."
Part 13
William sat down. "Get me some paper then," he said gruffly.
"What?" Richard asked. "Are you going to write it here?"
"As you see."
Richard shrugged and gave him some paper and William started to work.
"He is such a fool," Richard sighed as he stared at William writing a letter on the other side of the room. Still, his own approach had not been very successful either. He knew very well that Caroline had always been after William, and that she had probably been so inebriated that she had mistaken him for his cousin. He had joked about maybe being a substitute, but it was true, and he did not want to be a substitute.
Caroline looked at him. She saw he was not happy, and something occurred to her. Perhaps she had not been very fair to him by always calling him jerk. After all, he had been a great help. He had played his role very well in the hospital, and they had almost been friends, but she had retreated into unfriendliness again once they were home. And for no reason, because he had not made any move on her or done anything else she could reproach him. The only things were that he made a mess of his bedroom -- but she never went there anyway -- and that he always said things that got to her. "Richard..."
"Yes?" He turned. She did not often call him Richard, and certainly not when they were alone. Well, William was there, but he was so busy he would not hear them.
"May I speak to you for a minute?" Caroline asked.
"About what?"
"I don't know..." She got up and went to her bedroom.
Richard followed her and closed the door behind him. Caroline was behaving very strangely. "Are you jealous?" he asked bluntly.
"No."
"Are you lying?"
"No," she said vehemently. The doorbell rang, and she pushed him aside to answer the door, but he stopped her. "Let me go! There's someone at the door."
"William can take care of that."
As Caroline struggled to pull her arm from his grasp, the doorbell rang again, and on top of it all James began to wail, but he would not let her go there either. "What do you want?" she said in frustration.
"You."
"You can't have me," she snapped.
"Yes, I can."
William heard the doorbell ring twice, and he noticed that Richard and Caroline had disappeared. He got up to open the door. It was Elizabeth, and they both froze when they saw the other. William had not gotten so much as one letter on paper yet.
"My bag," she said curtly.
He held the door open and she walked past him.
"It isn't here," Elizabeth said when she had looked around the living room.
"It could be in the car," he said quietly.
"Would you look in the car for me?" she asked coldly.
He had taken a quick decision. "We need to talk."
"I see no reason. I said all I had to say," Elizabeth said stubbornly.
"There are some things I have to say, however."
"In your defense, I suppose." Her tone was sarcastic.
"Yes. If you had not been so set against me, you would have realised exactly what Richard was doing here. He is married to Caroline. It's his child. Not mine! What else would he be here for? And you think he's a babysitter? How stupid had you thought he was?"
Elizabeth was speechless. Had she misjudged everything so badly?
"Furthermore, I did not tell Charles to stay away from Jane. I only told him to take it slow, because I didn't want him to rush into things. I have nothing against Jane, but I didn't know her well enough yet to be able to say if she really cared for him. I can't really defend myself in this case, but believe me when I say that though I had Charles' best interest at heart, I honestly tried to be objective about Jane."
Elizabeth's thoughts were a mess. She still could not say anything.
"I'll get your bag. Ask them," he tiredly waved towards the hall, "if it's true. They're here somewhere."
He walked out, and she heard the front door close. Elizabeth sat down on the couch and pressed her hands to her face. It felt hot. Her cheeks were red from shame and guilt. She did not want to think about what horrible and unjust things she had said, and the even worse things she had thought. Was it true what he had said? William had not done anything? He was a decent person? Was Richard married to Caroline? It would make sense if it was his child, but Caroline had never said anything. Tears were forming in her eyes, and she cried silently. She had to ask them before William came back, and she walked out into the hall to check the bedrooms.
Part 14
"Yes, I can," Richard said very confidently. Caroline looked angry, but a little scared too, and that had not been his intention. "You called me Richard. That must mean something."
"It means nothing. I hate you. Let me go," she said.
He let her go. "I am sorry. I did not want you to interrupt their little talk."
"They must have sorted themselves out by now," Caroline said, taking the still crying baby. "He saw her, liked her, loved her, but behaved like a total jerk. She saw him, misunderstood him, said she hates him, but in reality she loved him. Geez. I don't understand why they make such a problem of it. Why don't they just kiss and leave, and then we can have the house to ourselves."
"Women!" Richard exclaimed in an extremely exasperated tone, but he grinned. "They are so blind!"
"Why are you smiling?"
He walked over and looked at the baby. "It was something you said. It was rather funny."
Elizabeth opened the door. "There you are," she said. Her eyes were watery. "May I speak to you for a minute?" she asked Richard.
"Another one," Richard grinned. "I am in demand today, wow!"
"I need to know if you are really the father of that child."
"I am, unless Caroline...uhh..."
"He is," Caroline said decidedly. "Legally, even."
"Yes, but what do I care if it is legally? That does not clear William! He could still be the biological father," Elizabeth said. "I think I believe him, but I need to know for sure."
"Elizabeth," Richard looked serious. "Step into the hall with me, please."
She obliged and looked at him expectantly. "What is it?"
"I can't say this in front of Caroline. As she'd put it, I saw her, I liked her, I loved her, but I behaved like a total jerk. I took advantage of the situation. I knew she liked William, but he didn't like her, and she would never see anyone else. Then she was drunk... She probably thought it was William she was clinging to, and I did not mind. I should not have let it come so far. William called me, and persuaded me to talk to Caroline when he found out."
"How did he know it was you?"
"Because I had told him I had slept with a girl. He thought it was with you."
"Because I was in the tent? But I was only there because you were in mine. Why did you marry her? She never told me, and we spent enough time together."
Richard sighed. "My parents forced us. Caroline had not really any choice. She'd be supported if she married me, and she could finish her education. If she would have had to support herself, she wouldn't have been able to do anything. I don't think she is too happy about it, though."
"What should I say to William?" Elizabeth asked. "I don't know how we can ever talk normally. I have been awfully rude. I must let this sink in for a while."
"I'm sure he'll understand that."
"He said he loves me. I don't know what to do with that right now. I don't love him."
"I think you made that abundantly clear," Richard said dryly, although he did not really believe her.
William rang the bell again, and he handed Elizabeth her bag. "Here it is. Bye." He was gone before she could say anything.
"Can I stay for a while longer?" she asked Richard. "I need your opinion on some things."
William had done all he could do, and now he could only hope that she would change her mind. He had told her what he felt for her, and then she had rejected him in such terms. Well, that hurt. She obviously did not like him, but he did not know if her finding out the truth had changed anything. Elizabeth had not said anything. When he had returned her bag she had been talking to Richard. He hoped his cousin had talked sense for once. He had not been in the mood to stay, and he had left as soon as she had taken her bag. He would see her in the pool.