Chapter 26
George rolled to his side and placed a hand on Lydia's hip while placing soft kisses on her shoulder. "Do you have an idea of how sexy you are?"
Lydia was curled on one side of the bed, with the blanket clutched up to her chin, wishing he would stop. She just wanted him to stop.
This wasn't the George with whom she had fallen in love. This George was sexually insatiable, he smoked marijuana and took some pills that were keeping him in a state of constant arousal since they arrived at the cottage. First, she thought it was fun, everybody smoked that stuff once in his life, she even tried it once after school. George had turned particularly relaxed and funny while he did it, but when she saw the effect that it produced in him after a while, she became afraid. A pill followed the joint and that seemed to increase the effect of the previous drug. It had been sex and sex and sex, for the last ten hours, non stop and she was tired, scared and revolted by his and her own actions.
"It's three in the morning," she whined. "I'm tired, George, I want to sleep."
"Come on, you can't be this soft." He said suavely.
"Please, George, it's so late. I wish I could get some sleep."
George made her roll over on her stomach. "You lazy little thing. I don't want to sleep yet, I'm still full of energy. Let's try something different, something we never did before."
"Different?" She asked in a small voice.
"You're gonna like this, you'll see." He spoke close to her ear.
She tightly grasped the pillow when she felt that he was pulling away the blanket.
"Just relax and let me do it."
Lydia closed her eyes tight when she felt his body moving over her. She wasn't sure of what he was going to do, but she could imagine it and she was terrified. She wanted to scream and run away but after all that stuff he had had, she was even more scared of what his reaction would be if she said no or if she tried to escape.
A loud, violent bang at the door interrupted anything he had in mind. "What the fuck is that noise?" George rose on all fours.
Again, someone or something banged the door.
George left the bed with a curse, saying he would kill the bastard that was knocking at his door at three in the morning. He put his trousers on and walked to the door.
"Who is it!" He yelled.
There was no reply, just another blow. He unlocked the door and it flew open.
"William!" George cried on seeing his ex-stepbrother standing in front of him.
"George." Darcy said evenly.
"What are you doing here?"
Calmly, Darcy placed his palm on George's chest and pushed him out of his way so he could enter the cottage. "I looking for Lydia Bennet. I'm here to take her home."
"Who?" George chuckled as his eyes followed him.
"Come on, George," He turned around to face him with a fastidious look in his face. "Save me the argument. I know she's here."
"I don't know where you got that from." George rested his weight on one foot, adopting a confident, relaxed posture.
"They saw you two leaving the school together. Now, call her or I'll go find her." Darcy's tone was calm and authoritative.
"She'll never go with you, she wants to stay with me."
"Let's ask her and see what she says about that." Darcy looked around and headed towards the door he recalled that led to the bedrooms.
"And who are you to take her anywhere?" The other man inquired. "You have nothing to do with her or her family."
"You are wrong, it happens to be her family that asked me to bring her home."
"Her family? Lizzy? Is she working with you again?"
Darcy remained silent. He just stared at George with murdering eyes.
"That bitch." George said with irony. "I'm sure the frigid bitch asked you to come."
Not willing to waste any more time discussing it with George, Darcy turned away from him and went to the bedrooms.
George grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat to stop him. "Where do you think you're going? Stop or I'll call the police!"
"Go ahead, call them!" Darcy spat back as he shrugged his arm from George's grip. "Let's see what they'll say when they find out that you keep a sixteen year old girl in your bed."
"Exactly, she's sixteen, she's of age." George smiled triumphantly.
"Yeah, right," Darcy's voice combined disdain and mockery. "Do you know something? I thought you were smarter than this. You abducted a minor, do you know that? You induced her to come with you without her parent's consent and God knows what you did to her. Call them, George, I would love to see their faces when they learn how you find your models."
They looked at each other, George doubting, Darcy ready to jump on him if necessary. Nothing was going to detain him in this quest and he was in a point where he just needed a little provocation to release the anger he had been growing against his ex-stepbrother since the day he met him. With his eyes locked on George's, he waited for a sign, a blink, anything that would justify starting a fight so he could send George's teeth flying across the room, but there was none. George knew him too well and was wise enough not to provoke him when he had that look in his eyes.
With a dismissing glance, Darcy turned away from him and entered the corridor, heading towards the only door that was open. There he found Lydia.
Outside the car, the temperature was reaching its lower level and Elizabeth wiped the steam that the cold and her own agitation produced on the widows. He was taking too long for her taste. She checked her watch and realized that only fifteen minutes had passed since Darcy left her in the car. It felt like she had been sitting in there for hours. She saw him climb up the short lane towards the cottage and then it became too dark to distinguish anything clearly. But she was sure that someone opened the door, because she saw light coming out of it and if only for a second, she saw Darcy's illuminated silhouette before he disappeared inside the cottage. And then, for fifteen minutes, nothing.
If this was taking so long, it was because Lydia was there. The curtains were closed, but she could see that some of the lights in the interior were on. She checked her watch once again. She couldn't just sit and do nothing. Five more minutes and she would go after him.
Darcy froze when he reached the threshold. Inside the bedroom there was a young girl, fully dressed in jeans and a sweater, hastily trying to put her boots on. Christ, she was just a child.
Lydia raised her eyes and saw this big stranger looking at her. She had heard George arguing with someone, she knew they were coming and, terrified, she got dressed and picked up her stuff to escape from that place as soon as she could.
"Who are you? What do you want?" She asked with evident fear.
"Lydia," Darcy spoke in his most soothing voice. "You don't know me. My name is William Darcy. I'm here with your sister. We are going to take you home."
Her big scared eyes went from Darcy to George, who appeared behind him. "Liddy, sweetheart. You aren't going anywhere. Don't listen to what he says. He just wants you for himself."
Lydia felt her panic rising. George was coming close to her and standing at the door, this huge unknown man was blocking her only exit. If she had to choose, she would stay with someone she knew. George would protect her from this guy. Hopefully.
"Lydia," Darcy offered gently when he realized she was hesitating, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I'm sure Elizabeth mentioned she worked with me, in Africa. She's outside, in my car. Please look out of the window and you'll see her."
In spite of her fear, Lydia was able to put two and two together. This was Lizzy's ex-boss, she recalled as she set the name with the face she saw on TV. Yes, the director of this super successful movie. But she also recalled that Elizabeth wasn't very pleased with him in the end, and that, most of all, something happened between them while Elizabeth was working in Kent and that she fled to France because of that. What was this guy doing here?
George put an arm around her shoulder in a very protective attitude. "He's tricking you, Liddy," and with victory illuminating his face, he addressed his step brother, "see Darce, I told you, she's staying with me. Lydia loves me and she knows that I love her. She'll stay, won't you, darling?"
Though apparently confident and balanced, Darcy sensed that he could lose her the moment he saw her shrinking closer to George's body. For her own good, he had to convince her that she should come with him, now.
"Listen to me, Lydia, he is the one who is tricking you. Your mother is desperate and she asked me to come for you."
When Darcy mentioned her mother, Lydia's panic was restored but in a different sense. Now Amanda knew that she lied and she was terrified about the consequences. "When did you talk to her?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"An hour ago. I drove Elizabeth back from Dronfield when she learned that you were missing. She's desperate, Lydia, she was about to call the police."
"Come on, Liddy, you are not going to believe him?" George rubbed her arm. "Do you think your mother would send a total stranger to come for you? He's lying. He's a friend of mine. I told him that I was bringing my gorgeous girlfriend for the weekend and he wants to take you with him, that's all. But you are wrong if you think you can have her, Darcy, I'm not sharing her with anyone else."
Darcy extended his hand and offered her his cell phone. "Call her, Lydia, you'll see that I'm telling the truth."
Lydia looked at the mobile but George tightened his hold around her shoulders. "You are not calling anyone, Liddy. He's lying."
Something in George's tone made her doubt and brought back her original fears about staying with him. She wanted to escape from this place and maybe this William Darcy was indeed trying to help her.
"Will you take me home?" she asked Darcy.
"I will," he smiled. "Elizabeth is waiting for us in the car."
Lydia shrugged her body out of George's embrace and walked towards Darcy.
"No, you are not going anywhere," George grabbed her by the arm again.
Darcy made a step forward to help her but the girl freed herself from George's grip.
"Let me go!" she said with an angry voice.
In front of George's astonished eyes, Lydia turned to pick up the rest of her stuff and introduced it hastily into her bag.
"Liddy, my love," George pleaded, "you can't do this to me. I love you, you can't leave me now."
"I'm sorry, George." Her voice softened. "But I want to go home."
He held her face in his hands. "Please, don't leave me. You'll break my heart if you go. We'll sort this out, I'll talk to your mother and we'll be together."
Darcy was becoming sick with the scene happening in front of him. George was manipulating the girl to his own will and Lydia was giving in. If he convinced her to stay right now, he would lose her. He looked around the room, desperately trying to find something that would help him to convince her that she should go and he did. Almost behind him, standing on a tripod, a large video pointed at the bed.
"What's this?" He asked the couple as he removed the tape from the interior.
"You just leave that where you found it, do you understand?" George spat angrily.
Darcy showed Lydia the videotape. "Lydia, do you know what this is?"
Embarrassed that this man had seen that, Lydia looked down. When they arrived at the cottage, George said he would love to have a video of her. He said it was just for him and she thought it was fun, so she agreed to do it. But then, he joined her in bed and now she wasn't sure if George had filmed her having sex with him or not. He said that he had turned the camera off but she feared that he didn't and that the camera had been rolling all the time. And now this man had the tape in his hands.
Darcy put the tape safely inside his pocket of his overcoat and called Lydia one last time. "Come, Lydia. Let's go home."
Not knowing what to do, she looked at Darcy then at George and back at the man standing by the door.
"If you go, forget about your career, Lydia." George said with evident resentment. "You'll never be a model, do you understand? If you go now, forget about me. Your career will be ruined!"
Those words seemed to finally bring some common sense into her head. Not daring to look George in the eye, she picked up her bag and walked towards the door.
Darcy moved away to let her pass and followed down the corridor.
"You bitch!" cried George. He couldn't believe that she was leaving him, that this was happening to him. "You don't know what's good for you! You go with him! He's going to screw you just like he's screwing your sister! Lydia! You can't do this to me!"
Without turning back, Lydia walked hastily towards the living room, praying that they would get out of there as quickly as possible. All the way, George was walking after them, yelling at them.
"You'll pay for this, Lydia, and you too, Darcy! You're gonna pay for this!" George threatened when they reached the door.
The only thing that Darcy wanted right now was to get Lydia out of this place, safe and sound and to leave as quickly as they could. He would deal with George later. But his plans were thwarted when he found Elizabeth standing outside the door.
"Lizzy!" Lydia ran to embrace her.
"Lydia!" Elizabeth cried.
"Well, well, well," George smirked, "look who's here. The elder sister. Hi, Lizzy, are you missing me? Come in, join the party. Liddy and I had been having great fun together."
Darcy moved to stand in between George and the sisters. It was obvious that George had some kind of drug that had emboldened him and was making him say all these things and he didn't want to expose the girls to any danger or to more of this aggressive rambling.
"Elizabeth," he spoke firmly. "Take her to the car and wait for me there."
"No, Lizzy, wait." George continued, oblivious of the dangers that insisting on this produced. "Stay, you can bring Darcy along too."
Elizabeth glanced up and met Darcy's tense eyes. She hesitated, not wanting to leave him alone again, but knowing that hat was the wisest thing to do. Nodding at his request, she put her arm around her sister's waist and they ran towards the car.
"Well, Darce, it seems that you'll have two Bennet whores all for yourself." George said with disdainful mockery. "Don't worry man, they know how to entertain men, I've trained them well."
George never saw the blow that hit his face. His body flew back and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Still dazed, he rolled to his side and brought his hand to touch his aching face.
"You broke my nose!" He cried when he saw blood draining down to his palm.
Darcy looked down at him. "Be grateful that it's only that." With that, he left the cottage, slamming the door behind him.
In less than ten seconds, they were out of there, speeding up the road to take the route back to Hertfordshire. Lydia in the back seat, Darcy driving and Elizabeth, arms crossed staring at nothing ahead of her. Now that her anxiety and fear were over, now that her adrenaline was lowering, she was beginning to suffer the effects of all the stress she had been accumulating during the last few hours. Unfortunately for Lydia, it exploded in the shape of anger.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" She cried as she turned around to face her sister.
"And who are you to ask?" Lydia spat back. "You left for fucking Dronfield, Lizzy! You don't give a damn about me!"
"Do you have in idea of what you've done? You ran away with a man, Lydia! You lied to mom so you could roll in a bed with a man! What are you? A bloody whore?"
"Shut up! I love him! He loves me!"
"He loves you?" She asked, incredulous. "Are you stupid? He's taking advantage of you!"
"What do you know about George?" Lydia cried furiously, "You are saying that because you're jealous! Because you weren't able to make him love you! He's right about you, Lizzy, you're a frigid bitch that can't keep a man!"
"You slut!" Enraged, Elizabeth knelt on the front seat of the car and punched the headrest in an attempt to canalize her fury so she would not strangle her sister. "He loves you? You are an idiot, Lydia! Don't you realize he's using you?"
"Elizabeth!" Darcy called to her as he lowered his head to avoid being hit as he drove.
"He's not! He loves me!" Lydia retorted as Elizabeth sat back on her ankles. "And you are jealous because he never loved you! He loved me from the beginning, even when he was dating you!"
Controlling the car with only one hand, Darcy grabbed Elizabeth's arm before she spanked her sister for that last statement. Only then she realized what she was doing and how out of control she was. She sat down, cooled down and looked up at Darcy when he touched her leg. Her eyebrows raised in inquiry when he gave her a videotape.
"What's this?" she asked him.
He only glanced back at Lydia.
All the calm that Elizabeth had achieved in the last five seconds vanished when she realized what this was. She looked at her sister. "Lydia, what's this?"
Lydia crossed her arms and looked out of the window.
"Lydia!"
"It's a fucking tape, don't you see that?"
"He filmed you!" Elizabeth gasped. "How could you allow him to do that? Is that what that modeling thing means?"
Her sister didn't reply.
"Lydia, tell me! Did he film you? Did he take nude pictures of you?"
"It's not your fucking business!" Lydia replied as tears of anger and fear jumped out of her eyes. She was too proud and stubborn to admit that she made a mistake, that she erred in coming, in posing, in allowing and fomenting all this so she went on defending George and her own actions. "George loves me! He says I'm going to be a model!"
"A model?" Elizabeth cried, incredulous of her sister's naiveté. "Could you be any more stupid? He's obtaining money for this! You're probably on the Internet at this point! In the teen slut section!"
"No!" cried Lydia. "He'd never do that!"
"No? And why did he bring you to this place? Why did he film this bloody video?"
Lydia remained silent, curled against the door.
"Why did you lie to mom? Lydia," Elizabeth softened her tone, if only a bit. "How long have you been seeing him?"
Again, no reply.
"What were you doing until we arrived?" She asked again. "You slept with him," Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. "Tell me, did he use protection at least?"
She met her sister's angry eyes with big, terrified ones.
"Did he use protection!" Elizabeth yelled, not sure of what that look meant.
"Yes!"
Lydia was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She was afraid. Afraid of her sister, of her mother, of the consequences, of what happened and what would happen next. She thought this would be an idyllic night with the man she loved, that she and George would be having fun, but everything turned out to be horrible. George smoked marijuana, he took those pills, he was insatiable and he asked her to do things that she had never done before, that in her sixteen years she wasn't yet ready to do. It wasn't the tender lovemaking of the previous times, it was raw, wild, dirty sex, non stop, all night long, and she was exhausted, disgusted and afraid.
"I couldn't stop him, Lizzy, I was so scared! He smoked and he did all those things, for hours. I just couldn't stop him!" Lydia started sobbing.
"Oh, Liddy," Elizabeth reached back to take her sister's hand.
"It was horrible! I didn't know what to do! I just wanted to escape but I was afraid that he would come after me!"
Lydia's body was shaking so much that Elizabeth passed between the two front seats to sit next to her and comfort her. Lydia hugged her tightly and cried in earnest for a long while. Even in her anger, Elizabeth pitied her. Lydia was only a child who, like many girls her age, was seduced with false promises of fame and success or even love made by unscrupulous men. She knew the dangers and she went on, that was her fault, but at least she came to her senses and admitted her mistake. Her little sister received a very hard lesson today, one she had learned with fear and abuse but one that she hoped would teach her the dangers of this crazy world.
As she held her sister, Elizabeth couldn't stop thinking what would have happened if Darcy had not been with them. If Lydia was there, safe and sound, it was because of him. Her heart was full of love and tenderness for this man who even at the risk of his own physical integrity had accompanied her and helped her through this. She glanced up to meet his eyes on the mirror and looked at him with eyes full of love and gratitude. He smiled when he saw her, she could see that for those wrinkles that appeared in the corner of his eyes and that brought relief and comfort to her heavy heart. His eyes turned to the road once again, she saw him sigh heavily and her own eyes were lost in the darkness outside the car. They were finally on the way home.
"Are you hungry?" Elizabeth asked shyly. Darcy had been mutely staring at his mug for nearly ten minutes.
Lost in thought as he was, he startled when he heard her voice. "Famished." he smiled.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't want to be a bother."
"William! Don't be silly!" She laughed as she rose.
Darcy rose too and stretched his body, linking his hands behind his head and arching his back. He did this until he heard all his vertebras setting into place.
Elizabeth couldn't resist him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You look exhausted."
His arms embraced her. "I am exhausted."
"What time is it?" She snuggled in his embrace
Darcy glanced at his watch over her shoulder. "Not six yet."
She rubbed his back. This was not what she had imagined for their first night together. "Come, I'll make you a sandwich."
He followed her to the kitchen and leaned on the counter while she searched for the ingredients inside the refrigerator. She sliced some bread, tomatoes, and found ham and cheese.
"Mayonnaise?" She glanced up at him.
Darcy nodded and she bent to get the jar but when she rose, a little clumsy because of the stress and the lack of sleep, she hit her head with the door of the freezer and dropped the jar on the floor.
"Fuck!" She slapped the door forcefully.
She did that a second time. Frowning, Darcy realized that she was on the verge of having a breakdown.
"Lizzy!" He saw her hands shaking, her body started trembling. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Elizabeth, listen to me!"
She glanced up at him with big, teary eyes. "Oh, Will."
Darcy pulled her closer and she started sobbing against his chest. One of his hands rubbed her back, the other her head where she hit the door of the freezer. He rocked her for a while until she calmed down. "It's all right, Elizabeth, it's over now."
"I'm sorry," she sniffed as she pulled back, "it's just that I ..."
He left her for a second and fetched a glass with water. "Here, drink some water, you'll feel better."
She did what he asked and slowly, her breathing returned to its normal rate.
Darcy held her chin with one hand while he wiped her tears with his thumb. "It's OK," he spoke in a soothing voice. "Just calm down, will you?"
"When I think of all this, of what might have happened if we didn't go after her ..."
"But we did and she's fine. That's all what counts. Your mother is talking to her and she'll be OK."
She nodded tearfully.
Holding her face in his hands, he said. "What a fiery little thing you are. Do you always hit things like that?"
She chuckled at her own lack of control. "I guess I was a little tense. I'm sorry."
"Promise you won't spank me if you get mad at me?"
Elizabeth laughed openly. That helped her to overcome her stress, her fears and her tiredness. "I already got mad at you once and I didn't spank you, so you don't have to fear me anymore."
Darcy stepped closer and cupped her face with his hands. She thought that he would say something but he didn't, he held her stare with dark, hungry eyes and sought her lips for a long, lingering kiss. If it started soft and gentle, soon it changed into something deeper and unrestrained where he held back nothing, where she gave everything, where tension and anguish were released and soothed by the comfort and reassurance that being held and cherished by the other brought. Only then they noticed that this was the first time they kissed since he went for her at Dronfield, and only then they realized how much they needed this, how much they had longed for this moment on their own and in peace.
"Now, are you fixing me that sandwich or not?" He smiled at her bright, joyful eyes.
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and turned to prepare the sandwich. From the corner of the eye she saw him flexing his hand. "What's wrong with your hand?"
"Uh? Nothing" Darcy looked up. "I think I hit him too hard."
"Who?"
"George," he replied with a twisted smile while his other hand massaged his knuckles. "I hit him back at the cottage."
She raised her eyebrows. "You did?"
"Yes." He looked so proud of himself. "A nice punch, I dare say, given the fact that I haven't practiced boxing since school."
Elizabeth snorted as she finished the sandwich. "But, how? When did that happen? You were right behind us!"
Darcy bit half of his lower lip so his grin was somehow twisted. "Right after you left. He said something that got me really mad and I had to hit him, really, I couldn't help it. He'll probably sue me for breaking his nose, but what the hell, I'm so glad I did it."
"I can't believe it!" She laughed aloud and Darcy did the same. "Let me see your hand."
"It's OK," he looked down as she inspected the damage. "It's not even swollen."
Smiling, she rubbed his hand in between hers and looked up with enamoured eyes. "Thank you, William. I don't know what would have happened if you had not been with me tonight."
He raised his hand and caressed her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "I just did what I had to do."
"No, sir," she slid her hands around his waist, "You did much more than that and you know it and I'll never be able to thank you enough."
"You don't need to thank me, Elizabeth, I just want to see you happy."
She saw his intense, loving eyes fixed on her and she felt suddenly tongue tied, shy, nervous, overcome by new emotions that were so strong and that she was still trying to understand. Bashful, she looked down but he wouldn't let her go so easily. With only one finger, he lifted her face to his and gave her a kiss that made her knees go weak.
Darcy devoured his first sandwich in silence. Once some of his hunger was satiated, while eating his second snack, he cleared some doubts.
"Do you think your mother will press charges?" he asked her.
"I don't think so." With her thumb, she wiped a little mayonnaise from the corner of his mouth. "But let's see what she says after her chat with Lydia."
If she didn't, Darcy was determined to go after him on his own, but this was something he was not going to tell Elizabeth yet. "And what about Lydia's father? Are you going to tell him about this?"
"Thomas?" Elizabeth was surprised that he mentioned him. "What for? He left ten years ago and never called back, so I don't think he gives a damn about what happened to his daughter. Do you know something? I think that all this also happened because he wasn't here. Liddy was very attached to him as a child, she suffered a great deal when he left. She was always waiting for him to come back or just call, but he never did and she grew up without a father figure at home. On top of it, she didn't get along with John. She was quite jealous about our relationship and she never had a man to look up to."
"And you?" He asked tentatively. John was his dearest friend, his mentor and he was wondering what Elizabeth felt about him now that she knew that he was her father.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
She didn't know what to reply. Happy memories came to her mind, then sorrow, loneliness and the growing need to resolve that part of her life too. Without saying a word, she turned away to put the food inside the refrigerator.
"Would you like to see your father again?" He pressed a little more.
Her confusion was evident. She stood, staring at him, completely at loss of what to say or what to do. "I don't know." She said finally.
Smiling, he squeezed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "You look so much like him."
Her lips curled up in a smile. "Really?"
"Very much." Darcy didn't want to push her, but he sensed she that needed a little help in this. "Elizabeth, I want you to know that if you want to talk to your father, I don't mind helping you, hosting a reunion between the two of you. He loves you and I'm sure that seeing you as his daughter is something that he wishes more than anything in this world."
She looked at him with big, unsure eyes. "I don't know, William. I don't know if I'm ready to talk to him yet."
They heard the door of the bedroom opening and a tired and defeated Amanda walked towards the table. Darcy finished his sandwich in one bite and the couple joined her in the living room.
"She finally fell asleep." Amanda sighed heavily as they all sat at the table.
"How is she?" Darcy asked quietly.
"Tired, ashamed, scared."
"Did she talk about what happened?" Elizabeth inquired.
"She told me a lot of things, but I don't know if she's hiding something else. Oh God. In what did I fail?" Amanda finally succumbed to her own fatigue and frustration.
"Oh, mom, you can't blame yourself for this!" Elizabeth cried.
"Lizzy, she's my daughter, I should have prevented it!"
"How mom? She lied to you!"
"I can't stop thinking that I should have paid more attention to her. She'd been acting strange lately, so distant. I thought it was just a phase, that she was adjusting, you know, growing up but now I know it wasn't that. She was with him."
"Mother, there's no way you could know this was happening. She's sixteen! You can't call her friends everyday to see if she's with them!"
"No, but I know I should have been more open with her. We never talk. She's not like you, Lizzy, she never tells me about herself. She only answers what I ask and then stays in her room listening to the music." Amanda's eyes watered with tears. "What am I going to do with that child?"
Elizabeth rose to embrace her mother, who sobbed quietly against her chest. The night had taken its toll on them and fatigue and stress and sorrow were getting the best of them.
"I don't think that you could have done anything to prevent this, Mrs. Bennet. George is an expert in manipulating people."
"My poor girl. But she learned the lesson." Amanda wiped her eyes. "Hopefully."
This woman's suffering only increased his determination in making him pay for his doings. "Are you going to press charges against him?"
"No," the elder woman replied. "That girl is traumatized enough. It's humiliating the way it is, with all her schoolmates knowing what she did and that she was discovered to have this subject exposed to the public."
"If you change your mind," Darcy offered gently, "I know some lawyers who would gladly take the case. They work for private organizations against child abuse and they won't charge you for their work. It's up to you, Mrs. Bennet."
"William, darling," Amanda touched his forearm over the table. "Call me Amanda or Mandy or whatever, but, please, not Mrs. Bennet. I dropped that name a long time ago."
"As you wish, Amanda." Darcy smiled his most charming smile.
They talked for a while, Amanda shared with them some of her doubts about how to handle Lydia after this and it was nearly 7.00 AM when Darcy announced that he was leaving.
"The sun is rising and you people need to rest." He said as he rose to put his coat on.
"You are not driving back to Derbyshire right now, are you?" Elizabeth asked with a frown. He had been awake all night long, she could see that he was tired and she feared that something could happen to him.
"No," he shook his head. "I fear I won't make it there. I'll stay in London for the day. I'll page Georgiana to tell her where I am."
That seemed to bring Amanda's strength back into her body because she rose suddenly and addressed him in that motherly manner so typical in her. "You aren't going anywhere without drinking some coffee, young man. We don't want him to fall asleep on the road, do we Elizabeth? So you sit down on the couch, make yourself comfortable. Elizabeth and I will go to the kitchen to fix you some coffee so you can wake up before you go. Come with me, Elizabeth," she commanded.
Darcy rose and his eyes met Elizabeth's apologetic smile. The ladies went to the kitchen; the man relaxed on the couch.
"Now, Lizzy," Amanda whispered hurriedly as she put the kettle on the fire. "You tell me how it is that Mr.-I-don't-want-to-hear-about-him is sitting on my couch right now."
Grinning, Elizabeth leaned closer and lowered voice so Darcy wouldn't hear them. They only had a couple of minutes before the water boiled so Elizabeth spoke as quickly as she could. "Do you remember that day I went with Maddy and Ed to that place to buy Christmas stuff?" Amanda nodded quickly. "We found him there -it was quite a surprise, I may say. He was so nice. I met his sister too, she's deaf, and well, he invited us all to dine with him at Pemberley, his house, near Lambton, where Maddy comes from, isn't it a coincidence? He organized a surprise because he invited Jane and Charles along so I would see her again. You must see her, mom, she's huge! Anyway, we talked and he apologized but I didn't forgive him at the beginning, no, I was sort of bitchy, you know; but then I realized I was wrong and I went to his office and we talked and cleared some misunderstandings and, right there, he asked me out but you called just when he was coming for me at Ed's house and when I told him what was going on, he brought me home. Isn't he cute?"
"Lizzy," Amanda smiled proudly. "That man is just magnificent. He said he was in love with you the day he came asking for you, but I never imagined he was so deeply in love. You are indeed lucky, my child."
"He said that he loved me?" Elizabeth beamed in joy.
"Yes, I ..." Amanda's eyes widened when she heard a loud sound coming from the living room.
Elizabeth's eyes were as big as her mother's. "What's that noise?"
"That, my dear," Amanda chuckled, "is the sound of your man sleeping. He snores like a handsaw."
Elizabeth silenced her snort with her hand and mother and daughter tiptoed their way to the living room. There was the man, spread on the couch, fast asleep.
"Do you think I should wake him up?" Elizabeth whispered.
"Let him sleep for a while, Lizzy. He's exhausted."
"Go to bed, mom. I'll stay with him."
Amanda kissed her daughter's cheek. "Good night, darling," then, on seeing that they had daylight, she rectified herself, "good morning, sweetie, try to get some rest."
Elizabeth's eyes followed her mother and then she turned to the man who had fallen asleep while he waited for them in the couch. He was sitting, falling to his right, elbow slipping from the armrest, one leg bent and the other straight, so big that he barely fit in the old sofa. If her heart had been full of love until now, that sentiment was overflowing her chest right now. She brought one of the cushions from the armchair and gently slid it under his head so it would not hang loose as it was now. He didn't wake up, he just groaned and shifted his body, making himself more comfortable on this improvised bed. She kissed his forehead, and sat next to him while trying to fix his unruly hair. Then, tiredness finally won over her and she leaned her body against his, hugging his waist when he lifted his arm so she could cuddle under it. He made some odd noises with his nose and throat and turned his body to the side, pulling her over his chest. Sighing in happiness, she fell asleep with the sound of his heart beating close to hers.