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Sunday evening, a very bored George Wickham almost gave into temptation to go find a piece of fluff and a card game.

He just managed to stop himself as he was about to leave his room.

‘ This will all be worth it, ’ he told himself.

‘ I will soon be able to charm the merchants out of everything I need, take as much money as I please from the simpletons in the militia, and when I am ready, I will escape and disappear. Mayhap I will go make my fortune in the Americas. ’

He had no idea how close to disaster he came.

A man with a scar that ran the length of his left cheek, the very one known as Scarface who worked for an unsavoury man, the Spaniard, whom Wickham owed a large sum to, was at that moment canvassing the patrons of the same inn that he resided at.

Withers’ employer would not rest until he was paid in full or had Wickham’s throat cut and his body dumped in the Thames.

After three hours and no clue pointing to his quarry, the man set off, very unhappy that all traces of the man he was tasked with finding seemed to have evaporated.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Sunday evening the Netherfield party, the Phillips, including their son Graham who had come home to visit his parents Saturday afternoon, and the Pierces sans Emma and Paul, who were visiting their grandparents, aunts, and uncles at Lucas Lodge, arrived at Longbourn for an informal dinner.

Once everyone had greeted one another with the prerequisite bows and curtsies, the younger men repaired to the billiard room while the younger ladies stayed in the drawing room with the Duke and his Duchess.

Graham Phillips had been born the same year as Tom Bennet and they were awfully close as friends and cousins, and not just in age.

James too enjoyed spending time with his Phillips cousin.

He was well known to both Fitzwilliam brothers and was soon chatting amiably with Charles Bingley and Harold Hurst after introductions had been made.

He had heard that his cousin Lizzy had taken the Fitzwilliam’s cousin to task about some atrocious behaviour.

He was impressed that neither brother tried to make excuses for their cousin, saying that he made his bed and now had to lie in it.

In the drawing room Franny Phillips had not missed the way that Miss Bingley had looked at her brother.

In the short time before the men left to the billiard room, she took note of the way that the lady had been appraising Graham with an admiring eye.

Although not as beautiful as her Bennet cousins, Miss Bingley was a handsome, auburn-haired woman.

From the impression that Miss Phillips had when the lady had visited her house with the cousins, she could tell that Miss Bingley was a genteel and pleasant lady.

The fact that her roots were in trade was inconsequential for Franny, given that both her father and her uncle Gardiner were in trade as well.

Franny decided that she wanted to get to know the Netherfield party better to determine if there was mutual attraction and affection, and, if things progressed, Miss Bingley would be worthy of her beloved brother.

Charlotte Pierce was sitting next to her friend, Lady Elizabeth.

Their friendship had deepened when six years previously, Longbourn’s vicar, Mr. Christopher Pierce had proposed to and married the then Miss Lucas.

The Longbourn Church’s parsonage was on the estate’s grounds, so the two friends saw more rather than less of each other after Charlotte moved into her husband’s house.

“Now, tell me Eliza, is that ‘poor’ Mr. Darcy still alive, or did you secretly slay him?” she half teased her friend.

“He is well and in Town, from what Andrew and Richard Fitzwilliam have informed us. He promised to correct his behaviour, and from all I have heard so far, he seems genuine in his desire to do so,” Lady Elizabeth paused as she ordered her thoughts.

“You know how hard it is for me to forgive, do you not?” Charlotte nodded her head, “It seems that Mr. Darcy is not the only one who needs to make some changes. I believe that I need to be more circumspect in sketching a character and not make such fast and irrevocable judgements. I have to learn to not let what happened to Mama and Papa all those years ago affect the way I react to things and colour my judgements.”

“I am happy that you have reached this realisation on your own, Eliza. I love you as one of my best friends, even a sister of my heart, but I have long known that you are far too quick to make judgements. Knowing that nothing would change until you came to see things for yourself, I kept silent while hoping and praying you would come to the same conclusions.” She gave her friend an encouraging look.

“And while you may have been harsher than some would have been, the way that Mr. Darcy behaved while he was in the area deserved the strongest of reproofs, so I have no objection to your calling him to account. However, that you have come to the realisation that you need to be open to forgiving those who have wronged you is something that truly warms my heart.”

Elizabeth appreciated that her friend Charlotte would always be honest and would not gloss over the truth or try and spare her younger friend’s sensibilities.

Charlotte began telling her friend Eliza how she missed her children, even though they would be home from Lucas Lodge on the morrow, when Hill announced that dinner was served.

After he made the same announcement in the billiard room, the men joined the ladies to escort them into the dining room.

The married and betrothed couples sat as couples and the rest sat where there were open seats.

Graham Phillips ended up next to Miss Bingley while his sister Franny was seated next to Mr. Bingley opposite them.

Dinner conversation was as lively as usual in the Bennet household.

The Duke and his Duchess smiled at each other from their ends of the table, for life had been good to them, particularly good.

They had a wonderful family and their children, all seven of them, were kind, considerate, and honourable to a fault, just like their parents.

It seemed that even Elizabeth was re-evaluating her propensity for quick judgement and anger, and if that were caused by her interactions with Mr. Darcy, her parents could not repine the result.

Miss Caroline Bingley felt like she had to pinch herself, that she was dreaming and would soon wake.

She was seated at a table with a Duke, Duchess, two Marquesses, a Viscount and five Ladies!

If she had imagined a scenario where she would be at dinner with peers, it would not have been this, not even in her wildest imaginings.

She had hoped that the Bennets, when she met them, would at the very least not look down on them with disdain for their ties to trade.

Certainly, routinely being in company with the family and having been invited to use Lady Elizabeth’s Christian name was never a thought that had invaded her consciousness!

Graham Phillips was intrigued by the lady sitting to his right.

She was very handsome. Her auburn hair tended toward red but suited her very well.

She had light brown eyes and was a beautiful woman.

She spoke well, seemed to be well read, and was not ashamed of her family and their roots.

He had discovered by some subtle inquiries that Miss Bingley had a very generous dowry, but she was not of a vulgar bent to mention it or, heaven forbid, boast about it.

She was not ashamed that they had a house on Gracechurch Street a few doors down from his Uncle Edward and Aunt Maddie and was considered a niece by the Gardiners.

Yes, this was a lady that was worth getting to know; a woman worthy of being pleased.

He was sorry that he would be returning to Town on the morrow, as he would have liked to further his acquaintance with the lady.

At least he would have company on his ride.

His soon to be Fitzwilliam cousins were returning to town, so they would ride together.

Caroline Bingley could not but notice the attention that she was receiving from the younger Mr. Phillips, and it did not displease her.

She was not attracted to his connection to the Bennets, nor that he would be a gentleman as a barrister.

She felt warm when she looked at him, felt an attraction that to date she had never felt with any man before.

She felt a stirring in her stomach that she could not explain, but it was a pleasant feeling of warmth all over that led her to blush becomingly.

“How long will your family be at Netherfield before you return to Town, Miss Bingley?” the object of her attraction asked.

“As we have been invited to Ladies Jane and Marie’s wedding, I believe that unless business calls my brother to London beforehand, that it will be for the little season that we return, Mr. Phillips,” Caroline replied demurely.

“It is good,” he said as he gave her a meaningful glance that made the lady blush more than she had before, “that I will return at the end of next week and remain here until after the wedding. I enjoy my work in Town, but I find that there are many attractions in Meryton to draw me home.”

Miss Bingley blushed scarlet at his statement, knowing full well that she was the attraction that he spoke of. “I am sure that everyone will be very happy to see you return Mr. Phillips.” She surprised herself with her bold statement but felt that it was allowed after his.