“We’re really good friends and I
enjoy being with him” honestly replies Liz a little anxious to say too much in
case her sister feels compelled to tease her about it.
“It’s very sweet that he came”
considers Jane but a little more forlornly “I wish that some of his other
friends might have been able to make it.
But I’m sure they have very busy schedules. A birthday party probably is not very high on
an agenda list of things to do.”
“Did you invite anyone?”
curiously asks Liz wondering if Darcy has recently talked to Bingley.
“Only Caroline who said she would
pass the message along to see if anyone else wanted to come with her” sadly answers
Jane “Evidently no one wanted to come.
She sent a text that they were all too busy and would try to come
another time. She said Darcy and she were going to be together yesterday but
that couldn’t have been true because he was here with you.”
“Maybe something came up and he
changed his mind” thoughtfully considers Liz wondering if he had other plans
but made the choice to be with her instead or the other option that Caroline
was just trying to stir-up doubt so Liz would distance herself from him.
“Well, whatever happened he
decided to be here with you instead” happily acknowledges Jane putting her
brush away in her purse looking for her lipstick.
“Liz, look at your phone!”
anxiously states Jane searching through the list “I have a ton of texts from
Kitty.”
“I do too. But Darcy just sent me one that he’ll be here
in an hour. I wonder what is going on?” skeptically
asks Liz “She probably just forgot a bracelet again at the corps last night and
is panicked because she can’t find it”.
“I’ll call her” softly returns
Jane used to this scenario with her younger sisters “It’s probably nothing, but
obviously Kitty is upset. Maybe I can let her borrow some of my jewelry until
she can find whatever is missing”.
“I’m going to pick up things
around here” responds Liz “I want our apartment looking at its best since it’s
his first time here”.
Quickly and methodically Liz
begins to straighten things around the apartment and spraying the room with
floral air freshener so that it smells more like a garden then the garlic and basil that it
usually does.
Stunned in silence, Jane walks
out of her bedroom. “Liz, I need to talk
to you. Would you sit down for a minute?”
“We don’t have much time. Just let me finish dusting and I can talk”
nervously replies Liz spraying the cloth again for the hundredth time to dust
off the dining room table.
“I think this is important” unusually
firm replies Jane “The dusting can wait.”
“What is it?” asks Liz staring
down the mirror in the living room that needs a few fingerprints removed with
Windex “I don’t have much time. Darcy is
going to be here in any minute! I could use your help too. What did Kitty want?”
Taking a deep breath, Jane looks
up at her sister not knowing how to tell her the news. “It’s Lydia.”
“Ok, what has Lydia done to
herself this time? Did she trying
tanning again or do something crazy with her hair?” snidely replies Liz rolling
her eyes and taking one last wipe off the end table.
“I think this might hurt your feelings
some. Lydia has done something very stupid.
I don’t know how you feel about Wickham anymore either” seriously replies
Jane taking her sister’s hand.
“What are you talking about? You look so serious. I don’t have any feelings where Wickham is
concerned.” Honestly remarks Liz “I’m not sure that I ever did. He was nice but not my type.”
“I’m glad to hear that but it’s awful!”
weeps Jane breaking down into tears “Lydia ran away with him last night!”
“What? She did what?” exclaims Liz in disbelief “What
was she thinking? Where is she?”
“Kitty said that they don’t know
but she left with Wickham after the party.
She told Kitty that she was going to leave with him about an hour before
the party was over. Evidently they went
back to the house and picked up all her things and then took off with him” carefully
explains Jane “I know that she has been obsessed with Wickham but I didn’t
think she would run off with him!”
“I feel so bad! I should have
warned her but I thought she would be over him in a few weeks as soon as
someone else came in the picture like all of her other crushes” reluctantly
considers Liz “You know, she barely likes anyone more than a month and then she
sets her focus elsewhere!”
“She’s just a kid. Yesterday she turned 18. What does she know about life yet? She hasn’t even paid a bill except maybe her
cell phone and car insurance” remarks Jane “And she even still owes me some
from what she borrowed last month to buy a new pair designer shoes that she thought
she couldn’t live without!”
“Wickham knows what he is doing”
frankly observes Liz “This isn’t his first time to take off with a young girl.”
“What are you talking about?”
asks Jane “He’s only liked you and Lydia from what I know.”
“She isn’t the only one”, sadly
replies Liz “Considering my friend’s situation, I’ve had time to think about it
for awhile. I think he just likes the power over them and the sincere devotion
that a young girl offers without any requirements or expectations from him. He thrives off of her immaturity, selfishly
taking from her everything that he can, and she naively adores him in return.”
“Doesn’t sound like a great
relationship to me at all. Definitely
not anything I would want” firmly remarks Jane glad that she has distanced
herself from Bingley to allow him time to miss her and to realize that she is
the one that he wants to be with “What are we going to do though? She’s with him now wherever that is!”
“Everybody is going to talk so
much! The Army is like a fishbowl where
gossip is concerned. One little seed of information is covered so much with
slime and mold that the truth is simply forgotten and overlooked” sadly remarks
Liz “I don’t know why people have to talk so much. I think they must like the power of how much
their words can hurt and destroy someone whether what they are sharing is the truth
or in reality only a pebble of what’s left in the mountain of truth.”
“This is going to ruin Lydia’s
reputation. It will probably ruin our
name too” responds Jane “Why would she do such a thing? Why couldn’t she wait until she graduated if
she wanted to be with him?”
The doorbell rings. With a look of panic, Liz wipes her eyes and
straightens her clothes heading over to the door.
“Hello! How is everyone?” asks Darcy hiding a spring
bouquet of flowers behind his back and then
taking a deeper look into Liz’s eyes “Is everything all right?”
Unable to hold back tears, Liz
starts to cry again “Something terrible has happened. I’m not sure what to do
about it … Lydia has run off with Wickham last night.”
“Oh. Do you know where she is?” sincerely asks
Darcy “Has anyone heard from them?”
“Kitty talked to Lydia just
before she left. It had to do with
something Lydia Russell said to them at the party. Kitty couldn’t remember everything but
something about Lydia Russell’s lawyer and his daughter, Ariel Shephard” slowly
explains Jane wiping tears from her eyes as she’s speaking “She wasn’t sure but
it sounded like he was still married to Ariel.”
“I figured as much” quietly
whispers Darcy under his breath setting the bouquet of flowers on the table “Liz,
I brought these for you. But I’m going
to have to cancel our day together. I
will call you later.”
“Ok” states Liz as she watches
Darcy turn to leave and exit the door.
Her heart breaks as she watches him walk away when she needs him so much
right now.
In response Jane watches Darcy
leave and puts her arm around Liz’s shoulders comforting her sister, “He’ll be
back. Maybe he just had things to do
today that he forgot about.”
“He’s gone. Lydia has managed to destroy us by her
impulsiveness. Everyone is going to be talking about us now. He won’t want to have anything to do with me
once this is over” dejectedly sulks Liz wishing that the day was only a dream
rather than a harsh reality.
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