A Modern Pride and Prejudice.

The next morning, as Jane went downstairs for breakfast, I pulled out Williams letter again and read it twice. I bit my lip and shook my head at my behaviour towards him, unable to forgive myself for being so quick to judge.

It was always the same things running through my mind; my unwavering embarrassment at my own rudeness and the anger and hurt I felt that George had lied so completely to me. How could I have believed someone I hardly knew so readily?

Tucking the letter inside my pillow case, I slid off my bed and stretched, stifling a yawn. Jane's clothes were still hanging out of her suitcase on the floor beside the chest of drawers; she had abandoned her attempt of packing away when I'd revealed the story of William Darcy to her. The shock of it had evidently forced it from her mind.

"That's not fair!" I heard Katy screech from downstairs.

Sighing, I pulled a jumper over my pajama top and hurried to the stairs where I was met with an unsightly scene. Katy was being held back by a startled Jane and my mother, whilst Lily was giggling and spitting her tongue out at Katy.

I prepared myself for the worst.

"What's going on?" I asked as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I looked to Jane, who was still trying desperately to hold onto Katy. She was twisting and squirming in her arms and I looked to the kitchen door where my father and Mallory were watching.

"It seems as if Lily has been invited to go away with Rebecca and her parents. Katy here - " my father started but was interrupted from a broken sob from Katy. " - Katy here, has not."

"I don't see why Lily should be the one who was asked! I've been Rebecca's friend as long as she has, I have the same right to go, too!" howled Katy, slumping in my mothers arms and giving up the fight.

I closed my eyes, annoyed. Katy was making this too big a deal for me to deal with. I opened my eyes again and breathed in deeply before starting.

"Maybe you shouldn't let Lily go, Dad." I said, catching Katy's triumphant face from the corner of my eye. "Which is to say, you shouldn't let either of them go."

"What!" Lily yelled.

"Lizzy!" Katy hissed at the same time.

I held up my hands and started towards the kitchen, not meeting their gaze. Mallory had quickly gotten bored of this family argument and had chosen to return to her half finished bowl of cereal. I looked at it longingly, feeling my stomach growl.

"Look, I'm just saying. I want my breakfast now, so if you don't mind - " I said, dodging Lily's outstretched hand and squeezing past my father in the doorway.

I paused as I passed him. "Really, Dad. Don't let her go. Can you really trust Lily on her own?" I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that!" Lily called.

My father followed me into the kitchen as Jane and Mum comforted Katy in the hallway. Lily stalked off into the front room, turning the television up so loud that we could hear the presenter from the morning show in the kitchen.

I poured some cornflakes into a bowl and reached for the refrigerator door for the milk. My father joined me at the work surface, flipping the switch on the kettle with an amused grin.

"I do love it when they argue over ridiculous things." he told me, dropping teabags into two mugs.

"Dad, you can't be serious? You're not actually letting her go with Rebecca's family, are you?"

He scratched his chin, the light from the window beside him highlighting his greying hair. I covered my cereal in milk and grabbed a spoon from the side, watching him anxiously for his answer.

"Perhaps it would be good for her to get out of this town for a while, Lizzy. Besides, we'll have no peace if she doesn't go - imagine her throwing one of those strops every day for a year. I don't think we could bear it." he smiled, busying himself with making the tea.

"But Dad, she's - she'll...she'll embarrass us all. You've seen what she's like around boys. What's going to happen when she's away somewhere with no one to keep her in check - "

"Lizzy, Rebecca's parents are more than capable of looking after a teenage girl. They'll make sure she's kept out of harms way. Don't be so against your sister getting out of the house." he said, passing me a steaming mug of tea. His smile was apologetic but I glared at him as I took the mug.

"I think you're making a mistake, Dad." I warned him, walking over to the table and sliding my cereal and mug in front of my seat. Mallory was chewing her breakfast still, reading the newspaper with little interest.

My father copied me, seating himself beside Mallory with a sigh of satisfaction. He lifted his mug of tea to his lips but paused in the process.

"If I am wrong, Lizzy, and if something were to happen, I'll give you full permission to say 'I told you so.' if you want to. How about that?" he offered, looking at me over the mug.

I nodded stiffly and started to crunch on my cereal rather violently.

***

I pulled on my rain coat; the weather looked miserable, I felt like it was reflecting my mood. As I stepped outside, I saw Jane wave sadly at me from behind the front room curtain. I'd chosen to go for a walk on my own and she had tried to dissuade me from it. Evidently, she had failed.

Walking around, I barely registered where I was headed. Trees and lampposts passed me in a blur as my thoughts turned once again to Williams letter. Glumly, I realised that I was starting to obsess over his letter too much, if a little unhealthily. Those words on the paper had frequently popped up in my mind, I mulled them over too often for my own liking.

Charlie. George. William. Myself. Jane. So many people connected by unfortunate events, only one of them truly despicable. It was a shame that I had only just learnt the truth about George Wickham.

I stopped to tie my lace as the rain started falling. Just as I was about to stand up, a pair of trainer covered feet stepped into my view. I unwillingly glanced up.

George Wickham was grinning down at me, a hand extended towards me as if he thought I was going to take it. I disappointed him, slowly straightening up from my crouched position and ignoring his outstretched hand defiantly.

It didn't seem to bother him.

"Lizzy, haven't seen you around in a while. Where you been?" he said, shaking out his hair and sending rain drops into my face.

I gritted me teeth and fought hard not to punch him. "I've been away. Coincidentally, I also saw William Darcy while I was gone."

Georges expression was alarmed but he quickly recovered. His smile looked forced and he cocked his head at me, his eyes unable to banish the coldness in them at the mention of William.

"Darcy? Did you really?" he said.

"Yeah. I also met his cousin, Jonathon. Have you met him, too?" I inquired, pleased to see that George wasn't too happy with the way our conversation was going.

He looked away to watch a woman pushing a pram against the heightened winds and nodded. "Yeah, I've met him. He's a damn sight better than his cousin."

I laughed and George's eyes snapped back to me questioningly.

"I think that William's a grower - the more you get to know him, the more his personality improves." I explained, fighting the urge to laugh at George's appalled expression.

"But - after what he's done to me, what's happened - how can you like him now?" he asked urgently, trying to bring up his faux grievances again. "Has he changed how he acts? Is her more friendly to people he doesn't know?"

"Oh, no, that's still very much the same. His character hasn't changed - I'm trying to say that the more you find out about him, the more you understand about him, the more likable he becomes." I said, ending the conversation once and for all by turning my back on him and stalking off with a great, wide smile on my face.