A Modern Pride and Prejudice.

My hand was still outstretched, the phone quaking in between my clawed fingers. William grabbed my hand between his and lowered it, carefully pulling the phone from my tight grip. I could barely focus on one thing: should I fetch my uncle and aunt? Should I phone home? Return immediately? It seemed like the best thing to do in such a circumstance.

"Lizzy." William said, calling my scattered attention back to him. "Lizzy, it doesn't say anything about her being kidnapped."

"But it's Wickham! What else could have happened. I know that Lily is foolish but surely - " I choked, unable to go on.

William guided me over to a seat - my mind was too preoccupied to see where I was perched, though a small sense of comfort was felt from the soft padding of the chair - and pulled up a plush foot rest for himself. He grasped his hands and sat forward, his expression solemn.

"I know what kind of man George Wickham is. He is deceitful and unpleasant but to go as far as kidnapping your sister? Unthinkable. He is scum but he is smart. He won't want to pay the price for his crimes and end up in prison. Lily has gone of her own accord, from the sound of Jane's message. She spoke of an email, didn't she? Sent from Lily's address?"

I nodded, sniffing loudly.

"Then she must be safe and okay. She's just been charmed by Wickham, that's all. She is young and impressionable. Jane also mentioned that your father has gone to find her, Lily and Wickham only vanished last night and my guess is that he's probably still somewhere nearby."

I saw a few flaws in this speech and was quick to point them out.

"But Wickham could have sent that email out from her account, he could have forced her to sign in. We don't know that she's safe and well, anything could have happened to her! She's in Cornwall, William. She could be anywhere. Why is Wickham there anyway?"

William stood up abruptly and I felt small in his shadow. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at me.

"Please stop trying to talk yourself into thinking the worst. I'll go fetch your uncle and aunt from the other room. I'll send your apologies to Georgia. You should be at home, with the rest of your family."

And with that, he strode across the room and vanished into the corridor. Without him here, my mind started slipping from one scenario to the next, each worse than the last until aunt burst into the room and hurried over to me.

"Lizzy, we have to leave right now. William just explained what has happened, though he was a little scarce on the detail. You'll have to tell us more on the journey back home." my aunt said fretfully, buttoning her coat up without looking. She had missed at least two button holes.

I got to my feet, a little unsteady, and looked around her to the door.

"Where's uncle and William?" I asked, letting her drag me across the room by my arm.

We were flying down the grand corridor, shooting past fine room after fine room. I tried to peer into each one for any sign of William but he was nowhere.

"Your uncle has already gone down to the car so that we can leave straight away. William went God knows where but he told me to say goodbye to you from him."

My stomach sank. He didn't want to see me anymore. This whole fiasco with Lily has finally put him completely off me, just as we were getting along so well. His reason for not wanting to like me was proven right - my family are ridiculous and why would anyone want to be associated with us? The behaviour of Lily and Katy, my mother, Mallory - we are a laughing stock. Now, I doubt I will ever see William Darcy again.

My aunt bundled me into the car and I stared glumly up at William's home, desperate to catch one last glimpse of him in one of the windows. He was not there.

I heard my uncle and aunt muttering quickly to each other in the front seats, my aunt had her phone in her hand and was reading out a text message, presumably from my mother or Jane. She turned to me and patted my cheek with a cold hand.

"Jane sent me a message, too. I wish I'd taken my phone into to house. I would have known much sooner - your father has gone to Cornwall and is tracking them down right now. He's still driving there right now but Jane has told me that he's planning on going around the local fishing town with a photo of Lily to find out if anyone has seen her. She'll be found, Lizzy. Don't worry."

I tore my eyes off The Darcy Manor and looked directly at my aunt.

"They vanished last night - why weren't we told any sooner?"

My aunt held up her phone. "Jane said that Rebecca's family wanted to wait and see if Lily would come back. They thought she'd just slipped out to find some pub to sneak into but when they realised it was getting later and later, they phoned your mother right away. We were only told now because they didn't want to worry us but it's gotten out of hand and they really need you back there to comfort your mother. She's apparently going despair, thinking you're going to run away too."

I rolled my eyes and clucked my tongue. "Mum should know better than that - I'm not an idiot."

My aunt said nothing, just patted my cheek again. We were silent for the rest of the journey, the only sound was the other cars whizzing past us on the motorway and the rain spitting against the glass of the windows.

Though Lily was with Wickham in a remote Cornish village somewhere and my mother was probably howling furiously into her pillow in her room, the only person on my mind the whole car ride was William and how he would never talk to me again after this.

The only thought that was comforting me was knowing that I would see Jane soon.