Chapter 1

Posted on Monday, 25 August 2003

BANG! The door of Longbourn was firmly slammed shut by a young lady walking so quickly from the house it was clear her fondest wish was to distance herself from it and its inhabitants. As soon as she was out of sight of the front of the house she began to run wildly. Perhaps it was not ladylike but she had little inclination to behave herself while she was in this mood.

'The stupid, thoughtless, piggish man! To think I should want to marry him! To say to my face it was not likely I would ever receive another offer of marriage! OH!' she muttered to herself, as she threw her bonnet off her head and sat down by a tree stump. Elizabeth Bennet sat infuriated with everyone, her mother, her sisters - excepting Jane of course- and once again commenced stormily marching through the fields contemplating his insolence, his stupidity, the possibility that she should have married him - she married to Mr. Collins! Luckily her father had interceded on her behalf, but she could not stand another moment with her mother's temper tantrum. Even now she fancied she could hear the echoes of her mother screaming from Longbourn.

"Lizzy, how could you have refused Mr. Collins? The thought that you should have been Mistress of Longbourn! Oh! I shall surely die my nerves have endured so much! You don't know how I suffer! You are the most stubborn, headstrong ... OH HILL! Fetch me my smelling salts!" the voice of Mrs. Bennet replayed in her head again as she cringed with the thought of what she must eventually return too. She was absolutely convinced that she, Jane, and her father were the only sane ones in the house.

"As though I should care if she ever spoke to me again!" She said out loud. "Indeed it would be a blessing on MY nerves!"

She walked on like this for several hours, minding neither her direction nor the darkening sky. She tried to think of a topic to lighten her mood, but none could achieve her goal. She tried to think of Bingley and Jane, and how happy they both seemed, but that only brought back memories of the Ball. Her dance with Mr. Darcy, her family's behavior, Mr. Collins! At this rate her sour mood could go on forever. She could hardly think of the entire event without abhorrence.

As Lizzy walked she scarcely noticed how far from Longbourn she had come. Indeed she was, without her notice, coming very close to Netherfield. She ran, and ran, and ran from the unpleasant memories that were chasing her, which she was madly trying to escape. Suddenly she felt the ground under her drop and she fell. As if the day was not cumbersome enough, Elizabeth Bennet had just fallen into a rather deep ditch.

"GOOD GOD! The idea that I should then trip and fall into a ditch." She exclaimed. She looked around her and noticed that this ditch also happened to be filled with mud that covered most of her clothes and hands. The entire situation was so ridiculously awful; she could barely contain her emotions. She smiled although a tear ran down her face, and she could not help but thinking what on Earth Miss Bingley would do if she saw her now.

"The situation improves I see! Well," she yelled at the sky, "I suppose I am now to find that you will begin raining hard and I shall have a broken ankle and be stuck here for a good long time, for I have no "knight in shining armor' to rescue me from my present affliction."

As she spoke these words a torrent of rain was unleashed from the sky. Lizzy laughed at the thought that her prediction should come true! Perhaps when she left Longbourn for good she would leave it as a Gypsy fortuneteller. Wouldn't Mama be Proud! However it was not prudent to sit outside in the rain like a nitwit. As she rose to pull herself out of the ditch and hurry home her ankle gave way under her, and she fell backwards into the same ditch, which was now a mud puddle!

Chapter 2

Posted on Tuesday, 26 August 2003

As the mud splattered onto Elizabeth Bennet's face and clothes, she let out a cry of pain. Her ankle was throbbing and the only thing she could think of was how she hoped her ankle was strong enough to hobble home on. Fortune was not on Lizzy's side today though. And as she raised herself in order to get out of the ditch and tentatively placed her weight on her bad ankle she let out a yelp of pain.

"Why is this happening to me? I cannot imagine a worse scenario! I suppose I shall have to crawl home, at this rate!" she cried, exasperated. But Lizzy knew that she would not be able to move until help arrived. She could no longer contain her emotions. The last few days had been so humiliating, so unbelievable, so awful! Lizzy began to sob. She saw no way out of this awful predicament until someone came looking for her. Her family would be too preoccupied, her father in his library thinking she had already returned, her mother along with Lydia, Kitty, and Mary to concerned with themselves to care, and dear Jane daydreaming about Bingley, so as not to notice her absence. She suddenly felt completely alone.

Her only hope she decided, trying to make light of the situation, was that Mr. Collins realizing how he had pained his lady fair would jump upon his noble steed armor and all in search of his one true love. Lizzy began to laugh and sob at the same time with a vision of Mr. Collins in armor riding across the hills calling desperately, "Cousin Elizabeth, my maiden fair, where canst thou have wandered to? My sweet lady, do not thus forsake me!" At this point laughter took control of her and she lay in the mud, soaked through, laughing for nearly five minutes complete!

"Well at least Mr. Collins will not rescue me, so I am spared that pain at least!" She fully realized her situation though when the pain in her ankle suddenly returned. 'I must get out of this hole and get to shelter somehow! I shall certainly freeze here, for IF Mr. Collins should arrive I would NOT go with him!' she mused. She managed after a time to pull herself out of the ditch, but found no shelter close by, and surveying her present surroundings, knew the nearest residence was Netherfield. It was impossible to attempt any movement at all her ankle hurt so. She saw no way out of this mess, and had begun shivering incessantly. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried desperately to think of the best course of action. Perhaps fortune, which had taunted her so today, may yet help her.

He was tired of Hertfordshire, its society, its landscape, and everything about it. And to make matters worse Bingley was head over heels in love with Jane Bennet who obviously didn't love him in return, but would marry him for his wealth. Darcy knew that this would be the ruin of Bingley; marrying a woman with so few connections could his standing in society profoundly.

This he convinced himself was his only motive for fleeing from Hertfordshire, but truly he wanted to escape a certain person in particular. He was thinking of Elizabeth Bennet much more often than was deemed healthy. If he could only escape this hold she had over him, all would be fine. He might even be able to sleep again, and stop worrying about what she thought of Wickham, for in a way he hated that most of all. That she should prefer that thing to him was insufferable.

"Well," thought he, " All our troubles will soon be over as Bingley's sisters and I will make a point of showing him how imprudent this whole ridiculous thing is. I shall soon be away from her, and then everything will be fine. The best course of action now is a hasty retreat to Town." With a glance at the sky Fitzwilliam Darcy was awakened from his reverie. "What could have possessed me to stay outdoors so long without taking any heed of the weather? I just hope this storm will hold off until I reach Netherfield!"

He urged his horse into a gallop and took off across the fields towards Netherfield. No sooner had he done this though, than it begun to pour down rain. Darcy, thinking he could reach Netherfield just as easily as anywhere else, urged his horse on across the fields. Within in several minutes he was soaked to the skin and shivering with cold.

"I cannot imagine a worse scenario! All I need now is something to prevent me from following Bingley to town!" he yelled in exasperation. No sooner had he spoken those words than he saw a figure lying on the ground.

Chapter 3

Posted on Tuesday, 2 September 2003

Elizabeth Bennet saw a horse approaching her at a quick speed. An enormous sense of relief spread over her. She was not thinking of who it could possibly be until she saw, much to her astonishment and horror, Mr. Darcy! The feeling of relief was quickly turning to embarrassment and exasperation with her current situation.

"Miss Bennet!"

"Mr. Darcy!" She exclaimed, wishing that no one had come upon her at all.

"What on Earth are you doing out in this weather?" It was not a very polite or reasonable question, but he was really quite astonished he had not expected to meet her! The very person he had been trying to banish from his mind! And to make matters worse he had never seen her look so frightened and weak. He was worried to no point.

"What do you suppose, Mr. Darcy? That I came out to sit in the rain? Indeed, I was walking and I fell and hurt my ankle and then it began to rain."

"Please allow me to assist you. We should both be inside." He begged her and he took a step forward.

"Do not trouble yourself, sir, for I am sure I can make it back home." She coldly replied. "In fact I am sure I can make it back to Longbourn." She rose with her weight on one foot and gritted her teeth in pain as she carefully placed her weight on her bad ankle. "There you see..." But her ankle crumbled under her and she fell forward into his arms.

"Miss Bennet, you are hardly being reasonable. Please allow me to assist you. I can take you to Netherfield." He spoke as he steadied her and she was able to stand with her weight on his shoulder

Elizabeth knew she had no choice but to accept his help. She was cold and tired, and it had been such a trying day! She reluctantly gave in. "I really am in such a predicament. I'm just not sure I can make it that far, Mr. Darcy."

He had to act sensibly. They both needed shelter from the ever-worsening storm. And all the same he was immovable with fear and dread. All he could think to do was stand and stare at this vision before him. It was unbelievable, inconceivable; he had never seen Miss Bennet like this. She seemed so vulnerable.

"Snap out of it man! Go and help her then, and do the sensible thing; get yourself indoors!" said his mind. "Miss Bennet I think the only way is if I carried you." And before she could protest to such an idea he picked her up and started off for Netherfield without a care for his horse.

"Mr. Darcy, I really don't think..."

"If there were another option, Miss Bennet, I would gladly make use of it."

"Mr. Darcy..."

"No, not another word of protest, it's for your own good..." He suddenly felt the ground go out under him, his ankle twist painfully beneath him, and he found himself lying in a ditch with Elizabeth Bennet on top of him!

"What I was going to say, sir, before you so rudely cut me off is that you were heading for a ditch." She was furious. "It's certainly obvious you don't rescue people often."

He was stuck in a muddy ditch with a furious Elizabeth Bennet in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. Was it possible for there to be a worse case scenario?

Chapter 4

Posted on Friday, 5 September 2003

"I was only trying to help you." Fitzwilliam Darcy argued. They had been in the ditch for twenty minutes at least. He was frustrated, wet, exhausted, and on top of it all had twisted his ankle. "You could be a little more appreciative."

"Oh, yes! Excuse me, Mr. Darcy; for I am sure that without your help I never would have ended up back in this ditch!" Elizabeth Bennet was furious. He had presumed to carry her, and then cut her off, and now she was back where she started. "The least you could do is to get us both out of this ditch and into some shelter."

"I am trying, Miss Bennet, but I seem to have sprained my ankle." He winced as he said this and put his weight tentatively on his bad ankle. There was no way they would be able to get to Netherfield.

"Well, I am sure you are trying Mr. Darcy, but it isn't sufficient, is it?" She said, her voice filled with anger, frustration, and nearly hysterical. "Unfortunately we are both stuck here, together, until help arrives." It was obvious that she wished nothing more then to be as far away from him as possible.

He was almost back in Meryton, the land of naïve women and shopkeepers, and for a time his residence. He liked it there. He could use more places where the people were that trusting of a stranger. He was amazed that Darcy hadn't contradicted it yet, or for that matter revealed his true character. Another mistake, Darcy, he thought, another mistake which has let me get the better of you once again.

He had heard that Mr. Bingley was gone to town, and he knew Darcy and the others would follow. "A perfect time for my return," he spoke with a wicked smile, "and another story to impress the ladies with. Not every man would ride through a rainstorm to be back by their sides all the sooner."

He was quite close to Netherfield now, and his interest was sparked by two voices yelling, one male and one female. There was no one in sight but he saw a horse, and then noticed a huge ditch in the ground. He dismounted, tied up his horse, and went over to satisfy his curiosity.

"However much you dislike being with me, Miss Bennet, I assure you that it is no great pain for me to spend time with you. Although some people who lack judgment would prefer Mr. Wickham's lies to my company, they have been sorely mislead." As soon as he spoke those words he knew it was a mistake. But, the truth was the matter of her preference of Wickham over him had been playing on his mind ever since the ball.

"I cannot imagine what you mean Mr. Darcy, when it's obvious that you are the one who abused Mr. Wickham so shamefully. I cannot believe that even you would stoop so low as to refuse your father's wishes just because of jealousy. But then, what could I expect from someone who is so arrogant and narcissist they will not even dance with people they deem only 'tolerable'."

"What nonsense are you speaking of now? More lies you were all too eager to believe?"

"I am speaking, Mr. Darcy, of your refusal to dance with me at the Meryton Assembly." She knew she shouldn't have said that it made her look petty and put her at a disadvantage in the argument. She quickly made a recovery, "But it is not that which angers me, no indeed, I never wished dance with you and sincerely hope I will never have to again," she said with a smirk, "but your treatment of Mr. Wickham. You refused to give him what was left to him in your father's will. You are so..."

"I never refused him anything that was left to him. And I'm sorry you have to believe slander about me because I refused to dance with you once. Your pride is insufferable. How could you be so presumptuous as to believe any old thing that that scoundrel told you?" He was furious. How could she believe him? He would just have to set this account straight. He would have to tell her. "For your information, Wickham is a scoundrel, a dissolute..."

"Now, now, Darcy," said a cold, sneering voice from above the ditch, "We wouldn't want to tell Miss Bennet falsehoods about me. It would be very ungentlemanly."