We returned the next day and while Bingley and Miss Bennet wandered the garden. Miss Elizabeth, my cousin and I took another path.

Miss Elizabeth seemed quieter than usual, so I asked her, "Is anything the matter?"

She startled, "Oh, no. I was just pondering on some disturbing news I heard yesterday. From my aunt Phillips. You remember she arrived as you were leaving?"

"I do, yes." I looked at my cousin and shook my head slightly, then gestured with my eyes, silently requesting he give us some privacy. Seeing the two youngest Bennet girls elsewhere in the garden, he rolled his eyes, squared his shoulders and decided to join them. I could not blame his reluctance, as they had latched onto him the previous day. The red coat seemingly more of an attraction than the man within.

"She came bearing news of Mr Wickham. Most shocking news! I had no idea. He seemed such a pleasant man."

"He is very good at portraying what people want to see, I'm afraid."

She peeped up at me, briefly. "You know what has happened? The debts, the gambling, everything?"

"It is nothing unusual for him, I assure you. He leaves devastation after him, wherever he goes."

"Devastation you clear up?"

I shrugged. "I help where I can."

"I also heard a different story to the one he usually tells, regarding a living?"

I sighed. "I do not know what his usual tale is. In reality, he was well compensated for the living after refusing it. I suspect he usually leaves out that part."

"He does," she shook her head, "and I am ashamed to say I believed him. I thought I was a better judge of character than that."

"He has fooled many people over the years, my father included. I cannot tell you the entirety of my history with him—too much of it is not fit for your ears—but I have finally reached my limit on patience, which is why he now finds himself heading to France. I am hoping the discipline of the regulars will straighten him out. The militia was obviously not sufficient."

"My younger sisters cannot believe it is true, I apologise if they berate you for his absence. They have not yet learned to look beyond a handsome face."

"They are yet young, and the most dangerous person they may ever meet is now gone. They are safe, though they not yet realise it."

We walked on in silence for several minutes before she spoke again. "I was talking with Jane last night. I think she has long forgiven Mr Bingley for leaving."

"They do seem very happy together. I do not think it will be long before…" I stopped.

She stopped walking and turned to face me. "Before?"

"I will tell you a secret." I looked about, grinned, and then leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I think he will be speaking with your father again, very soon." I offered her my arm, which she took, and we strolled on again.

Not long after, the sun dipped behind a cloud, rendering the day too chilly to remain without much longer, and we turned back to the house.

I was correct. Bingley had his interview with Mr Bennet that very day and before we left, Mrs Bennet was organising a celebratory dinner for a few days hence.

When we arrived back at Netherfield it was to find Miss Bingley had arrived, along with the Hurst's. Miss Bingley was left in a swirl of fury once she realised her brother could not be talked out of his engagement. Remembering her words in my vision, I was on my guard. I alerted my staff, my sister, and my cousin regarding my suspicions and another room was prepared for me in secret, my valet sleeping in my room.

I spent a couple of peaceful nights in my borrowed room with no-one the wiser. The only problem was my valet complaining about the over-soft bed he was having to sleep in; apparently his back was missing the hard mattress it was used to.

The morning of the third day he came to rouse me with a strange look on his face. Once he had shaved me, and I was dressed in shirt and breeches, he finally said what was on his mind.

"I must appraise you of a disturbance I received in the early hours of this morning, sir."

I finished tying my cravat and turned to look at him. He was blushing. "Miss Bingley, I presume?"

"Yes, sir. Miss Bingley paid me a visit and was most inappropriately dressed given the temperature, sir."

"I feel for you, Jenkins. Was it very bad?"

He held out my waistcoat, which I threaded my arms into and buttoned up. "It would have been less unfortunate had not her sister joined her soon after. Miss Bingley had entered the bedchamber and was discovered in the bed, draped around my sleeping person by Mrs Hurst, and soon after that, her brother."

His face was blank, and unemotional as he related these events. I was unable to refrain from smirking. "Go on, Jenkins. I am finding this very interesting. What did Charles say?"

"Mr Bingley was most unamused, sir. He removed his sister from my person and, I believe, took her back to her own room. She was screeching most unappealingly, sir."

"I can imagine. Was that all?"

"No, sir. Mr Bingley returned to apologise and to enquire as to your location. I explained that you had felt the need to sleep on a firmer bed, and that I had located one for you in another room. I told him Miss Darcy had approved the move, as she was acting hostess at the time. I can only assume the housekeeper was not informed." His left eye twitched, in as close to a wink as he ever came, then he helped me into my coat.

I laughed aloud at this. "Very well done, Jenkins. Expect a bonus in your next salary payment. Let us call it… danger money."

"Thank you, sir." He bowed and left the room, leaving me to button my coat and head down for breakfast.

Bingley was the only other person in the breakfast room when I entered. He was frowning and had dark rings under tired eyes.

"Ah, Darcy. Good morning."

"Bingley." I poured a coffee and sat at the table.

"I assume your man has informed you of last night's events?"

"He has given me a brief overview of events. I cannot say I was not expecting something. As soon as she arrived and realised her plans for a union between you and my sister were no longer an option, I thought she might try something desperate."

"Is that the real reason you were not in your room last night?"

I nodded, sipping my coffee. "Jenkins has been most put out. His back is giving him problems and my soft mattress is not helping. He will be glad to resume his pallet."

"Darcy, I can only apologise for Caroline. I had no idea she would try something like this. I should make her marry Jenkins."

"I think Jenkins would be most unhappy about that."

"I have no doubt. What shall I do with her!"

"The way I see it you have three options. She remains in your household, but that is likely to cause issues once you are married. You know she will interfere with Miss Bennet's running of her household."

"That is true. Caroline can be very determined on the proper way of doing things."

"Her way is not always the right, or only, way. Your wife must be allowed to govern her new home in her own way. Besides, if your sister lives with you, I will not again place myself in the position where she could attempt another compromise."

Bingley ran his fingers through his already tousled hair. "You said there were other options?"

"She is of age, so you could release her fortune to her, find her a companion, and allow her to set up her own household."

"I could. What else?"

"She could go to live permanently with the Hurst's or another member of your family. Maybe your aunt in Newcastle. However, from her prompt arrival to discover the compromise, I can only imagine Mrs Hurst knew what her sister was about last night. They had obviously planned this between them."

Bingley had nodded glumly, and fallen silent, weighing up the choices before him, when Colonel Fitzwilliam breezed in.

"Good morning Darcy, Bingley. What was all the commotion last night?"

Mr Bingley groaned and slumped in his chair.

The colonel looked at him, then at me. "What? What did I say?"

In the end, Bingley decided to release Miss Bingley's dowry for her use. She was sent back to town with the Hurst's to interview for a companion, and Bingley wrote to have his man of business find a house for her to rent.

She went most unwillingly, complaining the whole way, by all accounts. But she went.

I think the whole of Netherfield heaved a huge sigh of relief, I could move back to my own room and Jenkins was most pleased to resume his hard pallet.

I'd like to say everything was resolved between us right away, and that Elizabeth and I were joined in holy matrimony soon after, but it took a little longer than that.

We were both there to watch Bingley and Miss Bennet marry. But I did not feel the time was right to ask for her hand until we met again in Kent that spring, when she was visiting her friend Charlotte Collins (nee Lucas) and I was visiting my Aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Our time apart gave her a chance to look inside her own heart and realise that she had already given it to me.

It was a fiery spring, when my aunt realised her plans for a union between myself and her daughter were to come to naught. However, Lady Catherine came off the worst during a showdown between herself and Elizabeth. No-one else could have rendered her Ladyship speechless, but my darling Elizabeth.

In case you were wondering, my cousins, Anne and Fitzwilliam, were cheering her on to victory.

Elizabeth has asked me, many times over the years of our marriage, what brought about the change in my behaviour and personality. I told her it was an unusual tale, one that she would likely not believe.

Still, she would not relent until I told her, so I promised to write it down for her to read.

I kept my word; this was my story.

A/N I hope you enjoyed reading this mashup as much as I did putting it together. Please let me know if you enjoyed it, have any issues with it or spotted plot holes I have missed. Feedback of any sort is welcomed!