Matters of Chance

Chapter 26

The picture she had taken of Pemberley glowed on her laptop screen. She had several pictures from different angles, but she was stuck on this one. This was the photo where Darcy had exited the building and accidentally stepped into her shot. He looked small in the photo, but Elizabeth could zoom in and see his shocked face. He must have been surprised to see Lizzie kneeling on the concrete with her camera out.

Ordinarily, Elizabeth would have laughed. His expression was such a contrast to his usual serious demeanor. She might have even thought it was cute. However, a photo that would usually make her happy only brought her sadness. Ever since what Lydia said, Lizzie had spent her time thinking about what Darcy's motivations might be. Her heart only settled on one.

Darcy heard that George Wickham was back to his usual ways, and wanted to put him away for good. If he specifically wanted to help Lydia, he wouldn't have asked her to keep it a secret from everybody. Helping Lydia wasn't a favor for her family. He obviously wanted nothing to do with them, as he didn't text Elizabeth at all after she had left. Even so, Elizabeth couldn't help but think that she owed Darcy everything she had. No matter what his motivations were, he had saved Lydia.

Elizabeth clicked out of the photo. She opened another one that she had edited before, the one she was going to use for the article. It had been a couple days since Lydia had gotten back and Elizabeth had finished writing the article. All she had to do was submit it. She had been waiting for Darcy to text her over the last few days, but to no avail. She was going to post the article, and that would be the last thing that ever connected her to the Pemberley CEO.

Elizabeth sent the file of her article and picture of Pemberley to the environmental magazine that was going to publish it. That was it, her final message. Now it was time for her to push Darcy away from her mind and focus on work and her family. She'd be eternally grateful for what he did for Lydia, but it was clear that he no longer wanted anything to do with her.

Elizabeth sighed and shut her laptop. She stood from her place at the dining room table and walked to the living room. Kitty, Lydia, and Mary were all sitting on the couch, watching some sort of teen Netflix drama. Any outsider would guess that the Bennet household had returned to normal, but Elizabeth could see right through it.

Though faded, bruises were still visible on Lydia's skin. The youngest Bennet still wasn't getting much sleep and she had started neglecting her hair, her dark roots growing out against the fake blonde. Kitty didn't goof around with Lydia anymore. Instead, Kitty looked at Lydia like an older sister would, with responsibility. Before this incident, Mary would never have watched a show with her two younger sisters. If Elizabeth had to guess, Mary was compensating for not being as close to her younger sisters as she felt like she should.

The Bennet household would take some time to heal. Elizabeth hoped it wouldn't be long, but she knew better than to expect much. Ginny Darcy was still going to therapy. Lydia would probably take a while before she became happy again, and even then, she wouldn't be the same as she was before she left.

Mr. Bennet had gone back to work, and Mrs. Bennet had gone back to doting on her daughters. Jane, no longer at her job in New York, had started to substitute at summer school classes in Meryton. The family had slipped into their temporary normal.

Elizabeth spent the rest of her day reading a book in her bedroom. It was a mundane activity that brought her mind away from everything going on in her life and a welcome distraction. It had been a while since she had last read for pleasure, and she found herself more at peace than she had ever been in the past few days. Elizabeth didn't even notice how long she had her nose in her book until Jane came back from work.

She looked up at her older sister. She placed her bookmark - a random receipt from her wallet - in her book and shut it. "How was work, Jane?"

Jane slipped off her heels and sat on her bed. "It was fine," she said, "Although, I heard some news from my students."