Eliza and Will

Chapter 18

"We must invite this Wickham fellow to dinner!" Mum declares suddenly a few days later, much to my dismay. I would like to avoid inviting him over for as long as possible, to save us all the embarrassment.

"Yes, you must!" Exclaims Kitty, bouncing down on the sofa beside me and taking a hold of my hand.

"Wickham WHO?" Lydia echos as she enters the room, sitting down on my other side.

"Wickham none of your BUSINESS" I state, gently shoving them away.

"Now don't play coy with us dear," mum laughs, dusting the bookshelf. "You can't have all the men to yourself," she says, picking up the picture of William and I from the ball that I abandoned on one of the shelves. And before you start guessing, it was given out for free.

"Don't worry, I'm going to use it as my dartboard," I say to my sisters amusement, taking it from mum.

"Back to your mystery man, we must invite him tonight," she demands. "I want to meet him, especially while I have a big enough sized chicken to feed everyone."

I sigh in defeat as I go upstairs to make the arrangements, knowing that I won't hear the end of it if I don't.

~

"University of Manchester? What a shame your so far away," mum emphasises to Wickham over dinner.

"I know" he agrees. "But I intend to travel down here often following my new found company," he says looking at me, causing me to have difficulty eating.

"Yes, that would be great," Lydia breathes, turning around in her chair to face him. Kitty nods her head energetically in approval, her mouthful of food saving her from making an inappropriate comment. Wickham out of politeness smiles and doesn't draw attention to their behaviour. They say no more after I kick them each in the leg, giving them a stern look.

After desert Wickham and I sit together on one of the sofas, conversing deeply as we exchange funny stories and get to know each other better. Kitty and Lydia sit cross legged on the floor on the other side of the room, gazing at him and giggling as they try to catch his eye. Jane sits on the other sofa reading while mum and dad are in the kitchen cleaning up.

"Jane," mum pokes her head through the door at some point. "I need you to go to the shop for me," she instructs to which she obliges.

A while later Wickham leaves to journey back up North, as he has an early lecture in the morning.

"Thank you for tonight, we must see each other again soon," he says, stroking my hand.

"Yes," I manage, gazing at him keenly before leaning against the door frame, watching his car drive away.

"Very impressive," mum issues excitedly after I close the door. "In fact, this time in a few years there could be a wed-"

"Mum! Please stop," I practically beg, already knowing how her sentence will end.

She doesn't get to respond as Jane returns home, her face white as she walks shakily towards us.

"What's wrong?" I gasp, reaching out to touch her arm.

"It's Charles," she manages weakly.

A/N: Hey guys! I want to say a big thank you to you all for making me reach 4k reads (!!!) and for your votes, I really appreciate it. Xx