Eliza and Will

Chapter 37

*William POV*

"George Wickham could face life sentence in jail for his dealings with Lydia Bennett."

My body has frozen in shock as I absorb the information presented on the television before me. It shocks me by the second as the personal revelations about Wickham and Lydia are exploited by the news channel.

I am heartbroken but relieved for Eliza and her family that Lydia has been found and is safe. However, I can only imagine the position they are now in due to the uncomfortable stigma and scrutiny they have been targeted with. I am filled with fury over Wickham and it disturbs me when I think of the fact that this could have easily happened to Georgiana, had she not been found sooner. I must talk to her and gently tell her the news whenever she wakes up, as this would disturb her.

Whenever I heard the declaration from Eliza and the news that followed on Lydia's disappearance, I instantly feared and felt terrible for the girl. Months ago, judging by having met her twice, I couldn't stand her. I believed that she was immature and intolerable, mainly due to her upbringing and influence from her mother. However, although she may have been those things, I now realise that it doesn't mean she is a bad girl at heart. She was very easy prey for Wickham, and I hope with everything that she is able to recover from this early trauma and unfortunate situation in life.

I done the very least I could do to help the search party for Lydia, by ringing the police and informing them of Wickham, who I believed could have been capable of leading her away with him. I gave previous information that I knew about him and I also reminded them of his dealings with Georgiana. Even if I only helped by a fraction of an amount, it felt better than nothing.

I would have liked to have extended my sentiments further, by offering support to Eliza and even her family during this time. Unfortunately, this has not been possible. I haven't heard anything from her and have tried to contact her many times, but have received no answer. I briefly suspected that perhaps she had recorded her details wrongly on her job application sheet, which was my contact resource for her. But I don't believe this to be the case. I also tried to ring her grandparents, but to no avail.

Therefore, as a result of this and especially because she never contacted me to confirm her departure from her job at Pemberley, I believe that she must dislike me. That would have come at no surprise to me just a month ago, but following our reunion at my house - I had a different view. She appeared to be a shadow of herself and further gave the impression that she had began to like my character. I even believed that she might even love me just a small amount, as we seemed to form a bond whenever she came for dinner. Clearly now, all likelihood of that has been diminished. I am fully irrelevant and unwanted in her life, having seen her exit mine as narrowly as she had entered.

I doubt very much that I will ever be able to forget and move on from her, as she is permanently traced into my mind. Ever since the first moment I laid eyes on her, there was something different about her than any girls I'd met before. It installed in me feelings before that I've never experienced, which both annoyed and deeply intrigued me. l was also instantly attracted to her physical beauty, which despite what she heard me declare, I was very fond of. She had these big and pillowy deep brown eyes that were mesmerising, you couldn't look at them enough. It matched her striking dark hair and beautifully romantic face and features. She was completely my type, though I wouldn't have dared to admit this.

My attraction and feelings following this began to develop at a rapid pace, due to the time between and during our few interactions since then. Even though we would clash and I was annoyed to feel this way towards a lower status girl with my previously snobby mindset - who I believed at the time to be slightly outrageous sometimes, it couldn't prevent the inevitable love developing from me. I also began to become attracted to and desire to be in her presence and witness her great personality. I secretly loved listening to her speak on her intelligent thoughts and opinions and experience her marvellous wit, as well as be the victim of her quick and clever comebacks. By the time of the Cambridge University Ball, I was completely and helplessly in love with her.

During our confrontation when I made my feelings clear, I made a big mistake by my timing and manner. I was still full of pride, arrogance and foolishness, and it took for her to hurt me with her refusal and harsh words, for me to realise I was wrong. I feel thankful to her for allowing me to realise how much of a negative person I'd been and to change, but it came too late.

I don't expect her to ever forgive me for the things I have done. Even if she did, she clearly does not like my character and doesn't wish for me to be a part of her life. I have a small ounce of hope that she might if I put one more thing to right, and that is between Jane and Charles. I was wrong to intrude the way I did, but I won't speak to Charles about it until he returns from his almost summer long holiday, as I don't want to distract him.

The hope stemming from this and the fact that she may in general change her mind about me is the only thing driving me through this very difficult time. That is all you can do in desperate situations like these, all that is left is hope. Either that, or I will have to come to terms with the fact that I have lost the love of my life.

A/N: Thank you for 29k reads!!!😮 Finally I can post this now that Wattpad is fixed, hope you all enjoyed💖