Lizzy's POV

After an hour of reading in Jane's room with the still sleeping invalid, Caroline came in decked out in a "swimsuit coverup." It didn't cover much, nor did the revealing white bikini she had on underneath. They both stood out against her tan skin, which I'm sure was the point.

She dangled something in front of me, "Here put this on, it might be a little small on you but who cares? Isn't that the point of these anyway?" She whispered as she handed me a bikini.

I could name fifty reasons why I care. I haven't worn a bikini since I was seven years old.

Oblivious to my mental comments and my disgusted expression, Caroline continued, "When you are ready, come out to the pool, I'm headed there now." 

"No thanks," I quickly interjected. 

A calculating glint entered Caroline's eyes, "Well then, I could always say you were up here googling how to entice a rich man, or you were looking at hot guys online. Or," She sneered, lifting a brow, "I could always tell them that you were on the phone with the paparazzi giving them the inside scoop on the Bingley siblings and their dear friend William Darcy." 

I let out an incredulous breath at the nerve of this woman, "You really would tell them that, wouldn't you?"

"Of course."

What is wrong with this woman? 

Through gritted teeth, I relented, "I will be out soon."

Caroline gave me a triumphant look and sashayed out.

I stared at the thing in my hand. It would cover less than my undergarments for goodness sake.

Would it really be so bad for her to tell the guys what she was threatening...? Yes. Yes, it would. 

I went through the door to the adjoining bathroom and changed into the minuscule thing, almost immediately pulling the long Lauren Daigle shirt over my head for actual coverage.  

Glancing up, I whispered, "Thank you Lord for making me wear a long shirt today."

Groaning, I looked into the mirror. If this was the 19th century in England, I would be worse than a prostitute for showing this much leg; they didn't even show their ankles. 

Look how times have changed. 

I grimaced to myself as I wrapped a thick fluffy towel from the bathroom around my waist. I contemplated putting my tennis shoes back on, but I didn't want to have wet feet in them later. I grabbed To Kill a Mockingbird on my way out of Jane's room to give me a book to hide behind if all else failed. 

Heading down the stairs, I gripped the towel with one hand and the book with the other, anxious to see what Caroline's motives were for forcing me outside like this. I padded through the house to one of the back doors. Glancing through the glass, I saw more than just one figure outside, easily identifying Darcy, then Caroline, and finally Charles.

Of course. It had to be a battle of who was skinnier, prettier, etc, which Caroline would easily win. No, not even a battle-- a statement.

I opened the door and went outside, my bare feet slick against the lacquered wood porch. I walked down the steps, then made my way onto the grass. The thought of my feet burning against the hot sidewalk was not appealing. Skirting the edge of the pool, I hurried to the line of shaded lounge chairs under the huge tree, still keeping a tight grip on the towel.

With me in range, Caroline patted the chair next to her from her lounging position and called out "Lizzy, come over here." I bit back a groan and plopped down onto the selected chair. Caroline rearranged her already primped-to-perfection hair and prepared for the show she was going to be the winner of. 

Almost as soon as I sat down, Charles rose out of his chair and began talking to someone on his phone, gesturing that he needed to go inside.

 As he walked away, Caroline said, "William, go put on some trunks. I want you to swim with us."

With surprise, I finally looked at Mr. Darcy who I had intentionally ignored as I rushed past, and realized he wasn't dressed to swim, he was still in his short-sleeve polo and shorts.

Please don't. You can stay right where you are in your expensive designer clothes.

He turned away from us and reached for something on the glass table next to him. "No, thank you," he said in his rich British accent, "I still need to write a letter to Georgianna."

Caroline sighed, "But William, you can do that later." 

"I am going to do it now." He said firmly.

I smiled to myself thinking of how much Gee likes receiving handwritten letters. I should send her a letter when I am finally out of this mess.

Caroline regally swung her legs over the chair and lightly stood up, saying in a bright voice, "Well, at least tell her hi from me."

Mr. Darcy didn't look up, "Once again, you have means of contacting her yourself."

I tried to hold my smirk in at Caroline being dissed.

Caroline moved closer to Mr. Darcy and drew off her "coverup" in such a way that would most certainly draw attention from almost any man, but it seemed to have no effect on Mr. Darcy.

I rolled my eyes and opened the book, skimming the bookmarked page, trying to figure out where I was when I had closed it. Just as I located the right paragraph, Mr. Darcy's voice broke into my thoughts. "Caroline, Ms. Bennet."

I put my finger on the paragraph and looked at the pool for a moment, annoyed that my reading concentration had already been broken after just a minute of sitting down. I turned my head and met the gaze of the object of my annoyance through his sunglasses, waiting for whatever Mr. Darcy was going to say.

Caroline was the one to answer, "Yes?"

I felt Mr. Darcy's stare boring into me, "Do either of you know who penned the phrase," he glanced at Caroline then kept looking at me. "The person who does not have pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid?""

I kept my face carefully blank.

Of course, I recognize it. Jane Austen, it was one of her most memorable quotes. 

I gave Caroline the chance to answer first and went back to reading the book. She hadn't responded after several seconds, so I checked to see if she even appeared to be thinking. I flicked my gaze over to her, and not surprisingly, found her to be stretching in a way that would easily make most any man's blood move quite a bit faster. In a ringing voice, I asked, "Do you recognize it, Caroline?"

She roughed up her hair around her face to give it more body, looking at Mr. Darcy the whole time as she answered, "No, not off the top of my head, dyslexia and all."

I seethed. Gee had dyslexia but that didn't stop her. I knew a ton of people who had dyslexia but yet they had still read Jane Austen. The son of a buttermilk biscuit. To try and stereotype herself and hide behind a disability.

Caroline had Mr. Darcy's attention now, "In all the years I've known you, Caroline, I don't recall you ever having mentioned anything of the sort before."

Girl, you just got burned.

Caroline sucked in a quick breath and made a pouty face at Mr. Darcy, "Saying I have a disability is easier than just saying I don't like reading."

"It's lying." He returned, obviously not noticing how perfect she looked with her glossed lips catching the sunlight streaming through the tree making them sparkle.

Mr. Darcy turned to me, once again ignoring the display that Caroline was putting on as she put her hair in a bun. "What about you?" His deep voice asked, "Do you recognize the quote?"

I raised my eyebrows, "Jane Austen. Have anything harder?"

He set his pen down and leaned towards me, "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired."

"The Great Gatsby." I shot back.

He continued, a look coming into his eyes behind the sunglasses, that I couldn't quite describe, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the-,"

"William," Caroline called in a seductive voice.

He ignored her and continued, "-Last the Beginning and the End."

Caroline tried again, "William!" 

Mr. Darcy didn't look at her. He stared intently at me and asked in an oddly strangled sounding voice, "What is it?"

"Revelation," I answered simply.

Mr. Darcy finally quit staring so intensely at me and turned to glance at the person who actually wanted his attention.

Caroline stood at the edge of the pool with the sunlight bathing down on her with the perfectly messy bun and dipped her toe in. "It's absolutely perfect. Are you sure you don't want to go change?"

I saw through the side of his sunglasses his eyes do a cursory glance over her body. But that was all. 

Odd. The man had a pulse after all. How could he be resisting this?

"Enjoy, I will stay here."

Wow.

He resumed writing his letter and I went back to the book... except I was having trouble being interested in the book when there was a very inviting pool right in front of me. However, I didn't want to be in there with Caroline, so I stuck to the book.

After a couple of minutes, Caroline called, "Elizabeth, won't you join me?"

We made eye contact, and I realized by her facial expression that it wasn't a question. It was a command.

I stood up, still clutching the towel wrapped around my waist, and scuttled over to the incline that led to the six-inch-deep ledge used for sunbathing. I walked down the incline, the cool water lapping against my feet, and looked to see where I needed to jump. When I located what I thought would be the deepest part, I threw the towel onto the concrete, held down the bottom of my shirt, and jumped in.

I went fully underwater and flinched in pain as the chlorine found its way into my cuts and scrapes. With my hair now stringy from being soaked, I swam to a shaded area of the pool, and Caroline glided through the water to join me.

She literally moves like a water moccasin. Why is she even coming over here?

Caroline went to the edge and spread her arms out on it in an extremely inviting pose. I just stood in the water in my soaked t-shirt and moved a couple of feet further down so that I was covered in water almost to my shoulders.

"It's nice to have a change of scenery from inside, is it not?"

I turned to Caroline and nodded, "Yep."

When Caroline figured out that was all I was going to say, she called out to her prey, "William, come at least dip your toes in." 

He kept writing and didn't look up, "No, Caroline, you can have only two motives for inviting me over and I would interfere with either."

Smirking, Caroline asked me, "What can he mean?" She was obviously glad to have Mr. Darcy say something that begged a response. Quite different from his other responses to her.

"I don't know," I returned, as I moved through the water to Caroline's other side to be further away from Mr. Darcy. I was once again feeling his stare boring into me. "But the surest way to disappoint him would be to not ask him anything about it. However, we can't have the great and awe-inspiring, Mr. Darcy, being disappointed, can we?"

She laughed a merry laugh, either at my comment or to just get attention. Probably the latter. How could such a sweet sound come out of such a mean, crazy, and psychotic person?

"Well, tell us, William." She grinned up at him, "What do you think my two motives are?"

He rested his pen on his knee, "Either you have something private to discuss."

Hahha. Yeah right.

I looked at Caroline, "We don't have anything private to discuss do we?"

She lifted one hand to her bun and patted it, exposing her ultra-lean arm, and continued her perusal of Mr. Darcy. "No, we don't, what's the other reason?"

"Or," he continued, "You are aware that your, erm... fig... that you both look good. And I can admire you much better from here if that is the case."

Do what now? Both of us? Why include me in that?

"Well, thank you, William," purred Caroline.

He nodded to us, then stood up with his pen and papers and went inside.

As soon as the backdoor closed, Caroline pivoted toward me. "If you dare try to make a move on him, I will personally make you regret it for the rest of your life."

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously, "Where did that come from?"

"I know you aren't as big of a blockhead as you seem. Did you notice, it was you he was looking at and talking to, and not me? Then he said we both look good?"

Um. Do I stay silent?

When she figured out I wasn't going to say anything she continued.

"I have been trying, for months, to get that rich as -,"

"Caroline." I cut her off. "Please excuse me, I had hoped for a pleasant time in the pool, but since that isn't going to happen I'm going to leave."

I waded towards the stairs, sad that I only had been in the water for a few minutes, but I couldn't take any more of Caroline.

I heard a mighty splash behind me and felt an arm yank me back. "Oh no, you don't. I will not allow you to go inside where he is to try and seduce him."

She does know that I could headbutt her and then whack her windpipe with my free hand right? And AS IF.

I took a breath and exhaled then evenly said, "Fine. Then you go in."

"I think I will do that exact thing, Ms. Bennet," she said in her all-nice voice, "thank you for the idea! You are SO sweet." Her voice turned hard. "but don't you forget our little chat. Oh, and remember to not go outside the walls."

I stared after her as she exited, the white bikini showing off exactly what she wanted it to.

The nerve.

With her out of the pool, and nobody watching, I began to swim in earnest. The pool was big enough to do about half of a lap and I loved being able to "do" something. I knew I couldn't stay out too long or else I would get sunburned. 

About fifteen minutes later, sufficiently out of breath, but glad for the workout, I got out of the clear pool and picked up the towel from where I had thrown it in my hurry to get in without Mr. Darcy seeing my very indecently covered legs. I wrapped the towel around my waist and laid back down in the chair. I grabbed the book and opened it up, feeling like I was in an ideal state. Able to finally chill, I relaxed on the chair with the Texas heat drying me off, book in hand. A light breeze was blowing, ruffling the leaves of the tree I was under in the shade, and catching the pages of the book every so often.