Beginning, Previous Section, Section IV

Part 33

Not part of story: Whoops! I forgot to mention that I had a few people to thank for helping me out of my creative jam. So thank you to Malini, Rachel, Carolyn, Ann, Laura, and Lisa. I hope all of you like what I came up with. Sorry about the lack of a truly romantic song, but this one's always been one of my favorites and I couldn't resist using it here.

Lizzy went from her parents' hotel room to a rink just outside of the city. The person on duty was about to close up for the night, knowing there would be no business since everyone would be at home watching the Olympics on television, but when he saw the pairs' silver medalist standing in front of him, asking if she could use the rink, he couldn't resist saying yes.

After all, his little office had a television where he could watch all the skiing action. And he'd allowed others to stay when he should've been closed, and they hadn't been half as nice as this young woman appeared to be.

Lizzy thanked him and offered to pay for his time, but he insisted he didn't want her money, that it was a pleasure for him to have her skating there.

Lizzy didn't have the heart to tell him she wasn't going to do much skating, just some wandering around the ice to test out her ankle. The manager went back to his office, where he put in her tape of music and turned on his television, settling in to watch the long night's activity on network TV.

Lizzy slowly made her way to rinkside, looking out at the neat ice that had been recently refreshed by a Zamboni machine. She remembered that silly song Lydia had played a few years ago from some movie or other about wanting to ride the Zamboni machine.

Great. Now that's going to be stuck in my head all night.

Lizzy sat down in a seat to remove her shoes and the bandage covering her right foot, since she wouldn't be able to put on her skate with it on. She put her skates on, methodically tying the laces into secure knots. When she felt ready, she slowly stood up. Her right ankle sent up a wave of pain, but Lizzy--used to skating in pain--ignored it.

After removing her skate guards, she stepped onto the ice. A few minutes later, the familiar music from Titanic playing in the background, Lizzy was still holding onto the boards, slowly skating around the rink, her ankle still sending up flares but not bad enough for her to stop. When she let go to try to skate to center ice, however, her foot screamed in protest at the movement. Gritting her teeth, she listened to the music and thought about where she would be in her program at that point.

Which wasn't a good idea, since it was at that moment when the music was about to change and it was the place where George had dropped her. She made her way back to the boards and decided that this was a bad idea. She just should've stuck to staring out at the ice or going to watch Charlotte's prodigy, Katt, skate for a medal.

With some reluctance, Lizzy stepped off the ice and put her guards back on. She sat down and just looked out, trying to concentrate on how to get out of the mess she'd gotten herself into.

And as she looked out at the ice, three things hit her at once.

She didn't love Rich.

She wanted to skate with Fitz, but...

...she didn't love him, either. At least, not yet. But as she thought back and thought about the Fitz Darcy she'd thought she'd known, and the one she actually did, she began to see the good things about him.

For one thing, and this was something she'd never been able to deny even when she'd hated him, he was a good brother. Georgiana had suffered one of the most traumatic experiences to ever befall a skater, and yet he had supported her and encouraged her and she was here today. And it was all likely thanks to Fitz, because from what he'd said his parents were of little help and as for Catherine, the less said about her the better.

He was a wonderful skater. Even with Caroline, who did her best to drag him down but never would. And the fact that he could see through her was another thing in his favor.

He was a nice person. She had spent an entire day in his company and except for the incident with George, he'd been someone she enjoyed talking to. They had several things in common, as she'd found. Plus, he was honest. She knew this from the frank way he talked about his parents to an absolute stranger--well, he'd known she was Golden Girl, so maybe that didn't count.

He was so far from the arrogant jerk she'd thought she'd known that it amazed her how she could be so blind.

The biggest thing she remembered about him was the way she'd felt when they'd skated together. She'd thought it felt right at the time, and she still did. She remembered whirling around the ice in his arms, and the way he'd defended her to his coach.

She sighed. So maybe she would go ahead and skate with him, and who knew? Maybe she was in love with him. She didn't know whether or not she was because she'd never been in love. If she'd had a proper example of what love should be in her family, maybe then she'd know, but she'd known for many years that Thomas and Frances Bennet had married because he'd seen a pretty face that intrigued him and she'd seen the most talented choreographer in the business. The only reason they were still married was that Thomas didn't believe in divorce and Frances felt he was too important to her success as a coach.

"Elizabeth?"

The voice was filled with wonder, as though he hadn't expected to see her there. And he hadn't. He'd come to think and maybe skate a little while on his own, and he'd found her.

Lizzy turned to see Fitz standing there.

He looked as though he'd taken quite a beating at Rich's hands.

"Hi," she said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to think and there was nowhere else to go," she said. "Do I still have a room left?"

"Yeah. Rich and I stopped a few minutes after you left...I think. Your sister's alarm clock is dead, and the lamp's busted all to hell...I'll pay for it, though. Your CD player is untouched."

"That's a relief," she said. "How's Rich?"

"Do I look like I give a damn?" Fitz grimaced and gripped his head in agony. "He looks about as bad as I do. He's going to need some pancake tomorrow."

"He hates wearing it," she murmured. "He says it makes him feel like a sissy."

Fitz frowned, because he felt the same way. If there was one thing he didn't need to hear, it was that he had anything in common with Richard Fitzwilliam.

Especially since they appeared to have a love for the petite young woman sitting before him in common. Fitz looked her over and noticed that she was wearing skates.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "Why are you wearing your skates?"

"I tried to skate," she said. "My foot hurts too much."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to get away from...from everything that's happened."

He sighed and dropped in the chair next to her. "I'm sorry about all this, Lizzy. I should've...well, how did you expect me to react when you kissed Rich?"

"Could we please not talk about this right now? It's all everyone's wanted to talk about all day and I'm tired of it."

Fitz bent down to take his shoes off. "I think I'm going to skate, then."

"Fine." Lizzy was a bit hurt that he was acting as though they had nothing more to talk about than this kiss.

But of course, she knew that he was right, that if they were going to move on with any sort of relationship, they were going to have to get Rich out of the way. She would tell him that she didn't love him but she wasn't going to give up their friendship just for his sake. Rich was too important in her life to abandon as it was likely Fitz would want her to do.

Fitz had his skates on. He raced out onto the ice, warming up quickly. About ten minutes later, he stopped in front of her.

Fitz had been thinking the entire time he lapped the rink, thinking about how maybe he'd been too quick to judge, thinking that he'd had a right to fight Rich, thinking that maybe he'd blown things with Lizzy altogether if she didn't feel like talking about this, because it meant that maybe she didn't feel like pursuing a relationship with him.

When he came to a stop, he asked softly, "Would you like to skate with me?"

"But my ankle--"

"I'll hold onto you. If the pain gets to be too much, let me know and we'll stop."

Lizzy stood up, her ankle again protesting but not as badly as before.

He smiled as she slowly made her way to him, and the two of them slowly began circling the ice as...

"What is this song?" he asked, uncertain.

"Pink Floyd," she said quietly. "'Learning to Fly.'"

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistable grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit, I...

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit, I.

Lizzy thought about the song, which wasn't all that romantic to skate to. The more she thought about it, the less her ankle hurt and the faster she started to skate. She thought about how she'd felt going into that final lift with George, thinking that she could fly.

She'd been wrong, as she realized when Fitz picked her up in his arms and carried her out of concern for her ankle. She wanted to tell him that it didn't hurt as much, but she liked the feeling of being in his arms too much to care. She felt as though she could truly fly, with him to guide and support her.

Is this what being in love is all about?

She realized that she could forgive him anything, even beating the hell out of her lifelong best friend. It was more than just the feeling of being in his arms, but the look in his eyes whenever she looked at him. He was in awe skating with her.

It was as if he were experiencing the exact same emotions she was. And he probably was.

He set her down on the ice when the song finished. The next one on the tape was a familiar one--"Blue Danube."

With a smile, he said, "We can't waltz. I think your ankle's had enough of a workout."

"Probably," she replied. "Like the song?" "Very much so. Maybe someday we could..." He suddenly remembered that she hadn't said yes to skating with him, nor was she likely to after his fighting with Rich. His head pounded even worse.

It was strange. He'd been able to take his mind off the pain in his head and ribs when he'd been skating with her, but now that it was over, the pain hit him harder than it had been before.

"That would be nice," she said.

Fitz realized what she was saying--that she would be willing to skate with him. He didn't know what he'd said or done to get her to agree to do it--hell, he'd done almost everything possible that would cause her to avoid ever wanting to speak to him again--and yet she wanted to skate with him.

He was so overjoyed that he said softly, "I love you."

But it was the last thing he did before the pain became too much to bear.

"Fitz!" he heard Lizzy scream as he fell to the ice, unconscious. "Fitz, nooo!"

Part 34

Saturday.

From Edward Gardiner's Saturday-morning Olympic report, CBS Sports--

"The skating world was shocked again today by the news that pairs' gold medalist Fitzwilliam Darcy was hospitalized last night at Pemberley Memorial Hospital. Although his injury is believed to have stemmed from a fight which took place between him and singles skater Richard Fitzwilliam, the hospital has as yet made no comment about it, other than to say that Darcy is suffering from a severe concussion and regained consciousness early this morning.

"This is coming on the heels of the rumors that Darcy intended to break up with the partner he recently won gold with, Caroline Bingley, to skate with Elizabeth Bennet."

Jim Stance smiled smarmily. "Is it true, Edward, that the fight between Fitzwilliam and Darcy was over Elizabeth Bennet? I understand that there was a rather steamy kiss shared between that young lady and Richard Fitzwilliam."

"As to what the fight was about, I can't speculate, Jim, but I can tell you that there were reports that Fitzwilliam would withdraw from the men's long program due to his injuries, although no one can confirm or deny this."

"Have you seen either Fitzwilliam or Bennet?"

"No, I haven't. From what I've been able to learn, Fitzwilliam has been in seclusion with his coach, Frances Bennet, and neither of them has made a comment. Nor has anyone from Catherine de Bourgh's camp. As for Lizzy Bennet, I have heard that she was with Darcy when he collapsed and has been at the hospital with him ever since."

"Thank you, Edward. So, strange things continue to happen here at the Olympics with regards to the skating world--and not all of them are happening on the ice. Don't forget that the men's long program will be televised live this evening. Carl Denny is currently the leader and, you tend to think after this debacle second-place Richard Fitzwilliam has landed himself in, the favorite to win gold tonight."

9 a.m.

Caroline Bingley was one of the few people who didn't know what had happened to her skating partner, as she had been out shopping most of the night before and didn't listen to news reports unless she was certain to be mentioned. She had her mind on what was to take place sometime soon.

She had been turning it over in her mind ever since Lizzy and Rich had been caught kissing in the closet. On one hand, she knew that to let George and Lydia go through with it would allow her to be placed in a sympathetic light when she became Georgiana's guardian angel. However, if she told Fitz before it happened, she just might appear even more like a heroine by caring enough to prevent it from happening altogether.

Caroline had almost decided to tell him when she thought about how she would explain knowing about the attack. Fitz would want to know how long she'd known, and why she hadn't said anything sooner. After all, she hadn't seen George for several days, so would've had to find out during the pairs' competition. His thinking she had another plan in mind would be disastrous.

She knew, however, that George was likely to strike soon, and she had to make a decision before that happened and it was too late.

In the end, she decided that it would be best not to say anything. After all, exposing the plan before it happened could cause George to deny it, saying that she was merely trying to stir up trouble because of Lizzy. And Fitz might not believe her, anyway, whereas having her fluttering around Georgiana, seeing to her every need when she was injured, would look far better than anything she could think of in favor of telling him.

Caroline smiled as she took out one of the Harlequin romances she'd brought with her. "Fitz Darcy, you're going to be mine," she said with a smile as she opened the book.

9:30 a.m.

The greatest news George Wickham had heard in his life had come just that morning, when he'd heard that Fitz Darcy was in the hospital following his fight with Rich. Or that it was believed to have come from the fight. Whatever the reason, he was grateful that one major obstacle had been removed in his plan to attack Georgiana, because Fitz seemed to have a built-in radar when it came to his sister that might've alerted him to the fact that she was in danger.

For a moment, he had feared that Georgiana would not be practicing, but he'd heard Lady Cat give a brief statement in which she said, "Things will continue as scheduled for my skaters. They now have added incentive to win, as a tribute to Fitz. Especially his sister, who will dedicate her victory to him should she win."

Lydia had snorted. "That twinkie isn't going to get a chance to win," she muttered. "And to hear her talk, you'd think Fitz was dying or something. I heard he's already awake."

"And who did you hear that from?" he asked.

"I watched Edward Gardiner a little while ago," she said. "He said Fitz was awake."

"This only makes things better for me," George said with a smile as he dug through his little duffel bag for the black gloves he'd brought with him. "And it'll be even more guilt and suffering for Fitz. When his sister needed him the most, he was in the hospital because he was stupid enough to get into a fight with Rich."

"So how are we going to work this out again?" she asked.

George sighed, wishing that she had a little more sense. If something was going to go wrong with the whole plan, it was going to be because of Lydia and her swiss-cheese memory.

"You're going to go see the women's hockey team," he said. "They're practicing at another rink, as they always do. You're going to look innocent and fascinated and ask lots of questions. When it's eleven o'clock--and remember, it has to be at eleven--you're going to leave to do something silly, like use the bathroom or touch up your hair or something."

"Uh-huh."

"When you return, you're going to mention that you ran into me. It's only a few minutes to get to the rink from the other, so I should be there soon--as though I had just gone to the bathroom and returned to hang out. Our alibis will be confirmed, and no one will be the wiser. But Lydia, this is the important thing. You have to leave me an outfit to change into in that closet we found the other day. If you don't, I'll be stuck wearing the clothes which would immediately identify me as Georgiana's attacker."

"I've already got them in my duffel bag," she said, pointing across the room. "You gave them to me, remember?"

"Just don't forget to leave them there."

"I won't. This is really going to work, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." He smiled and kissed her. "And once it's over, you'll have a clear shot at the gold medal, and Fitzwilliam Darcy will know never to cross George Wickham ever again."

"But he can't know--"

"He'll guess, but he'll never be able to prove it. And I'm not going to do something stupid like tell him, of course."

"Right."

George smiled as he glanced at the clock again. In about forty minutes, he would send Lydia to the other rink for her alibi. And in less than ninety, their plan would go into effect.

10:15 a.m.

"I will not tolerate her presence at your bedside anymore," Catherine de Bourgh raged. "She is the cause of your present condition, and yet you insist that she stay! How can you be so foolish?"

Fitz groaned. If he hadn't already had the mother of all headaches following his altercation with Rich yesterday, Catherine's screaming would be enough to bring one on. Thank God Lizzy had gone to get a cup of hot chocolate and wasn't around to hear this.

"Catherine, shouldn't you be going soon? Georgie needs to be practicing," he said weakly.

"I'll go as soon as you get rid of her. In fact, if you feel you need companionship in my absence, I'll call Caroline."

"God, no!" he gasped. "That will only make me worse."

"Nonsense. She is your partner--"

"Former partner."

"And she has not made a complete fool of you as Lizzy has." Catherine huffed. "I don't know why you wouldn't let me tell everyone that Rich was to blame for this. Surely the ISU would've forced him to withdraw from the men's competition because of it, which would only be right."

"No," Fitz said. "It wouldn't be right because I was the one who started it. It wasn't his fault at all."

"Might I remind you, young man, that he was found kissing that little tramp?"

"If you call Elizabeth a tramp again I'll call the nurse and have you thrown out of my room." Fitz was tempted to do that anyway. "But he wasn't looking for a fight. He said it himself. I was the one who did this."

Catherine shook her head, not quite understanding how Fitz could be so foolish about the whole thing. Clearly the blows he'd taken to the head had affected his senses, because it was obviously Rich's fault. She would've said all of that to the press, except that Fitz had demanded she not do it. And of course, she couldn't deny that poor boy anything, not as bad as he was.

"I think you should get Georgiana to practice," he repeated. "You said you weren't intending to change anything because of what happened. Georgie needs to practice...." Fitz really wanted to get his sister out of the hospital, because her pale face already troubled him.

Of course, the last time she was in a hospital was because of her knee, so maybe part of her pallor was due to that.

Catherine reluctantly turned to Georgiana. "Do you want to leave your brother right now for practice?" she asked.

Georgiana turned stricken eyes to her brother. He nodded slowly, as if to reassure her that he would be all right.

"Yes," she said. "That's what Fitz wants, to be alone."

Catherine hadn't thought of that. He wanted to be alone, all right--alone with Lizzy. She didn't notice him ordering her from his bedside, in spite of all her protests.

"Very well," she said. "But we'll return as soon as we can."

Fitz felt a great sense of relief by knowing that Catherine was going to leave. He didn't know how Caroline had managed to stay ignorant of his condition, but the fact that she wasn't there relieved him as well.

Georgiana gave her brother a kiss and asked, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah. I've survived worse," he lied.

Georgiana murmured, "I love you."

"Love you, too," he replied. "Have a good practice, okay?"

She nodded.

"Georgiana? It's time to go. We'll be lucky to get there by eleven as it is."

Catherine swept the young woman out of the room, and Fitz sighed. Poor Georgiana. Catherine was likely to take her frustration out on her, and he wouldn't be there to protect her like he always was.

Fitz just wished he could get the terrible feeling out of his mind that something else was wrong.

10:30 a.m.

Rich walked into the arena, trailed by reporters who asked whether or not he was in any shape to skate that night. After snapping, "Of course I am," he pushed past them.

Rich had heard that Fitz was in the hospital and he felt guilty about it. Although it wasn't his fault that the blockhead had been spoiling for a fight and had gotten one, he had still put him in the hospital and that wasn't good. Especially in light of the fact that he'd heard Liz was at his side and wouldn't leave until he was better.

Rich sighed. Liz had clearly made her choice, even without having seen her. She wouldn't have been with Fitz otherwise, and he was going to have to accept that.

But God, it hurt.

Rich made his way up to the ice, but rather than put on his skates, he took a seat to watch everyone else. Marc Gercourt was out there, taking a light practice to save up for that night. William Collins was out there as well, huffing and puffing his way through a practice. He paled at the sight of Rich and quickly scurried away.

There were a few of the ladies competitors out there today. He wasn't surprised to find that Lydia wasn't there, since she was a notoriously heavy sleeper. Frances wasn't there, either, but he hadn't told her he wasn't planning to come to the rink. He just hadn't been able to take being cooped up in his room anymore.

He watched as Marie Roi, the French skater, performed a perfect triple flip. She was something of a plain, freckled girl, but she was a powerhouse on the ice. Very impressive. Some claimed she had a triple axel, but he had yet to see her do one.

Then he noticed the one woman who stood taller than the rest of them, taller even than several of the men he would be skating against that night. She was quite impressive and he wondered why he'd never heard of her before.

At the moment, he couldn't even remember her name.

Rich sighed as he watched everyone. He thought about Fitz, and Liz, and about what had happened just yesterday. Maybe he'd been a fool to think that Liz would ever love him. It was clear she didn't, even if it had seemed that she'd been on the verge of saying something when Fitz had walked into her room.

Rich just sat and watched everyone, not attempting to skate, not thinking about much else than the muddle his life had become.

10:45 a.m.

George glanced at his watch again.

Where was she?

Usually by this time Georgiana was at the rink and in the locker room, dressing for her practice. He'd expected her, and she wasn't there. He knew because he'd been hiding where no one could see him, in a place where he could see every skater walk in and out of the rinkside area.

He knew every move Georgiana made. She was a superstitious girl and always had been. She didn't like Catherine near her when she dressed and did her warm-up stretches, so Catherine would go to rinkside and Georgiana would be alone. That would be the time to strike, when she was all alone. Usually, Fitz might've stayed behind to talk to her as she stretched, but not today.

Today she would be alone.

George glanced at his watch again. 10:46. Where was--

"I cannot possibly imagine what he sees in her," he heard Lady Cat say.

"Perhaps he loves her," Georgiana replied.

George grinned. His quarry was right where he wanted her.

"But between you and me, Georgiana, that girl is nothing but trouble. She discards partners as though they were nothing and thinks to make Fitz her next victim. Can you not say that it is likely she shall ruin his career as surely as she has ruined Bertram, Churchill, and Willoughby?"

"They left her, Catherine. And besides, what happened to them was not her fault."

Obviously talking about Lizzy. He was going to prove the one that broke the chain of bad luck where Lizzy's former partners were concerned. He was going to be successful.

As soon as he found the right partner.

"Georgiana, I feel as though I should stay by you today. The press is likely to be asking all sorts of questions."

No!

"They're not allowed around here, Catherine, you know that. I'll be fine."

That's certainly not the Georgiana I remember, the one who was petrified of her own shadow.

"But--"

"Please. I need some time alone, to concentrate. You certainly wouldn't want me to do something that might prove self-injurious, would you?"

Sweetheart, wanting to be alone is going to prove self-injurious.

"I swear, I don't know where you get this superstition from. I was never that foolish."

"But you know how important it is to cater to it."

Catherine sighed. "Yes, I do."

The sound of footsteps echoing away made him realize that they'd parted ways, Georgiana to the locker room and Catherine to rinkside, where she was likely to start yelling encouragement to that buffoon, Collins.

It was almost time.

10:55 a.m.

Lydia's watch was fast, and so she had excused herself five minutes earlier than necessary. And she returned five minutes before she was supposed to.

She'd been having a fascinating conversation with one of the female hockey players. She'd been learning about some of the more interesting aspects of hockey and trading some speed skating secrets.

They two were having a nice talk when Lydia said she needed to use the bathroom, trying to be subtle by checking her watch. When she returned, she was too early but didn't realize it.

"Sorry for taking so long," Lydia said. "I just ran into someone I knew."

"Oh? Who's that?" the other woman asked.

"George Wickham--you know, my sister's skating partner? We were just yakking about what happened yesterday to Fitz Darcy. He should be here in just a couple of minutes.

"Did he know anything new?"

Lydia smiled as she began to make something up, thinking that by now, things should be perfect for them.

10:58 a.m.

Rich frowned. Something was wrong. He could feel it somewhere deep in his bones, something he couldn't identify and would be laughed at if he told anyone. But it was there.

Something was wrong.

He walked away from the ice, where he'd been slowly drawn in by the elegance and grace of that lovely blonde skater, and back toward the locker room area.

He saw nothing that should've alarmed him. The hallway was empty, but for some reason, his feelings just became stronger and his sense of danger increased. It wasn't directed at him, at least he didn't think so.

Right then, the door to the women's locker room opened and Georgiana Darcy stepped out. She was calm.

Rich was not, because everything seemed to turn on its axis and he knew something was about to happen to her.

Georgiana looked at him, her face clouding a bit. A momentary flash of guilt crossed his mind, but was quickly eradicated by the fear he felt.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

Before Rich could answer her, he saw the man. Dressed all in black, including gloves and a black ski mask which covered his features, he swiftly approached the young woman, a long black stick in his hand.

He grasped the stick in both hands and, with a stance worthy of any baseball slugger, prepared to take aim at her.

Rich was paralyzed, willing himself to move to save her but being unable to for a second. All he could do was shout, "Georgiana! Look out!"

Part 35

The only thing that truly saved Georgiana was the fact that she had a skater's lightning-quick reflexes. Had she been anything or anyone other than who she was, she might never have moved out of the way fast enough to avoid being struck in the right knee by the object the man in black was swinging at her.

But Georgiana dodged out of the way the moment Rich said her name, not even waiting for him to say "look out," because she knew from the look in his eyes that something was behind her.

The man stumbled forward by the strength of his arm meeting thin air. Rich's paralysis disappeared and he grabbed the culprit around the waist, throwing him to the ground with more strength than he thought he had. To keep him on the ground, Rich used a hold which always worked well on pro wrestling shows and seemed to work here, for the assailant moaned and lay still to avoid further pain.

"Call for help!" he yelled to the terrified young woman. Georgiana disappeared and returned a moment later with Carl Denny and the tall blonde whose name Rich had trouble remembering--they'd been the first two people she'd seen.

"Attacking someone else?" Carl asked, bemused.

"This one went after her," Rich said, jerking his head toward Georgiana. He loosened his hold on the masked man, who immediately tried to escape, but the moment he tried, Rich had him in yet another wrestling hold. "You're not going anywhere, you jerk."

"Oh, Gawd," a decidedly Southern-accented voice said. Rich was startled at the sound of it--almost like slow honey, soothing, rich, sexy.

Sexy? What are you doing thinking of sexy at a time like this? Shouldn't you find out who the hell tried to attack Georgiana?

"When?" Carl asked, his amusement gone.

"Just a minute ago. If I hadn't come by when I did..." Rich thought about the feeling which had led him to find Georgiana and the cretin who was trying to get away. Rich pulled him up to his knees and said, "Carl, take this ski mask off. I want to look into the eyes of a coward."

"This feels like a Scooby-Doo cartoon," Carl said as he reached out to pull off the ski mask.

Rich gasped when the familiar face turned to see his.

He thought he'd be looking at a coward with a stranger's face. Instead, he looked at George Wickham.

The eyes of the other three people in the hallway were just as shocked, and Georgiana nearly gasped as pain lanced through the same knee he'd nearly destroyed four years earlier, the one he'd been about to take out again.

"Why?" she screamed. "Why did you...why?!"

The screaming brought the attention of much of the rest of the people at the rink, and once again, Richard Fitzwilliam found himself surrounded by cameras flashing.

Catherine de Bourgh quickly slipped through the crowd to where Georgiana was shaking, both with fear and with rage.

"Ask your brother," George said.

Georgiana's eyes widened, and for a second everyone feared she was going to faint.

"You plotted this as revenge, didn't you?" Catherine hissed. "Because Fitz beat you--and deservedly so. You couldn't take losing so you decide to cripple his sister permanently?"

"I should've won!" George raged. "And I would've!"

"You were the one who couldn't keep a hold of your skating partner! You cost yourself the gold medal--not that I think you would've won in the first place!"

"Against that limp pair of milksops you call a couple? We would've blown them out of the water."

"Enough!" Georgiana shouted.

But she went unheeded.

"I'll bet that Lizzy was behind this whole set-up," Catherine said, a smile forming on her lips. "It all makes sense now. She was to get close to Fitz, making Rich jealous, so they'd fight and Fitz would end up in the hospital. That would leave Georgiana unprotected."

"No," Rich said coldly.

"Yes! The whole time, she was working with George to get even with Georgiana. The whole thing was a charade. I can't wait until he finds out what his darling little Lizzy's been up to--"

"I can assure you, Lady Cat, that if there's one thing Liz would never do, it's be in league with this son of a--"

"They are partners."

"Not anymore. She dropped him as quickly as Fitz dropped Caroline. And she would never do anything to hurt Georgiana knowing what happened to her before."

"She knows?" Georgiana asked softly.

"I...I found out for her, because I knew this piece of garbage was lying," Rich said with a vicious twist to the arm he was holding. "And even if she didn't know, she never would've done something like this. She has more sense."

Catherine snorted, which earned her a glare from Rich. Georgiana sighed.

"What are we going to do now?" Carl asked. "We can't let him go. He'd just go after Georgiana again."

"The police probably wouldn't hold him for very long if we had him arrested for attempted assault," Rich said. "He'd be back here before Georgiana could get through practice."

"What's going on? Would someone tell me what's going on?" a loud voice hollered through the crowd. Georgiana and Rich groaned aloud at the same time, recognizing the voice instantly.

But neither of them was as frustrated by the presence of Lydia Bennet than George, who had told her under no circumstances was she to go to the other rink. However, her fast watch had made her think it was later than it was, and she got concerned when he didn't show up to meet her as they'd planned.

"Has anyone been hurt?" Seeing Rich holding an unmasked George, she threw aside any and all sense she had (which was not much, granted) and screamed, "Let him go!"

She pummeled Rich with her fists and had to be dragged away from him by Carl.

"George, what happened?" she screamed.

"Nothing, Liddy," he replied. "Absolutely nothing, as you can see."

"Nothing? You call your attempted ruination of Georgiana's career nothing?" Catherine snapped.

Lydia turned stricken eyes to George, who willed her to be silent for once in her life.

"You mean it didn't work?" she asked.

Rich turned horrified eyes to his best friend's sister, who had just exposed herself as a conspirator.

Dear God, Liddy, how could you? What is Lizzy going to think?

"What do you mean by that?" Georgiana asked, looking at her rival.

"Liddy!" George thundered. "Keep silent!"

Lydia bit her lip. "Oh, Lord, I wasn't supposed to say anything. I promised so faithfully that I wouldn't."

"You'd better speak up now, Lydia, or else," Rich said.

"Um, well...it was nothing, really, just a scare tactic," she lied. "He was only going to scare Georgiana. He wasn't actually going to...hit...her."

Everyone knew she was lying, and everyone knew why she'd been a part of the plan from the beginning. She'd been hoping to take out one of her main rivals.

Just then, the security people arrived to take custody of George, and from there Rich disappeared, not quite sure he wanted to be the one to tell Liz about what her sister had done.

Caroline was flipping through the television stations, furious that she was forced to be alone without a clue as to where anyone else was. She was hoping to find a shopping channel, because although most of the stuff they sold was junk, she loved to look just to see what they had.

She stopped when she saw a reporter standing outside of the arena.

"...and the police have already taken George Wickham and Lydia Bennet into custody, where they are likely to be charged with conspiracy and attempted battery. Meanwhile, Georgiana's brother, Fitz, remains hospitalized at Pemberley Memorial following his collapse from a concussion suffered yesterday."

The reporter disappeared and his collegue at the network said, "Thank you, James. We'll have more facts for you as we get them."

Caroline put her hand to her chest, for the mystery of where Fitz was had been solved--and it appeared as though George and Lydia had carried out their little plot today.

So Georgiana needed some support now. But so did Fitz.

Perhaps, she thought with a smile, she would see Fitz first. And who knew? Maybe she'd be lucky and run into Lizzy at the same time, to let her know what that flibbertigibbet of a sister had done this time.

"How are you feeling?" Lizzy asked Fitz when he woke up again.

"I've been better," he admitted. "But much better since you're here."

She smiled.

"Lizzy...I know what I did yesterday was stupid...taking on Rich in your room...and I'm sorry."

She sighed. "I know you are."

"I was just so mad when he kissed you...you know, because I thought we had something special."

"I wanted to talk to you about that," she said.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I think something's there. I just don't know if I want to rush into a relationship yet."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "It's because of Rich, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't because of him. It's me. I need time to get everything sorted out in my mind. But...and maybe this is a small consolation...I did decide something yesterday before you..."

Lizzy couldn't finish the sentence. Even now she could see him crumpling to the ice as she watched in horror. She had screamed for help and fortunately gotten it swiftly.

"What was that?"

"I want to skate with you."

Fitz thought about this for a minute before saying anything. She didn't love him--that much was clear. But she was willing to skate with him.

And maybe that was all he'd need to get a chance with her.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I decided it yesterday. It was great skating out there with you...I enjoyed it so much. I'm scared I'll ruin your career, and people will see me as a jinx, but I think...I think it'll be like it was when I started with George, that we'll prove ourselves and move from there. I think we can make it."

Fitz smiled. "That's the best news I've heard all day, Elizabeth."

"There's just one problem."

"I can't think of any right now."

"I can. Obviously, I'm not going to want Lady Cat for my coach."

"Oh." Fitz's smile faded a bit. "Yes, I can see where that would be a problem, given how she feels about your mother."

"And I somehow doubt my mother's going to do it, considering that you're Lady Cat's cousin. Especially after this debacle with George."

"I don't know that I'd want your mother for my coach...no offense."

"None taken. So who do we get?"

Fitz sighed. "Can we just revel in the fact that we've discovered each other as skaters and not think about the rest for a minute or two?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Didn't think so. Then how about putting it off until my headache's gone?"

"That would be okay." Lizzy smiled as she brushed an errant lock of hair off his forehead. "When are they going to let you out of here?"

"I think sometime tonight."

"Good. I want you to meet my father--"

"Lizzy, I've met your dad."

"No...I mean, as a choreographer. He'll deny it, but I think he's been working on some programs for us."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He saw us skating the other day and liked what he saw."

Fitz smiled. "At least one of your parents will approve of me."

"Aah, don't worry about my mother. Once Lady Cat is out of the picture, she'll start to think about how you're an Olympic gold medalist, and how fortunate I am to have you as a partner."

"And then she'll want to be our coach."

"Probably. But by then, we'll have someone of our own."

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," a new voice came from the doorway.

Caroline had been listening to the last few minutes of this conversation with gritted teeth. So Elizabeth Bennet thought she could waltz in and take her partner, did she?

Well, Caroline was about to put an end to that.

"You usually do," Lizzy said calmly.

Caroline rushed to Fitz's bed, making a show of compassion. "Oh, you poor, dear, darling Fitz! When I heard that Rich had beaten you up, I had to come right away!"

"Gee, Caroline, you just now heard about it?" Lizzy said sarcastically.

"Some of us have lives outside of the news," she retorted. "Anyway, I couldn't believe the barbarity of that man, to want to hurt you. And over nothing!"

Lizzy bristled at the insult, but said nothing.

"I think someone--and it was probably Catherine--misled you, Caroline. I'm the one who started the fight with Rich."

"I'm sure that's not true. Are you all right?"

"I'm going to be fine," Fitz muttered.

"And then--poor Georgiana!"

Fitz frowned when she mentioned his sister. That feeling he'd had of something being wrong assailed him again, and he said, "What about her?"

"Didn't you hear? She was attacked by George Wickham today. He got her right on the knee again, where he hurt her the last time. I wouldn't be surprised if she were admitted here any minute now."

Lizzy went pale at Caroline's news. But worse than that was what she said next.

"And they'll probably get that little sister of yours, Lizzy. She was an accomplice to the whole thing. I saw the police herding her into the car with George on the television," Caroline said, a little Mona Lisa-like smile on her face.

"Liddy?" Lizzy whispered.

"Yes. She was probably the instigator of the whole thing, which just goes to show you what sort of girl that is."

Caroline's meaning was clear. It wasn't Lydia she was insulting, it was the whole Bennet family, including Lizzy.

But nothing could quite compare to the shame that stained Lizzy's cheeks as she ran out of the hospital room, tears filling her eyes and Caroline's lilting laughter following her.

Fitz protested for her to come back, but nothing would convince her to do so.

Dear God, Lydia, what have you done?

Part 36

Fitz glared at Caroline, but Caroline, oblivious, continued talking.

"What could you expect from such a nitwit?" Caroline giggled. "And I must say that this sort of foolishness usually isn't limited to just one person in a family. Although I guess we all know that, considering the sort of person Frances Bennet is, but I wonder how long it'll take for it to show up in Lizzy?"

"Shut up," he said.

Caroline looked at him, startled. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Caroline. Shut up. And get out of here. I don't want you in my room or anywhere near this hospital." Fitz pressed the call button.

"You're not seriously having me kicked out of here," Caroline said, flustered but trying to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"I certainly am. You knew I wouldn't want you here, but you just couldn't resist coming in to give me the news about Georgiana."

"But--but--"

"I suppose you couldn't wait to tell Lizzy, and just your luck! She happened to be here with me."

A nurse appeared a moment later. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Not really. Has Georgiana Darcy arrived here yet?"

The nurse frowned. "Has something happened to her?"

Caroline looked at the woman as though she were crazy. "She's been injured. Haven't you seen a news report? It happened about twenty minutes ago or so."

The nurse gave a similar "you must be crazy" look to Caroline, but when she turned to Fitz, she smiled. "I think there's some sort of mistake."

"They must have taken her to another hospital," Caroline said.

"No. I had my break not ten minutes ago and I saw a report that someone tried to attack the girl, but that they didn't succeed."

Caroline turned pale as she realized what her blunder had been. She'd assumed from the news report that George Wickham had succeeded in getting to Georgiana but had been caught trying to escape.

"They got the creep that tried to hurt her and his girlfriend, who's a skater too, but I hadn't heard of someone else trying to get at her."

"Thank you," Fitz said. The nurse nodded, then left.

Caroline turned to Fitz, realizing that she'd ruined her chance because she hadn't bothered to listen closely to the news report. Attempted battery, she now heard in her mind.

"I thought they'd said she'd been hurt," Caroline said.

Fitz sighed. It seemed as though maybe there'd been a small part of Caroline that had been concerned, for she'd thought to come and tell him about Georgiana being hit in the--

What did she say exactly? Fitz frowned again.

"He got her right on the knee again, where he hurt her the last time." Those had been her words. And there was something there that bothered him, he just didn't know what.

"So why haven't you come to see me, Caroline?"

"Well, I didn't know. I went shopping yesterday, and then...well, Fitz, I know this is going to sound bad, but I woke up late this morning and only by watching the news did I find out that you were in the hospital and...well, like I said, I thought it had said Georgiana was hurt."

"What did the report say?"

"I guess it's silly, but I saw George and Lydia being taken away and they said something about conspiracy and attempted battery."

Only Caroline would not know what "attempted battery" isn't. "That's all they said?"

"Yeah."

"And you haven't been to the rink all morning?"

Caroline's brow furrowed, not certain why he was asking her such stupid questions. "No, of course not, otherwise I would've heard about what happened sooner."

"Then how did you know that he tried to go for Georgiana's right knee?"

Caroline's face went from white to deathly grey. For a moment, he thought she was going to faint, but though she swayed she managed to stay upright. "I--I guess I must've...heard it somewhere."

"Or you knew something before the attack which you didn't tell anyone."

"No! No, I didn't know anything! How would I?"

She was lying, and Fitz knew it. "I don't know how you found out, Caroline, but given your tendency to eavesdrop it wouldn't surprise me if you overheard it by accident."

That brought a flood of color to her cheeks and confirmed that she had heard it by accident.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I--"

"Was it because you were going to play the sympathetic friend over Georgiana's crushed knee?"

"I--"

"And the fact that it was Lizzy's partner and sister was just an added incentive, wasn't it? You could crush her with that blow."

"But--"

"And I guess you have, haven't you?"

"You have to admit, Fitz--"

"At least, so you thought, and so she thinks. But you know better, and I hope she does soon."

"You mean you'd still be willing to work with her even though you'd never be able to trust her sister? After what Lydia tried to do?"

"I'm in love with Lizzy, not her family. And I'll be skating with her and not them. Maybe it'll make things awkward for a while, but I don't care. I love her too much to give her up just because her sister's--"

"Tried to destroy your sister's career. I thought you loved Georgiana more than that."

"He does," Georgiana said, having been listening in the doorway for a minute. She'd heard what was essentially Caroline's confession to knowing about the plan to attack her beforehand.

Fitz looked her over, making sure that there wasn't a mark on her. Had there been, he would've gleefully killed George Wickham. But his sister looked as she ever did, if a bit more wary than she'd been the last time he'd seen her.

"Georgiana, are you all right?" he asked. Georgiana ran from the doorway into his arms, jostling him a bit but not hurting him. "It's okay," he crooned as he felt her shoulders heave with the unshed tears she'd held back during her ordeal.

"I was so scared!" she sobbed. "If it hadn't been for Rich--"

"Rich?" Fitz frowned. What had Rich Fitzwilliam been doing there?

"Yes. He was walking by and saved me...he saw him...oh, Fitz, it was awful!"

Caroline had been about to take a step forward when Fitz gave her a look of such ferosity that she stepped back instead. He gave his attention back to his small sister, the first of what would undoubtedly be many waves of guilt arriving because he hadn't been there, and Rich Fitzwilliam had been.

When Georgiana had had her cry she pulled herself out of her brother's arms and turned to look at Caroline. "I thought you were my friend," she said angrily.

"I am," Caroline protested, wishing she'd had enough sense to leave while Fitz had been comforting his sister.

"No friend would conceal such a terrible thing from me. Did you want him to hurt me?"

"Of course not! I thought I had more time--I just found out the other day and thought they'd wait until--"

"I don't think you ever intended to tell me." Georgiana glared at her, looking more like her brother than she ever had. "Get out."

"But Georgiana--"

"Get out!" The younger woman screamed.

"Georgiana, please remember that this is a hospital," Fitz said, bemused for the first time since the whole incident had started. It was a good change, for his sister to be on the attack rather than withering in the background.

The nurses came to remind her of that fact, and Georgiana said, "Get rid of her."

"But--"

"She's disturbing my brother's rest, and he needs plenty of rest."

Fitz was almost ready to burst into laughter, thrilled that something had snapped within his sister which had brought her such strength.

Caroline was led out of the room, protesting. When she was gone, Georgiana turned back to Fitz. "I don't know where that came from," she murmured. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Why should you apologize for driving her out of here? I couldn't have done it, not from here." He sighed. "But Caroline did bring up a good point. If I were to decide to continue seeing Lizzy, and skating with her--she agreed to skate with me."

"She did?" Georgiana smiled. "That's wonderful, Fitz."

"Yes, I thought so. But like I was saying, if I decided to do this, would you be all right with that? I mean, it would mean having to come into occasional contact with her family."

"I would likely come into contact with them anyway," Georgiana said. "The skating world's pretty small, wouldn't you agree?"

"It is, but I think after this incident you won't be seeing any more of George Wickham or Lydia Bennet."

"I hope not." Georgiana shuddered at the thought of a girl she'd never harbored bad feelings for hating her enough to want her out of the way.

And why? She didn't consider herself to be Lydia's greatest competition. Lydia would've been better off going after Louisa Thurston or Marie Roi, or that Canadian skater who trained in Louisiana, Helena Johnstone.

Of course, she probably wouldn't have gotten George to go along with it as easily as she had...

Georgiana looked at her brother. "So you do intend to continue seeing Lizzy?"

"Did you ever doubt it?"

"I guess not." Georgiana smiled shyly, and she was back to being the somewhat timid girl she was before.

"Where's Catherine?" he asked.

"At the police station, making sure that Lydia and George don't get released anytime soon. She's convinced that she can persuade them not to release them for a few days."

"I'm sure Catherine could."

Georgiana giggled, and Fitz finally allowed himself to chuckle. But in the back of his mind crept a new thought.

Where did Lizzy go?

Rich wasn't much for computers or the Internet, but having undergone a sudden metamorphosis from being the scoundrel who had sent Fitz Darcy to the hospital to the hero who had saved Georgiana Darcy's career unnerved him. He needed time to be alone.

And what better place than the Surf Shack, where he could hide in a corner and do nothing?

He found a computer just where he wanted and hid there for a while, casually looking through a few sports pages to catch the latest hockey scores (blatantly ignoring the old news which still hated his guts), then decided that he could use a good laugh. He always thought those chat rooms were pretty funny, so he clicked into one.

When asked for a name, he almost put "Ice King" until he remembered who else had used the name. Instead, he put "Stud Muffin" and entered the room.

For about fifteen minutes, he was amused by the insults flying between Mike/15m and Tonia/16f. It almost sounded as though they knew each other, and he guessed they did because there was some remark about something that had happened "Friday at school."

He looked over the list of people to talk to, finding no one whose name stood out (other than a few he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to--far more suggestive than they should be) when a message popped up with his name on it.

SOUTHERN COMFORT: Stud Muffin? Are you really, or are you exaggerating?

Rich laughed. He wondered if this was a man or woman. Deciding that anyone who would want to ask was likely a woman, he replied.

STUD MUFFIN: Definitely an exaggeration. I just couldn't think of anything else to put down.

SOUTHERN COMFORT: How about your real name?

STUD MUFFIN: Oh, and I suppose your parents named you Southern Comfort.

SOUTHERN COMFORT: Touche. Name's Helena. What's yours?

STUD MUFFIN: Richard.

SOUTHERN COMFORT: Nice to "meet" you, Richard.

STUD MUFFIN: Same here, Helena.

Rich smiled. Helena. It was an unusual name in these modern times, he supposed, but it was nice. A girl named Helena who called herself "Southern Comfort"...brought to mind that tall blonde with the honeyed voice, the one whose name he didn't know.

Rich continued to talk to her for a while, wondering if Lizzy's conversations with Fitz had ever been this interesting.

Lizzy couldn't believe what had happened. These Olympic games had turned out to be one of the worst experiences of her life, from Caroline's cattiness to the fall to this humiliation, delivered at the hands of Caroline herself. Just when things seemed to be going right, everything collapsed.

Lizzy wandered into the cafeteria and picked out something to eat, but sat at a table for twenty minutes without touching it, just staring off into space. Lydia had ruined any chance she ever had of skating with Fitz. Surely he wouldn't want to skate with her, such scandal tainting her family name.

She was ruined to skate with anyone. Again.

Thanks to Lydia.

That brat better be grateful she's in jail and not where I can get my hands on her, or I swear to God I'd kill her right now.

Lizzy set her spoon in her soup bowl with a plunk, knowing she wasn't going to eat anything.

"Hello, gorgeous," she heard someone say as a shadow fell across her lunch. She looked up to see Rich.

"Hi," she said. "You're in a good mood. I guess you haven't heard the news about Georgiana Darcy."

"Heard it? I saved the girl."

"Saved? What do you mean, saved?"

"I mean, she was about the get the hell beat out of her by...I take it you've heard who was behind it."

"Yeah. George and Liddy."

"Well, I got there just before he was going to hit her, so she ducked out of the way and I got him before he could take off. They're calling me a hero today. Yesterday I was a jerk, today I'm a hero."

"I'm glad someone's reputation was saved from today," Lizzy muttered.

Rich had finished his conversation with "Southern Comfort" with the stern promise that he would be back tomorrow at the same time. He decided not to flaunt this in front of Lizzy, since it was clear she was shaken badly by what had happened.

"Does my mother know yet?" she asked.

"I don't know if she does or not. I think she would, by now. Liddy surely would've called her to bail her out."

"Yeah." Lizzy was thinking about the future.

Things were over with Fitz. Caroline had made sure of that, even if she had lied...although why she'd done that, Lizzy had no clue. But she couldn't skate with him, and he probably would want nothing more to do with her since it was her sister and former partner who had tried attacking his sister.

And that left her with only one choice left to be happy in the future.

"Rich?" She looked directly at him. "I want to answer your question."

"What question?"

"You asked yesterday if I could ever think of you in any other way than as a friend."

"Yeah."

"I wanted to answer you." She smiled. It felt forced but she hoped it didn't appear that way. "Rich, I think I can. I want to give it a try."

Rich was startled by Lizzy's statement. For a brief, flickering moment he allowed himself to think that she was sincere. He wanted to sit and feel the joy wash over him, but...

Nothing was there. No joy, no pleasure, nothing. It wasn't because he didn't love her, because he still did in spite of his rather interesting conversation with Helena.

It was because when he looked in her eyes he didn't see anything coming close to love. What he saw was determination, resignation, and a lot of sadness. He'd known when she hadn't left Fitz's side through the night that she loved that man. But the news about Liddy and George had shattered whatever hope she'd had for a relationship with Fitz.

Any other man in the world would've taken advantage of it. Hell, he would've taken advantage of it, just a day or two ago. But not anymore, because...

Yes, you moron, why? Because of your half-interest in two people, one you've seen and one you know?

"Rich?" Lizzy was looking at him with a frown, and he realized that he hadn't made any response to her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I--I--"

Helena. What was it someone had said? There was a talented Canadian skater who lived and trained in Louisiana, a tall blonde named Helena Johnstone...

Could there be more than one?

Hell, yes, there could be more than one! How many women in the world are named Helena? Millions, no doubt.

Rich shook his head. "I'm sorry, Liz, but...I don't want to...I know why you're doing this."

"I'm doing this because I'm interested in--"

"No, you're doing this because you don't think there's any hope for you and Fitz."

"There isn't. You know what my sister did--"

"Yes, Lydia's a twit. Always has been, always will be. And your mother isn't easy to get along with, either. If Fitz has been able to overlook them so far--"

"You don't understand. It's one thing to tolerate my family normally, but this...this attack they tried to carry out is quite another. Especially against his sister, the one person he cares for most in the world."

"I think he cares for you more."

"He barely knows me. And shouldn't you be encouraging me to think negative thoughts about my relationship with Fitz?" Lizzy was starting to feel a bit neglected. She couldn't have one man and it appeared as though the other one was pulling away from her.

You really should stop whining, Lizzy. Not every girl is lucky enough to have the interest of two men at one time...three if you include the Toad, which might not be such a good idea.

"I--look, Liz, I just don't think it's a good idea for you to want me just because you can't have Fitz. I don't want that." Rich stood up. "I have to go...get ready for tonight."

"Right, of course," she murmured, picking at her plate again. "I'll be there tonight."

"Good."

Lizzy watched as he walked away, even more miserable than before.

Men's Long Program.

Fitz had been released from the hospital two hours before the event was to take place. He'd first stopped by the police station to take care of a bit of business, but then he'd gone to look for Lizzy.

He'd dropped by Lizzy's room, but she hadn't been there. When he'd asked Charlotte Lucas if she knew where Lizzy had gone, but Charlotte was no help at all.

As the time grew closer for the men's long program, Fitz realized that it was likely she was already at the arena, getting ready to root for Rich. After stopping by the hotel to pick up Georgiana, who had wholeheartedly agreed with what he'd done provided a few things were insured, the two headed for the rink.

But Lizzy was nowhere to be found there, either.

"Maybe we should just wait here," Georgiana said quietly as they reached the seats they would be sitting in. "She'll show up."

"Yeah," he said reluctantly. "She'll be here. She wouldn't let Rich down."

And she hadn't, for she was with Rich at that moment. Rich was wearing his costume for the long program--a red outfit that was almost exactly like an army uniform. Lizzy thought he looked most distinguished, and told him so.

"I feel a bit silly," he said.

"Why? The uniform looks good."

"Not the uniform. The, uh..."

"The concealer over your eyes?" she said with a chuckle, knowing that Rich hated the idea of wearing any sort of makeup at all. But it had been necessary, his black eye visible in ordinary light and most likely to be hideous in front of a camera.

"Shh," he hissed. "Don't repeat that unless you have to."

"I won't."

"Richard!" A tall blonde Lizzy thought she recognized walked over to them. "You look marvelous in that outfit. Simply marvelous."

"Thank you, Helena," he said.

Oh, yeah. Helena Johnstone.

To Lizzy's shock, Helena gave Rich a quick kiss on the lips. When she pulled away, she smiled. "You might want to rub your lips, Richard, because you're currently wearing a good portion of my lipstick. They said this stuff wasn't supposed to smudge, too."

The more intimate and close the couple seemed, the more Lizzy seethed. Just yesterday, Rich was declaring love to her, and now he was practically rubbing up against this...this Southern....

"Lizzy, you know Helena Johnstone, don't you?"

"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meetin', although you were simply wonderful the other day," Helena said.

Please. Spare me the fake compliments, okay?

"You'll never guess how we met," Rich said.

"How?" Lizzy asked.

"On the Internet! Now, I don't normally go into those chat rooms--Gawd only knows what sort you'd meet there--but I found Rich, and he was just delightful. Such a gentleman. And how he was able to put it together that I was the woman he was talking to--well..."

Dear God, she's even worse than I thought. Scarlett O'Hara come to life.

"That's good," Lizzy said woodenly. "I think I'd better go."

"Liz--"

"No! You need to have a little time--alone--to get yourself together before your performance tonight. I'd just be in the way." She gave Helena a pointed look, indicating that she should do the same.

"Then I'll see you after it's over," he said.

"Break both your legs," Lizzy told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks."

Lizzy walked away, occasionally looking back to see Rich and Helena talking and laughing. Apparently the woman hadn't gotten the hint.

So I guess I lost them both. I lost Fitz because of Lydia's stupidity, and I lost Rich because...because....

Because he knew the truth. I didn't really love him, and I probably never would. And the only reason I'm jealous of Helena is because I had my mind set on having Rich and now she's in the way.

Lizzy frowned when she saw the reporters coming her way. "Go away, locusts," she grumbled as the first one thrust a microphone in her face.

"Do you have any comment on the generosity of Georgiana Darcy?" he asked.

That made her pause. "What generosity?" she asked in reply.

"As I understand it, her brother went to the police station this afternoon in order to orchestrate the release of your sister, Lydia. No charges are going to be pressed against her for her role in the attempted attack on George Wickham."

"But--but--"

"According to the press statement he made, Fitz Darcy said that he didn't believe her to be anything more than an unwilling participant in the plans, and thus not guilty of anything other than poor judgment."

"But--I heard that she--"

"Yeah, I was there when she implicated herself. If you think about it, though, what she said was kind of ambiguous."

"No, it wasn't."

"She never said she was part of it. She just knew about it, and I'm not sure that makes her guilty of anything unless Wickham was going to implicate her."

"I'm surprised he didn't," Lizzy muttered, but her mind began to turn everything over. Fitz had gone to say that Lydia shouldn't be charged, saying that she wasn't a part of any conspiracy.

Why had he done that?

"Do you have a comment for that?" the reporter asked.

The answer hit her so swiftly she didn't have time to react. She had to find him, and she knew exactly where. Without saying anything to the reporter, she headed for the seats that had been reserved for them.

Before she got there, she saw him standing behind her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," he replied. "You left me rather suddenly this morning."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I understand."

"Is...is what he told me true? Did you really let Lydia go?"

"Yes. Tonight, she'll announce that she's withdrawing from the ladies' competition."

"Mom will be furious."

"Undoubtedly, but Lydia knew that she'd ruined her chances of medaling at all by her stunt. Oddly enough, she felt very little remorse."

"If you were looking for an apology, you weren't going to get one. Not from Liddy." Lizzy sighed. "I wonder what she'll do now."

"Who knows? Maybe she'll go back to being a normal teenager, and not one obsessed with a man ten years her senior."

"You don't think she'll stick by George?"

"She's too young, Elizabeth. Older than Georgiana, granted, but about as mature at eighteen as Georgie was at thirteen. I suspect she'll get over George Wickham soon. And the fact that he's going to be going to jail for a while will likely make it happen fast."

Lizzy was relieved, and Fitz smiled.

"You didn't think I was going to let him walk, did you?"

"Of course not," Lizzy said. "I would've thought you were seriously deranged if you'd done that."

"And what do you think of what I did?" he asked.

"For Liddy?" She sighed. "I want to thank you for letting her go, even though you and I both know she was a part of the thing from the beginning."

He nodded. "I know."

"It saved her. It might have saved my family and our reputation in the skating community, so...let me thank you on their behalf."

"Don't thank me for them. I didn't think of them, I thought of you. You were the only reason I would've bothered with Lydia, because my first instinct was to let her rot in jail with George."

"Why didn't you? I would have."

"Because you would've left me, and I don't think I could've borne that."

"You couldn't?"

"No. I knew, before Rich and that whole mess the other day, that you were having doubts about skating with me or even getting involved with me...because of your 'jinx.' I knew I was going to have a hard time convincing you that I didn't care about any of it. And then, at the hospital today, when you said you were willing to give it a try...I was so relieved.

"Then Caroline came, and told us about what happened..."

"She knew something before, didn't she?" Lizzy had given that some thought since she'd left the hospital, and that was the only conclusion she'd reached based on what Caroline had insinuated...which hadn't been accurate.

"Yeah. She tripped up by not hearing the whole news before coming to the hospital." He sighed. "But when you left, I was terrified that you'd leave me again."

Lizzy thought about what she'd asked Rich, and those jealous feelings she'd had not twenty minutes ago when she'd seen Helena wrapped around him.

They had faded away.

"I couldn't let that happen, not when you'd finally agreed to skate with me. So...I asked Georgiana if she would have a problem with releasing Lydia, if she'd withdraw from the competition. Georgiana understood why...and here we are."

"Here we are," Lizzy repeated.

"Lydia's reputation may not be completely repaired, but...good enough that you can still skate. And you can skate with me."

"Well..."

"Elizabeth, please don't say no. Not now. Not after we've been through so much."

"It's all happened so fast..."

"I know. But it's seemed like an eternity."

Lizzy smiled. "I guess it has."

"And things are so different than they were when we got here."

"Yes, they are."

"Please..."

Lizzy looked into those dark eyes. There was only one message for her to see.

"Yes!" she cried as she raced (as quickly as one could on a tender ankle) into his arms.

The reporters, who had gathered in a circle upon seeing the two of them talking, began to take pictures. It looked like Lizzy Bennet had made her choice.

And so she had.

Fitz, noticing the reporters, murmured something to Lizzy, and the two disappeared to where the reporters and cameras couldn't follow, to talk as they watched the men's program.

William Collins skated first, and terribly, falling three times. Lizzy felt a pang of pity for Charlotte, who was going to have to try to make something of him in four years. Well, maybe she wouldn't. Lizzy had heard that Charlotte's protege, Katt, and her partner William were currently in second place in the ice dancing competition. There was a good chance they'd win, and Charlotte wouldn't need the Toad to prove herself as a coach.

After Marc Gercourt electrified the crowd with his Les Miserables routine (to the disgust of both Lizzy and Fitz), Carl Denny was next.

Entertaining the crowd, Carl was almost perfect except for a tiny bobble on his triple axel. Lizzy was a bit ashamed to admit it, but she'd been happy to see it...even if it wasn't reflected as much as she would've liked in his scores. Rich was going to have to be flawless to win.

"Representing the United States of America...Richard Fitzwilliam!"

The crowd roared, most of them having heard about Rich's heroics in saving the lovely little Georgiana Darcy. Rich smiled and looked up at Lizzy, giving her a little wave...then looking at another spot in the audience.

Lizzy knew he was looking at Helena, but she could feel no jealousy now. She was too full of happiness to do so.

Rich did not pose again, and his program began. Skating to Barber's "Adagio for Strings," Rich intended to portray a war-scarred soldier. Before tonight, Lizzy had never seen him convincingly portray any character on the ice, but he was at that moment.

When he set up for his lutz, Lizzy gripped Fitz's hand tight, knowing that Rich had practiced to do the quad, that Edward Gardiner was up in the booth right at that moment saying that if he were going to do it, he'd do it now. She watched as he reached his leg back...

The jump took mere seconds, but it was clearly a quad. And he landed it cleanly.

The audience sent up such loud applause that Lizzy was astonished that Rich could still hear the music to skate to, but he continued. When he ended the program, kneeling on the ice as though looking for redemption from God, the crowd had been on its feet for a good thirty seconds, cheering the man, his passion, his achievement, for Rich had done what seemed impossible.

Lizzy was almost crying as Rich bowed to the crowd. She could see the tears in his eyes from where she stood, and as Frances clasped him to her, she could see her mother's pride in the achievement.

And then the scores came up.

Technical merit: 6.0, 5.9, 5.9, 5.9, 6.0, 5.9, 5.9, 5.9, 6.0.

"Three sixes!" she screamed, hugging Fitz and then Georgiana.

Artistic presentation: 5.9, 5.8, 5.8, 5.8, 5.8, 5.9, 5.9, 5.9, 5.9

And then, the wondrous moment when the ordinals came up. Seven for first place, two for second.

Arthur Hurst had yet to skate, but once he'd skated to a most respectable bronze, Rich's victory was assured.

Conclusion.

Skating Exhibition.

"I can't believe you're leaving me," Frances Bennet grumbled as she looked her daughter over. Lizzy was wearing a plain black dress that her mother didn't approve of.

But then, Frances didn't approve of anything concerning tonight. Bad enough that her daughter had been forced by the Darcys to withdraw from the competition--never mind what she'd done, she'd never actually been charged with trying to attack Georgiana--but Lizzy had announced two days later that she was going to leave her mother for another coach.

"You'd think you had more gratitude for all I've done for you in the past several years," Frances said.

"I do appreciate everything you've done, Mom," Lizzy said with a sigh. "I just need to be on my own now."

"With him!"

"Yes, with him." Lizzy smiled when she thought of Fitz, who was standing twenty feet away, undoubtedly getting the same lament from Catherine de Bourgh.

Neither coach had taken the news that their skaters were going to be together well. And both were shocked and horrified when informed that they had found someone else to coach them.

Catherine de Bourgh's loss was the same as Frances', for Georgiana informed her coach that once the Olympics were over, she was also going with Fitz and Lizzy to a new coach. Lady Cat, in a fit of fury, refused to stand by the girl as she skated in the ladies' program.

Georgiana was standing just out of Lady Cat's eyesight, wearing a very pretty peach dress which made her look ethereal. Seeing Lizzy looking at her, she gave a little wave. Lizzy waved back.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when a daughter of mine would betray me in such a fashion," Frances mumbled.

Typical Mom. Lydia embroils the family in a scandal fit to ruin us and yet she's upset that I'm going to skate with Fitz. Lizzy sighed. Just as Lydia was Lydia still--unrepentant as she stepped onto the plane for Chicago after announcing she would be withdrawing from the Olympics--Frances remained Frances.

"Edward!" Lizzy caught sight of the commentator and waved him over.

"Is this to be borne!" Frances hissed as she went away. "You're going to flaunt your new coach in front of me?"

"Mom, please..." Lizzy tried to convince her to stay, but Frances refused.

"I take it I'm still number one on your mother's hate list," Edward said with a smile.

"No. Lady Cat still ranks as number one, followed by Fitz. Then you."

To everyone's surprise, Edward Gardiner had stepped forward to become Lizzy and Fitz's coach after the pair had done a bit of convincing. And to Frances Bennet's horror, her husband Thomas came up with a truly splendid program for Lizzy and Fitz to skate to this evening, at the exhibition of Olympic medalists and the fourth-place finishers, which they'd been working on for the past week.

Edward was more than happy to give up announcing for a chance to coach the pair, even though he had a feeling they could do quite well on their own, or Lizzy's father could do the trick. But Thomas didn't have an interest in coaching, just in choreographing.

Fitz managed to dodge yet another of Lady Cat's barbs and join Lizzy with Edward.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello." She kissed him. "Ready for tonight?"

"I think I am."

After a rather eventful first week and a half at the Olympics, Lizzy and Fitz had been more than happy to withdraw from the spotlight to allow others to shine. Even though reporters still followed them, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been at the beginning and the press had some very positive comments to make about the emerging couple.

The exhibition was about to begin.

It started with Marc Gercourt, who finished fourth in the men's competition. After a flashy, crowd-pleasing number in which a number of teenage girls screamed in adoration and threw teddy bears and flowers onto the ice, the fourth-place pairs team of Jones and Western took the ice. They were followed by Louisa Thurston, who after falling in the short program had managed to finish fourth, and the ice dancers.

Then came the bronze medalists. Charles and Jane Bingham skated to music from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, mimicking the dance at the Netherfield ball. After the bronze medalists in ice dancing came Arthur Hurst, who skated to an unusual rock and roll medley.

When the announcer called the ladies' bronze medalist to the ice, Lizzy stood at rinkside, among those who were standing in a loud ovation to Charlotte Lucas, who had stunned everyone by stealing the bronze away from Louisa Thurston. Charlotte had confided to Lizzy that she had had a couple of offers from a skating promoter and was seriously considering them rather than coaching William Collins.

The silver medalists were next, beginning with the ice dancers and moving on to Helena Johnstone, who had won silver in a close contest with the eventual winner. She skated alluringly to "On the Bayou," to the delight of the audience. When she had finished, Rich appeared to give her a kiss as roses rained from the crowd onto the ice. The crowd wasn't confused when no silver-medaling pairs team followed, and the gap between Helena and Carl Denny, who wowed the audience with "Sharp-Dressed Man" and a backflip, went unexplained.

After Carl came the gold medalists (with one small exception). They began with the announcement of the ladies' gold medalist.

"Ladies and gentleman, Olympic gold medalist Georgiana Darcy!"

The crowd roared. Georgiana, although not completely over the paralyzing shyness that plagued her most of her life, had overcome the attempted attack to become a favorite of the fans. They marveled at how well she'd held herself together in light of what should've been a confidence-shaking attempt to injure her. She'd skated beautifully to win the gold. Tonight she skated to music from the movie Emma. After winning warm applause, Georgiana disappeared and returned a moment later to skate an encore with Carl Denny to "Great Balls of Fire." The crowd loved it.

Fitz watched from the side, proud of his younger sister, knowing how far she'd come to reach this moment as the Olympic champion. Lizzy put her arms around him and he smiled even brighter. If the past week had given them anything, it had given them quiet time to get to know each other better. And he had a great deal of hope that soon, she'd tell him she loved him.

Following Georgiana came the ice dancers, and Charlotte reappeared to watch as Katt and William skated a rather comical tango across the ice. The pride on Charlotte's face was equal for her skater as it had been for her own achievement.

When they were finished, Rich Fitzwilliam took the ice. Dressed in another uniform, this one all black, he skated to "Ashokan Farewell," music Lizzy recognized from their mutual love of the documentary The Civil War. Lizzy had asked him teasingly if he intended to always be a soldier, but he said it was merely a coincidence.

After Rich had finished his bows, it was time. The announcer said, "Ladies and gentleman, he is the gold medalist and she the silver medalist in Olympic pairs this year. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet."

The crowd cheered as Lizzy and Fitz took the ice, and for a brief second Lizzy thought of Caroline's fury when Fitz told her that Lizzy had agreed to skate with him. Rather than having to work out the embarrassing situation of the exhibition, Caroline had told him she wouldn't skate with him at all and returned home. Lizzy hoped that it would be the last time she'd hear from her, but she had a feeling that wouldn't be the case.

Fitz and Lizzy stood at center ice, looking into each other's eyes as the music started. Their music had been chosen by Thomas, who insisted that nothing less would do for this program.

Whoa...my love, my darling
I hunger for your touch
Alone...lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?

I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea, yeah
Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me, wait for me
I'll be coming home, wait for me

Whoa...my love, my darling
I hunger, hunger for your love
For love....lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me....

As the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" came to a conclusion, the crowd was on its feet. Fitz hugged Lizzy and the two of them stood at center ice as they had started, ignoring the cheering crowd, the furious coaches and former partners looking on wherever they were, the people who cared for them.

Nothing mattered but each other.

The End