Beginning, Section II
Jump to new as of September 12, 1999
Part 21
After the policemen let her go, Elizabeth hurried back to the hospital, and up to William's room. She was startled to see a pretty young woman sitting in the chair she had occupied just a few hours before. The pretty young woman looked up at her and smiled.
"Hello," she said. "You must be Elizabeth."
"Yes," said Lizzy, surprised. Who was this? She could not be a friend; she would not have come all this way. William had not mentioned any family nearby. So she asked, matter-of-factly, "Who are you?" The young lady laughed.
"I'm Jenny." At Lizzy's blank stare, she added, "Will's sister."
"Oh," said Lizzy, coming to herself, and making to shake Jenny's hand. "Hi. How is he?"
"He's been sleeping since I arrived, so I don't know. The doctor said he'll be able to go back to work in a few weeks."
"As serious as all that, huh?" Lizzy said sarcastically. Jenny giggled.
"It's funny how much fuss they made. I mean, I know he was lucky, but really. The media is ridiculous. And now he won't even miss two months."
"We'll be in Atlanta by then," said Lizzy reflectively, and she frowned. What would happen now that William could not work? Would his understudy take over during the interim, or would he be replaced permanently?
A young man stepped into the room.
"I got our drinks," he said, then looked at Elizabeth and said, "Oh, hello."
"Thank you, Chris," said Jenny. "Elizabeth, this is my fiancé, Chris Blake. Chris, this is my brother's ... girlfriend?" Elizabeth nodded, and shook Chris's hand.
"Elizabeth Bradley," she introduced herself.
"What is all this?" William asked, suddenly awake.
"Oh, you're awake!" said Jenny, and she hugged her brother. "It's about time!"
"When did you get here?"
"About an hour ago. I heard about your accident on the news!" she reproached him.
"Well, I would have called, but I couldn't get to a phone..."
"Oh, it's all right. Elizabeth is nice," she whispered noisily. Elizabeth blushed. "I like her." She smiled cheekily.
"So do I," William stage-whispered back, then looked at Chris, who was leaning against the wall. "Who's this?"
"Oh," said Jenny, rushing to bring Chris over for introductions. "Will, this is the love of my life, Chris Blake. We're engaged." She held up her ring finger for inspection.
"I wonder how much that thing weighs," Elizabeth thought in shock.
"Wow," said William, unimpressed. "Wasn't that kind of quick?"
"Well, some people don't need as long as others," said Jenny. "We met in Vegas."
"You went to Las Vegas?" William raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, my boss wanted me to make his excuses for him with a client, and I met Chris while waiting for the associate at the bar."
"At the bar? You don't drink." Then he added, hopefully, "Do you?"
"And now, four days later, I hear you've been shot!"
"You've only known each other for four days?!"
"Imagine my surprise when he asked..."
"Imagine my surprise when she said yes," said Chris. "I was definitely not expecting it."
"No, he meant it as a joke at first."
"But when she said yes, I realized I really wanted it, too." They smiled at each other as lovers do. William was amazed. Elizabeth saw she would not get a chance to say what she came here to say, so she left. The Darcys had a lot of catching up to do, anyway.
"Four days!" she heard William exclaim as she left.
Part 22
In the next few weeks, Lizzy called William every day. She did not want to say her first "I love you" over the phone, so she kept silent on that point. William was doing very well, and although he had been let go by the company, he was by no means depressed. In fact, he seemed downright cheerful. One night, Lizzy asked him why, and he replied,
"I'll wait until I can tell you in person."
Was he waiting to tell her the same thing she was longing to tell him? She could not help but hope that was the case.
George Wickham was eventually sentenced to quite a lot of time in prison for attempted murder, while Lydia somehow managed to escape to Mexico. The man who took over for George in the show was named James Benwick, and the girl who took over for Lydia was named Mary Crawford.
The man who took over for William was Henry Tilney, and Elizabeth thought him to be very charming, but nothing at all compared to William. However, everybody in the cast - including Henry - knew that Catherine Morland, Elizabeth's understudy, was madly in love with Henry. He was extremely talented, and Elizabeth could tell this person would go places. She wished him well, for he was a good friend to her during the weeks she was away from William.
One day, Elizabeth was getting ready to go sight-seeing with Mary, Jenna, and Charlotte, when she heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was the other girls, she yelled out "Come in!" and finished cleaning up. She came out of the bathroom, and saw William in her room. He grinned at her, and brought a bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.
"Ta da!" he said.
"Oh! When did you get here? They are so beautiful. Why didn't you call first? I have something to tell you. Please, sit down. Would you like anything to eat?"
"No, thanks. I ate on the plane, so I'm still a little sick. I have something to tell you, too."
"Well?" she asked, grinning from ear-to-ear. The sudden sight of him had made her giddy. "Go on."
"I got a call a couple weeks ago, from an old friend of mind from college. Her name is Jane Fairfax. She has just finished writing a musical adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, and she wants me to be in it."
"That's wonderful!" Lizzy said enthusiastically, then sobered up and said, "Who's Jane Fairfax?"
"Just an old friend from college; we were in the same drama class. I always knew she had talent, but Lizzy, she gave me a sample of some of the music for this play, and it is some of the greatest stuff I ever heard. This is going to be big, I can feel it."
"You'll be playing Edmond Dantes, of course? Or Maximillian?"
"I'm not sure yet; Jane has not specified. But rehearsals start next week, for the opening in Houston."
"Houston?" Lizzy asked. "But I'm going to Minneapolis in three days."
"Hey," he said, grinning, "this is only temporary. Just wait until you have the opportunity for this kind of thing. It's exciting, Lizzy."
"I bet," she said unenthusiastically. There was another knock on the door. "Come in!" she yelled.
"Lizzy!" said Mary. "What are you doing? Aren't you ready yet?" then she noticed William. "Hi, there," she said seductively. William raised his eyebrows at Lizzy.
"Uh, William, this is Mary Crawford, our new Fantine. Mary, this is William Darcy, our old Marius/Enjolras. William, you know Jenna and Charlotte."
"Of course. How are you ladies doing?"
"Just fine," said Charlotte. Jenna shrugged, and grinned.
"Oh, you're that William!" said Mary. "I've heard so much about you."
"We were gonna go sight-seeing, William," said Jenna. "Would you like to join us?"
"Sight-seeing in Milwaukee? Gee, I'd love to."
"You didn't tell me he was back," Jenna whispered to Lizzy after they left.
"He surprised me a few minutes ago. Boy, did he surprise me."
"What do you mean?"
"He has a new job. He's going to be in The Count of Monte Cristo."
"That's wonderful for him! Another new play! Maybe he'll get nominated for another Tony!"
"Yeah, maybe."
"Aren't you happy for him?"
"Well, yes, but I wish we could be together longer." She changed the subject. "So, when are you and Charlie finally gonna get hitched?"
"Five weeks, two days, and four hours," Jenna said automatically, and grinned sheepishly. "Ten minutes, and forty-eight seconds. Forty-seven. Forty-six. Forty-five...."
"Okay, okay," Lizzy laughed. "I get the picture."
Part 23
Lizzy was very surprised when the telephone rang one afternoon, about two days after William went to Houston. She knew it could not be William, for he had just hung up five minutes ago, to go to a rehearsal. She answered it tentatively.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Elizabeth Bradley?"
"Yes," she said slowly, wondering what was going on here.
"Hello. My name is Greg Knightley. I'm a casting director, from Houston."
"Houston?" She brightened immediately. Maybe this could get her closer to William.
"Yes. I'm currently working on a new musical. I believe it will be a sensation. Great music, great plot, the works." She couldn't believe it! This sounded like an offer! She tried to keep her voice calm as she said,
"Yes?"
"Yes. It is written by a newcomer to the theater scene, Jane Fairfax, but everybody has to start somewhere, right?"
Lizzy's stomach did a flip-flop. Jane Fairfax? The same Jane Fairfax William was working with? She barely managed to stammer out a reply.
"Of ... of course. Yes. Everybody has to start somewhere."
"Of course," he said smoothly, then said casually, "How would you like to try out for the lead female role?"
She gulped. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came. He took her hesitation as doubt, and nervously tried to cover it up.
"Of course, it would not be the lead male role." Then he added teasingly, "Unless you want to play Edmond Dantes."
"The Count of Monte Cristo?" she asked haltingly.
"Yes, that's the name of it. You would be trying for the part of Mercedes or Haydee. Or maybe even Valentine, if you want," he suggested.
"Um," she said, "I'll be there. When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Great."
"Good. I'll see you there. Bye." They hung up. Lizzy let the news sink in. The same show as William! What luck! But then she realized, she was already in a show. She had a contract. What would she do?
She waited in apprehension all afternoon. After she had checked the time for the billionth time in four hours, she decided William must be home, and dialed his number. She waited seemingly forever for him to pick up. Finally, he did.
"Hello?"
"Hi, William, it's me. Listen..."
"Lizzy! Hi. Guess what, I'm Edmond."
"You are? Great. Now listen. I got a call today from Greg Knightley."
"Did you?" He didn't sound surprised.
"Yes. He wants me to fly to Houston tomorrow to audition for the show."
"Does he?"
"Yes. Don't you want to know which show?"
"I know which show. My show. He wants you to play Mercedes."
"Well, yes, how did you..."
"I had dinner with Greg and his fiancée, Emily, last night. He said they had been having trouble casting a Mercedes, and I suggested you."
"You did?"
"Yes. Didn't you know I've been dying to be closer to you? This was a great opportunity, and it seems to have worked."
"But William, I have commitments. I have a contract with Johnson-Lif. I can't just run away from it."
"Greg will talk to them. He probably already has."
"But..."
"No buts, Lizzy. Everything will be fine."
"And you did this to be closer to me?"
"Yes," he said casually. "I want to marry you. But you see, that can't happen if we're half a continent away from each other, can it?"
"No, of course not," she said, stunned.
"I'm glad you agree with me," he said, and she knew he was grinning on the other end. "So, when will it be?"
"I told you I'm coming to Houston tomorrow."
"No, not that, the wedding."
"What wedding?"
"Lizzy," he said exasperatedly, and she heard him knock his head on the wall. He was probably leaning against a doorpost. "Our wedding. I just said I wanted to marry you."
"You did?"
"Yes, didn't you hear me?"
"Yes, but... Oh. You were serious about that?"
"Lizzy," he said plaintively, "don't make me beg."
She sat down gingerly on a chair. This was turning into quite a day! Her first reaction was to say yes immediately, with no hesitation. But then she decided to tease him.
"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "Remember, Charlie proposed to Jenna in front of a live audience, an auditorium filled with people. What do I get? A phone proposal!" She made her voice sound as impatient as possible, but was unable to suppress a slight giggle.
"Elizabeth," he said firmly, "If I wasn't a thousand miles away, I'd kiss you."
"That's all well and good," she said, "But what about this cheapy proposal I'm getting?"
He sighed.
"Fine. Elizabeth Penelope Bradley, will you marry me?" He paused a minute, then added, "By the way, I am on one knee."
She giggled.
"Yes, William," she said. "I will marry you."