Darcy grabbed a plate and started filling it up for her. The admiration between the two was obvious. "Hmmm," he started teasing her. "Which one of these cups is for you? I don't see any black licorice tea here."

"Gross, Will," she said softly as she pushed his arm.

"Lizzie, do you see any ant stew near you for Georgie?"

"Will, stop it! I'm not five years old anymore." She giggled, and it was clear that she didn't mind being teased by her older brother.

"Okay, fine, have it your way. The adults will be drinking tea, but here you go." He picked up a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream. "I don't know. Looks pretty gross to me, but whatever."

She took the cup and sat back on the couch, her feet barely grazing the floor. She was the same age as Lydia, but unlike Lydia (well, there was a lot about Georgiana that was different from Lydia), she didn't try to come across as older. She seemed a lot younger, more vulnerable. I noticed throughout the evening that she kept studying me, although it was a very different look than the judging glances I would get from Caroline. Georgiana was more curious. I wondered what, if anything, Darcy had told her about me.

The thought of my treatment toward Darcy made me feel incredibly guilty during the tea, especially since his family was so warm and welcoming.

I hardly spoke, just observed, and kept trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

Ms. Reynolds turned her attention to me. "So, Lizzie, what are you performing for the year-end recital?"

"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini."

"Impressive," she replied. "I didn't tackle that until I went to college. I'd love to hear you play." She nodded to the Steinway that was near the front window.

"Oh, well, I'm having some problems with the runs."

She nodded knowingly. "The last variation?"

"Yes."

"That's a tough one. The sheet music that I learned it on had the most ridiculous fingering recommendations. I guess it could be considered helpful, if you have six-fingered hands. Here, I'll show you a trick." She got up and motioned for me to join her at the piano.

I was in a near trance as I walked over to the bench.

"What I figured out is that if you cross over at this point" -- she played part of the run -- "it lets your fingers easily move up." She did it once slowly so I could see, and then again at full speed.

She got up so I could try. I tried to not be too intimidated as she stood behind me and I tried her method. It worked. It worked so well that for the first time I was able to do the entire run without my fingers running into themselves.

"Thank you!" I hesitated for a second and then did it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

"May we hear what you have so far? That's one of my favorite pieces."

Claudia Reynolds was asking me to play for her. Claudia Reynolds, who had just performed at Carnegie Hall. Claudia Reynolds, who had just taught me how to do a flawless run.

Claudia Reynolds, who was Will Darcy's mother.

The only thing that made sense to me was Rachmaninoff.

I gently ran my fingers over the keyboard, going over the piece in my mind. Then I began. I hadn't played the piece for anybody except Mrs. Gardiner. I generally got nervous performing new pieces for people. I would always start with my mom, then my dad, then my friends. But this time I dove in headfirst.

I don't even know if I breathed for the entire piece. I completely expected to forget a section or stumble, but I didn't. I hadn't even played all the different variations back-to-back yet, but there I was, in Claudia Reynolds's house ... in Darcy's house, playing.

When I finished, I looked up and was somewhat startled to find Darcy standing right next to the piano with Georgiana.

I blushed, embarrassed that I would be seen as showing off.

The group applauded and I saw that my mother had tears running down her face. "I'm so proud of you," she sobbed.

Darcy's mom came over and gave me a hug. "That was brilliant."

"Because of you. I can't thank you enough for everything, really," I blubbered.

"Will and Georgiana, do either of you play?" Mom asked.

Will shook his head. "I tried, but I wasn't that good at it. I apparently didn't inherit the musical genius gene. But Georgie, on the other hand." Georgianas face reddened. "She can sing and play both the piano and the flute."

"I'd love to hear you," I said.

She replied softly, "I'll play the flute," and then went running upstairs.

"Wow." Darcy looked at his mom.

Ms. Reynolds was beaming. "She must really like you; she generally won't play for new people."

Georgie came down and treated us to a mini-concert of a few Mozart and Bach solos. Her cheeks were ruddy from the attention, but she was magnificent. I caught glimpses of Darcy watching. He was clearly proud of her. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to have one of his supposed closest friends try to take advantage of her.

After Georgie's concert and kind words from the group, Ms. Reynolds gave us a tour. "I'm so sorry Will Senior couldn't be here today. He's traveling on business. We made a pact that at least one of us had to be home at all times."

Their house was large, and not just by Manhattan standards. It was five stories, complete with a screening room, library, music room, billiards room, and a rooftop pool. It wasn't ostentatious, it was roomy and comfortable. Exactly the opposite of what I would have pictured Darcy's home to be like.

The place was filled with pictures of the four of them on vacation. There was a particularly embarrassing one of Darcy on a sailboat when he was twelve.

"Oh, wow," I said as I took in a photo of a young sunburned Darcy with metal braces and a baseball hat with droopy dog ears holding a fishing rod with a very tiny fish attached at the hook. "Don't they make clear braces? I thought metal ones were just for charity cases."

"Yes, well, I was told it would build character. Apparently not. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is my least-favorite part of the tour." We both laughed, and it startled me how friendly we were both being. That it didn't feel forced. Like during our walks ... before he decided to talk.

I smiled at him. The reason it wasn't forced was because I was being normal. I'd found the door in his wall, and was just now opening mine. I had so much to say to him, so much to apologize for.

I kept thinking back on everything that I had said about him, all those horrible things I'd thought. And here he surprised me by giving me tickets to see his mom and opened his house to us. I didn't know what I did to deserve such thoughtful treatment from someone whom I had so openly loathed.

While our mothers were discussing having their children away at school, Darcy motioned for me to join him on the roof. The view of the park and east side of Manhattan was amazing.

"So, I have a favor to ask you," he said to me.

Immediately, the prom sprang to mind. He was going to ask me again, but this time, I wasn't sure what my answer would be.

He nervously drummed his fingers against the banister. "Georgie really seems to like you -- I guess it's a Darcy trait. She wants to come visit you in Hoboken, since she's never been, if that would be all right with you." He looked down at the street.

"Of course."

He turned his back on the view and looked at me. "I guess I should have told you who my mother was."

I shook my head. "It's okay, I don't know ..." I stopped myself from finishing that sentence. What I was going to say was I didn't know if that would've made a difference. If I'd liked Darcy solely because of his mother, I wouldn't have been any different from the snobs at Longbourn who didn't like me because my parents weren't famous, or rich, or from a "proper upbringing."

"Yes, well." He clearly was aware of what I was going to say. "To be honest, you're probably the only person who would have cared. My father's law practice seems to be what most people want to ..." This time he was the one to stop himself.

"I'm really sorry about that," I offered.

"Well ..." His voice trailed off into the night.

"And I'm sorry that I didn't respond to your e-mail. I tried to, but I guess I didn't know what to say. I'm not entirely proud of my behavior. And I ..." Something hit me, and I felt like an idiot for not figuring it out before. I looked at Will. "You gave me the coat." It wasn't a question. It was a revelation. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Would you have kept it if I had?"

I felt like the worst person on earth. "I ..."

He looked out at the park. "I didn't want to believe what you said about how you were treated at Longbourn. But after our conversation in the bookstore, I started paying attention. It seems ridiculous that it wasn't something that I'd noticed before. I'd genuinely thought Cat accidentally spilled her coffee on you. I guess it's easy to ignore something you don't have to experience. And when I truly looked, I was so horrified to see what you went through. And when your coat was stolen ... well, I wanted to do something to help, but knew you wouldn't accept it."

"How can you be so thoughtful to someone who has been so unkind?"

Will opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted.

"Will?" Georgiana came out onto the roof. "Did you ask?" she said meekly as she leaned against his arm.

He nodded. Georgiana looked like she was going to explode from happiness.

"Can we come tomorrow?" she asked.

"Georgie ..." Darcy elbowed her gently. "Be polite."

"No, it's fine," I said. "Tomorrow works. You know what? You should take the ferry over. It's really pretty although it's ... actually, nothing. The ferry would be fun."

I almost mentioned that the ferry was nearly four times more expensive than the train or bus to Hoboken, but realized that it probably wouldn't be an issue for them.

After we figured out our plans for the next day, we said our good-byes. I still had trouble speaking to his mother, Claudia Reynolds, and tried my best to not completely gush again at her brilliance.

As Mom and I headed to Port Authority to get the bus home, she grabbed my hand, like she used to do when I was little and we were visiting Manhattan.

"Elizabeth, that was such an amazing evening. That Will is charming and very handsome. Why haven't you mentioned him before?"

I tried to not laugh as I certainly had mentioned Will several times to my mother, but never by his proper name. Instead she'd heard the many names I'd given him, like "vile human being" and "pompous jerk."

Now I lied. "I didn't really know him that well -- at least, not as well as I do now."

It was only later, as I sat with that thought, that I realized that it wasn't really a lie, after all. It was the absolute truth.

Twenty-Five

I WAS EXTREMELY ANXIOUS THE NEXT DAY AS I WATCHED THE ferry carrying Darcy and Georgiana dock at the 14th Street pier in Hoboken.

Our greeting was a little awkward. I received a big hug from Georgiana, but when Darcy and I looked at each other, it wasn't clear whether we should shake hands, hug, or something else. So we simply nodded at each other. I'm pretty sure I heard Georgie sigh under her breath.

I took them on a walking tour of Hoboken. We headed along the waterfront and viewed the Manhattan skyline.

Georgie took out her phone. "I want to take a picture of you two." She held up her phone and motioned for us to get together.

Darcy and I lined up against the railing. "No, I need you closer together to get you both in the photo," she instructed.

I had taken countless pictures on the waterfront and I knew that if you were getting the skyline in the background, you didn't need to be that close.

Darcy put his arm around my shoulder and we leaned in. I slipped my arm around his waist and noticed how easily I fit into the little nook in his side.

"Oh, hold on, I'm having problems." Georgie played with her phone for a few moments while we just stood there in our posed embrace.

"Georgie ..."

She looked up at her brother and blushed. "Um, I think it works now."

I felt Darcy's body begin shaking slightly and looked up to discover he was laughing. He leaned in and whispered, "She's very well meaning, if not subtle."