Page 37 of Pride, Prejudice, & Pretense

"It's second nature to Wickham," Darcy said. "He’ll balk if Fanny's too hard to get…or too easy. You need to manage to achieve"?he paused and smiled without humor?"the proper, improper seductive medium of easiness and resistance."

Lizzy smirked darkly at his complex phrasing. "How do I do that, Agent Darcy?"

"You seem to be managing it well. Continue dropping poor Ned in just enough to make Wickham know there are hurdles to clear but not enough to make him despair of…crossing the finish line."

She knew Darcy was talking about Fanny, not her. Although she acknowledged the justice of it, it still upset Lizzy to hear that description. After all, she'd been saying much the same to herself. Strange the way the same words, when spoken by you, could seem so different when spoken by another—the strangeness measuring the distance betweenIandyou.Darcy always managed a delivery of lines about Fanny that provoked Lizzy.

She ignored the provocation; she had her job to do. "So, what should I expect tonight?"

"Wickham's taking you to Alinea to contrast with Ned," Darcy said, his eyes focused elsewhere, thinking. "He doubts thatpooreditor Ned could afford anything like that. Fanny's already given him reason to believe that she can be swayed by affluence—you did that well at the Rosings party, your reactions to it, to Lady Catherine. He's also taking you to obligate you. My guess is that a table for two in the Alinea Salon costs more than a thousand dollars. He'll find a way to mention that?offhandedly, no doubt?to make sure you understand how much he'sinvestedin you." Darcy paused to let Lizzy hear the pun oninvestedexposing his earlier pun onpoor."He'll almost certainly start pushing physical contact tonight. You need to let him…travel a certain distance but not let it go too far."

Distaste showed on his face, and Lizzy felt hers blush. She pressed her lips together and nodded, willing the blush away unsuccessfully.

"And you say Charlie will be tailing me?"

"Yes, and nearby while you are in the restaurant, though he won't be inside. After all, it's a public place."

"Like the Chicago River?" Lizzy asked, scoring a point against Darcy and last night's debrief. He nodded, owning it. "Yes, like the Chicago River." His dark eyes shined.

Lizzy leaned back, surprised but pleased by his response. He was a hard man to read. If not totally inscrutable, he was often enough illegible. "What if he wants to go somewhere afterward?"

"That's fine, although not ideal. Try to make sure that his plans?if there are any?are settled well before you leave Alinea so we can plan, so Bingley can anticipate where you'll be. But don't take Wickham to your apartment, not yet. Too much could go wrong, and it might seem like too early a capitulation on Fanny's part. Soon, but not yet."

"Okay. I'll do my best to refuse any plans afterward if I can. I'll mention Ned. But I'll be sure to encourage Wickham before we part company."

"How so?"

"He forgettably kissed my cheek last night. Fanny will kiss him tonight, while she says goodnight…not seductively but still unforgettably."

Darcy looked at her, and then his eyes dropped. She remembered his kiss at her apartment door, Ned saying goodnight.Unforgettable. She hadn't intended the parallel, hadn't intended to recall that. She rushed on. "What do you think?"

"You know what you're doing. You have to make the final call at the moment,inthe moment. No one but you can do that. The decisions have to rest with you, your feel for things.”

"Okay. Look, I'm tired. I'm going to nap for a while, and then I'll get dressed. I'll talk to you again before Wickham is due to show up."

"Good. Sleep well, Elizabeth."

She stalled.Has Darcy used my first name before?She shut the computer, trying to remember. He had, she thought, but he had not said it quite as he just had, almost with audible regard, personal concern.

Lizzy quickly made and ate half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then went to sleep, too tired to play hide-and-seek with her own emotions or tag with her thoughts. She let the pitchy hurdy-gurdy inside her play on its own as she sank into a blank unconsciousness.

She woke in the afternoon later than she intended, the groggy after-leavings of a too-long nap clinging to her despite large, long yawns and repeated eye-rubbings.

Standing, she went to the closet and retrieved the garment bag with the fuchsia dress. She found a pair of bright pink heels in the closet and again marveled at how well she had been provided for in terms Fanny’s costuming. After showering and dressing, she put her blonde hair up in a messy bun and applied light pink lipstick and the barest hint of blush, hoping to obscure the real thing if it happened. When she stepped back and looked in the mirror, she was surprised by the effect.

The blonde hair was complemented by the fuchsia dress differently than it had been by the black one. With her hair up, her graceful, slim neck and well-made shoulders were further accented, and her brown eyes seemed larger, a deeper cappuccino brown. Although the dress had no transparent back as the black one did, it hugged her figure much more tightly, revealing her in another way.

For a moment, she regretted the dress and all the moisturized, glowing skin it left uncovered, top and bottom. Thedress was going to pressure Wickham with its pink exposure of Fanny.

The video necklace and the audio earrings went on next to last.

As Lizzy sat down on the bed to put on the heels, a soft knock on the door caused her to startle and drop one. She picked it up and slipped it on. Tiptoeing in the heels, she made her way into the kitchen and picked up the knife she had used to slice her sandwich earlier. It still had remnants of strawberry jelly on it. The red smear made her stomach clench. Knife out, she crept to the door. Her elaborate caution was borne out of habit and the fact that the visit had not been preceded by notification, either from Darcy or Charlie—or from the security desk.

She peeped out, only to see Charlie standing in the hallway nervously glancing around, shifting his weight foot to foot. Running to the kitchen, she put the knife in the sink, then ran back to open the door. "Charlie? What are you doing here?"

"I came through the tunnel and up the stairs," he whispered. "Please let me in. No one's seen me."

Lizzy stepped aside and closed the door after Charlie hustled inside. He turned to her immediately. "Have you heard anything from Jane?"

---