I am leaving this up here since I HATE when I read a story on here and then can't find it to find the name/author so I can look for it on Amazon. This is a PREVIEW ONLY. It will be up on Amazon in September.

copyright 2020 Elizabeth Frerichs

Darcy hesitated as he reached the turnoff for Oakham Mount. He had briefly considered dragging Bingley with him in case this was an elaborate trap before discarding the notion. If Miss Elizabeth did know about Georgiana, he wanted no hint of scandal to reach even the Bingleys, particularly not Miss Bingley. In addition, given Sir William's blatant hints and the Bennets' atrocious behavior, it seemed likely Darcy would have to detach his friend from Hertfordshire at once. Further contact with any of the Bennets, or hinting that Wickham might be a danger, would be counterproductive.

No, it was better to do this alone.

Darcy turned Caesar and rode forward up the path.

Elizabeth paced back and forth across the top of the mount. Despite attempting to wrap herself in the morning's calm, she could not settle. In the wee hours of the morning, she had nearly determined to stay home as it seemed highly unlikely that Mr. Darcy would meet her, but then she had considered what would result if Mr. Darcy did come or if Mr. Wickham were as dangerous as she believed. Hopefully, Mr. Darcy was not mistaken about the man's character and would provide sufficient evidence to convince her neighbors to protect themselves.

How she was to request such evidence had kept her awake past the wee hours and left her thoughts heavy and sluggish this morning. In the end, she had decided to let Mr. Darcy's responses guide her; she would ask him about Mr. Wickham and go from there.

After glancing around to ensure her solitude, she removed the Letter from her pocket. Scanning it once more, she reminded herself of the particulars regarding Mr. Wickham as though they were not engraved on her mind and, as always, attempting to skim past the sections on her family. For the thousandth time, thoughts of how wretchedly her family behaved and how they were ruining their own lives as well as Jane's left a sick feeling in her stomach. She resolutely pushed those thoughts aside. Hopefully, her aunt would provide help with her family soon. Today was about Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy, not the unsolvable conundrum of her family.

Hoofbeats sounded from the forest below, and Elizabeth hurried to hide the Letter once more. Her heart pounded as Mr. Darcy rode into the clearing, his expression stony. He dismounted and tied his horse to a nearby tree.

"Miss Elizabeth," he said with a small bow.

Elizabeth curtsied. "Mr. Darcy. Thank you for coming."

A/N: I'm attempting to accomplish two things with this prologue: 1) give a hint of when canon goes out the window and 2) widen the lens of this story as it is about Darcy & Elizabeth, but it's also about bringing the entire Bennet family along too. I was sad in the original that they didn't all grow more, so I'm hoping to accomplish that in this story (we'll see how much the characters cooperate!).