AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not everyone will be pleased with the plot twists in this story

Elizabeth Bennet was angry at herself. Why had she not found an excuse so she could have refused to dance with Mr. Darcy? She had been so looking forward to this ball at Netherfield and dancing with Mr. Wickham, but he was not here. The other officers told her that his official reason for not coming was that he had to rush to London for some reason, but privately they said he did not want to create a problem with a certain gentleman who was a guest of Mr. Bingley. Mr. Wickham was so handsome and personable! She knew they would have made a very handsome couple on the dance floor. She was sure that his dancing would have been as admirable as his appearance. She wanted to get to know him better, even though she knew that his financial position was such that she could not expect that they would ever be a permanent couple. And here she was—forced to dance with the very man who caused that handsome officer to miss this most important social event of the season in Meryton. Right from the very first time that Mr. Darcy had come to the Meryton Assembly as Mr. Bingley's guest, he had insulted her, first by calling her only 'tolerable,' then by his attitude that showed his disdain for everyone in the area, including her.

While she had to admit that Mr. Darcy was undeniably very handsome, almost as attractive as Mr. Wickham, and even taller and with a more robust physique, she wanted nothing to do with him. Why had he asked her to dance? Why had she accepted? She also had to admit that he was a wonderful dancer and that they made a very graceful and attractive couple on the dance floor. This was obvious as many of the other guests tonight were watching them with envy for their flawless performance.

Right from her very first dance with that clumsy oaf of her cousin, this ball was nothing but a disaster for her. Her toes still smarted from his stepping on them repeatedly. What a difference! People had watched her then with pity, and now with jealousy. Her family had also been a source of embarrassment for her. Her mother's loud crowing of how Jane was about to capture Mr. Bingley was heard by everyone anywhere near her, and some who were not so close. Her youngest two sisters had done nothing but act like immature children, flirting with every officer there and being loud and reckless. Even now Lydia was running with an officer's sword while being chased by the owner who was trying to retrieve his weapon. Oh no! Lydia was heading right at them behind Mr. Darcy, who had his back to her.

Just then Lydia turned to look back to make sure the officer was still chasing her. Before Elizabeth could warn him, she crashed into Mr. Darcy, who in turn lost his balance and fell right into Elizabeth, knocking her off balance. She could feel herself falling backwards and automatically grabbed onto the only solid object she could, which happened to be Mr. Darcy's coat lapels. This ensured that they fell together in a heap, right in the middle of the dance floor. When she felt herself falling backwards, she worried about hitting her head, but his arms reached around her neck, thus protecting her head from hitting the floor. She lay there, stunned, but then realized that she was flat on her back with Mr. Darcy lying right on top of her, nose to nose. The music stopped and everyone gathered around to stare at them. At first, no one moved; they just stood there watching.

"Miss Elizabeth! Are you all right? Did you hit your head on the floor?" Mr. Darcy was obviously very concerned for her. At first, he did not try to disentangle himself from her, but was watching her reaction. His face was right against hers; this was the closest that she had ever been to any man who was not a relative. They were so close that their breaths mingled. She could feel his chest crushing her chest.

She was dazed from the suddenness of the fall, but quickly realized how inappropriate their position was. He was lying right on top of her with his body stretched out along the length of her. She did not know how, but her legs ended up spread apart and he was lying right there between them. Her gown had ridden up, leaving much of her legs exposed to public view.

He tried to disentangle his arms, but they were trapped around her neck and their combined weight made that difficult. His full weight was on her. Her arms were trapped between them; she was still holding on to his lapels. "Mr. Darcy! Get off me!"

He finally managed to pull his arms free and used them to take his weight off her. He levered himself up on his knees, which meant that he was kneeling between her legs. He looked down and automatically began to pull her dress down to cover her, but his knees were in the way. He scrambled back and stood up. She lay there looking at him with wide eyes. He could not tell if they were expressing shame or something else.

Then people began to react and the noise level rose dramatically. Mr. Collins stood among the onlookers muttering, "Lady Catherine will be horrified to hear what my cousin and her nephew did. I have to let her know as soon as possible. How disgraceful!"

Jane knelt beside her sister. "Lizzy, are you hurt? Can you get up?" She helped her to stand, but held on to her as her balance did not seem to be normal. Elizabeth shook her head to try to clear it.

Darcy could hear the whispers starting. He could clearly hear Mrs. Bennet's voice rising into hysterics. The giggles had to be coming from the youngest Bennet girls. He just stood there, not knowing what to do.

Mr. Bennet came to stand right in front of him. "Well, Mr. Darcy, this is a very serious situation. I am afraid that we have to talk. My poor Lizzy is completely compromised with how you ended up on top of her. Everyone saw you on her. Think of how exposed she was."

Darcy quickly saw the difficult position that he was in. He had certainly compromised Miss Elizabeth, but he was getting angry. "It was not my fault! Someone pushed me into her. Who was it?"

He could now hear a strident voice, obviously Mrs. Bennet, saying, "Ten thousand a year! He will have to marry her as she is ruined. Just look at how he was lying on her. Oh, what pin money, what carriages, what jewels! A house in town and a great estate in Derbyshire!"

Mr. Bennet was watching him. "Mr. Darcy, I am very sorry that this happened as I know that Lizzy does not even like you, but it has to be. As a gentleman, I am sure that you will do the right thing and marry her to save her reputation and that of the whole family. I can only hope that you will treat her well. Poor Lizzy! If there were any other way out of this, I would gladly agree. However, it is obvious that her reputation is completely ruined now. If you do not do the right thing, my whole family will be shunned. Can I expect to see you in the morning?"

Darcy knew that, as a gentleman, he had no recourse. He had to agree with Mr. Bennet that the whole family would suffer if he did not marry her. He was angry that he had been able to avoid a number of attempts to compromise him in the past, but here he was trapped by a woman in the middle of the wilds of Hertfordshire. Even though Mr. Bennet was clearly a gentleman with an estate that had been in his family for generations, their position in life was so far beneath his own that his family would suffer just from being associated with them. While the oldest two daughters were true ladies, the youngest three were a disgrace. What effect would this have on his sister's prospects? However, he was trapped by his pride of being a true gentleman.

"Yes, I will come to you in the morning." Darcy then left the ballroom and went to Bingley's library where he knew he could find brandy. He desperately needed a stiff drink.

Bingley saw him leave and followed him. He joined his friend in a drink.

Darcy asked him, "What a mess! Did you see who crashed into me and knocked me into Miss Elizabeth?"

Bingley hated to admit it, but he had seen the whole incident. "It was Miss Elizabeth's youngest sister, Miss Lydia."

"I should have known! Bingley, I have to think that I am the victim of a plot to trap me, and it worked. There is no doubt that I have to do the right thing and marry Miss Elizabeth, but I am angry about this. In fact, I am the angriest that I have ever been. It was obvious that Mrs. Bennet only wants to marry off all of her daughters, and you and I are her targets for her oldest daughters. Did you hear how she was bragging about Miss Bennet capturing you?

"Bingley, be careful. Even if Miss Bennet has no feelings for you, her mother will force her to accept you if you make her an offer. She may even do what they did to me and compromise you. Her whole family is in on this; I just know it."

"What do you mean? Miss Bennet is the most beautiful and gentlest lady that I have ever met. There is no way that she would ever agree to try to compromise me. In fact, I am sure that her feelings for me are just as strong as mine are for her. She is an angel."

"Bingley! Miss Bennet does not have to be a willing participant in Mrs. Bennet's plans to trap you. Look at Miss Elizabeth. I do not know if she was in on her family's plot to trap me or if she was innocent. The end result was the same—I have been publicly compromised and now I will have to marry her. I am stuck with her for life. I just wish there were some way I could get out of this mess. I wonder if Mr. Bennet would settle for a sum of money? I will pay him anything he asks to let me out of this. I will talk to him in the morning. He may agree if I set up good dowries for all five of his daughters." Darcy remembered Mr. Bennet's words that Miss Elizabeth did not like him at all. If this was true, then Miss Elizabeth was just as much a victim as he was. There was no way that their marrying could result in a happy union for either of them. His previous admiration of her was quickly overridden by his disgust for the whole family.

After discussing this plan for some time, Bingley still could not believe that Miss Bennet would do anything to trap him. However, Darcy's insistence that he was a victim began to give him doubts about the Bennet family and even the eldest Miss Bennet.

In the morning, Darcy went to Longbourn and asked to see Mr. Bennet. He was led into the office, where Mr. Bennet was waiting for him. Neither man made the usual polite greetings. Darcy was the first to speak.

"Mr. Bennet, I have to tell you how disgusted I am with this whole situation. There is no way that Miss Elizabeth and I will ever make a happy union. You said that she did not like me at all, which means that she is just as much opposed to our marrying as I am. Surely there is some way we can come to some agreement that does not include my marrying her. How much would it take for you to find some other outcome? I will even find someone else to marry her, no matter how much it costs. I am willing to provide dowries for all of your daughters if that helps." Darcy waited for an answer.

Mr. Bennet scowled at him. "Mr. Darcy, I thought you were a gentleman. I cannot believe that any gentleman would try to buy his way out of an obligation such as this. My daughter has been publicly compromised and there is only one way out of this. I can sympathize with your position, but you will have to marry her. If you do not marry her, my whole family with be ostracized and our lives will be ruined. Meryton is a small town and everyone likely knows what happened already. I do not care for myself, but my daughters have their whole lives ahead of them. There is no way that I will allow you not to marry her. I can only trust that you will come to realize what a special person Lizzy is. I just hope it will not take too long. As for her, she is intelligent enough to realize that she has to make the best of the situation. I know that you do not agree, but she will make a wonderful wife if you give her a chance."

Mr. Bennet's words did not soothe Darcy's attitude about the whole situation. What he heard from these words was that Mr. Bennet was firm in his stance that Darcy had to marry his daughter, no matter what. This did not help his disgust at the whole family.

"If you insist, then I will do my duty and marry her. I will go to town today to see my solicitor to have the marriage contract drawn up. Tell me, how much allowance is she receiving now?"

Mr. Bennet was not sure why this was important as the wife of Mr. Darcy surely would receive a much larger sum. After all, she would need much nicer clothes than she had now. However, he mentioned the amount.

Darcy said, "I will also obtain a special license so we can marry without waiting for banns to be read. If I return in three days, will you be able to arrange for the church for the next morning? I want only a very private wedding with only family, and no special wedding breakfast. I do not feel that this is a celebration in any way."

Mr. Bennet agreed to do his part, and then Darcy left for town. Immediately after Darcy left Mr. Bennet's office, Collins went in and said, "Mr. Bennet, I am not sure if my esteemed patroness would want me to be associated in any way with any of my cousins after this. She will not be pleased that her nephew will not be marrying her daughter as that had been planned since they were in their cradles." He added many more words to this statement, but none of them made much sense or added to the gist of what he wanted to say, so they need not be repeated here. Charlotte Lucas happened to arrive at Longbourn at this time and heard his words. She invited him to leave Longbourn to stay with her family until he returned to Kent. To this offer, he gladly agreed.