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38
Thankfully, all was in order at Elizabeth's house on Friday morning. She could see the jagged line in the sand that marked the tide’s height and was glad to see it wasn’t too close to her home. Most of the damage to the other beach houses seemed to be confined to missing shingles or pieces of decking coming loose; no one appeared to have any issues with flooding.
She’d taken an early morning ferry home, and after unloading the Jeep, she made a quick call to her father. He didn't answer so she left a message, asking if he could come to the house sometime over the weekend to remove the boards from the windows as she didn't have the time to do it now—because right now, she needed to find Lydia.
Lydia's weekend usually began on Thursday nights, so Elizabeth knew the best place to find her would be at home, recovering. As she headed that way in her Jeep, Elizabeth called Charlotte and filled her in on everything that had happened. She told her about her breakup with Will but focused more on Wickham and Collins. In the course of the conversation, she’d had to reveal some of the details of Georgiana’s assault, but knew she could trust that Charlotte would never repeat the horrible tale.
“Are you sure nothing ever happened between the two of you that you’ve questioned?” Elizabeth asked.
“Nothing, I swear. I told you he could be aggressive, but it was never in a violent way. He was just demanding sometimes. I never did anything I was totally uncomfortable with, but... I did let him take pictures once, but they weren’t explicit. I think that in the back of my mind, I didn't trust him. Not completely. I didn't want those pictures to come back and haunt me.”
“I hope they don't haunt Lydia. What about protection? Were you always careful with that?”
“Always. No slipups, ever. No condom, no sex. That was the rule.”
“Good girl.”
“What about you and Will?” Charlotte asked hesitantly. “Is there any chance you can work it out?”
Elizabeth sighed. “I don't know.”
“You know I’m one hundred per cent Team Lizzy. You’re my girl. But…if you guys can get through this and come out on the other side, think of how much stronger you'll be. I'm not saying you should rush back into his arms, because I don't think you should—what he did was awful, and he needs to figure his shit out. But if heknowsit's him and his issues that caused the problems...well, that's half the battle, isn't it?”
One more point of view to consider. “I guess so. Thanks, Charlotte. I appreciate it.”
“Sure you do. Next time, you can tell me to shut up.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Hey, I have to go. I'm pulling into Lydia's driveway...and her car is here, so I have to mentally prepare myself. I'll call you when I'm back from South Carolina.”
They said goodbye, and Elizabeth walked to the front door of the house and rang the bell. One of Lydia's housemates answered. She let Elizabeth in and mumbled, “I'll go get her,” before disappearing.
Elizabeth could hear muffled conversation coming from down the hallway. The house was a disaster and looked—and smelled—more like a college frat house. There were empty beer and wine bottles scattered everywhere, along with overflowing ashtrays, and right in the middle of the coffee table sat a box of condoms.Nice.
Lydia came out, attempting to fix her unkempt appearance, wiping the dried mascara from under her eyes.
“Hey! You didn't tell me it was Elizabeth!” she yelled to her housemate.
“Good morning, Lydia,” Elizabeth said.
“What do you want?”
“You know why I'm here.” Elizabeth pulled out the pictures George had left at her house. “Look familiar?”
“Give me those.”
Lydia tried to snatch them out of Elizabeth's hand, but Elizabeth pulled them away. “Nope, these are mine. George left them forme. Do you know why?”
“Because he’s a pervert, that's why. Lying bastard.”
Elizabeth's eyebrows rose. “I'm glad you're finally seeing the light. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“He hasn't called meoncesince he went to New York, and I've left, like, ten messages for him.”
“You poor thing.”
“Shut up. I know you don't feel sorry for me.”
“But I do. I feel sorry that you were stupid enough to get fooled by him. You were a pleasant little diversion, an easy lay. He knew you were someone he could control, someone he could talk into doing all theselovelythings.” Elizabeth waved the photos around. “Do you think your roomies would like to see these? Maybe you could brag a little more, like you bragged to Jane about where you screwed him in my house.”
