"Anyway," Colin continued, "I was wondering if I might speak with you for a moment."

"Sure." I sat down next to him on the bench.

"There are certain rites of passage that I think are a very important part of becoming an adult."

He looked at me expectedly. I was so tired, all I could do was nod.

"Prom is one of those rites." My stomach dropped. "It is a momentous occasion, especially for a Longbourn girl like yourself, and I believe that we'd make a great match to attend. Obviously, we have the dancing part down." He let out a small laugh. "And I know with your circumstances you may have some difficulty with the dress, but I would be more than willing to pay for your accoutrements if that would make you more comfortable. I ..." Colin's prim stature faltered for a moment and he seemed to be at a loss for words. No doubt this was the first time such a thing had ever happened to him. "I ... I do find you most appealing. I've never met anybody like you before. You certainly are someone that I've always found very curious." I knew that I should've probably taken this as a compliment, but the way he said it, I couldn't help but think he found me more interesting as an oddity in his rich world than someone he found attractive. "We can obviously work out all the details at a later date, but I thought it would be best to move forward with our plans."

"Oh." I looked down at my gloves. "Thank you for thinking of me."

"No problem. We'll be in touch." Colin started walking away.

"Wait!" I called out after him. "I didn't give you an answer!"

His face fell. "Well, I just assumed ..."

"Well, you shouldn't. While I'm very honored that you'd want to take me to prom, I'm going to have to decline."

Colin laughed. "Oh, I know this game. Playing hard to get, are we?"

"No, we're not."

"Oh, Elizabeth, I know how girls like you are. You want to be pursued first. Very well, I'm game. You set out your rabbit, and I'll get my hounds. It could be fun."

"No, Colin." I stood up and bent down slightly so I could look him in the eye. "Again, I'm very flattered, but I'm not playing hard to get. My response won't change. I'm sorry, but the answer is, and will always be, no."

I hated being so direct with him, but he'd left me no choice.

Colin looked thoughtful for a minute. "This is why I like you so much, Elizabeth. You're unpredictable. I know we'll have a great time."

"Apparently, you aren't hearing me."

Colin sighed. "I do hear you, but -- and please know that I do not mean any disrespect -- do you really think with your circumstances that you'll be getting other offers?"

His bluntness shocked me.

"No," I said, "I'm sure I won't. But I know that prom here is probably something that I wouldn't enjoy, and you should really go with someone who you'd have fun with."

"I have every confidence that next time I discuss this with you, your answer will be different."

"No, Colin. Please tell me if there's anything I'm doing right now to make you think that there will be another answer. Because if you let me know, I will correct it so you can ask somebody else."

"Oh, Elizabeth, you really are something else."

I stood there with my mouth wide open. Colin was one of the smartest students in his class, but apparently he was lacking in common sense. He squeezed my shoulder and walked away.

How much clearer could I have been?

Fourteen

I FOUND CHARLOTTE IN MY ROOM WHEN I GOT BACK.

"Oh, good -- you're finally here!" she exclaimed before I even had the door halfway open. "Well, I had a visitor. What's that?"

On my bed was a giant silver box with a red ribbon around it. "We don't know." Jane jumped up from her seat. "That's why we've been dying for you to come home. It was delivered an hour ago."

"But I didn't order ... What on earth?"

"Open it!" Charlotte grabbed the box and put it in my arms. "I want to see who it's from!"

Jane laughed. "And I want to know what it is."

I sat down on my bed and untied the red ribbon. Inside the silver box was white tissue. I lifted up the paper to find a beautiful gray winter coat. I looked at the tag and was shocked by the designer's name.

"Who sent this?" I asked. I took the coat out of the box and started looking for a card. Or receipt. Or even a tag that would have given me a hint where the jacket came from.

Jane was sifting through the tissue on the floor to see if she could find anything.

"Jane?"

She looked up. "It wasn't from me. Maybe Charles ... but why wouldn't he have sent a card? Or said something to me about it?"

Then my stomach turned. I knew whom it was from and it made me feel so awful.

"It's from Colin."

"How do you know?" Charlotte asked.

"Because he just asked me to prom."

"What?" they said in unison.

"And I said no." I filled them in on the details of Colin's proposal. Even how honest and somewhat rude I was to him.

"I can't believe you aren't going to go," Charlotte said. "Besides, it was thoughtful of him to offer to buy your dress ... and now the coat."

"I know. I can't keep this. It's too much. And it isn't like I have anything against Colin. He's so nice." I looked down at the coat. "And generous. It's about prom at Longbourn. I'm not going to sit here and fool myself that I'd be welcome at prom. Look at what happens when I go to a regular party. Plus, I want to go to something like that with somebody special."

Charlotte shrugged. "I would be disappointed if I didn't go. But Colin's right, you and I are tainted goods."

"Charlotte!" Jane was horrified. "I can't believe you would say such a thing. At least you two don't have a sister who humiliated you in front of the entire world!"

"Oh, I didn't realize the entire world fit into the restaurant last night," I teased. "And to think, I missed an opportunity to meet the president of the United States."

"I'm just glad I didn't run into my ex-boyfriend," Charlotte continued.

"Apparently, you guys haven't seen the latest Internet sensation?" Jane pulled up a video of Lydia's dance that someone had uploaded. "The family is so proud."

"Oh, Jane ..." I started scrolling through the hate-filled comments. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "I'm going to try to get over it. Someday."

"It's nice to have goals."

My cell phone went off. My heart jumped when I saw it was Wick. "Hey," I said, moving into the hallway for some privacy.

"So, you're talking to me even after I left you alone with the trust-fund babies last night?" His voice was warm and friendly.

"I guess I could see my way to forgive you."

"You're so generous. That's very un-Longbourn of you. Be careful, you might get kicked out next."

"At least then I'd be in better company."

A tingle went up my spine as he laughed. "Listen, I'm sorry for bailing, especially at the last minute. I really wanted to go and had every intention of being there. But last night as I got ready, I knew that if I showed up it wouldn't be good for you. There's no way that I could be in the same room as you-know-who, and I didn't want to bring any negative attention to you."