Either Dad had forgotten to turn on the heating the day that I arrived home, or William's letter had chilled me so thoroughly that I felt I might never be warm again.

Whatever the reason, I felt like I needed Jenny's company to make me feel better. I was happy that Georgia had set herself free of Wyatt, but that alone wasn't enough to lift my spirits in the face of all the other revelations. Only the comfort of my best friend could reassure me I hadn't been a fool in believing in Gideon, that I was justified in turning down William, and that Charlie and Jenny's breakup hadn't been my fault. William hadn't said in his letter he blamed me. He'd been clear that he felt it was our friends who were inappropriate and unworthy of knowing. Still, he'd said that his family wouldn't approve of me, either, so I had to wonder if my behaviour had played a part in his decision to come between them.

Dad noticed the change in me, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. I didn't want him to know how stupid I'd been. Besides, I needed to respect the privacy of William's family. I may not have liked him, but it sounded like his sister and mother had been through more than enough without me airing their dirty laundry for the world.

Returning to school and being out from under my father's worried gaze was a relief. I wasn't often happy to return to Netherfield, but the moment I saw Jenny I threw myself into a hug so forceful that we tumbled onto her bed in a tangle of limbs and declarations of having missed one another. Mercifully, we were alone, and I had the perfect opportunity to spill my guts at long last and relieve myself of the burden of being the only one to know Gideon's real nature.

Naturally, I didn't tell her that she and Charlie had been forced apart by William. It didn't feel worth bringing it up now that they were already apart. As William had said, there was no undoing what had already been done. We all needed to move on, and the best way to do that was to put the pair as far from our minds as possible.

'Jen', can we go talk about something?' I asked with urgency, aware that the others would soon be upon us and that Lisa and Chrissy were incapable of keeping secrets.

'Sure. Library?' she suggested.

No one would be there on the first day back. They'd be unpacking and greeting their friends. So long as we were quiet, we wouldn't be discovered or overheard. I didn't dare tell her what all the secrecy was about on the way. We hid in the research section, where all the enormous books only the teachers checked out were kept. Even they wouldn't be seen dead in the library so soon into the new term.

I leaned back against a shelf with my legs crossed in front of me. Jenny settled herself beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. I let out a long breath and said, 'I saw William Darcy while I was in France. He was a total dick, as usual. How was your break?'

'That's all you have to say? You could have told me that in our room.'

'No, there's more. But I want to hear how your Christmas was, first.'

She closed her eyes and lamented, 'I didn't see Charlie. I saw Chantelle, and she made it clear that she hated me. Like she was super that angry I was there. I told her it was just a coincidence, but she was sure I did it on purpose.'

'Sorry,' I said. 'I shouldn't have convinced you to go.'

'Mum and I had a good time. She said you and your father should have come along.'

'Dad on skis? He'd break every bone in his body.' I held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 'You guys should come to our place one year. It'll be cramped and awkward. You'll love it, I promise.'

'Maybe.'

'Okay, so there's something else that happened. And I'm only going to tell you if you think you want to hear it. Because if you don't, then it's fine. But it's about Gideon.'

'Obviously, I want to hear it.'

'Turns out that Gideon is a big fat liar. He did steal from the school, and from a lot of other people by not paying debts. And he cheated on William's sister. Their family paid off everything, but he had to get a new job. They were keeping it out of the papers so his sister wouldn't get humiliated.'

Jenny rubbed my arm gently to soothe me. She must have thought I'd found it all upsetting. I supposed I had, in a way. But I was angry more than anything else. Gideon must have been laughing at me behind my back because I was just another stupid little girl that he'd won over with his sob story. I was glad he was gone and that I wouldn't have to see him again.

'Do you think we should tell anyone?' Jenny asked.

'No. He doesn't work here, now. That makes him someone else's problem.'

Perhaps it was selfish and wrong to keep it to myself. The administration might want to know so that they could ensure he hadn't been stealing from them, either. But it wasn't like they were going to believe me. I was a nobody from nowhere, and he'd had the recommendation of a wealthy backer and attended a prestigious university. It was better to let the truth remain a secret and just be grateful that he was already out of our lives.

Jenny stood up, no doubt convinced that I'd said all there was to say. I reached out and tugged her back down to the floor. 'Okay, ouch,' she complained. 'What?'

'Swear you won't tell anyone about this?'

'I already -'

'Not that,' I said. 'William asked me out.'

'He what?!'

I clamped my hand over her mouth and hissed, 'God, really?'

Jenny clawed my fingers away. 'Sorry! But seriously, what?'

'The guy is obviously unbalanced. I mean, I hate him, and he knows that. But he still asked.'

'What did you say?'

'Before or after I slapped him?'

'You didn't!'

'Trust me, he deserved it. I said no. I didn't do it all that politely, either, so I think I got my point across.'

'You can do better.'

'I did,' I said. 'I snogged his cousin, Freddie. But William got in the way, like he always seems to. Anyway, it was a crazy couple of weeks. Let's just try to forget about all of them, and we can have fun like we did last year before the invasion of the boys.'

'Yes, obviously, but you have to tell me all about Freddie. Don't think I'm letting you just skim over that.'

'Fair enough.'

Typically, she wanted absolutely every detail of my date. I didn't tell her how drunk I was or what I'd intended to do with Freddie before William interrupted, but it was enough to satisfy her curiosity. Jenny didn't ask whether William had mentioned Charlie at all, and I was relieved that I wouldn't need to lie to her about the letter. I couldn't stand to see Jenny hurting again. That was more painful than anything he could say about me, my family, or the way I'd acted. I could take criticism and hurt much better than she could.

For a few days, things were normal.

At least, normal as it was possible to be at an exclusive boarding school.

Lisa and Chrissy were boasting about what they got for Christmas, both as silly as ever. Meg was still quiet, but she had taken to spending more time with me and Jenny. Ever since Charlie's party, she'd been quite nervous. She was already like a little mouse, but I feared that if she continued to be so timid, she might crawl under her bed and never come out.

Georgia was far happier without Wyatt bothering her. Whenever they saw one another around the school he pretended that she was invisible and continued as though nothing had happened between them. It was typical of him to put his pride before anything else, even his own feelings. If that was how he coped with being dumped, then it was fine by me.

Anything was better than seeing them together.

Peace seemed to be restored, but I should have known that it would never last.