Prologue

Longbourn, a week before Easter 1811

“L izzy, are you sorry you refused Charlotte’s invitation to visit her in Hunsford?” Jane questioned.

“No, I do not regret it,” Elizabeth asserted. “I know Charlotte is not pleased I did not accept, but I would not change my mind as my going would have been far more damaging to what remains of our friendship.”

“To what do you refer?” Jane quizzed.

“Janey, before Mr Bingley broke your heart and you were able to see the Bingley sisters’ true colours, you opined Charlotte had made a good match, did you not?”

“Yes, at the time I did, but what has this to do with the Bingleys?”

Elizabeth did not miss the pain which flitted across the face of her dearest sister and best friend. She hated to occasion Jane any hurt by reminding her of the man who she had believed would offer for her, but she needed her sister to see things clearly with her newly opened eyes.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Even when her older sister had received the letter from the shrew who was Caroline Bingley, Jane tried to interpret the drivel charitably. She had done as the letter had suggested and written to the lady, who she thought was a friend, to inform her she would be in London after Twelfth Night. Unsurprisingly to Elizabeth, no reply had been received .

Jane had joined the three older Bennet sisters’ favourite aunt and uncle (Fanny Bennet’s brother and his wife, Edward and Madeline) when the Gardiners and their children had returned to their home on Gracechurch Street after Christmastide. Not long after arriving, with Aunt Maddie as an escort, she had called on Mrs Louisa Hurst and Miss Caroline Bingley at the former’s husband’s house on Curzon Street. Jane had written to Elizabeth speaking of the inexplicably cold reception she had received at the hands of the two women, Elizabeth had dubbed the ‘supercilious’ sisters. Contrary to Jane’s surprise and consternation at the way she had been received and pushed out of the door as soon as may be, her younger sister had expected it.

It had taken Miss Bingley almost a month before she had returned the call. She had been frosty and disdainful towards Jane making no secret of the fact she did not desire to maintain the connection. During that visit, the thing which had truly opened Janey’s eyes was the rudeness and sneering directed at their Aunt Maddie. Treating a most beloved aunt in such a fashion was the final straw which caused the scales to fall from Jane’s eyes.

Miss Bingley had claimed that—in Elizabeth’s opinion, she had lied—her brother was aware of Jane’s being in London but was too busy with his courtship of Miss Darcy. That had not stopped Jane’s heart aching for her lost love.

The result was she had cut her visit short and returned to Hertfordshire and Longbourn months earlier than she had intended. She also had told Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward she would forgo her turn to accompany them on their summer holiday trip. She had rationalised her choice by declaring her decision was not driven by her melancholy over Mr Bingley’s abandonment, but rather her desire that Lizzy be rewarded with the holiday in Brighton with the Gardiners as a birthday gift as she was to reach her majority on the fifth day of June of the current year.

No matter how much Elizabeth argued, cajoled, objected, and used any manner of persuasion she could think of, Jane held firm in her refusal to join the Gardiners towards the end of June .

The only positive from the debacle which had pained Jane deeply was the fact she no longer saw the world as she wanted it to be, but as it was.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“What has that to do with your not wanting to go to Hunsford?” Jane wondered.

“Allow me to elucidate.” Jane nodded for Elizabeth to continue. “Apply the way you see the world now to Charlotte’s accepting a man who not only does she not love, but who is a ridiculous, pompous, sycophant. Once you do, tell me your true opinion of our friend’s decision.”

Jane cogitated for a while as she looked at the situation through clearer lenses. She stopped herself twice when she was about to speak when she considered some other factors. “She tied herself to a man such as that for purely mercenary reasons,” Jane concluded. “She always said all she wanted was her own home, but I think the deciding factor for her was Mr Collins being Papa’s heir presumptive. I did not want to see it at the time, but I now see Lady Lucas’s glee when she lorded over Mama the fact Charlotte would be mistress of this estate one day.”

“At last, you see what I saw,” Elizabeth agreed. “Now think about me and my character. Had I accepted the invitation, do you think I would have been able to hold my tongue for any time at all, when I saw Mr Collins bow and scrape before his beneficent patroness? Even more, do you not think I would have offended the lady and upset our distant cousin far more than when I refused his offer of marriage?”

“I dare say you would not have been able to stop yourself from reacting to the ridiculousness.” Jane remembered something from one of Charlotte’s letters. “Did the knowledge Lady Catherine is Mr Darcy’s aunt, and the fact he would be at Rosings Park for a few weeks influence your decision? Even now after it has been proved that Mr Wickham is neither honest nor honourable, calling into question all of his claims regarding Mr Darcy?”

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Thanks to the insult Mr Darcy had delivered at the assembly in Meryton before they had even been introduced, Elizabeth’s prejudices had all been ignited against the handsome man from Derbyshire. His behaviour over the five days she had been resident at Netherfield Park had done nothing to raise the insufferable man in her estimation.

She had been looking for anything negative about him after he had slighted her in that public forum. Hence, when Lieutenant Wickham told her his tale of woe, the day after she met him, Elizabeth had taken it all as if it were gospel, regardless of others’ warnings to be circumspect. At the ball Mr Bingley had given—the day before his and his party’s ignominious flight from the neighbourhood—Elizabeth had agreed to dance with Mr Darcy rather than sit out the remainder of the ball. She had, as she had any time he was close, taken the opportunity to needle him. She had been well pleased with herself when she had provoked him to anger by mentioning Mr Wickham, causing the proud and arrogant man to stalk away the instant the dance ended.

Elizabeth had begun to question her judgement of Mr Wickham when as soon as Mr Darcy quit the neighbourhood and the former returned from London, he began to blacken the latter’s name to anyone who would listen. That had reminded Elizabeth of two things the Lieutenant had said to her the night he had made his disclosure at her Aunt Hattie (her mother’s older sister) Phillips’s card party. One was referring to exposing Darcy’s disregard of his father’s will as to the living he left to the Lieutenant by saying, ‘some time or other he will be—but it shall not be by me. Til I can forget his father I can never defy or expose him’ , and the other was ‘Oh! no—it is not for me to be driven away by Mr Darcy. If he wishes to avoid seeing me, he must go.’

The first memory was proved a lie by the Lieutenant, directly contradicting his own claim, and the second by the fact he had done the exact opposite by avoiding the ball at Netherfield Park. To add to the growing evidence against the man was the way he chased after Miss Mary King as soon as it had become known she had inherited ten thousand pounds. Her uncle had discovered the many debts Mr Wickham owed to the merchants in Meryton. Then even worse, it was revealed that the man had meddled with at least three girls, the youngest one barely fourteen, promising marriage to each one.

The more she learnt about the man she had thought honest because of his handsome countenance, the more chagrined Elizabeth became at herself. She realised she, who had accused Mr Darcy of improper pride, had allowed her bruised pride to suspend her critical thought and miss all the contradictions in the yarn which had been spun for her.

In the end Messrs Wickham and Denny had disappeared like thieves in the night after stealing purses from some of their fellow officers. Word had spread that as soon as all of the merchants began to demand payment, the two officers had deserted. If they were ever caught they would face a firing squad, as it was wartime.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“No, even though I would be embarrassed to face him after believing Mr Wickham so blindly, Mr Darcy’s presence or lack thereof did not influence my decision,” Elizabeth shared. “You have seen Charlotte’s letter when she told us how her husband demands she follow any of Lady Catherine’s dictates, couched as suggestions, as if they were commandments gifted to Moses on Mount Sinai. I do not know how she survives like that, but no, I could not bear witness to that sort of thing and still maintain my equanimity.”

“I suppose I can understand your decision.” Jane decided to change the subject. “How am I to stop Mama speaking of Mr Bingley and my failure to catch him whenever she sees me?”

“As much as I wish I could help, I cannot. I did speak to Papa, but he is having too much fun watching our mother’s behaviour. He told me it is good for a girl to be crossed in love, at least once in her life. I love Papa, but I am starting to question the way he behaves towards all of us, especially Mama.”

“I know Mama does not mean to cause me heartache, but every time she mentions Mr Bingley, that is what occurs. I try to keep away from her company as much as I am able.” Jane paused and smiled. “At least she is not angry with me like she was with you for refusing Mr Collins. For at least a month, I have not heard her mention her displeasure regarding your refusal, or of Charlotte accepting his proposal and marrying our cousin.”

“If only she had stuck to her declaration she would never know me again after Papa supported my refusal. I am still unable to fathom how Papa not forcing me to wed where I have no inclination is my fault.”

“Although I do not agree with her haranguing you on the subject, I do understand her fears for her future, and that of any of her unmarried daughters after Papa goes to his final reward. I am sure none of us are destined for the hedgerows, but thanks to Papa not saving for our futures, we will live in genteel poverty and be reliant solely on charity from our aunts and uncles.”

“There is, unfortunately, much truth in what you just said,” Elizabeth owned. As much as she loved her sire, she was not blind to his faults. He mocked their mother to her face and not only in front of family; he called the two youngest Bennets silly but did nothing to check them; he locked himself away in his study with his books and port; and he did nothing to increase Longbourn’s income or save to give his daughters a dowry. “While I understand our mother’s concerns, I cannot like the way she goes about trying to mitigate them.”

“You will hear no disagreement from me,” Jane acknowledged .

“Brava Janey! You did not make excuses for Mama as you always have in the past. I do not want to sound condescending, but I am very proud of you. Before your eyes were opened, you would have never made such an unforgiving comment.”

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Thomas Bennet, who had inherited Longbourn in 1785, had met and been greatly enamoured with Frances Gardiner; he had been drawn in by her beauty. At the time, she was attracted by the fact he was a member of the landed gentry while her father was merely a solicitor.

Neither had looked at the other too closely to verify their long-term compatibility, hence in November 1786, they married. At the time, Fanny was a month past her sixteenth birthday. Bennet was the last male alive in his line. His parents had been taken thanks to an influenza outbreak, so there were none to warn him against making an ill-advised match.

Even though Fanny was of mean understanding and somewhat vapid, when Jane was born in February 1788, both parents had been beyond pleased. Bennet had told his wife about the entail to heirs male, but neither had been concerned there would not be a son. Their confidence was bolstered by the fact Fanny had birthed a child so soon after marrying. When Elizabeth Rose was born in June 1790, the first serious fissures in the marriage between the Bennet parents were exposed.

Knowing a child could not determine its own sex did not stop Fanny from labelling her second daughter as wilful. All through her being with child, she had loudly proclaimed she was carrying her husband’s heir, which influenced her feelings regarding her second daughter. For his part, Bennet was unconcerned as he was sure the next one would be the heir. He was not sanguine with the way his wife related to Lizzy which made him choose her as his favourite, in the same way Fanny had chosen Jane. Their first daughter had the Gardiner colouring, just like her mother’s, while their second daughter favoured her late paternal grandmother for whom she was named.

Rather than a son, three more daughters were born. Mary in December 1791, Catherine—called Kitty by all—in January 1794, and the babe of the family, Lydia, in August 1795. Strangely enough, Fanny never resented the three youngest Bennets for being born girls, as she had her second daughter.

By the time Lydia had come along, Fanny’s nerves had made an appearance and Bennet was distant from his family, except for Lizzy. That fact was another thing the Bennet matriarch held against her second daughter. All the while extolling Jane’s beauty, Lydia now became Fanny’s clear favourite. Not only did she have the Gardiner looks, but although rather stout, she had the same liveliness Fanny had had at the same age. Her last child could do no wrong and was terribly spoilt by her mother.

In order to save herself and her daughters from the dreaded hedgerows, Fanny pushed her daughters out at fifteen and made it her mission in life to see all of them married before her husband was called home to God.

She cared not for the quality of the match, as long as her girls caught themselves a man. To that end, even before the Bennets met Mr Bingley, Fanny was pushing Jane towards him and his five thousand pounds per annum. What Fanny did not realise was the things she thought would help the match along achieved the opposite, which culminated in her pronouncements at the ball and the subsequent bolting of the Netherfield Park party.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“Do you think you will visit the Prince Regent’s Pavilion in Brighton?” Jane changed the subject once again.

Prince George, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne of his father, King George III had become Regent on the fifth day of February of the current year. His Majesty was rumoured to have certain mental deficiencies which had led to the regency.

After issuing an unladylike snort, Elizabeth turned to her beloved sister. “The day the daughter of a relatively poor country squire is invited to that illustrious abode, well I suppose more a palace than anything else, pigs will fly.”

“Do you not think they open the place for visitors like many of the great houses do?” Jane enquired. “You and I have visited enough on our previous holidays with the Gardiners. It is, after all, possible to visit St James Palace and Buckingham House when no royals are in residence.”

“In that you are correct, however, remember, Sister dearest, the Prince Regent, according to what I have read, sojourns in Brighton for the summer, and I do not believe his Highness will be open to uninvited callers to come gawk at his residence,” Elizabeth surmised. “Especially not if Mrs Fitzherbert is in residence with her adopted daughters. At least I have read how much happier his Highness is since his wife, Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Lüneburg, has moved to Italy with her paramour.”

“Can you imagine the sorrow she must have felt when Princess Charlotte passed away barely a year after her birth? Rather than commiserate and mourn their daughter with her, Prince George went back to Mrs Fitzherbert’s arms.”

“You see, that argues about Charlotte’s claims about felicity in marriage being a matter of chance. Can you imagine if you had married one you loved, only to be told the marriage is invalid because of the Royal Act of Settlement? Yes, the royals have wealth and palaces, but I would not want any of that, when my marriage is seen and used as a way to forge international alliances,” Elizabeth opined.

“True, but then you and I were not born with all the responsibilities attached to being a royal,” Jane rebutted.

Shaking her head, Elizabeth pointed out, “That is not a family I would want to join. Queen Charlotte birthed so many sons and daughters and nary a legitimate issue between all of them.”

“Lizzy, may we leave matters of state behind us?” Jane requested with a smile.

“Of course, Janey. Of what would you like to speak?”

“You opined that the only reason Mr Bingley abandoned me was the influence of his sisters, and possibly Mr Darcy, did you not?” Jane enquired.

“I did, what of it? I still hold that opinion,” Elizabeth averred.

“There is one thing that troubles me. Let me put this to you. If you truly, deeply loved someone, not only that, but respected them as well, would you allow the opinions of others to sway you from your path?” Jane put to her sister.

Elizabeth had not considered the situation from that perspective before, so she did so now. “No, I would not. I would discover the facts for myself, and I would speak to the other party before making any determinations.” After a pause to cogitate she continued. “Now that I think on it, unless his sisters, and possibly Mr Darcy shackled him to the wall of a dungeon, there is no excuse for his not coming back like he said he would. … As soon as I said that, I realised it was not the gentlemanly thing for him to do. He told everyone he would return in a few days, but has disappeared, without word to anyone, for months.”

“That is the same conclusion I reached,” Jane responded. “It is obvious now that his love for me, if it was ever more than an infatuation, was not a stout kind, but one which withered as soon as he left the area, and I was no longer before him.”

“You may have the right of it. What will you do with this epiphany? ”

“I will move on, and allow my heart to heal. I will not prevaricate to you and tell you it will be the work of an instant, but I will conquer this. If he did not have enough strength of character to fight for me, then he was never worthy of my love,” Jane stated stoically.

“Does this mean you will take your rightful place and join the Gardiners in travelling to Brighton? I would willingly step aside and allow you to reclaim what you gave up in my favour.”

“No, Lizzy, I am resolute in my decision! Before you dare cry off remember, this is one of my birthday gifts to you, and you would not refuse a gift from me, would you?” Jane put on a look of sadness as she worried her bottom lip.

“I will not gainsay you in this, Janey. However, you will not deter me from purchasing many presents for you while I am gone.”

“Lizzy, do not be too extravagant in acquiring gifts for me,” Jane entreated.

“That is not a promise I am willing to make,” Elizabeth riposted with a twinkle in her eye. “Should we make for the stillroom to check on your rose water and my lavender water?”

Jane nodded her head; the sisters linked arms and headed towards the stillroom.