Page 8 of Twice Chosen

Elizabeth caught her hand. "No. I am home."

At breakfast she discovered that being twenty again was astonishingly uncomfortable. Lydia borrowed things without asking. Her mother knew where she was at all times. Mr. Bennet teased when Elizabeth wished he would answer seriously. Worst of all, Elizabeth possessed the memory of more than five decades without the authority age had eventually brought her.

"Mama," Lydia said, leaning halfway across the breakfast table, "Kitty and I must have new ribbons for the assembly."

Mrs. Bennet did not look up from the marmalade. "You had ribbons from your aunt last week."

"Those are old."

"They are six days old."

"Exactly."

Elizabeth looked at Lydia. Fifteen. Not yet. Nearly. Alive, thoughtless, infuriating Lydia. No Wickham. No Brighton. No cheap wedding ring. No exhausted letters from Newcastle. No years of pretending she had made a romantic choice rather than a disastrous one.

"The blue suits you better than the pink," Elizabeth said.

Everyone stared.

Lydia blinked. "You hate the blue."

"No."

"You said it makes me look sallow."

Elizabeth remembered. She had. Lydia had been fourteen and had cried later when no one watched.

Elizabeth swallowed. "I was wrong."

Silence fell over the table.

Mr. Bennet lowered his newspaper. Mrs. Bennet stared. Even Mary stopped arranging the toast on her plate.

Lydia touched the blue ribbon at her sleeve. "You like it?"

"Very much."

A bright smile spread across Lydia's face. "Then perhaps I shall wear it."

Kitty immediately protested that she had said precisely the same thing yesterday. Within moments the two youngest girls were arguing over whether Kitty had suggested blue, green, or no ribbon at all.

Elizabeth smiled.

Mr. Bennet studied her over the top of his newspaper. "My dear Lizzy, you have apologized twice this morning. Should we prepare for the apocalypse?"

"I am attempting improvement."

His brows rose. "How alarming."

Mrs. Bennet waved a hand toward her husband. "If you are improving, begin by persuading your father to call upon Mr. Bingley."

Elizabeth froze.

Bingley. Netherfield. Darcy. The assembly.

Four days.

She had known the date. Knowing and hearing were different.