Page 2

“The day we were to meet, I waited for hours, until I could no longer delay returning. He never came. We were required to leave three days later, and he never called for me again.”

Jane choked back a sob. “I thought he cared for me, Lizzy. It seems I was mistaken.”

Elizabeth hugged her sister. “What is the man’s name so I may hate him forever?” she asked.

Jane shook her head. “No, I would not have you blacken your soul with hatred on my behalf, dearest. It is enough to confide in you.”

“Then I shall take this as a lesson. Overly agreeable men must be met with suspicion first. They cannot be fully trusted until they prove their worth. And I shall resent this mystery gentleman on your behalf, even if you do not wish for me to do so.”

Jane giggled and nodded. “You are a good sister, Lizzy. Thank you.”

Jane’s reserve only grew from that moment. Elizabeth felt some alarm as her charming, happy sister became more withdrawn. She donned a polite smile in company, and rarely showed her true feelings, even to her dearest sister.

Mrs. Bennet continued to lament the suitor Jane had let slip through her fingers. Elizabeth resented the man even more for the pain he caused Jane to live again and again as Mrs. Bennet refused to let her daughter forget her folly.

Mr. Bennet found great amusement in the entire situation and teased Jane about the distinction being in love granted a young lady.

Jane bore it all with grace, and Elizabeth was thankful their younger sisters yet dined in the nursery, for Kitty and Lydia would certainly only add to Jane’s pain and misery.

Over the years, suitors came and went. Jane’s reserve grew with each gentleman’s defection. One was already engaged to a distant cousin, a fact he neglected to mention when he began paying court to Jane. Another withdrew his attentions when he learned that Jane was not the heir to the estate. A third transferred his affections to Miss Charlotte Lucas, professing her to be the better choice as wife of a clergyman. Miss Lucas relocated to Surrey and visited only occasionally. When she brought her husband, Jane’s pain was renewed as she was forced to engage in social niceties with yet another man who had broken her heart.

Elizabeth could not help but notice her sister’s ever-present mask as the years passed. When Elizabeth was able to join Jane in social gatherings, it helped, but Jane was changed forevermore. Elizabeth vowed to support her sister and promised never to let another gentleman play with her heart.

One by one, the Bennet sisters were launched on their little, local society. Mrs. Bennet grew increasingly fractious with every come-out. Jane was still not married, and now Elizabeth’s acerbic tongue threatened everyone else’s prospects.

“You need to be demurer,” Mrs. Bennet ordered her second child. “A man does not want a forward wife.”

“Yes, Mama,” Elizabeth replied dutifully. Jane’s placid smile across the carriage from her reminded her of her purpose, and she cheerfully ignored her mother’s advice. Elizabeth found that as long as her conversation remained within the bounds of propriety, she learned more by being forward. And the more she learned, the better she could protect her sister.

Thus, it was until the autumn of 1811, when Netherfield Park was let after standing empty for more than a year.

2

Five Thousand a Year

“My dears, you will never guess what Mrs. Long just told me!” Mrs. Bennet bustled into the drawing room. Her over-embellished gown dripped with expensive lace, and her mob-cap had slid down on one side after she removed her bonnet.

“Calm yourself, dear,” Mr. Bennet said without looking up from his book. “We are your captive audience, and I am certain we can hear what you have to say without theatrics.”

“Oh, Mr. Bennet, you are droll!” Mrs. Bennet tittered and sat heavily in a chair near her daughters. Her hands fluttered in the peculiar way they did when she was excited, or when her nerves were bothering her.

Elizabeth listened with half an ear, content to read her book. That is, until her mother’s next words drew her attention.

“Netherfield Park is let at last!” Mrs. Bennet cried. “And to a gentleman of large fortune from the North. He is to take possession by Michaelmas. Is that not a good thing for our girls?”

“I do not understand how the new tenant of Netherfield Park is of any interest to us,” Mr. Bennet drawled.

“You must know I am thinking of him marrying one of them,” Mrs. Bennet protested. “Why else would he take a country estate?”

“That is as good a question as any, my dear. Pray, let me know when you have the answer.” Mr. Bennet closed his book.

“You must call upon him the day he takes possession,” his wife continued. “That way he will know who you are before any of the other gentlemen can thrust their daughters in his path.”

“I shall inform the gentleman—what was his name?”

“Bingley,” Mrs. Bennet declared. “And he has five thousand a year!”

“Ah. Then I shall inform this Mr. Bingley he is welcome to any of the girls. He might find one of them to be a good partner in life, even if they are the silliest girls in England.”