Pride, Prejudice and Prudence (Bennets On The Up)

Chapter 1

“You are so beautiful, Jane,” Elizabeth said. Jane’s fair hair was styled in a chignon, with delicate curls framing her pretty face. Elizabeth did not think her own mop of dark hair would ever be able to be tamed in such a way.

“I wish I could stay at home with you,” her sister replied.

It was Jane’s coming out, and she was attending the Netherfield ball with her parents.

Elizabeth had heard her cajole her mama many times to put it off until Elizabeth was fifteen and could join her.

Jane said that she would not be so shy if Elizabeth were at her side, but her mother would not be moved.

Jane had even gone so far as to appeal to her father, something she would never normally do, but to no avail.

He said that daughters were entirely the responsibility of their mother and that he would not intervene.

So, Jane was attending her first ball without her.

Jane pulled at the bodice of her gown. Elizabeth knew her sister would not wish to wear such an exceptionally low-cut dress.

Jane had asked her mother to allow the modiste to add lace to cover some more of her bosom, but her mother would not allow it.

Elizabeth was thankful that Jane’s figure was slim and she was not overly endowed– at least that meant that she did not have so much of her form on show.

When Jane had asked for more lace, her mother had chosen to misinterpret the request. Mrs Bennet was of the belief that there was no such thing as too much lace.

This had resulted in Jane being festooned in layers of the intricate fabric, resulting in her looking lost in the creation.

“Make haste, my dear,” their mother called to Jane. “Don’t allow Miss Lizzy to make us tardy,” she instructed. “In truth, you should get to your bed, Lizzy,” her mother charged, and Elizabeth nodded, acknowledging her mother’s command.

“I will wait up for you,” she whispered to her sister, giving Jane a quick hug before she ran off to her own bedchamber, as Jane turned in the opposite direction and joined her mother at the foot of the stairs.

Elizabeth’s bedchamber was to the front of Longbourn, the white limestone manor house which was home to the Bennet family.

The house sat back from the pathway, bordered by oak trees which guided the eye to the entrance of their home.

Elizabeth sat at the window, listening as her mother fussed downstairs and her father made sardonic comments.

From Jane, she could hear not a word, and she was sure that this was due to Jane remaining entirely silent.

Elizabeth watched as the family carriage pulled up, and her father exited the house.

Jane followed him, now wrapped in her purple velvet pelisse, which Elizabeth had to admit complemented her lilac dress.

Her mother took up the rear, calling instructions to John, the coachman, as she exited the house, and Elizabeth was momentarily surprised by the similarity in features between her mother and Jane.

Her father helped Jane into the carriage, and then he assisted their mother.

He then turned to step inside himself and, on spotting Elizabeth at the window of her bedchamber, gave her a jaunty wave before the door closed behind him.

Elizabeth had gained much of her appearance from her father’s side of the family; her dark locks were entirely a match for his, but thankfully, she had inherited her mother’s delicate nose, she thought.

Elizabeth remained curled up in the window seat of her room, reading of the blunders of Evelina and her history of a young lady’s entrance into the world.

The novel by Fanny Burney was most amusing, but Elizabeth noticed that she had read the same page five or six times, so she gave up and put it down.

Her mind instead travelled to Jane, to her first ball at Netherfield Park.

Netherfield was the grandest house in the environs of Meryton, the market town of which Longbourn was the closest manor house.

Netherfield Park was the home of the Stanleys.

Mr Stanley was old; Elizabeth thought he might even be one-and-sixty, and his wife was not much his junior.

They had one son, Rupert Stanley. Elizabeth thought he was closer in age to her father than any other single man in Meryton.

She had heard her mother speculate that Jane would make him a fine wife.

Elizabeth had shuddered at the thought of her beautiful sister, only just gone fifteen, tied to such an old man.

She shook the thoughts away; she was sure her father would never allow such a thing.

Finally, having given herself sufficient time to think about Jane and the ball, she was able to return to her book. Thus, she remained for above three hours, until hearing the unexpectedly early return of the Bennet carriage.

She watched, waiting to see Jane exit the carriage, in expectation of the grand tale of her first ball.

Instead, she saw her father, highlighted in the oil lamps which festoon the entrance to Longbourn.

His face was a mask of anger. Elizabeth was shocked; she had never seen such a look on his face before.

She watched as he helped her mother out of the carriage.

Her mother looked very odd, and Jane was wrapped in her arms. She could not see Jane’s face as it was hidden in her mama’s shoulder.

Elizabeth dropped her book and sprinted from her room to the entrance of Longbourn, arriving as Hill opened the door, and her parents and Jane walked inside.