Chapter 1

Longbourn, November 30, 1816

Elizabeth sighed as she grabbed another piece from the work basket. Glancing at a silent Kitty, who was darning the heel of one of her father's stockings.

The late afternoon sun shone weakly. The soft tones of the pianoforte echoed from the hall. Elizabeth smiled with a quick glance at Kitty. It sounded very nice. Mary has learnt over the last four years to modify her volume. She had also learnt expression. Listening to her now was a delight.

Seclusion at Longborn and being shunned by all their friends and neighbors had caused so many changes, one of their few blessings was Mary's musical improvement. Mary had ruefully confessed to Elizabeth that sorrow had broken her heart wide open and finally allowed her to be vulnerable and really feel. Judgment, harsh as it was, from so many others, had become anathema to Mary. Music, once its only object to obtain notice, became instead her friend and companion.

The rustle of fabric and a low groan caused a quick glance of concern at her younger sister. Kitty stretched and rubbed the small of her back. She was still pale after her latest illness and her eyes were shadowed from another sleepless night. Mary had whispered at breakfast that she had heard crying again during the night. Kitty often cried at night but it had been weeks since the last episode.

As much as they might wish to enter and offer comfort or acknowledge these episodes, Kitty had repeatedly begged them to leave her. She claimed it helped her to cry. It was a release she had come to depend on. After four years they heeded her wishes, though they still worried and sought to bring solace in other ways.

This past autumn had been difficult for them all, but Kitty had been the most affected. Staying always at Longbourn, allowed little outlet. The limited frivolity they enjoyed never countered the oppressive shame heaped upon the Bennet family.

Kitty, never of a stout constitution, was particularly affected. She seemed now to catch any fever or cough. Any sort of illness going around Meryton seemed to find its way to Longborn, waiting outside the gates. Some invisible sort of curse that seemed to dog poor Kitty.

No matter they had little contact with their neighbors. Even their lonely pew at church provided no protection from whatever pestilence was near. Cold shoulders and cruel glances, they had learnt to endure but the fact that every time they ventured forth Kitty suffered yet again was more particularly upsetting to her sisters.

"Shall we set this aside?" Elizabeth gestured towards the half filled basket. "It will still be there tomorrow?" She stretched her hand towards Kitty, who smiled and nodded agreement.

"Lizzy, this is the first bit of sun we have seen in weeks. Do you ever remember a summer of such cold, rain and snow? Mr Hill says never in his sixty years has he seen anything to match it."

Moving to the window, Kitty placed a small hand near the glass, as if to draw the weak rays into herself. Quietly murmuring, "The world is weeping I think."

"It is strange Kitty. Father too has complained of a such a summer, unheard of before. It affects everyone equally, here, as well as north and south of us." Elizabeth moved the basket aside and rose, drawing a shawl from Kitty's vacated seat, joining her sister in admiring the dim rays.

Wrapping her warmly and giving her a hug, hoping to reassure but also be honest. They were always completely honest with one another, now. "Nothing grows. Crops, those few that could be planted, failed everywhere. The weather has no friends, no allies. We might have been ruined, like so many others, if not for my grandmother's legacy. Allowing us to purchase what little is available that others could not. Even with only the receipt of the interest, it has staved off starvation and ruin."

"Not ruin Lizzy!" Kitty muttered bitterly. "That is our constant companion."

"Only a few months more Kitty. Just a little longer. I will soon be five and twenty. You will be one and twenty a month after me. Then we can all make a new life." Elizabeth squeezed her hard. Kitty clung to Elizabeth and let her head on her sister. It was a comfort to depend on one another.

"It cannot come soon enough for me. I long to see new parts of the world." Mary's dry voice drew their attention. They turned to see her enter. Young Thomas on her hip. "This young man insisted tea must be soon as his stomach was telling him so." She laughed and placed him on the floor allowing him to run to his aunts.

The sisters left the window meeting him, each holding a small hand. Mary settled on the couch, Thomas seated in the middle as Kitty joined her. Elizabeth rang for Hill then settled in a chair near them. "Father will have his tea in his study. I think our mother keeps to her room. So we will ask Hill for extra honey cakes, how about that Thomas?"

All the sisters smiled at the little boy, his beautiful golden curls flying as he nodded and clapped his hands. His bright face another blessing they would never regret.

Winter was firmly settled in Hertfordshire but a break was surely coming. A sense of expectancy lurked quietly amongst the sisters. Hope was beginning to jostle with resignation. Things were beginning to change at Longbourn.