Page 1 of Searching for Elizabeth (A Pride and Prejudice Variation)

— the day after the Netherfield ball, almost two years later —

Elizabeth Bennet’s mother was yelling at her.

That was not in the least bit unusual, but the current invective thrown her way was even more hyperbolic than she had ever heard before. In fact, Mama was apparently disowning her, washing her hands of her second eldest daughter, and banishing her from Longbourn, forever.

Those threats were a first.

Lizzy saw her father approaching, and she was relieved, certain that he would placate her mother and laugh at the threats as if they were just more nonsense in a nonsense-filled home.

“What is all this screeching about, Mrs. Bennet?” he asked.

“Mr. Collins asked Lizzy to marry him, and she refused him! The ungrateful, selfish girl has turned down the heir to Longbourn! She could have secured her place here and saved all of us from the hedgerows when you die, but instead, she turned him down so vociferously that he has left in a huff and has gone to Lucas Lodge! We are all, all ruined!”

Lizzy watched as her father turned to her. She did not see even a glimmer of mirth in his eyes, and her relief turned to dread.

Her father asked soberly, quietly, “Is this true, Lizzy?”

“Papa, Mr. Collins did propose—although it was the silliest and most insulting proposal in the history of mankind, I assure you—and of course, I turned him down. I tried so hard to be proper and polite when I refused him, but he would not take no for an answer! He kept badgering and saying that I was just toying with him, that I meant to accept him after I had increased his desire by pretending to refuse him…Oh! It was horrifying, and it went on and on, and I ended up being quite blunt, because he followed me from room to room and grabbed at my hand and….”

Her voice trailed off as she saw her father sadly shake his head. His voice was so low, it was almost a whisper as he said, “Lizzy, I am afraid that we will never have peace at Longbourn again until you have accepted Mr. Collins’s proposal. After your mother informed him that Jane was being courted by a most eligible bachelor, we both promised him that you had no suitor. I know how much you love the estate, and you are beloved by the tenants, so I believe that you will have little cause to repine being Mrs. Collins!”

Lizzy’s heart sank. Her father probably could not actually force her to marry Mr. Collins, but he obviously was not going to support her, either. Plus, Mr. Collins might not want to renew his offer even if she were willing to accept it.

Which, of course, she was not.

Lizzy’s mother explained all of that to Papa, and at such a high volume, that the entire county of Hertfordshire was likely informed as well. According to her, Mr. Collins had left in high dudgeon, stating that he would not marry any of the Bennet girls. She opined once more that Lizzy should be thrown from the house in disgrace for her heartless, self-centered actions.

Shockingly, her father nodded his head.

“Go to your aunt, Lizzy,”

he said.

“Your trunk is small enough for you to carry it for a mile, I warrant? I am very sorry that you chose this path, but….”

Something inside her broke. She ran upstairs, and she hurried to put the key around her neck. She packed up everything that would fit into her small trunk. She made sure to include all the paper in her room, two quills, her pen knife, and an almost full bottle of ink.

Of course, Lizzy had no intention of going to live with her Aunt Phillips. First of all, Aunt was her mother’s sister, and she was a lot like Mama, gossipy and fluttering and often mean. If Lizzy was banished from Longbourn, she would hardly be welcome at the Phillips house!

No, Lizzy would go to her own little house in the woods, which she had dubbed Blackthorn Cottage. Over the past two years, she had filled it with cast-off furniture, chipped dishware, her own already-read books, and even a small cast iron stove one of the more prosperous tenants was replacing. She had worked hard, with a horse-pulled sledge, to get the stove to the house!

Mary entered her room. She whispered, “I am so sorry about Mama and Papa, Lizzy. I love you. I will come tomorrow morning at first light. I will bring all the food that Hill can spare. Is there anything else I should bring?”

Lizzy hugged Mary tightly. She was so glad that she had shared the secret of Blackthorn Cottage with her sister. Almost as soon as her house was livable, she had realized that Mary, the other “plain”

sister, the other daughter who was daily harangued and chided rather than cosseted and praised, needed the peace that the house in the woods offered just as much as Lizzy did. And having a second person who knew about the house allowed her to do things like get a stove through the door and into the desired position!

Answering Mary, Lizzy said, “Maybe one of the blankets from the attic? I do not think I can fit anything more into my trunk, and it is getting colder and colder now.

Mary looked deeply concerned.

“Will you be able to chop enough firewood? The handle on the axe at the cottage is almost broken through.”

“I have been chopping wood, a little at a time, every single day for months now. I have a lot of wood stored. And I have several pairs of gloves, ruined from all the chopping, that I am wrapping around the axe handle. I shall be well.”

“And should I count on going to the post office with another manuscript tomorrow? I still have some pin money if we need to prepay the postage.”

“No, I am not quite done with Tales from the Hedgerows,”

Lizzy said.

“And for that manuscript, at least, the editor at Mortimer Press said he would pay the postage.”

“I will see you tomorrow, food and blanket in hand,”

Mary promised.

Lizzy said, “I love you, Mary.”

She reached out her hand, and they did their special handshake as they said, in unison, “Two sisters versus the world.”

After one more quick hug, Mary left.

It was not much longer until Lizzy left, lugging her trunk, her chin held high.