A bit of background: Eight years ago, Elizabeth married Colonel Fitzwilliam's elder brother Charles, whose courtesy title is Viscount Chatsworth. He was about ten years her senior, with one daughter, Frederica, by a previous marriage. As this story begins, Charles has just died. Plot loosely based on Austen's Lady Susan.

(Elizabeth Fitzwilliam, Lady Chatsworth, to her brother-in-law, Brigadier General Richard Fitzwilliam, Viscount Chatsworth)

Dear Lord Chatsworth,

I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your invitation to spend some weeks with you at Churchill. Therefore, if quite convenient to you and Lady Chatsworth to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to meet again with a sister whom I have seen so little of. My friends here are most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable dispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind. I impatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement.

I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an interest. If it is agreeable to you, I may also see fit to bring Frederica along with me. The long illness of her father prevented my paying her that attention which duty and affection equally dictated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess to whose care he consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved to rectify the situation by my constant attention to her.

I am determined I shall not be denied admittance at Churchill. It would indeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive your most obliged and affectionate sister,

Elizabeth Chatsworth

Elizabeth signed herself with a flourish and set down the pen. She was well acquainted with the necessity of disguise— in her precarious position she must be circumspect. The ton were far too apt to scrutinize her life.

A stay at the manor of Anne Fitzwilliam, née de Bourgh, was perhaps intolerable, but any furtherance of her stay at Langford must trump all other evils. That crude man— had he no decency, no respect? At the first she had thought him an agreeable companion. They had conversed easily and often, but he had disguised his true intentions. Elizabeth was a famous judge of character, and she had seen no indecency in Lord Manwaring's behavior until he made his declaration. Could it even be called a declaration, disregarding all normal reverence and propriety as it did? Admit the doubtful attentions of a married man! No, she might be a widow, but she had no intention of being reduced to such straits. He must seek his next mistress among the gutters of London, for Elizabeth Fitzwilliam was no willing prey. Truly, she was very glad to be going away, and supposed it would not be so bad after all.

Elizabeth was quite fond of her brother-in-law, General Fitzwilliam, and judged him a much better man than her late husband Charles had been. Indeed, the General was much like herself. All the more pity he had married such a dour thing as Anne de Bourgh! She was too much like her proud cousin. Of course she was a devout, dutiful woman, entirely devoid of frivolity. But she was no friend to Elizabeth. Whatever the ton whispered, Anne would not contradict it. When rumors abounded, she saw fit only to write and consult her mother, the venerable Lady Catherine. Her ladyship was indiscreet with rumors pertaining to those she disliked. Elizabeth supposed the entire de Bourgh, Fitzwilliam, and Darcy connection knew and disapproved of her own presumed exploits.

There was so much to think upon. Charles' passing had left her in reduced circumstances. She was not Lady Matlock, for as Charles' parents still lived he had never ascended his seat, and she did not feel welcome in their home. While for so many years her husband had caused all her worries, and she had longed to be free, his passing had only created innumerable vexations. What to do with Frederica? She was not an item to be disposed of, but a girl with the greatest need to be taken care of. While indulged by her father, he had seemed inclined to send her off to places— finishing school, her relations' manors, Bath. Although always concerned for her young step-daughter, Elizabeth had hardly been permitted to see her. Eight years ago, upon the occasion of her marriage, she had first met Frederica, a little thing of ten, and liked her very much. Recently deprived of her true mother, Frederica had been disinclined to reciprocate such feelings. Whenever the two chanced to meet after their first encounter, Frederica had been polite, sweet, and distant. Now was the time to rectify the situation. Elizabeth was sure Frederica should be her greatest friend, if given a little time and attention. It would be her latest project.

A/N: all my reverence to Jane Austen for the plots and characters (and much of the letter.) Just so you know, this will be loosely based on the Lady Susan plot, with the original P and P characters as we know them so well. (Lady Susan is an epistolary novel Austen wrote at age 19.) I haven't listed it as a crossover as there don't seem to be any Lady Susan stories on the website.

Also, a word about titles: I've been researching to try and figure them out. Charles and Richard's father is (per P and P) an Earl, and tradition makes him the Earl of Matlock. But he would also have other titles, the highest of which his oldest son would take. I'm making Charles Viscount Chatsworth since that place is mentioned in the same sentence as Matlock in P and P. But now that Charles is dead, Richard Fitzwilliam takes the title and Anne is Lady Chatsworth. I believe Elizabeth is also called Lady Chatsworth or Elizabeth, Lady Chatsworth to distinguish her from Anne. Personally I think all the titles make a story confusing, but it must be done, and I'm just grateful Darcy is a commoner.