Elizabeth walked down for breakfast in an unusual good mood. Today was her twentieth birthday, and the first day of her new job at the local restaurant. Her two annoying sisters and mother would be gone until lunch, ensuring a morning of quiet with her bookish sister Mary, her eldest sister Jane, and her father, who, extraordinarily, had the day off. The weather was beautiful and warm, despite being the 1st of November, and not a cloud was in the sky. This was possibly the happiest day of her life.
She walked onto the kitchen's linoleum and sat at the table, joining Mary, reading a textbook.

"Morning," she greeted her absent-mindedly, still reading the book.

"Hello," Elizabeth said back, pouring herself a cup of orange juice. "Grade 12 chemistry?" she asked, reading the front of her book. "You're only in grade 11."

"Yes, but I want to get ahead," explained Mary.

"You should stick to your own grade, or you won't have any fun in high school. You'll just study all the time."

"I don't want to have fun!" Mary exclaimed. "I want to pass!"

"You will, if you spend as much time on grade 12 textbooks as 11." Elizabeth's eyes sparkled and she smiled, something she did only when she was about to win an argument.

"I guess you're right," said a defeated Mary. She set the book and a sipped her juice. The eldest (and prettiest) sister Jane walked in and joined them, sitting on one of the many mismatched wooden chairs.

"Morning, you two," greeted Jane, bright eyed and bushy tailed. "Isn't it a beautiful day?" Jane was one of the few morning Bennets.

"Hi," Elizabeth replied, now thoroughly awake. "Is dad up yet?"

"Yeah, he's just getting up. He told me he was making pancakes."

"Oh, good," said Mary, rubbing her stomach. "It's been a long time since dad made his famous pancakes."
As promised, Mr. Bennet came downstairs and took over the kitchen, making blueberry pancakes and sausages, a favorite of the Bennet girls. They each ate two helpings.

"Thanks, dad, that was great."

"No problem."

Elizabeth, who just finished, eyed Jane's plate.

"How can you eat that stuff?"

Jane, assuming her sister was referring to her vegetarian sausage, retorted, "It's better than eating poor, defenseless animals!"

"But doesn't it taste bad?"

"What tastes bad is knowing that what you're eating had a life," snapped Jane. Meat was one of the only things that made kind, sweet tempered, Jane angry.

"So it does taste bad?"

Jane sighed. "Yes, it does, but it's better than hurting animals."

"Okay, then." Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at the tofu-grain thing, and then picked up a sausage with her fork.

"It's really not that bad, Janie."

Jane shrugged and brought her plate to the sink. "How about, I think what I want to think, and you do the same?"

"Okay."

"The taste grows on you, anyway."

Mary volunteered to do the dishes, while the others showered and got dressed. Elizabeth was the first in the bathroom – it was definitely going to be a good day.

Throughout the morning, however, Mr. Bennet did not seem to be well. He was quiet during breakfast, and was unresponsive for Elizabeth's piece she had mastered on the piano. He even had no complaints after reading the sports section of the newspaper, which normally gave him something to prattle on about. Elizabeth was worried, but had no time to ask him about it. She was late on her first day of work on the morning shift.

Elizabeth got home from the restaurant earlier than expected. Her first day seemed to go well, though she dropped a couple dirty plates on the way to the sink. The diner wasn't busy so, Ms. Nowles, the owner, let her go early.

Her arrival, half an hour earlier than expected, startled Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, who were arguing in hushed voices in the living room. She also surprised Lydia and Kitty, who were fiercely fighting over the keyhole to the door.

"What are you doing?" asked Elizabeth, dropping her bag on the wooded floor with a loud thump.

"Shh!" Kitty shushed, while Lydia whispered, "Be quiet, Lizzy!"

Elizabeth sighed. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Trying to hear what they're talking about. We think it's you."

"What?" Lizzy started to put her ear to the door, when Mrs. Bennet came out. Lydia and Kitty pretended to be tying their shoes, while Elizabeth crossed her arms and leant on the door frame, looking forward innocently.

"Oh, mom!" she exclaimed, as though she just noticed her. "How are you? And dad! Nice to see you!"

Mr. Bennet looked at his youngest daughters and sighed. He turned to Lizzy. "We need to talk."

Mrs. Bennet shooed Lydia and Kitty, and joined them in the living room.

"What's going on? Am I in trouble? I did not mean to break that window last week. That wasn't even my baseball." Lizzy laughed nervously. "Darn kids and their games…"

"What?" asked Mr. Bennet, giving her a look. "No, you're not in trouble. We just have to tell you something."
For a few moments, Mr. Bennet looked like he struggled for words, his mouth opened, then closed. He looked at his wife hopelessly.

"Lizzy –" She swallowed. "You're engaged to be married."

This was going to be a bad day.