A/N: This is a P&P AU. In this story, there is an element of supernatural, but it is tame. Just enough to change the story, but in essentials, I will try to respect the characters.
The story will be at least twenty-chapter long, and the first ffour and a half are already written. However, this is not my only work in progress so I will not update daily (perhaps weekly until the end of June, because I will probably not have the time to write this summer).
Constructive criticism is appreciated!
Disclaimer: Pride and Prejudice is the work of Jane Austen. But I believe you already knew that.
Chapter 1: Gifted girl
In her childhood, Elizabeth Bennet counted two major turning points, which had made her what she was today. Two events that had changed her life, and where the basis of her decisions now that she neared adulthood.
Of the first of these two events, she only had imprecise memory of a few sensations: physical discomfort, a brief relief and then pure terror. But she knew what had happened, as both her parents and her eldest sister had witnessed the event. Her sister Mary had technically seen it, but as she was only a few months old she had no memory of it.
Indeed, when Elizabeth was two, she fell sick. The illness that ailed her was not life-threatening, but enough to make her parents worried – especially as she had never been sick before. In a perfectly common and expected act of comforting her daughter, Mrs Bennet had taken Elizabeth in her arms.
Would her life have been different if it had been her father or her sister who had done so? Perhaps, perhaps not. It would not necessarily have been better either.
Anyway, by doing so, Mrs Bennet discovered her daughter's strange ability, as the infant unconsciously absorbed her mother's energy to heal itself. The illness was cured and forgotten in a couple of minutes. Which was probably a good thing, given the chaos that ensued.
The feeling of having her energy drained utterly terrified Mrs Bennet, who involuntarily dropped the crying infant back onto the bed. As soon as she lost skin contact with Elizabeth, the sensation stopped, leaving her slightly fatigued and completely terrified of the second daughter she had birthed.
Once she had somewhat regained her calm, she immediately asked Mr Bennet to do whatever was necessary to send the child away from their family. Mr Bennet, who loved all of his daughters and did not understand what had just happened, refused and pressed his wife for an explanation. He was understandably unbelieving of his wife's tale, until Jane's innocent intervention.
''What do you mean Mama? Lizzy has always done this, I find it very funny, and she always smiles at me afterwards.''
It took quite some time to obtain a full and clear explanation from the four-year old, and even more time to calm Mrs Bennet and convince her that the child would indeed stay at Longbourn. While Mr Bennet was perturbed by his second daughter's ability, it had done no permanent harm to Jane or his wife, and sending an infant away was both unfeeling and bothersome.
Mrs Bennet bowed to her husbands demands, but not before huffing and warning that she would never touch the abnormal child again.
The following years proved that Mrs Bennet was very capable of keeping such a promise. She never gave her second daughter any hug or kiss, nor did she give her any kind or loving word. It was only her fear that kept her from downright physically abusing the child. Unknowingly, she taught this attitude to her youngest daughters.
Fortunately, Elizabeth was a dear child and her father and her sister Jane loved her. Mr Bennet often opened his study to her, as Mrs Bennet would never dare enter it and insult the child in front of her husband.
Jane, as children often do, accepted her sister's ability as perfectly normal and even encouraged her to experiment with it. She was convinced that she had those abilities for a reason.
Consequences of Elizabeth's abilities became more evident as she grew. She ate very little, obtaining a significant part of her energy from other living beings instead of food. Afraid of repeating what had happened with her mother, she took up the habit of walking in the garden – and later anywhere near Longbourn or Meryton – at least once a day. Jane also often offered her energy, especially on rainy days when she was forced to shorten her daily walk.
Another fact that was observed was that her abilities were not constant in their intensity. They were strongest at the full moon, and weakest at the new moon. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was physically unable to eat more to compensate, and was therefore always more easily tired around the new moon.
One will easily understand that those were not the best conditions for a growing child. And though Elizabeth was cheerful and happy with her eldest sister, her father and her aunt and uncle from London – first called by Mrs Bennet after 'The Incident', when she hoped to entrust them with the abnormal child – she was extremely careful around other people, and even fearful of her mother.
The second turning point happened when Elizabeth was five years old.
After seeing the young girl barge into his study, tears flowing because of her mother's latest remark, Mr Bennet decided to bring his daughter with him for his monthly tour of the estate.
Mr Bennet was not really a meticulous master of the estate, especially as he had now given up hope of siring an heir. Somehow, the thought of leaving his family home to an estranged and detested cousin did not incite much motivation. He was not however a cruel man, and would not forsake the tenants' lives by completely abandoning them, and he still needed to take care of his wife and daughters.
When they reached the first tenants they had to visit that day, he let Elizabeth play in the field while he talked to the tenants about which plant they should grow for the coming year. They were still hesitating between two, when Elizabeth approached, touched both seeds and affirmed with a bright smile that the first one would grow better. Having no reason to choose the other one, Mr Bennet shared a smile and a laugh with the tenant and followed the young girl's advice.
For the rest of the tour, he amusedly asked her for advice, and was quite surprised to see that, even when choosing between a dozen of seeds, her choice was always similar to what he had been taught by his own father. When her choice was different from his own, he asked the tenant to wait a couple more days.
Back at Longbourn, he researched the seeds she had suggested and the soil of these parts of the estate. He was once again surprised to see that the results supported her choice over his. He called his daughter in his study, and asked her how she had chosen the seeds.
''They were the one the soil wanted. I could feel it.'' was the answer of the now afraid child.
For Elizabeth was a clever child, and had realized that her instinctual knowledge was apparently as abnormal as her absorbing energy. Given her mother's reaction the last time a strange anomaly manifested itself, it was not surprising that she feared her father's reaction to this new development.
Having witnessed the young child heal herself – and occasionally Jane – almost instantly from wounds, Mr Bennet had long accepted that the usual rules of the world did not apply to her. Indeed, she barely ate and had to obtain her strength elsewhere during long walks, healed extremely quickly and was able to heal others – or at least Jane and himself, she refused to touch any other human – quite quickly as well, though this always left her exhausted.
Knowing this, it did not seem foolish to believe that her strange knowledge of which seeds would grow best on which soil might prove true. And useful.
Therefore, Mr Bennet decided to follow his daughter's advice.
The next year's crops were the best he had seen in a decade. And because he was a man who was content with his study and a few books, he did not trouble him to save the earnings for his daughters' future dowries. Also, insisting that this money would never have been obtained without Elizabeth helped him reduce the disparaging remarks Mrs Bennet threw at her second child.
In the years that followed, Elizabeth continued to choose the seeds every year. Realizing that her mother was happy with the money, she desperately tried to increase Longbourn's worth by other methods: she talked of improvements, irrigation and even investments with her father and uncle. Of course, she was at first too young to comprehend these notions, and her role was first limited to encouraging her father to make small improvements to the estate.
But as she grew older, she started to make the research herself, and encourage bigger improvements and investments. These decisions were not guided by her abilities – though it helped her know which field needed which improvement – but by her uncle's knowledge and the agricultural knowledge she found in books. Slowly, her father let her be in charge of more and more things in the managing of the estate.
By the time she was sixteen, one could say she was the real master of Longbourn, while Mr Bennet only showed up to make sure the directions where followed and for appearances sake. It would not do to have a young girl – barely out in society – behave like a man.
Elizabeth herself was unsure how to feel about this strange situation.
On the one hand, she was happy to help improve their current life and future prospects, as well as work with nature. Her father let her be much freer than a gentleman's daughter would usually be allowed. And her mother and younger sisters were much more tolerable now that she was the one who decided the amounts of pin money they were allowed, though there was no affection between them and herself. She also liked taking care of the tenants who were always kind to her, and often brought them healing herbs she identified and picked up during her walks – she could not heal them herself without exposing her unnatural abilities.
On the other hand, she felt more like a steward than a member of the family – except for dear Jane of course. Her relationship with her father had deteriorated, as she grew older and realized how little he had done to prevent the emotional abuse from her mother; and how he had slowly discharged all his responsibilities as master, happy to indulge his passion of books and philosophy.
But over the years, Elizabeth's duty to the land had become her drive. Though she no longer hoped to earn her mother's love through her efforts, she genuinely liked taking care of the land and its tenants.
She was also proud of her achievements. Thanks to the increased income of the estate – now six thousands a year – and investments in the various businesses her uncle suggested, the Bennet girls would have a dowry of ten-thousand pounds each. Of course, the money for all the younger girls dowries was not saved yet, but should be by the time they came out in society.
Elizabeth herself, however, had become extremely guarded. She acted cheerful – and she truly was around people she trust – but after only one year out in the Meryton society, everyone had realized that she was not a woman who would easily agree to a courtship. Indeed, she openly acknowledge her decision not to marry – ever.
''Why are you so determined not to be courted by any gentleman?'' Jane asked her one day.
''I can't afford to trust the wrong person.'' At Jane's confused stare, she sighed and continued ''You know what I can do must never be discovered. I would probably be burned for witchcraft, and all our family would be shunned by society. At best.''
''But how will you live? I mean, I know you like Longbourn, but you will not be able to live here forever. After… after Papa's death, where will you go?''
''I suppose I will impose on you from time to time, and enjoy teaching your children playing the piano very ill. But the rest of the time I will be happy to rent a small cottage in the country. With careful investment, the sum of my dowry is more than sufficient to have a comfortable home. And you know I have started working on a book of healing plants. I am sure I will be able to publish it in a few years.''
''But don't you want your own family? A loving husband and children?'' her sister insisted.
Lizzy's lips trembled. ''I do want it. But I have to be sensible. I could never hide this from my husband for long, and I would not wish to. I already have to hide it from our younger sisters and the servants, and I have no wish to keep hiding for the rest of my life.''
''But you could meet a gentleman you could trust. You know I have never been bothered by your gift, and neither are our father and aunt and uncle.''
''True. But how do I know I can trust this man? No, it will be safer and easier for everyone if I do not marry.''
''Lizzy…''
Elizabeth smiled. ''Calm down, Jane. If I ever meet a gentleman I can respect, admire, love and fully trust, and if this man becomes my suitor, I will give him a chance.''
''You are promising me this because you are sure it will never happen. And it makes me sad.''
''Please don't be, Jane. I am content with my decision.''