A/N: Welcome all, to the craziness that is this hand-wavey time-displacement fic. If you like Stargate as well as Pride and Prejudice, you will catch several references :) If you don't, that's cool too. :) Fear not, all pairings remain the same. Hope you enjoy!
-P-
The year of our Lord 1808, two years before Netherfield Park is let.
Jane and Elizabeth Bennet left the house and began to walk up the path to Oakham Mount, for even though the wind blew and the air was crisp, the sun was shining and the trees glowed with the changing of the leaves.
The two sisters chatted about this, that, and the other, and while discussing the propriety of climbing apple trees, even when no one was around - "you stand watch, Janey, and I'll climb up" - they heard a faint shout.
"Helloooo?" It was the voice of a young woman, tired and faint. "Is someone there?"
Jane and Lizzy shared an alarmed glance and Lizzy called out, "Hello? Who goes there?"
There was the sound of running feet crashing through dry leaves. A moment later a young woman stumbled into the path, panting slightly. "Oh, thank goodness," she said, putting her hands on her hips as she regained her breath. "I've been wandering for hours looking for civilization and I'd really like to know where I am because last I knew I was in downtown Portland, and I've got no signal on my phone, so yeah." She smiled at them charmingly.
There were many strange things about this encounter, but only two preoccupied the Bennet girls' thoughts. One, the girl was clearly lost, and two, her clothes. "You're wearing trousers," Lizzy finally managed to say.
"Jeans," the girl said, raising an eyebrow. "Everybody's got jeans, especially in the country. Are we in the country?"
"Hertfordshire, England," Jane said absently, studying the tightly fitted blue trousers and black blouse with a picture of a rose on it.
The girl's jaw dropped, and her hands flew to her mouth. Her fingernails were painted bright orange. "England?" she asked weakly. "You're kidding, right? This isn't England. I would have remembered leaving the United States." She gasped. "Was I drugged?" She suddenly whirled around, scanning the trees. "Wait. Am I being punked?"
"Beg-pardon?" Lizzy asked, fascinated by this wild girl.
"I'm on candid camera or something, right?" the girl continued. "You have button cams or something, right?"
"Maybe she hit her head?" Jane murmured to her sister.
"I didn't," the girl said, overhearing. "I checked my head for bumps when I woke up in the forest. Not a scratch on me."
"All right," Jane said calmly, "if you're lost we'll gladly help you."
"Cool. Can I borrow your phone?"
Blank looks greeted the stranger's request.
"You know. Cellphone, mobile, whatever you guys call it." She pulled a black rectangle from her large bag. "This thing?"
The Bennet sisters were amazed to see it light up and the images on its surface change rapidly. "What is that?" Lizzy asked, intrigued. She hadn't thought Americans were so very advanced.
The girl's expression changed to horror and dread, and a sudden realization. "You're not just wearing those dresses for a costume, are you?" she said slowly. She swallowed hard. "All right, this is going to sound strange, but, what year is it?"
"1808," Jane replied promptly. "June the first."
The girl turned white. "See now that's funny, cuz when I woke up this morning the year was September 2016."
"Impossible," Lizzy protested.
"Then how come you've never seen a phone or jeans?" the girl protested. She put her hands over her face. "Oh, my goodness," she groaned. "This is... no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no internet, no trains or cars or planes, no TV, no vaccines... I'm going to die of the Black Plague."
"That was before even our time," Lizzy interrupted, amused despite the situation.
"Oh yeah." The girl shook her head. "I'm going to have to get a job aren't I? How does one even do that? What kind of jobs can a woman get in this century?" She groaned again. "This is so not my area of expertise."
Jane and Lizzy shared a glance, and nodded. "You shall come home with us," Jane declared kindly, "and our papa will know what to do."
The girl gave them a pathetically grateful look, tears in her eyes. "Really? Thank you so much." She followed them down the path. "I'm Sam, by the way. Samantha Langford."
"Jane Bennet, and this is my sister Elizabeth," Jane said.
"Nice to meet you."
They continued down the path a ways, and Lizzy asked, "How old are you?"
"Eighteen," Samantha replied. "I just finished my mechanical engineering degree with the dual-credit system at my high school-" She sighed. "But that's useless in this century anyway, isn't it?"
"You have a degree?" Lizzy echoed, astonished. "From a university?"
"A community college, but yeah. In my time, everyone can go to college." Samantha's stomach rumbled and she blushed. "Sorry. I ate lunch two hundred years ago and I'm starved."
Lizzy snickered at her joke, and decided she could quite like this brash American. "As soon as we get you to the house and into proper clothing, we can have breakfast." She frowned. "We will have to create a story to tell mama and the girls. They're going to visit Aunt Phillips today and if we're not careful, your predicament could be known across half the county."
Samantha paled. "Are you serious?"
"Very."
"I'm sure that if we explained our reasons for keeping quiet, mama would do so," Jane protested gently.
Samantha shook her head. "Until we know for sure, can we just tell your father, please?"
Both the girls were reminded that she was just Lizzy's age, and even though she appeared quite confident, she was still young.
-P-
Mr. Bennet was highly surprised when his two eldest daughters rushed into his study unannounced, and ushered in ahead of them a young man - woman! - in fitted trousers. "What's all this?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"This is Miss Samantha Langford, papa," Jane said. "She's from the future and she needs our help."
Mr. Bennet's jaw dropped. "I didn't know we were playing pranks today," he finally said. "Where did you manage to find such ridiculous clothes?"
Samantha frowned. "Just cuz you all don't wear jeans doesn't mean they're ridiculous. Fashions changed in the fifties. Pants, or trousers, or whatever, are completely acceptable."
"All right," Mr. Bennet said. "Before this madness goes any farther, prove it to me."
Samantha wordlessly took out her phone, opened a video, and handed it to the astonished Mr. Bennet. His two daughters crowded around him to see it. "This is from my trip to New York last summer," she said.
The three Bennets watched in awe as metal and glass, impossibly tall structures, appeared on screen, one after the other. Throngs of people dressed in brightly-colored clothing swarmed the streets. A shot of Times Square nearly gave Mr. Bennet a seizure from the neon advertisements, and a shot from the window of a plane as it took off made Lizzy gasp. And all of it accompanied by a strange music coming from the phone. The video ended.
Samantha took her phone back. "Believe me now?" she asked.
Mr. Bennet cleared his throat. "Yes, I do. How did you get here, child?"
Samantha sighed. "I have no idea. I was at home in my apartment in Portland Oregon, trying to get a hold of one of my great-aunt's friends. He got all the things from her estate when she died, including the stuff meant for me, and I really wanted some sort of reminder of my great-aunt. She was awesome. Anyway, I was on the phone, trying to get through the governmental red tape, and then I got kind of dizzy, like when you spin around too many times, and then I woke up under a tree. My car, all my stuff, my designs... the only thing I've got is my purse." She sighed again. "And then I was walking for like, three hours or something trying to find a trail, till I heard these two talking."
"Ah. And, do we not have time travel in the future?"
"Not that I know of, sir."
"Incredible," Mr. Bennet said.
"Yeah, sure, in theory," Samantha said, "but never mind the theory of it all. I'm a mechanical engineer. I need a plan. Tell me, what kind of life can I have in this century?"
The Bennets exchanged a glance, and sighed. "I'm afraid that in this time, a woman's options are extremely limited," Mr. Bennet said. "An accomplished, genteel woman with an adequate dowry can marry well, and live in reasonable comfort and felicity. An accomplished, genteel woman with little dowry can enter service as a companion or a governess, work, and possibly marry a respectable tradesman, lawyer, or something of the sort. And then there's shop keeping, working as a servant, marrying a poor man and working as a house wife in near poverty..."
"And I don't suppose any firm will hire a female mechanical engineer?"
"You suppose correctly, Miss Langford."
"And no sane person would hire a crazy American to shepherd their small children," Samantha continued.
"No," Mr. Bennet said, amused. "They probably would not."
"Good, cuz I was a TA at my high school and I hated it. I'm not good with kids older than five." She frowned. "So that leaves entering the workforce and marrying some poor guy who might possibly be able to support me."
"What about marrying a gentleman? Or even a tradesman?" Jane asked, alarmed.
Samantha raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an accomplished genteel woman of any kind. I'm barely eighteen, I don't know how to do anything in this time, and I have exactly twenty bucks in cash that's not valid in this country, and fifty dollars in my checking account on a debit card that doesn't work, for a bank that doesn't exist yet."
"Then we'll teach you," Lizzy suggested, already liking this outspoken young woman. She glanced at her papa. "If we pretended that Miss Langford was our distant cousin from America, come back to England now that her parents have passed on? She could stay with us, and we could 'pay' her to be our companion, and a governess to the younger girls, and during her stay we could teach her all she needs to know. A, cultural exchange, of a sort."
Jane was already nodding.
"Our budget doesn't allow for us to hire another person," Mr. Bennet said, frowning.
Lizzy waved a hand carelessly. "If you would stop letting Kitty and Lydia have all they wanted of pocket money, then we would have enough to cover Miss Langford's personal budget. She wouldn't need much, papa."
"And we could remake a few of mine or Lizzy's dresses, or even Mary's, to fit her, papa," Jane added.
Mr. Bennet nodded slowly, and looked at Samantha. "Are you a sensible young lady?" he asked sternly. "You won't lose your head over boys or fripperies and lace?"
"No sir," Samantha replied instantly. "I have no plans to marry right away and I don't like flirting. And I couldn't care less about clothes or lace, as long as it's comfortable and I can move around in it."
Mr. Bennet smirked. "You and Lizzy will be great friends, I can tell already. Do you play chess?"
"Yes sir."
"Then you may stay," Mr. Bennet said decisively. He glanced at his girls. "Where shall our new guest sleep?"
"I don't want to put anyone out," Samantha started.
"Nonsense," Mr. Bennet said. "You won't be a servant, you'll be Jane and Lizzy's dear cousin from small-town America, which hopefully will explain your oddities."
"Jane and I will share a room, papa," Lizzy said. She glanced at Samantha reassuringly. "We share a room most nights to talk, anyways."
Samantha nodded. "Thank you."
"You can stay there tonight, if you don't mind sleeping amongst all of Jane's things," Lizzy said, giving her sister a teasing glare. "My sister is the dearest of souls, but not the tidiest creature around."
Jane blushed but grinned. "As if you can claim to be tidier," she scoffed good-naturedly.
Samantha smiled at her new friends and asked, "So, just so I can get an idea of what I'm facing, what's all the requirements for an accomplished lady?"
"According to the ton, an accomplished young lady must be proficient in drawing, sewing, dancing, music, and the modern languages, and must be able to hold sensible, intelligent conversation. Well, that's our requirement. Also, being able to sing would be helpful."
"What are the modern languages?" Samantha asked. "Chinese? Arabic? Korean?"
"Uh, no. Italian, French, and German."
"Hm." Samantha got up to pace around the study, frowning to herself. "Well, I know Spanish from high school. And all those languages are connected, so I think I'm okay there. Except German. I have no idea. And I like drawing, though my stuff is more blueprints and invention sketches, but I guess I could expand. And as for everything else... I've never danced anything except the prom shuffle, never picked up a needle in my life except to reattach a button, and I like Bach. Because his compositions are mathematical. And Fall Out Boy. But I don't think that's going to fly in this century." She shrugged to herself and looked at the girls expectantly. "So. Who's going to teach me what?"
There, they had no answer. "I can teach you the basics of the pianoforte," Lizzy finally offered. "I play very ill though, not having the inclination to practice. Mary, at this point, is farther along than I am, though her playing is very stiff. Jane and Kitty can sew and embroider very well, but not one of us draw. I know Greek and Latin, and enough French to read a novel... and we all dance, I suppose."
Samantha's jaw dropped open, and she scowled at them, her expression hurt. "How am I supposed to be a proper young lady if none of you know anything either?" she asked. She shook her head. "I think you'd better just loan me enough money to get to town and I'll figure it out myself."
"You'll do no such thing, young lady," Mr. Bennet said firmly. "Town is no place for an unattached, friendless young woman and if anything happened to you, we would never be able to forgive ourselves for letting you go."
She raised an eyebrow at him defiantly and folded her arms. "So, what do you suggest, sir?"
"I've let this family run along its own path for far too long," Mr. Bennet said slowly. "Part of it was my disappointment in not having a son, and another part sheer laziness. I would not give myself the trouble of engaging masters to teach my daughters, or discipline them when they needed it. But if you, someone new to our century, can see the need to change to give my girls good futures, then I suppose we'll have to make some changes." He looked at Jane and Lizzy. "If the two of you and Miss Langford could come up with some sort of schedule for all six of you to begin learning, I will review it, and break the news to your mother." He waved a hand at the door. "Run along, girls, and I'll meet you at the breakfast table."
Jane and Lizzy shared a glance, chorused, "Thank you papa!" and tugged Samantha out of the room. They hustled upstairs, trying not to alert anyone else of the household, and burst into Jane's room, all three of them giggling breathlessly.
"Here's one of the dresses that don't fit me," Jane said, rummaging through a closet and holding it up to Samantha's shoulders. "It should fit you Miss Langford."
"Call me Sam," she requested.
"Then I'm Jane, and Lizzy."
"All right." Sam's ears turned pink. "Um, undergarments?" she asked.
"What are you wearing?" Lizzy asked, frankly curious.
Sam, in reply, tugged off her T-shirt and jeans, and stood there in a camisole, bra, and pink polkadot boy-shorts.
"That's it?" Lizzy asked, impressed and slightly scandalized.
"That's it," Sam confirmed. "By the way, there's no way I'm wearing a corset, or whatever. It's not happening."
"Well, you don't really need it," Jane said, handing her a clean chemise. "All our dresses are fashioned with an Empire waist, and there's no need to restrict the figure. This goes on first."
Sam took off the camisole and put on the chemise over.
"Since you're wearing that- what do you call it?"
"Bra," Sam supplied. "Or, brassiere."
"You don't need any stays. And then the petticoat goes over that." Jane deftly did up the hooks in the back of the petticoat.
"And then the dress," Lizzy said, doing up the tiny buttons on the back.
They gave her a pair of sheer white stockings, and let her keep her cream colored lace flats. They pinned her hair up into a bun, and pronounced her complete. "Very pretty," Lizzy said, turning Sam towards the mirror. Her light brown eyes and light brown hair went well with the pale green dress, and she looked almost native.
"Nice," Sam said appreciatively. Her stomach demonstrated a whale's mating call. "Is it time for breakfast yet? Please say yes."
Lizzy laughed. "Yes."
"Oh good."
They filed down the stairs and Lizzy touched Sam's arm, stopping her before she entered the breakfast room. "I have to warn you, my mother and three younger sisters are very... exuberant."
Sam nodded. "Okay."
They walked in, and Mrs. Bennet immediately noted the visitor. "Oh, who's this, Jane?" she asked.
"Mama, this is Miss Samantha Langford. She's our cousin from America," Lizzy said easily. After all, after so many years, who knew that they weren't related? "Miss Langford, my mother Mrs. Bennet, our younger sisters Mary, Kitty, and Lydia."
"Our cousin?" Mrs. Bennet echoed, giving a distracted curtsy. Sam echoed the curtsy awkwardly.
"Didn't papa tell you?" Jane asked innocently.
"No! Your father never tells me anything. Oh, dear girl you must be starving. Was the journey hard? You must be exhausted. Everyone sit down, sit down. Mr. Bennet! Where is that man? He can never remember his own breakfast." She ushered Sam into a chair across from Mary and next to Jane and Lizzy. "Tell us all about America. What is it like over there?"
"Are there lots of handsome men?" Lydia asked, and she and Kitty giggled.
Mary rolled her eyes. "I would assume that America, being a young country, is not stable politically," she said.
Sam pressed her lips together, half in amusement and half in bewilderment. "Indeed, it is not," she said, after a second.
Lizzy distracted her family with a question about their Aunt Phillips, and Sam gratefully chowed down on the ham and eggs, sweet rolls and jam, and strong tea while the family chattered and discussed like magpies on a fence pole.
"Did you come all this way by yourself?" Kitty asked abruptly. "Where are your parents?"
Sam's fork froze in mid-air and she stared at Kitty. "My parents," she said, eyes widening. "They, died, in a, uh, carriage accident, two years ago." A blue Ford that swerved into oncoming traffic and crashed into them head-on. "I have been on my own ever since, staying with friends."
They were all staring at her, and Lizzy knew it was the truth. She reached over to squeeze Sam's hand gently. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah." Sam looked down at her plate. "Anyway. I am determined to start a new life, now."
And like that, the conversation moved on.
-P-