All recognisable characters, dialogue and plot lines are property of Jane Austen.
Chapter One
Fanny looked around in wonder at her surroundings. Never before had she seen such rich furnishings or grand rooms, the house that she and her husband were currently touring while the owners holidayed for the summer represented everything that she had ever wanted for herself and her daughters.
A tear rolled down her cheek at the thought of her daughters, buried in an unmarked grave back in a small town in Scotland. They had succumbed to a fever spreading through the local merchant class that had been given to them by their infected coach driver. The fever had been slowly decimating the ranks of the locals as they stayed in the town while visiting distant relations of Mr Bennet's a few months ago.
Her husband had tried to cheer her up by sending them on an extended trip before going back to their home in Meryton. He felt that if they could delay sending word to their family or making an announcement, it might give them more time to reconcile themselves with their loss. Fanny hadn't cried once while little Jane and Elizabeth had grown progressively sicker, believing in the mercy of a God she was now no longer sure existed.
When the girls had been buried Fanny had been stoic and calm even then, she knew that God would deliver her something to make up for the tragic loss of her dearest girls. It was not that she hadn't lost a child before; the two boys born before Jane and Elizabeth had both come out stillborn. They had been buried in the family plot, alongside Thomas Bennet's parents. Even then God had seen fit to bless her with two more children; surely the same would be the case now? What her god had taken away, he would give back to her in another form. This rationalisation of her beliefs and faith was the only thing keeping Fanny's heart from completely breaking yet.
As if the house around her could hear her thoughts she heard something. As she walked throughout the grand house, ready to go and now searching for her husband, Fanny heard the faint sound of children laughing gaily.
The sound sent a ripple throughout her body, how many times over the past few weeks had she heard the phantom sound of her own departed daughters' laughter? Fanny walked more briskly in the direction she had heard the laughter coming from and stumbled across two young girls in a parlour room, accompanied only by a boy who looked scarcely 10 years of age. Fanny looked on from the doorway as the elder of the girl, a blonde, cherubic type of child who was already showing great signs of beauty at her tender age, played peek-a-boo with the younger girl who's only prepossessing feature were her fine, dark eyes.
Fanny sighed as she watched the children playing so lovingly together and stood silently observing until, finally, the male child took notice of her and walked over to her position in the doorframe.
"If you are looking for Aunt and Uncle Matlock, you should know they have gone to visit friends in the town over."
The boy spoke very maturely for his age, his voice calm and his demeanour reserved. Fanny spared but a glance to the boy before asking the names of the girls before her, she saw no reason to disabuse him of the notion that she had come to visit his relations, even though she knew that she would never in her wildest dreams have ever been acquainted to such grand people.
"There is the oldest you see there, the blonde one, her name is Juliana and she is only just 4. She's a pretty child, my mama always says. I prefer dearest Adele, the younger one of the two, though. She never cries when she falls over and she never tells on me or my cousins. She can't talk very well yet though; she has just had her 2nd birthday." He smiled with the greatest of affection as he described the young girls to the stranger.
Fanny retreated into her thoughts. The elder girl was definitely of an age with her eldest Jane and her hair colour was very similar to the Gardiner colouring, she could indeed pass as a daughter of Fanny Bennet's. The younger girl she was doubtful of, the girl had no particularly pleasing aspect to her. Fanny watched her for a few moments and decided she was not the docile sort of creature her older sister seemed to be, however she would make a suitable replacement for Fanny's loss. In that moment Fanny had it rationalized in her mind and she somehow knew her husband would be just indulgent enough to forgive her lapse in morality.
The young boy had been staring at the strange lady for an age when she finally spoke to him.
"Do you have any adults here at all young man?"
His tiny mouth frowned before he answered that the nanny had gone back to her room, pleading a headache. Fanny sighed inwardly before again addressing him.
"Perhaps you would be so good to see to refreshments for me then? My husband is walking around the park in search of your Aunt and Uncle; I shall call him in directly, if you would be so kind as to make some arrangements for us to refresh ourselves."
Though the boy may have thought she was strange and not a little bit too common looking to be acquainted with his relations, he was concerned about appearing rude to any friend of theirs. He quickly decided to send for refreshments, and send word to his aunt and uncle that someone had called on them, for they were only at an estate 4 miles away.
"Of course, ma'am, I'll ring for a maid."
The young boy left the room and Fanny shut the door. She waited a moment, weighing up her options. At this point, she knew she could turn back and was indeed thinking of it when her husband walked into the room.
"A young man informed me that my wife was in the parlour with two young children, awaiting Lord and Lady Matlock. You can imagine my surprise Fanny Bennet; he seems to think we are acquainted with his Uncle, the Earl."
Fanny had the decency to look ashamed. She gestured to the two young girls, who still hadn't noticed her presence or the disappearance of their cousin.
"Look at them Thomas. They are of an age with Jane and Lizzy."
Thomas Bennet looked at the girls playing together and his eyes misted up.
A quick glance at Fanny confirmed Thomas' suspicions about her motives for showing him the children. "Is taking them from their parents not just as bad as having our own children taken by the fever, Fanny?"
"Thomas, you can't deny me this!" Fanny yelled; a desperate tone to her voice as she clutched her husband's hands.
Fanny's loudness finally caught the girls' attention and the elder of the two came over to the two strangers, performing a sort of half curtsey, which her younger sister fell over trying to copy. The younger girl began to cry over her scraped knee, and the noise tugged on both of the Bennet's heartstrings.
Thomas Bennet walked over to the young girl and picked her up.
"You needn't cry dearest," he said softly "it's just a scratch, a kiss will fix that and you needn't worry about it any longer."
True to his word, Thomas Bennet kissed the girl's knee and she stopped her crying. Thomas gazed into the beautiful eyes of the younger child and in a moment, he was lost.
Fanny wringed her hands together and looked around at the room, looking for any items that might be necessary for a departure with the girls if it was indeed decided they would take the children with them.
"Thomas, we need to make a decision quickly. The boy that was here with them, their cousin he said, was only to go fetch a maid for refreshments. The Lord and Lady are out visiting. If we are to do this, we must make our escape a quick one."
Thomas looked at his wife holding the older girl; their new Jane, as he thought of her. The happiness on her face was exactly what he had been missing the past few months. She looked more alive and vivacious, like the Fanny he married those many months ago.
Fanny looked at her husband and knew he was crumbling. "We needn't even tell anyone about what happened in Scotland, Thomas. We could just present them as they are and go on living our lives as we were supposed to before. Everything could be just like before. Please, Thomas, I don't think I could handle going back to having nothing like we have the past few months. I miss my daughters."
He evaluated the situation but Thomas knew he was lost. The girls could easily pass as favouring one of them, The elder girl had very similar colouring to the Gardiner family while the younger looked almost exactly as he had when he was very young, the hair colour was very similar and there was something in the shape of her eyes that spoke to him of his late sister.
Thomas Bennet looked into his wife's eyes and knew the answer before it came out of his mouth.
It wasn't the most moral decision, he knew that. But he couldn't pass up the opportunity that providence had given him. He could only hope and pray that God would forgive him one day.
"Pack their things Fanny; the girls are coming back to Longbourn with us."