"Lizzy! Lydia! Mary - oh why must you carry a book all the time!"

Mama, energized by the view of the impending guests, ordered about the entire household - unhappy until she saw the very flurry of activities she had demanded. Papa sat where he had all morning, unfazed, his spectacles lowered until they nearly hung off the tip of his nose.

"Is it someone very important, Mama?" Elizabeth, for all her intelligence, had a tongue that cost her trouble every single day.

"Elizabeth, are you mad!" Mama cried, predictable to the utmost. Behind the portly matriarch, Kitty and Lydia chose to quarrel over the lace instead of putting it away as requested. "Mr. Bingley might be here to propose!"

Jane's kindness and eternal understanding bid her to protest. There was no possibility, of course, that the new tenant of Netherfield would be arriving to propose marriage a single day after making one's acquaintance. Given Mama's frantic preoccupation to tidy up the sitting room, however, no on truly paid heed to Jane's said kindness and eternal understanding.

"Miss Bennet, what an honor!" Mr. Bingley, deposited far too soon in the midst of the flushed occupants of Longbourn, greeted Jane right after he did her parents. Dutiful as could be, he gave each subsequent sister his due attention before fixing himself beside Jane once more.

His sisters, overdressed and over-coiffed, bestowed their much less-desired scrutiny soon after.

Quite quickly, each family member fell to his own activity. In their own corner, Jane blushed prettily while Mr. Bingley chatted away with her in perfect friendliness. Mama, never far, hovered with a lovestruck look in her eyes. Mary, perhaps reveling in her newfound privacy now that Mama's focus had removed itself from her, returned to her trusted sermons. Kitty and Lydia provided well enough company for Mrs. Hurst while Papa spared them his occasional glances.

The entire family ran nearly as smoothly as a well-oiled carriage.

It was simply unfortunate that Elizabeth's role in running said carriage was keeping company with the least amiable guest today.

"Miss Elizabeth, your home is rather charming - is it not? Not nearly as fashionable as the houses in town, but I daresay it proves comfortable enough for the likes of you." There was a simplicity to Miss Bingley, Elizabeth observed. She did not strive to belittle. She merely did.

"Longbourn is, of course, near and dear to my heart." Elizabeth smiled, the last vestiges of her politeness drying rapidly.

"Well, nature often knows what it is doing, does it not?" Miss Bingley kept her face directed away from the sole person conversing with her - choosing instead to keep her gaze open towards the room, as if all of its occupants hung on her every word. "My dear brother, charming and handsome as he is, quite deserves the good fortune our father left us. Our dowries, I assure you, is everything as attractive as London's debutantes."

Why one would expose such mercenary measures of oneself was a rather simple mystery.

"Your sister has caught his eye, I see," Miss Bingley continued, the lack of reply notwithstanding. "I dare say he'll declare himself in love soon enough."

Elizabeth, remembering the tender words Jane had lavished upon Mr. Bingley before the sisters slept the night before, could not help feeling rather abused.

"Jane is everything sincere, I assure you." Elizabeth tried, truly tried, to avoid sounding bitter. One insult from the unnamed gentleman last night was trouble enough. She did not wish to have to dispute against another such claim quite so soon! "She would never use anyone ill."

Miss Bingley's laugh was harsh and loud. "You speak everything a sister ought, Miss Eliza."

For once, Elizabeth was quite happy her visitor did not face her.

"I see Hertfordshire does not hold much charm for you, Miss Bingley." She forced herself to navigate their words towards safer waters.

"Not at all." The lady was frank. "The place is simple enough - nearly backwards, one may say. Mr. Darcy himself agreed with me. Your family is all kindness, but the company otherwise is rather faulty."

Elizabeth swallowed the insult against her neighbors. "This Mr. Darcy you mention - is he the gentleman who accompanied you to the assembly?"

"Oh yes, the poor man - blind as a bat and lacking half the charm of his companion. Fate is kind enough to grant his future wife full reign over his sprawling estate, I suppose." The wistfulness in Miss Bingley's voice shouted her intentions from the mountaintops.

"Mr. Darcy is - unable to see?" Elizabeth's conscience began to complain.

"Not even a shadow, Charles assures me. I have tried, of course, plenty of times to bless the poor man with my company - so limited he is in his actions."

Elizabeth nodded mutely. Mr. Darcy - tall, handsome, reserved - his frown begat new meaning in her mind.

Had she truly approached a man already incapacitated - and judged him for judging with his limited abilities?

If he was as wealthy as Caroline Bingley inferred him to be - was it not natural for him to fear fortune hunters at every turn?

"His friend, Mr. Wickham, is charm itself, of course," Miss Bingley prattled on. "It is a shame the man doesn't have a shilling to his name!"

Elizabeth flinched slightly at the recollection of how Lydia had taken, quite quickly, to said Mr. Wickham's charms last night.

Full understanding of why Mr. Darcy lingered alone dawned upon her.

Elizabeth sighed, suddenly feeling rather overcome.

"What a waste it is to see, of course." Miss Bingley played the role of informant rather well, however unintentionally. "One would think a man so perfect could not have fault at all. It is a shame, truly, that Mr. Darcy cannot see half as well as his companion could."

Elizabeth answered only after the silence grew too long.

"Yes, of course, Miss Bingley. I dare say it is quite a shame."


Elizabeth knew, for the most part, that one may be considered impolitic for rolling one's eyes at one's guest. With the limited hours granted to each call, it was but fitting to be tolerant of one's visitors' views - however outlandish such views may prove to be.

Given Miss Caroline Bingley's tirade for the last thirty minutes, however, Elizabeth considered herself excused.

"And Miss Darcy, oh what a dear she is!" All the plumage in England could not accentuate Miss Bingley's exclamations any more than her current attire and gestures did. "'Tis quite a shame, I must say, that Mr. Darcy deigns her taken and unavailable for Charles!"

His chuckle, affected and hoarse, was not nearly as unladylike as the demeaning glint in her eyes.

"You see, Miss Eliza, it is the dearest wish of my heart that Miss Georgiana be united with my brother in marriage. Is it not horribly sad that she has been betrothed to her cousin - and thereby prove incapable of bringing our families such joy? I suppose it is inevitable that I must join the fray and be the means of uniting such suitable lineages as one."

Miss Bingley's sigh was eloquent - putting to shame the very greatest actors of the London stage. Elizabeth fought to suppress her untimely urge to giggle.

"You see, Miss Eliza," Miss Bingley began her next paragraph of thoughts with much the same expression she used with the thirty ones before, "Mr. Darcy and his - shall we say - limitations have only proven him to be more needful of a stately woman who can govern all that he possesses. While my beloved Charles may not have the good fortune to create such desirable connections, it may still fall upon my person to achieve them."

Elizabeth wondered, with little effort at concealment, if Miss Bingley thought her own professions subtle.

Surely, an educated lady could not truly think such declarations proper at the slightest!

"Miss Bingley," Elizabeth spoke when she could, "Are Miss Darcy and her cousin also residing at Netherfield?"

The change in subject, attempted with every civility, succeeded in half its intent.

"Netherfield, though built in poor taste, shall do, I suppose," Miss Bingley lamented. "How much greater our hospitality can be in town! 'Tis a shame Charles insisted that his most prestigious guests join us here."

Elizabeth smile, as well as her voice, was tight. "You do not enjoy Hertfordshire, Miss Bingley?"

"How could we when we - " Then, pausing, perhaps to think for the first time in the past ten minutes, Miss Bingley continued with a voice much more subdued. "Hertfordshire is lovely enough."

Elizabeth nodded, playing the part of a fool.

"And I trust your family and guests all think quite as highly of Meryton and its neighbors?" There was some satisfaction, she found, it allowing her mischievousness to run free.

Miss Bingley shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. "I suppose so."

"You see, Miss Bingley." Elizabeth could not resist the echoing of her visitor's words. "Much of the people in our area believe that families who suit in lineage are far inferior to families who suit in temperament. If couples do fancy each other - there should be no impediment to their union."

Elizabeth knew, full well, that Miss Bingley saw her pointed look towards Mr. Bingley and Jane.

Still, the lady barreled on, undeterred. "I had always hoped, of course, that my dear Charles would find his heart's desire among the heiresses of the ton. Our father's fortune, while generous, could hardly be relied upon to create a legacy which would be a source of pride for posterity."

"I see."

"Yes, of course. You see, Miss Eliza, our own dear parents had many hopes and dreams for their children. How precious we were to them! It is but right that we each marry well to make amends for my sister's choices."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at the realization that no one - not even her own flesh and blood - was immune from the censure of Caroline Bingley.

"My brother, you see, has always had many reasons to fall for feminine charms." Miss Bingley's hand landed on Elizabeth's. The Bennet sister looked up, surprised. "You need not worry that his constancy would suffer. Your sister, at least, appears unaffected by his advances."

Elizabeth frowned - slowly realizing, for the first time all morning - what Miss Bingley's true meaning was.

She moved quickly to defend her sister. "I assure you, Miss Bingley, there is no cause for alarm on your brother's part, at least. My sister is everything sincere."

The look on Miss Bingley's face was heavy with skepticism. "Your sister is not the first, I assure you, to capture my brother's fancy."

Elizabeth, remembering the weight of a promise long made, narrowed her eyes and insisted, "Then I can only hope she would be the last."


Eight Years Ago


"Elizabeth, it is too long. I cannot read it!" Jane, and all the innocence in her eyes, lamented. Her golden hair cascaded down her back, glowing prettily against the whiteness of her dress.

Elizabeth laughed, her own previously white dress far from pristine. She lifted the contract in her hand. "It is an important document, Jane, and I cannot bear to leave out any details pertaining to our future happiness."

Charlotte, despite being older, joined their giggles. "You are being silly, Eliza. Why would we need to write out what our hearts already know?"

"And our hearts know - full well - that we shall marry only for love!" Elizabeth declared at the top of her lungs. Playfully, she danced in the small clearing - Jane at her heels.

"Lizzy, stop writing! We do not know what our future grooms would look like!" Jane frowned, looking truly worried. She could not run as fast as her sister, but she still tried very hard to catch Elizabeth. "We should not place ourselves in binding agreements."

Elizabeth laughed again. Three more rounds of running and pretending to scribble on her paper left her breathless, and she collapsed on the ground at last.

She leaned back against the side of the tree trunk. Charlotte sat down on the grass and did the same thing on her left. Jane, after some more frowning, lay down on her right.

Elizabeth smiled, happy to be with the bestest of her friends.

She tossed her broken quill aside. There had been no ink on it for some time.

Then she lifted her contract with both her hands, using the paper to shield out the sun.

"We, Charlotte Madeline Lucas, Jane Frances Bennet, and Elizabeth Theresa Bennet," she read aloud. Who cared if anyone heard them? "being sisters by birth or by friendship - of the strongest kind - hereby promise only to grant our hand in marriage to the best of men, whom we shall love dearly with all of our hearts. Said hereby future husbands shall be at least 5 feet and 6 inches tall, shall not weigh more than our fathers, and shall be handsome and rich. (They do not need to be particularly rich but need to be very handsome). We shall each marry in Meryton and not serve tongue at the wedding breakfast. We will wear white and be completely in love with our husband. A man who does not ask properly will not be approved. All parties must approve of a groom before a bride can agree to being proposed."

Elizabeth smiled when she reached the end. All that remained to do was to affix their signatures.

"We hereby state our agreement." Elizabeth turned and pointed to the part of the paper intentionally left blank.

Solemnly, Charlotte used the twig she found to sign her name in bark. Elizabeth followed, looking everything regal. Jane, despite her protests, sighed and signed by dipping Elizabeth's quill in a flower's nectar.

With their agreement thus solemnized, Elizabeth screeched in happiness and began her dancing once more.

This time, Jane did not chase her - and it was rather less fun running about by herself.


A/N: I don't know about anyone else, but I constantly dreamt up and created strange contracts as a child (as did my uncles and aunts when they were kids). Do indulge my re-imaginations of our favorite characters' childhoods! I hope Caroline Bingley was at least entertaining in this chapter.

In other news, I am delighted to share that my three books have been rereleased! They have brand new covers now and, while still not linked to my Goodreads account, are now available on the Kindle store if one searches by title and author name (Iris Lim). Thank you again to everyone who keeps supporting my stories, whether here or on Amazon. I love hearing from you!