The next morning the two young women found themselves at the breakfast table wearing borrowed dresses from the girls they seemed to have traded places with. Sarah wore a simple dark green dress while Rose was in navy. Earlier that morning the girls had debated over the proper hair style. Rose, with naturally curly hair, had easily pinned her curls up into a bun with a few tendrils framing her face. Sarah on the other hand, had long straight hair that refused to hold a curl. After much bickering Rose finally managed to pull Sarah's hair back into a bun after she had braided a few pieces around her face.

"Misses Evans', please tell us about your home of Providence." Mr. Bennet asked conversationally. Rose glanced at Sarah who was staring at her plate. Sighing she replied, "It's a small town on the coast above Boston. Besides being near the ocean it is very similar to Meryton." Rose's reply turned all heads to look at her, including Sarah who quickly added, "There's not much to tell about Providence. We would love to hear about what has been going on in Meryton."

Kitty, who had looked as if she was about to burst, blurted out, "Someone has let Netherfield!"

This caught the attention of Mrs. Bennet immediately. "Have you heard who it is?"

"Charlotte Lucas informed me just yesterday that it is a single man of large fortune from the north of England."

"Large fortune!" Cried Lydia.

"How much, Kitty?" Mrs. Bennet asked expectantly.

"Five thousand a year!" Kitty and Lydia burst into incessant giggling and Mrs. Bennet had trouble making herself heard. "KITTY! What is his name?" Kitty stopped giggling for a moment to reply, "A Mr. Bingley."

Mary rolled her eyes at her sister's behavior and excused herself from the table, followed by Mr. Bennet. Sarah took this as a good chance to disappear as well and grabbed Rose by the arm, leading her up the stairs.

"We are right at the beginning! We get to meet Mr. Darcy!" Sarah was dancing around their room but froze when she caught sight of Rose's expression. "What is wrong with you?"

"Elizabeth and Jane. They must come back. We are going to completely screw up the story if they don't meet Bingley and Darcy!"

"Forget the novel!"

"Sarah! This is a Jane Austen classic we are messing with. Half of the world will be after us if we change the story."

"You're telling me that you have the chance to create your own Jane Austen adventure and you are worried about messing it up? We don't even know if it would mess anything up!" Rose nodded. "That's ridiculous. You can go back if you want but I'm staying here." And with that Sarah sat down on the bed, arms crossed.

"No you are not. You are coming with me and we are going to find Elizabeth and Jane to set things straight." Rose grabbed her red headed friends arm and dragged her to the attic.

The girls stopped before the odd door at the end of the hall, staring. How a simple door could transport them into a novel was bizarre. Neither of them moved, both apprehensive.

"Go ahead Rose, go find them and bring them back. I'll wait here." Sarah gave her friend a shove forward. Rose moved closer to the door and slowly reached her arm out. Her hand made contact with the door knob and she turned it, then pushed the door forward. The door did not budge. Rose began jiggling the knob and pushing the door until finally resorting to kicking the door. "It won't open!"

Sarah stepped forward and together they tried to force open the door but to no avail. "Oh well. Looks like we are stuck here for a bit," Sarah said smugly. She started down the hall but Rose stopped her, "Wait. There is a note in the door. It's from Jane and Elizabeth!" Rose excitedly showed the note to the redhead. "It's addressed to Mr. Bennet; we should let him read it first.


"Father I know you are worried about your two eldest daughters but I assure you that we are in good health. Do not worry about Jane and I and trust in our good friends. They know what is best. Much love, Elizabeth." Rose read the letter aloud to Mr. Bennet where they, along with Sarah, stood in the study.

"May I have that letter? Thank you. I assure you that I trust my daughter and in turn I trust you. My wife, however, maybe another matter entirely." Mr. Bennet walked over to his desk as he said this and upon finishing he sat down. Sarah and Rose took this as their cue to leave. As they exited they immediately ran into Kitty who was bouncing down the hallway.

"Oh misses Evans! I am so excited!" Sarah leaned over to Rose and muttered, "we can tell" under her breath, though Kitty took no notice. "There is a horse outside and Mr. Bingley himself is waiting in the drawing room. You must come and meet him!" She proceeded down the hall beckoning the young women to follow her.

In the drawing room Sarah and Rose joined in line slightly behind the women of the Bennet family. Mrs. Bennet was addressing the young man, who listened politely. He seemed of a gentle nature, smiling at Mrs. Bennet as she spoke. He had blonde hair with a slight curl and blue eyes that twinkled when he smiled-a smile that lit up his entire face. He was most definitely attractive.

Mrs. Bennet began to introduce her daughters, "My youngest, Lydia, followed by Kitty and Mary. My two eldest are currently traveling and in their place we have Rose and Sarah Evans of Providence." As each name was said their respective owners curtsied. Rose and Sarah followed suit, a tad awkwardly. Mr. Bingley's eyes followed each girl, ending on Sarah, where he addressed her.

"Providence? I am not familiar with it?"

"It's in America, in Rhode Island." Sarah stared back at him, holding his gaze. She was quite transfixed by his deep blue eyes.

"America! How ex-"

"Mr. Bingley," Mrs. Bennet interrupted loudly. Seeing that Mr. Bingley's gaze was still on Sarah she cleared her throat, finally capturing his attention. "We hope to see you in Hertfordshire for the next ball."

"Oh yes, I shall be bringing quite a large party with me. My sisters will be coming along with a few others." Kitty let out a strange noise, almost sounding like a strangled squeak. Mrs. Bennet hurriedly said her parting words to Mr. Bingley hoping that he would not take notice. With one last look at Sarah Mr. Bingley bowed his head and left the house, closely followed by the young women.

As soon as the door was shut the girls broke into an excited chatter.

"Oh he's so handsome!" Lydia sighed.

"And rich!" exclaimed Mrs. Bennet.

"He smiles too much," stated Mary who slumped off.

"He could not take his eyes off of Ms. Evans," Kitty said loudly, looking at Sarah. She blushed and countered lamely, "It was probably because of my hair."

"I think he is quite attracted to you!" Kitty squealed and took off skipping, closely followed by Lydia. Mrs. Bennet gave Sarah a menacing look before disappearing towards the kitchen.

"Good job Sarah. You pissed off the mother hen."

Sarah looked worriedly at Rose, "It's not my fault!" She cried, opening the front door.

"Where are you going?"

As she walked Sarah half turned to reply, "For a walk. I need some fresh air to think."

Rose started to turn away but then decided to follow her. "Oh wait up." She ran to catch up to her friend who said to her excitedly, "Do you really think he likes me?"

Rose rolled her eyes, "I do think he is attracted to you. Though your hair is strikingly red in that dress…maybe he was shocked by the color."

"You!" Rose ducked as Sarah went to hit her and took off running down the garden path, their laughter floating behind them.


AN: Small sections of this were taken from the book with a few changes made to suit the story.

The ball came soon enough and the young women of the Bennet household were dressed in their best to attend. Kitty had spent the day alternating agonizing over her hair to the fact of Mr. Bingley bringing his sisters with him.

"With so many girls there will not be enough men to dance with!" Kitty cried ("for the hundredth time" Mary sighed) as the group loaded up the carriage, minus Mr. Bennet who had chosen to stay behind. Lydia nodded in agreement and Mrs. Bennet tried her best to placate her daughters. Upon arriving they found that Kitty's fears were confirmed, the gentlemen were scarce and many were forced to sit out of dances. Kitty and Lydia happened to be the only ones who found this a tragedy.

"Good thing, too. I would have no idea what to do in these silly dances. I don't even know how they call that a dance anyways. It's more of a strange dosi-do." Sarah commented from where she and Rose stood to the side of the room.

Rose laughed, "Don't you remember PE in elementary school? We always did line dancing!"

"I must have blocked the memory." Sarah shuddered. "It is never good to require dancing in school, especially with a partner. In elementary they have cooties, in middle school everyone is afraid to talk to the opposite sex, and in high school you can't keep the two sexes off of each other."

At this moment Charlotte Lucas walked over to the pair with an alarmed look on her face, "Did you just say….sex?"

Rose snorted and Sarah smiled, "Yes, I was talking about the opposite sexes and how dancing changes over time and, never mind." Seeing Miss Lucas' confused expression she changed the subject. "You're Miss Lucas, correct?"

"Yes, I just spoke with Mrs. Bennet and came to introduce myself." She curtsied and began to continue when she spotted a party walking through the door. "Oh look! It's Mr. Bingley. I wonder who that gentleman is with him. He is quite handsome."

Sarah and Rose turned to inspect the newcomers. Mr. Bingley's companion, Mr. Darcy they later learned, was indeed handsome. He drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien-and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance of his having ten thousand a year. Along with the party was Mr. Bingley's two sisters and Mr. Hurst, his brother-in-law. His sister's were fine women, with an air of decided fashion. Rose instantly disliked them.

"God I knew they were proud from reading the book but seeing them in person they are extremely arrogant just in their looks. They look like complete bitches."

"Rose!" Sarah chided Rose for the use of her language. "That is not ladylike speech."

Rose rolled her eyes, "And I guess you like them because you have caught the attention of Mr. Bingley?"

Sarah blushed; she had already danced with Mr. Bingley once and planned for a second. "I do not dislike anyone until I have a reason to."

"They are reason enough for me." Leslie growled and stomped off as Lydia came over to gush about her latest dance partner. She found a chair to sit in and watch the dance, only to overhear Mr. Bingley speaking to Mr. Darcy.

"Come Darcy," said he, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had better much dance."

"I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be punishment to me to stand up with."

At this statement Rose was enraged. She knew Mr. Darcy's character from the book but hearing him in person was entirely different. His arrogant manner was appalling and the way he looked down upon everyone was….well, Rose would call him an extremely rude word. She tuned back into their conversation to hear Mr. Bingley say, "What about Miss Evans? She is very agreeable." Bingley turned to look at Sarah who was chatting with Charlotte and laughing.

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; and she is currently your partner. You had better return to her and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time on me." Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Darcy walked off right as Rose stood up and stepped into his path.

"Mr. Darcy, would you not find me agreeable?" Rose was surprised by her boldness but her anger was too much. Mr. Darcy faltered, taken aback. Rose almost smiled, could she break through this man's pride?

"I do not attend to eavesdroppers, Miss Evans."

Apparently not. Mr. Darcy left Rose standing in defeat.

"What did you say to Darcy?" Sarah asked, appearing by her side.

"I thought you were dancing with Bingley."

Sensing Rose's anger Sarah asked, "What did he say to you?"

"Sarah you would not believe what an asshole he is!" A few heads turned and Sarah ushered Rose to a more private corner of the room. Rose launched into a hushed telling of the conversation she overheard and her short meeting with Darcy.

"Rose, he starts out like this in the book! He just needs to….be brought out of his shell, so to speak."

Rose shook her head, "I don't think it's going to be that easy. I am not Elizabeth Bennet." Sarah acted like she was listening but Rose could see that she kept glancing around the room. Rose couldn't help but think that her friend was a little too preoccupied with a certain Mr. Bingley.