Chapter Two: Jane
As the buildings of London came into sight, shrouded in fog, Jane Knightley sighed. She was going to have to stay in this crowded, silly town for half a year! She loved her cousins of course, and it would certainly be very interesting to see how many Knightleys would survive these next months. However, Jane hated to leave Highbury, especially since she had already put the indigo dye in one of the Elton ladies' many bottles of pomade, but she was not around to see the result of her handiwork or hear the delightful shrieks of those two puffed-up peacocks. None of the other pranks that she had been planning would work if she was sixteen miles away. She gazed out the window through the drizzling rain. How was she going to pull off her usual two pranks per week when she was in such close proximity to her parents? Not to mention that Edmund would likely spend the whole next month mooning after Selena.
"Are you sure that we'll be here for six months complete, Mother? Mightn't we leave early?"
Jane's big blue eyes looked pleadingly at her mother's face, searching for signs of compassion. Emma Knightley's beautiful features and pleasing figure were still youthful, despite her being nearly one and forty years of age. Bearing five children, one of them still-born, had certainly not affected her health. Her hazel eyes were sparkling with vivacity and mischief. She adjusted her warm shawl around her shoulders and finally deigned to answer her younger daughter.
"Six months is the least we will stay. I anticipate that we shall be there at least until June."
Jane sighed again, much more audibly this time.
"I still don't see why we have to go",
she said petulantly. Emma glanced over at her other daughter, Georgiana. Seeing that she was still fast asleep, Emma spoke to Jane in hushed tones.
"Georgiana has been out for four years. She has not found anyone in Highbury whom she fancies. Your father and I are hoping that she will find a nice young man in London."
Jane turned to look out her window again and mumbled rebelliously. The only audible words were "Georgiana" and "spoiled and picky". Now the carriage was bumping through the narrow streets of London. Soon they would be arriving at Brunswick Square. Then there would be a hustle to get all the trunks and boxes in through the narrow doors and up staircases. Jane silently resigned herself to at least six months of boredom.