Keeping to herself upon returning home, Elizabeth locked herself in her bedroom and curled up with her favorite book from her father's personal library. She attempted to recall the last words she and Jane exchanged. The last full memory she thought they shared was holding hands when Mrs. Ariti's carriage approached Netherfield Park. Before that they fought over silly differences that she struggled to remember now.

"Thank you, Sarah- "Her bedroom door opened, and Mary slipped in. "Tell Kitty I will join her for tea in the drawing room shortly."

A visibly exhausted Mary made herself comfortable at the foot of Elizabeth's bed.

Composing herself, Elizabeth held the book against her chest hoping it hid her true emotional state. "Mary?"

She held up a hand. "I know. You want privacy, but I am tired of questions from Lydia."

"So, you hide in my room?" She almost smiled at the absurdity of it. Mary hiding in a room instead of hiding in a book of prayers – the world evolved!

Mary waved her hand flippantly. "I know what you're going to say, but would you please join us for tea. Papa says you visited Netherfield. Is everything well?"

She sat upright. "Jane and Mr. Bingley are unable to wait to be married. They will be married soon and off to Scotland. I will miss her, but I full intend to write often." She shared soberly, surprised at her own contented solution to an otherwise unexposed threat.

"Join us for tea, Lizzy."

"If you insist."

Mary helped her older sister out of bed and downstairs to waiting tea and a perky Kitty doodling flowers in her art journal.

"The glow of adoration. It becomes you, Kit." Elizabeth hugged Kitty close. "I hope Mr. Barnett does not toy with your heart unless he intends to marry you."

They stared at the fire warming the drawing room.

"I like him, Lizzy. He is…simple. Pleasing. Not poetic but certainly the effort counts, yes?" Kitty never looked up from her drawings, hand confidently skating across the page with no regard for outside opinions.

"The effort counts as long as it is sincere." Mary said while pouring hot water over tea shavings.

"I believe his efforts at poetry, bad as they are, is sincere." Kitty giggled. "Lydia says he is not worth the effort. Too poor, but he is rising in rank and wealth."

"He is. I spoke to Mr. Brook about him and it would appear his business is flourishing in London." Mary looked to Elizabeth when she spoke. "His family has entered a lucrative trade at the right moment."

"I do not fancy London." Kitty pouted.

Mary pushed the cup and saucer toward Kitty. "Then it is a good thing he is planning to move from London for another city to expand their opportunities."

"How do you know that?" Kitty stopped doodling and sized up Mary.

Mary in turned faced Elizabeth for support.

"Mr. Brook trusts me and speaks to me when he's trying to impress Mary." Elizabeth admitted. "I also ask him about Mr. Darcy. Often enough that he suspects I fancy the gentleman."

"Mr. Darcy is handsome, and you are permitted to fancy him." Kitty nudged her. "Maybe you should call upon Jane and break her free from Mrs. Ariti's strict routines."

Elizabeth paled.

"Are you afraid of her?"

"Yes. She is everything that is Mama and Aunt Gardiner combined. I respect that woman's authority far more than I dare to risk her wrath." Not to mention that Jane was no longer human, Elizabeth thought bitterly.

"Then I will force the visit and drag you along." Kitty volunteered merrily.

Her heart almost stopped beating. "No. Jane deserves her privacy, Kitty. She is soon to be a married woman and does not need our council. Better that you write her a letter instead."

"Are you certain Jane will not hold it against us?" Kitty asked.

Nodding furious, Elizabeth then indulged in the sugarless tea before the truth came out and ruined all their good moods.

Mary happily granted them a full disclosure on Henry and Harriet Corbyn, cousins of John Brook, the remainder of the afternoon with Kitty dropping a novel on Mr. Barnett and his obscure family's heroic rise from anonymity to living in comfort. Elizabeth listened to it most cheerfully, fully distracted from Jane's predicament until dinner when their mother asked what Mrs. Ariti demanded. Glossing over the meeting as minds joining on how to keep contact between Bennets and Bingleys, Elizabeth noticed her father's nonexistent sarcasm and wit. She wondered if he knew the truth too.

Lydia irritated them with rumors of Maria's new romantic interests and hinting of Mr. Hawthorne becoming the new target for childish flirting. When they retired to bed, the long day filled with new information molded into a minor occurrence seemingly disconnected from the following days demands. Lydia suggested they visit Harriet Corbyn over breakfast the following morning.

"Mr. Corbyn said that he and Harriet were visiting Miss Crown in Meryton, and Miss Long offered them an afternoon of tea. I see no reason we should interfere in their plans. It is unwise and not neighborly at all." Mary refused.

Lydia pouted over jam slathered toast. "Please."

"I will not interrupt their plans." Mary said over a cup of coffee. "They may be visiting Mr. Brook, but they are not bound to our company. Mr. Brook is the Parson for Meryton as well as the Bennets."

"Why are you the one to marry the handsome parson? You are not pretty- "

"Lydia, that is unkind." Elizabeth gave up on praying at the table and turned to her rumbling stomach and the plates of food in the center of the table.

Lydia almost cried. "You are unkind, Lizzy. It is not fair that the only sister to not have a courtship is me. I am of age. I am out. It is wholly unkind."

"Actually, Lydia, I am without a courtship." Elizabeth volunteered and dabbed at her mouth nervously. "Whatever infatuation I have with Mr. Darcy and he with me, it is ill destined, and we are both aware of it."

Lydia pouted and stomped. "It is not fair!"

"You acting like a three-year-old isn't fair." Mary quipped. "You're ruining it for the rest of us. You'll find love. We do not know what is in Mr. Barnett's heart or future. It is unfair to characterize him as a gentleman undeserving of Kitty's attentions."

"Kitty is only two years older than me."

"And far more socially acceptable to court. You are fifteen. You have your whole life ahead of you." Mary puffed her chest out, faintly resembling Jane in that moment.

"It is still unfair." She marched out of the dining room leaving Kitty, Elizabeth and Mary alone.

They faced each other over their drinks.

"How are we going to handle her?" Elizabeth queried.

Mary smirked. "Distract her."

"How?" Kitty whined.

"Mr. Hawthorne has companions. Companions who wish to be better acquainted with the Bennets because we're close to the Archwood Coven." Mary answered flatly. "It is a perfect opportunity for her to grow without embarrassing us too much. They'll expect it of her. All of Meryton already thinks poorly of us. How much worse can it be made?"

They resigned to the idea of being thought poorly of and agreed to force the acquaintance as soon as possible. Elizabeth worried for herself but expected the gentlemen to follow social expectations. They wouldn't attack her when in the company of her sisters, cousins, aunt, mother, etcetera. No proper gentleman, regardless of their views on sympathetic individuals to the supernatural realm, dare ruin his chances of marrying into a higher position in society.

"Lizzy, do you care for Mr. Darcy?" Mary asked curiously.

"He has visited us several times and he does pay you excessive attentions." Kitty pointed out. "He respects your opinions, Lizzy. You should pursue him. Encourage his affections."

"I have." She admit, no longer afraid of her feelings for Mr. Darcy. Her heart was permitted to love foolishly if she did not run off to Scotland to marry a complete stranger. Every lady ought to love bravely (or foolishly) once or twice in her life.

"Have you? You've said that you wished to welcome his affections, but all we've seen is reluctant intimacy of thoughts that can be accumulated into nothing more than polite acceptance of one's attentions."

Elizabeth blushed. "It is hard."

"Is it?" Mary pressed gently somehow merging Jane and their aunt into the single lady known as Mary Bennet.

"I find myself tongue-tied at times. I want to listen to him speak, and he has the most pleasant voice. He speaks eloquently and he composes himself as a true gentleman. I know not how to compose myself in his company, especially when he asks about my travels and my connections."

Mary cupped her shoulder. "We will persevere, sister."

"They are inferior to his, regretfully." She sighed. "I want to…be better acquainted with him. To accept a proposal from him. I know it is foolish, but I can't ignore my heart. I have to accept that he may not wish to reciprocate my emotions."

Kitty hugged Elizabeth. "We will do everything in our power to make Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet an engaged couple. I give you my word."

"And mine. But first we must neutralize Lydia." Mary said and finished Lydia's toast. "And the safest manner to do that is by exposing the true agenda of Mr. Hawthorne and his associates."

"What do you believe their agenda is?" Elizabeth demanded nervously.

Kitty stared at the food in open yearning, her appetite repressed by a desire for a better figure. "It's concerning the Archwood Coven. That much I know. I won't risk Jane losing her happiness or our family's safety. There is something…different about them. Mr. Hawthorne is respectable, yes, but his companions are not as warmhearted or open to questions." The spot-on instincts impressed and worried Elizabeth. What if they stepped on the toes too much? Would the Bennets be next on the list?

Elizabeth laughed. "Mr. Hawthorne never answers questions fully posed to him."

"You attacked him, Lizzy. I doubt he'd ever truly answer your questions without doubting your own intentions." Mary smiled. "You need to be softer. Kinder. Gentler. More vulnerable and ladylike."

"I am ladylike."

"Yes, but lately you are turning into a protective spinster sister determined to see the rest of us properly married at the expense of yourself." Kitty teased. "You need to breathe. Relax. Allow the outside world into your world and be influenced by it."

"But I am!"

"No, you really aren't, Lizzy. Even Charlotte said you're different."

Face in hands, Elizabeth ran her hands over her hair. "I just want everyone to be happy and safe."

"You're forgetting that you deserve happiness too, Lizzy." Mary grabbed her hand. "I love you. You're the best sister. But you aren't the only protector we have. We can learn to fend for ourselves."

"But we don't have to do so alone." Nor could Elizabeth tell them the truth about Jane and Mr. Bingley. It would frighten them, and they needed to be assured of their security in Hertfordshire.

"No, we don't have to. But we can't cut ourselves off from our own needs and wants. We'll help you win over Mr. Darcy, and you'll help us marry our gentleman." Mary agreed enthusiastically, a perfect portrait of happiness.

"I enjoy Mr. Barnett's attentions, but I do not know if I truly give him my heart. It's nice to…be granted special attentions." Kitty shrugged. "I'll treasure it while it lasts."

"When do we visit Meryton?" Elizabeth resigned.

"Today." Kitty decided. "If we encounter the Corbyns and Mrs. Brook, all the better for Mary." She winked deviously.

Elizabeth tapped her cup. "And if we encounter Mr. Hawthorne and company?"

"Lydia is welcome to flirt with all the gentlemen." Kitty decided. "Sisters unanimous."

"Well, if we as a council of wise voices can direct Lydia to more responsible gentlemen, it is in our best interests." Mary said. "At the least, we know the gentlemen surrounding Mr. Hawthorne are respectable."

Elizabeth nodded. "I will ready myself. Kitty, tell Lydia we are leaving for Meryton and she is welcome to join us. Mary, I'm not certain if I like the new assertive lady, but she is the perfect complement to Mr. Brook." Mary beamed proudly and pushed out her chest. "The new Mary stays. The old Mary retires to the past. Sisters Unanimous."

"Sisters Unanimous." Kitty seconded.

"Sisters Unanimous." Mary resigned. "Go. I'll ready myself as well. Inviting Mama along can't hurt."

They exchanged worried expressions and went their separate directions, each on a mission determined to see the success of the others.