The party cleared any doubt Elizabeth had about Mr. Darcy's affections. Something felt wrong to her regardless, and it clarified days later when Lydia departed with Mrs. Huxley to Mr. Huxley's home in Bristol. Without Lydia in the house to force their mother to ferry her back and forth to Meryton, Kitty, Mary and Elizabeth established a new schedule. Mr. Barnett visited with Mr. Hawthorne in tow and Mr. Brook called on Mary often enough that he ate dinner with the family twice a week.

Counting down the days before an expected offer of marriage, Elizabeth observed from afar.

She ached for company. To plot Elizabeth's proper return to society without worrying about Jane or Lydia, Charlotte and Maria tried to return to status quo in valiant effort. She called on Miss Long and Miss Crown to renew lost bonds, and yet it plunged deeper bleeding out her patience.

In an act of desperation, she called on Mrs. Ariti at Netherfield Park after a week of Lydia's initial day of departure and a day prior to her scheduled arrival to act as companionship to Mrs. Ariti and Miss Boording.

"Miss Bennet." The housekeeper barely turned to order a servant to inform the family of her arrival when Mr. Archwood appeared next to Elizabeth like a ghost. "We were preparing your room for your arrival tomorrow. Would you wish to see it?"

She clutched her chest and roaded her thoughts into coherence. "I almost forgot about Mrs. Ariti's request of my company. My mind has been with Lydia. I worry about her. Mr. Huxley is an enemy, and I know she will be asked many questions. I cannot help but worry about what I might have said or shared- "

His pleasant expression dropped. "Miss Bennet, you are free to speak as you wish about us. We have nothing to hide."

"I know, but what if- "

"You can not prevent the soldier from firing his rifle anymore than you prevent the messenger from delivering a letter instructing him to fire the rifle. Every action takes place for a reason." He assured her in a gentle voice she suspected he employed against all ladies in a mess of nerves. Goodness, she ought to wrangle them before they overcome her sensibilities! "We are all subject to our own destinies. I am only grateful you will be able to keep Miss Boording company. She needs younger company."

"I often forget Mrs. Ariti's age." Elizabeth said. "I have not seen her at Longbourn either. Is she well?"

He bowed his head, amusement returning in a flash. "She insisted we persuade Mr. Darcy to offer a hand in marriage to you. Obstinate about it, actually. His behavior at the party is evidence he does care for you. More so than as an acquaintance." Her heartbeat betrayed her. "He convinced Mr. Brook to offer to Mary, and as such the parson has made arrangements to surprise your sister."

She pressed her gloved hands together overcome with temporary relief.

A pleasant quietness cast over them and a radiant Mrs. Ariti, dressed in a lavender tailcoat, white neck cloth, and a black waist coat pressing her breasts into submission, advanced towards them. Lavender pants tucked into hessian boots completed the fashion massacre. A mass of dark hair piled on top her head in a braided knot held in place by pins. Living for the color combination and wondering who dyed and tailored her clothing, Elizabeth admired the eccentric boldness.

"Miss Bennet!" Mrs. Ariti beamed, and Elizabeth shied from the size of her fangs. "You are early."

She squared her shoulders. "Kitty and Mary are visiting with Miss Corbyn."

"I've met the young lady. Her aunt is a paranoid woman." Mrs. Ariti motioned for Elizabeth to walk with her. Mr. Archwood returned to the library and his manuscript being rewritten for the publisher. "Convinced someone will purposefully compromise her niece and taint the family. She tried to force Nagayasu to become acquainted with Miss Corbyn. We invited the family to dine with us, and after failed communication attempts, Miss Corbyn hid in the corner of the drawing room with her brother until Mrs. Brook returned to the parsonage. A most unpleasant woman."

"She has a cruel stare, and I wonder at her intentions for her own son. She disapproves of Mary and if I am to disparage myself it is because I think highly of Mary. Out of us all, her only fault is her dedication to be a child of God."

They roamed the corridors bypassing Mr. Cull in the music room experimenting with a new piece. The notes followed them like children, a happy reminder that life remained in the house with the loss of Jane and Mr. Bingley.

"Do not fret, Elizabeth – I may call you- "

"Yes, of course, Mrs. Ariti. You are the elder and my host, and we understand one another." Elizabeth accepted her role, and she suspected the invitation to stay Netherfield was a ploy to force Mr. Darcy's hand. She preferred that ploy because she as a female could not express her love for Mr. Darcy openly to him. It was unladylike, and she needed to wait for his expression of love before reciprocating. "As you were."

The former ruler stopped them in front of a new portrait of Mr. Bingley and Jane. "Is her likeness in this acceptable?"

Staring at the portrait for two minutes without speaking, she finally found the words to express what she missed. Home. She missed the feeling of home. Charlotte became obsessed with finding a husband, more so than before, and Maria tried to woo the attentions of local men to fill the void her dead betrothed left behind. Miss Long and Miss Crown asked endless questions about the Archwood Coven and Mr. Hawthorne tried to verbally parry with her, but that too lacked a certain energy she needed to feel whole again.

What she needed – what she needed she could not achieve at this moment.

"It is." She said to Mrs. Ariti. "Hair color is off, but it captures her beauty perfectly."

"I thought it did as well. We had a miniature portrait made for her parents, but I am forbidden to set foot in Longbourn again. Will you deliver it when you return home?"

She calmed. "Mama's opinion may change for your kindness."

"I do not care for your mother's kindness, Elizabeth. Only her nerves to be more sensible."

They moved onward to a painting of Mrs. Ariti in Egyptian garb of a time past.

"This was me. I was a young immortal when I made Julian. History likes to say that it was roman senators who killed him, but when the body was removed, a little life remained in him for me to gift him with a new purpose. We changed our names as the times demanded. Being renowned isn't always favorable. I fell in love with his mind, but his heart is truly pure. He loved his people so much so…well the path is graveled with good intentions."

It dawned on Elizabeth exactly who she lived with and who she would soon live with again.

"I know that look. It's why I stopped telling people who I was in the older days, but you know too much, and I feel I can speak to you. Lady to lady." Mrs. Ariti smiled at her.

This whole time she was overshadowed by none other than the famous Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.

"You must have questions. Please ask them." Mrs. Ariti encouraged.

Elizabeth gaped. "I do not know where to begin or what to ask. It is incredible. Was Shakespeare- "

"I know not of the man, but his works are famous." She resumed walking and they could hear music once more as they came full circle too quickly in Elizabeth's opinion. "My companion, Saji Nagayasu is from Japan, from the Sengoku and Edo period. I have met many fabled people of history, but history has a way of changing. Sadly, the truth is often a shred of the experience. We immortals keep our own records for that very reason."

Outclassed and unable to reliably speak, Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Does Mr. Darcy know?"

"He is unaware of our true names and ages. If you were to keep it from his knowledge, we would be most pleased." No threat lingered in the words, and it compelled the English lady to keep to that promise all the more. They mounted the steps to the second floor and the residential rooms. "Miss Boording planned an afternoon of games the day after you settle in."

"I look forward to it." Eyes forward, hand on railing she found it difficult to swallow and believe. Were they lying to her? How would she know if they were? Did she want to believe they were lying to her? "Mrs. Ariti- "

"You are family. You must call me Selene." The woman insisted at the top of the steps.

The name stalled on her tongue until she braved forward. "Selene, why was Mr. Bingley made into an immortal? I do not mean to offend, but he is unlike Mr. Archwood and yourself and Mr. Darcy." They strolled toward a room on the right-hand side, and Mrs. Ariti opened the door with a light push. The smaller bedroom featured a bed covered in a quilt, a bookshelf with the books Elizabeth picked out from the library on her first excursion of it, and a wardrobe for her dresses to hang.

Mrs. Ariti stayed in the doorway as Elizabeth admired the attention to detail. "It was not my choice, but Julian insisted he was an intelligent young man. He is, but his ability to hone that into a skill to keep himself alive has yet to be seen." She shrugged, sounding as cold as Mrs. Brook.

"I hope, for Jane's livelihood, he is capable." Elizabeth said as she faced the woman. "Your sense of fashion is most…"

"I have lived a long, long time. My son is a distant memory, and now I live for the world and its many wonders. Fashion is a minor inconvenience for the vain. I am not vain enough to care if my neighbor thinks I dress like a man and ought to be cast out or called a witch and burned at the stake. I challenge them to try." She laughed, and Elizabeth ignored the many questions summoned to the front of her mind. It demanded satisfaction, but not in this moment – no, she wanted to enjoy the honor layered in subtle ways.

She sat on the bed and picked at her nails. "Mrs. Ariti, may I borrow your confidence?"

The woman cocked her head. "Speak your mind. You clearly are troubled."

Sadness lurked, ready to pounce on the vulnerable lady. "I miss Jane. Home is not home. Soon I am to lose Mary to the parsonage. Mama says I will be a spinster soon. My life is slipping from my fingers and I am at a loss of how to stop it." She admitted in great embarrassment. "I visited today in hopes of speaking with a wise mind and a kind heart. I want to feel as if everything is right again in this world. I itch to have it calm again. Truly calm."

Mrs. Ariti stepped into the room and closed the door. "You have my attention."

Small in consequence to the elder, Elizabeth fumbled together the gist. "I almost wish I never met your family, Mrs. Ariti. If you had not arrived, I would still have Jane, and we would all be…unhappy and our mother introducing us to Mr. Hawthorne and company expecting an offer of marriage. I do not know why I miss that, because Mary and Kitty are happy, and Jane appeared to be happier before Mr. Bingley…" She sighed and tears slipped down her cheek. A lost little girl in a big bad world talking to the big bad world itself and nothing made her feel easy.

Was it meant to be like this? A fool on a fool's errand.

"I do not regret meeting the Archwood Coven. I simply…I do not know! I feel a purpose, it nags at me, and I am drawn to Mr. Darcy. I do not know why or how I know it. In my heart, in my head, in my being, every breath…"

A hand rubbed her back. "Would you like to join us?"

"Mr. Darcy will not offer. I can not admit my love to him and expect him to still admire me. He is a gentleman and he expects me to act like a lady- "

"That is not what I offer." Mrs. Ariti answered. "To join us. Be one of us."

She froze.

"You would have no finer a teacher on how to exist in the world as immortal." Mrs. Ariti said.

"I know." She clenched her hands on her lap. "I have questions. Not about your past lives, but about the offer and its conditions. Will you answer them?"

"I would not offer if I could not answer them." Mrs. Ariti assured her.

Heart in throat, mind rapidly returning to a profound sharpness, Elizabeth nodded. She asked every question that leapt to her tongue, measured answers meeting the random questions until she became a whole new person. Purpose trickled in.

Home. Mrs. Ariti offered a home – a home she needed and wanted.

"I know you have more questions, but you must eat – if only a snack while you're here." Mrs. Ariti insisted. "I will not tell the gentlemen of this offer until you are determined it is the right choice. You have my word."

But she was certain, and her determination rammed her into the position she never thought she'd ever desire.

She stood and faced Mrs. Ariti, looked her in the eye, and nodded. "I wish to become a member of your family, Selene. If you accept my answer here and now, I will study the laws everyday dawn to dusk. I will not dishonor you or embarrass your coven, and I will not reveal your secret. To anyone."

Two hands pressed to Elizabeth's neck. Immortal peered into the eyes of a young English lady. A predatorial darkness resided in the depths. "I must speak with Julian, but I see no reason he'd object. You are his favorite Bennet. I cannot wait to show you the world, Miss Bennet. You will fall violently in love with it." She smiled easily and the world lay at Elizabeth's feet ready for the taking.

She dared to hope.

To believe!

More importantly, she envisioned a real future with Mr. Darcy.