It all started because of the rain. The skies had been gray and cloudy for days before the storm, but nobody thought much of it. Then the rains came. And came. And came. For three days Elizabeth had been trapped inside with her sisters. If it had just been Jane, this would never had happened. Being trapped with her favorite sister would have been a nice respite from the foibles of her sisters. Unfortunately, her sisters were stuck with her.
Lydia's voice broke through the drumming emanating from the ceiling, "Let us play a game challenge or confess."
Mary's groan sounded simultaneous with Kitty's excited agreement, "Oh yes, let's! Life has been so dull without the officer's to flirt with."
Lydia gave Mary a cheshire grin while she asked, "Challenge or confess?"
In her most sanctimonious voice, Mary stated, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity*, not in frivolous pursuits of entertainment"
Wth a huff, Lydia fell back into her chair, "Stop sermonizing and choose. Challenge or confess?"
Mary looked everywhere but at Lydia. Unfortunately, the room hadn't changed. They all still sat in worn, but comfortable pale green chairs that hadn't been reupholstered in ages, the brocade all but worn through. The rug on the floor was still the ugly puce one mama loved when she saw it at Uncle Gardiner's warehouse. The fireplace was laid for a fire, but not lit since it had been a warm fall. They were sitting in the back sitting room, but what everyone called the family parlor.
"Confession is good for the soul. I choose confess."
Lydia did not try to hide her disappointment. She leaned over whispered with Kitty, giggling every few moments. "Alright," she said, leaning back into her own chair, "confess: if you could… no. If you had to, which officer would you kiss?"
Jane and Elizabeth gasped. "Lydia! That's not proper!" Elizabeth scolded.
"Oh la," Lydia sang, "it's confess not challenge. She does not have to, but only has to tell us who if she did."
On the heels of Lydia' s exclamation Mary mumbled her answer.
"What was that? I could not make it out," Lydia teased.
"Lieutenant Braithwait."
Lydia threw her head back and started to laugh, sounding a little too similar to a donkey.
While Jane admonished Lydia to decorum, Kitty giggled, "The boring one? Whyever would you want to give him a kiss?"
"I find Lieutenant Braithwait intellectual and pious," Mary defended. "Jane, confess or challenge?"
Jane turned towards Mary, surprise evident on her face. "Um, confess, I suppose."
A smile for fitted for Lydia's face appeared on Mary. "Tell us, has Mr. Bingley confessed his admiration for you?"
"Mary! What a waste of a perfect opportunity!" Lydia exclaimed before Jane could respond.
Jane's blushes told her sisters how she felt about Bingley. "He has not. Not in so many words." Jane continued over the protestations of her sisters, "And neither do I expect it. Mr. Bingley is simply the most amiable man I know. He is a friend, nothing more." Even Elizabeth couldn't hold in her snort of disbelief. As tempted as Elizabeth was to argue the truth, she didn't want to embarrass Jane anymore in front of her younger sisters. Especially as Jane was always trying to be a good example to them.
Over the din, Lydia took charge, "All right Jane. We believe you. Who's next?"
Everyone expected Jane to ask Elizabeth. After all they were the closest of all the sisters, even more so than Kitty and Lydia. But to everyone's surprise Elizabeth was not chosen. "Kitty, challenge or confess?"
Kitty puffed out her chest, "As Lizzy would say, my courage rises at every attempt to intimidate…"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I don't say that."
"Oh yes you do," all her sisters responded. They looked at each other, and all broke out into giggles.
"Challenge, Jane. I choose challenge."
Jane thought for a moment, her disposition making it difficult to think of anything her sister would do that would also be proper. After a few more thoughtful moments Jane came up with a challenge that would benefit all.
"Kitty, I challenge you to sneak down to the kitchen and steal us each an apple tart from cook." While this sounded innocuous, Cook was notorious in the Bennet household for propriety, and a daughter of the house did not go downstairs for an apple tart. It was not unheard of for the girls, when they were younger, to have red marks on their arms and hands from trying to sneak a treat. Needless to say, they all lived in fear of Cook.
Kitty gulped, stood, and told her sisters that she would be right back. For ten minutes they waited for Kitty to return. Kitty imagined that her sisters all sat huddled by each other, clasping hands for comfort. In reality, Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia sat and discussed the upcoming ball, and whether or not Bingley would ask Jane for the first dance. Mary read her latest treatise. To everyone's delight, Kitty came back with the tarts, and without any marks.
As Kitty licked the remnants of the apple tart from her fingers, she stated, "Lydia already has a challenge from me, so Elizabeth, challenge or confess?"
"Wait. What is Lydia's challenge?" Elizabeth was worried. Her youngest sisters were mischief makers of the worst kind. Elizabeth suspected that half the reason they flirted so much with the officers was so that they could pull pranks on them. Already, more than one officer had lost a trinket or medal. Elizabeth could only guess when and where they would reappear.
Lydia took on a superior tone, "Never you mind, miss Lizzy. Choose: challenge or confess."
"Well, my courage always rises at… I do say that a lot." All her sisters giggled good naturedly. "I choose challenge."
Kitty looked at Lydia, grinned, and gave Elizabeth her challenge. "I challenge you to kiss the next person who walks through that door."
Elizabeth felt that she should be shocked, but she wasn't. More likely than not, it would be her mother, or possibly her father. She knew that Kitty and Lydia wanted it to be their new footman. "I accept."
At that moment the door opened and in walked Mr. Darcy.
*1 Timothy 4:11-12