© 2020 Zest Layne

THREE

It was no secret to anyone who knew her that Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn dearly loved to read.

And whenever Lizzy would read, she didn't just follow the journeys of the characters. No, Elizabeth Bennet analysed every aspect of the story studied the most carefully. And of all the elements of a story, Lizzy loved studying the characters the most.

It was why she prided herself in being a good judge of character in the first place – for she had a wide knowledge about different people regarding books. Of course, books were not her only reference. Lizzy helped with providing for the tenants of Longbourn and she could safely say that interactions with different people improved her judgement.

And contrary to what Lizzy told the people around her, she was also fond of reading romance novels. It was one of the main reasons why she was set on marrying for love. The other reason was because of the examples set by her family who were all a love match; her parents, the Gardiners and the Philipses. Of course, while Lizzy believed and hoped for love, she was not unaware of the world's reality. It is uncommon for people to marry for love. Instead, people marry for practical and material purposes.

Sighing, Elizabeth pulled out a wooden chest from under her bed and opened it. These were one of her secrets – a collection of love stories. It was not that she was ashamed of reading it that she hid them. She only kept it locked because she did not want anyone to know that she liked reading it. Lizzy had this silly thought that if everyone knew she was seeking love, then love would not come to her. So, she locked every single romance book she had read in the wooden chest right after she finished it.

However, right now, she needed all the knowledge she could get about romance for her plans regarding Mr Darcy.

No, Elizabeth Bennet was not planning to make Mr Darcy fall in love with her. She was fairly certain that she could never like someone as arrogant as him!

The reason she was opening her hidden books one by one, looking into the pages that she had marked using petals of different flowers, was because she needed to recall every little bit of information on how the characters in the novels fell in love. Because before love, it was attraction that started it all, was it not? And Lizzy's goal was only to attract the attention of Mr Darcy.

Elizabeth needed all the knowledge she could find on how to attract a man, especially one as dour as him. She would show the arrogant Mr Darcy that he was wrong. She was handsome enough to tempt him!

And so, Elizabeth Bennet spent hours scribbling down notes on what could possibly tempt Mr Darcy and prove him wrong. She was not worried if she was to get bags under her eyes for staying up late. Her eyes always remained beautiful no matter what.

See? She was handsome enough if her eyes could survive short hours of sleep! Insufferable man, thinking he was above everyone around him. Lizzy would show him, and he would regret it!

So determined was Lizzy to prove the gentleman wrong that it was only after she noticed that her candle was half its original size when she decided that she was finally done. Thank goodness she and her siblings had their own separate rooms or else Lizzy was sure that she would not be able to stay up this late.

The next morning after her late planning, everything had gone perfectly according to plan. Mama was so enthusiastic about it that Lizzy enjoyed the shopping trip more than she expected. Could it be that all she needed was a little bit of inspiration to enjoy the things she did not previously enjoy?

Lizzy had inwardly scoffed at herself for thinking about that: Mr Darcy as her inspiration? That man could only inspire negative feelings. No, Mr Darcy was not an inspiration but rather… a motivation. Yes, that's what he was. And Lizzy was motivated on vexing him as he did her.

Unfortunately, while the morning up to the afternoon when she began conducting her plan turned out better than she had originally thought, Lizzy was uncertain that the same could be said that evening.

Papa had called all of his daughters in his study and Lizzy was fairly sure that her behaviour was the reason for that specific meeting (not that she had admitted that to her father). It had started relatively well with Papa asking their opinion about the Netherfield Party.

Jane, of course, refusing to see anything but the good in everyone, had answered that the newcomers were all pleasant fellows.

Mary, on the other hand, had blatantly told Papa how she thought Mr Bingley's relations were quite rude for they thought themselves above the Meryton society. Her little sister, however, excluded Mr Darcy from this rude behaviour. Indeed, Mary even went as far as to defend the gentleman saying that she saw herself in him, being uncomfortable in new surroundings. Not only that, but Mary had also criticised Mr Bingley's actions being so carefree to the point that he was clueless about his relations lack of manners and his friend's discomfort. In short, Mary thought the great Mr Darcy was shy.

Ha! Like Elizabeth would believe that. How Mary could think of Mr Darcy as a shy man when he cared not whether someone heard his insults about an innocent young lady such as herself, Lizzy knew not.

When it was her turn to answer the question, however, Lizzy bit her tongue from saying something that could reveal her plan. Instead, she had told Papa that she agreed with all Mary's observations (when in truth she did not agree with anything Mary had observed in Mr Darcy). But if Lizzy did not want her parents to interfere with her plans, then she had to play it safe, so with Mary's opinion, she went. Jane was not really a choice, for her elder sister tended to have a good opinion of everyone.

Nevertheless, Lizzy was not one to give up her own opinions so easily. So while she had seconded Mary's claims, Lizzy had still told her father that though Mr Darcy was ill at ease, it did not mean that he could not try and go out of his way to be agreeable, even if only for the sake of his friend.

After their answers, Papa had dismissed Jane and Mary but had asked for Lizzy to stay, saying that he needed her help with the accounts of the estate. When it had only been the two of them in the room, Mr Bennet had asked about her shopping trip with Mama.

Lizzy had smiled genuinely at this. "'Twas enjoyable, Papa. Indeed I could not remember the last time I had so much fun with Mama."

"And what could be the reason for this sudden trip?" Papa had looked at her carefully. "Did it have to do with the Netherfield Party?"

Sighing, Lizzy had replied: "You caught me, Papa. Indeed, the cause of my sudden idea for a shopping excursion had to do with them."

"Alright…" Papa had frowned at her words. "Who is it – Mr Darcy or Mr Bingley?"

Lizzy had laughed at this. "What an absurd question, Papa!"

Papa had furrowed his brows in confusion. At that, Lizzy had taken pity on her father and elaborated. "Why, 'twas Mr Bingley's sisters that inspired me to do so." Lizzy had then proceeded to tell her father about how superior those two women had thought of themselves and so, Lizzy was going to give them a taste of their own medicine.

"You know I have nothing against tradespeople, Papa, for Uncle Edward and even we – for that matter – had gained some of our fortune in doing businesses. However, our family was originally from the gentry." Indeed, her Grandpa Gardiner was born a gentleman. However, being the kind soul that he was, Grandpa Gardiner had sold his inherited land in order to pay his stepmother's debt. Grandpa Gardiner then decided to work as an assistant to Mr Abbott, an attorney and a widower with no children in Meryton. In the end, when Mr Abbott died with no relatives to take over the business, it was passed on to Grandpa Gardiner.

The loss of their family estate left Uncle Edward with no choice but to find a profession since he would only inherit some monies but no estate. Business was Uncle Edward's choice and he had proven himself to be good at it. He was smart, well-mannered and respectable therefore easily gaining his clients' trust. And now, despite being able live as a landowner, her Uncle Gardiner continued his businesses.

In essence, Lizzy's family were far superior to that of the Bingleys.

"I do not like the way they treated Lettice, Papa." Lizzy had said. While Lizzy, had kept the real reason for her plans a secret, it did not make her previous and next statements untrue.

It was not like she had lied to her father per se. Lizzy had only omitted the main reason why she had decided to change some of her behaviour. Besides, since she had noticed Miss Bingley eyeing Mr Darcy at the assembly (Not that Lizzy had been watching him. It just happened that she had glanced his way at the time.), she would be killing two birds in one stone with her plans: prove Mr Darcy wrong and put Miss Bingley in her place.

"The Gouldings are of gentle birth and the way those 'superior' sisters treated Lettice was inexcusable. How would you feel if it was Mary in the position of Lettice? They were of the same age!"

Mr Bennet still looked unconvinced. "I still do not see how shopping helped with anything, Lizzy."

"It was simple, Papa. If the Bingley sisters thought they were above company because of their fine clothes, then why don't I show them how a gentleman's daughter is really dressed?" Lizzy had let out an impish smile at this. "Jane would always give them the benefit of the doubt and while Mary could be as bold as I when it comes to words, I bested her in terms of actions."

"Very well, I trust you, Lizzy." Her father had sighed.

After she had kissed him on the forehead, Lizzy had exited his father's study and had called for her brother, telling him that Papa had asked for him. Lizzy had suspected that Papa was still not contented and so he had summoned for Francis. Of course, Francis, being an incredible actor – he was so good at acting that he could act of not being good at it – had helped Lizzy's cause. Hopefully, Papa had been convinced that nothing was amiss.

Now, upon being requested to play the pianoforte by her friend Charlotte, for entertainment at the Lucases' small gathering this evening, Lizzy was determined to make it her most remarkable performance ever. She may not have Mary's mastery of techniques but Lizzy was confident in her skills.

If that was not enough, the feel of her smooth emerald coloured gown against her skin and the way her hair was elegantly styled for the night, brought her comfort and courage. Sitting in front of the instrument, Lizzy let a small smile graced her lips. Her fingers skimmed the keys, enjoying their smooth surface before playing the first notes. Then, closing her eyes she began singing.

She did not need her eyes to see that Mr Darcy's attention was already on her.

So… this is a new Lizzy. But I really thought that a change in her life (having a brother, a mother who was not of mean understanding, and monies) would make her more confident and prideful than canon. What do you guys think? More importantly, what does Mr Darcy thinks? ;) Perhaps we'll find out next Sunday...

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