Double Pride, Double Trouble

by Srebrna

Bennet and Darcy met at a summer camp and immediately hated each other. They were just too similar for this to end peacefully. OR "How to get Lizzy and Will to finally agree on some topic." Slight crossover with Parent Trap (or rather, the original book - "Lisa and Lottie" by Erich Kastner) [If you want to comment/interact, please do so on AO3] [I DELETE GUEST COMMENTS]

9. The love we share is there

AN: And, suddenly, chapter 9.

Let me know what you think about our dear children (and I mean Lizzy and William) being totally crap at being grownups...

Thank you all for your comments and the alerts :)

####

Mina was fretting.
She had certain experience with reporting her various transgressions to Mom.
She had absolutely no idea how to tell Dad what she did.
Holing up in her room for the whole weekend under the guise of homework, she actually did some homework - reading the second year French textbook and trying to cram as much of it in her head as was possible. Finally Georgiana pulled her out of the bed, promising her the first piano lesson.
As her aunt guided her through the basics of the instrument - the keys, notes and how they were related to the notes in the musical score - she observed the differences between her and Mom. Of course, not having an instrument available everyday, Mom had much less practise in using it, but there were things which they did in a vastly different way.
Mina had been taught the proper way of holding her hands - loose fingers, firm arms - sitting in Mom's lap, when she was four. Her hands, held by Mom's bigger ones - "Now, make a little wave, Mina... just like this, see?" - and starting with simply picking out a melody she already knew, the simplest thing Mom could find - "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". Only later she was shown the staff, the music notation and learnt to identify the things Mom had already shown her, when written on the page.
Aunt Georgiana was going from the other direction - probably because a fourteen year old with a standard school music education could be expected to at least know where on the staff 'c' is and how to reasonably link the notation to the sounds, even if not necessarily on a grand piano.
"OK, so. The notation on the staff you are familiar with, I suppose" aunt Georgiana pointed to the exercise in front of them "and this is the 'c' key" she hit it lightly. "With every full note, going up, one white key to the right. Like this" she played the C major scale slowly. "Now, if you want to actually learn playing, first you have to practise holding your hands correctly. I'm not sure how to explain it to you..." she frowned. "I've been doing it for so long I don't remember how they trained me" her fingers moved over the keys. "Try showing me how you would have done it, right now, and I'll tell you what to correct, OK?"
Mina nodded and sat up next to her, a bit stiffly.
"I think I'm too far" she said as she reached towards the keyboard. "This would be uncomfortable."
"Ah, definitely. My arms are way longer than yours. We can move the bench."
They moved closer and started again. Mina didn't even have to pretend - she had been away from the keyboard for three months and so tense that she could barely think straight. Relaxing her fingers was quite a bit of a challenge.
They tried for half hour more, until they were both a bit tired, despite not having actually done a lot of work.
"You're getting a hang of it" aunt Georgiana said finally. "Now, try to play the C major scale, up and down. Just the scale, nothing more. Remember about loosening your fingers, but your arms should be a bit stiffer. Not very stiff, but just a bit, so you can strike the key properly."
Mina nodded, and made a valiant attempt to let her fingers relax.
"Very nice. I suppose at your age, you have much better attention span than the kids who normally start when they are five. I remember being bored out of my head by playing scales, but if that was what I had to do to learn, then..."
"How old were you?"
Georgiana shrugged.
"Five or six. Probably five. Our father - your grandfather - told me that my mother had loved music and had great talent, so he wanted me to be at least educated properly in that area. I had seen sooo many photos of my mother playing and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up! So I practised as much as I could, even when my teachers said I should stop, take a break. I played everything they gave me, stupid boring scales and equally stupid practice tunes. I was sick of 'Old McDonald' very quickly, but I practised any time I could. William got annoyed by it very easily, because at that time he was oh-so-grownup at fourteen and really hated nursery rhymes. He was not a kid anymore and listened to music for big people, not to stupid kid tunes."
"Meaning?"
"He had just discovered Black Sabbath at the time. Father managed to convince him to use his headphones - and to not listen to it at full volume - but he tended to roll his eyes and make noises whenever he heard me working out fingering of something like 'Au Clair de La Lune'. He still remembered our mother playing, which was, of course, what a grownup woman would be able to do. So he compared her Chopin to my French children songs and, well. You can guess he wasn't impressed."
"But... you were, like, six. What was he expecting?"
"He was... He was a boy who lost his mother at nine, kitten. There weren't many female figures available to him, apart from Aunt Catherine and Aunt Mathilda - who had her hands full with your uncle Richard most of the time - so our father tried his best, but his generation was not conditioned for men to be caregivers. Me, I was lucky, as aunt Mathilda saw me as a respite from the crazy antics of Rick and Matt, but she didn't feel she could take on yet another teenage moody boy. Of course, this is from the perspective of my thirty two years of age, now. At that time I just knew that aunt Matthie taught me things that Papa wouldn't remember to, and she convinced Mrs Reynolds to come to be my full time live-in nurse - Mrs R used to work for her friends, before. They took care of the more routine side of care - dressing, teaching me how to lace my shoes, not wiping my nose on my sleeve" here Mina snorted. "Well, yes, they sewed wide, scratchy bands on my sleeves to train me. And Papa did the other things - the big, challenging stuff, like finding me the right music teacher, choosing the better preschool in Lambton, bringing in a French tutor who specialised in working with younger children... Of course, day to day tasks, like driving me to school or picking me up were up to Mrs R. Your Dad, however, well. He didn't have a lot of support that someone at the age of fourteen should receive."
"Dad did all this for me, didn't he?" Mina was looking at the keyboard. "And you."
"Yes, darling. Your Dad... He grew up, after all. He wanted to be the best parent you could have, and when I graduated university, and decided to stay living at Pemberley, I helped him, because I..."
Mina nodded and pressed herself closer to Georgiana.
"Thank you" she sighed. "I think I have to work on my maths some more."
"Sure. Same time next week?"
Mina nodded slowly and stretched, standing up.
"Ah, aunt G..." she smiled cautiously. "I want to take part in a singing contest. Would... would you be able to help me?"
Georgiana turned to her, eyes wide.
"What would you like to sing?"
"The contest is, well, it is a folk song thing. And I was looking for the right song, but they all seemed, you know. Not appropriate. I'm not even sure what some of them mean. But..." she licked her lips. "Dad suggested one."
Georgiana frowned.
"Your Dad?"
"Yes."
"You mean, William Darcy?"
"Yes?"
"William Francis Adam Darcy, my older brother?"
That's a mouthful...
"Yes."
"He suggested a folk song you could sing, on a school contest? A folk song?"
"Auntie..."
"No, no. Just making triple sure we're talking about the same guy. A tad taller than me, black hair, going grey, blue eyes, thinks all music except for heavy metal is rubbish?"
"Well, he did suggest I could sing 'Loch Lomond', yes."
"I'll have to check if he is OK" aunt Georgiana concluded. "But. Well. 'Loch Lomond'? 'You take the high road, I take the low road' and so on? I'm sure I have it somewhere... Here. Do you want me to accompany you, or you need just the vocal line?"
"I don't think there will be any possibility for accompaniment during the contest, so I'd have to sing it just by myself anyway" Mina shrugged. "I tried to sing it with the YouTube videos but it's mostly guys, so it's kind of weird."
"OK. We can do it like this..." aunt Georgiana opened the songbook and cracked it flat to put it on the music stand. "I will play this through, one time. Then I'll sing it to you, to give you the feeling of what would the human voice sound like... and then you can try singing with me. Do you have the lyrics?"
Mina waved her phone.
"Very well. So, like this..."
Mina could have simply borrowed the songbook, but blowing her cover now, when aunt Georgiana started finally telling her all these stories, would be a waste. No sight-singing for her then. At least at her school, that wasn't a skill that had been taught - and apparently at Rose's neither. Learning the tune by listening to aunt Georgiana was fine, too, even though she sang in a completely different style from Mom. It was challenging and interesting. Mom's voice was clearer and less breathy, aunt Georgiana's was softer and slightly darker, but still a soprano - as far as Mina could guess without checking with Mom.
Then came Mina's turn and she took two measured breaths, stood straight, propped the phone on a book on top of the piano and nodded to aunt Georgiana. Another breath. And another. And...

#

He dropped the pen he had been playing with, sitting at his desk and looking at the documents with unseeing eyes. Of course he knew the moment would come. Georgiana had been angry enough at him to start the lessons even the day just after their argument, but Rose had next to no time with all her school assignments, so apparently Saturday was The Day.
He heard the scales being played over and over, and single notes, and scales again. And then it was silent and he breathed in relief. The silence was broken, finally, by Georgiana's - obviously, it couldn't have been Rose - playing 'Loch Lomond'. Of course. Rose said she would be asking Georgiana for help.
Another repetition, now with Georgiana's voice softly singing one verse and the chorus.
And a little pause.
He had steeled himself against it, but still, the clear, still-childish soprano shook him to the core. Rose was singing, Rose was singing and he sat there, hands buried in his hair, trying to calm down the shivering that overtook him.
"William" Georgiana's hand pushed his face up. He hadn't noticed when the silence fell, or when she opened the door to his room. "If you don't sign her up for proper music lessons, I'll do it, so help me. Piano, singing, everything. I'll drive her, even everyday, if needed. There has to be a teacher in Lambton who will take her on. Start calling on Monday."
He nodded mutely.
"And, Will?"
"Yes?" he croaked.
"Consider trying again, would you?"
"She doesn't want anything to do with me" he said softly. "But..." he shrugged. "Their birthday is coming. Maybe..."
"Yes. Please. I'll... If you don't want to meet her, I can take Rose to London."
"No, no. It should be me."
She patted his shoulder and opened the door.
"Georgiana?"
She glanced toward him as he stood up slowly, nodding to her.
"Thank you, sister."

#

Weekend passed otherwise calmly, and Mina continued to practise the song in her room, quietly, in order not to attract anyone's attention. She sang more freely when walking up to home on Monday afternoon, but stopped halfway there and sighed. The churning in her stomach made it too uncomfortable to sing anymore.
She had to resolve this. The deadline was Friday, and she simply had to finally tell Dad. She could only hope that once the exchange happened in five weeks, Rose's record would be cleared of all that Mina had managed to do under her name.
Last thing she wanted was to have her stupid reactions affect Rose's chances to study what she was planning to.
She sat on the wall and thumbed the phone ON. Biting her lip, she let her fingers hover over 'SUSAN' in the contact list.
No. I am Rose, however temporarily. I will deal with this. Somehow.
Still, she felt vaguely guilty. She had tricked aunt Georgiana, after all. Her growled 'I need to talk to your father' after Mina had sang the whole song seemed... weird. Wrong. It all felt wrong.
She wanted to continue the lessons with aunt G, but it seemed more and more unfair for them to be so excited about "Rose's" supposedly freshly uncovered talent, when it all had been Mina's - and Mom's - hard work, weekends spent at the music centre where Mom was renting hours with a pianoforte and a microphone...
In a way she felt like these kids who are trained for days and days and then they go out on a stage in Britain's Got Talent and say in an innocent way "I just sing in my bedroom". Mom always made fun of the judges, who were supposed to spot stuff like this, and pointed out which children were actually naturals, which were just maybe sometimes taught the basics and which were so trained that they could barely take a breath out of order.
And now she was one of them, actually. She hadn't been planning that, she hadn't been aiming at that, but she had hoodwinked Dad and aunt Georgiana into seeing a "natural talent" where... there was just a lot of previous practise.
On one hand, it seemed a little annoying - she had spent all that time honing the breathing techniques, the proper support for her voice, the vowels... and they thought it was just Rose hiding her light under a bushel. Like... Like this stuff just happened by itself.
On the other, well. She was tricking them. She knew what to do and what to avoid - like sight-singing - and they didn't have experience with kids singing. Aunt Georgiana was, by all signs, only taught piano itself, and not singing.
Yh. And now this.
Well, in London such cases were pretty straightforward - the teacher called Mom, Mom came to school, listened to another story about her volatile and unruly child, they talked it through at home, and that was it.
Rose was obviously much more restrained, not having earned herself even one detention in the recent years. Mina was curious whether Dad even had an idea what to do in a case like that.
She'd have to tell Dad at some point.
Maybe today.
The deadline was closer and closer.
Maybe tomorrow.
Sleeping three hours a night and spending the rest tossing and turning in her bed wasn't improving her mood even a bit.

#

Tuesday meant the preliminary round of the contest - everyone simply standing in front of the group and Miss Yang and presenting that they actually knew the song they had chosen.
"I don't want to discourage any of you" the teacher said. "But I need you to try this first in front of this small audience. I want to hear where you are with the song itself, and if there is anything I can do to help you. In two weeks we'll have the actual first round, which will be singing in front of the jury. Now. Anyone feels like they don't really want to sing right now?"
Angela raised her hand shyly.
"I'm having problems with some of the words" she said, not looking up. "I'm thinking I should change the song, Miss."
"Well, that's certainly possible, but do you think you'll be able to learn it in time?"
"Mnotsure, Miss."
"If you need my help, I'll be in this class after three, so you can come and we can try to work out some way to make it easier for you."
"Thankyou, Miss."
"Very well. Anyone else?"
Most of them shrugged.
"Fine. So, now, order alphabetical."
Mina tensed for a moment, but then relaxed with a small smile. Vincent Crady was definitely before her on the list.
"I'm singing 'Amazing Grace', Miss Yang."
"Sounds promising. Go on, Vincent."
Vincent was OK. Mina could see him as a serious competitor, but she wasn't very worried. He tended to swallow sounds and hissed too much on sybilants.
Once he was done and sat at his desk, he wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow and sighed theatrically.
"Lyrics fine, the melody too, but I think you have forgotten to eat your breakfast today" Miss Yang smiled at him.
"Miss?" he looked surprised.
"These sounds are there for a reason, Vincent. Eating them won't make you feel better, but the song looks much worse without them. Try to make sure you do actually pronounce all of them."
"Ah" he blushed. "I will, thank you, Miss."
"Now, Rose. 'Loch Lomond', if I remember correctly."
"Yes, Miss."
Mina sighed. No piano, that was a bit easier - she wouldn't have to fit into someone playing an intro. Still, maybe it would have been easier with Mom, or at least aunt Georgiana...
She straightened, breathed, closed her eyes and began.

By yon bonnie bank an' by yon bonnie braes...

"Very nice! Very well! I'd maybe tweak a pause here and there, to make it fit better with the rhythm, but it sounds very well! I'd say, competition-ready, Rose. Just remember to sing either 'before' or 'afore' every time in the chorus, to make it more consistent. Do you have someone who will help you to practise?"
"My aunt, she plays the piano, and she helped me to get started. I've been practising since Saturday."
"Very nicely done. Now, keep it up, remember about using the same word every time, and we can check it again on Thursday, to see how you're doing. We can go over the small corrections then. Now, Diane. Have you made up your mind...?"
"I was thinking 'The Leaving of Liverpool', Miss Yang, but I'm not sure..."
"Let us hear it. Just two verses, to see how you're doing."
Diane was acceptable. Lewis, after her, less so, his voice all over the place and breathing uneven. Doris squeaked. Teddy, with surprisingly deep baritone, was good enough to be a threat to her.
Will have to practise more today. If I can.
She grimaced. Singing wasn't easy when she couldn't relax.

####

Tuesday was indistinguishable from any other day of the last weeks. Nothing whatsoever happened - even the Biology test had been postponed. A new project was assigned and Rose was reasonably hopeful she would be able to deal with it easily, considering the amount of paper craft supplies Mina had in her room (and who knew how much more Mom could be hoarding in the tall, closed bookcase). Making a poster about tundra seemed definitely less like a challenge than passing another lesson of Italian without making a complete fool of herself. Basically, at that point, everything seemed easier than Italian, even breathing calmly and ignoring remarks about Mom's job and marital status.
Mina had never mentioned the people in her school were that single-minded. Annoying, yes. She did say something about mothers of her classmates being less than happy with Miss Bennet, but somehow managed to miss the fact that the kids were pretty stupid about the topic, too.
She's probably used to it by now, but dammit, how exhausting this is!
When she arrived, dragging herself through the door with a heavy step, Mom was cleaning.
"What happened?" she watched her for a moment, not comprehending exactly what she was seeing. The table had been clean when she left for school in the morning, and there were no signs of another kitchen accident, like the one with the flour.
"Nothing" Mom's voice was clipped and tense. "I have to... I can't work out... Not important. Any homework?"
"A poster about tundra. I need to have a..." she pulled out the correct notebook "A map, a climate graph, an example of flora and of fauna, and a picture of a local inhabitant and a note of something interesting regarding local customs."
"Due when?"
"Two weeks. Easy peasy."
"What about Italian?"
Rose cringed.
"Nothing new. Just... can't focus very well."
Mom nodded, still polishing the table top.
"Do something else for a moment. Drawing? Crochet? You've been focused on school so much recently, you hadn't been doing anything else, just reading."
"We could go out? I mean, just to the park? We could collect some leaves, I thought we could make something with them. Or conkers..."
Mom sighed and gave the table another wipe.
"I'd love to. But I have... I'm a bit stumped with a bit of code. I'm trying to work out how to fix an error and I've been stuck since yesterday. I can't... I we go out, I'll be only feeling that I should be here, doing somethinguseful."
Rose pondered it for a moment.
"Maybe we could have a look at the pastel fabrics? You wanted to make the snowflake?"
Mom sighed again and wrung the rag dry over the sink.
"It sound too much like fun for my current state of mind" she said, smiling slightly. "It's just... It's a logical error. i tried to write it down, but there are so many elements I'm having a problem..." she trailed off, staring at the tiled wall in front of her. "It's... I need to make the system choose the option that is not the best at the moment, but will be the best as the outcome in time... I have to write a piece... that would..." she dropped the cloth and chewed on her lip for a moment. "...calculate depending on volatile... Dinner is on the stove, kitten. I need to finish this."
And, in a flash, she was at the keyboard, muttering to herself, leaving Rose frowning at her back.
Once she rinsed the plates - having stuffed herself full of cauliflower and tomato salad, chicken nuggets and green beans - and quietly put them in the dishwasher, she looked around for something to do that wouldn'tactually be reading Italian textbook, year two.
Of course, there was always crochet. And knitting. And, if she wasn't mistaken, rug-making, judging by the half-filled piece of tough canvas at the bottom of the container her sister had marked as "WIP". She wasn't brave enough to pick any of these up, as she could very well imagine Mina's face once she saw the mangled stitches or crooked... whatever it was that one could do with a rug.
There was always the tundra project and so she could at least start to search for anything at least remotely interesting. Opening Mina's laptop and clicking to Wikipedia was a matter of seconds. In another half hour she had twenty tabs opened, showing various flowers, animals and interesting objects to choose from. The rainfall data was a bit more of a challenge, but there seemed to be a number of weather stations publishing their data online, she just had to pick the right one and convert the temperature and moisture information into something she could draw.
"GOT THAT BUGGER!"
Rose dropped a pencil, which fell tip-down straight into her bare foot.
"MOM?"
"It worked! It worked, finally! It's perfect, it's working and..." Mom danced into Mina's room and saw Rose holding her foot. "And I'll give you a plaster. What happened?"
"Ah" Rose grimaced. "I dropped my pencil. And it was freshly sharpened, too."
Mom scrunched her nose.
"Ouch. Sorry. I startled you?"
"A bit" Rose pulled off her sock and surveyed the hole. "It's like five millimetres deep" she said with fascination. "And it's black."
"It's the pencil, I suppose. OK, plasters, antiseptic. And then... what's the time, eight? We can still go and do something. At least grocery shopping. I feel like celebrating."

#

Foot cleaned and dressed, Rose changed her socks and pulled on the trainers. Mom was already waiting, a tote in hand, oversized purse over her shoulder.
"Come on, let's buy something silly. I have a sudden craving for strawberry yogurt. After sitting in front of that screen for the last two days, I feel like some kind of vampire. I need something red."
After small negotiations and discussion of distance vs. items offered, they decided to brave the public transport and go to Tesco. Rose pushed the trolley and offered input on options Mom presented, while Mom browsed, searched and in general seemed to be powered by enormous amounts of nervous energy.
"Tea, milk, yogurt, butter, lettuce, tomatoes, fish - and don't make that face, young lady, you know I can make it edible - carrots, yellow beans... maybe fava beans, hm?"
"Fava beans are fine" Rose provided, trying to guess the dish that would be the outcome of that combination.
"Aaand some garlic, and..."
By the time they were done, the totes were full to bursting and Mom was slowly sipping an ice-cold ginger lemon soda.
"Lord, I needed this" she said finally. "Now. Home, unpack, and you, into bed, immediately. I needed this, but it was stupid to keep you out that late, I'm sorry. I'll make sure you have a reasonable breakfast ready tomorrow."
Rose could only smile and nod. She was tired and slightly sleepy, but it was good to see Mom acting normallyand not like an obsessed housekeeper trying to polish all the surfaces into high sheen.

#

Wednesday started early, despite the previous late evening. Mom's promised breakfast turned out to be crepes with white cottage cheese and bilberries - weird, but good. And, chased down by a cup of milky tea, definitely satisfying. They hugged minutely as Rose was leaving the bathroom and Mom was just checking if she had actually packed her lunch box.
"When you're back, I may still be sleeping" Mom yawned. "Or I may be out, I'll have to take the invoice to them in person."
"No problem. I'll start on the homework and if you have time, maybe... could we watch something? On your screen?"
"Sure. You want me to pick something new? Or from the shelf?"
Rose pecked her cheek.
"No idea. I'll see after school."
"Just text me if you want me to buy a new one."

####

When Elizabeth entered the flat, something was off. Yes, Mina's backpack was in its usual place, and her shoes were gleaming just next to her slightly scuffed trainers. There was no sound coming from the flat, however, and Mina always made a lot of noise, from scratching of her chair legs on the floor to talking at her laptop or even her phone.
She found her daughter curled up on her bed, face to the wall, one leg stretched out and both arms around a pillow.
"Kitten? What's wrong?"
"School is stupid."
She smothered a snort.
"What happened?"
"We were..." the girl began. "History. We were talking about stuff that people keep at home - old documents, pictures. And then there was a discussion about our families and where they are from."
Elizabeth's heart sank.
"Oh, dear. What happened?"
"We were... There was an exercise to fill in our family tree. So I put in all of us, and aunt Jane, and the kids, and everyone. And grandma, and grandpa. And then someone started... to laugh, that my tree is just half of the tree and that I should get a prosthesis for the other half, or it will fall down. And Mrs Sykes tried to make them shut up, but she is like, our size, and can't really shout, so they just kept... saying these things."
Elizabeth toed off her shoes and sat on the bed cross-legged, pulling her daughter's head into her lap.
"I'm sorry, darling. I think sometimes that the teachers are not exactly our allies in this. At least Mrs Sykes tried, didn't she?"
"Yes. And she patted my hand and said that she was sorry, but it's in the program."
"She probably can't do much about it, yes."
The girl nodded.
"Mom?"
"Yes, kitten?"
"Why... what happened to you and father? Why didn't it... work out?"
Elizabeth felt her arms grow heavy.
"This is..."
"Please? I really need to understand..."
She sighed.

####

Mom was sitting on her bed, fingers in her hair massaging her scalp slowly.
"Your Dad and I... we were much too young. We thought we were so old - me at twenty, him at twenty eight, we felt positivelyancient. And here comes the first part of the problem - the age gap. I was a student who just got a rather attractive scholarship and he was a businessman, working hard on his company and its place on the market. I was very busy writing my dissertation and trying to attend as many classes as I could, and suddenly there were people expecting that since I'm his girlfriend now, I should give up my university degree and play the hostess to his various business associates. I most definitely didn't feel like taking on such a responsibility. My people organisational skills are well known. I can barely get my sisters to bring the agreed-on dishes to a party. Setting up a party, for strangers and on the level of money, nope. No way."
"Who were these people?" Rose asked softly.
"A few wifes of his contractors, and customers... very high society, much more money spent in a month that my whole scholarship and noses permanently set in a sneer. He was trying to find his place then, and the amount of people he was meeting was... astounding. I was barely there for most of these events - had to submit assignments, write reports, normal uni stuff and write updates on my progress to the foundation that paid for my education."
"So, what happened?"
Mom sniffed.
"His aunt happened. She arrived - for whatever reason that was at the time, I couldn't be bothered to actually understand the details at the time - and happily stepped in. And I was cool with it. Someone did the big, annoying meetings, I didn't have to spend time arguing about invoices and trying to understand the vast political difference between canapes and tartines. My only input, from time to time, was to ensure that the menu included something for 'othereaters', like vegetarian or sugar-free, because I heardpeople complaining about that. She wasn't happy with the interference, so I tried not to intrude. And then she removed me from the equation - I still have no idea how - by having the parties set up on the days when either I had an early morning next day or I had a study evening. I suppose it was just easy, my days were full to the brim. I stopped going, even when I actually wanted to attend - it was silly to arrive at nine and leave at eleven - like a kid who has to turn in early. It was easier not to go at all."
"But why did you let her do this?"
"Because she was much better at it than I ever could be. And it was the way the business was done - networking, making connections, making 'friends' with others in the same area. And I couldn't really oppose her - I'd have to pick up the duty then. Basically, there was only one time I managed to effectively stop her from encroaching on our life..."
Someone actually standing up to Aunt C? Perfect!
"What did you do?"
"Well, I didn't really do all that much. She had an idea, which she never consulted with either me or your father, to set up some drinks evening at his flat - which I was living in, with him. And I... didn't let her in. I had flu, and the idea of various important businessmen milling around in my place when I'm sick, listening to how I'm throwing up everything, up to the last Christmas dinner didn't sit very well with me."
"What was she thinking? I mean, how did she even... why would she invite anyone like this, to your flat?"
"In her mind, it was her nephew's flat, and I was just a temporary element in it. She probably thought she'd be able to simply roll over me and do it the way she liked. Well, she didn't have the keys, she didn't have the security code and I didn't have time to listen to her making noise, because I ran to the toilet to be rather violently sick."
"So she was there, with the guests, and what?"
"Not with the guests, thankfully, but with the guys from catering. Still, the guests were supposed to follow any minute, so she was really pressed for time."
Rose nodded slowly. That did sound like Aunt C, to the last frustrating detail.
"And what did... he do?"
"Fortunately she called him at last, and he wasn't happy with the situation, and he definitely wasn't willing to give her the security codes. Redirected the party to conference rooms not far from the flat, rented last minute at some crazy cost, and once the people knew where they were supposed to be, he came home to check on me."
"And what were you doing?"
"Well, after being thoroughly ill, I fell asleep and apparently looked poorly enough to warrant calling an ambulance. They gave me fluids and then soundly told off your father for not taking care of his pregnant girlfriend" Mom smiled slightly. "Well, he did shut down his aunt effectively after that. There were no more parties during the week, no more late evenings and definitely no more surprises in our flat. But then he brought up the topic of marriage and... she started meddling in that. She started talking about a prenup. I might have said something to the effect of 'over my dead body'. And we fought about it, him and me. He couldn't understand why I can't just sign the stupid piece of paper - he was quite sure we wouldn't be getting divorced anyway, so whatever was there wouldn't apply. I was rather firm on the position that I'm not signing anything that looks like them accusing me of just being in it for the money. I'm afraid at some point a suggestion of me catching him with the pregnancy might have been added to the whole mess. And... then you were born, and we argued at the hospital, because his aunt swanned in with her 'traditional' and 'proper' ideas for baby names. Of course, I wasn't having any of that. She wasn't naming any baby of mine, no way. And here I was, eight hours after delivery, your father barely standing, me after three days on next to no sleep, you howling... and her, starting about the stupid prenup again! I think the hospital still remembers the shouting row I had with her and your father walking her out of the door."
Mom sighed and closed her eyes.
"Mom?"
"Yes, Mina?"
"What's a prenup?"
Elizabeth chuckled.
"That's a very old-fashioned idea - or one used in much richer society than I had ever kept. People who get married would sign a contract saying how much money the woman would get if they ever divorced."
Rose frowned.
"So, like, she was expecting you to split up? And didn't want you to get what?"
"She said she didn't want your father to lose money if I ever left him. Usually, had we been married, and then got divorced, the judges would say I'm going to get some portion of what he earned during our marriage, just because I was married to him. The prenup was supposed to say that each of us would have completely separate accounts and everything and that I would contribute to the upkeep of the house in an equal amount. Which was rubbish, because, I'm afraid, the difference in the money earned by a part-time employed student and a real estate entrepreneur was rather... big. And the house - because by that time, we'd moved to his country house - was huge. So I said I can contribute if we continue to live in the flat in town, because this is what I signed up for - when we met, I didn't know he had a bl-big mansion in the country, and a whole property around it! Charlie never told me his best friend was the owner of like, half the bloody shire!"
"MOM!"
"Oh, damn" Elizabeth hid her face in a her hands. "I'm sorry, darling. This whole... I mean, I... Oh, God."
She raked her hair with both hands nervously.
"You see, ducky. You live with me, here, in a flat I rent from my parents. And your father is, yes, that's true, owner of like half of a shire. I... I probably should have known better, but I just fell in love, you see. And then I felt like an intruder, like something that attached itself to that fabulous, wealthy family and I felt like just... just an interloper. I don't want to disparage them all - there were some very nice people on that side. But I was a poor scholarship student of computer engineering and programming, while he was earning enough money to fund twenty such scholarships from pocket change. I'm still not sure why he ever actually noticed me, you see. At the beginning, for all the meetings and events I was just there with Charlie and Jane, along for a ride, because aunt Jane felt better if I went with her. And then she got sick, and Charles was waiting on her hand and foot, at our own tiny flat, and I was kind of left to my own devices, so I started talking to that friend of his when they came visiting, and then it just... progressed. And then, suddenly, I found myself with an extended family, overblown expectations, trying to finish my degree, four o'clock feedings and a heap of other things, and his aunt harping about that stupid prenup. And I snapped. One day I just couldn't take it anymore. I packed what I thought I could take, I left what I thought I should leave and... I came home. Here. Your grandparents were rather unhappy with how the whole situation was resolved, but I stood firm and told them there is no way I'm going to stay in contact with someone who expects me to try to cheat him out of his money. My supervisor was moving south anyway, so it was easier in a way…"
Rose sat up on the bed, looking at her mother's shaking shoulders in absolute silence.
Left what I thought I should leave she repeated in her mind.She means me. She took Mina and left me, because she... what?
"Why did you leave me?" she blurted out and saw her mother go white as a sheet.

####

When Elizabeth managed to drink a second glass of water and stop shaking, they sat on the kitchen floor and looked at each other.
"However stupid it will sound... It was because of the name" she said finally. "I had this fixation I could only take one of you - it wasn't fair to anyone, but that way at least I felt I wasn't cheating William out of both of you. And Mina is named after him, you know. You saw her documents, so you know her full name is Wilhelmina."
Rose frowned.
"And me? You didn't like my name so much?"
Elizabeth chuckled weakly.
"Darling, your name was chosen by your father. He thought it appropriate to name you after me. My second name is Rosalinde. Elizabeth Rosalinde Bennet. I decided to take Mina with me to remind me of him - and, and to leave you... to remind him of me. I wasn't thinking very clearly, of course. I stopped at the first gas station I came across and sat in my car for half an hour, crying. Mina woke up and cried too, and I thought she might be feeling being separated from you, but I just couldn't go back - I even thought about it, to leave her, too, but I couldn't force myself. I knew that if I did, his aunt - and I meant aunt Catherine, yes - would do everything to take you both away. This way, I at least got to keep Mina..."
Rose pursed her lips.
"I'm not sure I can... I can forgive you" she said slowly. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I don't understand it. Why didn't you stay? Why didn't you fight for us all?"
Elizabeth leaned back on the cupboard and laughed softly, Rose looking at her with a frown.
"I did, darling. You were more than a year old by the time I left. Actually, it was the day after your birthday. The day I felt that even one more evening in the company of my supposed in-laws and I will hurt someone - or myself. There was only one person in that house that wasn't actively working against me, and I'm afraid to say it wasn't your father."
Rose shivered.
"Dad wouldn't..."
"We were past the point when we were on speaking terms by that day. I know - I understand he is a good father, I can see he brought you up to be a very fine young woman. But he wasn't..." she sighed. "I don't want to disparage him, darling. But he wasn't a very forgiving person, neither of us was. And he certainly had some very specific notions about one's life aims. I was taking care of you both and, in between, trying to finish my degree. He couldn't understand it. He thought it didn't make sense for me to focus on my degree so much when I should be taking care of you. Suggestions of me being in the wrong specialisation were also thrown in. Specifically, the un-female-ness of it."
Rose's brows rose.
"Really? Dad said crap like this?"
"Rose!"
"Well, it is crap!"
"Well, he did say this. And many other things, I'm afraid. And I wasn't easy to talk to, either. I got so angry and so... convinced of my absolute right to do what I planned, and the obvious, objective soundness of my plans that I never took enough time to explain to him why I was doing it. For me, I suddenly saw him as still stuck mentally in like, the nineteenth century, thinking I could just be a wife and a mother and be happy with it. I think it might have been aunt Catherine's doing - she was promoting Anne as his perfect wife all that time... He didn't get married to her, did he?" she suddenly looked at her daughter with dread.
"No" Rose grimaced. "But Mina says she's making some moves and she doesn't like her. I mean, Mina doesn't like aunt Anne. Aunt Anne basically doesn't like kids at all."
Elizabeth nodded and wiped her nose with a paper towel.
"I'm sorry you had to hear this" she said finally. "But I think you're big enough to understand. Not all love goes the right way. We were so idiotically in love we never saw the reality around us. I'm afraid we weren't even in love with the actual proper persons, just with our expectations of them. And then, once the reality came knocking, it turned out that this love was not enough to keep us together in the face of that reality."
"Does this mean it's all aunt Catherine's fault?" Rose asked with a bit of hope.
"I'm afraid, ducky, it was everyone's fault. Your aunt's, mine, your father's. We all made our mistakes and now Mina and you have to live with the outcome, and I'm very sorry."
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Who was that one person who was not working against you in the house?"
Elizabeth patted Rose's hand.
"Your aunt Georgiana. You know - she is ten years younger than your father, so I was actually closer in age to her than to him. And she knew she wanted to graduate and work on her degree, so she sometimes came to me to tell her what it is like at the university. I really appreciated her support. I remember she started university just before you two were born, but I'm not sure what she did after I..."
"She's got a degree" Rose smiled. "Musicology, or something like this. She writes articles about old harps and clavichords and so on. And she plays them all, too. Sometimes when they find some very special instrument in some old church, or whatever, they call her to come and check what it is and if it can be made to work. Last spring she spent three months on an organ in one of the churches, because the parish council wanted just to replace it and sell the old one for scrap metal."
"Wow. So she is actually doing what she planned to do. I wonder how she managed it."
Rose shrugged one-shoulderly.
"Not sure. But Dad never told me not to study, and when I started falling behind after my appendix he sat with me for days, helping me with the material. And he even got me a tutor for physics, because he said he didn't have a good head for this stuff, so he didn't want me to be more confused - after he tried explaining it to me once."
"That was... thoughtful of him. And" Elizabeth smiled slightly "what are your plans for later? After school?"
"Well, I want to be a garden architect. So Dad said that I'd need at least a bachelor in landscape architecture then, for this to make sense. And he actually found a school in the Netherlands that is supposedly the best in Europe. I'm going to start Dutch next year."
Elizabeth made an appreciative face.
"He did change quite a bit since... well."
"You mean he is no longer a tenth-century Neanderthal male, yes? This is what aunt Georgiana called him the last time he said something about a woman racecar driver. He went all red and choked on his coffee and she laughed for the whole breakfast."
"Well. Seems he still has some progress in front of him."
Rose sniffed.
"What are you going to do with me now?"
Elizabeth groaned.
"I suppose we should switch you two back, shouldn't we?"
"Yep" Rose grimaced. "Before I mess up Mina's grades even worse - and she mine."
"God. That's why you had all these problems..."
"And Mina is afraid father would expect to see her on a horse any day now" Rose added. "So I'd rather get there sometime soon before she manages to do something to my mare."
Elizabeth shuddered theatrically.
"OK. So. Ground rules, until I manage to think how to undo this unholy mess. Point one, we don't tell grandma. She would blow her gasket and that would be nasty. Point two, you try the best at school and I'll talk to your teachers and explain that you'll be taking remedial Italian for some time, just to get you up to speed. This should relieve some pressure. What is it that you were taking, actually?"
"French."
"Of course. Bloody D'Arcys."
Rose frowned.
"What?"
"Sorry, dear. That was... kind of a long thing. But I always wanted to learn Italian - and I did, it's not like I'm living vicariously through Mina - because 'Bennets' come from 'Benitos', some old Italian family. And when W- your father heard about it, we had the most draining discussion ever, because his family - your family - is not just 'Darcy', it's 'D'Arcy', and they are of French origin. He claimed it is much more useful to learn French than Italian. I think it took us three days or so to just stop mentioning this. We never agreed on it, of course. Therefore, Mina is now probably making your French grades as bad as you made her Italian ones."
"You really did argue that much?"
Elizabeth sighed and combed her hair back both-handed.
How to explain to a fourteen-year-old, with all her life in front of her, with all her options open, how grownups can mess up their lives by simply not talking properly about things? How her father - whom the kid obviously loves - had nearly managed to smother her mother's drive for education, just simply by putting her into an age-old position of a mother? Even worse, a mother with next to no support from her surroundings?
How to describe, without making said father into a monster, how she had spent entire nights in the twins' bedroom, with a laptop on her knees, trying to work on the last part of her thesis project, while her milk leaked, her hormones were all over the place and she was falling on her face with exhaustion?
How to say "your great-aunt is a witch and your aunt is a creepy piece of work that shouldn't be let near honest people" without actually saying it?
How to say "I cried on the floor of your bedroom when you were asleep, because nobody else ever came there anyway, so nobody noticed"?
"We did, I'm afraid" she said finally. "I was depressed - despite it being a known problem in general, not many doctors identified a postpartum depression and even less would treat it. At least the ones that I was seeing treated it as me griping about the normal way the things were, and not as a real illness. I was barely functioning, and I tried juggling my thesis, you and W-William" she swallowed, saying his name for the first time in thirteen years "and because William was the only one that I could argue with, he took the brunt of my emotions. And he was never one to back down, so..." she shrugged. "I felt defeated, finally. Him, the bl-stupid prenup, aunt Catherine, the house and my degree - I could only manage one thing at a time. I'm not really defending my choice, mind you. I could have taken both of you, probably. I just didn't think I could cope with dealing with the two of you completely alone, without even the scant help Mrs Reynolds provided when she could."
Rose sighed.
"I don't like this" she said finally.
"Neither do I, ducky" Elizabeth sat next to her and pulled her into a hug. "But that is what happened, and I can't really undo it now. I can only hope we can communicate with him amicably and exchange the two of you with a minimal amount of fuss."
"I hope we could, like, meet sometimes. Later, you know. Like, maybe you two could come to Lambton during Christmas? And see the fair, and the decorations, and stuff?"
"Or you two could come to London, you know. See a play or go shopping with us?"
Rose nodded slowly and pressed herself to Elizabeth.
"I still don't understand how the two of you could do and say all that stuff to each other and manage to stay in one room long enough to actually make babies, you know. You will have to work on some better answers. But not necessarily today."
"I hope you've had enough Sex Ed to know that actually making babies doesn't require talking during the deed" Elizabeth couldn't really stop herself, until she saw Rose's dark-red blush. "But, really" she sighed. "I loved him then. I thought... he was funny and warm, and he never said anything about me being too short, or too weird. He commented sometimes on the fact that I was on an engineering track, but at the time it seemed benign, much less biting than I'd been hearing at the uni anyway. Only later..." she paused "it started to grow. But earlier, oh, at the beginning we were like these two idiots. He fell first, completely, but managed to talk himself into being sooo uninterested in me. And I thought he was just Charles' stuck-up friend, so I kind of ignored him for a while - especially since he managed to insult my musical taste at our second meeting. But on the other hand, I'd been hearing stories of 'Will, my best mate since first day at the uni' and the rugby games when William helped Charlie to train for speed, instead for just pure muscle mass - you know how uncle Charles is a bit on the wiry side, and your father, well..."
"Yes" Rose managed to whisper.
"So he helped Charles with his training, to make sure he could stay on the team. And then he invited Charles for weekends to join him at Pemberley, instead of being stuck at the dormitory. Because it was the time when Charles' sisters did something absolutely idiotic that almost cost them their family house. And then Will helped Charles with some legal proceedings that got the house back - and blocked the sisters from mortgaging it again, or whatever it was that they did. So, basically, by the time Jane and Charlie met, Will was Charles' superhero. He didn't seem like much to me, mind you. Suits, usually some very posh accessories, like cuff links, a pen, this kind of thing. But he always looked bored with everything that happened around him - sitting in the corner, looking at everyone, standing by the window and staring outside. And one day..." she rubbed her eyes. "One day he asked me something. About a book that was on a table next to me. I explained that it's not mine, as I can't stand poetry, and we started talking about literature. Turned out he appreciated good crime story, but not horrors, historical fiction but not autobiographies, and so on. We weren't completely compatible because I love a good romance now and then and he hates all things "lovey", and I can't stand war stories and he can spend hours analysing one battle or another. But it was more than enough to spark a discussion. Then there were vacations and I wanted to spend as much time as I could on writing my thesis and my temporary job, before Charles' and Jane's wedding, and we drifted a bit apart, but being the best man and the maid of honour we simply had to meet almost every other day during preparation. So in autumn we quickly found each other to be quite interesting, again, and by the time of the wedding I couldn't understand how I hadn't loved him before..."
Rose was curled up in her mother's lap at that moment, eyes wide open and looking at Elizabeth's drawn face.
"Maybe that was why - we never had time to actually get to know each other. Either I was busy, or he, or both of us, and when we had time, we didn't really talk about ourselves, just, mostly, either we bickered about books, laughed at Jane and Charles or..." she blushed.
"I had Sex Ed, Mom."
"Well, then. And then Will's Aunt Catherine arrived, with her daughter in tow, and when she understood we were living together, she started her campaign. Which, after two years, ended with..."
"You here and Dad there. And Mina and me not knowing the other one existed for thirteen years."
"I'm afraid so."
Rose closed her eyes and sniffed.
"What are we going to do now?"
Elizabeth sighed and combed her hair away from her face.
"I will have to call uncle Charles and then" she shrugged. "We'll have to take a trip. But not today, definitely."
"Not today."

####

Mom was sitting in the kitchen, nursing her tea, looking rather tired. Rose couldn't really force herself to leave her alone but neither wanted to start another conversation, as every attempt quickly dwindled to apologies, explanations and sobs. Each of them had already cried twice - and in case of Rose, been reduced to snot and tears - so they gave each other as much space as they could while still keeping the other in sight.
The pillow on the floor of the tiny corridor between the kitchen and the bathroom was adequate for Rose for the time being and each could raise her head and look and nod at the other silently if they wished.
Rose's phone buzzed.
"Yeah?"
"Rose?"
Mina had been crying.
"What's wrong?" she stood up, frowning. "What happened?"
"Can you talk now?"
She glanced at Mom, who was watching her in surprise.
"Yes, just... give me a moment..."
She sighed, looked at Mom and nodded towards her room. In seconds, she was behind the door and listening intently to her sister's sniffles.
"What is going on?"
"Aunt... aunt Catherine..."
"What is she doing?"
"She..." Mina sobbed and Rose could hear a tissue being pulled from a box. "She said I was a mistake. I mean, that you... that we were a mistake!"
"What the hell..."
"She was talking to Anne, but she is, like, half-deaf, so she doesn't even know how loudly she shouts. So I heard her through the window, and she was telling all these old stupid things, like I am - you are..."
"I know. Useless, too muscled, too stupid, too everything. By the way, forgot to tell you - grandma also thinks girls shouldn't have bulging muscles."
"At least grandma never told me Mom should have sent me away, or given me up" Mina said quietly. "And aunt Catherine said exactly this. She said 'if William had got rid of her in time, it would have been easier for you both'. And that because he was busy with you, he lost business opportunities and Anne didn't manage to snag him when he was young and stupid."
Rose felt herself choking.
"She said that, like, literally?"
"Well, among other stuff. Like, that Anne was still young and could have babies, if she applied herself. And that she should show more interest in Dad. And that if they managed to send me - you - to some actual boarding school, Anne would have better chances with him. And that he should have sent you to Mom the moment she left, and not keep you and take care of you himself. And that you - me, whatever - were a waste of time and money and Anne should focus on making sure she pops out some babies that could properly inherit the Darcy fortune."
"You're kidding."
"Unfortunately, mostly quoting."
"What the hell caused this? Did something happen? Dad proposed to her maybe?"
"No, Dad didn't do anything out of everyday. He asked me about school a lot, today morning, and I kind of had to be evasive, because the report card is coming next week and I don't think he will be happy..."
"God, what did you do?"
"Maybe your math grades will need much more fixing than we expected..."
Rose groaned.
"And maybe the PE condition test went a bit poorer than the last one..."
"And...?"
"And you might have forgotten to tell me that there was a book to be read over the vacation and I didn't read it..."
"So, Dad tried to talk to you about school and you did what?"
Mina stayed silent.
"Mina, what did you do?"
"I told him I punched Ray and that the headmaster wants to talk to him."
"You did what?!"
"I punched Ray. He was picking on some little kids from the primary and taking their change. I think he might have collected like three quid in total, but he was hitting them. So I gave him a black eye, and the headmaster said that because it's my - your - first offence, he's letting me tell Dad in my own time, but it will be in the report card anyway, so..."
"You hit Ray the idiot. Raymond, the one who pins girls' braids to their chairs and who can't tell his chewing gum from his eraser?"
"Yes."
"He is mostly meat..."
"He also has eyes, and I hit him in one."
"So you told Dad you hit a boy and..."
"He kind of choked on his coffee."
"And aunt Catherine?"
Mina was silent for a moment, again, and Rose dropped to her bed, stretching on the blanket.
"Little sister..."
"She started ranting about me being a dishonour to the family name. I don't know how she does it - one second calmly drinking tea, next she's going fifty miles per hour, foaming at the mouth and spitting."
"Apparently we both have something that makes her take her mental foot off the brakes. OK, now. We know perfectly well that Dad loves us - at least, you know. Me. But you too, I'm sure. And you know what? If Aunt Catherine thinks that me being there all these years is what blocked aunt Anne..."
Mina snorted wetly.
"Then I think it's quite good. Imagine what these two would have done if you hadn't not here."
"Which means, basically, that it's not me who is a mistake. Or rather, we aren't Dad's mistake."
"No, no. Different accent, big sister. You weren't his mistake. You were his best defence."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"Let's just make sure we stay in that role, OK?"
"I get kind of a feeling that boarding school would be a very, very bad idea right now."
"If someone brings up the idea in a definite way, go tell Dad about the switch. First, they'll have to switch us back and then anyway it will be a mess, so there will be no time to send me there. But don't just blurt it out, OK?"
Mina sniffed.
"You and Mom OK?"
Rose watched the shadows dancing on the ceiling of Mina's room for a moment.
"Rose?"
"I... Yeah, it's good. But she told me how they had split and I'm afraid our parents are idiots."
"From what aunt Georgiana told me, they were both very much in love. And then started arguing and one day, when we were a year old, she disappeared. Obviously, aunt G didn't mention her having disappeared with the other kid."
"She told me..." Rose licked her lips. "She told me that Dad..."
"Rose?"
"She told me she was so tired she stopped thinking. And that Dad wasn't helping with us. And that she just couldn't take it anymore."
"Rose? What did you tell her? Did you, like, tell her, tell her?"
Rose felt the silence stretch like a slowly pulled elastic.
"Yeah" she said finally. "But she doesn't want to switch us back immediately, you know. I mean, she knows she should, but... She said she will talk to the teachers about changing some classes, to make sure your grades don't take a hit, too much."
"She wants to keep you to herself longer" Mina concluded quietly. "Good. I really need more time to work out what happened here, before they have to meet. We have to be properly prepared for... whatever happens."
"Yeah. If you learn anything, text me immediately. Anytime."
"You the same. Now, details. What else did Mom tell you?"
"Well... Basically, sista, we're a bit... Theyarenotmarried."
"WHAT!?"
"Geez, Mina!"
"Sorry. But what? That means that Anne could... she could just... I mean, really, she... Oh, God, I'm gonna besick. Ugh. No. That means he's, like, single. Yes? So if Anne and aunt Catherine press hard enough..."
"Use the switch then. I mean it. Mom is fine for the time being, I think she's just trying to gather her courage. Imay have been a bit whiny today, so she's a bit worried. But if... if they bring up the topic again, in any way, I mean, if Dad says anything that looks like he's agreeing, tell him at once. Clear?"
Mina made a small sound of acceptance.
"What did Dad say when aunt C went off the handle? Did he say anything like, that he agrees with her?"
Mina snorted.
"No. He actually, you know, put down his paper, folded it, wiped some coffee off it and asked, all calm and cool 'Did you tuck the thumb in? You shouldn't tuck the thumb in, imp, it's the shortest way to breaking it. Let me show you later how to do it properly.'"
"Wow."
"Yeah. And aunt C just... shut up suddenly."
"If you can get him alone tomorrow - or even today, but it's getting late - try to..." Rose chewed her lip for a moment "can you get him to tell you what the hell is the business with aunt Catherine? Because I'm not saying she is the villain in this fairy tale, but she is definitely meddling like crazy."
"I will try, but it seems like there is this big thing between them that nobody ever mentions. How did you manage to live with them all that time? I mean, Anne is mostly quiet, but aunt Catherine..."
Rose sighed.
"Dad usually deflected her craziest ideas... and mostly, she was anyway criticising him. Everything, from the way the company is run, how the house is maintained, down to the way he manages the money for the charity. Including trying to get involved in the way the money is distributed by that charity. I think she had started on aunt Georgiana and me more recently, maybe last year? When I started failing physics, and she was trying to make something of it, Dad just said that if she wanted to blame anyone, she should blame him, because he was the one who didn't explain it well enough to me."
"Now I'm really curious. OK, the moment I get him alone..."

#

When Rose emerged from the bedroom twenty minutes later, Mom was sitting on the sofa, reading some kind of craft glossy. She took off her glasses and put away the paper as soon as she saw her daughter.
"Was it Mina?" she asked quietly.
Rose nodded.
"Something happened?"
"Kind of" Rose flopped on her back on the sofa, putting her head in her Mom's lap. "She heard aunt Catherine being nasty."
"You mean, she was speaking?"
"Well, louder than normally, but, in essence, yes. She said stuff about me - and, well, in fact, Mina - that I suppose I would have been used to. Mina isn't. Anyway, it's all fine now."
"We'll have to work on switching you back at some point, darling" Mom's fingers brush through her hair. "When were you planning on telling us, hm?"
"Halloween" Rose mumbled, eyes closed. "We were planning... to just dress as ourselves..." she hesitated. "And if someone asked us who we were dressed as, I'd say 'Mina' and she'd say 'Rose'. And then we were kind of hoping to take photos of how everyone would work through that."
Mom's hand in her hair stilled for a moment and she snorted.
"Oh, you clever little devils. 'Mina', sure. Grandma would have thought you were mental."
"Not like she has a very good opinion about me now."
"Oh, you are not alone in that. How do you two even keep this straight? I mean, this... this life is completely different from Derbyshire, isn't it? Which school do you go to, Lambton Secondary? Don't tell me she's being tortured by these infernal little twits at the public school at the other end of the town..."
"Well, she isn't. I resisted the last time aunt Catherine and aunt Anne tried mentioning it, and Dad said that being educated in a single-sex environment won't give me any benefits."
"Good for you. I remember meeting some girls that graduated from that one when I was out there. Some were in part of my classes at uni. Ghastly. I suppose that it didn't change much, schools tend to ossify in their methods and traditions."
"Well, I know some of them from my ballet classes and they are a bunch of stuck-up, patronising airheads."
"Which means that nothing had changed. So, how do you keep this isolated? The you that you were, you-being-Mina, Mina-being-you?"
Rose shrugged.
"I know what I did, she knows what she did. We know that any general opinion someone has, like grandma now, is really aimed at the original one. Anything specific, that is because of it happening now is aimed at the one that is here. Mina... Mina heard aunt Catherine saying big, general things about me, but that was because of something that she did today."
Mom's hand stilled at her temple.
"When did you two manage to grow up so much?"
"When you were not looking, I suppose."
She felt a hot droplet fall on her forehead.
"Can I call her? I... Well, I don't know your number."

####

Mina was trying to sleep, but it wasn't happening.
The contest.
Hearing Aunt Catherine.
Dad's totally cool reaction.
Possible repercussions for Rose at school.
Dad still didn't come back from school.
Rose told Mom.
Her phone buzzed.

SUSAN

"Rose?"
"Mina?"
She felt her heart actually, literally, skip a beat.
"Mom... Mom, I'm so sorry, I, we..."
"Rose told me. Love, do... I have to think for a moment, all right? I will call your f-father, but, not today. Will you be OK for a day or two more?"
"Mommy" she whispered tiredly. "I will. But I think we won't make it until Halloween then, will we?"
"No, kitten, you won't. I think we have to undo this as soon as possible. Just give me a moment to get used to the idea."
"But, oh, Mom. I... Gosh, Rose will kill me!"
Mom actually giggled.
"Why?"
"I might have signed up for a singing contest... I thought I'd be here another five weeks, and then the competition would have been done and she'd have at least one positive thing on her record..."
"I think, kitten, that the competition is less important than dealing with this mess promptly. Now, go to sleep, and I will try to psych myself up to... to dealing with this. I'm sorry you two had to go through this, Mina. I..." Mom sighed. "I should have been a better mother. I promise I will try to do better now."
"Mom" Mina said softly. "Don't worry. I... I think waiting until the weekend won't do any damage, will it?"
She heard something on the other end of the connection that sounded like Rose's frantic whisper.
Mom gasped.
"Really? How did you two... No, no, definitely. No! It was fifteen minutes...! Mina? One important message, right now: You are fifteen minutes younger than her. Do you hear me? Fifteen. Dear God, which one of you thought it was a whole day?!"
Mina laughed weakly.
"Love you, kitten. Don't forget about it. I love you both, yes, Rose. Now, Mina. Sleep. It will be over soon. Just let me handle this, OK?"
"Yes, Mom" she mumbled, falling back on her pillow. "Love you. And Rose."
Fifteen minutes later, as she was dozing shallowly, the phone buzzed again.

From: Susan
To: Rose
We don't have much time left to get the other side of this crap. Aunt G doesn't know. Try Dad, if you can. Once they switch us back, who knows if they'll ever tell us the whole thing.

####

The house was dark when he came back.
He had actually left school very early - twenty minutes with the headmaster gave him the whole picture he needed. Rose was standing up for smaller kids. The way she did it wasn't exactly deemed perfectly appropriate, but nobody - except for young Raymond's parents - could say anything negative about herintent.
A quick agreement between the involved parties was reached and Rose was given three weeks to produce a poster regarding correct reporting of bullying to the school authorities, while Ray had been suspended for the rest of the week and banned from entering the parts of the schoolyard dedicated to younger students and from attending the school Halloween party.
It was a satisfying outcome for everyone - of course, except for Raymond.
His study was quiet and pleasantly cool, so he opened the slightly creaky window to let in even more of the evening air and sat at his desk.
Rose.
The sooner the new house was built, the better. The old arrangement was only valid as long as he lived at Pemberley, after all. The paperwork for all the needed historical restoration had been speedily processed and approved, the budget for the new house was calculated and allocated for the current year and the next one and everything was underway to ensure that by that time next year they would be free.
He thanked whichever power had sent him that flash of inspiration in July. The new house would resolve so many problems at once.
He pulled out the long list he had made with his lawyer team. Almost all points were marked as completed and with the grounds of the new house being formally separated from ones belonging to the old mansion and a boundary markers set that very afternoon, he could safely check off another line.
He had been a naive, sentimental and easily manipulated fool.
No more.
A smirk widened his lips as he typed an answer to Charles' e-mail with the new calculation of cost and effectiveness of the newest model of solar panels.

Charlie,

You have my authorisation to pick the last generation available. Attached are calculations of total roof surface and sections of the southern wall that I want to cover.
Hardcopy of authorisation will be sent tomorrow morning. Please expedite and make provisional arrangement for installation for July.

Regards

W.

His eyes wandered back to the old contract opened flat next to the keyboard.
Honour as your own.
He ground his teeth just a bit.
He should have known better than to enter into any business with relatives.
He managed to resist a repetition ever since. Richard had not been hired, despite his uncle's repeated requests. Matthew was told to take his fabulous deal to someone else. His uncle's investment money waskindly declined. One slip was one too many. That one had cost him too much already.
He fired off two more e-mails and finally pulled out the box of stationery he had stored at the back of the bottom drawer. It had been a joke. A random trip to a fair, a papercraft stall, a kids stationery set printed with houses.
It had since become the most serious thing he did.
Uncapping the old fountain pen, he sighed. Tested it on a piece of scrap paper. Carefully balled up said scrap paper and carried it to the wastebasket. Cleaned the nib. Repositioned the lamp.
Sighed again, stretched.
Considered for a moment checking on Rose and, in case she was still awake, telling her about the progress with the house. Or about the punishment. He wasn't sure what to tell her, as it had been the very first time he was called in on such an issue. Maybe it would be better to tell her over breakfast? No. Better now.
He left the pen, the blank letter paper and the lamp.

#

Rose was in bed and didn't react to either his knock or the door opening with a quiet whine. He stood over her for a moment, looking at the dark lashes and the small smattering of freckles on her nose.
"I'm sorry, darling" he whispered. "But it will get better, soon. Just... I hope you can forgive me someday."

#

There was nothing else to be done now. He had to write the letter at some point, and he knew Georgiana would nag him until he did it.
The pen was waiting, the paper was there and the letter had to be written.

Dear Elizabeth,

The girls will be fourteen very soon. I am stating the obvious because there isn't much more I can write right now. Please, do not throw this letter away and grant me the next few minutes.

He sighed. He always found it easier to write than to talk, but after all that time, even writing became a challenge.
He could probably derail Georgiana's nagging by showing her the house plans. If she was annoyed enough with him for not telling her earlier, she might actually forget about the letter for a day or two.

####

Thursday morning was unremarkable.
A small note to the effect of "Please consider reminding the students that there is more than one valid family model", signed by rather annoyed Mom was now resting in Rose's backpack pocket.
Otherwise, everything was just as normal. Except for the fact that Mom actually cried when she had to let her leave for school.
"I wish I could keep you home for the next days" she admitted finally. "But..."
"Truancy. No, I'd rather not mess up Mina's record" Rose smiled.
It was so much easier to go to school, still as Mina, when Mom knew.
No stupid remark from other students could move her. Also, there was no Italian on Thursday, which let her relax even more. And she could now call Mina openly, without hiding from Mom, so she would do so, the moment she'd be back home.
They wouldn't be visiting grandma, they wouldn't be seeing anyone but each other.
Rose wanted to drink in as much of Mom as was possible in the time left.
And Mom was waiting for her in front of the school, a cooler bag on her shoulder.
"What's this?" she tried opening the cover but got her hand slapped away.
"Ah-ah. Not now. Today, we're doing the London experience. I've spent all morning charting out the optimal route for us."
"Erm, Mom? What do you mean?"
Her mother put on her sunglasses and handed her another pair.
"You, Rose, are getting the 'everything you ever wanted to see in London' tour. Or rather 'everything I want you to see in London'. I'm not letting you go back until you at least see the most important points. Now, how is your backpack today? Do we have to go back home and drop it off, or are you fine with carrying it for the next two hours?"
One thing Rose didn't want was to waste time. And the backpack was fine.

####