Sorry it has taken me so long to update! Forgive me ?

"That's a nice dress wear that one," Elle stated with her head hanging over her sisters bed.

"But this one doesn't look as good as the last one!" Elle sighed and turned to sit up on the bed.

"Jane the dress is lovely, the other dresses were lovely too. You look good in all of them, so why don't you just pick." Elle was usually very patient with her favourite sister but there is only so much a person can take. She had spent the last hour watching her extremely beautiful sister try on dresses which only enchanted that. She loved her sister but if anyone stared at Jane too long they began to feel really self-conscious.

"But I want to look nice when I go over for lunch," Jane replied while staring at Elle through the mirror. With a teasing smirk Elle locked eye contact,

"Would this have anything to do with a Charles-?"

"Elle, I've already told you we are just friends." This was what she had been saying for the past two weeks, yet they met up at least once a day and talked on the phone during their separations. She had been questioned about this many times but given her shy, reserved nature it was a fruitless endeavour.

Just as Elle opened her mouth there was a screech from down stairs closely followed by, "Jane get down here this minute!"

The two sisters quickly looked at each other before moving towards the door. Jane managed to across the room and out the door without any problem. However when Elle tried to scramble off the bed her foot got caught in the thin strap of on of the many dresses piled up around her. In her hurry to get to Jane, so she wouldn't have to face their mother alone, she didn't realise that she was falling until her face was inches from the ground and by then it was too late to do anything, apart from fall.

Groaning she moved the rest of the way to the door with surprising caution. She managed to make it down the stairs and into the kitchen before their mother was in full swing with her speech about her daughters getting married. Elle sat down at the breakfast table beside a figure holding up the newspaper. After a moment the figure spoke,

"You didn't need to come down, she did call for Jane… If I didn't know better I may actually think you enjoy her preaching." The newspaper came down to reveal her father with a teasing smile.

Elle didn't even look over as she knew who it was, "You are mistaken I do enjoy mothers speeches, all be it for the wrong reasons." Now she turned and kissed her father on the cheek, "Good morning dad. I just hate the thought of mother pressuring Jane. I mean it has only been two weeks and she is already talking about marriage." They sat in silence for a while simply listening to what was said. Mr Bennet went back to his paper but Elle never took her eyes off the pair as she munched on a piece of toast.

"Mum I need to borrow the car today to get to Netherfield, can I?" Jane asked as soon as Mrs Bennet had stopped talking.

"No you may not, I need the car. You can walk it's not that far," Mrs Bennet answered before pouring herself coffee.

"Walk!" both sisters shouted together and stared at their mother in disbelief.

"Jane can't walk its three miles from here and the weather is supposed to get really bad, just look outside. Are you really willing to risk the health of your own daughter over some man?" Elle asked. She knew her mother's ideas were a little out there but nothing like this.

"Well Elle at least she has got a boyfriend, and he could look after her when she is sick." Mrs Bennet was getting angry; she is very sensitive to facial expressions especially negative ones.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Elle knew what she was saying but couldn't believe her mother was finally going to verbalise her thoughts.

"I mean all you do is read and work on your plays, and for what? You don't have a boyfriend and your aiming for an impractical future. You could become a famous star, as I hear you have got talent." Mrs Bennet finally got to say all that she had been thinking to her wayward daughter.

Before Mr Bennet could jump in and defend his favourite daughter Elle started.

"You see that is the key phrase isn't it 'I hear' because you don't know, you haven't seen me for yourself. You're just annoyed because I don't think like you. I don't consider a man to be 'the be all and end all' of my life, and … I'm not sorry for that."

The whole kitchen was silent for a few minutes. These clashes between mother and daughter weren't rare. In fact both parties carried on as normal after a confrontation. All the sisters simply thought it was because their personalities were so different, but Mr Bennet knew better.

When Mr and Mrs Bennet first got married, Mrs Bennet was a small time movie star trying to make it big. It appeared that her career was over but it didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would because she had just given birth to her first child. When the child was almost one Mrs Bennet got a call. It was an opportunity for Mrs Bennet to play the lead and finally get herself noticed in Hollywood. When they came to filming it four months later Mrs Bennet found out she was two months pregnant. When the director found out, she was replaced as it was going to be a long shoot and a pregnancy bump wasn't what they were looking for. When the film was released six months later it went straight in at number one and gave everyone involved a mighty shove into the spotlight. So when Elle was born Mrs Bennet fell into depression and blamed Elle for wreaking her final chance at fame.

Mr Bennet knew that was why his wife was so hard on Elle and never supported her move into theatre.

When Mrs Bennet finally convinced Jane that the walk would be good for her, they went upstairs to find a suitable dress.

"So my dear," Mr Bennet turned in his seat so he was facing his daughter, "What are your thoughts for your final show? I've noticed you have been reading more than usual lately."

"I was thinking of doing Mansfield Park, as I feel Fanny's character is so misunderstood, but that would mean I have to write my own version to make it suitable as a play. Not to mention finding enough students who are willing to take part," Elle sighed and took a sip from her mug before continuing, " I spoke to Ms Frizzle about it a few days ago and she seemed to love the idea. She said that if I can successfully translate a classic novel into a theatrical play it would give me a new interesting edge in the viewers eyes."

Elle enjoyed talking with her father, she could bounce ideas off him and help make thoughts clearer in her own mind.

"I think it sounds like a great idea and I have no doubt that you will pull it off beautifully." Mr Bennet smiled proudly at his daughter and kissed the top of her head before going to his study to do some work.

Elle smiled and finally settled down to work with a pen in her hand and her wore copy of Mansfield Park in front of her. She was going to get this jusr right before she could hold the auditions.

Hope you don't mind but I have decided that I want an evil Mrs Bennet instead of the usual nice, wants the best for her daughters type. Don't really know why but did it anyway.