"Lydia!" shouted Elizabeth Bennet, "Hurry up, please! I still need to get a shower."
With sharp sigh, Lizzie–as she was more commonly known–headed back to her bedroom where her sister Jane was getting dressed.
"Oh Jane," she said, hanging onto the doorframe.
"Don't 'Oh Jane' me, Lizzie," replied her sister, "I'm just trying to look respectable."
"You look like a princess, I'm sure you'll be the belle of the ball."
Jane rolled her eyes, "It's not a ball, Lizzie, it's a dinner party."
"With a dancefloor," Lizzie added, "And maybe I could get ready for it if Lydia ever gets out of the bathroom."
"Lydia, please, you have four other sisters. You're pretty enough as it is," Lizzie could hear her father trying to resolve the situation.
Lydia opened the bathroom door with a huff, "Fine."
Lizzie caught Mr. Bennet's eye as she hurried to the bathroom to get ready for tonight, "Thanks."
In one of the other bedrooms, Kitty was raging through her closet. "What am I supposed to wear?"
"How about that one?" Lydia stepped into the room.
"No, definitely not," Kitty sighed, "Plus I wore that last month. I wish we could have gone to the mall yesterday; you could have helped me pick out a new outfit."
"You'll look fine," her sister reassured her, though Kitty suspected it wasn't all that genuine.
"Oh easy for you to say, Miss spends two hours primping in the bathroom!"
"Shut up!" Lydia said, throwing one of the stuffed animals on the bed at her sister, "Come on then, I'll do your hair."
From her mother's room, Lizzie only just heard shrieks of "Mr. Bennet! Mr. Bennet!" before the shower drowned them out. Like her younger sisters Lydia and Kitty, her mother often got overexcited by parties and other social gatherings. While Lizzie found them to generally be a good time, she mostly thought they were a bit ridiculous. Still, she wouldn't spoil it for her sisters.
In another hour or so, the Bennet family was on their way. Their destination was to the home of one of the men Mr. Bennet worked with on occasion. There wasn't really anything to celebrate, save for the end of the season. Some families would be leaving soon to go on holiday, so the dinner party was a chance for their one last hurrah.
"Welcome, may I take your jackets?" a young man asked as they walked through the threshold.
"Where can I find Mr. Brown?" Mr. Bennet asked the young man.
"Just through in the library," came the reply, "Have a good evening."
Mr. Bennet turned to smile at the girls before heading into the other room, leaving the six remaining Bennets to mingle as they pleased.
"Is Charlotte going to be here?" Jane asked.
"She said she would be," replied Lizzie, taking her sister by the arm and leading her down the hall.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Bennet had already found the hors d'oeuvres and punch bowl. Kitty and Lydia had also begun making their own rounds. The age of their fellow partygoes was much older than that of the fifteen and sixteen year old, but there was no doubt they'd find someone to converse with. Those two were naturally bubbly and outgoing. Mary, on the other hand, was much more subdued. She sat by the piano and people-watched.
It didn't take long for Jane and Lizzie to find their friend. Charlotte was seated next to her parents when the two girls approached her.
She jumped up at once and leaned closely to whisper something to them. "You'll never guess what I overheard!" she said excitedly.
Lizzie and Jane both returned clueless looks before Charlotte continued, "We finally have some new additions to our party. A young wealthy man named Charles Bingley is supposed to be staying in town for a while, along with his sister Caroline and friend Mr. Darcy."
"What about that makes you so pleased?" teased Lizzie.
"Don't be ridiculous, I haven't even met the man yet! I'm just thrilled to finally have some new potential acquaintances. Particularly ones that are a bit closer to our age." The three girls looked around the room and noted that the majority of the guests were not as young as they once were.
"So, how did you hear about this Mr. Bingley? Where's he from?" Jane pressed.
"I overheard my father. Apparently, Mr. Bingley is going to be doing an apprenticeship with Mr. Brown's firm. I'm not sure what the story is with is sister and friend."
"He must be good then, or have good connections," said Lizzie, "I can't remember the last time Mr. Brown's firm took on anyone new, especially not anyone so young."
Though their excitement and curiosity continued, the conversation transitioned to other topics. Lizzie and Jane brought Charlotte up to date on whatever was going on in their lives recently, and vice versa. Both sisters had been away at university for the spring and hadn't seen their childhood friend in several weeks, so there was a lot of catching up to do.
Up until Lizzie went away to college, Charlotte had been one of her closest confidants. The two were still close, but distance meant they didn't see each other nearly as often as they had used to. Charlotte was five years older than Lizzie; she still lived at home with her parents and did her best with her craft business. She was an old soul in many ways, and she was very traditional. Most were certain that Charlotte would never move away from her parents, let alone find a husband. It wasn't that she wasn't kind or friendly, just that she was rather plain.
Lizzie was in the middle of telling Charlotte about one of the project she had been working on when the room fell silent. A few of the older women looking out the window and then back at each other as if they were thinking the same thing.
And then, the young man who had earlier asked for their coats announced, "Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley, and Mr. Darcy."
The latter two stared cold-faced about the room, but Mr. Bingley seemed much more jovial.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he smiled.
Lizzie was sure he held gaze with Jane just a touch longer than he had with the rest of the group.
Mr. Brown clasped a hand upon the young man's shoulder and the rest of the room lit up again with conversation.
"Well, I guess what I overheard is true. Mr. Bingley is definitely handsome," Charlotte commented.
Jane and Lizzie both nodded in agreement. "The other man seemed a bit… stuffy, though. And his sister didn't look very friendly either."
"Lizzie, you shouldn't make such harsh judgments; they barely know anybody here."
"Well, we'll be introduced eventually, I expect." Lizzie replied.
Across the room, Mary was now playing the Browns' baby grand piano. Most of Mary's days were filled with practice. She was still in high school, but she had high hopes of going to school for music and eventually becoming a famous composer. Her fingers moved effortlessly along the keys until she was jolted to a halt by the hand on her shoulder.
It was her father, "Mary, that's enough, dear. Take a break and mingle."
She stormed off and Mr. Bennet could only shake his head. Meanwhile, some of the other young girls took this opportunity to put on some more modern music. The living room had more than enough space to dance, and it was far enough away from the dining area that it wouldn't be a bother to the older attendees. Though, that didn't stop some of the older folks from joining in. In particular, Mrs. Bennet, who was perhaps a bit drunk from too many cups of punch, had taken to the floor to dance with her two youngest daughters.
Mr. Bennet didn't seem to mind and instead was being introduced to the new guests.
"How very nice to meet you," Mr. Bennet said, shaking Mr. Bingley's hand.
"Thank you," Mr. Bingley replied, "This is my sister Caroline and my good friend Mr. Darcy."
"How are you enjoying town? Where are you staying?"
"We're renting the Netherfield Estate, which is very nice. So far we're having a very good time. I'm glad everyone is so friendly," the young man replied.
"You'll have a great experience working with Mr. Brown," Mr. Bennet said.
"Yes, I'm sure I will."
It was then that Lizzie, Jane, and Charlotte walked up and joined the group.
"Ah, these are my two daughters, Elizabeth and Jane, and the Lucas' daughter Charlotte," Mr. Bennet properly introduced them. "Girls, this is Mr. Bingley, his sister Caroline Bingley, and his friend Mr. Darcy."
"Nice to meet you," said Jane, quite shyly.
"Yes, it is," smiled Mr. Bingley.
"And are you having a pleasant evening, Mr. Darcy?" asked Lizzie.
She seemed to have caught him off guard, "I suppose it's pleasant enough."
Mr. Bingley's sister Caroline didn't say a word to any of them.
"Well, hopefully we'll talk again later. I have to continue making the rounds," Mr. Bingley said to them, though it seemed aimed most at Jane in particular.
Mr. Bingley and his group continued around, introducing themselves to their fellow partygoers. Eventually they found themselves being introduced to Mrs. Bennet and her other three daughters.
"I've already met your two daughters Jane and Elizabeth, along with your husband," Mr. Bingley said.
"Wonderful!" Mrs. Bennet replied with a big grin upon her face. "I hope you'll get a chance to get to know them better; they're such nice girls–and beautiful too, if I may say so."
Mr. Bingley laughed at this and shook his head in agreement.
"How long will you be in town?" asked Lydia.
"For a while, I hope," the young man replied.
Mrs. Bennet chimed in again, "Yes, it's nice to have a new addition and some fresh faces to look at. Handsome faces…"
Clearly, Mrs. Bennet had had a bit too much to drink and it was starting to show. Mr. Bingley didn't seem to be offended at all, however.
A number of other guests also seemed to have ingested a bit too much alcohol, which livened up the otherwise uneventful evening. Most of the younger folks had taken to dancing and chatting in the living room area. Kitty and Lydia were particularly glad of this and barely sat down the whole evening. They may have been some of the youngest at the party, but that didn't seem to matter much; if they couldn't find someone to dance with then the two of them had just as much fun dancing with each other.
Even Jane ended up on the dance floor–asked by none other than Mr. Bingley.
Others, however, were less outgoing. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley's sister barely moved from their spot in the room the rest of the night. They certainly didn't seem to be enjoying themselves very much, barely saying even a word to each other let alone to anyone else they had been introduced to.
"Hey Darcy!" shouted Mr. Bingley, "Keeping the walls company? Why don't you ask someone to dance? There are plenty of nice looking women here; how about that girl there? We were already introduced, and she is quite pretty."
Little did the two young men know, but Lizzie had overheard their conversation and was listening intently, though she didn't let on.
"Her? She's tolerable, I guess, but I'm really not in the mood to dance. Go on, don't let me stop you from your fun."
Lizzie had at first thought Mr. Darcy to be a very handsome man upon first meeting, but upon overhearing him she was now resolved that he was the ugliest man she'd ever seen. As soon as Mr. Darcy had gone from the room, Lizzie stormed off to confide in Charlotte what she'd overheard.