Pride and Prejudice

AU NOT Cannon

No Common Lady

A/N for this storyline I WILL BE pushing the estates closer than in the book; another reason (other than family dynamics) the story is AU. I really wanted Elizabeth within walking distance as I did Jane. The other two sisters, Kitty and Mary, will only be mentioned not shown.

Package for Lydia

Ch. 1

Mr. Bennet climbed back into his carriage and waved good-bye to his oldest tenant; a man bent with age, barely able to stand but still managing to get around on his own. Gently flicking the reins Thomas set back to his own home, his mind on his daughters as his wife had passed on four years ago.

Jane was happily living in Netherfield, unbothered by her snobby sisters-in-law. It might not have been so if Mr. Hurst had not gotten it into his head to move north, and Caroline had not married a rich foreigner who had come to England and swept her off her feet. It made Thomas smile that his oldest was happy, even if it made him sigh to know they too would soon have money problems if Charles did not heed Elizabeth's advice about money management.

Money had been a thorn in his own side until his wife had passed away and Mr. Bennet had been able to send away all the servants and implement Elizabeth's money plans. Now he was debt-free and well-grounded financially. It helped that Mary had married a man who had an exceptionally good skill at finding buyers for items Thomas had possessed at the house but did not really need. Sadly, he did not see his third daughter anymore as the couple had moved north upon her husband's father passing away and leaving his oldest a decent amount of land to farm plus a side business of selling various types of garden urns.

Farming was not something Kitty would ever do as her husband was a Reverend. The couple first lived in Cambridge but now lived closer to Mary than they did to Mr. Bennet. That left Lydia. Lydia, the name of his fifth made Thomas smile and sigh at the same time.

Lydia is not impulsive anymore, proper books are read, cooking and sewing are done exceptionally well - at least the sewing part, that is. She does not giggle like some childish schoolgirl. That is all well and good; however, her mouth smiles but her eyes do not, and that concerns me.

What happened up at Brighton? I have not heard of any scandal, no report of uncalled behavior - which I, or Elizabeth, feared would come. So why does my youngest not attend parties? Why act as if men are to be avoided? Especially George Wickham? Good heavens, he steers the widest berth of his own accord when he used to come the closest.

Thomas would have suspected the young military officer had done his daughter wrong, only, just as his thoughts had told him, no such news had come his way, nor had Mrs. Forster sent word of any ill report. Nonetheless, ever since Lydia had returned, even her own mother - before she had taken her last breath - could not convince that particular daughter to leave her home other than to go make rounds to the needy and poor.

"I am pretty sure…" Mr. Bennet looked up. "I sent Lydia away and got another Mary back instead, only the second, I confess, does talk a little more." Not much, but it was more than his third. Pulling up to his own home, Thomas was no longer surprised to see Lydia tending to flowers in front of the house.

The flowers were multi-colored and brightened up the front of the Bennet home. They lined the length of his home and were planted in between colorful urns Mary had sent from her new home. Stepping down, he smiled at Lydia, showing a gentleness not in existence before her return from Brighton. His daughter's own change had caused Thomas to be grateful he had begun his own before hers, or he might not have handled her return so well - even though there would not have been a valid reason not to.

"Whose package is this?" Mr. Bennet asked as he looked upon a brown package set at the top of their steps.

"I do not know. I have not looked yet." Lydia glanced up and went back to working in the flower bed. "I thought it to be for you, as Elizabeth appears to be sending a lot of packages our way of late." Her father approached the box with a look of curiosity and opened it with care.

"My dear…" Mr. Bennet turned his head towards Lydia, who was sitting by the window as she worked with the flowers.

"It is a present for you, from a Mrs. Aurelia Fletcher." Thomas could not help but wonder what Lydia's reaction would be.

He thought some sign of recognition, some expression of gratitude would be shown, but nothing more. However, to his surprise and delight, he saw a spark of animation in Lydia's eyes, such as he had not seen for a long time.

"Aurelia? She has sent me the gift after all!" Lydia exclaimed, and Thomas thought she might spring from her kneeling position, a sight he would have surprisingly welcomed. However, she did not. Nonetheless, her eyes did light up and rise faster than she had in quite some time. "She has remembered me! I did not think she would. I feared she had forgotten."

"Who is…" Mr. Bennet was interrupted by Lydia's swift departure from the porch and her rapid ascent up the stairs, a sound that echoed through the house and out the door to where he stood. "Mrs. Fletcher." He concluded his sentence, though his daughter was out of earshot. "Her smiling eyes and rapid footsteps are more than we have had since she has returned; it will need to suffice."

Lydia had not meant to ignore her father, but she had almost given up hope of hearing from Aurelia, a lady she had met in Brighton, one she had met the same night George and she had planned to run off.

"Oh, Aurelia." Lydia gasped as she untied the package to find a silver music box and a handwritten note.

Second A/N: I thank my beta-reader, and my daughter, for all their help; Mistakes are still all my own.