Notes: In the next two months I will have very little time to write and translate my stories. As compensation to my loyal readers, I am reposting this story. I will post one chapter per day.

PPP

For nearly three hundred years, the Bennet family had lived in Longbourn. In 1758, George Bennet married Maria Robinson in a love match. The bride brought a dowry of £5,000 to the marriage. They were blessed with only two sons: Thomas, born in 1760, and, two years later, Frederick.

The brothers had different temperaments, but they had an excellent relationship. Thomas was not very social and did not like physical activities, while Frederick enjoyed society and was very active. The only similarity they had was a love of books.

They both received a good gentleman's education and attended Oxford University. Frederick, as a second son, chose the clergy as his profession. By chance, he had been appointed to fill a vacancy in Derbyshire shortly after being ordained in 1786.

A few days before Frederick left for Derbyshire, there was an assembly in Meryton. Although Thomas did not want to attend, his brother convinced him to accompany him. At that fateful assembly, Thomas met Fanny Gardiner.

Fanny was the youngest daughter of the local solicitor. Her mother had died a few years ago, and her father paid little attention to her as he was focused on raising his only son. She was the most beautiful girl in Meryton, but she was silly and ignorant and ten years younger than Thomas.

Thomas was captivated by her unparalleled beauty and danced with her twice, and she often smiled at him. That same week, Thomas asked Mr. Gardiner's permission to court Fanny. When his parents found out, they tried to talk him out of making such a wrong choice without success. Three months later, they were married.

In 1787, George and Maria Bennet died in a tragic carriage accident. Due to the entailment, Thomas Bennet was the new master of Longbourn, and due to George Bennet's will, Frederick inherited his mother's dowry.

When Frederick went to his bank in London, to his surprise, he discovered that the account in his name had over £10,000. Although he could live on the interest of that money, he loved his profession as a vicar, so he decided to invest the money in the four per cent and continue living in the parsonage on his salary.

In 1788, Frederick married Marianne Thompson. Marianne was the only daughter of a gentleman who had an estate similar in size to Longbourn. Marianne was a pretty, intelligent and sensible young woman, and she had a dowry of £10,000.

One year later, the first daughter of Thomas and Fanny Bennet, Jane Bennet, was born. It was three more years before a younger sister, Mary, would be born, another two years until Kitty was born, and one year after Kitty, came Lydia.

In 1791, Frederick and Marianne Bennet had their first and only child, a daughter. They named her Elizabeth. Sadly, a few months after Elizabeth's birth, Marianne died of pneumonia, and three years later, Frederick died in an accident.

In Frederick Bennet's will, Elizabeth's maternal grandfather - who was only 50 years old at the time - was appointed her guardian. Frederick's money, which included Marianne's dowry, was intended to be Elizabeth's dowry and totalled nearly £25,000. That same will also stipulated that if Mr. Thompson died or could not fulfil his duties and obligations as Elizabeth's guardian, Thomas Bennett would take over as her guardian.

Since Mr. Thompson was a widower and Thomas was married with three daughters close in age to Elizabeth's, the two gentlemen decided that Elizabeth would live half of the year in Longbourn with the Bennets and the other half with Mr. Thompson. Thomas Bennet would receive about £300 a year to be used to support Elizabeth and hire the best governess and masters available in Hertfordshire.

Mr. Thompson, in addition to his estate in Derbyshire, had a small house in London, which was the ideal location for him and Elizabeth to spend the winter. Sadly, Mr. Thompson's estate – like Longbourn – could only be inherited by the male line, and his heir was a distant cousin he barely knew.

Thus, Elizabeth lived in Longbourn from June to November, and between December and May, she lived with her grandfather in London.

During the months she spent in London, her grandfather hired the best piano, painting, and language masters for her. In the remaining months of the year, Elizabeth practised her lessons using Longbourn's piano and practised French and Spanish with her Uncle Bennet.

Mr. Bennet never hired a governess since his wife was adamant it was an unnecessary expense. He used part of the money intended for Elizabeth's support and to pay for masters to buy expensive books and supplement his daughters' dowries.

Jane and Elizabeth were raised as best friends from a young age. Jane was very sweet and kind, but she lacked Elizabeth's intellectual curiosity.

When Elizabeth turned eight, her grandfather invited ten-year-old Jane to visit London with Elizabeth. The routine at Elizabeth's grandfather's house was not to Jane's liking. Jane had never had piano lessons, nor did she speak any foreign languages, and, according to her mother, it was not necessary for her future.

Due to Jane's lack of knowledge, the hired masters were unable to progress with Elizabeth's lessons and suggested to Mr. Thompson to separate the girls so that Elizabeth could move forward in her studies while Jane would start from scratch.

Mr. Thompson agreed with the masters and explained the plan to Elizabeth and Jane. To Mr. Thompson and Elizabeth's surprise, Jane said that she wanted to go back to Longbourn because she missed her parents and sisters.

Thus, the years passed. Elizabeth perfected her technique playing the piano and singing and spoke French and Italian, and a little bit of Spanish. Of her cousins, the only one who wanted to learn to play the piano was Mary, and she was also the only one who read Elizabeth's language books and practiced French and Italian with her father and Elizabeth.

The four daughters of Thomas and Fanny Bennet had blonde hair, although, in differing shades, they were all fair with light eyes. Elizabeth, however, had dark hair, tan skin, and dark green eyes with gold highlights.

Jane was considered a classic beauty; she was tall and slim, while Elizabeth drew a lot of attention for her exotic beauty and light – but more voluptuous - figure.

Since Longbourn would be inherited by a distant cousin when Mr. Bennet died, Mrs. Bennet decided that Jane should be out at sixteen. Since Jane was physically similar to her, Mrs. Bennet was sure that her most beautiful daughter would marry a wealthy gentleman, maybe even an Earl.

Furthermore, at least one of her daughters needed to make a good marriage since their dowries were only £2,000. Fanny didn't worry about Elizabeth's future since she assumed that her grandfather, Mr. Thompson, had put aside some money for her. But if he hadn't, it didn't matter too much to her. Her priority was ensuring the security and well-being of her daughters.

The years went by, and Jane turned twenty-two, but so far, she had received neither a marriage proposal nor a request for a courtship. She had been admired by more than one gentleman but their admiration had never gone beyond a simple flirtation. Meanwhile, Elizabeth had already turned down a marriage proposal from Mr. Watson, the eldest son of her grandfather's heir. That gentleman's main defect was that he had sired at least two illegitimate children, and he was not willing to care for any of them. Her grandfather fully supported her decision, and relations between Elizabeth and her grandfather's heir were broken forever.

Mrs. Bennet, as time passed, became more and more desperate, and did not understand how her eldest, most beautiful daughter did not have suitors. For four years, Jane had been going to her Uncle Gardiner's house in London but returned each year without success.

Elizabeth, who had attended some parties in London the previous year, clearly realized the cause of Jane's lack of suitors: Mrs. Bennet, with her vulgar matchmaking attitude, detracted greatly from Jane's chances of making a good marriage. In addition, due to the war, there were more young ladies than gentlemen in the country, and many of the gentlemen could not afford to marry a woman with a little dowry. In London, Elizabeth had met many beautiful young women similar to Jane, but – unlike Jane – they had a large dowry and a good education.