PROLOGUE

August 1807

London to Longbourn

It was the day and time to say good bye. There were final hugs, tears and farewells with their Aunt Madeleine and cousins, then Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, accompanied by Uncle Edward, boarded his carriage for their relatively short journey back to their home Longbourn, near Meryton, Hertfordshire.

Jane and Elizabeth often made the journey to and from London as they loved staying with their Gardiner Aunt, Uncle and cousins.

This time was special, as the Gardiners would soon undertake a much longer journey, all the way to India. They would be away for at least a year.

While Jane found the idea of travel abroad both fascinating and terrifying, Elizabeth was devastated that she could not go with them, often expressing the wish (just to Jane) that she had been born a Gardiner.

In fact, unknown to Elizabeth, Edward Gardiner had spoken to Tom Bennet about the possibility of Elizabeth joining them on their travels. Tom, who was reluctant to travel outside of his study door, had said a definite no to that idea.

The carriage made good time out of London, the Bennet ladies making the most of their last chance to spend time with their uncle. He and Aunt Madeleine had promised to write frequently and provide a return address as soon as possible.

Soon they arrived at their rest stop, an inn approximately half way between London and Longbourn. This inn was a busy, bustling place, a major stop for post coaches. It had a great reputation for food.

Edward carefully steered his precious nieces into the crowded inn and ordered a special tea for them all, served in a private room. They stayed a little longer than usual at the inn, enjoying their tea and conversation, but why not? They had plenty of time to get to Longbourn.

Jane was a beautiful young lady in the fashionable style, tall, slender and fair with soft blue eyes. Her sister was shorter and rounder, with dark curly hair and big brown eyes, in her own way just as beautiful as Jane. Of course, Elizabeth would be the first to say that was nonsense, no one, least of all herself, was as beautiful as Jane - had not their mother said so all of their lives?

Another carriage had just stopped at the inn and its occupant, a young gentleman, exited just in time to see Jane, as she and her party crossed the front courtyard towards their carriage. The young man found he could not move, he just stood there and stared.

Jane boarded the carriage followed by Elizabeth and Edward. Jane sat down and looked out of the window. She saw a well-dressed young gentleman gazing back at her. He was tall, with reddish blond wavy hair and a handsome face.

For a few seconds, the two stared at each other, beyond thoughts of propriety, beyond thoughts of anything except each other, then the coachman leapt onto the Gardiner carriage, and it slowly started to turn away.

At the last moment the young man smiled and Jane, quiet shy Jane, blushed deeply but smiled back for all she was worth, until she could no longer see him.

Jane was even quieter than usual during the remainder of the journey as she struggled to process what had just happened.

"How lives turn on small things" she thought for there was no doubt in Jane's mind. She had fallen in love, utterly and irrevocably, in one tiny intense moment.

Their welcome back at Longbourn was as noisy as expected, with their match-making mother wanting to know if they had met any gentlemen and their youngest sister Lydia wanting to know what gifts they had brought her.

Tom Bennet was particularly pleased to see Elizabeth as she was willing and happy to manage his estate and he was not. Three weeks without Elizabeth was three weeks too many.

Edward, who had much to do before leaving for India, farewelled his sister, brother and nieces and managed to depart Longbourn within an hour.

That night, both Jane and Elizabeth had trouble falling asleep.

Jane, for the first time ever, reflected on the plight of ladies, forever dependent upon the gentlemen in their lives. She would not see London for at least a year for her uncle would not be there and her father would never go there.

It was likely the young man spotted from the carriage lived or spent time in London. How would she ever see him again? Impossible. So affected and heartbroken was Jane, it took her over a week to confide in Elizabeth about what happened during the last few seconds at the post stop inn.

Elizabeth was worried to see that her father looked pale and ill. He wasn't in the best of health but had he looked that ill only three weeks ago? She felt a stab of fear. Longbourn was entailed to heirs male and her parents had no sons, only five daughters. If Tom Bennet died, the Bennet ladies' future was in the hands of an unknown, distant cousin, William Collins, currently a vicar somewhere in Kent.

Elizabeth did not need to confide her fears to Jane, for it soon became obvious to all but the most oblivious Bennets, that all was not well with Tom Bennet. He was dead by the middle of January 1808.