Her skirts heavy with at least three inches of dampness and mud, Elizabeth Bennet snuck into the kitchen of her family's estate, Longbourn, and swiped an apple. The cook didn't bother to scold her as this was a daily occurrence, so long as the weather held. Thomas Bennet, Elizabeth's father, sipped his coffee and read the newspaper. Elizabeth greeted him with a peck on the cheek before sliding into the chair next to him.
"Morning, Papa. Anything of interest in the world today?" Elizabeth poured herself a cup of tea from the pot as footsteps echoed above. The rest of her family was rising to begin their day, though Elizabeth and her father had been awake for two hours.
"Sadly no, morning glory. The whole world is going mad and I fear there's no stopping the silliness." Mr. Bennet handed the newspaper to his precocious daughter so she might read the headlines of raids by the British Navy off the coast of the Americas and more uprisings in the Spanish colonies. Elizabeth's eyes widened as she tried to imagine what the far away places she read about might be like.
"What are your plans daughter? Surely it's been some time since you were in London to visit that aunt and uncle of yours." Mr. Bennet interrupted Elizabeth's reading.
She glanced up at her father, trying to read his face and determine if he were teasing her. Mr. Bennet was forever teasing his daughters and wife, for that matter. She squinted her eyes in effort to read her father's true intent and therefore devise a clever retort. Releasing a breath in exasperation she decided to simply remain honest.
"Aunt Gardiner did invite me to London some weeks ago, but I've decided to remain at home."
"Oh?" Mr. Bennet raised his eyebrows at his daughter who was always the first to travel and the last to remain still for long.
"Yes, I am decided upon spending this autumn and winter with Jane. No telling when some lucky beau may sweep in and steal her away forever." Elizabeth stirred her tea to circulate any sugar settled on the bottom and then took a sip.
Mr. Bennet grinned at his daughter. "A lucky beau is it? Perchance you already have one in mind?"
Elizabeth pressed her lips into a firm line to hide her own grin. "I'll never tell."
"Ah, so I should guess then?"
Elizabeth shook her head, but now her smile was free and shining on her face.
"Let's see, I saw you both dance with young Mr. Masters, pray is he for you or your sister?" Again, Elizabeth said nothing and simply wrinkled her nose, continuing to slowly sip her tea. Mr. Bennet leaned back and dramatically rubbed his chin. Birds chirped outside the window and high-pitched, agitated female voices rang from above. Finally, her father leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him.
"I know, Mr. Bingley is for Jane –" Elizabeth gave a pert nod to her father, "and Mr. Lucas is for you." Elizabeth choked on her mouthful of tea and sputtered the liquid in a most unladylike fashion. Footsteps thundered down the stairs with subsequent shouting as the two youngest Bennet sisters arrived to breakfast squabbling over a ribbon.
"Papa! Lydia has taken my best green ribbon and she will not give it back. Make her, Papa! Make her return it!" Kitty, the fourth Bennet daughter, cried as she chased Lydia, who was taunting her with the ribbon, around the breakfast table.
Mr. Bennet ignored the two misbehaving daughters to avoid distraction from his favorite. His favorite daughter who just admitted to him, albeit by deed not word, that she was smitten with that dolt John Lucas! Elizabeth decided to seize the opportunity to avoid undue scrutiny. She quickly excused herself from the table to run upstairs and change out of her soggy dress, wet from her morning walk and her failure to drink tea without spitting half out.
"Girls!" Mr. Bennet's shout made Kitty stop in her tracks but had no such effect on Lydia until she circled back close to her father and he suddenly rose from his chair. "Return the ribbon, Lydia." With an exaggerated pout, the young girl complied, finishing with a practiced flounce into the nearest chair.
As Mrs. Bennet entered the room and began a belated shouting at Kitty, Mr. Bennet shouted over his wife to attract the attention of the housekeeper, Ms. Hill.
"I'll take a tray in my study, Hill." And with that, Mr. Bennet left the sure to follow assembly gossip to the breakfast parlor set deciding that living through the event was more than enough for his taste.