Chapter 1
The house where Pride and Prejudice was filmed was open for visitors from time to time. Lyme Park was actually an elegant, grand peaceful domain and it became Pemberley for many Austen fans. The house of the grumpy yet honest and lovable Mr. Darcy. The man whom every woman wanted to love.
“The marketing for this place is amazing, isn’t it?” A brown-haired woman asked her sister.
The two didn’t look at all alike, mostly because one took after their father while the other after their mother.
“I can’t believe we agreed to spend our vacation days here,”
They glanced at each other and sighed. Their mother was a huge and dedicated Austen fan and she loved Pride and Prejudice. She was literally lost in Austen, especially after marrying her own Mr. Bennet. Unfortunately, she moved even further and called her daughters Jane and Elizabeth. To Mr. Bennet’s luck, instead of three more girls, his wife gave him three more boys whom he took the liberty of naming anything but Charles, William, or anything related to Austen.
Jane Bennet was indeed a beautiful and elegant pure blonde- no, she wasn’t. Why lie, this real Jane Bennet was a police officer who loved sports and used her anger management problems in her favour. From tennis to football to martial arts to whatever sport, she tried it all and she succeeded in landing a detective job at Scotland Yard. That left Elizabeth, the second oldest, to appeal to their mother, which was not easy. Mrs. Bennet noticed that she was more of an artist rather than a sportswoman so she made sure to focus on creating a true Regency lady from her: piano lessons came first, then foreign languages, then literature, art, everything that could awe a Regency family. Luckily, Elizabeth was actually good at it. Mrs. Bennet was a literature professor at a famous college and Mr. Bennet was a philosophy professor at another. Their family was not poor at all, they were coming from good families, and the three Bennet boys: Miles, Armie, and Devon were all either in law school, med school, or business school. It was a family that did not feel like Longbourn’s Bennets.
“I could have gone and caught some criminals instead of being here,” Jane mumbled feeling like the quiet life was too much for her. “At least she got you to come all the way from New York.”
“She emotionally blackmailed me.”
Jane laughed and couldn’t help but feel pity for her sister. Because Jane was such a headstrong person, she left Elizabeth to carry the Austen burden all by herself.
“Why are you giving me this pitiful look? Do you think I moved to America to escape Mom?”
“Did you not?”
“I have. But I have Miles there to keep me company. If only mom knew the life he’s living...”
“Still a nerdy little boy who goes to every comic con?”
“That’s not the problem. He always gets me to go with him and postpone my own business. It’s the eyes. He has such puppy eyes.”
“It’s because he’s always loved spending time with you. Ha, you wouldn’t think if you’d see him at work. It’s like somebody completely different walks into the court...”
Both girls sighed and looked at the gardens. It truly was very beautiful.
“How’s the gallery?”
“Good. Thankfully we got another sponsor but they are very particular with their private corner. Even I haven’t seen the pieces yet and I’m the director.”
“What about classes? Do you still give art history courses?”
“Sometimes. I’m too lazy to bother myself with a learning plan and they always ask for one.”
“That’s how it works.”
Elizabeth shrugged and leaned against the wall, feeling like she will fall asleep soon.
“Do you still have insomnia?” Jane asked her sister with worry.
“...” Elizabeth avoided he sister’s eyes and looked at the scenery. Jane rolled her eyes and wrapped a hand around her shorter sister.
“I’m going back to the car to take a nap. Mom’s going to be inside for a long time, I can already feel it.” Jane said yawning in her sister’s brown hair.
“All right. Here, take my bag as well, I’m going to walk around and I don’t want to get robbed,”
Jane saluted in a silly way and took the small white bag before returning to the car they rented. Jane looked towards the entry into the house and could hear her mother’s joyous laughter. Well, that was taking longer than expected. Then she turned to the beauty that surrounded the mansion and smiled to herself.
“So quiet...”
Living in a house full of opinionated people was sometimes overwhelming. Moving to New York was like taking a step further into chaos so a bit of peace and nature was welcome. Elizabeth walked down the stairs and went into the labyrinth of gardens, although she heard the guide telling them not to go there. She looked around and nobody was there so she might as well take the chance.
Once she stepped on the grass, she realized that it was slippery. She approached the fountain and breathed in the fresh air. Suddenly feeling this sense of freedom, her responsibilities far for a limited amount of time, she spun around and laughed. It was fun until she slipped and fell into the fountain.
