“Yes.But I know everyone there, and they know me.There are no questions about my mark or my status.Everyone knows I am the eldest daughter of Longbourn.I do not receive so much attention.”She reached up and took Elizabeth’s hand.“I am so glad you are here with me, Lizzy.I do not know what I would do without you.”
Elizabeth smiled and kissed the top of her sister’s head, setting the brush on the dressing table.“I too am glad we came out together.I am especially glad Mama did not put us out at fifteen as she wished to!”
Jane moved to the bed and slipped under the covers.“You seem comfortable in society.How are you enjoying the Season?”
“I am enjoying it very well.”She smiled slyly.“Though I am not half as pretty as you, so I receive only half the attention.”
“You are perfectly lovely and you know it, Elizabeth Rose Bennet.Do not fish for compliments.”
Elizabeth laughed and Jane joined her.“I am more sociable than you so I am enjoying myself, but truly Jane, if you were not quite so stunning, the gentlemen wouldn’t pay you as much attention and you might enjoy yourself more.”
“Are you suggesting I make myself ugly before our next outing?”asked Jane in a teasing voice.
Elizabeth propped herself up on one elbow and looked at her sister with all the earnestness a seventeen-year-old girl could muster.“Of course not.But if you truly wish to dissuade attention, you could wear less beautiful gowns.You could arrange your hair in a less flattering style.You could smile less.”
“You are serious?”Jane sat up on the bed, her expression conflicted.
“It is merely a suggestion for warding off unwanted attention.I am by no means stating that I wish you to do such a thing.I am merely saying it is one method of dissuading gentlemen you do not wish to encourage.”
“I do not wish to encourage any of them!”
Elizabeth gave her a look.
Jane sighed.“Very well.I will consider your idea.”
When Mrs.Gardiner saw Jane come downstairs for a dinner party the following evening, she was more than a little surprised.Jane was wearing one of Elizabeth’s gowns.It was too short, a problem she had remedied with a lace-edged petticoat, and the yellow hue made her look positively ill.It looked well on Elizabeth’s warmer skin and dark hair, but with Jane’s paler complexion and light hair, the combination was less appealing.
She had a fichu tucked into the bodice that came up to her collarbone and her hair was pulled back tightly from her face in an unflattering style.
“Jane, dear, are you well?”asked Mrs.Gardiner.
“Yes, aunt.Quite well.”
Mrs.Gardiner raised her brows but said nothing.
When Elizabeth came down a few minutes later, Mrs.Gardiner turned to her younger niece expectantly, thinking Elizabeth would mention something about her sister wearing her gown.But no comment was forthcoming.Instead, Elizabeth looked over Jane appraisingly and smiled.
Mrs.Gardiner was immediately suspicious.“Girls, what is going on?”
“Whatever do you mean, Aunt?”said Elizabeth innocently.
“I think you know exactly what I mean, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth flushed, not wishing to antagonize her aunt.“We only thought we would make Jane a little less attractive.”
“You what?”
“So the gentlemen would pay less attention to her,” Elizabeth stumbled on, her face red and her eyes darting between her aunt and her sister who refused to look up from the floor.
“Have the gentlemen been harassing you, Jane?”asked Mrs.Gardiner.
“No, aunt.I merely wish not to speak to quite so many of them.”
Mrs.Gardiner pursed her lips.“I see.I would be remiss in allowing you to leave the house like that, and your mother would never let me hear the end of it if she were to find out.”She exhaled heavily.“Let us go upstairs and repair your appearance as quickly as we may.We still have twenty minutes before we must leave.”
Elizabeth and Jane both looked crestfallen that their plan had been thwarted.Mrs.Gardiner stifled her laugh as she followed them up the stairs.
“You know, girls,” she said once they were safely in the guest chamber, “there is more than one way to dissuade a gentleman’s attention.You do not have to make yourself less attractive to gain peace at dinner.”
