"While I should probably remain exactly where I was until you came back to tell me whether it was safe."
"That," said Elizabeth, slipping her arm through Jane's, "is precisely why we make such an excellent pair."
???
Jane and Elizabeth left the Carter cottage satisfied that mother and child were thriving. Mrs Carter had protested that they ought not to have troubled themselves, and accepted every item from the basket with glassy eyes. Jane had kissed the sleeping infant and declared him the most beautiful baby she had ever seen, before assuring the weepy mother she would be back again before the week was out.
As they reached the house, they found the front door standing open and Mrs Hill waiting in the hall. "I am very glad you have returned, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth," she said, with a shallow curtsy. "Your mother has been looking for you both this past hour."
Jane stopped at once. "I hope nothing has happened. Is everyone well?"
"Nothing alarming, miss." Mrs Hill smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Only two letters."
The drawing room door stood open and they could hear Lydia's voice before they crossed the threshold.
"It is absurd!" Lydia was saying. "Why should Jane and Lizzy be invited and not the rest of us?"
"My dear child," replied Mrs Bennet, "how should I know?" She switched to a more placating tone. "I am certain you will get an invitation when you are a little older."
There was a sound very like stamping feet.
Kitty sighed. "I should have liked to go."
"It is unwise to be covetous, sister," said Mary. "Envy is not a productive emotion."
"I am not envious," said Lydia with a huff. "I merely think Lady Hortensia has exercised very poor judgement."
Elizabeth pushed open the door to find her whole family gathered together.
"There you are at last!" cried Mrs Bennet. "Upon my word, I thought you intended to remain with the Carters until Christmas. Come here directly. I have something to show you."
Two large cream envelopes lay upon the table before her. Their seals were broken, the paper so thick and finely made that Elizabeth could not imagine who in their acquaintance would send them.
"They are for you and Jane," said Mrs Bennet, fluttering her fan so energetically that Elizabeth feared it might take flight. "Just imagine! They arrived together by special messenger."
Lydia looked from one envelope to the other with unconcealed dissatisfaction. "But I should enjoy a house party much more than either of them!"
"I have no doubt you would enjoy it far too much," said Mr Bennet from behind his book.
Elizabeth picked up one of the pieces of parchment. "Let me see, Lydia," she said with a smile. "You may discover you have escaped something perfectly dreadful."
She turned it over in her hands. The seal was deeply impressed with an elaborate crest she did not recognise and the direction was written in a bold, elegant hand unlike any she had seen before.
"'Lady Hortensia Settle,'" she read aloud.
Jane frowned as she examined the second invitation. "Mine is the same. But I do not think I know the lady."
"No," said Mr Bennet, lowering his book at last. "I should not expect that you would."
Elizabeth looked across at him. "You know her, Papa?"
"I did have that privilege."
"Who is she?" asked Jane.
Mr Bennet leaned back in his chair, pulled his pipe out of his pocket and began filling it from a small enamelledtobacco tin. "Lady Hortensia Settle was one of the most unusual—and certainly one of the most intriguing—ladies of my acquaintance. I was invited to one of her house parties a few years before I married your mother."
Mrs Bennet gave a little sigh. "Oh, I remember it very well. Everybody spoke of nothing else for weeks beforehand. I begged my mother to contrive an invitation for me, but I was full young and she knew nobody of sufficient consequence. It was said there was nothing else like it anywhere in England."
