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Elizabeth stared at her aghast. "It absolutely cannot say that. I have never heard such rot."

"See for yourself." Jane pushed the book into her hands, and Elizabeth read the passage gravely.

Let she who seeks her husband fair,

Behold his likeness waiting there.

Yet mark these words,

And heed them well,

For every vision bears a spell.

Before the next midnight hour is through,

The gentleman must kiss her true.

Else fate shall bind her,

Heart and hand,

To the next who asks

As the stars command.

Elizabeth read the passage again, scarcely able to believe what she was seeing. "Oh, this is too ridiculous! The notion that I should have to kiss Mr Darcy, of all the gentlemen in England! He despises me and I despise him. We are of like mind on only that one point! And besides, what is written in a silly old book cannot possibly have any bearing upon whom I marry."

"Of course not," said Jane soothingly, although there was the faintest suggestion of a smile about her lips.

Elizabeth was about to dismiss the whole thing as stuff and nonsense when an unpleasant thought occurred to her. "Oh, but Jane, there is one thing. In ordinary circumstances I should have no reason to fear an unexpected proposal, but I think we are both aware that one may come from a very unwelcome quarter in the next day or two."

Jane's smile faded. "You mean Mr Collins?"

"Who else? The man has barely left me alone since he arrived. I fear he means to offer for me at the very first opportunity."

Mr Collins was a distant cousin of their father's and the heir to Longbourn, which was entailed through the male line. He had come to visit only a few days earlier, a bumbling, pompous and exceptionally sweaty gentleman who had made it abundantly clear that he was in the market for a wife.

Their mother had wasted no time in steering him away from Jane, her eldest and most beautiful daughter, and towards Elizabeth, who was apparently considered a most suitable wife for Mr Collins, although Elizabeth could not think of a gentleman to whom she was less suited. She had received hints from both her mother and Mr Collins that a proposal was forthcoming, and although she had done her best to avoid being in his presence long enough for such a state of affairs to arise, she was concerned that she could not hide from the man forever.

But surely a few words written in a silly old book could not persuade her to accept him?

She thought of her father. She had hoped that, should she receive an offer, he would be her saving grace, for surely he would not wish her to marry a man so ridiculous that she would be deeply unhappy for the rest of her days. But what if he did? What if, in order to protect the estate and their family's future, he told her that it was her duty to accept? What if her mother persuaded him that such an arrangement was for the best?

Could she refuse?

Of course she could. She was Elizabeth Bennet, and she had never been persuaded to do anything she did not wish to do in her life. And yet...

She looked down at the book once more. It was nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. But what if it were not?

Really, the notion was too absurd to entertain. She was not going to kiss Mr Darcy simply because of a ridiculous rhyme in a book and his imagined face in her mirror. Besides, she suspected that Mr Darcy would sooner throw himself from the roof of Netherfield than allow her to kiss him.

She was still staring at the page when Jane placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder, making her jump. "You are quite right, of course. It is just a game. You are not going to marry Mr Collins. You could never be happy with him, and Papa knows it as well as I do. As you say, perhaps you were simply tired and imagining things."

"Yes," said Elizabeth, closing the book with a snap that made her gentle sister wince. "That is exactly what happened. I am tired, and I imagined the whole thing."

She set the book aside and rose from her chair. "Now, shall we get ready for bed?"

Jane smiled and reached for the pins in her sister's hair, and Elizabeth determined to think no more of the matter.