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"There you are, Lizzy!" Her mother's shrill voice carried from the morning room. "Jane and I have been discussing her gown. She must look her finest tonight. With Mr. Bingley newly arrived at Netherfield, this assembly is of the utmost importance!"

Here we go, Elizabeth thought.

"I have decided not to attend," she announced.

Her mother's face turned crimson. "Not attend? Not attend? Lizzy, have you taken leave of your senses? This is the most important social event of the season! Mr. Bingley has five thousand a year! Five thousand!"

Her mother pronounced the second five thousand with greater feeling than the first. Mr. Bingley might have no manners and one eye; his income was receiving them all.

"Then Jane shall have ample opportunity to secure his affections without my interference," Elizabeth said calmly. "I find myself indisposed."

"Indisposed?" Mrs. Bennet's voice reached a pitch that could shatter glass. "You look perfectly well! Mr. Bennet! Mr. Bennet, your daughter is being absurd!"

Mr. Bennet appeared in the doorway, his expression one of mild curiosity. "Which daughter? I have five, and at least three are absurd at any given moment."

Elizabeth would have laughed yesterday. Today she watched his mouth, wondering whether he had chosen the joke.

"Lizzy refuses to attend the assembly!"

Her father studied Elizabeth with interest. "Indeed? That is unlike you, Lizzy. You are generally fond of dancing."

"I find I have no taste for it this evening," Elizabeth said firmly.

She felt it then: a strange pressure, like invisible hands pushing her toward compliance. The narrative wanted her to go. The story required her presence. But she was aware now. Surely that meant she could resist.

"Nevertheless," she continued, fighting the compulsion with every fiber of her being, "I shall remain⁠—"

The word stopped before it reached her tongue. She swallowed and tried to force it past the obstruction. Elizabeth tried again. "I shall remain⁠—"

Nothing.

I'm being physically censored, she thought.

She opened her mouth to try again...

"You shall do no such thing," her mother declared. "Hill!" she called for the housekeeper. "Have Lizzy's blue gown pressed immediately. She is attending the assembly if I must drag her there myself!"

Elizabeth tried to shout No, I will not go, I will not be your puppet...

"Of course, Mamma," her mouth said, bright and cheerful and utterly independent of her will. "I was merely teasing. I shall be delighted to attend."

Elizabeth froze. Those were not her words. She had not chosen to say them.

"Well," she said aloud (or tried to, but her mouth was apparently still under management), "this is deeply alarming."

Except she didn't say that either. She just smiled sweetly at her mother.

Her knees bent in a neat curtsy. Elizabeth had never disliked a display of good breeding so much. She composed the next entry in her head.

Experiment #1: Refusing Major Plot Points

Result: Could not say no. Said yes instead, without meaning a syllable.

Conclusion: I have all the agency of a well-dressed automaton.

Addendum: My opinion of the arrangement remains my own.

Mrs. Bennet beamed. "That's my good girl. Now, come, we must ensure your gown is suitable. I will not have Mr. Bingley's party thinking my daughters are not dressed in the latest fashion." Elizabeth's feet moved without her permission, carrying her from the room in her mother's wake.