Falling Like Snow

One | The Invitation

Elizabeth Bennet had decided that she hated Christmas.

"Lizzie!" her mother yelled, and she sighed at the summons. Oh, how she missed Jane! If her elder sister was still here, Lizzie would be able to face her mostly awful family - but no, she'd had to go and fall in love.

As she trudged down the stairs, tuning out her mother's indolent mutterings about 'where is that ungrateful girl? She should learn to come when called!', Lizzie had to admit that Jane could have done worse. Charles Bingley was kind, handsome, and rich, owning an estate up in Derbyshire that was vast and wild. On the few occasions when Lizzie had visited them, rather than them returning to Longbourn, she had done her best to explore the grounds. She had never visited for long enough to really constitute familiarity with the land, however; whilst there, she invariably had to interact with people she didn't want to, as well as those she was eager to spend time with.

"There you are!" her mother glared. "Really, you should come quicker when I summon you, young lady - what if it had been an emergency?"

Ignoring the giggles of Lydia and Kitty, whispering together on the sofa, she asked with false patience, "What did you want me for?"

"And not even an apology. Oh, how I suffer - you girls really do try my nerves, and I'm sure that you do it on purpose. Why, at least Jane was always a dutiful daughter." As if the last comment had brought her back to the point, she told Lizzie, "Jane was ringing you, but you didn't answer. You should know better than to leave your phone lying about-"

Her mother's tirade was likely to go on without an end, so Lizzie, sure that her mother would soon forget the insult, simply continued on into the kitchen where she had left the offending object. "Personally, I don't think it's a bad thing," Mary, Lizzie's second favourite sister and the only sensible one left for Lizzie to keep company with, rolled her eyes. "If she wasn't so addicted to her own phone, maybe she would actually say something worthwhile, instead of just parroting her social media nonsense."

Lizzie laughed, unlocking her phone with a practised speed. She had string of messages from Jane, with a playfully angry 'PICK UP'  appearing as she scanned through them. Just then, the phone rang again. Pulling out a chair from the table and collapsing onto it, Lizzie accepted the video call.

"Finally!" exclaimed Jane, glaring at her through the screen.

"How did you-" she began, but was interrupted with her answer.

Grinning, which completely ruined her faux ire, Jane laughed, "I waited for the messages I sent to say that they had been read."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, then aimed a friendly kick at Mary under the table as she muttered, "Smart. I might have to start doing that."

"Oh!" Jane's mouth moved before the audio came through - the signal in their area in Derbyshire was far from brilliant. On a bad day, there was no signal at all up there. "Hey, Mary! I'm glad you're there, too - this invitation extends to you as well."

"Invitation?" Lizzie had immediately picked up on the key word. "You and Charles are inviting us over?"

"Yup." Charles appeared, grinning over Jane's shoulder. The image froze for a moment as Mary made her way round the table to take a similar position as his behind Lizzie. "Don't make us regret it..."

Playfully, Jane shoved him away. "They won't." Turning her attention back to her sisters, Jane threatened, "You won't." 

"We won't!" they chorused obediently.

With an angelic smile that made her prior threat seem as though it came from an entirely different person, Jane continued. "Charles and I thought that maybe you could come and stay with us for the rest of December, and a little into the New Year, as well...?"