Page 77 of Twice Chosen

Even Caroline's mouth twitched.

She looked back at Jane. "I love my brother."

"I know."

"I believed I was protecting him."

Jane nodded. "I know that too."

There was no immediate embrace. No apology grand enough to repair everything.

But the next week Caroline sent Jane a length of lace she had admired in London, without a note explaining why.

Jane wore it at the wedding.

Elizabeth saw.

So did Caroline.

Neither mentioned it.

That quiet mercy mattered as much as any confrontation.

Chapter Twenty-One

Elizabeth and Her Father

Elizabeth confronted her father in December.

Not dramatically.

That was precisely why it mattered.

The evening had begun ordinarily. Mary attempted a moral observation after dinner and tangled herself in the phrasing. Lydia laughed. Kitty followed. Mr. Bennet added a dry remark about Mary's talent for making wisdom sound exhausting.

In her first life Elizabeth would have laughed too.

The older Elizabeth heard the joke and saw Mary's face.

She did not smile.

"Papa."

Mr. Bennet looked over. "Yes, my dear?"

"That was unkind."

Silence fell.

Mary stared at Elizabeth.

Mr. Bennet's expression hardened slightly. "I was teasing."

"Mary did not enjoy it."

Mary looked down.

Mr. Bennet glanced at her and then back to Elizabeth. "My dear Lizzy--"