Page 1: 11 November, 1812 Dearest Elizabeth, I wonder — might I call you Lizzy? We are, after all, sisters at last! You had to wring “Elizabeth” out of me like water from a washrag, but now that you have cured me of “Miss Bennet” (and nearly fainted at the suggestion of “Mrs. Darcy”), I beg further familiarity. I have so longed for a sister and a companion these many years, and to have both in one such delightful figure as yourself overwhelms my propriety! I do hope you are enjoying your honeymoon, and that my good brother is a livelier companion to you than he ever was when we traveled as a family in our younger days. I daresay I saw more smiles from him at your wedding alone than in the whole of my life combined. You bring out a lightness in him that no other could animate, and all of us