A Duchess, two Countesses, and their families are forced to stop at the Red Lion Inn in Meryton on their way home to one of their estates due to two of the ladies beginning active labor.
The same day, Fanny Bennet, with Thomas Bennet away in London, also goes into labor with her second child. When she calls for the midwife and Mr. Jones, she is informed they are both at the inn attending two ladies. Fanny asks her mother-in-law, Beth Bennet, to remain home after the Lucases send their carriage to transport her the one mile to the inn so she may be attended to by the midwife, and if needed, Mr. Jones. On the 5th day of March 1790, a little after midnight, the children are born within minutes of each other, a mix of both sexes. Even though Fanny was hoping for a son to be the heir and eventually end the entail on Longbourn, she accepts her daughter with love. Bennet arrives the day after the birth and discovers he knows the high-born men from his days at Cambridge. After a few days of recovery, the three families and the two male babes continue their journey to their estates, and Bennet and Fanny return home to Longbourn to introduce a very excited Jane to her sister, Elizabeth Rose. Jane feels rather smug as she insists Mama would give her a sister to play with, regardless of Mama's insistence it would be a brother. Our tale follows the various families and children through the years. As in canon (one of the few similarities) Charles Bingley leases Netherfield Park. In this story, the party he hosts is rather larger than in canon, heavy with eligible men. Will Darcy be his usual prideful, arrogant, Lizzy-insulting self? Will this Bingley be a man of strength or one who is capricious and easily led? Will William Collins make his intrusion into the Bennets' lives and how will Lady Catherine and Wickham factor into this story? Will our favorite hulking footmen-guards be present? We know at some point it will be discovered that Lizzy is not the child of Fanny and Thomas Bennet, but who is their son? There were two boys born that night, so we have to discover which one was taken from the Bennets. We will learn why there was a swap and whether it was intentional or an error. Once the two who were swapped are informed they were raised by families that were not theirs by blood, how will they react, and the same question for the families involved. All of the above questions and many more will be answered as this tale is told.
