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Caroline Bingley invites Jane to Netherfield, and Mrs. Bennet — smelling opportunity — packs her off on a bike with no ride home just as the sky turns, betting a downpour will force Jane to stay the night. The plan works too well: Jane arrives soaked, spikes a fever, and is stuck under Bingley's roof, sick. When the news reaches home, Lizzie doesn't hesitate — she walks three miles of muddy road to reach her sister, arriving flushed, windblown, and unbothered by the mud on her jeans. Caroline is appalled; Bingley is charmed; and Darcy, who came to Netherfield certain Lizzie's laughter meant nothing to him, cannot stop looking at her. Cornered into the same house for one long evening, Lizzie and Darcy trade barbs across the dinner table — and by the time the rain is still tapping the guest-room window, Lizzie catches herself not entirely hating that she's stuck here.
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The cozy, lamplit Bennet kitchen in the morning. Lizzie, in her open olive-green jacket, and her older sister Jane sit at the wooden table with mugs of coffee among the plants and mismatched crockery. Jane, quietly glowing, holds up her phone, its screen lit with a new message. Jane: 'Caroline invited me to Netherfield.'