My sister Louisa tells me that I am invited to Pemberley in November for a short visit.

I regret to inform you that I will be altogether too busy that month to make the trip.

I'm sorry for not responding to any of your letters, sister, but I was too busy to respond to the first few and too appalled to respond to the remainder.

I'm afraid that I have no desire to be around the entire Bennet household for more than five minutes. No, Louisa, I am quite comfortable right where I am.

Oh, Caroline, I understand how you feel.

I don't expect you to just walk in the front door and become infatuated with everyone. Of course not. But you must give them a chance. After all, they're willing to give you a chance.

Please do come to Pemberley. Why don't you spend a few days here at Netherfield with me and then we'll travel to Pemberley together?

Please reconsider if at all possible. This would be such a perfect opportunity for you and me to mend our relationship.

Louisa will be here in November, and she misses you very much.

I'm not quite sure what sort of mending our relationship requires, but I am certain that you will be kept quite busy by the upcoming birth of your baby and I will merely be a hindrance.

In any case, it appears that Louisa is quite satisfied to be with her new family and really has no need for my presence.

Please do come, Caroline. You will be of immense help I am sure.

Louisa was very lonely at Netherfield, even with all of us around. She does need you here.

In addition, the entire Fitzwilliam family will be here soon. I don't think you've met my husband's Aunt and Uncle from Matlock and their two sons, but I am sure that you will enjoy their company very much.

Now Mrs. Darcy is almost pleading with me. What will she resort to next? Threats?

I really don't want to give her a chance to flaunt her good fortune in my face.

Lizzy is not the sort of person to boast of her prosperity Let's face it, Caroline, you yourself are that sort of person.

I remain here at Netherfield awaiting your arrival.

Thank you once again for your kind invitation, but I'm afraid that my schedule demands that I attend several society functions in November. I'm sure we will have plenty of opportunity to mend our relationship in the future.

In any case, the Fitzwilliam family and I travel in very different circles and I'm sure that we have very little in common.

Let me be perfectly frank, Caroline.

There has been bad blood between you and me since the day we met. You thought of me as a lowborn rustic and I thought of you as an arrogant snob. I dare say that we were both correct.

It is time to start over, Caroline. Like it or not, you and I are sisters now, and we share a wonderful brother and sister in Charles and Louisa. You have every reason to take an active part in their new lives, and that new life includes my sister Jane at Netherfield and myself here at Pemberley.

If you're worried about the mortification of having to endure my family at Pemberley, just remember that none of your London friends will know what you are suffering. There will be no one here to make sport of your predicament. And neither will there be anyone here to laugh at your snide remarks.

I will brook no more refusals from you, Caroline. Your room at Pemberley is being prepared and I expect you here by next week.

Oh, for heaven's sake, Caroline, it's not like me to make demands in such a fashion. My marriage has not turned me into such a harridan. I really do want you to come, not to gloat but to become re-acquainted with you. Please do come, if only for Louisa's sake.

We are sisters now, Caroline. Let's be friends as well.

I have just sent the most horrid letter to our new sister Caroline. She may never speak to me or write to me again after she reads the beastly things I said.

Oh Jane, I was so rude to her. I almost tore the letter up several times, but I said things in that letter that needed to be said, and so I sent it off anyway.

The fact is, Jane, that I cannot abide the thought of having a close relative who despises us as she does. Perhaps it's pure selfishness on my part to want a family with no black sheep, or at least no more than the one we already have in Newcastle.

She must give us a second chance.

I've just received the most abusive letter from the new Mrs. Darcy. She almost threatened me to come.

I'm not sure how to respond to her. If I give her as good as she gave me then it will only validate her opinion of me as an "arrogant snob".

What do I do now?

Oh, Caroline, I'd love to see Lizzy's letter. I'll wager it was delightfully scathing. Lizzy can be most caustic when she needs to be, as I'm sure you remember from past encounters.

I'm absolutely certain that you deserved whatever it was that she said in that letter. Do bring it with you when you come to Netherfield next week.

Oh yes, Caroline. You are coming to Netherfield, and then to Pemberley. And if I have to go to London and drag you here by your feathers then I will do so.

Don't bother writing another letter. I won't open it until I see you sitting here in front of me.

Save your ink and pack your bags.

I am truly sorry for that letter, Caroline. I almost tore it up several times before sending it, but in the end I wanted you to know how strongly I felt.

Of course I know I can't force you to come all the way to Derbyshire when you are busy in town. It's just that I'm anxious to clear the air between us and have you give us a second chance.

Louisa has asked that she be allowed to give birth to her own baby right here at Pemberley in July. Of course we are all delighted. I'm sure you will want to be here with Louisa when you become an aunt for the second time, but I hope it won't be your first visit.

Remember, Caroline, you are always welcome at Pemberley.

My sister Elizabeth has told me of her attempts to persuade you to come to Pemberley, and of the last desperate letter she sent to you.

With all that's happened in the last twelve months you must feel completely abandoned by Charles and Louisa. But believe me Caroline, they love you very much and want nothing more than for you to share in their own happiness.

Elizabeth and I really do want to get to know you better, but as a sister and as a friend. Neither of us have any ulterior motive in inviting you to our homes other than to share our lives with you and become friends as well as family.

I fully realize how you felt about Elizabeth and me when we met two years ago. I admit that we were unsuitable matches for Mr. Darcy and your brother in so many ways. You were absolutely correct to be concerned for your brother's safety.

I also acknowledge that Elizabeth and I have been extremely fortunate in elevating ourselves to an extent that we probably don't deserve. But I assure you that in both our cases we were motivated only by genuine affection for our future husbands.

What's done is done. I am married to your brother now and nothing can change that. I know I have not improved his position in society but I believe that I have made him very happy.

And neither did Elizabeth marry Mr. Darcy simply to enhance her situation or to steal him from you. The two of them genuinely fell in love last year. That journey was an arduous one for both of them, with Mr. Darcy suffering a rejected proposal and Elizabeth suffering humiliation and censure.

And I know that you have always found our mother to be a great source of embarrassment. Elizabeth and I have both suffered her mortifying behaviour many times ourselves in the past.

But she is much more subdued now, what with most of her daughters married, and her close relationship with Lady Catherine keeps her quite well occupied. The only danger she now poses to you is her possible desire to assist you in finding a husband.

I have no intention of taking your brother away from you, Caroline. He loves you very much and wishes only for your happiness. Remember, you are always welcome at Netherfield, and we both hope that you will join us here soon and then continue on to Pemberley with Louisa.

I know that Louisa and Elizabeth have been writing to you, and that even Jane has sent a letter. I'm sorry to add to the deluge, but I feel I must let you know how much I want you to enjoy my new family.

As you know I'm not a great letter-writer, but Jane is sitting here at my side to ensure that I make some amount of sense.

Like it or not, Caroline, we are all family now. I have married into the Bennet family and even Louisa has fallen in love with them all.

Well, just a moment ago I said a few things out loud that Jane forbids me to put to paper, so I'd better stop before I go too far.

Come and see your new niece.

It turns out that the London engagements I previously referred to have been postponed until January, and so I will be delighted to come to Pemberley to help you celebrate the birth of your baby.