Chapter 9 #2
Louisa felt herself pale at these words, and she said, “Pray do not say such a thing, Sister! I do not approve of our brother’s engagement, but Jane is a modest, refined lady, and I am certain that there was no compromise.
Moreover, if you upset Charles enough, he may well cast you from Netherfield, and us with you, and then what will we do? ”
“Cast us from Netherfield? Of course he would not do such a thing. He has always been a most genial and caring brother!”
“Who is shortly to be married to Jane Bennet, and while she is sweet and gentle, Elizabeth is not. If you come between Jane and Charles, I am quite confident that you will be the loser, Caroline!”
Caroline gritted her teeth at this and shifted suddenly in her chair, which sparked a jolt of pain.
Tears filled her eyes, and she snapped, “I blame you for this, Louisa! I should have thought that on the one day that I was too injured to cope with Charles, you would have exerted yourself to prevent this dreadful engagement. But no, you were unwilling…”
“I think Hurst is calling me!” Louisa said unconvincingly and scurried out of the room. She would, she thought, go mad in short order if she was forced to entertain Caroline by herself.
***
Kitty’s Bedchamber
Longbourn
Night
Kitty drowsily watched the red-smoldering embers in her fireplace. A maid would be by in the morning to rebuild and light it, and in the meantime Kitty was curled quite comfortably under the layers of her many blankets and the thick quilt. She was warm and at peace and perfectly content.
Her sleepy thoughts revolved around her presents for her young Gardiner cousins.
She had finished the paper dolls earlier in the day, and she intended to walk to Meryton soon to purchase toys for the boys.
Perhaps a red top for the four-year-old, and a Noah’s ark with wooden pairs of animals or a set of carefully carved wooden blocks for his little two-year-old brother.
The thought of the joy on their faces when they received the gifts made her smile.
She always enjoyed when her young cousins came visiting.
She adored their bright high voices and youthful – and sometimes outrageous – perspective on life and their simple affection.
She admired their energy and stood in awe of it, though found the children overwhelming at times.
How thankful she was for competent nursemaids!
Their exuberance rather reminded her of Lydia at her most boisterous.
But what was acceptable, if wearing, in very small children, was less pleasing in a young lady in her mid-teens.
Though Kitty was often seen with her sister, Lydia was the louder of the two of them, and sometimes Kitty found her tiring, too.
She was glad her younger sister had been busy the past few days.
Normally strong-willed Lydia would drag Kitty along on misadventures, generally to Meryton to flirt with the officers.
But over the last few days, Lydia had busied herself with lone pursuits closer to home, leaving Kitty in blessed peace to apply herself to her own activities.
As though summoned by Kitty’s thoughts, Lydia cracked the door open a few inches to slip through and hiss into the cold still room, “Kitty?”
“Lydia?” Kitty replied, sitting up a little and frowning into the darkness. “What is wrong?”
“Move over. It is too cold to be out of bed.”
Kitty grimaced but obediently shifted to one side of her bed. A moment later, a blast of cold air invading her pleasant nest made her shiver, but a few seconds later, the blankets covered her thoroughly again, and she felt Lydia’s warmth next to her.
“Kitty?”
“Yes?” Kitty asked wearily. She was tired and was not interested in a long conversation about officers or dresses or anything!
“I have been thinking about what you said about the officers, and you are correct. Most of them are too poor to be good husbands.”
Kitty turned her head in the darkness and squinted, but could not see her sister’s face. Was it possible that Lydia was teasing her? But no, the tone seemed genuine enough.
“They generally do not have a good income,” she agreed.
The dark shape shifted a little closer, and the younger girl said, “More than that, I absolutely require a good income in my own husband. The last few days I have been talking to Mrs. Hill, and Cook, and Coachman Jack, and asking about how much things cost. Oh Kitty – do you know how much a good horse costs? And a carriage?”
“Not really,” Kitty admitted.
“They are so expensive! And clothes; you are correct that my gowns and my hat and my gloves and my stockings and my slippers and my boots all cost at least forty pounds a year, and Mamma will only have about two hundred pounds a year in income after Father dies. That is not nearly enough for all of us to live in the manner we enjoy.”
Kitty shivered a little, not from cold but from fear.
She had always been good at maths and had calculated some years previously the amount of interest that Mrs. Bennet would receive from her five thousand pound marriage portion.
Lydia was right – two hundred pounds a year was not nearly enough for the six Bennet ladies.
“We do not truly need to worry about that now,” Lydia continued. “Charles is a wealthy and generous man, and we will not starve or go without clothing. But it would be best if we found wealthy husbands of our own, and the best source of such gentlemen are through Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy.”
Kitty huffed. “Mr. Bingley, yes, but surely not Mr. Darcy. He does not like us.”
There was a shift in the blankets, which she interpreted as a shrug from her sister. “Mr. Darcy is Mr. Bingley’s closest friend, so we will probably see him at least on occasion. He is very well connected, you know; I understand he has an uncle who is an earl!”
“He does not like us,” Kitty repeated.
“Well, we should do our best to make him like us, do you not think? I am certain if we pay attention, we can convince him to like us more.”
“He was rude to Lizzy.”
“Lizzy can take care of herself,” Lydia declared, yawning loudly. “I am going back to my bed now; I am tired.”
“Good night.”
“Good night, Kitty!”
Kitty suffered through another blast of cold air and then curled up once more in her blankets, her thoughts awhirl.
How very strange that Lydia had given up chasing officers in favor of trying to charm Mr. Darcy.
Strange and foolish, really; Mr. Darcy was not the sort of man to overlook their own connections to trade.
All the same, she had no intention of discouraging her youngest sister.
It would be best if the Bennet daughters were seen to be more modest and ladylike.
She turned over again and went to sleep.