“Whatgentlemanwas recentlyso crushedby Elizabeth’s engagement to another man, that he was quite willing to ruin her future, just for the sake of taking something from Darcy?” Colonel Fitzwilliam looked ready to burst.
“No! You simplymustbe joking!” Jane hissed.“Mr Crawford?”
“The very same,” The colonel laughed. “He wrote to her ladyship the moment he arrived in Northamptonshire. It is not in any doubt that Mr Crawford probablyheardof the fictitious cradle engagement from Mr Collins, but Darcy will not hold Elizabeth’s cousin responsible, he will only speak to the man and ask that Mr Collins not gossip about hisaffairs, not only with Lady Catherine, but anyone except him or Elizabeth.”
An hour later, Jane stowed the wrap in the bag and made her way up the stairs for a tool from Elizabeth’s sewing box, which the lady was kind enough to leave in their shared sitting room for Jane’s convenience. After a moment of frantic rummaging, she found what she was looking for. If she worked all through the day and evening, and perhaps into the night, she might actually finish the wrap tonight, and begin another search of the attics tomorrow. She had seen a quantity of soft, supple leather, just the type to serve well as slipper soles, in a chest of remnants, and some other thin leather that could be made into fine tassels. It would be the work of a moment to find a suitable remnant of heavy brocade to make Mr Bingley a pair of house slippers for Christmas, and she ought to have just enough time to have them ready for Christmas if she worked diligently in the meantime.
As she left her room, she heard sobbing coming from another bedroom. She stood in the hall and stared at the door, realising that Kitty Bennet had never joined the other ladies downstairs. She knocked at the door and heard a gasp, a flurry of commotion, and Kitty’s voice call out, “Come in!”
Kitty looked up from her pile of skirts upon the bed as Jane entered and said, “Oh, it isyou.”
“Oh dear, do not throw me a parade. I fear your excitement at my arrival might go to my head.” Jane approached a chair that was rather near the bed that Kitty was laying on in a pile of taffeta. “Why did you not join the other ladies downstairs?”
“It is not the same, with Lydia stealing every friend I make.” Kitty collapsed back into her pile of pillows. “Ever since we were children, everyone has been drawn to her. Just as even thoughJaneis the beautiful one,Lizzyis the one with the sparkling conversation and lively demeanour, and so unless the men are in the room, Lizzy is the one everyone wishes to be friends with. And even then, once the men get over Jane’s looks, Lizzy isstillthe one they build a camaraderie with.”
Kitty sighed heavily. “Mary is one thing, she never seeks any attention, but I just hoped Georgiana would be one friend I could keep mostly to myself.”
“I hate to say this, but you sound rather selfish just now,” Jane admonished. “Have you stopped to consider howMiss Darcyfeels?”
Kitty appeared confused as Jane continued. “Miss Darcy has always been very sheltered, and I am told Pemberley does not have a great community of close neighbours, as there are in Meryton. Why, Lambton is five miles from Pemberley, I hear, and populated mostly by tradesmen and lower gentility. There are not enough suitable families available for Miss Darcy to have made friends. And now, shehasmade a friend, and that friend is trying to keep her mostly to themselves even when the availability of more new friends is plentiful.”
“Oh,” Kitty faltered. “I did not think of it like that.”
“How would you like it if you went to town and finally had the opportunity to move more in society, but Miss Darcy preferred to keep you to herself, when you had been waiting for so long for your moment to arrive?”
“I am sure I would be outraged.” Kitty looked miserable.
“Well, I believe Georgiana is too gentle to feel properly outraged, but I am certain that you must agree that it is Miss Darcy who must choose her own friends, and with whom she shares her time and knowledge.” Jane was gentle with her words. “I believe that she has a great deal of friendship and accomplishments to share, and it must give her great pleasure to make new friends, and feel that she has use and value to them besides her dowry, or access she may provide to her brother–which have been–I am told–the primary concerns of those courting her good opinion in the past.”
“Poor Miss Darcy,” Kitty said ruefully. “Still, I cannot lie and say that I am not in the least the tiniest bit selfish, Miss Jane. I wish I could make just one friend whom I did not have to share with my youngest sister.”
“I have but one sister, at least that is what I believe,” Jane answered. “And she is everything good and gentle. All kindness, and angelic beauty, much like Mrs Bingley. We are as close as any two sisters could possibly be now, though I recall the injustice of being a younger sister,having to not only share everything with my sister, but also wearing her cast off gowns, as younger sisters are often obliged to do, waiting my turn for a new gown when she was always to receive one first, waiting my turn for attention in society. I did not begrudge her any of it, it was her due, and with her beauty and goodness, she deserved it more than anyone, but that did not mean it was always easy.”
“Well Lydia doesnotdeserve it, the way she has behaved!” Kitty replied vehemently.
“Areyouso perfect then?” Jane asked. At Kitty’s inquiring look, she continued. “I have heard that before Lydia’s trouble over the summer, that you wereeverybit as silly as youryoungersister, who you ought to have been a better example to, andin addition, you were aware of her plans, and did nothing to stop her or protect the good name of your family. If it were not for the diligence of her hosts, she certainly would have been ruined along with you and the rest of your sisters. Shouldyoube the person to decide whether she receives a second chance?”
Kitty made as if to object, then doubted herself, and was silent.
“And, if you do not mind me saying so, I hear that you and every other young lady over thirteen in Meryton were similarly affected by Mr Wickham.” Jane leveled a stern look at the girl. “Can you tell me in all honesty, that ifyouhad been invited to Brighton, and not your sister, that you would not have made the same mistake that she made?”
Kitty was now red faced and mumbling.
“That is what I thought,” Jane said, nodding her head. “Yetyouwere given another chance. By your mother, by your father, by your sisters and your village. Why did you deserve it and not Lydia? And when you finally approached Elizabeth about books, and she was so generous with you, you never thought to extend the same charity to your younger sister, who was struggling? In fact, you derided her efforts in front of others, and attempted to prevent her improving herself. Where is Lydia’s second chance?”
“Verywell, I shall do better.” Kitty grumbled.
“Youdohave one particular day to look forward to,” Jane informed the girl. When Kitty raised a brow, Jane continued. “One day, you will marry for love, and when you do, that man will be your best friend. And though there will be others amongst his family and friends that he loves,you will have a special bond with him that you will be obliged to share with no other. And unless you live in the same village as your sister all your life, you shall make friends near your new home someday. Your sister might visit you, but they will be your friends and neighbours, not hers.”
Kitty was contemplative as Jane left her, thinking of everything the lady had said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Saturday 19 December1812
Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were away before dawn on Saturday. They were to travel to Flitwick Hall, and before the caravan to London left, they must first convince Wickham to marry Miss Chickering by license, which her father had procured in Ware.
Jane had indeed finished Mrs Bingley’s wrap late in the night. That morning after breakfast, she wrapped it in brown paper, tied it with a corbeau green ribbon, and left it hidden in her bedroom before returning upstairs to the attics. She found the leather just where she remembered seeing it, and it was the work of a moment to find a heavy black brocade suitable for her needs.
