Several days more passed by, days in which Kitty longed for some word from Wyeth, and had none; he had never written a note to her before but her foolish young heart, which fancied itself in love for the first time, saw this as no impediment, and could not give up hope that one would come. Alas! None did, the only missals they had were from Lady Hester or Warren. Letters arrived each day from Darcy, which Eliza read and answered with great pleasure and affection, and once there was a beautifully written note, all calligraphy and elegant stile, was signed with the name of Lady Caroline Fondulac.
"Lady Caroline Fondulac!" cried Lizzy, equal parts anger and revulsion; there was no love lost between the wife of Darcy and the wife of that respected baron. "How she has dared to write to me I do not know – if I had been in her place I should not have supposed myself welcome to – but then as poor old Caro would remind me, her manners are ever so more refined than mine. If Darcy were here, what a cutting response he would pen back to her; I have not his talent for forming sharp words and so I shall simply leave this missal unanswered."
"Why, Lizzy, you must answer it!" said Mary in horror – to do otherwise would be nothing but an unrecognizable slight and never forgiven in the long memory of the ton.
"Oh! Mary, I need do nothing of the sort; have you forgotten that Lady Caroline Fondulac was once Miss Bingley; or how abominably she has treated our family?"
"Is it not the greater gesture to forgive?" asked Mary, parroting a line she had read in one of her books. Eliza, who had lost none of her spirit, but some of her hot-temperedness, since becoming Darcy's wife and mother to his girls, gave a great sigh.
"For once you are right, Mary; I should not hold a grudge for so long. I will write back to Miss Bingley – Lady Fondulac, I mean – and ask her to call, but I shall not throw a fete in her honour, as she suggests I should, writing that she 'so longs to see Darcy House dressed up for a ball!' The complete nerve of the woman – I shall answer her later, after we have dined, when I am tired and not myself. But not let us read over this letter from Mamma, it will be good for a laugh, and will life Kitty's spirits. Poor Kitty! You have done nothing but sit by that window all day, and it will not bring Wyeth back any sooner, you know."
Kitty turned from the window with a sick, watery smile, and said with false cheer that she did so long to hear the news from home; she listened with contrived interest as Elizabeth read their mother's writing, but she did not hear a word that was said; instead she kept her attention fixed in a sidelong manner on the road outside the house, so that she may see all that came and went. Lizzy injected into their mother's words all the humour she could muster, even going so far as to give a good-natured impression of her voice and figure as she talked, but Kitty could manage only a weak smile, though it sent Mary into peals of mirth.
"Lord! You are coming 'round, Mary, if you can laugh like that; I began to despair of you ever finding any thing amusing. I am glad – if only Kitty can return to good spirits what a happy party of ladies we should be all the time. And Jane is just as sweet as can be; I had a word from her yesterday, if only Lydia could be as happy as we are such a circle of glad sisters the world would find us!"
"Why, what is wrong with Lydia?" asked Kitty, being drawn back into the conversation.
"Were you not listening to mamma's letter?" Lizzy questioned. "She writes that Lydia seems unhappy; she must be very unhappy indeed if mamma could notice any depression in her spirits. She has written that Wickham may be sent with his regiment to India, and Lydia has no great desire to go to that place; that they lack for money and the children often go without. Those poor little souls!" said Elizabeth, with great pity, thinking of her own daughters, "If I could be sure that it would go to them rather than to pay for Wickham's gambling, I should send them a great sum straight away, but as it is, knowing his character as I do, I dare not. It will only serve to set him greater in debt, and that they do not need."
"Lydia made her bed, and is finding it uncomfortable to lie in," Kitty said rather peevishly.
Elizabeth turned her soft dark eyes on Kitty reproachfully. "Yes; what you say is true, Kitty, but not sympathetic as it should be, for Lydia did not know at the time she made her bed what sleep would gather there."
At her sister's chiding, Kitty felt ashamed, and she could not help the hot tears that spilled down over her cheeks. She began to sob, and both Elizabeth and Mary were dismayed and perplexed at this sudden outpouring of emotion. They patted her feebly and murmured stricken endearments until there was a knock on the door; at which point Kitty jumped up and ran to open it, pushing even the butler out of the way in her haste.
"See a letter has come – could it be? But it is not – it is only for you, Lizzy." Kitty dried her tears and settled herself back on the settee by the window with the same hopeful expression, only lacking a little of the hopefulness that had been in it before.
Eliza took her letter to her desk to read, and Mary went back to her skreens, all the while Kitty looked resolutely out of the window. If it had been a letter of ordinary status they might have passed the whole of the evening in such a way, but as it was not such a letter, Elizabeth soon gave a great cry of amazement and stood up from her desk.
"Lord! It cannot be true – !"
"What has happened?" asked Mary in alarm. "Who is it from, Lizzy, and what is wrong?"
"It is from Darcy – he is well, Mary, do not swoon! I should not have reacted so. It is only that it is so amazing; he writes to me a very thorough account of Mr. Warren's behavior and leads me to believe that he is not the man we thought he was, at all!"
"Why, what does he say of him?" asked Kitty, interested at once.
Lizzy read,
"'My dear – hope you are well – and the children' – oh! Here it is. 'It has come to my attention that our neighbour Lady Symington has had a visitor, and that he is one George Warren, and that your sisters have become great friends with him; I have had this in a letter from my friend Mr. Wyeth – "
"Wyeth! Writing to Darcy!" Kitty cried, amazement now, herself.
"'Mr. Wyeth,'" contined Eliza, "Who is acquainted with that gentleman's character as I am, and knows it to be as disreputable a character as a man can have.'"
"Why, what has he done?" Mary wondered.
"'I shall spare you the details which are most unsavory,'" Lizzy read, looking pale. "'And I shall tell you only that Mr. Warren is afflicted with the same downfalls as your brother Wickham' – a gambler, he means! – 'and is indebted to the tune of a hundred thousand pounds to every card-house in town; he has also the unhappy habit of frequenting lodgings where ladies of no good morals dwell. More unfortunately for his family, he has been suspected of thievery and has fathered several bastards!' O, my God! 'Which his family, given his insolvency, is forced to support – My dear Lizzy, I know you have not acted already because of your tendency to avoid gossip, and it is likely even Lady Hester does not know of his past doings; however, it is widely known about town that he is disreputable, and I urge you to keep your sisters from his clutches, as any association with that man can be nothing but damaging to a young lady's reputation. Proceed with care, my dear, and I remain your loving husband, et cetera.'"
"Good Lord!" Mary was horrified into exclaiming. "He is surely a serpent we have taken to our bosom."
"We shall not press him there any longer," said Lizzy grimly. "I am afraid we must decline any invitations with him, and Lady Hester, as long as Warren is to be under his roof."
"He is to take me in to supper tomorrow night at the Worth's ball," said Kitty piteously from her window-seat.
"I shall deal with that," Lizzy said, "But he shall not escort you any where, Kitty, and that you may be sure of." She sat down at her desk again, and wrote a long letter, only rising again when she was her finished, and her candle had burnt low.