Chapter 10

Mrs Owen, or Aunt Owen, as Kitty was now to call her, lived in a comfortable house with two servants, at a short distance from the village of Devizes. She had lived in the neighbourhood her entire life, and was thus well acquainted with everyone in the area. Her son and daughter also lived nearby. Mr Owen had tried to convince his mother to move closer to him, but she had refused, for she wanted to remain close to her friends. Upon their arrival, Mary and Richard were there to welcome them. The whole family got together to exchange pleasantries and the sisters were very glad to see each other. The older Mr and Mrs Owen took their leave shortly after, but not before inviting everyone for dinner two days later. The newlyweds seemed to be very relaxed with each other, Kitty was happy to notice, and Mr Owen soon took to teasing her. She wondered if he was going to make a habit of it, much like her father, but figured that as a parson, his character would tend towards kinder teasing.

Kitty was then taken to her room to unpack and Mary offered to help her. Mrs Owen smiled gently, recognizing that they probably had a lot to say, and wanted to do it privately. Besides, it would also give her an occasion to spend some time with her son. Kitty's room was small, but she did not care, for this was the first time she would have a room of her own. It was simply furnished but rather comfortable. The window opened to a pretty view of the countryside, which would make a fine subject for her drawings. They started unpacking, and told each other about their respective travels. Mary asked her about their trip to Wales and how things had been with Lydia. She wondered if she should write to her. They had never been close, and after the recent events, she was afraid they would never be able to mend their differences. Her husband had advised her to give it time, and thought that as the older, it was her Christian duty to make the first step towards reconciliation. Kitty agreed, and Mary said she would probably wait until they go back to Hertfordshire, as she would have a better idea of Lydia's state of mind from her letters to Longbourn. After they finished, everyone gathered for a quick collation before retiring for a much-needed sleep.

She woke up rather late the next morning, and found everyone already at breakfast when she came downstairs.

"I gather you slept well, sister" said Richard.

"Yes, I have. I had quite forgotten where I was when I awoke. But you should call me Kitty now that we are family" she laughed.

"Fine, as long as you call me Richard" he smiled, "Is there anything in particular that you would like to do today? Mary and I thought you may want to go for a walk after being propped up in the carriage for so long".

"I would like that yes, as long as the weather holds" she mused. She then started on her breakfast heartily, inquiring all the while as to the newlyweds plans for the next days.

"Richard was just telling me that we have been invited by Mrs Barnes for dinner, they have of course extended the invitation to you when he told them his new sister would be visiting. They have a nice estate two miles from here, so you will probably be seeing quite a lot of them while you are here" answered Mrs Owen.

"How nice!" exclaimed Kitty, "I hope I will get to meet young ladies."

"So, you have already tired of my company?" chuckled Mrs Owen.

Kitty reddened "Of course not, but I would like to make friends my age, while I am here."

They all laughed. "Do not worry, I will keep you busy. You know I will take over your music lessons. I am not sure my son told you, but I was the one who taught him the pianoforte as a child. I am not as good as he now", she said looking fondly at him, "but I dare say you shall still be making progress. And you will of course make the acquaintance of young people, I will introduce you to a few of them. In fact, Mrs Barnes has a daughter who is about your age, so you will meet her today."

"It will not be a large party" added Richard, "Mary and I have already been there, and from what I could see, I think Miss Barnes is as eager to meet you as you are of meeting her"

The day passed pleasantly. Kitty was a bit nervous at meeting the neighbours. She hoped they would be amiable and that she would make a good impression. She felt it was her chance to have people get to know her without comparing her to Jane or Lizzy, as she would always appear less favourably. She was also afraid that they would not like her. "What is there not to like?" had said Mary reassuringly before they left. "You know Papa always says that I am silly and irritable…"

"Around Lydia" cut Mary.

"Yes, but I am still not very knowledgeable, although I am learning new things every day. I do not want to say anything stupid" she replied worried.

"And I do not want to sound too solemn, which is what I always do when I do not know what to say", replied Mary, "but I am sure Richard and Mother will help us. They will not judge, and even if we appeared stupid, nobody at home would know."

That seemed to lift their spirits, and they left in a joyous mood.

Mr and Mrs Barnes were very friendly people. Their estate was a bit bigger than Longbourn, so the sisters did not feel out of place. Mr Barnes spoke but little, as his wife was monopolizing the conversation. She told Mrs Owen about the latest gossip, while her husband nodded indulgently. Miss Barnes was two years older than Kitty, and was a lively young lady. She was tall, with blond ringlets, and deep brown eyes, and much like her mother, she loved to chat of all things. She was already out, but she had not been able to convince her father to have a London season yet. She had two older brothers who were also present, the oldest of five and twenty, who appeared quite bored during the whole evening, and the youngest who was two and twenty, and looked like a very serious young man. While the eldest was bound to inherit the estate, the younger was training to become a country lawyer and spoke mostly with Mr Owen.

Kitty and Miss Barnes became fast friends, and were soon planning on going shopping together. Kitty had also been invited for tea three days later, so she could meet some of Miss Barnes' friends. A picnic was also talked about, but nothing was decided. All in all, Kitty was very glad of this new acquaintance who reminded her of Maria Lucas. Mary partook in the conversation, but only as far as music was concerned. Miss Barnes was not a very good pianoforte player, but she recently started on the harp, as it was the new trending instrument in Town. She explained that although she had not been to London for the Season, she still kept up-to-date with the latest fashions, as she still hoped her father would let her go for the next season. Upon hearing that Kitty was not out yet, she despaired that she would not be able to come to assemblies, but Mrs Owen reassured her that a country party was not out of the question, as long as she got to approve of Kitty's dance partners. Everyone parted therefore on a happy note, and the evening was deemed a success.