A/N- Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers. You all really cheered me up.
Kitty Bennet sat in the parlor, mournfully gazing at the back of her sister Lydia's new bonnet. With Jane gone to London and Elizabeth to Hunsford, the household was far quieter than any of the family was accustomed to, and the silence was quite unbearable. Mr Bennet retired to his study completely, Mrs Bennet hovered about, visiting all neighbors fow the want of something to do now that there was no matchmaking close by, Lydia simply shopped a lot, and bought every thing that she could afford, while Kitty moaned and wailed about, thoroughly bored.
Every few days, Lydia insisted that her mother accompany her to look at some new fabrics, or bonnets, or something of the sort, and Kitty usually opted to stay at home to receive guests, for she could barely look at anything she liked before Lydia had snatched it away for herself. The youngest Bennet was thoroughly spoiled by her mother, and Mary, Kitty, and to some extent Elizabeth always found their wishes being pushed away by their mother in favour of Lydia's.
When Kitty had announced that she would stay home, Lydia had scarcely waited for a second before telling her older sister that since she had nothing better to do, perhaps she would agree to trim her new bonnet for her? There was no way for Kitty to refuse, even though all Bennet sisters save Mary despised sewing, and she had taken up the monotonous task with great despair.
Even though Kitty and Mary's situations were very similar, the two sisters were not as close as one would think, and to any outsider Mary looked like the lonely Bennet daughter, while Kitty and Lydia appeared to be the closest. This was not really quite true, because there were few sisterly feelings between Lydia and Kitty. Even though she was older, Kitty looked up to Lydia for advice, for it was Lydia who Mrs Bennet heaped the most and best advice often.
Lydia did not love Kitty, at least not as much as she should have loved her closest sister. She enjoyed, Kitty's cheerful company, she enjoyed shopping with Kitty who had an excellent eye for good bargains, she enjoyed the luxury of lording over Kitty simply because she was her mother's favourite, and above all she enjoyed being able to persuade Kitty into doing whatever she wanted her to, and then blaming every mistake on Kitty, who was, after all, the older of the two.
Kitty was not entirely unaware of these feelings on Lydia's part, but she submitted to the unfair treatment anyway, out of sheer longing for similar minded company. She truly believed that Lydia, in some corner of her heart did care for herher, and even though she might deprive her older sister of a pretty necklace, she would not do the same if the object in question truly mattered to Kitty. Whether or not Kitty was mistaken had thankfully never been tested so far, but if it had, Lydia's actions could not really have been predicted.
These thoughts flew through Kitty's head as her fingers flew in and out out, working steadily on Lydia's bonnet that she would herself have liked.
Presently, her thoughts found a more interesting topic to dwell upon. John Lucas. The Bennets and Lucases had been intimate friends for as long as they had been neighbors, and the young children had spent so much time together that they were as good as brothers and sisters. Kitty herself had never truly thought of a certain Lucas as a brother, but she was definitely exceedingly fond of him.
When she had been very young, newly into her teens, she had discovered something rather exciting. She was half in love! Kitty would have loved nothing better than to declare this to her matchmaking mother, but something stopped her, almost as if she sensed that she would receive nothing but ridicule. If she had truly declared her feelings as she longed to, she certainly would have been made a joke of. Not that the family hadn't figured it out anyway with her constant blushing and stammering.
She was subjected to a little teasing, but nothing really came of it for John had soon left for Cambridge and Kitty was left behind wondering if he ever thought of her. Though he was always kind to her, John Lucas has been friendly mostly with Jane and Elizabeth who were closest to him in age. Kitty Bennet had been nothing but a good hearted, slightly silly little girl to him, till the wedding of Mary and Collins, when he suddenly seemed to see her for the first time. Since then, he had been unable to keep away, and visited Kitty various times, and Kitty could hardly keep her hopes under control, for she soon discovered that her little fancy had never truly worn out.
Her happy thoughts were interrupted when she heard the main door open, and realised that her mother and Lydia would soon descend upon herself and explain in great detail all that they had done with the day, and Lydia would complain that her bonnet wasn't ready yet.
Kitty immersed herself into her sewing for a while till she realised that the bonnet was trimmed already and her mother and Lydia had not yet entered the parlor, which they should have done long ago. She frowned to herself, then walked over to the window and took a deep breath. If it hadn't been for John, she would have lost her sanity long ago.
'Kitty?', asked a voice behind her, and she whirled around to see herself before the object of her affections.
'John!', she exclaimed, surprised.
'I spoke to your father today.', he said seriously.
'Oh?', said Kitty politely, trying to quench the excitement that bubbled up within her and not really succeeding.
'He gave me his blessings to ask you for your hand in marriage.', said John.
'John, oh John!', cried Kitty, and all of a sudden she was crying and laughing all at once.
'My dearest Kitty, I love you so!', said he passionately, and was replied similarly.
The sun shine upon the happy pair of lovers, and Kitty knew for sure that in her new life she would be far happier than the previous had been, and her John would nwver overlook her wishes for another's. And she knew that for once her mother would approve of her. It was a pleasant sensation, but nothing was better than her sheer joy that her feelings were returned.
A/N- I promised to write about Elizabeth and Darcy, but this chapter demanded to be written, and has given me inspiration for a Kitty and John Lucas story called Blind to His Affections that I intend to write as soon as I can. I remember a few readers saying that this story was not one that could capture attention, and I hope that that complaint is now removed. Do review.