Miss Pratt, as it turned out, did not blame Kitty for the events of that evening, but Mr. Knott. And as the gentlemen did not join them at all the next morning, having gone to view Edgepark together, they were at their leisure to discuss it.

"What did he mean, anyway, by coming and talking to you? Anyone could have guessed that a clergyman would not have been your first object when there were other sources of amusement at hand; and you were not particularly welcoming toward him."

"Perhaps he thought he ought to offer her some companionship, as she was sitting alone," Miss Darcy suggested.

"He ought to have known that he could be but poor comfort."

"I am sure he did not mean any harm by it," Kitty said, "and he was… pleasant, I suppose. Though I would have enjoyed it more if I had not so wished that he were someone else. I do prefer the company of the other gentlemen to his, and it was decidedly miserable to have all my plans so effectively frustrated."

"What were you planning?" Miss Darcy asked.

"Miss Bennet has agreed to help forward my acquaintance with Colonel Fitzwilliam." Miss Pratt picked up her teacup and took a long sip. "And I believe she has every intention of forwarding her own acquaintance with Mr. Johns."

Kitty blushed. "Well, he is very handsome, and if he owns an estate, he must be rather well-off. Particularly because he is doing so much work on it."

"Yes; does anyone know his income?" Neither Miss Darcy nor Kitty did. "It is strange that we know so little of him!"

"I do not believe my brother expected him to spend very much time in our company; he probably did not think it was important to find out."

"I wish he had," Kitty said, "because it would be good for me to know more of him. No matter his income, though, I enjoyed his company, and he was very attentive to me last night."

Miss Darcy, however, was distracted by what Miss Pratt had mentioned before. "Wait. Your acquaintance with my cousin? Why, Miss Pratt, are you—" She cut herself off, looking confused.

"Intending to make him fall in love with me?" supplied Miss Pratt, smiling. "Yes, I certainly am, if I can manage it. Should you not like me for a cousin?"

"Of course I will, if you are his choice."

"I hear a 'however' in your voice, my dear." Miss Pratt laughed. "Never mind. If I am his choice, I am sure you will be happy for us, and if I am not, I hope it will not harm our friendship at all."

"No, indeed." She placed her hand over Miss Pratt's and smiled.

"Well, Miss Darcy," Kitty said, eager to restore her place in the conversation, "I have nearly finished with the bonnet; what do you think of it?" She handed it to her and awaited her verdict, which was not long in coming.

"This is far superior to what it was," said Miss Darcy. "You have an excellent eye for this kind of work! I would be honored to wear it again."

"If only you could walk, Miss Bennet, I would suggest we go out for a stroll and try it out," said Miss Pratt. "But perhaps we might sit outside to do our work for this morning? It looks beautiful out. Surely there must be some way of getting you out of doors."

"We do have a little garden seat overlooking the lake, where I have often brought some small piece of work to take some air, but it is rather far for Miss Bennet to try to go on her own." Miss Pratt's hopeful look faded, and Miss Darcy bit her lip and glanced out the window. After a moment's thought, she amended, "I might be able to persuade my brother to provide us with the gig, if you like. Of course, one of us will have to sit in the groom's chair, but it is not very far, and he can walk behind to attend the horses."

The plan was agreeable to all, especially Kitty, who missed being out of doors. The day was lovely, indeed; warm, but with a breeze blowing to keep them comfortable. The air was refreshing to one who had been shut up for so long, and there was nothing Kitty wanted more than to remain out there all day.

Miss Darcy had brought along some of her work, the beginnings of a blanket she was making for the mother of one of Pemberley's tenants. "She is often sickly, and almost always cold, and has only a very thin blanket to cover herself," she explained, and asked if they would like to help.

Miss Pratt declined, preferring to focus only on the conversation, and Kitty followed her lead. To pretty things for herself and her friends, she had no difficulty devoting her time. But a blanket for some old woman who hasn't the sense or ability or whatever she lacked to make one of her own was not a worthy project for her talents. She had always resented her mother making her do mending work, and until recently, her elder sisters had done the majority of it. Kitty did not mean to go back to doing it now that she was finally free of it again.

Miss Pratt told them stories of her acquaintance in London, which was far greater than Kitty could boast and seemed to be greater than Miss Darcy's, as well. Kitty laughed merrily at them all. Miss Pratt seemed to know a number of people who were always getting into the worst kinds of scrapes, which made for excellent stories, and if they did tend toward the scandalous at times, Kitty was not inclined to object. That only made them all the funnier.

One young lady seemed to show up in Miss Pratt's stories oftener than the others—Miss Pratt identified her only as "Camilla, who used to be Miss Irons" and when pressed to explain told her story in thrilling tones. "I do not remember her name now; I know that she is married, but I have not seen her since she was.

"She went away to visit some uncle, or a relative of that kind; it hardly matters who. I heard there was another gentleman there at that time who went rather wild over her, or so everyone thought, but would not make any motion toward making her an offer. Apparently he was rather a rake, and liked nothing more than to make young ladies fall in love with him. Well, my dear Camilla knew better than to fall for that! She had always vowed that she should never be a laughingstock for anybody. So she found a way to entrap him; I never learnt the details; anyway, next thing you hear, she is married to the man, and quite pleased with herself, too, from all I have been told! I have not been able to meet with her again since she was married. I wish I could; I should dearly love to hear more of the story."

"Goodness!" Kitty said, somewhat overawed. "I could never be so bold as that. I wonder that she had the courage to do it!"

"Oh, she was always good for boldness, if for nothing else." Miss Pratt laughed and stood up to shake out her skirts and walk around to Kitty's other side, where Miss Darcy was sitting, taking in the view as she went. "This is a lovely spot, Miss Darcy. I can see why you come here so often. I declare, I would like it above all things if we could spend every morning out here!"

Miss Darcy smiled a little bit. "Yes, isn't it pretty? When Miss Bennet is able to walk again, we will be able to come out more often."

"Well, Miss Bennet, in that case I must implore you to walk again as soon as possible. I will not be happy until we can come here again."

Kitty sighed. "If there is any way to recover faster, I do not know it, but I wish I did, for being so entirely helpless is miserably tedious."

"I am sure you will be walking again before you know it," Miss Darcy said, patting her hand.

"Oh, yes—this is nothing to the time my friend Miss Harding broke her leg. It was ten times worse than yours, Miss Bennet, I am sure, and she was in plasters for ages. She missed all the balls for the whole season, and was obliged to turn down I do not know how many invitations because she had to be carried everywhere."

Kitty gasped. "How dreadful!"

"Yes, isn't it?" Miss Pratt looked proud of herself.

Miss Darcy patted Kitty's knee. "Your injury is not that dire, Miss Bennet. I am sure that you will be recovered before very much longer."

Kitty, whose ankle throbbed at the mere thought of walking on it, did not think she agreed.

The outing provided a welcome break in their morning routine, but Kitty could not help preferring what happened the next day, when all of the gentlemen—including Mr. Johns—joined them halfway through the morning for more Absentee and some conversation, which Kitty enjoyed more than anything. Mr. Johns told them all about Edgepark, describing the improvements to be made, and more exciting, the intention he had of taking them all to tour it as soon as it was safe for the ladies to go.

"Is it so dangerous now, then?" Kitty asked, feeling a small thrill.

"There are many areas in which the floor has begun to rot, and there is a chance of falling through," Mr. Johns answered, "and unless you know precisely where to step, you are indeed in great danger."

"Oh!" said Kitty. "The house must have been absolutely destroyed!"

"I had heard it was in bad shape," Miss Darcy added, "but nothing had given me the impression that it was as badly off as that. I wonder that you don't have the entire building pulled down and start fresh!"

Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed. "I suggested the same thing when I saw it yesterday, but he is determined, it appears."

"I am indeed. But Mr. Knott agrees that it can be salvaged; I am not alone in my insanity."

"I believe it can, with enough time and money. It is a handsome house, or it was. Rather old-fashioned, of course." Mr. Knott shrugged. "But as you are considering altering the face at least, I don't imagine that will matter. Certainly everything else about it will be made new, and probably be quite handsome."

"Do you know fashions in housing?" asked Miss Darcy with interest. "I know next to nothing about it, though my brother has some interest in it."

"Yes, well, at one point I was expecting to inherit an estate of my own, and spent some time researching improvements I might have made to it." He colored a little. "But as that inheritance went elsewhere, all my research turned out to be solely for my own amusement."

"How dreadful for you, to have been robbed of the income you had expected!" said Miss Pratt. She leaned forward. "What happened?"

Mr. Knott's color deepened. "I do not feel myself robbed; this was nothing out of the common way. It was only that a closer relation, who was thought to be dead, was in fact found living, and returned from abroad on learning that he was to inherit. Fortunately, he was generous enough to offer to send me to school, if I wished, since he was taking the place I had anticipated obtaining."

"That was very kind of him," said Miss Darcy.

"Yes, and if he had not, I should not have met Colonel Fitzwilliam, and therefore none of you. So, you see, I am quite in his debt." Mr. Knott smiled around the room, apparently quite content with his lot.

"But to have lost your entire future! Surely you did not view it with such resignation as you do now," Kitty insisted. It was unthinkable that he should.

"Why should I not? I am certainly not well-equipped to run an estate the size of Rookwood, and I was rather relieved when I found that I would not have to, My ambitions have always run toward other things."

"It is not easy to find a position as a clergyman these days," Miss Darcy said quietly.

"No," he agreed, "but I did not say that my ambitions ran toward easier things. Only different ones."

Miss Pratt huffed and rolled her eyes. "I don't see what kind of person could possibly prefer a life in the church to one of ease and comfort on an estate."

"You see one before you, Miss Pratt," Mr. Knott said with a small smile. "I will admit that my mother was very upset on my behalf, and I am certain that she would have rather seen me go to a more illustrious establishment. But she knows my temper, and has since told me that she believes I am better equipped for the path God has set me on."

Miss Darcy smiled. "She sounds very wise."

"She is exceptional in every way."

"You are close, then?" asked Kitty.

"Yes. We were not always—there were many years, when I was younger, that I resented her for certain elements of my childhood which were only partially her fault. But for the last few years, we have reached an understanding and an intimacy that more than makes up for our previous odds."

Kitty could not understand that. She liked her mother very well, but she had no desire to increase their intimacy at all. Miss Pratt also seemed uncomfortable with the subject, because she changed it to something else. Kitty was not sad to abandon that line of thinking.

The other good thing that came out of that morning did not reveal itself to her until they were going to change dress for dinner, when Miss Darcy found her.

"I have a gift for you," she said, holding something behind her back and smiling shyly.

"Have you? Thank you! But I am sure it is not—"

"Don't be silly! You will be very glad of this." She pulled from behind her back a very elegant, old-fashioned ladies' cane. "This was my great-grandmother's. Elizabeth and I were looking for it this morning. It took us longer to find it than we thought it would, but I thought, since you seemed to be so restless without being able to walk under your own power, that a cane might help you get around."

Kitty took it eagerly. "Thank you so much! This is perfect!" She proved her enthusiasm by immediately putting it to use. She stood up, leaning on it heavily, and took a tentative step forward. Everything was quite stiff, but it worked. She was able to walk all the way to the window seat with it, though it quite tired her out to do so. "Miss Darcy, I cannot thank you enough!"

"I am very glad you like it," she answered, smiling. "It seemed a shame that you are so completely dependent on others to move you where you wish to go."

"I could not agree more." Kitty wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day hobbling about, but after only ten minutes of that her arm was shaking under the strain of holding her up and she had to stop and rest. But it was an excellent beginning. She was no longer trapped at the whim of whoever happened to be around to help her walk. If she needed to go to a different room, or even to cross the room she was in, she could. The level of freedom that would afford her made her giddy.

She took delight in making her own (slow) way to her room to dress for dinner, and completed her toilette as quickly as possible so she could hobble her way back down to where the others were gathering to go in together. She was sure she would be one of the last to arrive, but she would arrive under her own power, and that was a triumph she was happy to savor.

As she passed the salon door, however, she heard something that stopped her where she stood: her own name, from what sounded like Mr. Johns. She couldn't help pressing her ear to the door.

"…not entirely respectable."

"I don't know about that. She's just one of those that gives an unfortunate impression of herself, but she's kind enough under all that, and reasonably pretty, at least," Colonel Fitzwilliam said. "That counts for something, don't you think?"

"Reasonably pretty does precious little good when one is so transparent in one's intentions! Poor thing! I bet she thinks she's a lot of fun," said Mr. Johns. "Maybe she is, but she's not exactly marriage material, what?"

Kitty turned away from the door, fighting the fury that rose within her. Was that what he thought of her? Surely the others would defend her—surely they did not all have such an opinion of her! Surely one of them thought better of her than that. If only someone did, she could get them to help her show Mr. Johns what he did not see. Perhaps someone was defending her even now! She leaned back toward the door and listened carefully again.

"…Here he is now. Darcy, where on earth have you been?" Mr. Johns was saying. He must have entered through the opposite door, for Kitty had not seen or heard anyone approaching.

"My sister wanted me. Apparently she took it upon herself to find a cane that has been in the family some years and give it to Miss Bennet, and she wanted to be sure I was not upset with her." There was a pause, and the sounds of glass clinking. "I can't imagine why she thought I should disapprove. If I had believed we still had that old cane I'd have dug it up myself, but I thought it had been lost years ago. Miss Bennet will be happy to be able to walk on her own again, I am sure. Brandy, anyone?"

Mr. Johns answered, "Aye. Tis a pity that she can't dance, with the ball coming up. I am surprised that she hasn't been remarking on it."

"We haven't told her of it, and do not intend to," Mr. Darcy said. "She's distressed enough without having to learn of a ball she would not be able to attend."

"Surely she could go and watch the other dancers, at least?" said Mr. Knott. "There are other amusements to be had at a ball than dancing oneself."

"Mrs. Darcy seems to think that would only make it worse for her. She has never been particularly good at taking pleasure in the delight of others, from what I gather. It would be kinder to just keep her ignorant of the whole proceeding."

This time Kitty really did have quite enough. She crept away from the door, eyes smarting and appetite lost.

Mary would tell her that this was what she got for listening at doors. And she might have been right, but would not it have been better if they had not been discussing her at all? Should they really have been talking about a poor girl in their midst who couldn't even walk, as though she was some kind of joke? And there was to be a ball, and she wasn't even to know about it! That stung worst of all. Of course she would rather dance, but she could at least put on a pretty dress and watch the others dance instead, could she not? Besides, was that not her choice to make, not someone else's to make on her behalf? They should at least have asked her!

She was on the verge of finding Elizabeth and demanding to know why she hadn't been told about the ball at all, until she remembered that she still wasn't supposed to know about it, and would have to confess to eavesdropping on the gentlemen if she did so.

Torn between humiliation and rage, she didn't hear the door open or the approach of someone behind her until he spoke. "Miss Bennet! Walking already, I see?" It was Mr. Johns.

Kitty could not turn to face him until she had composed herself. "Only with the support of the cane, I'm afraid. I'm not much good yet." She turned around at last but could not meet his eye. How could she, knowing what he thought of her?

"Well, I'm sure you'll be walking on your own again in no time. Dancing, too, and if I don't miss my guess, you're looking forward to that just as much."

"Yes… but it hardly matters. I'm clearly not the kind of girl a man would wish to dance with, anyway. Apparently, I'm not entirely respectable, so I'm hardly marriage material."

His eyes widened the smallest bit, which gave her a little jolt of satisfaction. "I see you heard some of our conversation in there." She blushed, but inclined her head. "What you must not have heard, however, is that the young lady of whom we spoke was not you, but Miss Pratt?"

Miss Pratt! "I thought… I thought I heard my name…"

"Likely you did, since she has taken such a liking to you. She is the sort of person a girl wants for a friend but a man wants nothing to do with, I think. All her charms are for her own sex only. You, on the other hand, possess the rare and enviable charm of being equally agreeable to both." He smiled, taking a step closer to her. "Do not let the idle conversation of bored men concern you, Miss Bennet. I assure you, there is nothing about you which can invite the kind of censure which Miss Pratt has done."

"Thank you," she said breathlessly. What a man!

This, she was sure, was the beginning of a perfect romance. Mr. Johns would be an excellent husband—and here she thought she would have been content with Mr. Warde. How foolish! She knew better now. Nothing could compare to Mr. Johns.

"And when you have recovered enough to dance, whenever that may be," he said, glancing at her cane, "I beg you would reserve your first dance for me. Nothing would give me greater pleasure."

Kitty curtseyed as well as she could around the cane, her blush now of pleasure. "It is yours, whenever it happens. I will dance with no other."

She was determined that it would be at the ball. It might be a lot of work to be dancing before the ball came, but with such inducement before her, how could she help but succeed?