Mr. Knott returned her to Pemberley and left her in the foyer to go meet with Mr. Darcy. Unfortunately, at that moment Mr. Bennet was emerging from the library, and he did not like what he saw. As soon as Mr. Knott had left, he stormed up to Kitty, his face set in lines that did not bode well for her.
"What was that?"
Kitty crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean, what was that?"
"Exactly what I said. I just witnessed you walking into this house on the arm of a gentleman, apparently unescorted. What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. He met me while I was walking in the gardens—in full view of the house, as you insisted!—and offered to escort me back to the house. I accepted his offer. There is nothing wrong with that, is there?" She knew she was not being entirely truthful. She had gone somewhat further than the gardens when she had encountered him, but it was not as though her father need to know that detail.
Mr. Bennet looked at the door through which Mr. Knott had disappeared. "If that were not a respectable man of the clergy, whom I have no reason to doubt, I would be much angrier than I am. As it is, I am not best pleased. Did you hear nothing of my instructions to you?"
"I did not leave the sight of the house! I was well within your rules!"
"I specifically told you that you are not allowed to be in company alone with anyone but Lizzy and me! How do you think I ought to respond to this?"
"By showing some sense and realizing that I have done nothing wrong!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that she would regret them. Her father was turning a most unflattering shade of red.
He did not say anything for several long moments, and if she had not been able to stand there and watch the emotions warring across his face, she would likely have assumed the conversation was ended and left. But she had learned that expression, or, rather, series of expressions, and she knew that to leave would be to multiply his wrath. Worse still, she could see Amy in the hall behind him, watching with wide eyes.
Finally, it came. "Let me be quite clear," he said, every syllable crisp. "You are not to leave the house, by any door, for any reason, without an escort of whom I have personally approved. You are not to step foot outside, or into company with any person not immediately related to you, without my approval and knowledge. You will inform me of your exact whereabouts at every moment, and if I do not know where you are, I will search until I have found you, and not allow you to leave my side until you have learned the severity of my resolve. Do I make myself quite clear?"
Kitty nearly sank into the floor. She knew better than to protest, but it was nearly impossible to grind out her response. "Yes, Sir."
"Very well. Now, let us join the others. I believe we will find them in the music room." He held out his arm to escort her, but she refused to take it. That little bit of rebellion, at least, was still available to her.
Amy ducked into the room ahead of them, and Kitty foresaw the further torment that awaited her with a resigned shake of her head. Amy dropped down beside her as soon as she sat down and picked up a dress to re-trim.
"You poor dear! I heard enough. What an odious punishment! Whom does he think he must protect you from? Does he think Mr. Knott or Colonel Fitzwilliam are hiding secret wives, as well?"
"No; from myself, I suppose."
She laughed. "He doesn't blame you for what happened, surely."
Kitty shook her head, growing angry. "Of course he does. His only other option is blaming you, and I am not convinced that he does not, in some measure."
Amy sat back, clearly hurt, and Kitty felt viciously triumphant. It may have been a joke to Amy, but to Kitty it was quite serious, and any true friend would understand that. She pulled her scissors out of her pocket and cut the trim off her dress with what she meant to be an air of nonchalance.
Mr. Knott entered the room at that moment, and judging by the expression on his face, he sensed the tension in the air. "Pardon me," he said. "I think I must be interrupting something."
"No, indeed," Amy said grandly, jumping up from her chair. "You find us all quite bored, and I have been forced to resort to tormenting poor Miss Bennet for lack of something better to do."
His gaze found Kitty's, and she could not hold it. His half-smile was mocking her. "Have you indeed? Well, someone ought to come to her rescue. Fortunately, the appointment I had has been postponed, and I am available for rescuing, if Miss Bennet believes it necessary."
"I believe I am beyond rescue," Kitty said. She didn't quite achieve the lighthearted tone she was trying for.
"Surely you do not mean that! No one is beyond redemption entirely until he is dead, and you, Miss Bennet, are not dead, as far as I can tell."
Kitty smiled weakly. "Not yet."
Georgiana took pity on her and interceded. "Were you planning to join us this morning, Mr. Knott?"
"I…" He looked back to Kitty again, and his mouth tightened. "I was, if you will have me. It has been such a long time since I had the pleasure of reading to you, and I thought perhaps that you might wish to find out what happens next in The Absentee."
"Yes," said Amy, "we have neglected it shamefully."
In all honesty, Kitty had entirely forgot about the book, but she recognized the attempt he was making to protect her from Amy, and she was grateful to him for it. As Mr. Knott settled in to read, she took up a ruined dress she'd been meaning to mend, and hoped she could make something to cover the mess she had made. But Amy's interest in the story was merely affected, for she sat back down beside Kitty and it was not very long before she was whispering to her again.
"Do you think your father will allow you to accompany me to town later? I was very much hoping to purchase some new ribbons for this bonnet and I do not think Miss Darcy has anything that will do."
"No, he will not." Kitty glanced over at Georgiana, but she gazed thoughtfully at Mr. Knott, and appeared to be engrossed in the story.
Undaunted, Amy pressed on. "Well, what do you think he will permit you? It will be quite dull if we sit here all day."
"Well, that is all he's likely to allow. But you are not obligated to stay with me if you do not like to."
Mr. Bennet stood up and came over to stand beside Kitty, watching her work, and effectively cutting off any further conversation between them. Amy lost heart for the conversation, and Kitty was simultaneously relieved and furious. If only Elizabeth would come back, she would at least be spared this overbearing display of stern discipline. It was punishment, to be sure, but was humiliation really a necessary part of it? Had she not experienced enough of that to last her whole life?
"Forgive me, Mr. Knott, but I did not hear that last. Do you mind going back a page?" she said, glancing up at her father again. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much it affected her, if she could help it.
"Of course, Miss Bennet; is this far enough?" He flipped back and started reading again, and Kitty nodded. She was going to listen to that story and she was going to forget about her father and Amy Pratt.
Mr. Knott read through the end of the chapter, and when he paused to see if the company wished for another, Georgiana spoke up. "Actually, I was hoping that we—the ladies, I mean—could take a basket to another of Pemberley's tenants. It seems that whatever illness afflicted the Stephenses has spread to others, and these have a new baby at home and are struggling to keep a balance." She looked between Kitty and Amy. "What do you think?"
Amy made a face, but before either of them could answer, Mr. Bennet intervened. "Kitty will have to decline, I'm afraid. She is not to leave the house at present." Kitty winced. It was too much to bear; she could feel all their eyes on her. They pitied her, and were surely laughing at her. She stared resolutely at her hands.
A chair scraped and someone stood up; Kitty glanced up to see Mr. Knott standing before her father, his ears red and his expression resolute. "Mr. Bennet," he said, his gentle tone a poor match for his expression, "I suggest that you consider allowing her to go on this errand. What harm can it do? There are no unknown gentlemen to corrupt her, and only wholesome company to cheer her. It is clear that Miss Bennet regrets her behavior, and wishes to go. I think it speaks very highly of her judgment and character that she does, and sending a young lady on an errand of Christian charity ought to be the kind of thing that punishment is meant to promote. It must benefit her to see others whose lot in life is worse than her own, and to help ease their hardships. It will take her mind off her own situation and teach her to think of others. I believe that her inclination to go does her credit, and should not be discouraged."
Dear Mr. Knott! Kitty had never liked him so well as she did at that moment, and she lifted her head to smile at him.
Mr. Bennet, however, was not impressed. "If I could believe that her desire was for charity, I would not hesitate to send her; but as it is, I believe her motivation is much less admirable."
"Well, then, perhaps I might go with them, to supervise her behavior. I am ordained, though I have not yet secured a situation, and in that capacity, I can monitor her behavior if you do not wish to entrust the other young ladies alone with the responsibility."
"I am sure that Kitty will behave beautifully, as she did on our last such errand," Georgiana added quickly, "and if you would like me to provide you with a report of her activity upon her return, I will furnish it faithfully. I am sure I will not need to say anything which will make me blush." She glanced at Kitty with a small, trembling smile.
"Or I could ask Elizabeth to come with us," Kitty added, encouraged by Georgiana's support. "You said yourself that you trusted her to supervise me."
"I already told you that Lizzy does not need to be troubled with your every movement. She has responsibilities of her own."
"You're only saying that because she doesn't agree with this, and she won't be pleased to be asked to go with us only because you have created this rule, and brought her into it." Kitty realized as she said it that she spoke the truth, and Mr. Bennet's momentary confusion confirmed her suspicion. She pressed her advantage. "There will be no reason for me to behave with anything but perfect propriety. I will spend the entire time in the company of Miss Darcy, Mr. Knott, and Miss Pratt, and we will go directly there and directly back."
"Don't drag me into this," Amy said crossly. "You can go on your charity mission if you like, but please remember that I have not consented to go with you, nor do I mean to!"
Kitty thought she ought to have known better than to bring Miss Pratt into the conversation, but she ignored the comment. "And consider, Papa. You encouraged me to join Miss Darcy on her last visit. Why should this one do me less good?"
Mr. Bennet glanced at Miss Pratt, and then at his pocket watch. "How long would it take you to walk there and back, Miss Darcy?"
She thought for a moment. "Less than an hour, if we do not stay long to talk."
"Very well, then. You may go, but only if you promise that you will return to this room within two hours after you leave the house, and if I hear so much as a whisper of your behavior being the smallest inch out of line, I will be as severe as I am able."
"Oh, thank you!" Kitty jumped to her feet and embraced Georgiana. She bowed to Mr. Knott and then shook his hand, but hastily withdrew it when she realized that her father might think ill of her forwardness. "Thank you. Thank you a thousand times!"
She even kissed her father's cheek in thanks, she was so pleased. "You'll see," she cried as she hurried out of the room to change her dress, "You were not wrong to put your faith in me, Papa!"
They were outside and on the way to the tenants' house within minutes. Kitty was, in fact, somewhat astonished at how quickly the others were ready to go, but she was grateful to them for their willingness to defend her and put it down to the understanding that they, too, feared that Mr. Bennet would change his mind if they tarried too long. They only stopped to synchronize Georgiana's watch with Mr. Bennet's, to be sure of their time.
Kitty turned to Mr. Knott as soon as they were out of her father's hearing, determined to speak before she forgot how grateful she was.
"I am so sorry that we were forced to bring you into this. Thank you for defending me to my father. You see, now, what I am up against. He does not understand my situation or my temperament."
"It is a common failing in a parent," he said. "I confess, it distressed me to see you so upset by his censure. Your behavior toward Mr. Johns was—" he hesitated and frowned, but recovered—"nothing like the sort of behavior that ought to lead to such punishment."
"Truly Kitty," added Georgiana, "you were more in company with him than with the rest of us, and you did not trouble to hide your intentions toward him, but there was nothing in your conduct that would have brought you censure if he had been single as we all thought."
Kitty shook her head. She remembered Elizabeth's reprimand that day of the picnic, and she knew that others, at least, felt that her conduct had at least been partially blameworthy. But she chose instead to voice the question that had been bothering her since yesterday morning. "But what could possibly have prompted him to disguise his marriage to us?"
"We may never know," Mr. Knott said. "It certainly was not the action of an honest man. I am a little bit surprised at Mr. Darcy's inviting him to stay at Pemberley when he knew so little about the man, but Mr. Johns had a very engaging personality, and perhaps he imposed on Mr. Darcy in some way."
"I know my brother would not have exposed us to any risk he though unacceptable," Georgiana said stiffly.
"You are quite right. Please excuse me."
Kitty glanced at Georgiana's blushing face and thought the kindest thing she could do was to change the subject. "Thank you again, Mr. Knott, for coming with us. I know you probably had other plans for your day."
"Nothing of significance, I assure you. Besides, I am sure the experience will do me some good. I have been too much cooped up indoors of late."
Kitty laughed. "You needn't tell me that! I know only too well what it has been to spend all my time inside, forever wondering whether I will ever have a chance of getting out into the sun again!"
"Forgive me," he said, and blushed. "I forgot that your ankle…"
"Never mind that. I am quite on the mend, and have made it out into the world at last. Let me enjoy the day and the sunshine, and keep me from breaking my ankle again, and all will be forgiven." Kitty waved her hand and laughed again. She glanced at Georgiana, who was walking a few paces ahead of them, and wondered whether or not it would be wise to take control of the situation; clearly, Miss Darcy was too shy to walk back with them for fear of betraying her feelings to Mr. Knott. She was debating within herself how to get them together when Mr. Knott asked a question about the Stephenses which Kitty could easily deflect to her friend.
"I honestly don't know," she said, "but I am sure that Miss Darcy must have an idea of it. Georgiana! How many generations have the Stephenses lived at Pemberley?"
To her relief, the tactic worked, and she came back to walk with them. But she walked on Kitty's other side, rather than taking Mr. Knott's free arm, which Kitty thought was a bit too much. She answered Mr. Knott graciously, however, and the conversation turned to matters in which Kitty was happy to not be able to participate. But Miss Darcy's good manners would not allow her to be excluded for long and she was eager to find a subject on which Kitty could converse.
"Oh," Kitty said when she expressed her concern that they were excluding her, "you needn't worry about me. I am more than content to walk in good company and look at the countryside. There is no place more beautiful in the world, I think. These view are quite spectacular."
Mr. Knott readily agreed, and Kitty felt a little bad for exaggerating her opinion so much. But her spirits were so high that she could not dwell on anything for long, and she felt so pleased with the day and their excursion that she could almost forget about her father.