Elizabeth was not surprised when her father appeared at her study door. Georgiana had told her enough of what had happened that she could guess the rest, and the expression on his face confirmed her suspicions. She welcomed him in and, uncomfortable being the one behind the desk after years of sitting in front of his, set her chair beside his. He sank into it with a heavy sigh.
"You overdid it." She was smiling, but she meant it. Teasing was one of the best ways to lower his defenses and help him see his blind spots; he was much like her husband in that respect. It was easier to get him to see his failings if she treated them lightly until he could see for himself why they were troublesome.
"How can she get into trouble when she doesn't leave the house? I thought it was sound enough."
"Where is she now?"
"I took her to her room. I didn't know what else to do with her, and she was clearly exhausted. She will sleep, and I can try to determine what on earth I'm supposed to do with her now."
Elizabeth shifted in her chair. She didn't know how much she could say, but she had to say something. "I'm not convinced you need to do anything. Kitty has been dealt a serious blow with the loss of Mr. Johns, and it is likely to be enough to force her to reconsider her behavior. She may no longer need your rules. You could try trusting her."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "That failed me with Lydia."
"Trusting Mrs. Forster failed. But Kitty has shown no inclination to follow Lydia's path, has she? And surely you can trust Mr. Darcy and I."
"I certainly do not trust that Pratt creature."
Sighing, Elizabeth stood up and began to pace the room. "Neither do I, but fortunately, neither does anyone else. It appears that even Kitty has cooled toward her lately. Have you not noticed? She has turned much more toward Miss Darcy, to my immense relief. It appears that Miss Pratt knows Mrs. Johns, somehow, and that seems to have set Kitty against her."
"They certainly sit and giggle together as much as they ever have."
"Kitty is not giggling, lately." She stopped before his chair, one eyebrow raised in a remarkably good approximation of his most sarcastic look. "For a man who prides himself on his observation of others, you seem to have observed very little of your own daughter."
"What is there to observe? She has not changed, and there is precious little to interest me in her folly."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and couldn't help a slight laugh. "You might be surprised, if you would take the time to look. She is no longer Lydia's second! She is confused, certainly—she is at a confusing age. But she is learning to take responsibility for herself, and to value truth and steadfastness, and to seek more lasting qualities in her friends than momentary amusement." She paused for a moment. "I don't imagine you've noticed the way Mr. Knott watches her, either, have you?"
He shook his head. "He certainly does take her side more often than I would expect from a man of sense, yet he seems sensible enough in every other way. But I cannot judge him; he is not the first man to find that a pretty face can drive away a man's rational thought."
"Kitty is not as flighty as Mama," Elizabeth said, her voice low and tight. "Not anymore. Please, Papa. Don't do anything right now. Observe her, and try to see the young lady she is becoming, rather than the girl she was. I tried your patience well enough myself when I was younger, and I turned out all right. Give Kitty the opportunity to grow up. She is safe here, and she cannot learn without a few failures along the way. This is the best place for her to learn."
He was quiet for a long time, and even though Elizabeth knew better than to say more yet, she was still tempted to break the silence. She held her ground, though, and at long last was rewarded with a heavy sigh from him as he stood up. "I will leave it in your hands, then, for the time being." He hesitated, and Elizabeth saw in that moment a glimpse of the weight he carried. Her heart fractured a little bit. "I cannot let it happen again, Lizzy."
"Trust me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He nodded and patted her shoulder as he let himself out, closing the door behind him. Elizabeth sank into her chair and sighed.
Early the following morning, Kitty was awakened by Amy knocking at her door. She snuck in hurriedly and turned to Kitty with a broad smile.
"I came to rescue you. I mean to take a carriage into Lambton today to go shopping, and I want you to come with me!"
No news could have been more agreeable to Kitty except that her father had let her free, and that certainly could not have happened already. "Let me find my things, and I will be ready to go directly!"
Kitty flew about the room and had to re-tie her bonnet twice in her excitement. Amy sat on the bed and watched her, merrily chatting about anything that came to mind. The rest of the company was dull and uncomfortable in Mr. Bennet's presence, and it was clear that no one approved of his method of disciplining Kitty. Amy hinted that she had overheard the Darcys trying to talk him out of his present course, and she suspected that Kitty's imprisonment would not last much longer. But even three more seconds would be intolerable to Kitty, who was half convinced that Miss Pratt had just saved her life.
And she had planned everything very well. She took Kitty through back hallways and servant's passages, well out of the way of the library or any other area where they might be seen, and smuggled her into the carriage with the greatest efficiency. Kitty had to laugh at her as she climbed in behind.
"You are quite good at this. Have you had much practice?"
"Not yet, but if I am successful here, perhaps I will make a habit of it."
"I hereby give you leave to practice on me as often as you like." Kitty sighed happily and looked around her. "Is this one of Mr. Darcy's carriages?"
"Yes, he said I could have one to go to town today. Though, I think he was expecting his sister to join me."
"Why didn't she?"
Amy shrugged. "I don't know. I offered, but she said she wasn't inclined to go, and she was rather offended when I suggested we break you out and take you along. I don't know why, for she is as indignant as the rest of us about your treatment. Do you know, even Mr. Knott is being very cold to your father just now."
"I'm sure Papa doesn't mind in the slightest," Kitty said bitterly.
"No, though I find that to be very strange. What kind of man cares so little for the opinions of those with whom he is living? That seems to be a most uncomfortable way of doing things."
"I think Papa is quite comfortable with making other people uncomfortable. This is rather the best kind of punishment for him; it requires him to do nothing that he does not normally do with his day, and makes me miserable."
"Well, it's abominable."
Kitty was inclined to agree, but she was not inclined to continue the discussion, and changed the subject.
They arrived in Lambton and set off for the shops. There were very few of them, as Lambton was not a very large place, but Amy was determined to find something new that would catch the Colonel's attention. Her efforts so far in that direction had shown some promise, but were not bearing as much fruit as she had hoped, and she was very hopeful that this would succeed in turning his head.
"There are a lot of lovely ribbons in this one," said Kitty, pointing in one of the display windows. "You could certainly do something remarkable with them."
They agreed to go in and have a look, and once inside to exclaim over nearly all of the wares in the store. "There's more in here than you would expect from the outside!" Kitty said in delight. "Look, there is a whole other room back here with ribbons and lace, and a wall of bonnets to trim with them!"
"Yes but if I were to purchase a bonnet I would have to come up with a reason to wear it in his presence, and those have not been very easy to come by, of late. He has kept quite to himself and the other gentlemen, and I often see him only at dinner."
This was a little bit surprising to Kitty; she had seen so much of Mr. Knott lately that she had assumed that Colonel Fitzwilliam had often been nearby as well, but upon reflection, she realized that she did not recall him being present nearly as frequently. "Well," she said, "I think there would be something in here that might do for you."
Amy agreed to go look, and in they went, but their tastes proved to be very different. She was immediately drawn to some lace which Kitty thought very ugly, and Kitty quickly lost interest in her exclamations over it. She wandered back toward the front, and looked for more of what she had seen in the shop window. She walked back in that direction, and in doing so, looked out the window and nearly jumped backwards into a display of fabric.
There, across the street, were Mr. and Mrs. Johns, walking arm in arm toward the very shop she was in!
Kitty was completely unable to move. Of course they would be in Lambton! Edgepark was not so very far away, after all, and there were any number of reasons why they might need to come to Lambton—but today! Now! They were coming closer and Kitty still could not decide what to do.
Part of her wanted to run over and demand some kind of explanation, or apology, or something. He was as handsome and fashionable as ever, and for the briefest moment she had felt the old hope surge when she looked at him. Surely she deserved some kind of acknowledgement from him of what he had done to her. But Mrs. Johns was on his arm, and she couldn't bring herself to confront her again. Besides, if word should get out to her father, he might actually kill her.
Sense prevailed, and she fled back into the side room where Amy was still looking at ribbons. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. In fact, she was shaking so much, she wasn't confident she could speak. But the bell on the shop door never rang, and after a few moments Kitty thought it might be safe to peek out. There was no sign of them in the shop, nor in the street. Wherever they had gone, Kitty was safe. She returned to Amy in utter relief.
"I think I should get this one, but this ribbon looks so much better with the lace, and I must have this lace," she was saying. "What do you think, Kitty?"
Kitty looked at them and shook her head. "I think you should get the ribbon you like and not worry about the lace." Privately, she thought it was the ugliest piece of lace in the shop, but she did not want to say that. "That ribbon is much prettier and goes better with your complexion."
"But what about the lace?"
"That ribbon doesn't need lace. It stands on its own."
Miss Pratt stared at them for a few moments longer, but eventually decided to get the ribbon she liked better and the lace, and trim two of her dresses. Kitty chose not to say anything. They were back in the carriage directly.
"Well, that didn't take long at all! Where shall we go next?" Amy said.
Kitty shook her head. She could not risk encountering Mr. Johns. "As much as it pains me to say it, we should probably return me to Pemberley and my room. I should hate for my father to come looking for me and find my room empty. I am certain that he would never forgive me."
"Why would he come looking for you? I am sure you are safe until dinner, at least."
"But if I am not, what will he say? He didn't believe that I was not late on purpose yesterday. He would never truly believe that I have done nothing wrong today, even if I had not, and we both know that I have."
Amy rolled her eyes and looked as though she was going to argue more, but after a moment she shrugged her shoulders. "Very well, as you wish. To Pemberley, and back to jail with you."
"Thank you." Kitty laughed and shook her head. "But if you sneak back in tomorrow, perhaps I will be able to help you trim your dresses. You know I have a knack for it."
Amy agreed halfheartedly, and they lapsed into silence. Kitty could not stop thinking about the glimpse she had seen of Mr. Johns.
Finally she decided to seek her friend's opinion. She described the scene briefly. "I did not know what to do! Should I have confronted him? Or acknowledged him?"
"I do not blame you at all for avoiding him if that miserable Camilla was with him," said Amy. "She would not have been kinder to you today than she was at Pemberley. But if you do ever encounter him by himself, I think you have every right to ask him to explain his behavior to you."
"Do you indeed? I had hoped you would say it. I don't think there is anything he could tell me that would satisfy me about his behavior, but I do think it would be right to give him the opportunity to try."
"At least he owes you an apology. But if you can avoid a very public confrontation, you ought to do it, because I cannot imagine that either of you would like to have witnesses to the conversation."
Kitty shuddered. "No, not at all." She lapsed into thought, rehearsing again what she might have done differently if she had known that Mr. Johns was married. The rest of the journey was largely silent.
No one appeared to have noticed their absence, and Kitty made it back into her room without incident.
Kitty's only regret from the outing was that she hadn't persuaded Amy to bring her a book or something. She had one book in her room and had finished it weeks ago, and she was not the sort of person who could read a book more than one time. Without any work, or other amusement, she was left with her own thoughts, and a pen and three sheets of paper should she choose to write them down.
She was not in the room five minutes, however, before there was a knock at the door, and she opened it with every expectation of seeing Amy again. But it was Mr. Bennet who stood before her.
"Papa!"
He raised one eyebrow. "You sound surprised to see me. Were you expecting someone else?"
"I was not expecting anyone."
"Ah. You were expecting me to keep you imprisoned here until you die of old age."
"No, only until you do."
He took a step back, surprised. Then, to Kitty's astonishment, he started to laugh. "Well, it looks like your sister's wit has not escaped you entirely! Well, well, well." He had a good chuckle, but Kitty could not appreciate her success when she was under such suspense.
"Have you decided to free me, then, sir?" she ventured at last.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Mr. Knott and Lizzy have conspired against me, and insisted that you would not learn the error of your ways if you were left to stew in your own thoughts. They proposed the alternative of more directed interaction with them and with Miss Darcy, to observe your behavior and modify it where necessary under more practical conditions."
Kitty blinked at him. Did this mean she was free? Or, at least, more free than she had been? Better not to ask specifics. She would probably learn more from asking Lizzy, anyway. "Thank you, sir." She hesitated, wondering whether it was really wise to press her luck. "Sir? Might I come down to dinner with the rest of the party this evening?"
He shook his head. "Against my better judgment, you are free to move about the house as you like."
Kitty did not squeal, and she was very proud of herself for that. She thanked her father very calmly, and managed to keep her composure until he left. Then she couldn't help herself. She danced around the room until she collapsed onto the bed, laughing.