Part of her problem, Kitty decided, was that she simply did not know how long she would have to make up her mind. She could not very well go to Mr. Knott and insist that he inform her of when he intended to propose so that she could be prepared. For a couple of days, she worried about it to the point that she could hardly think of anything else.

At last, she had an idea. She could ask her father how long he meant to remain in the country. So she found herself in the library, curtseying to Colonel Fitzwilliam and daring to interrupt her father in his reading. He looked up from his book and gestured to the chair facing the door, and Kitty had only begun to articulate her request when Miss Pratt walked in. She was clearly on the hunt, and she had finally found her prey. Kitty watched out of the side of her eye as she sidled up to the Colonel, completely ignoring the other two at the fireplace, and asked him what he was looking for. Kitty trailed off and looked at her father, half amused and half alarmed. He arched an eyebrow, and she sat down, but she couldn't help overhearing Miss Pratt.

"Perhaps I can help you find something. I am quite a reader myself, you know."

Kitty heard her father exhale the smallest whisper of a chuckle, and stopped even pretending to talk to him. They were both clearly determined to hear this.

"I do not doubt that, but you and I do not appear to have similar taste in books. I doubt that you could suggest anything in which I was truly interested."

"What do you think of Gilpin?"

"I suppose it's amusing enough, but it's absolutely ridiculous to expect something as sublime as artistic taste to be capable of description, even in a book as long as his. Did I need him to inform me that three cows standing on a hillside is pleasant to view? Though I suspect that the gentleman has not spent much time in the presence of actual cows, or he would know that it is next to impossible to expect them to be always grouped as charmingly as he argues is ideal, unless one owns precisely three of them."

"Yes, that is precisely what I think."

"Oh? Have you spent much time in the company of cows?"

"What? No, of course not. I meant…" She looked around the room but there was no help for her in the books and drapes.

Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled. "You see. Thank you for your offer of assistance, but I am sure I will be able to find something that interests me without help. Do not let me keep you from your object in coming here."

Kitty, who knew Miss Pratt's object in coming there, smirked. Miss Pratt squared her shoulders and puffed out her chest a little, then wandered to the Colonel's other side so she was between him and the door. She looked at the books in front of her for a minute, or, rather, pretended to. Her eyes rarely turned any direction but his. It was not long before she spoke again.

"We were quite desolate without you here. I am so happy that you chose to come back."

"I am glad to have been able to return, but I am happier that I could go and be of service to my friend, and open my father's house to him. I hope my support was of some benefit to him as he dealt with his family crisis."

"Are your parents not at home at present, to have hosted him?"

"They are at home; for them, home is in Lancashire. They usually only go to town for the season."

"Oh! Do you visit them often?"

"Tolerably often."

"I have never been to Lancashire, myself."

"Indeed? It is not so far from here."

"Yes, but when we travel, we travel south. We have no family any further north, nor any friends that direction." She picked a book off the shelf, thumbed through it quickly, and put it back. "I hope, however, that you do not plan to leave us very soon. We will not easily endure another reduction in our party."

"I am sure that Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are not so negligent in their hosting that they would permit you to be without any entertainment."

"Of course they are not; but a large party is always to be preferred to a smaller one, is it not?"

"I find unique charms in each."

"Well… that is true, I suppose…"

He picked up a book off the shelf and bowed to her. "It appears that I have found what I was looking for," he said. "Thank you for a… fascinating conversation. I will leave you with the hope of equal success in your search."

Kitty could see Miss Pratt's panic rising. "But—one moment—do you think—I cannot quite reach the one I want—that one there, you see?" She pointed to one only slightly out of her reach. "Can you help me?"

Without speaking, he took three steps past her and picked up a small folding ladder that was kept in the library for that purpose. He unfolded it, placed it before her, and bowed again.

"Thank you!" She climbed onto the ladder but intentionally missed the top step and started to fall toward him. "W—oh!"

The colonel, shaking his head, steadied her by taking her arm, and brought her safely back to earth. He arrested her attempt to lean on him by grasping her other arm, and released her the moment he could. He sighed. "Miss Pratt, it seems that I can no longer hope that subtlety will be effective. Do not believe me ignorant of what you are trying to do. If I were of a mind to make you an offer, believe me, I would have done so already. This manner of behavior is not at all calculated to increase its likelihood. You will not succeed in this object and for both our sakes, I ask that you stop trying. It pains me to be compelled to be so blunt, but you have been entirely deaf to more polite hints. I hope that in this case, my breach of propriety will at least ensure that I may be spared these insulting manipulations in the future." He left without even bowing, except toward Kitty and her father.

Mr Bennet bowed back and Kitty looked away quickly, but Miss Pratt hurried out soon after, and said nothing to either of them.

Kitty looked at her father, unable to disguise her amusement, and at his suppressed smile and shaking shoulders, she couldn't help giggling. Then he started to laugh, and she laughed harder. Poor Miss Pratt! That had to be the end of her quest to seduce Colonel Fitzwilliam—and what an end!

A/N: I just have to tell you how much fun I had writing this chapter. It was absolutely a delight! I know how many of you were longing to see someone set Miss Pratt down. I hope this satisfies! - Jaya