Kitty looked out over the guests at Mary’s wedding breakfast, which was being held in the garden at Longbourn. She internally breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a very busy six weeks, but it was finally over. Lydia had gotten married on the last day of April, and now Mary was safely married as well.
As the distress of the last few weeks left her, a wave of sadness and loneliness threatened to take its place. It had been growing steadily over the last month as she became more aware that she would soon have no sisters left at home. She could force herself to ignore it for another couple of hours. Once the guests were gone, and Mary and Alan were on their way to the seaside for the wedding journey, then Catherine could hide in her room with her loneliness. Until then, she would smile.
She knew that, to some degree, her feeling of isolation was her own doing. She had blocked herself off from even considering love and marriage, and by doing so, she had created a rift between herself and other young ladies her age. After all, courtship and relations between ladies and gentlemen made up a large portion of conversation among women her age.
On the other hand, she was simply melancholy because she had no sisters left. Though technically, they were still her sisters, their husbands were now their top priority. Catherine was no one’s top priority. The thought that threatened to tear her down the most was that tiny possibility that she never had been anyone’s top priority.
As she fought off her unhappy thoughts she recalled something Elizabeth had said just yesterday.
“You know, Kitty, now that we are all married, perhaps you might finally be willing to think of your own happiness.”
There was more to the conversation, but the rest had faded from her mind. Elizabeth had sneaked her little bit of advice into the middle of a discussion on Catherine’s painting and Elizabeth’s music. While talking of their hobbies, Elizabeth had ambushed her with the reminder that there was no longer any reason for Catherine to avoid marriage.
The idea had struck her like a thunderbolt, swift, powerful, and impossible to fully comprehend. She had been thinking about it ever since.
Among all her confusing emotions, she was confused even further by the presence of Stephen. He must have arrived with the Darcys, but she had not even been aware he was in the area until after the breakfast had begun.
She did not understand why he was here. He was not a direct relation, a neighbor, or even a friend. In fact, he barely knew Mary. The last time the two of them had spoken was at the Netherfield ball over two years ago. Why would he make the journey simply to attend a wedding breakfast for someone with only the most tenuous connection to him?
Catherine was so lost in her thoughts that she did not realize he was approaching her until he was standing right in front of her. She looked up into his face. His eyes were full of some strong emotion that she was unwilling to understand, but they mesmerized her, nevertheless.
“You are unhappy, Kitty,” he said, “and it pains me to see it.”
“I am perfectly happy, Stephen,” she answered, giving him a polite smile. “I have every reason to be happy. It is Mary’s wedding day.”
“It is Mary’s wedding day,” he said, “but you are still unhappy. Will you tell me what burdens you?”
Catherine nearly scoffed aloud. “You must be joking,” she said. “Even if I were unhappy, which I do not admit, why would I unburden my soul in the middle of a crowd such as this?”
“If that is the only impediment, it is easily fixed,” he said. Stephen then took Catherine’s hand and practically pulled her along as he headed for the back of the house and away from the party.
Once they were out of sight of everyone, he slowed his pace but kept walking until they were on the completely opposite side of the house and the voices from the party had faded away.
He stopped and turned to face her. “Kitty, you have not been happy for quite a while, at least since January, but today you are quite miserable. Tell me what is wrong. Tell me what I can do to help.”
The desperate plea in his voice, the clear concern in his eyes, and the fact that he knew what even Georgiana did not know, that she had been unhappy for so long, finally broke down the wall she had built around her loneliness and isolation. Tears gathered in her eyes, and her throat choked with unexpressed sobs.
“Oh, dear, sweet, Kitty,” said Stephen as he gathered her in his arms. It was warm and comforting being enclosed in his embrace. The sobs she had tried so hard to hold back broke free, and all her heartache and loneliness, all the pressure she had put on herself to be perfect, to be the protector, was released.
As she cried, she vaguely heard Stephen say, “You have willingly borne a burden that was never meant for you.”
This only made her cry even harder. No one had known she was sad. No one had known she was burdened. But Stephen knew.
She wrapped her own arms around him and held him tightly as she buried her face in his chest. She felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head, and the pressure helped her to pull herself back together.
Slowly her sobs ceased, and her tears dried up. She let go of her hold on Stephen and tried to step back, but his arms were still around her waist. She looked up at him and said, “I am sorry.”
“I am not,” he said. “I am simply glad I was here to offer you the comfort you needed.”
“Thank you,” she said. “How did you know?”
“I know you, Kitty,” he said. “I know the difference between your happy smile and your polite one. I do not know why you haven’t confided in your sisters or Georgiana about what has made you so unhappy, but I know you haven’t been comfortable at any point in the last six months, except perhaps when you were playing with Travis.”
Memories of time spent playing with Travis’ toy soldiers or playing battledore and shuttlecock in the back garden of Darcy House made Catherine smile.
“There it is,” said Stephen. “I am glad to see your smile is not gone for good.” With one hand, he wiped the tears from her face, though he kept his other hand on her waist. It felt good to be taken care of so tenderly, and his gentle touch sent pleasant shivers down her spine.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” asked Catherine.
