Before Kitty could answer her, Mrs. Lane hurried outside to offer her some tea, having seen her through the window. Elizabeth remained silent as Mrs. Lane provided the refreshments and then swiftly absented herself once more. Fighting off a sense of dread that she had made a terrible mistake in coming here, Elizabeth schooled her countenance into something civil.
“I must have misunderstood you, Kitty. You are not engaged to Mr. Darcy, surely.”
“Well, not yet; he is speaking to my guardian about it even now.” Kitty beamed at her, drumming her fingers idly on her journal.
Elizabeth stiffened her posture, shock coursing through her. “But that is impossible! I received a letter from him just this morning, assuring me of his continued affections – he proposed to me when we were in London, and I have come here to be with him – to elope.”
Kitty nearly fell out of her chair. “What? No, that cannot be. He is devoted to me. And why should he invite you here, when he has been quarreling with his cousin? I am sure you must be mistaken – unless your intent is malicious. If you have come to malign him to my guardian….”
“I do not know a thing about your guardian, but I certainly know that I was proposed to,” Elizabeth said. She blinked back tears of confusion, refusing to doubt all that she had felt, and all that had passed between them. Mr. Darcy loved her, she truly believed it. She narrowed her eyes, distrustful of her companion. “Kitty, you must be teasing me – some impudent jest, which I am generally in favor of, though at present I confess I find it rather distressing.”
Kitty scowled at her. “I am sorry to distress you, but it is no jest, though I am also fond of such things – under happier circumstances. I do not know what you are about, coming here to make a claim on my dear cousin Darcy, but I can assure you that we are wildly in love. You may read all about it in my diary, if you like.”
She reached for the journal, opened it to a page that had been embellished with little drawings of flowers and kittens, and thrust it at Elizabeth. “There, you shall see – he proposed to me just an hour ago.”
Elizabeth read the twirly script, confused by the description of Mr. Darcy’s hair as golden, and shook her head in perplexity. “It says you arecourting, but it cannot be the sameMr. Darcy. Here, you may readmydiary – one should always have something sensational to read on long journeys.”
Elizabeth retrieved her own diary from her pocket – she had indeed been reading it in the carriage, comforting herself with the prospect of what joy awaited her. The diary was scarcely larger than the palm of her hand, but thick, and her pages were rather lacking in fanciful doodles, but she found the page on which she had recorded Mr. Darcy’s proposal. “There, you see – nine days ago, Mr. Darcy proposed tome. I certainly have the prior claim, for what it is worth.”
“Or perhaps, since proposing to you, Mr. Darcy has changed his mind,” Kitty quipped. She examined the page and then grinned. “Well, it says he proposed to you, but you were interrupted before you could accept – that is hardly an engagement. It sounds more like folly, to me, but I am sorry for your inevitable disappointment.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened with indignation. “I cannot believe it. No, we shall wait for Mr. Darcy to join us, and I am sure he will explain this ghastly misapprehension, for it is not in his nature to be so inconstant. We spent six weeks together in London, and he made his devotion to me quite evident – just as I made my own sentimentsperfectlyclear to him.”
Kitty rose to her feet, looking heated. “I do not care for your insinuations, Miss….”
“Bennet. And they are not insinuations – merely facts.”
“Bennet?” Kitty cocked her head to one side as of recognizing this name; she furrowed her brows, then gave an odd shake of her head. “Well, Miss Bennet, if that is even your name at all, I fear I am trespassing on your valuable time. No doubt, you have many other visits of a similar nature to make in the neighborhood.”
She gestured as if wishing for Elizabeth to leave, but Elizabeth stood, reveling in having the superior height; she folded her arms in front of herself and glared back at the girl. “I have travelled from Kent at great expense and peril to my reputation. Iwillsee Mr. Darcy, Miss…?”
“Cardew.” Kitty jerked her head toward the house at the sound of a shout coming from an open window on the second floor that was partially obscured by a large oak tree. “Hmm, trouble in the billiard room – you may be waiting some time, Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth gaped at Kitty, seeing so much of Jane in her and suddenly understanding. She sank back into her chair, stunned beyond comprehension. “Your name… your name is Catherine Cardew?”
“It is – for now. Soon, of course, it will be Catherine Darcy.”
“And your father? Was his name – oh, let me think – was it Phillip Cardew? He was once a vicar, but he married a wealthy widow eighteen years ago, when you were but a babe….”
Kitty went pale, and she slowly resumed her seat. “How do you know all that?”
“Your mother was called Fanny; she died giving birth to you.”
Kitty sucked in a sharp breath. “She had two other daughters, from her first marriage, who were taken into the custody of a wealthy, wicked benefactress in Kent. Oh, God! Can it be?”
“You are my sister, my half-sister,” Elizabeth breathed.
Kitty groaned. “Oh, but this is terrible! I have always longed to meet my half-sisters… though my father warned me they were ill-behaved and would likely grow up as obdurate anddisobliging as their guardian! Even our uncle has wanted little to do with you.”
“Or with you – at least, that is what I heard when I saw him in London.” Elizabeth groaned. She, too, had sometimes been curious about her mother’s babe taken away to live with that boorish vicar. Evidently he had raised her to be a wretched creature indeed!
The two women simply stared at one another, the high emotion of their reunion at war with their jealousy over Mr. Darcy. At length, Elizabeth spoke again. “Well, this is hardly how I imagined a meeting with my long-lost sister might go. Given your outward resemblance to Jane, I might have hoped your manners would be just as pleasantly similar. She is gentle and obliging, and has never quarreled with anybody.”
“I have thought of my distant half-sisters many times, but it never occurred to me that one of them might appear quiet suddenly, andat great peril to her reputationto make a bold and patently false claim on my intended. I suppose I ought to have heeded my father’s warning about my relations.”
“I was three years old when last I saw your father – and I am not the one behaving like a three-year-old atpresent,” Elizabeth hissed, fuming at the mean-spirited slander by her mother’s second husband.
Kitty began to make a retort, but her expression suddenly brightened. “Well, I had meant to suggest you have a lie-down until your tantrum has passed, but here is Mr. Darcy. He shall no doubt put an end to your vicious nonsense.”
