The minutes dragged on. Elizabeth, sitting at her dressing table in her chemise, was becoming concerned that she would end up going to Netherfield with her hair hanging down her back. She began to pin it up herself, when Kate finally knocked and walked in.
“I am sorry, miss, she had a hundred things for me to do,”
“I am sure she did, Kate, and I am sorry to be a bother, but –“
Kate smiled. “Miss Elizabeth, I know that Mr. Darcy is at Netherfield tonight and I know that you met him at Hunsford when you visited Mrs. Collins. Of course you want to look your very best!”
Elizabeth stared at Kate. “How is it that you know more than my own parents?”
Kate just shrugged, and hummed a tune as she coaxed Elizabeth’s curls into a becoming style that gave her height and yet framed her face. “What will you wear?’
“That.” Elizabeth pointed to a willow green gown lying flat on the bed. She had managed the darker green embroidery on the sleeves herself, and she was proud of her efforts.
“What would you think of this in your hair, then?” Kate had rummaged through Elizabeth’s box of ribbons and was holding up a gold ribbon.
“I thought it perhaps too gaudy…?” Elizabeth hesitated.
“Not at all,” Kate assured her. “This Mr. Darcy is wealthy, is he not?”
“He is, Kate, yes.”
“There you have it, then.” Brooking no further discussion, Kate pinned the ribbon in place. “Come, I will help you dress.”
When Elizabeth was finally able to look at herself in the mirror, she was not at all displeased with the results. “Thank you, Kate. I believe I now feel equal to meeting Mr. Darcy again!”
“Is it not astonishing how differently we feel, depending on what we are wearing?” Kate asked.
“Yes, but is it not rather shallow?”
“Perhaps, but it is human nature, I think,” Kate replied. “People want to know who they are speaking with, so they look at us and they listen to us, so that they might know as quickly as may be whether we are master or servant, educated or ignorant. Dress and speech create all-important first impressions.”
“You are a philosopher, Kate, and wise for your years,” Elizabeth said.
The girl blushed. “I think about things, Miss Elizabeth, that is all. I hope your evening is everything you hope for.”
Elizabeth made her way downstairs and stopped at her father’s study. She knocked and entered, finding him with his head buried in a book. “Should you not be getting dressed, Papa?” she enquired.
“I did not think I needed to change, Lizzy, but looking at you, I am not so certain. You look very elegant, indeed! Is there a reason for this finery?”
“Papa, did you know that Mr. Bingley has a visitor who will be with us at dinner tonight?”
“I did not, which means that your mother does not know.” He eyed his daughter knowingly.
Elizabeth shrugged, smiling.
Mr. Bennet laughed. “You did not wish to send her nerves a-flutter; I thank you for your thoughtfulness, Lizzy!”
“Oddly enough, though, Kate knew all about it. But to the point, Papa, I met this visitor when I was at Hunsford.”
“Oh, is it Mr. Darcy who has come to visit, then?”
“It is, yes.”
“And have you hopes of this gentleman, Lizzy?”
Elizabeth blushed. “Not hopes, exactly, but –“
“But you like him.”
