Dear Kitty,
London is dreary when we are allowed no entertainments! I play with the children and tell them stories, which is well enough, but we are not to go to the theater. I am told that such things are wrong when one is in mourning. No one can doubt that I mourn Mama very dearly, but would she not want me to enjoy myself, just a bit? I do not suppose that Papa would write to them and tell them that it would be a kindness to let me have a bit of fun!
Your loving sister,
Lydia
Dear Kitty,
Since writing the last, Aunt Gardiner took me to the museum. It was good to get out of the house and see something different, but I admit that the museum was not much fun at all, just a lot of old statues and vases!
We went out to tea afterwards, and that was a good deal better. She asked if I was ready to go back to Longbourn yet, and I told her that I could not abide the idea of being there without Mama!
This is true, of course, but also – as boring as London is at present, I imagine that Longbourn is a good deal worse. Are you even allowed out of the house?
Your lovingbut bored sister,
Lydia
Kitty wrote several other letters in the same vein, deliberately not putting dates on any of them so that they might be pulled out as needed.
She passed the letters around to her father and sisters when they sat together in the parlour, and she was praised for her efforts. Mary frowned, however, and Kitty finally asked her to share her thoughts.
“The Psalms tell us not to deal falsely and not to lie to one another,” she said. “And I myself have decided to have no more of deceit. I know this is all very necessary, but I cannot pretend to like it.”
“If I am not much mistaken, Mary, Psalm 12 tells us that there are three brands of deception – vanity, flattery, and blasphemy,” Jane replied. “Do you think our little deceit to protect the family falls under any of those categories? For I think not.”
Mary thought hard. Finally, she said, “Perhaps it is vanity, as we are trying to keep the good opinions of our neighbours.”
“But it is all in service of a greater good,” Elizabeth said. “Does that count for nothing?”
Mary shrugged. “It does not matter, Lizzy; I will continue to participate in the Deception. I simply do not like it.”
“And you think that we do?” Elizabeth went on. “Do you think the rest of us enjoy having to deceive our friends, people we have known all our lives, in order to avoid shame and discredit, and to give all us girls the chance for happy marriages, all because Lydia was a fool?” Her voice rose higher and higher, showing her distress.
“No, Lizzy, I do not think that. I am sorry.” Mary’s voice was low and sincere.
“Let us all agree that we are doing what we must, no more and no less,” Mr. Bennet said.
***
Lady Lucas and Mrs. Long came the next day to sit with the Bennets. It was kind of the neighbours to continue to show their care for the Bennet family, but the talk inevitably turned to Lydia’s absence. Kitty’s letters were put to good use at such times, but it was becoming clear that the Deception could not last forever.
To underscore that thought, a letter arrived from the Gardiners with another letter tucked inside it. It was addressed to Jane, and she read the first letter aloud to her family as soon as it arrived.
Dear Jane,
We received the enclosed, which was addressed to Lydia. If you wish to write a response to the sender, you maycertainly send it to me, and I will send it on so that it appears to have come from Gracechurch Street.
Your letter last week about Miss Bingley’s attempt to discredit your family infuriated me, but it was delightful to know that Kitty’s efforts in creating letters that are ostensibly from Lydia were so perfectly timed!
Heavens, what a complicated mess we are involved in!
The children continue to do well; little Edward had a bit of a cold last week, but it seems to have healed itself up in just a few days and no one else appears to have caught it. We are grateful for that, as there is little worse than having the entire family ill at once.
I must go now, as I wish to get the enclosed to you as soon as may be, but I shall write again soon.
Your loving aunt,
