Page 53 of Regrets

“You will, or I will take it right off your head, and likely some hair along with it.”

Lydia sighed. Elizabeth was surprisingly strong for her diminutive height, and had been known to carry out such threats in the past. “Very well, but I still say I should get to wear it.” Lydia unpinned the bonnet and handed it, grudgingly, to Elizabeth, who immediately turned around and presented it to a triumphant Kitty.

Pausing at the door, Elizabeth turned and said, “I am going to suggest to Mama that Lydia share a room with Mary. Mary has nothing that Lydia would consider worth stealing, and Kitty’s things would then be safe.”

Both Kitty and Lydia protested the proposed separation, and Elizabeth said, “Very well; but remember my words. If I have to interfere in another argument such as this one, I will carry out my threat at once.”

Elizabeth returned to her room, where Jane waited.

“A bonnet again, I suppose?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth sighed, falling backwards on their shared bed. “Kitty’s blue bonnet, which she discovered on Lydia’s head. I had to threaten Lydia with physical harm before she would give it up.”

Jane laughed. “If it is not bonnets, it is ribbons; if it is not ribbons, it is shoes!” Then she sobered. “Bonnets? But why? Where are they going?”

Elizabeth sat bolt upright. “That is a good question, Jane, and one I did not think to ask.” Elizabeth returned to the room shared by Kitty and Lydia, but the room was now empty.

She ran back to Jane and said, “They are gone, and without a word.”

Jane, alarmed, said, “They are off to Meryton on their own.”

Even as her sister was speaking, Elizabeth was pulling on her half boots. “Come on, Jane. We cannot be too far behind them.”

***

“I still cannot believe that Lizzy did not ask where we were going!” Kitty exclaimed.

“She was distracted by the fight,” Lydia surmised. “We must remember that for the future.”

The two girls had indeed planned to go to Meryton on their own, and for one purpose: to seek out Mr. Wickham. But before they arrived, their two older sisters had caught up with them.

“A valiant attempt, you two,” Jane commented, grabbing Lydia’s arm.

Lydia shook her off. “I do not know what you mean, Jane,” she replied, loftily.

“You certainly do,” Jane said. “The two of you are not supposed to go to Meryton on your own, and you know that very well. If I tell Papa about this, you will likely lose your pin money for the quarter.”

Lydia immediately resorted to pleading. “No, Jane, please do not tell! It is only that…” she trailed off.

Elizabeth, who was holding Kitty’s arm, put in, “It is only that you hoped to see Mr. Wickham; is that not it? Is it not enough that he came to call on the two of you?”

“It would have been,” Kitty said, sticking out her lower lip. “Had Georgiana not shown up and stolen his attention!”

“Why would he not be more interested in Georgiana?” asked Elizabeth. “They have known one another for a very long time.”

“You already told us all this, Lizzy,” Lydia said, impatiently. “We understand that, but we still would like to have some time with him without Georgiana!”

“And look!” cried a triumphant Kitty. “There he is!”

There was a group of soldiers on the pavement in front of the tea shop, and Mr. Wickham was easily visible, by the simple virtue of being the tallest of those gathered there. His gaze seemed to sharpen as he saw Kitty and Lydia, and he greeted them as they approached. “Miss Kitty, Miss Lydia!” he said. Then he added, “And Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth! What a wonderful surprise!”

He presented his friends to them. Their names flew right past Kitty and Lydia, but Elizabeth and Jane greeted the men politely: Mr. Denny, Mr. Carter, Mr. Evans.

Kitty and Lydia moved closer to the tea shop, and Mr. Wickham moved with them, so that the three of them were apart from the group, speaking together quietly. Elizabeth curtsied and excused herself from the small group of soldiers; joining Kitty, Lydia and Mr. Wickham, she made her presence known at once. “Well, fancy finding you here, Mr. Wickham,” she said. “I am surprised that the militia has nothing more to do than to lounge about the streets.”

“Oh, there is a great deal to do,” he replied, loftily. “We do all sorts of drills, so that we may be ready if there is an invasion.”

“An invasion!” Kitty and Lydia gasped together, hands clasped to their chests.