Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen’s original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We’ll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.
Kitty Bennet writes in her journal…
May 20, 1812
Dear Diary,
You know how miserable I have been since Lydia and the Regiment departed for Brighton without me. I still cannot believe Mama and Papa allowed her to go. It is so unfair, for I am two years older!
Well, today I received a long letter from my sister, and I am become more miserable still! My imagination tortured me enough, but I tried to tell myself that my mind probably exaggerated. However, now that I know the real situation from reading Lydia’s own account of the delights and adventures she is enjoying, it is ten times worse than I had even envisioned – worse for me and better for her, that is!
I shall not repeat everything Lydia said, for it would pain me far too much. Besides, I have already burnt the letter as she told me to do. But she wrote that it is exactly as she had foreseen: the magnificent splendor of the seaside itself, with line upon line of beauteously uniform military tents stretching across the grounds, and smart officers in scarlet as far as the eye can see. And this part is particularly vexing. To hear her tell it, she is universally admired, receiving the generous attentions of one worthy officer only to have them exceeded by the ardor of the next and the one after that.
Lydia does have an inclination for embellishment, especially when she becomes overexcited, so perhaps I ought not believe quite everything she says. But if even half of is true, it is bad enough, and I am most grievously to be pitied.
It is not that I am jealous in general, you understand, dear Diary, (I am not so petty-minded as that, as you well know) or that I would deny my dearest sister a chance to enjoy herself. No, Lydia’s happiness is something I sincerely wish for as much as for my own. It is just that I keenly feel the unfairness of the current situation – that she should be put in the way of such happiness while the same opportunity is denied me, especially since I am two years older. That is why I complain. I feel strongly that one must stand against injustice wherever one finds it. I am persuaded that to do so is not selfish but noble.
So you see why this letter from Lydia has pained me so deeply. Yet at the same time, at least a part of me cannot help longing for her next, to read more of her news from Brighton, since everything is so very dull and insipid here at Longbourn by contrast. And so I have written her a very kind letter in return to encourage her to speak freely. I especially wish to hear more about the “very marked attentions” bestowed on her by one of her admirers in particular.
“Tall, exceedingly handsome, gentleman-like, excessively agreeable and devoted to me.”
That is how she has described the man. She did not name him, but could she be hinting to me that it is Mr. W.? She said I am sure to approve of him, and indeed, how could I do so of a stranger? So it seems to me that it must be a person I already know. How terribly romantic it would be if they should fall in love and be married at once – romantic but also unfair (for I am two years older, and my other sisters even more so). Another injustice.
But I shall endeavor to rise above it and look for the silver lining in this black cloud. Might such an event actually work in my favor? Yes, I should think that it would! As a married woman, it might be thought respectable for Lydia to invite me to join her and her husband in Brighton, just as Mrs. Forster invited her. I will hope so. Then I might also enjoy a special season of delights and adventure… and find a handsome husband for myself!
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