Through Kitty’s Eyes: A New Proposal Scene

Bingley, who wanted to be alone with Jane, proposed their all walking out. It was agreed to. Mrs. Bennet was not in the habit of walking. Mary could never spare time, but the remaining five set off together. Bingley and Jane, however, soon allowed the others to outstrip them. They lagged behind, while Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy were to entertain each other. Very little was said by either: Kitty was too much afraid of him to talk; Elizabeth was secretly forming a desperate resolution; and, perhaps, he might be doing the same.  They walked towards the Lucases, because Kitty wished to call upon Maria; and as Elizabeth saw no occasion for making it a general concern, when Kitty left them she went boldly on with him alone. – From Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Kitty was soon at the Lucases’, and she saw Maria and two of her younger sisters with their noses pressed to the window glass as she approached.

“Miss Kitty Bennet,” the woman servant announced, and Kitty skipped into the parlour, to be graciously received by Lady Lucas, who said something about drinking some tea.

“Oh!  Mamma, we don’t want tea,” protested Sarah, the next oldest sister. “Maria should have to get it, if we did, and we all want to hear the news from Kitty.”

“I would order Betsey to bring it,” protested Lady Lucas, mildly hurt.

“But it is washing day, and Betsey has gone back to her work, after showing Kitty in. Don’t pretend, Mamma, Kitty knows perfectly well that we have to get all our own meals. We don’t have three servants as they do at Longbourn,” said Maria.

Kitty hastened to assure Lady Lucas that she did not at all want tea, though she was sure it would have been delicious. “I have been walking with Lizzy and Mr. Darcy,” she said importantly.

Lady Lucas was mollified, and as eager to hear Kitty’s news as the girls could be.

“Well, tell us what he is like? Is he still so proud and unpleasant as he used to be?” asked Sarah.

“He was not so bad when I saw him at Hunsford,” observed Maria. “I remember he spent a good deal of time looking at Lizzy, and Charlotte thought there was something in it. She told me so.”

“I should say he is still what he was. Proud and silent. He barely deigned to speak a word on our walk. I was very surprised that Lizzy went on with him when I turned in here,” said Kitty.

“Hum. On the contrary, I am not surprised in the least,” commented Lady Lucas.  “I think he has made up his mind to have her, and we shall be hearing an announcement from the Bennets any time now.”

“Mamma, how can you say so? Do not you know that they hate each other?” cried Susan, the youngest. “Remember all that talk when he first came, when he said she was not handsome enough to dance with? Lizzy made a funny story out of it, but I know she was hurt and has hated him ever since.”

“That is just how some love affairs begin,” said her mother wisely.  “And do not forget, weddings are catching. Now that Mr. Bingley has proposed for Jane, there is nothing more likely than his best friend marrying Elizabeth.”

“Well, did you see any sign of it, Kitty?” asked Maria eagerly.

“I cannot say that I did,” replied Kitty doubtfully. “They barely looked at each other. And Mamma apologized to Lizzy for having to walk with that unpleasant man, but of course she had to do it because he is Bingley’s friend.”

“Oh!  Kitty, I am sure he is proposing to her right this minute, as they walk along together. You watch carefully, now, when you get home, and see if you can detect any symptoms of love. Then come back tomorrow and tell us – or no, we will call upon you,” urged Maria.

“Then we might see Mr. Darcy and Lizzy together!” said Sarah with glee.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy returned home very late, after a walk of several miles, during which they opened their hearts to one another and exchanged the promises that made each happier than ever before.  Kitty was already back from her visit to the Lucases, and as the party sat down at the long dinner table, questions broke out.

“Where can you have been, Lizzy?” every one asked. She quietly replied that they had walked rather far, beyond her own knowledge in fact; but this answer raised no suspicions. Kitty looked hard at her, but there was nothing to see. Lizzy and Mr. Darcy were not seated near one another at table, and they did not speak at all.  Lizzy cast her eyes down at her soup, and seemed thoughtful; and Mr. Darcy was as taciturn as ever, though he did unbend enough to tell Mrs. Bennet that the roast of beef was excellent. Most of the conversation was carried on by Mr. Bingley and Jane, whose spirits were overflowing, making them chattier and livelier than ever before. Mr. Bennet beamed upon the young lovers, whose joy was undeniably a pleasure to behold.

Kitty had to go to bed no wiser about the situation between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy, if there was one, and she regretted that she would have no intelligence to convey to the Lucases on the morrow.

Punctually on the stroke of nine the next morning, the two gentlemen were seen approaching Longbourn once again. “Good gracious!” cried Mrs. Bennet, “if that disagreeable Mr. Darcy is not coming here again with our dear Bingley! What can he mean by being so tiresome as to be always coming here? I had no notion but he would go a-shooting, or something or other, and not disturb us with his company. What shall we do with him? Lizzy, you must walk out with him again, that he may not be in Bingley’s way.”

Mr. Bingley, full of repressed joy at his friend’s happiness, of which he was in the secret, slyly suggested that there might be more lanes hereabouts in which Lizzy might lose her way again. Mrs. Bennet suggested the view from Oakham Mount, and Mr. Bingley, his eyes twinkling, suggested that would be too far for Kitty.

Kitty knew her friends would be coming, and determined to stay at home. She thought she saw a something in Lizzy’s expression as she made her exit with Mr. Darcy, to indicate that there might be a glimmer of truth to the story after all. Lizzy’s cheeks were decidedly flushed, and she looked at the floor, while Mr. Darcy glanced at her with warm, almost proprietary admiration.

“I declare,” she said to Mary after the door had closed. “Did you see that?  I do believe Mr. Darcy is in love with Lizzy!  Do you not think so?”

Mary put down her book and looked seriously disapproving.  “Kitty, has not the late sad event concerning our poor sister Lydia taught you any thing? Romantic speculations are a sure path to ruin. Your mind should be on self-improvement, not concerned with love matters, or you will become like Lydia yourself, and bring misery untold upon your dear family.”

“I would not do what Lydia did,” Kitty said fretfully, “and I don’t see any harm in wondering about Lizzy and Mr. Darcy.”

“It is an indelicate subject for a young lady to entertain,” Mary reproved. “You should use the morning of your life to furnish your brain, not to lose yourself in idle and frivolous speculations.”

“I should think you would have interest in the subject yourself,” returned Kitty spitefully. “Have you not heard what a fine library Mr. Darcy has at Pemberley? And if Lizzy marries him, we might be invited to visit. I should go to wonderful balls, and you could spend all your time in that library!”

Mary was thoughtful. “There is something in what you say,” she acknowledged.

When Lady Lucas and her three oldest daughters arrived for a morning visit as early as could be possibly considered decent, they were all alive to hear the news, but Kitty had nothing definite to tell.

“Still, they have gone walking out – alone?” Lady Lucas advanced. “To Oakham Mount, you say?” Kitty agreed to it. “Then it is as good as an engagement!  Mark my words, we will hear it all tomorrow.” And she nodded emphatically, the feathers on her hat waving.

“Oh, Lady Lucas, surely you don’t think because we sent Lizzy and Mr. Darcy out walking, to clear the way for our dear affianced couple to be alone, that there is anything between them? Mr. Darcy is such a proud, unpleasant man, Lizzy is being quite a saint spending time with him. But it is for the sake of her sister, you know. For Jane,” Mrs. Bennet told her.

“If you say so,” agreed Lady Lucas, but her expression agreed to none of it. At length the Lucases had to take leave, though Lizzy and Mr. Darcy were still nowhere in sight.  “We won’t wait,” said Lady Lucas with a meaningful smile.

Lizzy and Darcy did not come in until nearly dinner time again; and Kitty was as watchful as before. After the meal, when her father withdrew into his library, Mr. Darcy stood up and followed him.

She pinched Mary. “Did you see that?”

“Hush! Lizzy will hear you.”

“I don’t care for that. He is gone to ask Papa for her hand, I know he is!” she said in a loud whisper, which luckily Lizzy, across the room working her embroidery at a table under the lamp, did not seem to hear.

“I’m going to sit with Lizzy, and be near enough to see what happens,” Kitty whispered, and removed herself to the table. Lizzy looked at her in surprise.

“I will help you roll your threads,” Kitty said meekly, and Lizzy nodded indifferently and moved over to make room for her.  Moments later Mr. Darcy emerged from the library, and stopped at the table to admire the embroidery.  Owing to her advantageous position, Kitty was perfectly able to hear his words as he whispered to Lizzy, “Go to your father, he wants you in the library.”

It was not in a whisper that Mrs. Bennet received Lizzy’s announcement, at bedtime. She was in her own chamber, but her wild exclamations could be heard all over the house, and Kitty heard every word with much satisfaction, in her own bedroom.

“Ten thousand a year!  And very likely more!  Tis as good as a Lord!”

Kitty turned over in her bed contentedly. She would have a fine story to tell the Lucases tomorrow.