Christmas at Longbourn
Page 17
The gasps from across the room told Kitty that they were being watched. She did not care. She had gone from realising that she loved the man in front of her, to hearing that he was to marry another, and then to finding out that she, and she alone, was the object of his desire. She could hardly believe her ears. “Would…” she took a deep breath. “Would you mind asking me again, please?” Her emotions threatened to overwhelm her.
“Of course,” he sniggered. “Kitty Bennet, would you do me the greatest honour and consent to be my wife…please?” His smile matched hers in brightness.
“Yes, Henry,” she breathed. “Yes, Henry, I will consent to be your wife.”
He bent his head and pressed his lips to her hands, firmly held in his. When he lifted his head, he whispered, “I love you, Kitty.”
Kitty let the tears fall unabated down her face. She nodded rapidly, “I love you, too, Henry.” Yes, I do. I do with all my heart! Her heart leapt for joy.
Kitty did not see her leave, but she could hear Mary calling out as she ran down the hallways to the drawing room, “Mama! Mama! Reverend Summers has proposed marriage to Kitty and she said yes!”
The following few minutes passed in a whirlwind for Kitty. Her mother had her dragged into the drawing room to embrace and kiss her. Kitty did not know whose elation was greatest, hers or her mother’s.
Christmas Day evening then turned into a party of sorts. Even the servants were invited to join them all and drink in a toast to the two newly engaged couples.
“Oh, Mr Bennet!” Kitty heard her mother cry over the din of congratulations. “God has greatly blessed our family.”
“Yes,” came her father’s reply. “He has indeed.”
Epilogue
Kitty knew she wanted to be married as soon as the winter was over. A spring wedding was announced, and one bright and sunny morning in late April, Kitty was wed to Reverend Henry Summers at the local church. They did indeed have their reception party in the gardens of Longbourn, and it was a great success, apart from one little rain shower lasting only three minutes, in which Mrs Bennet declared she would drown.
Walter Hodgson went back to university and exceeded all expectations by graduating with honours. Mary could not have been prouder. She bloomed under the wings of his love, and she and the word “boring” were never mentioned in the same sentence again.
As fate would have it, the apothecary in Meryton moved away to live with his sister in Eastbourne, and Walter was indeed free to take over the business. They married the following winter, one year after they became engaged—also in the little church. Reverend Summers performed the ceremony. They did live with the Bennets, which on occasion proved to be tiresome on all sides.
Both sisters sat in the garden at Longbourn the following spring. Kitty was showing signs of a new life growing inside her.
Mary reached out and placed her hand on her sister’s growing stomach. “Could you have imagined that we would both find such marital bliss, Kitty?”
Kitty shook her head. “No. I thought I, at least, was to be an old maid.”
“I remember.”
“How strange life is.” Kitty stared off across the lawn to where their nephews scampered about playing with puppies.
“Do you believe each of us got what we wanted?” Mary mused.
Kitty thought for a while before answering. “I cannot say, Mary. Jane has Charles. He is a wonderfully kind and gentle man.”
“Yes, and Lizzy has Fitzwilliam Darcy, such a stalwart in times of trouble.”
Kitty nodded. “Lydia has Sir Percival.”
Mary sucked air in through her teeth. “I hear that they squabble all the time and that Lydia’s demands weigh heavily on their purse each month.”
Kitty sighed. “That is sad. Truly it is.” She took hold of Mary’s hand. “And you have Walter. Dear, useful, helpful, and knowledgeable Walter.”
Mary grinned from ear to ear. Her happiness was tangible. “And you have the funny, entertaining, and reverend Henry,” she laughed.
“He is a good man. And, yes, he is funny too.”
“We have been greatly blessed, as Mama often says.” Mary placed her shawl around Kitty’s shoulders as the light breeze picked up and played through the trees where they sat.
“Yes, we have. And perhaps…” Kitty paused.
“Perhaps what?”
Kitty turned and looked at her sister. “Are you happy?”
“Yes. Aren’t you?” Mary looked alarmed.
“Blissfully so,” Kitty grinned. “So perhaps…perhaps we have not what we wanted.” She watched Mary studying her. “We have not got what we all wanted, but what we all deserve to have.”
THE END
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More by Karen Aminadra
Regency Romance
The Emberton Brothers Series
The Spice Bride
The Suitable Bride
The Searching Bride
Pride & Prejudice Continues Series
Charlotte
Rosings
Wickham
Christmas at Longbourn
Historical Crime
Relative Deceit: Death in the Family
It’s a Man’s World: Lettie Jenkins Investigates
Women’s Contemporary
The Uncanny Life of Polly
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