Page 44 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

“I am glad you have come for Kitty. She will not leave her bed. She scarcely eats. I do my best with her, but she pays me no heed.”

“Oh, Mary, she must be blue deviled, as she was when we first lost our parents and sister.”

“Yes. Leaving Longbourn proved too much for her. She is broken, and I do not know what to do for her.”

“I shall take her back with me. Perhaps little Edward will help distract her thoughts. At the very least, he will give her reason to rise, for he requires constant watching. He allows no one much leisure, Sister.”

Mary laughed.

“And what do you do here in Uncle's office?”

“Oh, Lizzy, I have been helping with the bookkeeping. I also prepare the accounts Uncle sends for his services. I have begun collecting payment for those services, and I keep the ledger as well.”

Elizabeth rejoiced at Mary's enthusiasm as she spoke of the duties her uncle had given her.

“It seems to me you are well-suited to the work, my dear. I am very happy for you. Your spirits have improved greatly.”

Mary did not answer, for Mr. Phillips broke in.

“Elizabeth, does your uncle intend to place Kitty in school?”

“Yes, sir. But first, they mean to let her care for little Edward for a month, and they expect my sister will soon beg to be sent away to school.”

Mr. Phillips laughed.

“He must be a very busy child indeed.”

“He is, sir. He has learned to run and attempted to race headlong down the stairs three times only yesterday.”

He chuckled. “Very well, my girl. Go upstairs to your aunt and help your sister pack. I daresay everything remains in her trunk, for she has scarcely left her bed since she came to us. Mary has done all she can to raise her spirits, but Kitty rises only for dinner, picks at her food, and then returns to her room.”

She embraced her uncle and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you for all you have done for us, Uncle Phillips. We should have been lost without you. I shall go upstairs now.”

Mary followed.

“Uncle, I shall return when Lizzy leaves us.”

“Of course, my dear.”

“Stop and bid me farewell before you leave, Lizzy.”

“Yes, sir, I shall.”

Extracting Kitty from Meryton proved difficult. She did not wish to rise and dress, but Elizabeth insisted.

“You must get up now, Kitty, and dress while I pack your trunk.”

There was very little to pack. Everything still lay inside the trunk except Kitty’s brushes and tooth powder. Elizabeth collected a small pile of clothing that needed laundering and piled it into the trunk.

Aunt Phillips had been sweet and flighty, as always. She never questioned Aunt Maddie's need for Kitty in the nursery, fully believing that finding a husband occupied every waking hour with shopping, balls, and parties. Elizabeth listened to her aunt and marveled at how closely her manner, speech, and opinions resembled those of her late mother.

* * *

When the two sisters arrived at the Gardiners', they found that Jane had moved Elizabeth in with her, and they allowed Kitty to occupy the room Elizabeth had vacated.

Each morning, Elizabeth rose early to have breakfast with her uncle before he departed for work. While he read the newspaper, she examined the advertisements. An idea had taken hold of her, one that required her to find a position near Bakewell. Thus, every morning she searched the three newspapers delivered to her uncle's house.