Page 74 of Cousin Conundrum

Elizabeth pulled a face at her. “But how did you come to be working for a caricaturist? And when? And for which? Is it…” Elizabeth trailed off. K. B. Hert. How could she be so blind? Maybe she had hit her head before at some point, hard enough to rattle all sense from her and leave her no memory of the incident. “K. B. Hert. Kitty Bennet of Hertfordshire. You are not working for a caricaturist. You are K. B. Hert.”

Kitty laughed. “What a silly notion. I would need to know how to draw, and to be witty. How would such things ever come about?”

“And how does that tie into you not wanting to marry?” Elizabeth said, more wondering aloud than addressing Kitty. “Fear that your husband will not approve? Most would not.”

“If I were this K. B. Hert person, Papa’s favorite caricaturist, I believe, then, yes, I would fear that no gentleman would want me for their wife. Or they would order me to desist. Either way, they would take everything I have earned or ever do earn, so why not instead use that money, hypothetically speaking, to make my own way in the world?”

Elizabeth stared at her, stunned. Her silly little sister was the brilliant K. B. Hert? Her silly little sister had an income?

Her silly little sister wasn’t really silly? “But how? And for how long?”

“For almost two years.”

“And the papers know?”

Kitty shook her head. “Everything is done through Uncle Phillips. He has the money invested for me.”

“How much?”

“Almost three hundred pounds.”

Elizabeth’s mouth hinged open. Her mind spun, throwing up and disregarding a jumble of questions. Finally, she blurted, “So you can draw?”

“Well enough.” Kitty shrugged. “You will not tell on me, will you? Please? K. B. Hert has become very popular. Sometimes the papers even pay extra, trying to outbid each other. One piece went for twenty-five pounds.”

“Twenty-five pounds?” Elizabeth’s voice squeaked in a way it never had before, but she could hardly get the words out past her surprise. “And Uncle Phillips knows all about this?” Their staid, quiet, unassuming uncle had helped Kitty in secret for two years?

“I had to confide in someone.” Kitty’s expression soured. “I cannot open an account at a bank, or invest the funds.”

Elizabeth nodded slowly. No, Kitty would not be able to do those things. Furthermore, if the papers found out who they were truly dealing with, would they still want her work? Even did they, they would pay her nothing. A tenth of whatever she received now, were she fortunate.

“You will not tell anyone, will you?” Kitty reiterated.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. Not even Jane.”

Kitty’s shoulders dropped from where they scrunched up to her ears.

Elizabeth hadn’t realized how tense her sister had become. As well she might be. One word to either of their parents and Kitty’s days of earning her own way would be over. “I can hardly believe it. However did it begin?”

“There was an advert in one of Papa’s papers. I had been practicing my drawing because I wanted to surprise Mama with a sketch for her birthday, but the advert said they would pay two and a half pounds and I thought, my sketches are not very good but I could buy Mama such a wonderful gift with two and a half pounds, and maybe even something for me.” Kitty shrugged. “I did a drawing of when that tax collector who came through, the one who tormented everyone in the village, fell into Mr. Walters’ pigsty, and I wrote, ‘The dedicated tax man leaves no pig unturned.’” Another shrug. “How was I to know people would find that so funny?”

Elizabeth could not stop staring at her sister. “I remember that one.”

“I do not think Uncle Phillips would have helped if he realized I would succeed.” Kitty’s grin returned. “Not only did they pay me the two and a half pounds, they sent a letter asking me to submit more work.”

“And you kept it a secret all this time.” That impressed Elizabeth as much as Kitty’s skill.

“That part was simple. No one pays any attention to me.”

A pang of guilt went through Elizabeth, tears pricking her eyes. She sank back deeper into her pillows, exhaustion returning twofold now that she’d wrung the truth from Kitty. “You definitely fooled me.”

Silence met that. After a moment, Kitty said, “You look very tired.”

“I am, but not so tired that I have forgotten my other questions. Why did Mr. Hurst send for a Bow Street Runner and what does that have to do with Jane and Mr. Bingley?”

“Mr. Hurst sent for Mr. Fletcher because of something to do with the Archers. They say the Archers are dangerous, but neither will tell me more than that.”

Kitty sounded annoyed, but something caught at the edge of Elizabeth’s mind. Something she’d tried to recall the first time they met Mr. Collins’ cousins.