Work Text:
Kate did not make it a habit to read novels, not since their father had passed. Unlike Edwina, who had the time and patience to sit still for many hours and become lost in the written word, Kate was busy managing and planning and researching and doing whatever else the Sharma family needed to survive. Any time that was left, she spent on outdoor pursuits.
On their voyage from India, however, there had been too much time and no outdoor pursuits to be had. Consequently Edwina had taken to reading aloud to Kate whenever they became restless in their too small cabin. They even exchanged novels and plays with other passengers for the long journey.
Many were set in England where Kate had few points of reference to help her imagination take flight, since she'd departed at such a young age. This, she assured herself, was likely why when the Sharmas took first sight of Aubrey Hall, a line from one of Edwina's favorite (and most often reread) novels came into her mind unbidden.
They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!
It was not because the home or, indeed, the individuals residing there were special.
Still they were all duly impressed, Kate perhaps most of all. She took a moment to drink in the sight of the Bridgerton's ancestral seat, admiring the way the greenery almost seemed to bring the stone structure to life. It was beyond her wildest expectations.
"Ah, you're smiling."
Lord Bridgerton blocked Kate's view and she sighed. Perhaps to be mistress of Pemberley with a man such as Mr. Darcy would be something– Elizabeth Bennet seemed to think so. To be mistress of Aubrey Hall, however… that held too high a cost indeed. She simply needed to help her sister see the truth of that sentiment.
(Later, when they had all returned to London with a most unfortunate engagement secured for Edwina and more secrets than ever haunting Kate, the words of that same novel seemed to mock her.
"And of this place… I might have been mistress!"
It was foolish. That outcome had never been in the cards. Yet, unlike Elizabeth Bennet, Kate felt regret– and she felt it deeply.)