第106章

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    “Oh, yes!—that, that is the worst of all.Till I was in Kent, and saw so much both of Mr. Darcy and his relation Colonel Fitzwilliam, I was ignorant of the truth myself. And when I returned home, the—shire was to leave Meryton in a week or fortnight's time.As that was the case, neither Jane, to whom I related the whole, nor I, thought it necessary to make our knowledge public;for of what use could it apparently be to any one,that the good opinion which all the neighbourhood had of him should then be overthrown?And even when it was settled that Lydia should go with Mrs.Forster,the necessity of opening her eyes to his character never occurred to me.That she could be in any danger from the deception never entered my head.That such a consequence as this could ensue, you may easily believe, was far enough from my thoughts.”

    “When they all removed to Brighton, therefore, you had no reason,I suppose,to believe them fond of each other?”

    “Not the slightest.I can remember no symptom of affection on either side; and had anything of the kind been perceptible,you must be aware that ours is not a family on which it could be thrown away.When first he entered the corps,she was ready enough to admire him;but so we all were.Every girl in or near Meryton was out of her senses about him for the first two months;but he never distinguished her by any particular attention;and,consequently, after a moderate period of extravagant and wild admiration,her fancy for him gave way,and others of the regiment,who treated her with more distinction,again became her favourites.”

    It may be easily believed,that however little of novelty could be added to their fears,hopes,and conjectures,on this interesting subject, by its repeated discussion, no other could detain them from it long, during the whole of the journey. From Elizabeth's thoughts it was never absent. Fixed there by the keenest of all anguish, self-reproach, she could find no interval of ease or forgetfulness.

    They travelled as expeditiously as possible, and, sleeping one night on the road, reached Longbourn by dinner time the next day.It was a comfort to Elizabeth to consider that Jane could not have been wearied by long expectations.

    The little Gardiners, attracted by the sight of a chaise, were standing on the steps of the house as they entered the paddock;and, when the carriage drove up to the door, the joyful surprise that lighted up their faces,and displayed itself over their whole bodies,in a variety of capers and frisks, was the first pleasing earnest of their welcome.

    Elizabeth jumped out;and, after giving each of them a hasty kiss,hurried into the vestibule,where Jane,who came running down from her mother's apartment,immediately met her.

    Elizabeth,as she affectionately embraced her,whilst tears filled the eyes of both,lost not a moment in asking whether anything had been heard of the fugitives.

    “Not yet,”replied Jane.“But now that my dear uncle is come,I hope everything will be well.”

    “Is my father in town?”

    “Yes,he went on Tuesday,as I wrote you word.”

    “And have you heard from him often?”

    “We have heard only once.He wrote me a few lines on Wednesday to say that he had arrived in safety,and to give me his directions, which I particularly begged him to do.He merely added that he should not write again till he had something of importance to mention.”

    “And my mother—how is she?How are you all?”

    “My mother is tolerably well, I trust; though her spirits are greatly shaken.She is upstairs and will have great satisfaction in seeing you all.She does not yet leave her dressing-room.Mary and Kitty,thank Heaven,are quite well.”

    “But you—how are you?”cried Elizabeth.“You look pale.How much you must have gone through!”

    Her sister,however,assured her of her being perfectly well;and their conversation, which had been passing while Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were engaged with their children,was now put an end to by the approach of the whole party.Jane ran to her uncle and aunt,and welcomed and thanked them both,with alternate smiles and tears.

    When they were all in the drawing-room,the questions which Elizabeth had already asked were of course repeated by the others,and they soon found that Jane had no intelligence to give. The sanguine hope of good,however,which the benevolence of her heart suggested had not yet deserted her;she still expected that it would all end well, and that every morning would bring some letter, either from Lydia or her father, to explain their proceedings,and,perhaps,announce their marriage.

    Mrs.Bennet,to whose apartment they all repaired,after a few minutes' conversation together, received them exactly as might be expected; with tears and lamentations of regret, invectives against the villainous conduct of Wickham,and complaints of her own sufferings and ill-usage; blaming everybody but the person to whose ill-judging indulgence the errors of her daughter must principally be owing.

    “If I had been able,”said she,“to carry my point in going to Brighton,with all my family, this would not have happened;but poor dear Lydia had nobody to take care of her.Why did the Forsters ever let her go out of their sight? I am sure there was some great neglect or other on their side,for she is not the kind of girl to do such a thing if she had been well looked after. I always thought they were very unfit to have the charge of her;but I was overruled, as I always am. Poor dear child!And now here's Mr.Bennet gone away,and I know he will fight Wickham, wherever he meets him and then he will be killed,and what is to become of us all?The Collinses will turn us out before he is cold in his grave,and if you are not kind to us,brother,I do not know what we shall do.”

    They all exclaimed against such terrific ideas;and Mr.Gardiner, after general assurances of his affection for her and all her family, told her that he meant to be in London the very next day, and would assist Mr.Bennet in every endeavour for recovering Lydia.