第88章

'It does seem，and it is most shocking indeed，'replied Elizabeth，with tears in her eyes，'that a sister's sense of decency and virtue in such a point should admit of doubt. But，really，I know not what to say.Perhaps I am not doing her justice.But she is very young；she has never been taught to think on serious subjects；and for the last half year，nay，for a twelvemonth，she has been given up to nothing but amusement and vanity.She has been allowed to dispose of her time in the most idle and frivolous manner，and to adopt any opinions that came in her way.Since the—shire were first quartered in Meryton，nothing but love，flirtation，and officers，have been in her head.She has been doing every thing in her power by thinking and talking on the subject，to give greater—what shall I call it？susceptibility to her feelings；which are naturally lively enough.And we all know that Wickham has every charm of person and address that can captivate a woman.'

'But you see that Jane，'said her aunt，'does not think so ill of Wickham，as to believe him capable of the attempt.'

'Of whom does Jane ever think ill？And who is there，whatever might be their former conduct，that she would believe capable of such an attempt，till it were proved against them？But Jane knows，as well as I do，what Wickham really is. We both know that he has been profligate in every sense of the word.That he has neither integrity nor honour.That he is as false and deceitful，as he is insinuating.'

'And do you really know all this？'cried Mrs. Gardiner，whose curiosity as to the mode of her intelligence was all alive.

'I do，indeed，'replied Elizabeth，colouring.'I told you the other day，of his infamous behaviour to Mr. Darcy；and you，yourself，when last at Longbourn，heard in what manner he spoke of the man，who had behaved with such forbearance and liberalitytowards him.And there are other circumstances which I am not at liberty—which it is not worth while to relate；but his lies about the whole Pemberley family are endless.From what he said of Miss Darcy，I was thoroughly prepared to see a proud，reserved，disagreeable girl.Yet he knew to the contrary himself.He must know that she was as amiable and unpretending as we have found her.'

'But does Lydia know nothing of this？Can she be ignorant of what you and Jane seem so well to understand？'

'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 should 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 any thing 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 readyenough 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 an hasty kiss，hurried into the vestibule，where Jane，who came runningdown stairs 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 any thing had been heard of the fugitives.

'Not yet，'replied Jane.'But now that my dear uncle is come，I hope every thing 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 up stairs，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.'