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Гордость и предубеждение
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Глава 47
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Pride and Prejudice
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I felt a little uneasy—a little fearful of my sister’s happiness with him in marriage,
2
because I knew that his conduct had not been always quite right.
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My father and mother knew nothing of that;
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they only felt how imprudent a match it must be.
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Kitty then owned,
6
with a very natural triumph on knowing more than the rest of us,
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that in Lydia’s last letter she had prepared her for such a step.
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She had known,
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it seems,
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of their being in love with each other,
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many weeks.”
12
“But not before they went to Brighton?”
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“No,
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I believe not.”
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“And did Colonel Forster appear to think well of Wickham himself?
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Does he know his real character?”
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“I must confess that he did not speak so well of Wickham as he formerly did.
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He believed him to be imprudent and extravagant.
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And since this sad affair has taken place,
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it is said that he left Meryton greatly in debt;
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but I hope this may be false.”
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“Oh,
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Jane,
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had we been less secret,
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had we told what we knew of him,
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this could not have happened!”
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“Perhaps it would have been better,”
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replied her sister.
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“But to expose the former faults of any person without knowing what their present feelings were,
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seemed unjustifiable.
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We acted with the best intentions.”
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“Could Colonel Forster repeat the particulars of Lydia’s note to his wife?”
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“He brought it with him for us to see.”
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Jane then took it from her pocket-book,
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and gave it to Elizabeth.
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These were the contents:
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“My dear Harriet,
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“You will laugh when you know where I am gone,
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and I cannot help laughing myself at your surprise to-morrow morning,
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as soon as I am missed.
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I am going to Gretna Green,
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and if you cannot guess with who,
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I shall think you a simpleton,
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for there is but one man in the world I love,
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and he is an angel.
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I should never be happy without him,
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so think it no harm to be off.
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You need not send them word at Longbourn of my going,
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if you do not like it,
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for it will make the surprise the greater,
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when I write to them and sign my name ‘Lydia Wickham.’
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What a good joke it will be!
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I can hardly write for laughing.
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Pray make my excuses to Pratt for not keeping my engagement,
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and dancing with him to-night.
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Tell him I hope he will excuse me when he knows all;
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and tell him I will dance with him at the next ball we meet,
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with great pleasure.
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I shall send for my clothes when I get to Longbourn;
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but I wish you would tell Sally to mend a great slit in my worked muslin gown before they are packed up.
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Good-bye.
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Give my love to Colonel Forster.
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I hope you will drink to our good journey.
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“Your affectionate friend,
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“LYDIA BENNET.”
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“Oh!
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thoughtless,
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thoughtless Lydia!”
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cried Elizabeth when she had finished it.
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“What a letter is this,
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to be written at such a moment!
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But at least it shows that she was serious on the subject of their journey.
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Whatever he might afterwards persuade her to,
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it was not on her side a scheme of infamy.
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My poor father!
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how he must have felt it!”
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“I never saw anyone so shocked.
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He could not speak a word for full ten minutes.
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My mother was taken ill immediately,
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and the whole house in such confusion!”
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“Oh!
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Jane,”
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cried Elizabeth,
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“was there a servant belonging to it who did not know the whole story before the end of the day?”
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“I do not know.
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I hope there was.
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But to be guarded at such a time is very difficult.
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My mother was in hysterics,
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and though I endeavoured to give her every assistance in my power,
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I am afraid I did not do so much as I might have done!
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But the horror of what might possibly happen almost took from me my faculties.”
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“Your attendance upon her has been too much for you.
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You do not look well.
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Oh that I had been with you!
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you have had every care and anxiety upon yourself alone.”
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“Mary and Kitty have been very kind,
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and would have shared in every fatigue,
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I am sure;
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but I did not think it right for either of them.
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Kitty is slight and delicate;
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and Mary studies so much,
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that her hours of repose should not be broken in on.
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My aunt Phillips came to Longbourn on Tuesday,
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after my father went away;
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and was so good as to stay till Thursday with me.
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She was of great use and comfort to us all.
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And Lady Lucas has been very kind;
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she walked here on Wednesday morning to condole with us,
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and offered her services,
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or any of her daughters’,
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if they should be of use to us.”
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“She had better have stayed at home,”
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cried Elizabeth;
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“perhaps she meant well,
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but,
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under such a misfortune as this,
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one cannot see too little of one’s neighbours.
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Assistance is impossible;
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condolence insufferable.
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Let them triumph over us at a distance,
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and be satisfied.”
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She then proceeded to inquire into the measures which her father had intended to pursue,
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while in town,
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for the recovery of his daughter.
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“He meant I believe,”
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replied Jane,
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“to go to Epsom,
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the place where they last changed horses,
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see the postilions and try if anything could be made out from them.
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His principal object must be to discover the number of the hackney coach which took them from Clapham.
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It had come with a fare from London;
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and as he thought that the circumstance of a gentleman and lady’s removing from one carriage into another might be remarked he meant to make inquiries at Clapham.
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If he could anyhow discover at what house the coachman had before set down his fare,
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he determined to make inquiries there,
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and hoped it might not be impossible to find out the stand and number of the coach.
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I do not know of any other designs that he had formed;
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but he was in such a hurry to be gone,
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and his spirits so greatly discomposed,
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that I had difficulty in finding out even so much as this.”
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End of chapter 47.
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