‘If it was to be secret,’said Jane,‘say not another word on the subject.You may depend upon my seeking no further.’
‘Oh!certainly,’said Elizabeth,though burning with curiosity;‘we will ask you no questions.’
‘Thank you,’said Lydia,‘for if you did,I should certainly tell you all,and then Wickham would be angry.’
On such encouragement to ask,Elizabeth was forced to put it out of her power,by running away.
But to live in ignorance on such a point was impossible;or at least it was impossible not to try for information.Mr Darcy had been at her sister's wedding.It was exactly a scene,and exactly among people,where he had apparently least to do,and least temptation to go.Conjectures as to the meaning of it,rapid and wild,hurried into her brain;but she was satisfied with none.Those that best pleased her,as placing his conduct in the noblest light,seemed most improbable.She could not bear such suspense;and hastily seizing a sheet of paper,wrote a short letter to her aunt,to request an explanation of what Lydia had dropt,if it were compatible with the secrecy which had been intended.
‘You may readily comprehend,’she added,‘what my curiosity must be to know how a person unconnected with any of us,and (comparatively speaking)a stranger to our family,should have been amongst you at such a time.Pray write instantly,and let me understand it-unless it is,for very cogent reasons,to remain in the secrecy which Lydia seems to think necessary;and then I must endeavour to be satisfied with ignorance.’
‘Not that I shall,though,’she added to herself,as she finished the letter;‘and my dear aunt,if you do not tell me in an honourable manner,I shall certainly be reduced to tricks and stratagems to find it out.’
Jane's delicate sense of honour would not allow her to speak to Elizabeth privately of what Lydia had let fall;Elizabeth was glad of it;-till it appeared whether her inquiries would receive any satisfaction,she had rather be without a confidante.
Chapter 52
Elizabeth had the satisfaction of receiving an answer to her letter as soon as she possibly could.She was no sooner in possession of it,than hurrying into the little copse,where she was least likely to be interrupted,she sat down on one of the benches and prepared to be happy;for the length of the letter convinced her that it did not contain a denial.
Gracechurch street,Sept.6.
My dear niece,
I have just received your letter,and shall devote this whole morning to answering it,as I foresee that a little writing will not comprise what I have to tell you.I must confess myself surprized by your application;I did not expect it from you.Don't think me angry,however,for I only mean to let you know that I had not imagined such inquiries to be necessary on your side.If you do not chuse to understand me,forgive my impertinence.Your uncle is as much surprized as I am-and nothing but the belief of your being a party concerned would have allowed him to act as he has done.But if you are really innocent and ignorant,I must be more explicit.On the very day of my coming home from Longbourn,your uncle had a most unexpected visitor.Mr Darcy called,and was shut up with him several hours.It was all over before I arrived;so my curiosity was not so dreadfully racked as yours seems to have been.He came to tell Mr Gardiner that he had found out where your sister and Mr Wickham were,and that he had seen and talked with them both;Wickham repeatedly,Lydia once.From what I can collect,he left Derbyshire only one day after ourselves,and came to town with the resolution of hunting for them.The motive professed was his conviction of its being owing to himself that Wickham's worthlessness had not been so well known as to make it impossible for any young woman of character to love or confide in him.He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride,and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world.His character was to speak for itself.He called it,therefore,his duty to step forward,and endeavour to remedy an evil which had been brought on by himself.If he had another motive,I am sure it would never disgrace him.He had been some days in town,before he was able to discover them;but he had something to direct his search,which was more than we had;and the consciousness of this was another reason for his resolving to follow us.There is a lady,it seems,a Mrs Younge,who was some time ago governess to Miss Darcy,and was dismissed from her charge on some cause of disapprobation,though he did not say what.She then took a large house in Edward Street,and has since maintained herself by letting lodgings.This Mrs Younge was,he knew,intimately acquainted with Wickham;and he went to her for intelligence of him as soon as he got to town.But it was two or three days before he could get from her what he wanted.She would not betray her trust,I suppose,without bribery and corruption,for she really did know where her friend was to be found.
Wickham indeed had gone to her on their first arrival in London,and had she been able to receive them into her house,they would have taken up their abode with her.
At length,however,our kind friend procured the wished for direction.They were in-street.He saw Wickham,and afterwards insisted on seeing Lydia.His first object with her,he acknowledged,had been to persuade her to quit her present disgraceful situation,and return to her friends as soon as they could be prevailed on to receive her,offering his assistance,as far as it would go.But he found Lydia absolutely resolved on remaining where she was.She cared for none of her friends;she wanted no help of his;she would not hear of leaving Wickham.She was sure they should be married some time or other,and it did not much signify when.