give as much trouble as I can; or, perhaps, I may defer it till Kitty runs away."
"I am not going to run away, papa," said Kitty fretfully. "If I should ever go to Brighton, I would
behave better than Lydia."
"YOU go to Brighton. I would not trust you so near it as Eastbourne for fifty pounds! No, Kitty,
I have at last learnt to be cautious, and you will feel the effects of it. No officer is ever to enter
into my house again, nor even to pass through the village. Balls will be absolutely prohibited,
unless you stand up with one of your sisters. And you are never to stir out of doors till you can
prove that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner."
Kitty, who took all these threats in a serious light, began to cry.
211
"Well, well," said he, "do not make yourself unhappy. If you are a good girl for the next ten
years, I will take you to a review at the end of them."
Chapter 49
Two days after Mr. Bennet's return, as Jane and Elizabeth were walking together in the
shrubbery behind the house, they saw the housekeeper coming towards them, and, concluding
that she came to call them to their mother, went forward to meet her; but, instead of the expected
summons, when they approached her, she said to Miss Bennet, "I beg your pardon, madam, for
interrupting you, but I was in hopes you might have got some good news from town, so I took
the liberty of coming to ask."
"What do you mean, Hill? We have heard nothing from town."
"Dear madam," cried Mrs. Hill, in great astonishment, "don't you know there is an express come
for master from Mr. Gardiner? He has been here this half-hour, and master has had a letter."
Away ran the girls, too eager to get in to have time for speech. They ran through the vestibule
into the breakfast-room; from thence to the library; their father was in neither; and they were on
the point of seeking him upstairs with their mother, when they were met by the butler, who said:
"If you are looking for my master, ma'am, he is walking towards the little copse."
Upon this information, they instantly passed through the hall once more, and ran across the lawn
after their father, who was deliberately pursuing his way towards a small wood on one side of the
paddock.
Jane, who was not so light nor so much in the habit of running as Elizabeth, soon lagged behind,
while her sister, panting for breath, came up with him, and eagerly cried out:
"Oh, papa, what news—what news? Have you heard from my uncle?"
"Yes I have had a letter from him by express."
"Well, and what news does it bring—good or bad?"
"What is there of good to be expected?" said he, taking the letter from his pocket. "But perhaps
you would like to read it."
212
Elizabeth impatiently caught it from his hand. Jane now came up.
"Read it aloud," said their father, "for I hardly know myself what it is about."
"Gracechurch Street, Monday, August 2.
"MY DEAR BROTHER,
"At last I am able to send you some tidings of my niece, and such as, upon the whole, I hope it
will give you satisfaction. Soon after you left me on Saturday, I was fortunate enough to find out
in what part of London they were. The particulars I reserve till we meet; it is enough to know
they are discovered. I have seen them both—"
"Then it is as I always hoped," cried Jane; "they are married!"
Elizabeth read on:
"I have seen them both. They are not married, nor can I find there was any intention of being so;
but if you are willing to perform the engagements which I have ventured to make on your side, I
hope it will not be long before they are. All that is required of you is, to assure to your daughter,
by settlement, her equal share of the five thousand pounds secured among your children after the
decease of yourself and my sister; and, moreover, to enter into an engagement of allowing her,
during your life, one hundred pounds per annum. These are conditions which, considering
everything, I had no hesitation in complying with, as far as I thought myself privileged, for you. I
shall send this by express, that no time may be lost in bringing me your answer. You will easily
comprehend, from these particulars, that Mr. Wickham's circumstances are not so hopeless as
they are generally believed to be. The world has been deceived in that respect; and I am happy to
say there will be some little money, even when all his debts are discharged, to settle on my niece,
in addition to her own fortune. If, as I conclude will be the case, you send me full powers to act
in your name throughout the whole of this business, I will immediately give directions to
Haggerston for preparing a proper settlement. There will not be the smallest occasion for your
coming to town again; therefore stay quiet at Longbourn, and depend on my diligence and care.
Send back your answer as fast as you can, and be careful to write explicitly. We have judged it
best that my niece should be married from this house, of which I hope you will approve. She
comes to us to-day. I shall write again as soon as anything more is determined on. Yours, etc.,
"EDW. GARDINER."
213
"Is it possible?" cried Elizabeth, when she had finished. "Can it be possible that he will marry
her?"
"Wickham is not so undeserving, then, as we thought him," said her sister. "My dear father, I
congratulate you."
"And have you answered the letter?" cried Elizabeth.
"No; but it must be done soon."
Most earnestly did she then entreaty him to lose no more time before he wrote.
"Oh! my dear father," she cried, "come back and write immediately. Consider how important
every moment is in such a case."
"Let me write for you," said Jane, "if you dislike the trouble yourself."
"I dislike it very much," he replied; "but it must be done."
And so saying, he turned back with them, and walked towards the house.
"And may I ask—" said Elizabeth; "but the terms, I suppose, must be complied with."
"Complied with! I am only ashamed of his asking so little."
"And they MUST marry! Yet he is SUCH a man!"
"Yes, yes, they must marry. There is nothing else to be done. But there are two things that I want
very much to know; one is, how much money your uncle has laid down to bring it about; and the
other, how am I ever to pay him."
"Money! My uncle!" cried Jane, "what do you mean, sir?"
"I mean, that no man in his senses would marry Lydia on so slight a temptation as one hundred a
year during my life, and fifty after I am gone."
"That is very true," said Elizabeth; "though it had not occurred to me before. His debts to be
discharged, and something still to remain! Oh! it must be my uncle's doings! Generous, good