“No,I believe not.”

“He brought it with him for us to see.”

“I never saw anyone so shocked.He could not speak a word for full ten minutes. My mother was taken ill immediately, and the whole house in such confusion!”

“How was it possible that such an idea should enter our brains? I felt a little uneasy―a little fearful of my sister's happiness with him in marriage,because I knew that his conduct had not been always quite right.My father and mother knew nothing of that;they only felt how imprudent a match it must be. Kitty then owned, with a very natural triumph on knowing more than the rest of us,that in Lydia's last letter she had prepared her for such a step.She had known,it seems,of their being in love with each other,many weeks.”

“Your affectionate friend,

“Oh!Jane,”cried Elizabeth,“was there a servant belonging to it who did not know the whole story before the end of the day?”

“And did Colonel Forster appear to think ill of Wickham himself?Does he know his real character?”

“Could Colonel Forster repeat the particulars of Lydia's note to his wife?”

“I must confess that he did not speak so well of Wickham as he formerly did.He believed him to be imprudent and extravagant. And since this sad affair has taken place, it is said that he left Meryton greatly in debt;but I hope this may be false.”