第106章[第3頁/共6頁]

“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 could ensue, you may easily believe, was far enough from my thoughts.”

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.