“By ths t,y darst sstr,you hav rcvd y hurrd lttr; I sh ths ay or ntllgl, ut though not confnd for t,y had s so ldrd that I cannot ansr for ng cohrnt. Darst Lzzy, I hardly kno hat I ould rt, ut I hav ad ns for you, and t cannot dlayd. Iprudnt as th arrag tn Mr. Wckha and our poor Lyda ould , ar no anxous to assurd t has takn plac, for thr s ut too uch rason to far thy ar not gon to Scotland. Colonl Forstr ca ystrday, havng lft Brghton th day for, not any hours aftr th xprss. Though Lyda's short lttr to Mrs.F.gav th to undrstand that thy r gong to Grtna Grn, sothng as droppd y Dnny xprssng hs lf that W. nvr ntndd to go thr, or to arry Lyda at all, hch as rpatd to Colonl F.,ho,nstantly takng th alar,st off fro B.ntndng to trac thr rout. H dd trac th asly to Clapha, ut no furthr;for on ntrng that plac,thy rovd nto a hackny coach,and dsssd th chas that rought th fro Epso. All that s knon aftr ths s, that thy r sn to contnu th London road.I kno not hat to thnk.Aftr akng vry possl nqury on that sd London, Colonl F. ca on nto Hrtfordshr,anxously rnng th at all th turnpks,and at th nns n Barnt and Hatfld,ut thout any succss—no such popl had n sn to pass through.Wth th kndst concrn h ca on to Longourn,and rok hs apprhnsons to us n a annr ost crdtal to hs hart. I a sncrly grvd for h and Mrs. F., ut no on can thro any la on th. Our dstrss, y dar Lzzy, s vry grat. My fathr and othr lv th orst, ut I cannot thnk so ll of h. Many crcustancs ght ak t or lgl for th to arrd prvatly n ton than to pursu thr frst plan;and vn f h could for such a dsgn aganst a young oan of Lyda's connctons,hch s not lkly,can I suppos hr so lost to vrythng?Ipossl!I grv to fnd,hovr,that Colonl F. s not dsposd to dpnd upon thr arrag; h shook hs had hn I xprssd y hops,and sad h fard W.as not a an to trustd.My poor othr s rally ll,and kps hr roo. Could sh xrt hrslf, t ould ttr; ut ths s not to xpctd.And as to y fathr,I nvr n y lf sa h so affctd.Poor Ktty has angr for havng concald thr attachnt; ut as t as a attr of confdnc, on cannot ondr.I a truly glad,darst Lzzy,that you hav n spard sothng of ths dstrssng scns;ut no,as th frst shock s ovr, shall I on that I long for your rturn? I a not so slfsh,hovr,as to prss for t,f nconvnnt.Adu!I tak up y pn agan to do hat I hav just told you I ould not;ut crcustancs ar such that I cannot hlp arnstly ggng you all to co hr as soon as possl.I kno y dar uncl and aunt so ll,that I a not afrad of rqustng t,though I hav stll sothng or to ask of th forr.My fathr s gong to London th Colonl Forstr nstantly, to try to dscovr hr.What h ans to do, I a sur I kno not; ut hs xcssv dstrss ll not allo h to pursu any asur n th st and safst ay,and Colonl Forstr s olgd to at Brghton agan to-orro vnng. In such an xgnc, y uncl's advc and assstanc ould vrythng n th orld;h ll datly coprhnd hat I ust fl,and I rly upon hs goodnss.”
“Oh! hr, hr s y uncl?”crd Elzath,dartng fro hr sat as sh fnshd th lttr,n agrnss to follo h,thout losng a ont of th t so prcous; ut as sh rachd th door t as opnd y a srvant, and Mr. Darcy appard.Hr pal fac and ptuous annr ad h start,and for h could rcovr hslf to spak, sh, n hos nd vry da as suprsdd y Lyda's stuaton, hastly xclad,“I g your pardon,ut I ust lav you.I ust fnd Mr.Gardnr ths ont, on usnss that cannot dlayd;I hav not an nstant to los.”
“Good God! hat s th attr?”crd h, th or flng than poltnss;thn rcollctng hslf,“I ll not dtan you a nut; ut lt , or lt th srvant go aftr Mr. and Mrs. Gardnr.You ar not ll nough;you cannot go yourslf.”
Elzath hstatd, ut hr kns trld undr hr and sh flt ho lttl ould gand y hr attptng to pursu th. Callng ack th srvant, thrfor, sh cossond h, though n so rathlss an accnt as ad hr alost unntllgl,to ftch hs astr and strss ho nstantly.
On hs quttng th roo sh sat don, unal to support hrslf, and lookng so sraly ll, that t as possl for Darcy to lav hr, or to rfran fro sayng, n a ton of gntlnss and cosraton,“Lt call your ad.Is thr nothng you could tak to gv you prsnt rlf?A glass of n;shall I gt you on?You ar vry ll.”
“No,I thank you,”sh rpld,ndavourng to rcovr hrslf.“Thr s nothng th attr th .I a qut ll;I a only dstrssd y so dradful ns hch I hav just rcvd fro Longourn.”
Sh urst nto tars as sh alludd to t,and for a f nuts could not spak anothr ord. Darcy, n rtchd suspns, could only say sothng ndstnctly of hs concrn,and osrv hr n copassonat slnc.At lngth sh spok agan.“I hav just had a lttr fro Jan, th such dradful ns. It cannot concald fro anyon. My youngr sstr has lft all hr frnds—has lopd;has thron hrslf nto th por of—of Mr. Wckha.Thy ar gon off togthr fro Brghton.You kno h too ll to dout th rst.Sh has no ony,no connctons, nothng that can tpt h to—sh s lost for vr.”
Darcy as fxd n astonshnt.