06-03-傲慢与偏见 [66]
to come to dinner at Pember－ley that day， and again expressing his sympathy．When Mr and Mrs Gardiner entered the room，Elizabeth hurriedly explained everything to them， and was greatly relieved when they agreed to leave at once，to return to Longbourn．
Their packing was done at great speed，and soon they were in the carriage， driving south．
‘Lizzy， ’began Mrs Gardiner， ‘I cannot believe that Wick-ham's character is so bad that he would run away with Lydia，and not marry her．Do you really think he is capable of that？’
‘My dear aunt，Jane and I both know that he has neither honesty nor honour．He has falsely accused Mr Darcy， and has lied wickedly about the whole Darcy family．You saw what a shy，gentle girl Miss Darcy．is，but he had described her as proud，disagreeable and disdainful．’
‘But does Lydia know nothing of this？’
‘Oh，no！That is the worst of all．I didn't know the truth myself until my visit to Kent， and when I returned， and told Jane， she and I decided not to make our knowledge public． Now I know that was a mistake． I never thought that Lydia could be in any danger from him．’
When they arrived at Longbourn，Elizabeth and her aunt were able to help Jane in looking after the children．They also attempted to calm Mrs Bennet，who，however，refused to be calmed， and blamed everyone except herself for the disaster．
‘If only I had been allowed to take the family to Brighton，this would not have happened．Poor dear Lydia had no one to take care of her．Why did those Forsters ever let her go out of their sight？ I am sure they neglected her．Of course， I did not want her to go to Brighton， but nobody took any notice of me，as usual．And now Mr Bennet has gone to London，and I'm sure he’ll fight Wickham，and then he’ll be killed，and then the Collinses will turn us out of the house，before he's cold in his grave！’
‘Do not worry，sister，’said Mr Gardiner kindly．‘I'm go- ing to London tomorrow，to help my brother-in-law．’
‘Oh，thank you，my dear brother，’replied Mrs Bennet．‘Make sure you find Lydia and Wickham，and if they are not married yet，make them marry．And tell Lydia，they mustn’ t wait for wedding clothes，but she shall have as much money as she wants to buy them，after they are married．And keep Mr Bennet from fighting—tell him what a dreadful state I am in， so ill that I can get no rest by night or by day．And tell Lydia not to buy any clothes until she's seen me，because she doesn't know the best shops．Oh，brother，how kind you are！I hope you will manage everything．’
The next day Mr Gardiner travelled to London，as he had promised．Now began a painful period of waiting for those left at Longbourn．They became even more anxious，as news came from Meryton of Wickham's lies，debts，and secret attach- ments to most of the servant girls in the town．Everybody de- clared that he was the wickedest young man in the world，and protested that they had always distrusted his great charm and appearance of goodness．Although Elizabeth did not believe half of these stories，she believed enough to feel sure that her sister's reputation was already lost，and even Jane almost despaired of receiving good news．
In a few day's time they were relieved to receive a letter from Mr Gardiner，but unfortunately it only informed them that Wickham and Lydia had not yet been found．Apparently Wickham had left gambling debts of over a thousand pounds behind him in Brighton．Mr Bennet was returning home the following day，leaving his brother-in-law in London to continue the search．When she heard this，Mrs Bennet did not show as much satisfaction as her children expected，considering the anxiety she had previously expressed for her husband's safety．
‘What，is he coming home without poor Lydia？’she cried． ‘And who will fight Wickham，and make him marry her？’
Their packing was done at great speed，and soon they were in the carriage， driving south．
‘Lizzy， ’began Mrs Gardiner， ‘I cannot believe that Wick-ham's character is so bad that he would run away with Lydia，and not marry her．Do you really think he is capable of that？’
‘My dear aunt，Jane and I both know that he has neither honesty nor honour．He has falsely accused Mr Darcy， and has lied wickedly about the whole Darcy family．You saw what a shy，gentle girl Miss Darcy．is，but he had described her as proud，disagreeable and disdainful．’
‘But does Lydia know nothing of this？’
‘Oh，no！That is the worst of all．I didn't know the truth myself until my visit to Kent， and when I returned， and told Jane， she and I decided not to make our knowledge public． Now I know that was a mistake． I never thought that Lydia could be in any danger from him．’
When they arrived at Longbourn，Elizabeth and her aunt were able to help Jane in looking after the children．They also attempted to calm Mrs Bennet，who，however，refused to be calmed， and blamed everyone except herself for the disaster．
‘If only I had been allowed to take the family to Brighton，this would not have happened．Poor dear Lydia had no one to take care of her．Why did those Forsters ever let her go out of their sight？ I am sure they neglected her．Of course， I did not want her to go to Brighton， but nobody took any notice of me，as usual．And now Mr Bennet has gone to London，and I'm sure he’ll fight Wickham，and then he’ll be killed，and then the Collinses will turn us out of the house，before he's cold in his grave！’
‘Do not worry，sister，’said Mr Gardiner kindly．‘I'm go- ing to London tomorrow，to help my brother-in-law．’
‘Oh，thank you，my dear brother，’replied Mrs Bennet．‘Make sure you find Lydia and Wickham，and if they are not married yet，make them marry．And tell Lydia，they mustn’ t wait for wedding clothes，but she shall have as much money as she wants to buy them，after they are married．And keep Mr Bennet from fighting—tell him what a dreadful state I am in， so ill that I can get no rest by night or by day．And tell Lydia not to buy any clothes until she's seen me，because she doesn't know the best shops．Oh，brother，how kind you are！I hope you will manage everything．’
The next day Mr Gardiner travelled to London，as he had promised．Now began a painful period of waiting for those left at Longbourn．They became even more anxious，as news came from Meryton of Wickham's lies，debts，and secret attach- ments to most of the servant girls in the town．Everybody de- clared that he was the wickedest young man in the world，and protested that they had always distrusted his great charm and appearance of goodness．Although Elizabeth did not believe half of these stories，she believed enough to feel sure that her sister's reputation was already lost，and even Jane almost despaired of receiving good news．
In a few day's time they were relieved to receive a letter from Mr Gardiner，but unfortunately it only informed them that Wickham and Lydia had not yet been found．Apparently Wickham had left gambling debts of over a thousand pounds behind him in Brighton．Mr Bennet was returning home the following day，leaving his brother-in-law in London to continue the search．When she heard this，Mrs Bennet did not show as much satisfaction as her children expected，considering the anxiety she had previously expressed for her husband's safety．
‘What，is he coming home without poor Lydia？’she cried． ‘And who will fight Wickham，and make him marry her？’