，最快更新傲慢与偏见最新章节！“How nicelyare all crammed in,”cried Lydia.“Iglad I boughtbo,itonly for the funhaving another bandbox!well, now letbe quite fortable and snug, and talk and laugh all thein the first place,lethear what has happenedyou all since you wen you seen any pleasant men?Have you had any flirting?I wasgreat hopes that oneyou would have gousband before you cam willquiteold maid soon,almost three-and-twenty!Lord,how ashamed I shouldof not being married before three-and-twenty!aunt Phillips wants youto get husbands,you can' says Lizzy had better have taken mr.Collins;but Inot think there would have been any !how I should likebe married before anyyou;and then I would chaperon you aboutallme!we had sucood piecefun the other dayColonel Forster's.Kitty andwerespend the day there,an promisedhavittle dancethe evening; (by the bye, mrs. Forster andare such friends!)andshe asked the two Harringtonse, but Harriet was ill, andPen was forcedeherself; and then, whatyou thinkdid?we dressedChamberlaynewoman's clothespurposepass foady, only think what fun!Nooul knewit,but Colonel an,and Kitty and me,exceptaunt,forwere forcedborrow oneher gowns; and you cannot imagine how welllooked!when denny,and wickham,and Pratt,and twothree morethe men came in, they did not know himth!how I laughed!anddi I should hav that made the men suspect something,and then they soon found out what was the matter.”
with such kindshistoriestheir parties and good jokes,did Lydia,assistedKitty's hints and additions,endeavouramuse her panions all the waistenedlittleshe could, but there wasescaping the frequent mentionwickham's name.
Their receptionhome was mos rejoicedsee Janeundiminished beauty;and more than once during dinner did mr.Be say voluntarilyElizabeth:
“Iglad you are e back,Lizzy.”
Their partythe dining-room was large, for almost all the Lucases camemeet maria and hear the news; and various were the subjects that occupied them:Lady Lucas was inquiringmaria, across the table, after the welfare and poultryher eldest daughter;mrs.Be was doubly engaged,on one hand collectingaccountthe present fashions from Jane,who sat some way below her,and,on the other,retailing them allthe younger miss Lucases; and Lydia,a voice rather louder than any other person's,was enumerating the various pleasuresthe morninganybody who would hear her.
“oh!mary,”said she,“I wish you had gone with us,forhad such fun!Aswent along,Kitty and I drewthe blinds,and pretended there was nobodythe coach;and I should have goneall the way,if Kitty had not been sick;and whengotthe Gee,Ithinkbehaved very handsomely,fortreated the other three with the nicest cold luncheonthe world,andyou would have gone,we would have treatedthen whencame awaywas such fun!I thoughtnever should have got intoreadydihenweremerry all the way home!talked and laughedloud,that anybody might have heardten miles off!”
To this mary very gravely replied,“Farit from me,my dear sister,depreciate such pleasures!They would doubtlesscongenial with the generalityfemal I confess they would havecharms for me—I should infinitely prefeook.”
Butthis answer Lydia heard not seldom listenedanybody for more than halinute, and never attendedmaryall.
In the afternoon Lydia was urgent with the restthe girlswalkmeryton, andsee how everybody went on; but Elizabeth steadily opposedshould notsaid that the miss Bes could notat home halay before they werepursuitth was another reason too fordreaded seeing mr.wickham again,and was resolvedavoidas lonomfortherthe regiment's approaching removal was indeed beyoortnight they werego—and once gone,she hoped there couldnothing moreplague herhis account.
She had not been many hourshome before she found that the Brighton scheme,of which Lydia had given theintthe inn,was under frequent discussion betweensaw directly that her father had not the smallest intentionyielding; but his answers werethe same timevague and equivocal,that her mother,though often disheartened,had never yet despairedsucceedinglast.