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same time than as she hoped, by Caroline's not living in the

same house with her brother, she might occasionally spend

a morning with her, without any danger of seeing him.

The Gardiners stayed a week at Longbourn; and what

with the Philipses, the Lucases, and the officers, there was

not a day without its engagement. Mrs. Bennet had so

carefully provided for the entertainment of her brother and

sister, that they did not once sit down to a family dinner.

When the engagement was for home, some of the officers

always made part of it, of which officers Mr. Wickham was

sure to be one; and on these occasions Mrs. Gardiner, ren-

dered suspicious by Elizabeth's warm commendation of him,

narrowly observed them both. Without supposing them,

from what she saw, to be very seriously in love, their prefer-

ence of each other was plain enough to make her a little un-

easy; and she resolved to speak to Elizabeth on the subject

before she left Hertfordshire, and represent to her the im-

prudence of encouraging such an attachment.

To Mrs. Gardiner Wickham had one means of affording

pleasure, unconnected with his general powers. About ten

or a dozen years ago, before her marriage, she had spent a

considerable time in that very part of Derbyshire to which

he belonged. They had, therefore, many acquaintance in

common; and, though Wickham had been little there since

the death of Darcy's father, five years before, it was yet in

his power to give her fresher intelligence of her former

friends than she had been in the way of procuring.

Mrs. Gardiner had seen Pemberley, and known the late

Mr. Darcy by character perfectly well. Here, consequently,

was an inexhaustible subject of discourse. In comparing her

recollection of Pemberley with the minute description which

Wickham could give, and in bestowing her tribute of praise

on the character of its late possessor, she was delighting

both him and herself. On being made acquainted with the

present Mr. Darcy's treatment of him, she tried to remember

something of that gentleman's reputed disposition, when

quite a lad, which might agree with it; and was confident,

at last, that she recollected having heard Mr. Fitzwilliam

Darcy formerly spoken of as a very proud, ill-natured boy.

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