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same time that Mr. Bennet came from it. The coach, there-

fore, took them the first stage of their journey, and brought

its master back to Longbourn.

Mrs. Gardiner went away in all the perplexity about

Elizabeth and her Derbyshire friend that had attended her

from that part of the world. His name had never been

voluntarily mentioned before them by her niece; and the

kind of half-expectation which Mrs. Gardiner had formed,

of their being followed by a letter from him, had ended in

nothing. Elizabeth had received none since her return, that

could come from Pemberley.

The present unhappy state of the family rendered any

other excuse for the lowness of her spirits unnecessary;

nothing, therefore, could be fairly conjectured from _that,_

though Elizabeth, who was by this time tolerably well ac-

quainted with her own feelings, was perfectly aware that,

had she known nothing of Darcy, she could have borne the

dread of Lydia's infamy somewhat better. It would have

spared her, she thought, one sleepless night out of two.

When Mr. Bennet arrived, he had all the appearance of

his usual philosophic composure. He said as little as he

had ever been in the habit of saying; made no mention of

the business that had taken him away, and it was some time

before his daughters had courage to speak of it.

It was not till the afternoon, when he joined them at tea,

that Elizabeth ventured to introduce the subject; and then,

on her briefly expressing her sorrow for what he must have

endured, he replied, 'Say nothing of that. Who should suffer

but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to

feel it.'

'You must not be too severe upon yourself,' replied

Elizabeth.

'You may well warn me against such an evil. Human

nature is so prone to fall into it! No, Lizzy, let me once

in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not

afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass

away soon enough.'

'Do you suppose them to be in London?'

'Yes; where else can they be so well concealed?'

'And Lydia used to want to go to London,' added Kitty.

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