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ter the welfare and poultry of her eldest daughter;Mrs.Bennet was doubly engaged,on one hand collecting an account of the present fashions from Jane,who sat some way below her,and,on the other,retailing them all to the younger Miss Lucases; and Lydia, in a voice rather louder than any other person's,was enumerating the various pleasures of the morning to anybody who would hear her.

“Oh!Mary,”said she,“I wish you had gone with us,for we had such fun!As we went along,Kitty and I drew up the blinds,and pretended there was nobody in the coach;and I should have gone so all the way,if Kitty had not been sick;and when we got to the George,I do think we behaved very handsomely,for we treated the other three with the nicest cold luncheon in the world,and if you would have gone,we would have treated you too.And then when we came away it was such fun!I thought we never should have got into the coach.I was ready to die of laughter.And then we were so merry all the way home! we talked and laughed so loud,that anybody might have heard us ten miles off!”

To this Mary very gravely replied,“Far be it from me,my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures!They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds.But I confess they would have no charms for me—I should infinitely prefer a book.”

But of this answer Lydia heard not a word.She seldom listened to anybody for more than half a minute, and never attended to Mary at all.

In the afternoon Lydia was urgent with the rest of the girls to walk to Meryton, and to see how everybody went on; but Elizabeth steadily opposed the scheme.It should not be said that the Miss Bennets could not be at home half a day before they were in pursuit of the officers.There was another reason too for her opposition.She dreaded seeing Mr.Wickham again,and was resolved to avoid it as long as possible.The comfort to her of the regiment's approaching removal was indeed beyond expression. In a fortnight they were to go—and once gone,she hoped there could be nothing more to plague her on his account.

She had not been many hours at home before she found that the Brighton scheme,of which Lydia had given them a hint at the inn,was under frequent discussion between her parents.Elizabeth saw directly that her father had not the smallest intention of yielding; but his answers were at the same time so vague and equivocal,that her mother,though often disheartened,had never yet despaired of succeeding at last.