“You go to Brighton. I would not trust you so near it as Eastbourne for fifty pounds!No,Kitty,I have at last learnt to be cautious,and you will feel the effects of it.No officer is ever to enter into my house again,nor even to pass through the village. Balls will be absolutely prohibited,unless you stand up with one of your sisters.And you are never to stir out of doors till you can prove that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner.”
“I am not going to run away, papa,”said Kitty fretfully.“If I should ever go to Brighton,I would behave better than Lydia.”
“And Lydia used to want to go to London,”added Kitty.
“Do you suppose them to be in London?”
“Yes;where else can they be so well concealed?”
“She is happy then,”said her father drily;“and her residence there will probably be of some duration.”
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.
“Lizzy,I bear you no ill-will for being justified in your advice to me last May,which,considering the event,shows some greatness of mind.”