Gracechurch Street,Monday,August 2.
“No;but it must be done soon.”
“And have you answered the letter?”cried Elizabeth.
“Oh!my dear father,”she cried,“come back and write immediately. Consider how important every moment is in such a case.”
“What do you mean,Hill?We have heard nothing from town.”
Upon this information,they instantly passed through the hall once more, and ran across the lawn after their father, who was deliberately pursuing his way towards a small wood on one side of the paddock.
“Is it possible?”cried Elizabeth,when she had finished.“Can it be possible that he will marry her?”
“Well,and what news does it bring―good or bad?”
“Let me write for you,”said Jane,“if you dislike the trouble yourself.”
“Ten thousand pounds!Heaven forbid!How is half such a sum to be repaid?”
“If you are looking for my master,ma'am,he is walking towards the little copse.”
“Oh, papa, what news―what news? Have you heard from my uncle?”
And so saying,he turned back with them,and walked towards the house.
“And may I ask―”said Elizabeth;“but the terms, I suppose, must be complied with.”
Two days after Mr.Bennet's return,as Jane and Elizabeth were walking together in the shrubbery behind the house,they saw the housekeeper coming towards them, and, concluding that she came to call them to their mother, went forward to meet her; but, instead of the expected summons, when they approached her, she said to Miss Bennet,“I beg your pardon,madam,for interrupting you, but I was in hopes you might have got some good news from town,so I took the liberty of coming to ask.”