“La!You are so strange!But I must tell you how it went off.We were married, you know, at St. Clement's, because Wickham's lodgings were in that parish.And it was settled that we should all be there by eleven o'clock.My uncle and aunt and I were to go together;and the others were to meet us at the church.
“Oh!certainly,”said Elizabeth,though burning with curiosity;“we will ask you no questions.”
Wickham's affection for Lydia was just what Elizabeth had expected to find it;not equal to Lydia's for him.She had scarcely needed her present observation to be satisfied,from the reason of things,that their elopement had been brought on by the strength of her love,rather than by his;and she would have wondered why, without violently caring for her,he chose to elope with her at all, had she not felt certain that his flight was rendered necessary by distress of circumstances; and if that were the case, he was not the young man to resist an opportunity of having a companion.
No one but Mrs.Bennet regretted that their stay would be so short;and she made the most of the time by visiting about with her daughter, and having very frequent parties at home.These parties were acceptable to all; to avoid a family circle was even more desirable to such as did think,than such as did not.