Everyone hoped to receive a letter from Mr. Bennet the next morning.
But when the mail arrived, there was nothing from him.
The family knew that Mr. Bennet was usually a terrible correspondent. He often took his time replying to letters, even when there was no reason to delay.
But this was different.
They had hoped he would make an effort this time.
Since no letter had arrived, they could only assume that he had no good news to share.
Even so, they wished they could at least hear something.
Mr. Gardiner had waited only for the mail before leaving.
Once he was gone, the family felt certain that they would at least receive regular updates.
Before leaving, Mr. Gardiner had also promised that he would persuade Mr. Bennet to return home as soon as possible.
This was a great comfort to Mrs. Bennet, who still believed that the only thing preventing her husband from being killed in a duel was his continued presence in London.
Mrs. Gardiner and her children stayed in Hertfordshire for a few more days.
She believed that her presence might be useful to her nieces.
She helped them deal with Mrs. Bennet and gave them comfort whenever they had a quiet moment alone.
Their other aunt also visited frequently.
She always claimed that she came to cheer them up.
Unfortunately, she never arrived without bringing some new story about Wickham’s bad behavior or reckless spending.
So whenever she left, the girls usually felt worse than before.
It seemed that everyone in Meryton was now determined to destroy Wickham’s reputation.
Only three months earlier, nearly everyone had thought he was one of the most charming young men they had ever met.
Now people claimed that he owed money to almost every shopkeeper in town.
They also said that he had tried to seduce women in nearly every respectable family he knew.
Everyone agreed that he was one of the worst young men in the world.
And strangely enough, everyone now claimed that they had always suspected he was not as good as he appeared.
Elizabeth did not believe everything she heard.
In fact, she probably believed less than half of it.
But she believed enough to become even more convinced that Lydia’s future was ruined.
Jane was more doubtful of the rumors.
Still, even she was beginning to lose hope.
If Lydia and Wickham had gone to Scotland as people feared, they should probably have heard something by now.
On Sunday, Mr. Gardiner finally left Longbourn.
Two days later, Mrs. Gardiner received a letter from him.
He explained that as soon as he reached London, he had found Mr. Bennet and persuaded him to come to Gracechurch Street.
Mr. Bennet had already searched Epsom and Clapham without finding anything useful.
He now intended to visit the major hotels in London.
He thought Lydia and Wickham might have stayed at one of them when they first arrived in the city, before finding private lodgings.
Mr. Gardiner did not expect much from this plan.
But since Mr. Bennet was determined to try it, he intended to help him.
He also said that Mr. Bennet had no intention of leaving London yet.
He promised to write again soon.
There was also a postscript.
“I have written to Colonel Forster and asked him to speak with Wickham’s former friends in the regiment.”
“We need to know whether Wickham has any relatives or acquaintances in London who might know where he is hiding.”
“If there is anyone who can give us even the smallest clue, it could be extremely important.”
“At the moment, we have nothing to guide us.”
“I am sure Colonel Forster will do everything he can.”
“But now that I think about it, perhaps Lizzy knows more about Wickham’s family than anyone else.”
Elizabeth immediately understood why her uncle had mentioned her.
Unfortunately, she had very little information to give him.
As far as she knew, Wickham had only ever spoken about his parents.
Both of them had been dead for many years.
Perhaps some of the officers who had known him before could provide more information.
Elizabeth did not expect much to come from the inquiry, but at least it gave them something to hope for.
Every day at Longbourn was now filled with anxiety.
The worst moment came each morning when they waited for the post.
Everyone watched for the arrival of the letters.
Any good news or bad news would come through them.
And every morning they hoped that the next letter would finally bring something important.
Before they heard from Mr. Gardiner again, however, another letter arrived.
It was addressed to Mr. Bennet.
The sender was Mr. Collins.
Jane had been instructed to open any letters that arrived for her father while he was away, so she opened it.
Elizabeth knew how strange Mr. Collins’s letters could be.
She stood beside Jane and read it too.
It began:
“My dear Mr. Bennet,
“As your relative, and because of my position in life, I feel obligated to express my sympathy for the terrible situation you are now facing.”
“Mrs. Collins and I were informed yesterday about what has happened.”
“We sincerely sympathize with you and your entire family.”
“I cannot imagine anything more painful for a parent.”
“Indeed, I believe the death of your daughter would have been easier to bear than the disgrace she has brought upon you.”
Jane and Elizabeth exchanged uncomfortable looks.
Collins continued.
“Charlotte has suggested that Lydia’s behavior may have been encouraged by excessive indulgence from her parents.”
“However, I believe that such terrible behavior at such a young age must also come from a naturally bad character.”
“Whatever the true cause may be, you and Mrs. Bennet have my deepest sympathy.”
“Lady Catherine and her daughter are also aware of the situation, and they completely agree with me.”
“They fear that Lydia’s actions will damage the marriage prospects of your other daughters.”
“As Lady Catherine herself has so wisely observed, what respectable family would want to marry into a family with such a disgrace attached to it?”
“Indeed, this makes me even more grateful for what happened last November.”
“If things had gone differently, I might have found myself involved in all this shame and misery.”
“My dear Mr. Bennet, I strongly advise you to comfort yourself as best you can.”
“You should remove this unworthy daughter from your affection and allow her to suffer the consequences of her actions.”
“I remain, dear sir, your obedient servant.”
Elizabeth and Jane could hardly believe what they had just read.
Mr. Collins had managed to turn Lydia’s disaster into an opportunity to congratulate himself.
Mr. Gardiner did not write again until he had received Colonel Forster’s reply.
Unfortunately, there was no good news.
Colonel Forster had discovered that Wickham had no known relatives with whom he remained in contact.
In fact, he was not known to have any close relatives still living.
He had once known many people, but since joining the militia, he had not maintained any particularly close friendships.
There was no obvious person who could tell them where he had gone.
Worse still, Wickham’s financial situation was even more serious than they had imagined.
He had a strong reason to hide.
He was not only afraid that Lydia’s relatives would find him.
He was also trying to escape the consequences of his debts.
It had recently been discovered that he had left behind a large amount of gambling debt.
Colonel Forster believed that more than a thousand pounds would be needed just to settle what Wickham owed in Brighton.
And that was only part of the problem.
He owed money to many people in the town.
His gambling debts were even more serious.
Mr. Gardiner did not hide any of this from the Bennet family.
Jane was horrified.
“A gambler?”
She could hardly believe it.
“This is completely unexpected. I had no idea he was like that.”
Mr. Gardiner also said that they could expect Mr. Bennet to return home the following day.
It would be Saturday.
After everything he had tried had failed, Mr. Bennet had finally agreed to return to his family.
He left the rest of the search in Mr. Gardiner’s hands.
When Mrs. Bennet heard that her husband was coming home, she was not nearly as pleased as her daughters expected.
After all, she had been terrified that he might be killed in a duel.
But now she had a different concern.
“What?”
“He’s coming home without poor Lydia?”
“He surely won’t leave London before finding them!”
“If he comes home, who is going to fight Wickham and force him to marry her?”
Mrs. Gardiner was also beginning to feel that she should return home.
So it was decided that she and her children would travel to London at the same time Mr. Bennet returned from there.
The carriage took them through the first part of their journey before Mr. Bennet continued on to Longbourn.
Mrs. Gardiner left with another matter still troubling her.
She was still curious about Elizabeth and the mysterious gentleman she had met in Derbyshire.
His name had never been mentioned openly by Elizabeth.
Mrs. Gardiner had secretly hoped that a letter from him might arrive after Elizabeth returned home.
But no such letter had come from Pemberley.
Elizabeth’s family troubles gave her enough reason to be unhappy, so no one could reasonably draw conclusions from her mood.
But Elizabeth herself understood her feelings much better by now.
If she had never met Darcy, she thought, she might have handled the fear surrounding Lydia much better.
Perhaps she would have lost only one sleepless night instead of two.
When Mr. Bennet finally returned home, he looked almost exactly as calm and detached as usual.
He said very little.
He did not mention what had happened in London.
For some time, his daughters were too nervous to ask him about it.
It was not until that afternoon, when he joined them for tea, that Elizabeth finally brought up the subject.
She quietly expressed how sorry she was for everything he must have suffered.
Mr. Bennet shook his head.
“Don’t say anything about it.”
“Who else should suffer for it but me?”
“I caused this myself.”
“And I deserve to feel the consequences.”
“You mustn’t blame yourself too harshly,” Elizabeth said.
“You are right to warn me.”
Mr. Bennet gave a faint smile.
“Human nature is very good at making excuses.”
“No, Lizzy. For once in my life, I want to admit how much I have done wrong.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t spend the rest of my life suffering over it.”
“I’ll probably forget the lesson soon enough.”
Elizabeth hesitated.
“Do you think Lydia and Wickham are still in London?”
“Yes.”
“Where else could they hide so easily?”
Kitty joined the conversation.
“Lydia always wanted to go to London.”
“Then she must be very happy there,” Mr. Bennet replied dryly.
“And I expect she will be staying there for quite some time.”
After a brief silence, Mr. Bennet looked at Elizabeth.
“Lizzy, I don’t blame you for being right about what you told me last May.”
“Considering what has happened, I suppose I should admit that you showed more good sense than I did.”
Before Elizabeth could reply, Jane came into the room to fetch her mother’s tea.
Mr. Bennet watched her leave.
“This is quite a performance.”
He smiled bitterly.
“But somehow, it makes misfortune look elegant.”
“Perhaps tomorrow I’ll do the same thing.”
“I’ll sit in my library wearing my nightcap and dressing gown and make everyone’s life as difficult as possible.”
“Or perhaps I’ll wait until Kitty runs away.”
“I am not going to run away, Papa,” Kitty said irritably.
“If I ever went to Brighton, I would behave much better than Lydia.”
“You go to Brighton?”
Mr. Bennet stared at her.
“I wouldn’t trust you anywhere near Brighton.”
“I wouldn’t even let you go as far as Eastbourne for fifty pounds.”
“No, Kitty.”
“I have learned at least one lesson from all this.”
“From now on, no officers are allowed inside this house.”
“They aren’t even allowed to walk through the village.”
“And balls are forbidden unless you attend with one of your sisters.”
Kitty looked increasingly unhappy.
“And you are not allowed to leave the house until you can prove that you have spent at least ten minutes each day doing something sensible.”
Kitty took her father’s threats seriously and began to cry.
Mr. Bennet immediately softened.
“All right, all right.”
“Don’t make yourself miserable.”
“If you behave yourself for the next ten years, I’ll take you to a military review when the ten years are over.”