第107章[第1页/共5页]

Elizabeth lifted up her eyes in amazement,but was too much oppressed to make any reply.Mary,however,continued to console herself with such kind of moral extractions from the evil before them.

“And was Denny convinced that Wickham would not marry? Did he know of their intending to go off?Had Colonel Forster seen Denny himself?”

“Colonel Forster did own that he had often suspected some partiality,especially on Lydia's side,but nothing to give him any alarm.I am so grieved for him!His behaviour was attentive and kind to the utmost.He was coming to us,in order to assure us of his concern,before he had any idea of their not being gone to Scotland:when that apprehension first got abroad,it hastened his journey.”

“This is a most unfortunate affair, and will probably be much talked of.But we must stem the tide of malice,and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other the balm of sisterly consolation.”

“And till Colonel Forster came himself, not one of you entertained a doubt,I suppose,of their being really married?”

Then, perceiving in Elizabeth no inclination of replying, she added,“Unhappy as the event must be for Lydia, we may draw from it this useful lesson: that loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin;that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful;and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex.”