Chapter 47 268
" When they all removed to Brighton , therefore , you had no reason , I suppose , to believe them fond of each other ?"
" Not the slightest . I can remember no symptom of affection on either side ; and had anything of the kind been perceptible , you must be aware that ours is not a family on which it could be thrown away . When first he entered the corps , she was ready enough to admire him ; but so we all were . Every girl in or near Meryton was out of her senses about him for the first two months ; but he never distinguished her by any particular attention ; and , consequently , after a moderate period of extravagant and wild admiration , her fancy for him gave way , and others of the regiment , who treated her with more distinction , again became her favourites ."
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It may be easily believed , that however little of novelty could be added to their fears , hopes , and conjectures , on this interesting subject , by its repeated discussion , no other could detain them from it long , during the whole of the journey . From Elizabeth ' s thoughts it was never absent . Fixed there by the keenest of all anguish , self-reproach , she could find no interval of ease or forgetfulness .
They travelled as expeditiously as possible , and , sleeping one night on the road , reached Longbourn by dinner time the next day . It was a comfort to Elizabeth to consider that Jane could not have been wearied by long expectations .
The little Gardiners , attracted by the sight of a chaise , were standing on the steps of the house as they entered the paddock ; and , when the carriage drove up to the door , the joyful surprise that lighted up their faces , and displayed itself over their whole bodies , in a variety of capers and frisks , was the first pleasing earnest of their welcome .
Elizabeth jumped out ; and , after giving each of them a hasty kiss , hurried into the vestibule , where Jane , who came running down from her mother ' s apartment , immediately met her .