“Good God! what is the matter?”cried he, with more feeling than politeness;then recollecting himself,“I will not detain you a minute; but let me, or let the servant go after Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner.You are not well enough;you cannot go yourself.”
Elizabeth hesitated, but her knees trembled under her and she felt how little would be gained by her attempting to pursue them. Calling back the servant, therefore, she commissioned him, though in so breathless an accent as made her almost unintelligible,to fetch his master and mistress home instantly.
Darcy was fixed in astonishment.
“No,I thank you,”she replied,endeavouring to recover herself.“There is nothing the matter with me.I am quite well;I am only distressed by some dreadful news which I have just received from Longbourn.”
She burst into tears as she alluded