"EDW. GARDINER."

     "Is it possible?" cried Elizabeth, when she had finished. "Can it be possible that he will marry her?"

     "Wickham is not so undeserving, then, as we thought him," said her sister. "My dear father, I congratulate you."

     "And have you answered the letter?" cried Elizabeth.

     "No; but it must be done soon."

     Most earnestly did she then entreaty him to lose no more time before he wrote.

     "Oh! my dear father," she cried, "come back and write immediately. Consider how important every moment is in such a case."

     "Let me write for you," said Jane, "if you dislike the trouble yourself."

     "I dislike it very much," he replied; "but it must be done."

     And so saying, he turned back with them, and walked towards the house.

     "And may I ask--" said Elizabeth; "but the terms, I suppose, must be complied with."