curtailed its extent. Mr. Gardiner would be prevented by business from

setting out till a fortnight later in July,{298} and must be in London again

within a month; and as that left too short a period for them to go so

far, and see so much as they had proposed, or at least to see it with

the leisure and comfort they had built on, they were obliged to give up

the Lakes, and substitute a more contracted tour; and, according to the

present plan, were to go no farther northward than Derbyshire. In that

county there was enough to be seen to occupy the chief of their three

weeks; and to Mrs. Gardiner it had a peculiarly strong attraction. The

town where she had formerly passed some years of her life, and where

they were now to spend a few days, was probably as great an object of

her curiosity as all the celebrated beauties of Matlock, Chatsworth,

Dovedale, or the Peak.
Elizabeth was excessively disappointed: she had set her heart on seeing

the Lakes; and still thought there might have been time enough. But it

was her business to be satisfied—and certainly her temper to be happy;

and all was soon right again.
With the mention of Derbyshire, there were many ideas connected. It was

impossible for her to see the word without thinking of Pemberley and its

owner. “But surely,” said she, “I may enter his county with impunity,

and rob it of a few petrified spars, without his perceiving me.”
The period of expectation was now doubled. Four weeks were to pass away

before her uncle and aunt’s arrival. But they did pass away, and Mr. and

Mrs. Gardiner, with their four children, did at length appear at

Longbourn. The children, two girls of six and eight years old, and two

younger boys, were to be left under the particular care of their cousin

Jane, who was the general favourite, and whose steady sense and

sweetness{299} of temper exactly adapted her for attending to them in every

way—teaching them, playing with them, and loving them.