Pride and Prejudice Chapter 52

• Here's the story, as told by Mrs. Gardiner:
• Mr. Darcy left his house a day after Elizabeth had. He went to London and located Mr. Wickham and Lydia.
• Darcy tried to convince Lydia to leave Mr. Wickham, but she wouldn't, assuming they would marry at some time or another.
• Wickham, however, was definitely not keen on the idea of marrying Lydia, since he was still planning to marry rich.
• So, Darcy settled Wickham's debts and gave him a fortune to marry Lydia.

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• This is all super secret, BTW. And Mrs. Gardiner makes sure to mention what a gentleman Darcy was about the whole thing.
• Elizabeth has a lot of feels about this.
• More than anything, she's grateful: Mr. Darcy met with a man he despised and bribed him to do the right thing for a girl who Mr. Darcy couldn't respect.
• Could he possibly have done it for her?
• She goes out walking and Wickham joins her. He fishes around to find out what she knows about his past. Elizabeth admits to him what she knows, but in a genteel manner, and she basically tells him to drop it.