Looking over the Letter

My dearest Elizabeth and I have looked over the letter which was sent to Harriet Forster, Colonel Forster’s wife, from Lydia. I do not know what Lydia was thinking; I cannot even begin to imagine what had been going through her mind while she wrote it! She sounded so carefree, not knowing of the pain she was causing to us at home! How I had previously wished she had not known of it but now… I wish she would have realized she had caused pain to us. Maybe that was what it would take for her to come back home. At the end of it all, Elizabeth had asked what how father had felt, and oh my poor, caring father-! He was so shocked when he first saw it all! He could not speak for a full ten minutes it was such a shock to him! I will never be able to get over it all. I have never seen him so speechless. It is truly an upsetting matter.