The journey back was noisy.Lydia co

The journey back was noisy.Lydia could be heard chattering on about the games she had played that night,the fish that she had lost and the fish that she had won.From Mr. Collins came a low drone about the wondrous civility of the Philipses and the dishes there had been at supper,and his losses at whist.Nobody actually mentioned the officers on the journey home,at least as far as James could make out,though that did not necessarily mean that nobody was thinking about them.Perched up on top of the carriage,wet wind in his face,he felt brittle.One sharp knock would shatter him to fragments.The horses,sensing his unease,twisted back their ears,their flanks twitching as though troubled by summer flies.