my dear niece, i must confess i am

my dear niece,
i must confess i am astonished by your request for information about Mr Darcy's share in arranging Lydia's marriage. I assumed that you would know all about it. Your uncle is as surprised as Iam. But if you are really innocent and ignorant, Imust tell you all the details. On the day I retuned to London from Longbourn, your uncle had discovered where your sister and Wickham were staying. The reason he gave for wanting to help was his belief that he was to blame for not making Wickham's worthlessness more public, and that therefore it was his duty to assist us in every possible way. If he had another motive, I am sure it would be just as honourable. He knew that Wickham had a close friend in London, a woman who had once been companion to Miss Darcy, and had been dismissed for some reason. So Mr Darcy found this woman , and bribed her to give him Wickham's present address. He went to see Wickham, and insisted on seeing Lydia, hoping to persuade her to return to her family. However, lydia told him she only cared for Wickham, and had no intention of leaving him, whether he married her or not. Wickham privately told Mr Darcy that he had left the regiment because of his gambling debts, not because he intended to marry Lydia, and that he was still hoping to find and marry a woman of fortune in order to have a comfortable income. if was clearly necessary to