Pride and Prejudice Volume 3, Chapter 5

Elizabeth and the Gardiners get to Longbourn and find that Mr. Bennet is in London looking for Lydia and Wickham. Mrs. Bennet is so distraught that she hasn't been able to come downstairs since she heard the news. The colonel who was Lydia's guardian in Brighton had heard from one of Wickham's friends that Wickham never planned to marry Lydia. Although the soldier couldn't be sure that Wickham hadn't married Lydia, it would've been a poor choice for him because Lydia had no money. The rumors of the elopement sweep through Meryton and it comes out that Wickham has gambling debts that he left unpaid when he left town. The situation looks grim.