What a good joke
You need not send them word at Longbourn of my going, if you do not like it, for it will make the surprise the greater when I write to them and sign my name Lydia Denny. What a good joke it will be! I can hardly write for laughing. Pray make my excuses to Mr. Wickham, for not keeping my engagement. Tell him I hope he will excuse me, but after some reflection, I have concluded he is too old for me. He is almost thirty and has nothing to offer except his looks. He talks about Mr. Darcy all the time and I detest that odious man! He was a flirt with Lizzy and Miss King; I will not take as my husband the same man that Mary King rejected! Denny is handsome and younger, and he will inherit a small estate. My sisters will be jealous, especially Jane, she is a spinster!
Good bye. Give my love to Colonel Forster. I hope you will drink to our good journey.
Your affectionate friend,
LYDIA BENNET.''