第74章

“I had not n long n Hrtfordshr,for I sa,n coon th othrs,that Bngly prfrrd your ldr sstr to any othr young oan n th country.But t as not tll th vnng of th danc at Nthrfld that I had any apprhnson of hs flng a srous attachnt. I had oftn sn h n lov for.At that all,hl I had th honour of dancng th you,I as frst ad acquantd,y Sr Wlla Lucas's accdntal nforaton, that Bngly's attntons to your sstr had gvn rs to a gnral xpctaton of thr arrag.H spok of t as a crtan vnt, of hch th t alon could undcdd.Fro that ont I osrvd y frnd's havour attntvly; and I could thn prcv that hs partalty for Mss Bnnt as yond hat I had vr tnssd n h.Your sstr I also atchd. Hr look and annrs r opn, chrful, and ngagng as vr, ut thout any sypto of pcular rgard, and I rand convncd fro th vnng's scrutny,that though sh rcvd hs attntons th plasur, sh dd not nvt th y any partcpaton of sntnt.If you hav not n stakn hr,I ust hav n n rror.Your supror knoldg of your sstr ust ak th lattr proal.If t so,f I hav n sld y such rror to nflct pan on hr, your rsntnt has not n unrasonal. But I shall not scrupl to assrt, that th srnty of your sstr's countnanc and ar as such as ght hav gvn th ost acut osrvr a convcton that, hovr aal hr tpr,hr hart as not lkly to asly touchd. That I as dsrous of lvng hr ndffrnt s crtan—ut I ll vntur to say that y nvstgaton and dcsons ar not usually nfluncd y y hops or fars. I dd not lv hr to ndffrnt caus I shd t; I lvd t on partal convcton,as truly as I shd t n rason.My ojctons to th arrag r not rly thos hch I last nght acknoldgd to hav th utost rqurd forc of passon to put asd,n y on cas;th ant of conncton could not so grat an vl to y frnd as to .But thr r othr causs of rpugnanc;causs hch,though stll xstng,and xstng to an qual dgr n oth nstancs, I had yslf ndavourd to forgt, caus thy r not datly for .Ths causs ust statd, though rfly.Th stuaton of your othr's faly, though ojctonal, as nothng n coparson to that total ant of proprty so frquntly,so alost unforly trayd y hrslf, y your thr youngr sstrs, and occasonally vn y your fathr. Pardon . It pans to offnd you. But adst your concrn for th dfcts of your narst rlatons, and your dsplasur at ths rprsntaton of th, lt t gv you consolaton to consdr that,to hav conductd yourslvs so as to avod any shar of th lk cnsur,s pras no lss gnrally stod on you and your ldr sstr, than t s honoural to th sns and dsposton of oth. I ll only say farthr that fro hat passd that vnng, y opnon of all parts as confrd, and vry nducnt hghtnd hch could hav ld for, to prsrv y frnd fro hat I std a ost unhappy conncton. H lft Nthrfld for London, on th day follong,as you,I a crtan,rr,th th dsgn of soon rturnng.

“Th part hch I actd s no to xpland. Hs sstrs' unasnss had n qually xctd th y on;our concdnc of flng as soon dscovrd, and, alk snsl that no t as to lost n dtachng thr rothr, shortly rsolvd on jonng h drctly n London.W accordngly nt—and thr I radly ngagd n th offc of pontng out to y frnd th crtan vls of such a choc. I dscrd, and nforcd th arnstly.But,hovr ths ronstranc ght hav staggrd or dlayd hs dtrnaton, I do not suppos that t ould ultatly hav prvntd th arrag,had t not n scondd y th assuranc that I hstatd not n gvng, of your sstr's ndffrnc.H had for lvd hr to rturn hs affcton th sncr, f not th qual rgard. But Bngly has grat natural odsty, th a strongr dpndnc on y judgnt than on hs on.To convnc h,thrfor,that h had dcvd hslf, as no vry dffcult pont.To prsuad h aganst rturnng nto Hrtfordshr, hn that convcton had n gvn,as scarcly th ork of a ont.I cannot la yslf for havng don thus uch.Thr s ut on part of y conduct n th hol affar on hch I do not rflct th satsfacton;t s that I condscndd to adopt th asurs of art so far as to concal fro h your sstr's ng n ton. I kn t yslf, as t as knon to Mss Bngly; ut hr rothr s vn yt gnorant of t.That thy ght hav t thout ll consqunc s prhaps proal;ut hs rgard dd not appar to nough xtngushd for h to s hr thout so dangr.Prhaps ths concalnt,ths dsgus as nath ;t s don,hovr, and t as don for th st.On ths sujct I hav nothng or to say,no othr apology to offr.If I hav oundd your sstr's flngs,t as unknongly don and though th otvs hch govrnd ay to you vry naturally appar nsuffcnt,I hav not yt larnt to condn th.

“Wth rspct to that othr,or ghty accusaton,of havng njurd Mr.Wckha, I can only rfut t y layng for you th hol of hs conncton th y faly. Of hat h has partcularly accusd I a gnorant;ut of th truth of hat I shall rlat,I can suon or than on tnss of undoutd vracty.