第83章

“Ho ncly ar all crad n,”crd Lyda.“I a glad I ought y onnt, f t s only for th fun of havng anothr andox!Wll, no lt us qut cofortal and snug, and talk and laugh all th ay ho.And n th frst plac,lt us har hat has happnd to you all snc you nt aay.Hav you sn any plasant n?Hav you had any flrtng?I as n grat hops that on of you ould hav got a husand for you ca ack. Jan ll qut an old ad soon,I dclar.Sh s alost thr-and-tnty!Lord,ho ashad I should of not ng arrd for thr-and-tnty! My aunt Phllps ants you so to gt husands,you can't thnk.Sh says Lzzy had ttr hav takn Mr.Collns;ut I do not thnk thr ould hav n any fun n t.Lord!ho I should lk to arrd for any of you;and thn I ould chapron you aout to all th alls.Dar ! had such a good pc of fun th othr day at Colonl Forstr's.Ktty and r to spnd th day thr,and Mrs.Forstr prosd to hav a lttl danc n th vnng; (y th y, Mrs. Forstr and ar such frnds!)and so sh askd th to Harrngtons to co, ut Harrt as ll, and so Pn as forcd to co y hrslf; and thn, hat do you thnk dd?W drssd up Charlayn n oan's cloths on purpos to pass for a lady, only thnk hat fun!Not a soul kn of t,ut Colonl and Mrs. Forstr,and Ktty and ,xcpt y aunt,for r forcd to orro on of hr gons; and you cannot agn ho ll h lookd!Whn Dnny,and Wckha,and Pratt,and to or thr or of th n ca n, thy dd not kno h n th last. Lord!ho I laughd!and so dd Mrs.Forstr.I thought I should hav dd.And that ad th n suspct sothng,and thn thy soon found out hat as th attr.”

Wth such knds of hstors of thr parts and good joks,dd Lyda,assstd y Ktty's hnts and addtons,ndavour to aus hr copanons all th ay to Longourn. Elzath lstnd as lttl as sh could, ut thr as no scapng th frqunt nton of Wckha's na.

Thr rcpton at ho as ost knd.Mrs.Bnnt rjocd to s Jan n undnshd auty;and or than onc durng dnnr dd Mr.Bnnt say voluntarly to Elzath:

“I a glad you ar co ack,Lzzy.”

Thr party n th dnng-roo as larg, for alost all th Lucass ca to t Mara and har th ns; and varous r th sujcts that occupd th:Lady Lucas as nqurng of Mara, across th tal, aftr th lfar and poultry of hr ldst daughtr;Mrs.Bnnt as douly ngagd,on on hand collctng an account of th prsnt fashons fro Jan,ho sat so ay lo hr,and,on th othr,rtalng th all to th youngr Mss Lucass; and Lyda, n a voc rathr loudr than any othr prson's,as nuratng th varous plasurs of th ornng to anyody ho ould har hr.

“Oh!Mary,”sad sh,“I sh you had gon th us,for had such fun!As nt along,Ktty and I dr up th lnds,and prtndd thr as noody n th coach;and I should hav gon so all th ay,f Ktty had not n sck;and hn got to th Gorg,I do thnk havd vry handsoly,for tratd th othr thr th th ncst cold lunchon n th orld,and f you ould hav gon, ould hav tratd you too.And thn hn ca aay t as such fun!I thought nvr should hav got nto th coach.I as rady to d of laughtr.And thn r so rry all th ay ho! talkd and laughd so loud,that anyody ght hav hard us tn ls off!”

To ths Mary vry gravly rpld,“Far t fro ,y dar sstr, to dprcat such plasurs!Thy ould doutlss congnal th th gnralty of fal nds.But I confss thy ould hav no chars for —I should nfntly prfr a ook.”

But of ths ansr Lyda hard not a ord.Sh sldo lstnd to anyody for or than half a nut, and nvr attndd to Mary at all.

In th aftrnoon Lyda as urgnt th th rst of th grls to alk to Mryton, and to s ho vryody nt on; ut Elzath stadly opposd th sch.It should not sad that th Mss Bnnts could not at ho half a day for thy r n pursut of th offcrs.Thr as anothr rason too for hr opposton.Sh dradd sng Mr.Wckha agan,and as rsolvd to avod t as long as possl.Th cofort to hr of th rgnt's approachng roval as ndd yond xprsson. In a fortnght thy r to go—and onc gon,sh hopd thr could nothng or to plagu hr on hs account.

Sh had not n any hours at ho for sh found that th Brghton sch,of hch Lyda had gvn th a hnt at th nn,as undr frqunt dscusson tn hr parnts.Elzath sa drctly that hr fathr had not th sallst ntnton of yldng; ut hs ansrs r at th sa t so vagu and quvocal,that hr othr,though oftn dshartnd,had nvr yt dspard of succdng at last.