第86章

Th frst k of thr rturn as soon gon.Th scond gan. It as th last of th rgnt's stay n Mryton,and all th young lads n th nghourhood r droopng apac.Th djcton as alost unvrsal.Th ldr Mss Bnnts alon r stll al to at,drnk,and slp,and pursu th usual cours of thr ploynts.Vry frquntly r thy rproachd for ths nsnslty y Ktty and Lyda,hos on sry as xtr, and ho could not coprhnd such hard-hartdnss n any of th faly.

“Good Havn!hat s to co of us?What ar to do?”ould thy oftn xcla n th ttrnss of o.“Ho can you slng so,Lzzy?”

Thr affctonat othr shard all thr grf;sh rrd hat sh had hrslf ndurd on a slar occason, fv-and-tnty yars ago.

“I a sur,”sad sh,“I crd for to days togthr hn Colonl Mllr's rgnt nt aay. I thought I should hav rokn y hart.”

“I a sur I shall rak n,”sad Lyda.

“If on could ut go to Brghton!”osrvd Mrs. Bnnt.

“Oh,ys!—f on could ut go to Brghton!But papa s so dsagral.”

“A lttl sa-athng ould st up forvr.”

“And y aunt Phllps s sur t ould do a grat dal of good,”addd Ktty.

Such r th knd of lantatons rsoundng prptually through Longourn Hous. Elzath trd to dvrtd y th;ut all sns of plasur as lost n sha.Sh flt an th justc of Mr. Darcy's ojctons; and nvr had sh n so uch dsposd to pardon hs ntrfrnc n th vs of hs frnd.

But th gloo of Lyda's prospct as shortly clard aay;for sh rcvd an nvtaton fro Mrs. Forstr, th f of th colonl of th rgnt, to accopany hr to Brghton. Ths nvalual frnd as a vry young oan, and vry latly arrd.A rslanc n good huour and good sprts had rcondd hr and Lyda to ach othr,and out of thr thr onths' acquantanc thy had n ntat to.

Th raptur of Lyda on ths occason, hr adoraton of Mrs. Forstr, th dlght of Mrs. Bnnt, and th ortfcaton of Ktty, ar scarcly to dscrd.Wholly nattntv to hr sstr's flngs, Lyda fl aout th hous n rstlss cstasy, callng for vryon's congratulatons, and laughng and talkng th or volnc than vr;hlst th lucklss Ktty contnud n th parlour rpnd at hr fat n trs as unrasonal as hr accnt as pvsh.

“I cannot s hy Mrs. Forstr should not ask as ll as Lyda,”sad sh,“Though I a not hr partcular frnd.I hav just as uch rght to askd as sh has,and or too,for I a to yars oldr.”

In van dd Elzath attpt to ak hr rasonal,and Jan to ak hr rsgnd.As for Elzath hrslf,ths nvtaton as so far fro xctng n hr th sa flngs as n hr othr and Lyda, that sh consdrd t as th dath arrant of all posslty of coon sns for th lattr;and dtstal as such a stp ust ak hr r t knon,sh could not hlp scrtly advsng hr fathr not to lt hr go.Sh rprsntd to h all th proprts of Lyda's gnral havour,th lttl advantag sh could drv fro th frndshp of such a oan as Mrs. Forstr,and th proalty of hr ng yt or prudnt th such a copanon at Brghton, hr th tptatons ust gratr than at ho.H hard hr attntvly,and thn sad:

“Lyda ll nvr asy untl sh has xposd hrslf n so pulc plac or othr,and can nvr xpct hr to do t th so lttl xpns or nconvnnc to hr faly as undr th prsnt crcustancs.”

“If you r aar,”sad Elzath,“of th vry grat dsadvantag to us all hch ust ars fro th pulc notc of Lyda's unguardd and prudnt annr—nay,hch has alrady arsn fro t,I a sur you ould judg dffrntly n th affar.”

“Alrady arsn?”rpatd Mr. Bnnt.“What, has sh frghtnd aay so of your lovrs? Poor lttl Lzzy! But do not cast don. Such squash youths as cannot ar to connctd th a lttl asurdty ar not orth a rgrt.Co, lt s th lst of ptful fllos ho hav n kpt aloof y Lyda's folly.”

“Indd you ar stakn. I hav no such njurs to rsnt. It s not of partcular, ut of gnral vls, hch I a no coplanng. Our portanc, our rspctalty n th orld ust affctd y th ld volatlty,th assuranc and dsdan of all rstrant hch ark Lyda's charactr. Excus , for I ust spak planly. If you, y dar fathr, ll not tak th troul of chckng hr xurant sprts, and of tachng hr that hr prsnt pursuts ar not to th usnss of hr lf, sh ll soon yond th rach of andnt.Hr charactr ll fxd,and sh ll,at sxtn, th ost dtrnd flrt that vr ad hrslf or hr faly rdculous;a flrt,too,n th orst and anst dgr of flrtaton; thout any attracton yond youth and a tolral prson; and, fro th gnoranc and ptnss of hr nd,holly unal to ard off any porton of that unvrsal contpt hch hr rag for adraton ll xct. In ths dangr Ktty also s coprhndd. Sh ll follo hrvr Lyda lads.Van,gnorant,dl,and asolutly uncontrolld!Oh!y dar fathr,can you suppos t possl that thy ll not cnsurd and dspsd hrvr thy ar knon, and that thr sstrs ll not oftn nvolvd n th dsgrac?”

Mr. Bnnt sa that hr hol hart as n th sujct, and affctonatly takng hr hand sad n rply: