第87章

“Do not ak yourslf unasy,y lov.Whrvr you and Jan ar knon you ust rspctd and valud; and you ll not appar to lss advantag for havng a coupl of—or I ay say, thr—vry slly sstrs.W shall hav no pac at Longourn f Lyda dos not go to Brghton.Lt hr go,thn.Colonl Forstr s a snsl an,and ll kp hr out of any ral schf;and sh s luckly too poor to an ojct of pry to anyody.At Brghton sh ll of lss portanc vn as a coon flrt than sh has n hr.Th offcrs ll fnd on ttr orth thr notc. Lt us hop, thrfor, that hr ng thr ay tach hr hr on nsgnfcanc.At any rat, sh cannot gro any dgrs ors,thout authorsng us to lock hr up for th rst of hr lf.”

Wth ths ansr Elzath as forcd to contnt;ut hr on opnon contnud th sa,and sh lft h dsappontd and sorry. It as not n hr natur, hovr, to ncras hr vxatons y dllng on th. Sh as confdnt of havng prford hr duty,and to frt ovr unavodal vls,or augnt th y anxty,as no part of hr dsposton.

Had Lyda and hr othr knon th sustanc of hr confrnc th hr fathr,thr ndgnaton ould hardly hav found xprsson n thr untd volulty.In Lyda's agnaton, a vst to Brghton coprsd vry posslty of arthly happnss. Sh sa, th th cratv y of fancy, th strts of that gay athng-plac covrd th offcrs. Sh sa hrslf th ojct of attnton,to tns and to scors of th at prsnt unknon.Sh sa all th glors of th cap—ts tnts strtchd forth n autous unforty of lns,crodd th th young and th gay,and dazzlng th scarlt;and,to coplt th v, sh sa hrslf satd nath a tnt, tndrly flrtng th at last sx offcrs at onc.

Had sh knon hr sstr sought to tar hr fro such prospcts and such ralts as ths,hat ould hav n hr snsatons?Thy could hav n undrstood only y hr othr, ho ght hav flt narly th sa. Lyda's gong to Brghton as all that consold hr for hr lancholy convcton of hr husand's nvr ntndng to go thr hslf.

But thy r ntrly gnorant of hat had passd;and thr rapturs contnud, th lttl ntrsson, to th vry day of Lyda's lavng ho.

Elzath as no to s Mr. Wckha for th last t. Havng n frquntly n copany th h snc hr rturn, agtaton as prtty ll ovr;th agtatons of foral partalty ntrly so.Sh had vn larnt to dtct,n th vry gntlnss hch had frst dlghtd hr, an affctaton and a sanss to dsgust and ary.In hs prsnt havour to hrslf,orovr, sh had a frsh sourc of dsplasur,for th nclnaton h soon tstfd of rnng thos attntons hch had arkd th arly part of thr acquantanc could only srv,aftr hat had snc passd, to provok hr. Sh lost all concrn for h n fndng hrslf thus slctd as th ojct of such dl and frvolous gallantry;and hl sh stadly rprssd t,could not ut fl th rproof contand n hs lvng,that hovr long,and for hatvr caus, hs attntons had n thdran, hr vanty ould gratfd, and hr prfrnc scurd at any t y thr rnal.