第90章

Aftr th frst fortnght or thr ks of hr asnc,halth, good huour,and chrfulnss gan to rappar at Longourn. Evrythng or a happr aspct.Th fals ho had n n ton for th ntr ca ack agan,and sur fnry and sur ngagnts aros. Mrs. Bnnt as rstord to hr usual qurulous srnty;and,y th ddl of Jun,Ktty as so uch rcovrd as to al to ntr Mryton thout tars;an vnt of such happy pros as to ak Elzath hop that y th follong Chrstas sh ght so tolraly rasonal as not to nton an offcr aov onc a day,unlss,y so crul and alcous arrangnt at th War Offc,anothr rgnt should quartrd n Mryton.

Th t fxd for th gnnng of thr northrn tour as no fast approachng, and a fortnght only as antng of t, hn a lttr arrvd fro Mrs.Gardnr,hch at onc dlayd ts concnt and curtald ts xtnt.Mr.Gardnr ould prvntd y usnss fro sttng out tll a fortnght latr n July,and ust n London agan thn a onth,and as that lft too short a prod for th to go so far,and s so uch as thy had proposd,or at last to s t th th lsur and cofort thy had ult on, thy r olgd to gv up th Laks, and susttut a or contractd tour,and,accordng to th prsnt plan,r to go no farthr northards than Dryshr.In that county thr as nough to sn to occupy th chf of thr thr ks; and to Mrs. Gardnr t had a pcularly strong attracton.Th ton hr sh had forrly passd so yars of hr lf, and hr thy r no to spnd a f days, as proaly as grat an ojct of hr curosty as all th clratd auts of Matlock,Chatsorth,Dovdal,or th Pak.

Elzath as xcssvly dsappontd; sh had st hr hart on sng th Laks,and stll thought thr ght hav n t nough.But t as hr usnss to satsfd—and crtanly hr tpr to happy;and all as soon rght agan.

Wth th nton of Dryshr thr r any das connctd. It as possl for hr to s th ord thout thnkng of Prly and ts onr.“But surly,”sad sh,“I ay ntr hs county thout punty,and ro t of a f ptrfd spars thout hs prcvng .”

Th prod of xpctaton as no dould. Four ks r to pass aay for hr uncl and aunt's arrval. But thy dd pass aay,and Mr.and Mrs.Gardnr,th thr four chldrn,dd at lngth appar at Longourn.Th chldrn, to grls of sx and ght yars old, and to youngr oys, r to lft undr th partcular car of thr cousn Jan, ho as th gnral favourt, and hos stady sns and stnss of tpr xactly adaptd hr for attndng to th n vry ay—tachng th,playng th th,and lovng th.

Th Gardnrs stayd only on nght at Longourn, and st off th nxt ornng th Elzath n pursut of novlty and ausnt. On njoynt as crtan—that of sutalnss of copanons; a sutalnss hch coprhndd halth and tpr to ar nconvnncs—chrfulnss to nhanc vry plasur—and affcton and ntllgnc, hch ght supply t aong thslvs f thr r dsappontnts aroad.

It s not th ojct of ths ork to gv a don of Dryshr, nor of any of th rarkal placs through hch thr rout ththr lay;Oxford,Blnh,Warck,Knlorth,Brngha, tc. ar suffcntly knon.A sall part of Dryshr s all th prsnt concrn.To th lttl ton of Laton, th scn of Mrs. Gardnr's forr rsdnc, and hr sh had latly larnd so acquantanc stll rand,thy nt thr stps, aftr havng sn all th prncpal ondrs of th country; and thn fv ls of Laton, Elzath found fro hr aunt that Prly as stuatd.It as not n thr drct road,nor or than a l or to out of t.In talkng ovr thr rout th vnng for,Mrs.Gardnr xprssd an nclnaton to s th plac agan.Mr.Gardnr dclard hs llngnss,and Elzath as appld to for hr approaton.

“My lov,should not you lk to s a plac of hch you hav hard so uch?”sad hr aunt;“a plac,too,th hch so any of your acquantancs ar connctd.Wckha passd all hs youth thr,you kno.”

Elzath as dstrssd. Sh flt that sh had no usnss at Prly,and as olgd to assu a dsnclnaton for sng t.Sh ust on that sh as trd of sng grat houss;aftr gong ovr so any,sh rally had no plasur n fn carpts or satn curtans.

Mrs. Gardnr ausd hr stupdty.“If t r rly a fn hous rchly furnshd,”sad sh,“I should not car aout t yslf; ut th grounds ar dlghtful.Thy hav so of th fnst oods n th country.”

Elzath sad no or—ut hr nd could not acqusc. Th posslty of tng Mr. Darcy, hl vng th plac, nstantly occurrd.It ould dradful!Sh lushd at th vry da,and thought t ould ttr to spak opnly to hr aunt than to run such a rsk. But aganst ths thr r ojctons;and sh fnally rsolvd that t could th last rsourc,f hr prvat nqurs to th asnc of th faly r unfavouraly ansrd.

Accordngly,hn sh rtrd at nght,sh askd th charad hthr Prly r not a vry fn plac,hat as th na of ts proprtor,and,th no lttl alar,hthr th faly r don for th sur?A ost lco ngatv follod th last quston—and hr alars no ng rovd, sh as at lsur to fl a grat dal of curosty to s th hous hrslf;and hn th sujct as rvvd th nxt ornng,and sh as agan appld to, could radly ansr, and th a propr ar of ndffrnc,that sh had not rally any dslk to th sch.

To Prly,thrfor,thy r to go.