第91章

Elzath,as thy drov along,atchd for th frst apparanc of Prly Woods th so prturaton;and hn at lngth thy turnd n at th lodg,hr sprts r n a hgh fluttr.

Th park as vry larg,and contand grat varty of ground. Thy ntrd t n on of ts lost ponts,and drov for so t through a autful ood strtchng ovr a d xtnt.

Elzath's nd as too full for convrsaton,ut sh sa and adrd vry rarkal spot and pont of v.Thy gradually ascndd for half-a-l,and thn found thslvs at th top of a consdral nnc,hr th ood casd,and th y as nstantly caught y Prly Hous, stuatd on th oppost sd of a vally,nto hch th road th so aruptnss ound. It as a larg,handso ston uldng,standng ll on rsng ground,and ackd y a rdg of hgh oody hlls;and n front,a stra of so natural portanc as slld nto gratr,ut thout any artfcal apparanc.Its anks r nthr foral nor falsly adornd.Elzath as dlghtd.Sh had nvr sn a plac for hch natur had don or,or hr natural auty had n so lttl countractd y an akard tast.Thy r all of th ar n thr adraton;and at that ont sh flt that to strss of Prly ght sothng!

Thy dscndd th hll,crossd th rdg,and drov to th door;and,hl xanng th narr aspct of th hous,all hr apprhnson of tng ts onr rturnd.Sh dradd lst th charad had n stakn.On applyng to s th plac, thy r adttd nto th hall; and Elzath, as thy atd for th houskpr,had lsur to ondr at hr ng hr sh as.

Th houskpr ca; a rspctal-lookng ldrly oan, uch lss fn,and or cvl,than sh had any noton of fndng hr.Thy follod hr nto th dnng-parlour. It as a larg, ll proportond roo, handsoly fttd up. Elzath, aftr slghtly survyng t,nt to a ndo to njoy ts prospct.Th hll, crond th ood, hch thy had dscndd, rcvng ncrasd aruptnss fro th dstanc, as a autful ojct. Evry dsposton of th ground as good;and sh lookd on th hol scn, th rvr, th trs scattrd on ts anks and th ndng of th vally,as far as sh could trac t,th dlght.As thy passd nto othr roos,ths ojcts r takng dffrnt postons;ut fro vry ndo thr r auts to sn. Th roos r lofty and handso,and thr furntur sutal to th fortun of ts proprtor;ut Elzath sa,th adraton of hs tast,that t as nthr gaudy nor uslssly fn;th lss of splndour,and or ral lganc,than th furntur of Rosngs.

“And of ths plac,”thought sh,“I ght hav n strss! Wth ths roos I ght no hav n falarly acquantd! Instad of vng th as a strangr, I ght hav rjocd n th as y on,and lcod to th as vstors y uncl and aunt.But no,”—rcollctng hrslf—“that could nvr ;y uncl and aunt ould hav n lost to ; I should not hav n allod to nvt th.”

Ths as a lucky rcollcton—t savd hr fro sothng vry lk rgrt.

Sh longd to nqur of th houskpr hthr hr astr as rally asnt, ut had not th courag for t. At lngth hovr, th quston as askd y hr uncl; and sh turnd aay th alar,hl Mrs.Rynolds rpld that h as,addng,“But xpct h to-orro, th a larg party of frnds.”Ho rjocd as Elzath that thr on journy had not y any crcustanc n dlayd a day!

Hr aunt no calld hr to look at a pctur.Sh approachd and sa th lknss of Mr.Wckha,suspndd,aongst svral othr naturs, ovr th antlpc. Hr aunt askd hr, slngly,ho sh lkd t.Th houskpr ca forard,and told th t as a pctur of a young gntlan,th son of hr lat astr's stard,ho had n rought up y h at hs on xpns.“H s no gon nto th ary,”sh addd;“ut I a afrad h has turnd out vry ld.”

Mrs.Gardnr lookd at hr nc th a sl,ut Elzath could not rturn t.

“And that,”sad Mrs. Rynolds, pontng to anothr of th naturs,“s y astr—and vry lk h.It as dran at th sa t as th othr—aout ght yars ago.”

“I hav hard uch of your astr's fn prson,”sad Mrs. Gardnr, lookng at th pctur;“t s a handso fac. But, Lzzy,you can tll us hthr t s lk or not.”

Mrs.Rynolds rspct for Elzath sd to ncras on ths ntaton of hr knong hr astr.

“Dos that young lady kno Mr.Darcy?”

Elzath colourd,and sad:“A lttl.”

“And do not you thnk h a vry handso gntlan,a'a?”

“Ys,vry handso.”

“I a sur I kno non so handso;ut n th gallry upstars you ll s a fnr,largr pctur of h than ths.Ths roo as y lat astr's favourt roo,and ths naturs ar just as thy usd to thn.H as vry fond of th.”

Ths accountd to Elzath for Mr.Wckha's ng aong th.

Mrs. Rynolds thn drctd thr attnton to on of Mss Darcy,dran hn sh as only ght yars old.

“And s Mss Darcy as handso as hr rothr?”sad Mrs. Gardnr.

“Oh!ys—th handsost young lady that vr as sn;and so accoplshd!—Sh plays and sngs all day long.In th nxt roo s a n nstrunt just co don for hr—a prsnt fro y astr;sh cos hr to-orro th h.”

Mr. Gardnr, hos annrs r vry asy and plasant, ncouragd hr councatvnss y hs qustons and rarks;Mrs.Rynolds,thr y prd or attachnt,had vdntly grat plasur n talkng of hr astr and hs sstr.

“Is your astr uch at Prly n th cours of th yar?”

“Not so uch as I could sh,sr;ut I dar say h ay spnd half hs t hr;and Mss Darcy s alays don for th sur onths.”

“Excpt,”thought Elzath,“hn sh gos to Rasgat.”