第94章

Thy ntrd th oods, and ddng adu to th rvr for a hl,ascndd so of th hghr grounds;hn,n spots hr th opnng of th trs gav th y por to andr,r any charng vs of th vally, th oppost hlls, th th long rang of oods ovrspradng any,and occasonally part of th stra.Mr.Gardnr xprssd a sh of gong round th hol park, ut fard t ght yond a alk.Wth a truphant sl thy r told that t as tn ls round. It sttld th attr;and thy pursud th accustod crcut;hch rought th agan,aftr so t,n a dscnt aong hangng oods, to th dg of th atr, and on of ts narrost parts.Thy crossd t y a spl rdg,n charactr th th gnral ar of th scn;t as a spot lss adornd than any thy had yt vstd;and th vally,hr contractd nto a gln,allod roo only for th stra, and a narro alk adst th rough coppc-ood hch ordrd t.Elzath longd to xplor ts ndngs;ut hn thy had crossd th rdg, and prcvd thr dstanc fro th hous,Mrs.Gardnr,ho as not a grat alkr,could go no farthr, and thought only of rturnng to th carrag as quckly as possl.Hr nc as,thrfor,olgd to sut, and thy took thr ay toards th hous on th oppost sd of th rvr,n th narst drcton;ut thr progrss as slo, for Mr. Gardnr, though sldo al to ndulg th tast, as vry fond of fshng, and as so uch ngagd n atchng th occasonal apparanc of so trout n th atr, and talkng to th an aout th, that h advancd ut lttl. Whlst andrng on n ths slo annr,thy r agan surprsd,and Elzath's astonshnt as qut qual to hat t had n at frst,y th sght of Mr.Darcy approachng th,and at no grat dstanc.Th alk hr ng hr lss shltrd than on th othr sd,allod th to s h for thy t.Elzath,hovr astonshd,as at last or prpard for an ntrv than for,and rsolvd to appar and to spak th calnss,f h rally ntndd to t th.For a f onts,ndd,sh flt that h ould proaly strk nto so othr path.Th da lastd hl a turnng n th alk concald h fro thr v;th turnng past,h as datly for th.Wth a glanc, sh sa that h had lost non of hs rcnt cvlty;and,to tat hs poltnss, sh gan, as thy t, to adr th auty of th plac;ut sh had not got yond th ords“dlghtful,”and“charng,”hn so unlucky rcollctons otrudd,and sh fancd that pras of Prly fro hr ght schvously construd.Hr colour changd,and sh sad no or.

Mrs.Gardnr as standng a lttl hnd;and on hr pausng, h askd hr f sh ould do h th honour of ntroducng h to hr frnds.Ths as a strok of cvlty for hch sh as qut unprpard; and sh could hardly supprss a sl at hs ng no skng th acquantanc of so of thos vry popl aganst ho hs prd had rvoltd n hs offr to hrslf.“What ll hs surprs,”thought sh,“hn h knos ho thy ar? H taks th no for popl of fashon.”

Th ntroducton,hovr,as datly ad;and as sh nad thr rlatonshp to hrslf,sh stol a sly look at h,to s ho h or t, and as not thout th xpctaton of hs dcapng as fast as h could fro such dsgracful copanons. That h as surprsd y th conncton as vdnt;h sustand t,hovr,th forttud,and so far fro gong aay,turnd hs ack th th,and ntrd nto convrsaton th Mr.Gardnr. Elzath could not ut plasd,could not ut truph.It as consolng that h should kno sh had so rlatons for ho thr as no nd to lush.Sh lstnd ost attntvly to all that passd tn th,and glord n vry xprsson,vry sntnc of hr uncl,hch arkd hs ntllgnc,hs tast,or hs good annrs.

Th convrsaton soon turnd upon fshng;and sh hard Mr.Darcy nvt h,th th gratst cvlty,to fsh thr as oftn as h chos hl h contnud n th nghourhood, offrng at th sa t to supply h th fshng tackl,and pontng out thos parts of th stra hr thr as usually ost sport. Mrs.Gardnr,ho as alkng ar-n-ar th Elzath,gav hr a look xprssv of ondr. Elzath sad nothng, ut t gratfd hr xcdngly;th coplnt ust all for hrslf. Hr astonshnt,hovr,as xtr,and contnually as sh rpatng,“Why s h so altrd? Fro hat can t procd? It cannot for —t cannot for y sak that hs annrs ar thus softnd. My rproofs at Hunsford could not ork such a chang as ths.It s possl that h should stll lov .”