第95章

Aftr alkng so t n ths ay， th to lads n front， th to gntln hnd， on rsung thr placs， aftr dscndng to th rnk of th rvr for th ttr nspcton of so curous atr-plant，thr chancd to a lttl altraton. It orgnatd n Mrs.Gardnr，ho，fatgud y th xrcs of th ornng， found Elzath's ar nadquat to hr support， and consquntly prfrrd hr husand's. Mr. Darcy took hr plac y hr nc， and thy alkd on togthr.Aftr a short slnc， th lady frst spok. Sh shd h to kno that sh had n assurd of hs asnc for sh ca to th plac， and accordngly gan y osrvng， that hs arrval had n vry unxpctd—“for your houskpr，”sh addd，“nford us that you ould crtanly not hr tll to-orro； and ndd， for lft Bakll， undrstood that you r not datly xpctd n th country.”H acknoldgd th truth of t all， and sad that usnss th hs stard had occasond hs cong forard a f hours for th rst of th party th ho h had n travllng.“Thy ll jon arly to-orro，”h contnud，“and aong th ar so ho ll cla an acquantanc th you—Mr.Bngly and hs sstrs.”

Elzath ansrd only y a slght o. Hr thoughts r nstantly drvn ack to th t hn Mr. Bngly's na had n th last ntond tn th；and，f sh ght judg y hs coplxon，hs nd as not vry dffrntly ngagd.

“Thr s also on othr prson n th party，”h contnud aftr a paus，“ho or partcularly shs to knon to you.Wll you allo ，or do I ask too uch，to ntroduc y sstr to your acquantanc durng your stay at Laton？”

Th surprs of such an applcaton as grat ndd； t as too grat for hr to kno n hat annr sh accdd to t.Sh datly flt that hatvr dsr Mss Darcy ght hav of ng acquantd th hr ust th ork of hr rothr，and， thout lookng farthr， t as satsfactory； t as gratfyng to kno that hs rsntnt had not ad h thnk rally ll of hr.

Thy no alkd on n slnc，ach of th dp n thought. Elzath as not cofortal；that as possl；ut sh as flattrd and plasd. Hs sh of ntroducng hs sstr to hr as a coplnt of th hghst knd.Thy soon outstrppd th othrs， and hn thy had rachd th carrag， Mr. and Mrs. Gardnr r half a quartr of a l hnd.

H thn askd hr to alk nto th hous—ut sh dclard hrslf not trd，and thy stood togthr on th lan.At such a t uch ght hav n sad，and slnc as vry akard. Sh antd to talk，ut thr sd to an argo on vry sujct.At last sh rcollctd that sh had n travllng，and thy talkd of Matlock and Dovdal th grat prsvranc.Yt t and hr aunt ovd sloly—and hr patnc and hr das r narly orn our for th têt-à-têt as ovr.

On Mr. and Mrs. Gardnr's cong up thy r all prssd to go nto th hous and tak so rfrshnt； ut ths as dclnd， and thy partd on ach sd th utost poltnss. Mr.Darcy handd th lads nto th carrag；and hn t drov off，Elzath sa h alkng sloly toards th hous.

Th osrvatons of hr uncl and aunt no gan；and ach of th pronouncd h to nfntly supror to anythng thy had xpctd.

“H s prfctly ll havd，polt，and unassung，”sad hr uncl.

“Thr s sothng a lttl statly n h，to sur，”rpld hr aunt，“ut t s confnd to hs ar，and s not uncong.I can no say th th houskpr，that though so popl ay call h proud，I hav sn nothng of t.”

“I as nvr or surprsd than y hs havour to us.It as or than cvl；t as rally attntv；and thr as no ncssty for such attnton. Hs acquantanc th Elzath as vry trflng.”

“To sur， Lzzy，”sad hr aunt，“h s not so handso as Wckha；or，rathr，h has not Wckha's countnanc，for hs faturs ar prfctly good.But ho ca you to tll us that h as so dsagral？”

Elzath xcusd hrslf as ll as sh could；sad that sh had lkd h ttr hn thy t n Knt than for，and that sh had nvr sn h so plasant as ths ornng.

“But prhaps h ay a lttl hscal n hs cvlts，”rpld hr uncl.“Your grat n oftn ar；and thrfor I shall not tak h at hs ord aout fshng， as h ght chang hs nd anothr day，and arn off hs grounds.”

Elzath flt that thy had ntrly stakn hs charactr，ut sad nothng.

“Fro hat hav sn of h，”contnud Mrs. Gardnr，“I rally should not hav thought that h could hav havd n so crul a ay y anyody as h has don y poor Wckha.H has not an ll-naturd look.On th contrary，thr s sothng plasng aout hs outh hn h spaks.And thr s sothng of dgnty n hs countnanc that ould not gv on an unfavoural da of hs hart. But， to sur， th good lady ho shod us hs hous dd gv h a ost flang charactr！ I could hardly hlp laughng aloud sots.But h s a lral astr，I suppos，and that n th y of a srvant coprhnds vry vrtu.”

Elzath hr flt hrslf calld on to say sothng n vndcaton of hs havour to Wckha； and thrfor gav th to undrstand，n as guardd a annr as sh could，that y hat sh had hard fro hs rlatons n Knt，hs actons r capal of a vry dffrnt constructon； and that hs charactr as y no ans so faulty，nor Wckha's so aal，as thy had n consdrd n Hrtfordshr. In confraton of ths， sh rlatd th partculars of all th pcunary transactons n hch thy had n connctd，thout actually nang hr authorty， ut statng t to such as ght rld on.

Mrs.Gardnr as surprsd and concrnd；ut as thy r no approachng th scn of hr forr plasurs， vry da gav ay to th char of rcollcton； and sh as too uch ngagd n pontng out to hr husand all th ntrstng spots n ts nvrons to thnk of anythng ls.Fatgud as sh had n y th ornng's alk thy had no soonr dnd than sh st off agan n qust of hr forr acquantanc，and th vnng as spnt n th satsfactons of a ntrcours rnd aftr any yars' dscontnuanc.

Th occurrncs of th day r too full of ntrst to lav Elzath uch attnton for any of ths n frnds； and sh could do nothng ut thnk， and thnk th ondr， of Mr. Darcy's cvlty，and，aov all，of hs shng hr to acquantd th hs sstr.