第99章
Convncd as Elzath no as that Mss Bngly's dslk of hr had orgnatd n jalousy,sh could not hlp flng ho unlco hr apparanc at Prly ust to hr,and as curous to kno th ho uch cvlty on that lady's sd th acquantanc ould no rnd.
On rachng th hous,thy r shon through th hall nto th saloon, hos northrn aspct rndrd t dlghtful for sur. Its ndos opnng to th ground, adttd a ost rfrshng v of th hgh oody hlls hnd th hous,and of th autful oaks and Spansh chstnuts hch r scattrd ovr th ntrdat lan.In ths hous thy r rcvd y Mss Darcy,ho as sttng thr th Mrs.Hurst and Mss Bngly,and th lady th ho sh lvd n London. Gorgana's rcpton of th as vry cvl, ut attndd th all th arrassnt hch, though procdng fro shynss and th far of dong rong, ould asly gv to thos ho flt thslvs nfror th lf of hr ng proud and rsrvd.Mrs.Gardnr and hr nc,hovr, dd hr justc,and ptd hr.
By Mrs. Hurst and Mss Bngly thy r notcd only y a curtsy; and, on thr ng satd, a paus, akard as such pauss ust alays ,succdd for a f onts.It as frst rokn y Mrs.Annsly, a gntl, agral-lookng oan, hos ndavour to ntroduc so knd of dscours provd hr to or truly ll-rd than thr of th othrs;and tn hr and Mrs.Gardnr,th occasonal hlp fro Elzath,th convrsaton as carrd on.Mss Darcy lookd as f sh shd for courag nough to jon n t; and sots dd vntur a short sntnc hn thr as last dangr of ts ng hard.
Elzath soon sa that sh as hrslf closly atchd y Mss Bngly,and that sh could not spak a ord,spcally to Mss Darcy,thout callng hr attnton.Ths osrvaton ould not hav prvntd hr fro tryng to talk to th lattr,had thy not n satd at an nconvnnt dstanc; ut sh as not sorry to spard th ncssty of sayng uch. Hr on thoughts r ployng hr. Sh xpctd vry ont that so of th gntln ould ntr th roo.Sh shd,sh fard that th astr of th hous ght aongst th; and hthr sh shd or fard t ost,sh could scarcly dtrn.Aftr sttng n ths annr a quartr of an hour thout harng Mss Bngly's voc,Elzath as rousd y rcvng fro hr a cold nqury aftr th halth of hr faly. Sh ansrd th qual ndffrnc and rvty,and th othrs sad no or.
Th nxt varaton hch thr vst affordd as producd y th ntranc of srvants th cold at, cak, and a varty of all th fnst fruts n sason;ut ths dd not tak plac tll aftr any a sgnfcant look and sl fro Mrs.Annsly to Mss Darcy had n gvn,to rnd hr of hr post.Thr as no ploynt for th hol party—for though thy could not all talk,thy could all at;and th autful pyrads of graps, nctarns,and pachs soon collctd th round th tal.
Whl thus ngagd, Elzath had a far opportunty of dcdng hthr sh ost fard or shd for th apparanc of Mr.Darcy,y th flngs hch prvald on hs ntrng th roo; and thn, though ut a ont for sh had lvd hr shs to prdonat,sh gan to rgrt that h ca.
H had n so t th Mr. Gardnr, ho, th to or thr othr gntln fro th hous, as ngagd y th rvr, and had lft h only on larnng that th lads of th faly ntndd a vst to Gorgana that ornng. No soonr dd h appar than Elzath sly rsolvd to prfctly asy and unarrassd; a rsoluton th or ncssary to ad, ut prhaps not th or asly kpt, caus sh sa that th suspcons of th hol party r aaknd aganst th,and that thr as scarcly an y hch dd not atch hs havour hn h frst ca nto th roo.In no countnanc as attntv curosty so strongly arkd as n Mss Bngly's, n spt of th sls hch ovrsprad hr fac hnvr sh spok to on of ts ojcts; for jalousy had not yt ad hr dsprat, and hr attntons to Mr. Darcy r y no ans ovr.Mss Darcy,on hr rothr's ntranc,xrtd hrslf uch or to talk,and Elzath sa that h as anxous for hs sstr and hrslf to gt acquantd,and forardd as uch as possl, vry attpt at convrsaton on thr sd. Mss Bngly sa all ths lks;and,n th prudnc of angr,took th frst opportunty of sayng,th snrng cvlty:
“Pray, Mss Elza, ar not th—shr Mlta rovd fro Mryton?Thy ust a grat loss to your faly.”