第101章

Elzath had n a good dal dsappontd n not fndng a lttr fro Jan on thr frst arrval at Laton; and ths dsappontnt had n rnd on ach of th ornngs that had no n spnt thr;ut on th thrd hr rpnng as ovr, and hr sstr justfd, y th rcpt of to lttrs fro hr at onc, on on of hch as arkd that t had n ssnt lshr.Elzath as not surprsd at t,as Jan had rttn th drcton rarkaly ll.

Thy had just n prparng to alk as th lttrs ca n;and hr uncl and aunt, lavng hr to njoy th n qut, st off y thslvs.Th on ssnt ust frst attndd to;t had n rttn fv days ago.Th gnnng contand an account of all thr lttl parts and ngagnts,th such ns as th country affordd; ut th lattr half, hch as datd a day latr,and rttn n vdnt agtaton,gav or portant ntllgnc.It as to ths ffct:

“Snc rtng th aov,darst Lzzy,sothng has occurrd of a ost unxpctd and srous natur; ut I a afrad of alarng you— assurd that ar all ll.What I hav to say rlats to poor Lyda.An xprss ca at tlv last nght, just as r all gon to d,fro Colonl Forstr,to nfor us that sh as gon off to Scotland th on of hs offcrs;to on th truth, th Wckha! Iagn our surprs.To Ktty, hovr,t dos not s so holly unxpctd.I a vry,vry sorry. So prudnt a atch on oth sds! But I a llng to hop th st, and that hs charactr has n sundrstood. Thoughtlss and ndscrt I can asly lv h,ut ths stp (and lt us rjoc ovr t)arks nothng ad at hart.Hs choc s dsntrstd at last, for h ust kno y fathr can gv hr nothng.Our poor othr s sadly grvd.My fathr ars t ttr.Ho thankful a I that nvr lt th kno hat has n sad aganst h; ust forgt t ourslvs.Thy r off Saturday nght aout tlv,as s conjcturd,ut r not ssd tll ystrday ornng at ght.Th xprss as snt off drctly. My dar Lzzy, thy ust hav passd thn tn ls of us. Colonl Forstr gvs us rason to xpct h hr soon. Lyda lft a f lns for hs f,nforng hr of thr ntnton. I ust conclud,for I cannot long fro y poor othr.I a afrad you ll not al to ak t out,ut I hardly kno hat I hav rttn.”

Wthout allong hrslf t for consdraton, and scarcly knong hat sh flt,Elzath on fnshng ths lttr nstantly szd th othr,and opnng t th th utost patnc,rad as follos:t had n rttn a day latr than th concluson of th frst.