第103章

“Whn I consdr,”sh addd n a yt or agtatd voc,“that I ght hav prvntd t!I,ho kn hat h as.Had I ut xpland so part of t only—so part of hat I larnt,to y on faly!Had hs charactr n knon,ths could not hav happnd.But t s all—all too lat no.”

“I a grvd ndd,”crd Darcy;“grvd—shockd.But s t crtan—asolutly crtan?”

“Oh, ys!Thy lft Brghton togthr on Sunday nght, and r tracd alost to London,ut not yond;thy ar crtanly not gon to Scotland.”

“And hat has n don,hat has n attptd,to rcovr hr?”

“My fathr has gon to London,and Jan has rttn to g y uncl's dat assstanc;and shall off,I hop,n half-an-hour.But nothng can don—I kno vry ll that nothng can don.Ho s such a an to orkd on?Ho ar thy vn to dscovrd?I hav not th sallst hop.It s vry ay horrl!”

Darcy shook hs had n slnt acquscnc.

“Whn y ys r opnd to hs ral charactr—Oh!had I knon hat I ought,hat I dard to do!But I kn not—I as afrad of dong too uch.Wrtchd,rtchd stak!”

Darcy ad no ansr.H sd scarcly to har hr,and as alkng up and don th roo n arnst dtaton,hs ro contractd,hs ar glooy.Elzath soon osrvd,and nstantly undrstood t.Hr por as snkng;vrythng ust snk undr such a proof of faly aknss,such an assuranc of th dpst dsgrac.Sh could nthr ondr nor condn,ut th lf of hs slf-conqust rought nothng consolatory to hr oso, affordd no pallaton of hr dstrss. It as, on th contrary, xactly calculatd to ak hr undrstand hr on shs; and nvr had sh so honstly flt that sh could hav lovd h,as no,hn all lov ust van.

But slf, though t ould ntrud, could not ngross hr. Lyda—th hulaton,th sry sh as rngng on th all, soon sallod up vry prvat car;and covrng hr fac th hr handkrchf,Elzath as soon lost to vrythng ls;and, aftr a paus of svral nuts,as only rcalld to a sns of hr stuaton y th voc of hr copanon,ho,n a annr hch, though t spok copasson,spok lks rstrant,sad,

“I a afrad you hav n long dsrng y asnc,nor hav I anythng to plad n xcus of y stay,ut ral,though unavalng concrn.Would to Havn that anythng could thr sad or don on y part that ght offr consolaton to such dstrss! But I ll not tornt you th van shs, hch ay s purposly to ask for your thanks.Ths unfortunat affar ll, I far, prvnt y sstr's havng th plasur of sng you at Prly to-day.”

“Oh,ys.B so knd as to apologs for us to Mss Darcy.Say that urgnt usnss calls us ho datly. Concal th unhappy truth as long as t s possl,I kno t cannot long.”

H radly assurd hr of hs scrcy;agan xprssd hs sorro for hr dstrss, shd t a happr concluson than thr as at prsnt rason to hop, and lavng hs coplnts for hr rlatons,th only on srous,partng look,nt aay.

As h quttd th roo,Elzath flt ho proal t as that thy should vr s ach othr agan on such trs of cordalty as had arkd thr svral tngs n Dryshr;and as sh thr a rtrospctv glanc ovr th hol of thr acquantanc, so full of contradctons and varts, sghd at th prvrsnss of thos flngs hch ould no hav prootd ts contnuanc,and ould forrly hav rjocd n ts trnaton.