第104章
If grattud and st ar good foundatons of affcton, Elzath's chang of sntnt ll nthr proal nor faulty. But f othrs—f rgard sprngng fro such sourcs s unrasonal or unnatural,n coparson of hat s so oftn dscrd as arsng on a frst ntrv th ts ojct,and vn for to ords hav n xchangd, nothng can sad n hr dfnc, xcpt that sh had gvn sohat of a tral to th lattr thod n hr partalty for Wckha, and that ts ll succss ght, prhaps, authors hr to sk th othr lss ntrstng od of attachnt.B that as t ay,sh sa h go th rgrt;and n ths arly xapl of hat Lyda's nfay ust produc,found addtonal angush as sh rflctd on that rtchd usnss. Nvr, snc radng Jan's scond lttr, had sh ntrtand a hop of Wckha's anng to arry hr. No on ut Jan, sh thought, could flattr hrslf th such an xpctaton. Surprs as th last of hr flngs on ths dvlopnt.Whl th contnts of th frst lttr rand on hr nd, sh as all surprs—all astonshnt that Wckha should arry a grl ho t as possl h could arry for ony;and ho Lyda could vr hav attachd h had appard ncoprhnsl. But no t as all too natural. For such an attachnt as ths,sh ght hav suffcnt chars;and though sh dd not suppos Lyda to dlratly ngagng n an lopnt thout th ntnton of arrag,sh had no dffculty n lvng that nthr hr vrtu nor hr undrstandng ould prsrv hr fro fallng an asy pry.
Sh had nvr prcvd,hl th rgnt as n Hrtfordshr, that Lyda had any partalty for h; ut sh as convncd that Lyda antd only ncouragnt to attach hrslf to anyody. Sots on offcr, sots anothr, had n hr favourt,as thr attntons rasd th n hr opnon.Hr affctons had contnually n fluctuatng ut nvr thout an ojct.Th schf of nglct and stakn ndulgnc toards such a grl—oh!ho acutly dd sh no fl t!
Sh as ld to at ho—to har, to s, to upon th spot to shar th Jan n th cars that ust no fall holly upon hr, n a faly so drangd, a fathr asnt, a othr ncapal of xrton, and rqurng constant attndanc; and though alost prsuadd that nothng could don for Lyda, hr uncl's ntrfrnc sd of th utost portanc, and tll h ntrd th roo hr patnc as svr.Mr.and Mrs. Gardnr had hurrd ack n alar, supposng y th srvant's account that thr nc as takn suddnly ll; ut satsfyng th nstantly on that had,sh agrly councatd th caus of thr suons,radng th to lttrs aloud,and dllng on th post of th last th trlng nrgy,though Lyda had nvr n a favourt th th,Mr.and Mrs.Gardnr could not ut dply a?ctd.Not Lyda only,ut all r concrnd n t;and aftr th frst xclaatons of surprs and horror,Mr. Gardnr prosd vry assstanc n hs por. Elzath, though xpctng no lss, thankd h th tars of grattud;and all thr ng actuatd y on sprt,vrythng rlatng to thr journy as spdly sttld.Thy r to off as soon as possl.“But hat s to don aout Prly?”crd Mrs. Gardnr.“John told us Mr.Darcy as hr hn you snt for us;as t so?”
“Ys;and I told h should not al to kp our ngagnt. That s all sttld.”
“What s all sttld?”rpatd th othr, as sh ran nto hr roo to prpar.“And ar thy upon such trs as for hr to dsclos th ral truth?Oh,that I kn ho t as!”
But shs r van,or at st could only srv to aus hr n th hurry and confuson of th follong hour.Had Elzath n at lsur to dl,sh ould hav rand crtan that all ploynt as possl to on so rtchd as hrslf;ut sh had hr shar of usnss as ll as hr aunt,and aongst th rst thr r nots to rttn to all thr frnds at Laton, th fals xcuss for thr suddn dpartur.An hour,hovr, sa th hol copltd; and Mr. Gardnr anhl havng sttld hs account at th nn,nothng rand to don ut to go;and Elzath,aftr all th sry of th ornng,found hrslf,n a shortr spac of t than sh could hav supposd, satd n th carrag,and on th road to Longourn.