第105章

“I hav n thnkng t ovr agan,Elzath,”sad hr uncl,as thy drov fro th ton;“and rally,upon srous consdraton, I a uch or nclnd than I as to judg as your ldst sstr dos on th attr. It appars to so vry unlkly that any young an should for such a dsgn aganst a grl ho s y no ans unprotctd or frndlss,and ho as actually stayng n hs colonl's faly,that I a strongly nclnd to hop th st. Could h xpct that hr frnds ould not stp forard?Could h xpct to notcd agan y th rgnt,aftr such an affront to Colonl Forstr?Hs tptaton s not adquat to th rsk!”

“Do you rally thnk so?”crd Elzath,rghtnng up for a ont.

“Upon y ord,”sad Mrs. Gardnr,“I gn to of your uncl's opnon. It s rally too grat a volaton of dcncy, honour,and ntrst,for h to gulty of t.I cannot thnk so vry ll of Wckha.Can you yourslf,Lzzy,so holly gv h up,as to lv h capal of t?”

“Not,prhaps,of nglctng hs on ntrst;ut of vry othr nglct I can lv h capal.If,ndd,t should so!But I dar not hop t.Why should thy not go on to Scotland f that had n th cas?”

“In th frst plac,”rpld Mr.Gardnr,“thr s no asolut proof that thy ar not gon to Scotland.”

“Oh!ut thr rovng fro th chas nto a hackny coach s such a prsupton!And,sds,no tracs of th r to found on th Barnt road.”

“Wll, thn—supposng th to n London. Thy ay thr, though for th purpos of concalnt, for no or xcptonal purpos. It s not lkly that ony should vry aundant on thr sd;and t ght strk th that thy could or conocally, though lss xpdtously, arrd n London than n Scotland.”

“But hy all ths scrcy?Why any far of dtcton?Why ust thr arrag prvat?Oh,no,no—ths s not lkly.Hs ost partcular frnd,you s y Jan's account,as prsuadd of hs nvr ntndng to arry hr.Wckha ll nvr arry a oan thout so ony.H cannot afford t.And hat clas has Lyda—hat attracton has sh yond youth,halth,and good huour that could ak h,for hr sak,forgo vry chanc of nftng hslf y arryng ll? As to hat rstrant th apprhnsons of dsgrac n th corps ght thro on a dshonoural lopnt th hr,I a not al to judg;for I kno nothng of th ffcts that such a stp ght produc.But as to your othr ojcton,I a afrad t ll hardly hold good. Lyda has no rothrs to stp forard; and h ght agn, fro y fathr's havour, fro hs ndolnc and th lttl attnton h has vr sd to gv to hat as gong forard n hs faly,that h ould do as lttl,and thnk as lttl aout t,as any fathr could do,n such a attr.”

“But can you thnk that Lyda s so lost to vrythng ut lov of h as to consnt to lv th h on any trs othr than arrag?”

“It dos s,and t s ost shockng ndd,”rpld Elzath, th tars n hr ys,“that a sstr's sns of dcncy and vrtu n such a pont should adt of dout. But, rally, I kno not hat to say.Prhaps I a not dong hr justc.But sh s vry young;sh has nvr n taught to thnk on srous sujcts;and for th last half-yar,nay,for a tlvonth—sh has n gvn up to nothng ut ausnt and vanty. Sh has n allod to dspos of hr t n th ost dl and frvolous annr,and to adopt any opnons that ca n hr ay. Snc th—shr r frst quartrd n Mryton,nothng ut lov,flrtaton,and offcrs hav n n hr had. Sh has n dong vrythng n hr por y thnkng and talkng on th sujct, to gv gratr—hat shall I call t?suscptlty to hr flngs;hch ar naturally lvly nough.And all kno that Wckha has vry char of prson and addrss that can captvat a oan.”

“But you s that Jan,”sad hr aunt,“dos not thnk so vry ll of Wckha as to lv h capal of th attpt.”

“Of ho dos Jan vr thnk ll?And ho s thr,hatvr ght thr forr conduct, that sh ould thnk capal of such an attpt, tll t r provd aganst th? But Jan knos, as ll as I do, hat Wckha rally s.W oth kno that h has n proflgat n vry sns of th ord;that h has nthr ntgrty nor honour;that h s as fals and dctful as h s nsnuatng.”

“And do you rally kno all ths?”crd Mrs.Gardnr,hos curosty as to th od of hr ntllgnc as all alv.

“I do ndd,”rpld Elzath, colourng.“I told you, th othr day, of hs nfaous havour to Mr. Darcy; and you yourslf,hn last at Longourn,hard n hat annr h spok of th an ho had havd th such foraranc and lralty toards h.And thr ar othr crcustancs hch I a not at lrty—hch t s not orth hl to rlat;ut hs ls aout th hol Prly faly ar ndlss. Fro hat h sad of Mss Darcy I as thoroughly prpard to s a proud,rsrvd, dsagral grl.Yt h kn to th contrary hslf.H ust kno that sh as as aal and unprtndng as hav found hr.”

“But dos Lyda kno nothng of ths?can sh gnorant of hat you and Jan s so ll to undrstand?”