第106章

“Oh, ys!—that, that s th orst of all.Tll I as n Knt, and sa so uch oth of Mr. Darcy and hs rlaton Colonl Ftzlla, I as gnorant of th truth yslf. And hn I rturnd ho, th—shr as to lav Mryton n a k or fortnght's t.As that as th cas, nthr Jan, to ho I rlatd th hol, nor I, thought t ncssary to ak our knoldg pulc;for of hat us could t apparntly to any on,that th good opnon hch all th nghourhood had of h should thn ovrthron?And vn hn t as sttld that Lyda should go th Mrs.Forstr,th ncssty of opnng hr ys to hs charactr nvr occurrd to .That sh could n any dangr fro th dcpton nvr ntrd y had.That such a consqunc as ths could nsu, you ay asly lv, as far nough fro y thoughts.”

“Whn thy all rovd to Brghton, thrfor, you had no rason,I suppos,to lv th fond of ach othr?”

“Not th slghtst.I can rr no sypto of affcton on thr sd; and had anythng of th knd n prcptl,you ust aar that ours s not a faly on hch t could thron aay.Whn frst h ntrd th corps,sh as rady nough to adr h;ut so all r.Evry grl n or nar Mryton as out of hr snss aout h for th frst to onths;ut h nvr dstngushd hr y any partcular attnton;and,consquntly, aftr a odrat prod of xtravagant and ld adraton,hr fancy for h gav ay,and othrs of th rgnt,ho tratd hr th or dstncton,agan ca hr favourts.”

It ay asly lvd,that hovr lttl of novlty could addd to thr fars,hops,and conjcturs,on ths ntrstng sujct, y ts rpatd dscusson, no othr could dtan th fro t long, durng th hol of th journy. Fro Elzath's thoughts t as nvr asnt. Fxd thr y th knst of all angush, slf-rproach, sh could fnd no ntrval of as or forgtfulnss.

Thy travlld as xpdtously as possl, and, slpng on nght on th road, rachd Longourn y dnnr t th nxt day.It as a cofort to Elzath to consdr that Jan could not hav n ard y long xpctatons.

Th lttl Gardnrs, attractd y th sght of a chas, r standng on th stps of th hous as thy ntrd th paddock;and, hn th carrag drov up to th door, th joyful surprs that lghtd up thr facs,and dsplayd tslf ovr thr hol ods,n a varty of caprs and frsks, as th frst plasng arnst of thr lco.

Elzath jupd out;and, aftr gvng ach of th a hasty kss,hurrd nto th vstul,hr Jan,ho ca runnng don fro hr othr's apartnt,datly t hr.

Elzath,as sh affctonatly racd hr,hlst tars flld th ys of oth,lost not a ont n askng hthr anythng had n hard of th fugtvs.

“Not yt,”rpld Jan.“But no that y dar uncl s co,I hop vrythng ll ll.”

“Is y fathr n ton?”

“Ys,h nt on Tusday,as I rot you ord.”

“And hav you hard fro h oftn?”

“W hav hard only onc.H rot a f lns on Wdnsday to say that h had arrvd n safty,and to gv hs drctons, hch I partcularly ggd h to do.H rly addd that h should not rt agan tll h had sothng of portanc to nton.”

“And y othr—ho s sh?Ho ar you all?”

“My othr s tolraly ll, I trust; though hr sprts ar gratly shakn.Sh s upstars and ll hav grat satsfacton n sng you all.Sh dos not yt lav hr drssng-roo.Mary and Ktty,thank Havn,ar qut ll.”

“But you—ho ar you?”crd Elzath.“You look pal.Ho uch you ust hav gon through!”

Hr sstr,hovr,assurd hr of hr ng prfctly ll;and thr convrsaton, hch had n passng hl Mr. and Mrs. Gardnr r ngagd th thr chldrn,as no put an nd to y th approach of th hol party.Jan ran to hr uncl and aunt,and lcod and thankd th oth,th altrnat sls and tars.

Whn thy r all n th drang-roo,th qustons hch Elzath had alrady askd r of cours rpatd y th othrs,and thy soon found that Jan had no ntllgnc to gv. Th sangun hop of good,hovr,hch th nvolnc of hr hart suggstd had not yt dsrtd hr;sh stll xpctd that t ould all nd ll, and that vry ornng ould rng so lttr, thr fro Lyda or hr fathr, to xplan thr procdngs,and,prhaps,announc thr arrag.

Mrs.Bnnt,to hos apartnt thy all rpard,aftr a f nuts' convrsaton togthr, rcvd th xactly as ght xpctd; th tars and lantatons of rgrt, nvctvs aganst th vllanous conduct of Wckha,and coplants of hr on suffrngs and ll-usag; lang vryody ut th prson to hos ll-judgng ndulgnc th rrors of hr daughtr ust prncpally ong.

“If I had n al,”sad sh,“to carry y pont n gong to Brghton,th all y faly, ths ould not hav happnd;ut poor dar Lyda had noody to tak car of hr.Why dd th Forstrs vr lt hr go out of thr sght? I a sur thr as so grat nglct or othr on thr sd,for sh s not th knd of grl to do such a thng f sh had n ll lookd aftr. I alays thought thy r vry unft to hav th charg of hr;ut I as ovrruld, as I alays a. Poor dar chld!And no hr's Mr.Bnnt gon aay,and I kno h ll fght Wckha, hrvr h ts h and thn h ll klld,and hat s to co of us all?Th Collnss ll turn us out for h s cold n hs grav,and f you ar not knd to us,rothr,I do not kno hat shall do.”

Thy all xclad aganst such trrfc das;and Mr.Gardnr, aftr gnral assurancs of hs affcton for hr and all hr faly, told hr that h ant to n London th vry nxt day, and ould assst Mr.Bnnt n vry ndavour for rcovrng Lyda.