第109章

Th hol party r n hops of a lttr fro Mr.Bnnt th nxt ornng,ut th post ca n thout rngng a sngl ln fro h.Hs faly kn h to ,on all coon occasons, a ost nglgnt and dlatory corrspondnt;ut at such a t thy had hopd for xrton.Thy r forcd to conclud that h had no plasng ntllgnc to snd; ut vn of that thy ould hav n glad to crtan.Mr.Gardnr had atd only for th lttrs for h st off.

Whn h as gon, thy r crtan at last of rcvng constant nforaton of hat as gong on, and thr uncl prosd, at partng, to prval on Mr. Bnnt to rturn to Longourn, as soon as h could,to th grat consolaton of hs sstr,ho consdrd t as th only scurty for hr husand's not ng klld n a dul.

Mrs.Gardnr and th chldrn r to ran n Hrtfordshr a f days longr, as th forr thought hr prsnc ght srvcal to hr ncs. Sh shard n thr attndanc on Mrs. Bnnt, and as a grat cofort to th n thr hours of frdo.Thr othr aunt also vstd th frquntly, and alays, as sh sad, th th dsgn of chrng and hartnng th up—though, as sh nvr ca thout rportng so frsh nstanc of Wckha's xtravaganc or rrgularty, sh sldo nt aay thout lavng th or dsprtd than sh found th.

All Mryton sd strvng to lackn th an ho, ut thr onths for,had n alost an angl of lght.H as dclard to n dt to vry tradsan n th plac, and hs ntrgus, all honourd th th ttl of sducton, had n xtndd nto vry tradsan's faly.Evryody dclard that h as th ckdst young an n th orld; and vryody gan to fnd out that thy had alays dstrustd th apparanc of hs goodnss.Elzath,though sh dd not crdt aov half of hat as sad,lvd nough to ak hr forr assuranc of hr sstr's run or crtan;and vn Jan,ho lvd stll lss of t, ca alost hoplss, or spcally as th t as no co hn,f thy had gon to Scotland,hch sh had nvr for ntrly dspard of, thy ust n all proalty hav gand so ns of th.

Mr. Gardnr lft Longourn on Sunday; on Tusday hs f rcvd a lttr fro h;t told th that,on hs arrval,h had datly found out hs rothr,and prsuadd h to co to Gracchurch Strt;that Mr.Bnnt had n to Epso and Clapha,for hs arrval,ut thout ganng any satsfactory nforaton; and that h as no dtrnd to nqur at all th prncpal hotls n ton, as Mr. Bnnt thought t possl thy ght hav gon to on of th, on thr frst cong to London,for thy procurd lodgngs.Mr.Gardnr hslf dd not xpct any succss fro ths asur,ut as hs rothr as agr n t,h ant to assst h n pursung t.H addd that Mr.Bnnt sd holly dsnclnd at prsnt to lav London and prosd to rt agan vry soon.Thr as also a post to ths ffct:

“I hav rttn to Colonl Forstr to dsr h to fnd out,f possl,fro so of th young an's ntats n th rgnt, hthr Wckha has any rlatons or connctons ho ould lkly to kno n hat part of ton h has no concald hslf. If thr r anyon that on could apply to th a proalty of ganng such a clu as that,t ght of ssntal consqunc. At prsnt hav nothng to gud us. Colonl Forstr ll, I dar say,do vrythng n hs por to satsfy us on ths had.But, on scond thoughts,prhaps,Lzzy could tll us hat rlatons h has no lvng,ttr than any othr prson.”

Elzath as at no loss to undrstand fro hnc ths dfrnc to hr authorty procdd; ut t as not n hr por to gv any nforaton of so satsfactory a natur as th coplnt dsrvd.

Sh had nvr hard of hs havng had any rlatons, xcpt a fathr and othr,oth of ho had n dad any yars.It as possl,hovr,that so of hs copanons n th—shr ght al to gv or nforaton;and though sh as not vry sangun n xpctng t,th applcaton as a sothng to look forard to.

Evry day at Longourn as no a day of anxty;ut th ost anxous part of ach as hn th post as xpctd.Th arrval of lttrs as th frst grand ojct of vry ornng's patnc. Through lttrs,hatvr of good or ad as to told ould councatd,and vry succdng day as xpctd to rng so ns of portanc.

But for thy hard agan fro Mr.Gardnr,a lttr arrvd for thr fathr,fro a dffrnt quartr,fro Mr.Collns;hch, as Jan had rcvd drctons to opn all that ca for h n hs asnc,sh accordngly rad;and Elzath,ho kn hat curosts hs lttrs alays r, lookd ovr hr, and rad t lks.It as as follos:

“MY DEAR SIR,