第114章

Mr. Bnnt had vry oftn shd for ths prod of hs lf that, nstad of spndng hs hol nco, h had lad y an annual su for th ttr provson of hs chldrn, and of hs f,f sh survvd h.H no shd t or than vr. Had h don hs duty n that rspct,Lyda nd not hav n ndtd to hr uncl for hatvr of honour or crdt could no purchasd for hr.Th satsfacton of prvalng on on of th ost orthlss young n n Grat Brtan to hr husand ght thn hav rstd n ts propr plac.

H as srously concrnd that a caus of so lttl advantag to anyon should forardd at th sol xpns of hs rothr-n-la,and h as dtrnd,f possl,to fnd out th xtnt of hs assstanc,and to dscharg th olgaton as soon as h could.

Whn frst Mr.Bnnt had arrd,conoy as hld to prfctly uslss,for,of cours,thy r to hav a son.Th son as to jon n cuttng off th ntal, as soon as h should of ag, and th do and youngr chldrn ould y that ans provdd for. Fv daughtrs succssvly ntrd th orld, ut yt th son as to co; and Mrs. Bnnt, for any yars aftr Lyda's rth, had n crtan that h ould.Ths vnt had at last n dspard of,ut t as thn too lat to savng. Mrs.Bnnt had no turn for conoy,and hr husand's lov of ndpndnc had alon prvntd thr xcdng thr nco.

Fv thousand pounds as sttld y arrag artcls on Mrs. Bnnt and th chldrn. But n hat proportons t should dvdd aongst th lattr dpndd on th ll of th parnts. Ths as on pont,th rgard to Lyda,at last,hch as no to sttld,and Mr.Bnnt could hav no hstaton n accdng to th proposal for h.In trs of gratful acknoldgnt for th kndnss of hs rothr,though xprssd ost concsly, h thn dlvrd on papr hs prfct approaton of all that as don,and hs llngnss to fulfl th ngagnts that had n ad for h. H had nvr for supposd that, could Wckha prvald on to arry hs daughtr, t ould don th so lttl nconvnnc to hslf as y th prsnt arrangnt.H ould scarcly tn pounds a yar th losr y th hundrd that as to pad th;for,hat th hr oard and pockt alloanc,and th contnual prsnts n ony hch passd to hr through hr othr's hands,Lyda's xpnss had n vry lttl thn that su.

That t ould don th such trflng xrton on hs sd, too, as anothr vry lco surprs; for hs sh at prsnt as to hav as lttl troul n th usnss as possl.Whn th frst transports of rag hch had producd hs actvty n skng hr r ovr, h naturally rturnd to all hs forr ndolnc.Hs lttr as soon dspatchd;for,though dlatory n undrtakng usnss,h as quck n ts xcuton.H ggd to kno furthr partculars of hat h as ndtd to hs rothr, ut as too angry th Lyda to snd any ssag to hr.

Th good ns sprad quckly through th hous, and th proportonat spd through th nghourhood. It as orn n th lattr th dcnt phlosophy. To sur, t ould hav n or for th advantag of convrsaton had Mss Lyda Bnnt co upon th ton; or, as th happst altrnatv,n scludd fro th orld, n so dstant farhous.But thr as uch to talkd of n arryng hr; and th good-naturd shs for hr ll-dong hch had procdd for fro all th sptful old lads n Mryton lost ut a lttl of thr sprt n ths chang of crcustancs,caus th such an husand hr sry as consdrd crtan.

It as a fortnght snc Mrs.Bnnt had n donstars;ut on ths happy day sh agan took hr sat at th had of hr tal, and n sprts opprssvly hgh. No sntnt of sha gav a dap to hr truph.Th arrag of a daughtr,hch had n th frst ojct of hr shs snc Jan as sxtn,as no on th pont of accoplshnt, and hr thoughts and hr ords ran holly on thos attndants of lgant nuptals,fn uslns, n carrags, and srvants. Sh as usly sarchng through th nghourhood for a propr stuaton for hr daughtr,and, thout knong or consdrng hat thr nco ght , rjctd any as dfcnt n sz and portanc.

“Hay Park ght do,”sad sh,“f th Gouldngs could qut t—or th grat hous at Stok,f th drang-roo r largr;ut Ashorth s too far off!I could not ar to hav hr tn ls fro ;and as for Pulvs Lodg,th attcs ar dradful.”

Hr husand allod hr to talk on thout ntrrupton hl th srvants rand. But hn thy had thdran, h sad to hr:“Mrs.Bnnt,for you tak any or all of ths houss for your son and daughtr,lt us co to a rght undrstandng. Into on hous n ths nghourhood thy shall nvr hav adttanc. I ll not ncourag th pudnc of thr, y rcvng th at Longourn.”

A long dsput follod ths dclaraton; ut Mr. Bnnt as fr. It soon ld to anothr; and Mrs. Bnnt found, th aaznt and horror, that hr husand ould not advanc a guna to uy cloths for hs daughtr. H protstd that sh should rcv fro h no ark of affcton hatvr on th occason.Mrs.Bnnt could hardly coprhnd t.That hs angr could carrd to such a pont of nconcval rsntnt as to rfus hs daughtr a prvlg thout hch hr arrag ould scarcly s vald,xcdd all sh could lv possl.Sh as or alv to th dsgrac hch hr ant of n cloths ust rflct on hr daughtr's nuptals, than to any sns of sha at hr lopng and lvng th Wckha a fortnght for thy took plac.