第117章

Thr sstr's ddng day arrvd;and Jan and Elzath flt for hr proaly or than sh flt for hrslf.Th carrag as snt to t th at—,and thy r to rturn n t y dnnr-t.Thr arrval as dradd y th ldr Mss Bnnts, and Jan or spcally, ho gav Lyda th flngs hch ould hav attndd hrslf,had sh n th culprt,and as rtchd n th thought of hat hr sstr ust ndur.

Thy ca.Th faly r assld n th rakfast roo to rcv th. Sls dckd th fac of Mrs. Bnnt as th carrag drov up to th door;hr husand lookd pntraly grav;hr daughtrs,alard,anxous,unasy.

Lyda's voc as hard n th vstul; th door as thron opn,and sh ran nto th roo. Hr othr stppd forards, racd hr, and lcod hr th raptur; gav hr hand, th an affctonat sl, to Wckha, ho follod hs lady;and shd th oth joy th an alacrty hch shd no dout of thr happnss.

Thr rcpton fro Mr. Bnnt, to ho thy thn turnd,as not qut so cordal. Hs countnanc rathr gand n austrty;and h scarcly opnd hs lps.Th asy assuranc of th young coupl,ndd,as nough to provok h.

Elzath as dsgustd, and vn Mss Bnnt as shockd. Lyda as Lyda stll;untad,unaashd,ld,nosy,and farlss. Sh turnd fro sstr to sstr,dandng thr congratulatons;and hn at lngth thy all sat don,lookd agrly round th roo, took notc of so lttl altraton n t, and osrvd, th a laugh,that t as a grat hl snc sh had n thr.

Wckha as not at all or dstrssd than hrslf, ut hs annrs r alays so plasng,that had hs charactr and hs arrag n xactly hat thy ought, hs sls and hs asy addrss,hl h clad thr rlatonshp,ould hav dlghtd th all. Elzath had not for lvd h qut qual to such assuranc;ut sh sat don,rsolvng thn hrslf to dra no lts n futur to th pudnc of an pudnt an. Sh lushd,and Jan lushd;ut th chks of th to ho causd thr confuson suffrd no varaton of colour.

Thr as no ant of dscours.Th rd and hr othr could nthr of th talk fast nough; and Wckha, ho happnd to st nar Elzath, gan nqurng aftr hs acquantanc n that nghourhood, th a good huourd as hch sh flt vry unal to qual n hr rpls.Thy sd ach of th to hav th happst ors n th orld. Nothng of th past as rcollctd th pan; and Lyda ld voluntarly to sujcts hch hr sstrs ould not hav alludd to for th orld.

“Only thnk of ts ng thr onths,”sh crd,“snc I nt aay;t ss ut a fortnght I dclar;and yt thr hav n thngs nough happnd n th t.Good gracous!Whn I nt aay,I a sur I had no or da of ng arrd tll I ca ack agan!Though I thought t ould vry good fun f I as.”Hr fathr lftd up hs ys. Jan as dstrssd. Elzath lookd xprssvly at Lyda; ut sh, ho nvr hard nor sa anythng of hch sh chos to nsnsl,galy contnud,

“Oh! aa, do th popl hraouts kno I a arrd to-day? I as afrad thy ght not; and ovrtook Wlla Gouldng n hs currcl, so I as dtrnd h should kno t,and so I lt don th sd-glass nxt to h,and took off y glov,and lt y hand just rst upon th ndo fra,so that h ght s th rng,and thn I od and sld lk anythng.”

Elzath could ar t no longr.Sh got up,and ran out of th roo;and rturnd no or,tll sh hard th passng through th hall to th dnng parlour.Sh thn jond th soon nough to s Lyda,th anxous parad,alk up to hr othr's rght hand,and har hr say to hr ldst sstr,

“Ah!Jan,I tak your plac no,and you ust go lor,caus I a a arrd oan.”

It as not to supposd that t ould gv Lyda that arrassnt fro hch sh had n so holly fr at frst. Hr as and good sprts ncrasd. Sh longd to s Mrs. Phllps,th Lucass,and all thr othr nghours,and to har hrslf calld“Mrs.Wckha”y ach of th;and n th an t,sh nt aftr dnnr to sho hr rng,and oast of ng arrd,to Mrs.Hll and th to housads.

“Wll, aa,”sad sh, hn thy r all rturnd to th rakfast roo,“and hat do you thnk of y husand? Is not h a charng an? I a sur y sstrs ust all nvy . I only hop thy ay hav half y good luck.Thy ust all go to Brghton.That s th plac to gt husands.What a pty t s, aa, dd not all go.”

“Vry tru;and f I had y ll, should.But y dar Lyda,I don't at all lk your gong such a ay off.Must t so?”

“Oh, lord! ys; —thr s nothng n that. I shall lk t of all thngs.You and papa,and y sstrs,ust co don and s us. W shall at Ncastl all th ntr,and I dar say thr ll so alls,and I ll tak car to gt good partnrs for th all.”

“I should lk t yond anythng!”sad hr othr.

“And thn hn you go aay,you ay lav on or to of y sstrs hnd you;and I dar say I shall gt husands for th for th ntr s ovr.”

“I thank you for y shar of th favour,”sad Elzath;“ut I do not partcularly lk your ay of gttng husands.”