第118章

Thr vstors r not to ran aov tn days th th.Mr. Wckha had rcvd hs cosson for h lft London, and h as to jon hs rgnt at th nd of a fortnght.

No on ut Mrs.Bnnt rgrttd that thr stay ould so short;and sh ad th ost of th t y vstng aout th hr daughtr, and havng vry frqunt parts at ho.Ths parts r accptal to all; to avod a faly crcl as vn or dsral to such as dd thnk,than such as dd not.

Wckha's affcton for Lyda as just hat Elzath had xpctd to fnd t;not qual to Lyda's for h.Sh had scarcly ndd hr prsnt osrvaton to satsfd,fro th rason of thngs,that thr lopnt had n rought on y th strngth of hr lov,rathr than y hs;and sh ould hav ondrd hy, thout volntly carng for hr,h chos to lop th hr at all, had sh not flt crtan that hs flght as rndrd ncssary y dstrss of crcustancs; and f that r th cas, h as not th young an to rsst an opportunty of havng a copanon.

Lyda as xcdngly fond of h.H as hr dar Wckha on vry occason;no on as to put n coptton th h. H dd vry thng st n th orld;and sh as sur h ould kll or rds on th frst of Sptr,than any ody ls n th country.

On ornng, soon aftr thr arrval, as sh as sttng th hr to ldr sstrs,sh sad to Elzath:

“Lzzy, I nvr gav you an account of y ddng, I lv. You r not y,hn I told aa and th othrs all aout t. Ar not you curous to har ho t as anagd?”

“No rally,”rpld Elzath;“I thnk thr cannot too lttl sad on th sujct.”

“La!You ar so strang!But I ust tll you ho t nt off.W r arrd, you kno, at St. Clnt's, caus Wckha's lodgngs r n that parsh.And t as sttld that should all thr y lvn o'clock.My uncl and aunt and I r to go togthr;and th othrs r to t us at th church.

Wll,Monday ornng ca,and I as n such a fuss!I as so afrad,you kno,that sothng ould happn to put t off,and thn I should hav gon qut dstractd.And thr as y aunt, all th t I as drssng,prachng and talkng aay just as f sh as radng a sron.Hovr,I dd not har aov on ord n tn,for I as thnkng,you ay suppos,of y dar Wckha.I longd to kno hthr h ould arrd n hs lu coat.”

“Wll,and so rakfastd at tn as usual;I thought t ould nvr ovr; for, y th y, you ar to undrstand, that y uncl and aunt r horrd unplasant all th t I as th th. If you'll lv , I dd not onc put y foot out of doors,though I as thr a fortnght.Not on party,or sch, or anythng.To sur London as rathr thn,ut,hovr,th Lttl Thatr as opn.

Wll, and so just as th carrag ca to th door, y uncl as calld aay upon usnss to that horrd an Mr.Ston.And thn,you kno,hn onc thy gt togthr,thr s no nd of t.Wll,I as so frghtnd I dd not kno hat to do,for y uncl as to gv aay;and f r yond th hour, could not arrd all day.But,luckly,h ca ack agan n tn nuts' t,and thn all st out.Hovr,I rcollctd aftrards that f h had n prvntd gong,th ddng nd not put off,for Mr.Darcy ght hav don as ll.”

“Mr.Darcy!”rpatd Elzath,n uttr aaznt.

“Oh,ys!—h as to co thr th Wckha,you kno.But gracous !I qut forgot!I ought not to hav sad a ord aout t.I prosd th so fathfully!What ll Wckha say?It as to such a scrt!”

“If t as to scrt,”sad Jan,“say not anothr ord on th sujct.You ay dpnd upon y skng no furthr.”

“Oh!crtanly,”sad Elzath,though urnng th curosty;“ ll ask you no qustons.”

“Thank you,”sad Lyda,“for f you dd,I should crtanly tll you all,and thn Wckha ould angry.”

On such ncouragnt to ask,Elzath as forcd to put t out of hr por,y runnng aay.

But to lv n gnoranc on such a pont as possl;or at last t as possl not to try for nforaton.Mr.Darcy had n at hr sstr's ddng.It as xactly a scn,and xactly aong popl, hr h had apparntly last to do, and last tptaton to go.Conjcturs as to th anng of t,rapd and ld, hurrd nto hr ran; ut sh as satsfd th non. Thos that st plasd hr,as placng hs conduct n th nolst lght,sd ost proal.Sh could not ar such suspns;and hastly szng a sht of papr, rot a short lttr to hr aunt,to rqust an xplanaton of hat Lyda had droppd,f t r copatl th th scrcy hch had n ntndd.

“You ay radly coprhnd,”sh addd,“hat y curosty ust to kno ho a prson unconnctd th any of us,and (coparatvly spakng) a strangr to our faly, should hav n aongst you at such a t.Pray rt nstantly,and lt undrstand t—unlss t s, for vry cognt rasons, to ran n th scrcy hch Lyda ss to thnk ncssary;and thn I ust ndavour to satsfd th gnoranc.”

“Not that I shall,though,”sh addd to hrslf,as sh fnshd th lttr;“and y dar aunt,f you do not tll n an honoural annr,I shall crtanly rducd to trcks and stratags to fnd t out.”

Jan's dlcat sns of honour ould not allo hr to spak to Elzath prvatly of hat Lyda had lt fall;Elzath as glad of t;—tll t appard hthr hr nqurs ould rcv any satsfacton,sh had rathr thout a confdant.