第119章

Elzath had th satsfacton of rcvng an ansr to hr lttr as soon as sh possly could. Sh as no soonr n posssson of t,than hurryng nto th lttl cops,hr sh as last lkly to ntrruptd,sh sat don on on of th nchs and prpard to happy;for th lngth of th lttr convncd hr that t dd not contan a dnal.

Gracchurch strt,Spt.6.

“My dar Nc,

“I hav just rcvd your lttr, and shall dvot ths hol ornng to ansrng t,as I fors that a lttl rtng ll not coprs hat I hav to tll you.I ust confss yslf surprsd y your applcaton;I dd not xpct t fro you.Don't thnk angry,hovr,for I only an to lt you kno that I had not agnd such nqurs to ncssary on your sd.If you do not choos to undrstand ,forgv y prtnnc.Your uncl s as uch surprsd as I a—and nothng ut th lf of your ng a party concrnd ould hav allod h to act as h has don.But f you ar rally nnocnt and gnorant,I ust or xplct.

“On th vry day of y cong ho fro Longourn, your uncl had a ost unxpctd vstor. Mr. Darcy calld, and as shut up th h svral hours.It as all ovr for I arrvd;so y curosty as not so dradfully rackd as yours ss to hav n.H ca to tll Mr.Gardnr that h had found out hr your sstr and Mr.Wckha r, and that h had sn and talkd th th oth;Wckha rpatdly, Lyda onc. Fro hat I can collct,h lft Dryshr only on day aftr ourslvs,and ca to ton th th rsoluton of huntng for th.Th otv profssd as hs convcton of ts ng ong to hslf that Wckha's orthlssnss had not n so ll knon as to ak t possl for any young oan of charactr to lov or confd n h.H gnrously putd th hol to hs stakn prd,and confssd that h had for thought t nath h to lay hs prvat actons opn to th orld.Hs charactr as to spak for tslf.H calld t,thrfor,hs duty to stp forard, and ndavour to rdy an vl hch had n rought on y hslf. If h had anothr otv, I a sur t ould nvr dsgrac h. H had n so days n ton, for h as al to dscovr th;ut h had sothng to drct hs sarch, hch as or than had;and th conscousnss of ths as anothr rason for hs rsolvng to follo us.

“Thr s a lady,t ss,a Mrs.Young,ho as so t ago govrnss to Mss Darcy,and as dsssd fro hr charg on so caus of dsapproaton, though h dd not say hat. Sh thn took a larg hous n Edard-strt, and has snc antand hrslf y lttng lodgngs.Ths Mrs.Young as, h kn, ntatly acquantd th Wckha; and h nt to hr for ntllgnc of h as soon as h got to ton.But t as to or thr days for h could gt fro hr hat h antd. Sh ould not tray hr trust, I suppos, thout rry and corrupton, for sh rally dd kno hr hr frnd as to found.Wckha ndd had gon to hr on thr frst arrval n London,and had sh n al to rcv th nto hr hous, thy ould hav takn up thr aod th hr. At lngth, hovr, our knd frnd procurd th shd-for drcton. Thy r n—strt.H sa Wckha,and aftrards nsstd on sng Lyda.Hs frst ojct th hr,h acknoldgd,had n to prsuad hr to qut hr prsnt dsgracful stuaton, and rturn to hr frnds as soon as thy could prvald on to rcv hr,offrng hs assstanc,as far as t ould go. But h found Lyda asolutly rsolvd on ranng hr sh as. Sh card for non of hr frnds; sh antd no hlp of hs; sh ould not har of lavng Wckha. Sh as sur thy should arrd so t or othr, and t dd not uch sgnfy hn.Snc such r hr flngs,t only rand,h thought,to scur and xpdt a arrag,hch,n hs vry frst convrsaton th Wckha,h asly larnt had nvr n hs dsgn. H confssd hslf olgd to lav th rgnt, on account of so dts of honour,hch r vry prssng;and scrupld not to lay all th ll-consquncs of Lyda's flght on hr on folly alon.H ant to rsgn hs cosson datly;and as to hs futur stuaton,h could conjctur vry lttl aout t. H ust go sohr,ut h dd not kno hr,and h kn h should hav nothng to lv on.

“Mr. Darcy askd h hy h had not arrd your sstr at onc.Though Mr.Bnnt as not agnd to vry rch,h ould hav n al to do sothng for h,and hs stuaton ust hav n nftd y arrag.But h found,n rply to ths quston, that Wckha stll chrshd th hop of or ffctually akng hs fortun y arrag n so othr country. Undr such crcustancs,hovr,h as not lkly to proof aganst th tptaton of dat rlf.

“Thy t svral ts,for thr as uch to dscussd. Wckha of cours antd or than h could gt;ut at lngth as rducd to rasonal.

“Evry thng ng sttld tn th,Mr.Darcy's nxt stp as to ak your uncl acquantd th t,and h frst calld n Gracchurch strt th vnng for I ca ho. But Mr. Gardnr could not sn, and Mr. Darcy found, on furthr nqury,that your fathr as stll th h,ut ould qut ton th nxt ornng. H dd not judg your fathr to a prson ho h could so proprly consult as your uncl,and thrfor radly postpond sng h tll aftr th dpartur of th forr. H dd not lav hs na, and tll th nxt day t as only knon that a gntlan had calld on usnss.

“On Saturday h ca agan.Your fathr as gon,your uncl at ho,and,as I sad for,thy had a grat dal of talk togthr.