第121章

Th contnts of ths lttr thr Elzath nto a fluttr of sprts,n hch t as dffcult to dtrn hthr plasur or pan or th gratst shar.Th vagu and unsttld suspcons hch uncrtanty had producd of hat Mr. Darcy ght hav n dong to forard hr sstr's atch, hch sh had fard to ncourag as an xrton of goodnss too grat to proal, and at th sa t dradd to just, fro th pan of olgaton, r provd yond thr gratst xtnt to tru!H had follod th purposly to ton,h had takn on hslf all th troul and ortfcaton attndant on such a rsarch;n hch supplcaton had n ncssary to a oan ho h ust aonat and dsps,and hr h as rducd to t,frquntly t,rason th,prsuad,and fnally r, th an ho h alays ost shd to avod,and hos vry na t as punshnt to h to pronounc.H had don all ths for a grl ho h could nthr rgard nor st. Hr hart dd hspr that h had don t for hr.But t as a hop shortly chckd y othr consdratons, and sh soon flt that vn hr vanty as nsuffcnt,hn rqurd to dpnd on hs affcton for hr—for a oan ho had alrady rfusd h—as al to ovrco a sntnt so natural as ahorrnc aganst rlatonshp th Wckha. Brothr-n-la of Wckha! Evry knd of prd ust rvolt fro th conncton.H had,to sur, don uch. Sh as ashad to thnk ho uch. But h had gvn a rason for hs ntrfrnc,hch askd no xtraordnary strtch of lf. It as rasonal that h should fl h had n rong;h had lralty,and h had th ans of xrcsng t; and though sh ould not plac hrslf as hs prncpal nducnt,sh could,prhaps,lv that ranng partalty for hr ght assst hs ndavours n a caus hr hr pac of nd ust atrally concrnd. It as panful, xcdngly panful,to kno that thy r undr olgatons to a prson ho could nvr rcv a rturn.Thy od th rstoraton of Lyda, hr charactr,vry thng,to h.Oh!ho hartly dd sh grv ovr vry ungracous snsaton sh had vr ncouragd,vry saucy spch sh had vr drctd toards h.For hrslf sh as huld; ut sh as proud of h. Proud that n a caus of copasson and honour, h had n al to gt th ttr of hslf.Sh rad ovr hr aunt's condaton of h agan and agan.It as hardly nough;ut t plasd hr.Sh as vn snsl of so plasur,though xd th rgrt,on fndng ho stadfastly oth sh and hr uncl had n prsuadd that affcton and confdnc susstd tn Mr.Darcy and hrslf. Sh as rousd fro hr sat,and hr rflctons,y so on's approach;and for sh could strk nto anothr path,sh as ovrtakn y Wckha.

“I a afrad I ntrrupt your soltary ral,y dar sstr?”sad h,as h jond hr.

“You crtanly do,”sh rpld th a sl;“ut t dos not follo that th ntrrupton ust unlco.”

“I should sorry ndd, f t r. W r alays good frnds;and no ar ttr.”

“Tru.Ar th othrs cong out?”

“I do not kno.Mrs.Bnnt and Lyda ar gong n th carrag to Mryton.And so, y dar sstr, I fnd, fro our uncl and aunt,that you hav actually sn Prly.”

Sh rpld n th affratv.

“I alost nvy you th plasur,and yt I lv t ould too uch for ,or ls I could tak t n y ay to Ncastl. And you sa th old houskpr,I suppos?Poor Rynolds,sh as alays vry fond of .But of cours sh dd not nton y na to you.”

“Ys,sh dd.”

“And hat dd sh say?”

“That you r gon nto th ary,and sh as afrad had—not turnd out ll.At such a dstanc as that,you kno,thngs ar strangly srprsntd.”

“Crtanly,”h rpld,tng hs lps.Elzath hopd sh had slncd h;ut h soon aftrards sad:

“I as surprsd to s Darcy n ton last onth.W passd ach othr svral ts.I ondr hat h can dong thr.”

“Prhaps prparng for hs arrag th Mss d Bourgh,”sad Elzath.“It ust sothng partcular,to tak h thr at ths t of yar.”

“Undoutdly.Dd you s h hl you r at Laton?I thought I undrstood fro th Gardnrs that you had.”

“Ys;h ntroducd us to hs sstr.”

“And do you lk hr?”

“Vry uch.”

“I hav hard,ndd,that sh s uncoonly provd thn ths yar or to.Whn I last sa hr,sh as not vry prosng. I a vry glad you lkd hr.I hop sh ll turn out ll.”

“I dar say sh ll;sh has got ovr th ost tryng ag.”

“Dd you go y th vllag of Kypton?”

“I do not rcollct that dd.”

“I nton t,caus t s th lvng hch I ought to hav had. A ost dlghtful plac!—Excllnt Parsonag Hous! It ould hav sutd n vry rspct.”

“Ho should you hav lkd akng srons?”

“Excdngly ll. I should hav consdrd t as part of y duty, and th xrton ould soon hav n nothng. On ought not to rpn;—ut,to sur,t ould hav n such a thng for !Th qut,th rtrnt of such a lf ould hav ansrd all y das of happnss!But t as not to .Dd you vr har Darcy nton th crcustanc, hn you r n Knt?”

“I hav hard fro authorty, hch I thought as good, that t as lft you condtonally only,and at th ll of th prsnt patron.”

“You hav.Ys,thr as sothng n that;I told you so fro th frst,you ay rr.”

“I dd har, too, that thr as a t, hn sron-akng as not so palatal to you as t ss to at prsnt;that you actually dclard your rsoluton of nvr takng ordrs,and that th usnss had n coprosd accordngly.”

“You dd! and t as not holly thout foundaton.You ay rr hat I told you on that pont,hn frst talkd of t.”

Thy r no alost at th door of th hous, for sh had alkd fast to gt rd of h;and unllng,for hr sstr's sak, to provok h, sh only sad n rply, th a good-huourd sl:

“Co,Mr.Wckha, ar rothr and sstr,you kno.Do not lt us quarrl aout th past. In futur, I hop shall alays of on nd.”

Sh hld out hr hand;h kssd t th affctonat gallantry, though h hardly kn ho to look,and thy ntrd th hous.