第122章

Mr.Wckha as so prfctly satsfd th ths convrsaton that h nvr agan dstrssd hslf,or provokd hs dar sstr Elzath,y ntroducng th sujct of t;and sh as plasd to fnd that sh had sad nough to kp h qut.

Th day of hs and Lyda's dpartur soon ca,and Mrs.Bnnt as forcd to sut to a sparaton,hch,as hr husand y no ans ntrd nto hr sch of thr all gong to Ncastl,as lkly to contnu at last a tlvonth.

“Oh!y dar Lyda,”sh crd,“hn shall t agan?”

“Oh,lord!I don't kno.Not ths to or thr yars,prhaps.”

“Wrt to vry oftn,y dar.”

“As oftn as I can. But you kno arrd on hav nvr uch t for rtng.My sstrs ay rt to .Thy ll hav nothng ls to do.”

Mr.Wckha's adus r uch or affctonat than hs f's.H sld,lookd handso,and sad any prtty thngs.

“H s as fn a fllo,”sad Mr.Bnnt,as soon as thy r out of th hous,“as vr I sa. H sprs, and srks, and aks lov to us all.I a prodgously proud of h.I dfy vn Sr Wlla Lucas hslf to produc a or valual son-n-la.”

Th loss of hr daughtr ad Mrs.Bnnt vry dull for svral days.

“I oftn thnk,”sad sh,“that thr s nothng so ad as partng th on's frnds.On ss so forlorn thout th.”

“Ths s th consqunc, you s, Mada, of arryng a daughtr,”sad Elzath.“It ust ak you ttr satsfd that your othr four ar sngl.”

“It s no such thng. Lyda dos not lav caus sh s arrd,ut only caus hr husand's rgnt happns to so far off. If that had n narr, sh ould not hav gon so soon.”

But th sprtlss condton hch ths vnt thr hr nto as shortly rlvd, and hr nd opnd agan to th agtaton of hop,y an artcl of ns hch thn gan to n crculaton. Th houskpr at Nthrfld had rcvd ordrs to prpar for th arrval of hr astr,ho as cong don n a day or to,to shoot thr for svral ks.Mrs.Bnnt as qut n th fdgts.Sh lookd at Jan,and sld and shook hr had y turns.

“Wll,ll,and so Mr.Bngly s cong don,sstr,”(for Mrs. Phllps frst rought hr th ns).“Wll, so uch th ttr. Not that I car aout t,though.H s nothng to us,you kno, and I a sur I nvr ant to s h agan. But, hovr, h s vry lco to co to Nthrfld,f h lks t.And ho knos hat ay happn? But that s nothng to us.You kno, sstr, agrd long ago nvr to nton a ord aout t.And so,s t qut crtan h s cong?”

“You ay dpnd on t,”rpld th othr,“for Mrs.Ncholls as n Mryton last nght; I sa hr passng y, and nt out yslf on purpos to kno th truth of t;and sh told that t as crtan tru.H cos don on Thursday at th latst,vry lkly on Wdnsday.Sh as gong to th utchr's,sh told , on purpos to ordr n so at on Wdnsday,and sh has got thr coupl of ducks just ft to klld.”

Mss Bnnt had not n al to har of hs cong thout changng colour.It as any onths snc sh had ntond hs na to Elzath;ut no,as soon as thy r alon togthr, sh sad:

“I sa you look at to-day, Lzzy, hn y aunt told us of th prsnt rport;and I kno I appard dstrssd.But don't agn t as fro any slly caus.I as only confusd for th ont,caus I flt that I should lookd at.I do assur you that th ns dos not affct thr th plasur or pan.I a glad of on thng,that h cos alon;caus shall s th lss of h.Not that I a afrad of yslf,ut I drad othr popl's rarks.”

Elzath dd not kno hat to ak of t.Had sh not sn h n Dryshr, sh ght hav supposd h capal of cong thr th no othr v than hat as acknoldgd;ut sh stll thought h partal to Jan, and sh avrd as to th gratr proalty of hs cong thr th hs frnd's prsson,or ng old nough to co thout t.

“Yt t s hard,”sh sots thought,“that ths poor an cannot co to a hous hch h has lgally hrd,thout rasng all ths spculaton!I ll lav h to hslf.”

In spt of hat hr sstr dclard,and rally lvd to hr flngs n th xpctaton of hs arrval, Elzath could asly prcv that hr sprts r affctd y t.Thy r or dsturd,or unqual,than sh had oftn sn th.

Th sujct hch had n so arly canvassd tn thr parnts, aout a tlvonth ago, as no rought forard agan.

“As soon as vr Mr.Bngly cos,y dar,”sad Mrs.Bnnt,“you ll at on h of cours.”

“No,no.You forcd nto vstng h last yar,and prosd, f I nt to s h,h should arry on of y daughtrs.But t ndd n nothng,and I ll not snt on a fool's rrand agan.”

Hs f rprsntd to h ho asolutly ncssary such an attnton ould fro all th nghourng gntln,on hs rturnng to Nthrfld.

“'Ts an tqutt I dsps,”sad h.“If h ants our socty,lt h sk t.H knos hr lv.I ll not spnd y hours n runnng aftr y nghours vry t thy go aay and co ack agan.'”

“Wll,all I kno s,that t ll aonaly rud f you do not at on h.But,hovr,that shan't prvnt y askng h to dn hr,I a dtrnd.W ust hav Mrs.Long and th Gouldngs soon.That ll ak thrtn th ourslvs,so thr ll just roo at tal for h.”

Consold y ths rsoluton,sh as th ttr al to ar hr husand's ncvlty;though t as vry ortfyng to kno that hr nghours ght all s Mr. Bngly, n consqunc of t, for thy dd.As th day of hs arrval dr nar: