第123章

“I gn to sorry that h cos at all,”sad Jan to hr sstr.“It ould nothng;I could s h th prfct ndffrnc, ut I can hardly ar to har t thus prptually talkd of. My othr ans ll;ut sh dos not kno,no on can kno,ho uch I suffr fro hat sh says.Happy shall I ,hn hs stay at Nthrfld s ovr!”

“I sh I could say anythng to cofort you,”rpld Elzath;“ut t s holly out of y por.You ust fl t;and th usual satsfacton of prachng patnc to a suffrr s dnd , caus you hav alays so uch.”

Mr. Bngly arrvd. Mrs. Bnnt, through th assstanc of srvants, contrvd to hav th arlst tdngs of t, that th prod of anxty and frtfulnss on hr sd ght as long as t could.Sh countd th days that ust ntrvn for thr nvtaton could snt;hoplss of sng h for. But on th thrd ornng aftr hs arrval n Hrtfordshr,sh sa h, fro hr drssng-roo ndo,ntr th paddock and rd toards th hous.

Hr daughtrs r agrly calld to partak of hr joy. Jan rsolutly kpt hr plac at th tal;ut Elzath,to satsfy hr othr,nt to th ndo—sh lookd,—sh sa Mr.Darcy th h,and sat don agan y hr sstr.

“Thr s a gntlan th h,aa,”sad Ktty;“ho can t ?”

“So acquantanc or othr,y dar,I suppos;I a sur I do not kno.”

“La!”rpld Ktty,“t looks just lk that an that usd to th h for.Mr.hat's-hs-na.That tall,proud an.”

“Good gracous! Mr. Darcy!—and so t dos, I vo.Wll, any frnd of Mr. Bngly's ll alays lco hr, to sur;ut ls I ust say that I hat th vry sght of h.”

Jan lookd at Elzath th surprs and concrn.Sh kn ut lttl of thr tng n Dryshr, and thrfor flt for th akardnss hch ust attnd hr sstr, n sng h alost for th frst t aftr rcvng hs xplanatory lttr. Both sstrs r uncofortal nough.Each flt for th othr, and of cours for thslvs; and thr othr talkd on, of hr dslk of Mr. Darcy, and hr rsoluton to cvl to h only as Mr. Bngly's frnd, thout ng hard y thr of th.But Elzath had sourcs of unasnss hch could not suspctd y Jan, to ho sh had nvr yt had courag to sh Mrs. Gardnr's lttr, or to rlat hr on chang of sntnt toards h.To Jan,h could only a an hos proposals sh had rfusd,and hos rt sh had undrvalud;ut to hr on or xtnsv nforaton, h as th prson to ho th hol faly r ndtd for th frst of nfts, and ho sh rgardd hrslf th an ntrst,f not qut so tndr,at last as rasonal and just as hat Jan flt for Bngly. Hr astonshnt at hs cong—at hs cong to Nthrfld,to Longourn,and voluntarly skng hr agan,as alost qual to hat sh had knon on frst tnssng hs altrd havour n Dryshr.

Th colour hch had n drvn fro hr fac,rturnd for half a nut th an addtonal glo,and a sl of dlght addd lustr to hr ys,as sh thought for that spac of t that hs affcton and shs ust stll unshakn.But sh ould not scur.

“Lt frst s ho h havs,”sad sh;“t ll thn arly nough for xpctaton.”

Sh sat ntntly at ork,strvng to coposd,and thout darng to lft up hr ys,tll anxous curosty carrd th to th fac of hr sstr as th srvant as approachng th door.Jan lookd a lttl palr than usual,ut or sdat than Elzath had xpctd.On th gntln's apparng,hr colour ncrasd;yt sh rcvd th th tolral as,and th a proprty of havour qually fr fro any sypto of rsntnt or any unncssary coplasanc.

Elzath sad as lttl to thr as cvlty ould allo,and sat don agan to hr ork,th an agrnss hch t dd not oftn coand.Sh had vnturd only on glanc at Darcy.H lookd srous,as usual;and,sh thought,or as h had n usd to look n Hrtfordshr, than as sh had sn h at Prly. But, prhaps h could not n hr othr's prsnc hat h as for hr uncl and aunt. It as a panful, ut not an proal,conjctur.

Bngly,sh had lks sn for an nstant,and n that short prod sa h lookng oth plasd and arrassd. H as rcvd y Mrs. Bnnt th a dgr of cvlty hch ad hr to daughtrs ashad,spcally hn contrastd th th cold and cronous poltnss of hr curtsy and addrss to hs frnd.

Elzath, partcularly, ho kn that hr othr od to th lattr th prsrvaton of hr favourt daughtr fro rrdal nfay, as hurt and dstrssd to a ost panful dgr y a dstncton so ll appld.