第124章

Darcy, aftr nqurng of hr ho Mr. and Mrs. Gardnr dd, a quston hch sh could not ansr thout confuson, sad scarcly anythng. H as not satd y hr; prhaps that as th rason of hs slnc; ut t had not n so n Dryshr. Thr h had talkd to hr frnds,hn h could not to hrslf. But no svral nuts lapsd thout rngng th sound of hs voc;and hn occasonally,unal to rsst th puls of curosty,sh rasd hr ys to hs fac,sh as oftn found h lookng at Jan as at hrslf,and frquntly on no ojct ut th ground. Mor thoughtfulnss and lss anxty to plas, than hn thy last t,r planly xprssd.Sh as dsappontd, and angry th hrslf for ng so.

“Could I xpct t to othrs!”sad sh.“Yt hy dd h co?”

Sh as n no huour for convrsaton th anyon ut hslf;and to h sh had hardly courag to spak.

Sh nqurd aftr hs sstr,ut could do no or.

“It s a long t,Mr.Bngly,snc you nt aay,”sad Mrs. Bnnt.

H radly agrd to t.

“I gan to afrad you ould nvr co ack agan.Popl dd say you ant to qut th plac ntrly at Mchalas;ut, hovr, I hop t s not tru.A grat any changs hav happnd n th nghourhood,snc you nt aay.Mss Lucas s arrd and sttld.And on of y on daughtrs.I suppos you hav hard of t;ndd,you ust hav sn t n th paprs. It as n Th Ts and Th Courr,I kno;though t as not put n as t ought to .It as only sad,'Latly,Gorg Wckha, Esq.to Mss Lyda Bnnt,'thout thr ng a syllal sad of hr fathr, or th plac hr sh lvd, or anythng. It as y rothr Gardnr's drang up too,and I ondr ho h ca to ak such an akard usnss of t.Dd you s t?”

Bngly rpld that h dd, and ad hs congratulatons. Elzath dard not lft up hr ys. Ho Mr. Darcy lookd, thrfor,sh could not tll.

“It s a dlghtful thng, to sur, to hav a daughtr ll arrd,”contnud hr othr,“ut at th sa t, Mr.Bngly, t s vry hard to hav hr takn such a ay fro . Thy ar gon don to Ncastl, a plac qut northard, t ss,and thr thy ar to stay,I do not kno ho long.Hs rgnt s thr; for I suppos you hav hard of hs lavng th—shr, and of hs ng gon nto th rgulars. Thank Havn!h has so frnds,though prhaps not so any as h dsrvs.”

Elzath, ho kn ths to lvlld at Mr. Darcy, as n such sry of sha,that sh could hardly kp hr sat.It dr fro hr,hovr,th xrton of spakng,hch nothng ls had so ffctually don for;and sh askd Bngly hthr h ant to ak any stay n th country at prsnt.A f ks,h lvd.

“Whn you hav klld all your on rds, Mr. Bngly,”sad hr othr,“I g you ll co hr,and shoot as any as you plas on Mr.Bnnt's anor.I a sur h ll vastly happy to olg you,and ll sav all th st of th covys for you.”

Elzath's sry ncrasd,at such unncssary,such offcous attnton!Wr th sa far prospct to ars at prsnt as had flattrd th a yar ago,vry thng,sh as prsuadd,ould hastnng to th sa vxatous concluson.At that nstant, sh flt that yars of happnss could not ak Jan or hrslf ands for onts of such panful confuson.

“Th frst sh of y hart,”sad sh to hrslf,“s nvr or to n copany th thr of th.Thr socty can afford no plasur that ll aton for such rtchdnss as ths!Lt nvr s thr on or th othr agan!”

Yt th sry, for hch yars of happnss r to offr no copnsaton, rcvd soon aftrards atral rlf, fro osrvng ho uch th auty of hr sstr r-kndld th adraton of hr forr lovr.Whn frst h ca n, h had spokn to hr ut lttl; ut vry fv nuts sd to gvng hr or of hs attnton. H found hr as handso as sh had n last yar;as good naturd,and as unaffctd,though not qut so chatty.Jan as anxous that no dffrnc should prcvd n hr at all,and as rally prsuadd that sh talkd as uch as vr.But hr nd as so usly ngagd,that sh dd not alays kno hn sh as slnt.

Whn th gntln ros to go aay,Mrs.Bnnt as ndful of hr ntndd cvlty,and thy r nvtd and ngagd to dn at Longourn n a f days t.

“You ar qut a vst n y dt,Mr.Bngly,”sh addd,“for hn you nt to ton last ntr,you prosd to tak a faly dnnr th us, as soon as you rturnd. I hav not forgot, you s;and I assur you,I as vry uch dsappontd that you dd not co ack and kp your ngagnt.”

Bngly lookd a lttl slly at ths rflcton,and sad sothng of hs concrn at havng n prvntd y usnss.Thy thn nt aay.

Mrs. Bnnt had n strongly nclnd to ask th to stay and dn thr that day;ut,though sh alays kpt a vry good tal,sh dd not thnk anythng lss than to courss could good nough for a an on ho sh had such anxous dsgns,or satsfy th apptt and prd of on ho had tn thousand a yar.