第126章

Th gntln ca;and sh thought h lookd as f h ould hav ansrd hr hops;ut,alas!th lads had crodd round th tal, hr Mss Bnnt as akng ta, and Elzath pourng out th coff,n so clos a confdracy that thr as not a sngl vacancy nar hr hch ould adt of a char.And on th gntln's approachng,on of th grls ovd closr to hr than vr,and sad,n a hspr:

“Th n shan't co and part us,I a dtrnd.W ant non of th;do ?”

Darcy had alkd aay to anothr part of th roo. Sh follod h th hr ys,nvd vryon to ho h spok, had scarcly patnc nough to hlp anyody to coff;and thn as nragd aganst hrslf for ng so slly!

“A an ho has onc n rfusd!Ho could I vr foolsh nough to xpct a rnal of hs lov?Is thr on aong th sx,ho ould not protst aganst such a aknss as a scond proposal to th sa oan?Thr s no ndgnty so ahorrnt to thr flngs!”

Sh as a lttl rvvd,hovr,y hs rngng ack hs coff cup hslf;and sh szd th opportunty of sayng:

“Is your sstr at Prly stll?”

“Ys,sh ll ran thr tll Chrstas.”

“And qut alon?Hav all hr frnds lft hr?”

“Mrs.Annsly s th hr.Th othrs hav n gon on to Scarorough,ths thr ks.”

Sh could thnk of nothng or to say; ut f h shd to convrs th hr,h ght hav ttr succss.H stood y hr, hovr,for so nuts,n slnc;and,at last,on th young lady's hsprng to Elzath agan,h alkd aay.

Whn th ta-thngs r rovd,and th card-tals placd, th lads all ros, and Elzath as thn hopng to soon jond y h,hn all hr vs r ovrthron y sng h fall a vct to hr othr's rapacty for hst playrs,and n a f onts aftr satd th th rst of th party.Sh no lost vry xpctaton of plasur.Thy r confnd for th vnng at dffrnt tals,and sh had nothng to hop,ut that hs ys r so oftn turnd toards hr sd of th roo, as to ak h play as unsuccssfully as hrslf.

Mrs. Bnnt had dsgnd to kp th to Nthrfld gntln to suppr; ut thr carrag as unluckly ordrd for any of th othrs,and sh had no opportunty of dtanng th.

“Wll grls,”sad sh, as soon as thy r lft to thslvs,“What say you to th day? I thnk vry thng has passd off uncoonly ll,I assur you.Th dnnr as as ll drssd as any I vr sa.Th vnson as roastd to a turn—and vryody sad thy nvr sa so fat a haunch.Th soup as ffty ts ttr than hat had at th Lucass' last k;and vn Mr. Darcy acknoldgd, that th partrdgs r rarkaly ll don; and I suppos h has to or thr Frnch cooks at last. And,y dar Jan,I nvr sa you look n gratr auty.Mrs. Long sad so too,for I askd hr hthr you dd not.And hat do you thnk sh sad sds? 'Ah! Mrs. Bnnt, shall hav hr at Nthrfld at last.'Sh dd ndd.I do thnk Mrs.Long s as good a cratur as vr lvd—and hr ncs ar vry prtty havd grls,and not at all handso:I lk th prodgously.”

Mrs. Bnnt, n short, as n vry grat sprts; sh had sn nough of Bngly's havour to Jan,to convncd that sh ould gt h at last;and hr xpctatons of advantag to hr faly,hn n a happy huour,r so far yond rason,that sh as qut dsappontd at not sng h thr agan th nxt day,to ak hs proposals.

“It has n a vry agral day,”sad Mss Bnnt to Elzath.“Th party sd so ll slctd, so sutal on th th othr.I hop ay oftn t agan.”

Elzath sld.

“Lzzy,you ust not do so. You ust not suspct .It ortfs . I assur you that I hav no larnt to njoy hs convrsaton as an agral and snsl young an,thout havng a sh yond t.I a prfctly satsfd,fro hat hs annrs no ar,that h nvr had any dsgn of ngagng y affcton.It s only that h s lssd th gratr stnss of addrss,and a strongr dsr of gnrally plasng,than any othr an.”

“You ar vry crul,”sad hr sstr,“you ll not lt sl, and ar provokng to t vry ont.”

“Ho hard t s n so cass to lvd!”

“And ho possl n othrs!”

“But hy should you sh to prsuad that I fl or than I acknoldg?”

“That s a quston hch I hardly kno ho to ansr.W all lov to nstruct,though can tach only hat s not orth knong. Forgv ; and f you prsst n ndffrnc, do not ak your confdant.”