第130章

On ornng,aout a k aftr Bngly's ngagnt th Jan had n ford,as h and th fals of th faly r sttng togthr n th dnng-roo,thr attnton as suddnly dran to th ndo,y th sound of a carrag;and thy prcvd a chas and four drvng up th lan.It as too arly n th ornng for vstors,and sds,th qupag dd not ansr to that of any of thr nghours.Th horss r post;and nthr th carrag, nor th lvry of th srvant ho prcdd t,r falar to th. As t as crtan,hovr,that soody as cong,Bngly nstantly prvald on Mss Bnnt to avod th confnnt of such an ntruson,and alk aay th h nto th shrury.Thy oth st off,and th conjcturs of th ranng thr contnud, though th lttl satsfacton,tll th door as thron opn and thr vstor ntrd.It as Lady Cathrn d Bourgh.

Thy r of cours all ntndng to surprsd;ut thr astonshnt as yond thr xpctaton;and on th part of Mrs. Bnnt and Ktty, though sh as prfctly unknon to th, vn nfror to hat Elzath flt.

Sh ntrd th roo th an ar or than usually ungracous,ad no othr rply to Elzath's salutaton than a slght nclnaton of th had, and sat don thout sayng a ord.Elzath had ntond hr na to hr othr on hr ladyshp's ntranc,though no rqust of ntroducton had n ad.

Mrs.Bnnt,all aaznt,though flattrd y havng a gust of such hgh portanc,rcvd hr th th utost poltnss. Aftr sttng for a ont n slnc, sh sad vry stffly to Elzath,

“I hop you ar ll,Mss Bnnt.That lady,I suppos,s your othr.”

Elzath rpld vry concsly that sh as.

“And that I suppos s on of your sstrs.”

“Ys, ada,”sad Mrs. Bnnt, dlghtd to spak to Lady Cathrn.“Sh s y youngst grl ut on.My youngst of all s latly arrd,and y ldst s sohr aout th grounds, alkng th a young an ho,I lv,ll soon co a part of th faly.”

“You hav a vry sall park hr,”rturnd Lady Cathrn aftr a short slnc.

“It s nothng n coparson of Rosngs,y lady,I dar say;ut I assur you t s uch largr than Sr Wlla Lucas's.”

“Ths ust a ost nconvnnt sttng roo for th vnng, n sur;th ndos ar full st.”

Mrs.Bnnt assurd hr that thy nvr sat thr aftr dnnr, and thn addd:

“May I tak th lrty of askng your ladyshp hthr you lft Mr.and Mrs.Collns ll.”

“Ys,vry ll.I sa th th nght for last.”

Elzath no xpctd that sh ould produc a lttr for hr fro Charlott, as t sd th only proal otv for hr callng.But no lttr appard,and sh as copltly puzzld. Mrs. Bnnt, th grat cvlty, ggd hr ladyshp to tak so rfrshnt; ut Lady Cathrn vry rsolutly, and not vry poltly,dclnd atng anythng;and thn,rsng up,sad to Elzath,

“Mss Bnnt, thr sd to a prttysh knd of a lttl ldrnss on on sd of your lan. I should glad to tak a turn n t,f you ll favour th your copany.”

“Go, y dar,”crd hr othr,“and sho hr ladyshp aout th dffrnt alks. I thnk sh ll plasd th th hrtag.”

Elzath oyd, and runnng nto hr on roo for hr parasol, attndd hr nol gust donstars.As thy passd through th hall, Lady Cathrn opnd th doors nto th dnng-parlour and drang-roo,and pronouncng th,aftr a short survy,to dcnt lookng roos,alkd on.

Hr carrag rand at th door, and Elzath sa that hr atng-oan as n t.Thy procdd n slnc along th gravl alk that ld to th cops; Elzath as dtrnd to ak no ffort for convrsaton th a oan ho as no or than usually nsolnt and dsagral.

“Ho could I vr thnk hr lk hr nph?”sad sh,as sh lookd n hr fac.

As soon as thy ntrd th cops, Lady Cathrn gan n th follong annr:—

“You can at no loss,Mss Bnnt, to undrstand th rason of y journy hthr.Your on hart,your on conscnc, ust tll you hy I co.”

Elzath lookd th unaffctd astonshnt.

“Indd,you ar stakn,Mada.I hav not n at all al to account for th honour of sng you hr.”

“Mss Bnnt,”rpld hr ladyshp, n an angry ton,“you ought to kno, that I a not to trfld th. But hovr nsncr you ay choos to , you shall not fnd so. My charactr has vr n clratd for ts sncrty and franknss, and n a caus of such ont as ths,I shall crtanly not dpart fro t.A rport of a ost alarng natur rachd to days ago.I as told that not only your sstr as on th pont of ng ost advantagously arrd,ut that you,that Mss Elzath Bnnt,ould,n all lklhood, soon aftrards untd to y nph,y on nph,Mr.Darcy.Though I kno t ust a scandalous falshood,though I ould not njur h so uch as to suppos th truth of t possl,I nstantly rsolvd on sttng off for ths plac,that I ght ak y sntnts knon to you.”

“If you lvd t possl to tru,”sad Elzath, colourng th astonshnt and dsdan,“I ondr you took th troul of cong so far.What could your ladyshp propos y t?”

“At onc to nsst upon havng such a rport unvrsally contradctd.”

“Your cong to Longourn, to s and y faly,”sad Elzath coolly,“ll rathr a confraton of t; f, ndd, such a rport s n xstnc.”

“If!Do you thn prtnd to gnorant of t?Has t not n ndustrously crculatd y yourslvs?Do you not kno that such a rport s sprad aroad?”

“I nvr hard that t as.”

“And can you lks dclar,that thr s no foundaton for t?”

“I do not prtnd to possss qual franknss th your ladyshp. You ay ask qustons hch I shall not choos to ansr.”