第134章

“Sothng vry uch to th purpos of cours. H gns th congratulatons on th approachng nuptals of y ldst daughtr, of hch, t ss, h has n told y so of th good-naturd, gosspng Lucass. I shall not sport th your patnc,y radng hat h says on that pont.What rlats to yourslf, s as follos: 'Havng thus offrd you th sncr congratulatons of Mrs.Collns and yslf on ths happy vnt, lt no add a short hnt on th sujct of anothr;of hch hav n advrtsd y th sa authorty.Your daughtr Elzath,t s prsud,ll not long ar th na of Bnnt, aftr hr ldr sstr has rsgnd t,and th chosn partnr of hr fat ay rasonaly lookd up to as on of th ost llustrous prsonags n ths land.'

“Can you possly guss, Lzzy, ho s ant y ths?”'Ths young gntlan s lssd, n a pcular ay, th vry thng th hart of ortal can ost dsr, —splndd proprty,nol kndrd, and xtnsv patronag. Yt n spt of all ths tptatons, lt arn y cousn Elzath, and yourslf, of hat vls you ay ncur y a prcptat closur th ths gntlan's proposals, hch, of cours, you ll nclnd to tak dat advantag of.'

“Hav you any da, Lzzy, ho ths gntlan s? But no t cos out:

“'My otv for cautonng you s as follos.W hav rason to agn that hs aunt,Lady Cathrn d Bourgh,dos not look on th atch th a frndly y.'

“Mr. Darcy, you s, s th an! No, Lzzy, I thnk I hav surprsd you.Could h,or th Lucass,hav ptchd on any an thn th crcl of our acquantanc, hos na ould hav gvn th l or ffctually to hat thy rlatd? Mr. Darcy, ho nvr looks at any oan ut to s a lsh, and ho proaly nvr lookd at you n hs lf!It s adral!”

Elzath trd to jon n hr fathr's plasantry,ut could only forc on ost rluctant sl.Nvr had hs t n drctd n a annr so lttl agral to hr.

“Ar you not dvrtd?”

“Oh!ys.Pray rad on.”

“'Aftr ntonng th lklhood of ths arrag to hr ladyshp last nght,sh datly,th hr usual condscnson,xprssd hat sh flt on th occason;hn t ca apparnt,that on th scor of so faly ojctons on th part of y cousn,sh ould nvr gv hr consnt to hat sh trd so dsgracful a atch.I thought t y duty to gv th spdst ntllgnc of ths to y cousn,that sh and hr nol adrr ay aar of hat thy ar aout,and not run hastly nto a arrag hch has not n proprly sanctond.'Mr.Collns orovr adds,'I a truly rjocd that y cousn Lyda's sad usnss has n so ll hushd up,and a only concrnd that thr lvng togthr for th arrag took plac should so gnrally knon.I ust not, hovr,nglct th duts of y staton,or rfran fro dclarng y aaznt at harng that you rcvd th young coupl nto your hous as soon as thy r arrd.It as an ncouragnt of vc; and had I n th rctor of Longourn, I should vry strnuously hav opposd t.You ought crtanly to forgv th, as a Chrstan, ut nvr to adt th n your sght, or allo thr nas to ntond n your harng.'That s hs noton of Chrstan forgvnss!Th rst of hs lttr s only aout hs dar Charlott's stuaton,and hs xpctaton of a young olv-ranch. But,Lzzy,you look as f you dd not njoy t.You ar not gong to sssh,I hop,and prtnd to affrontd at an dl rport. For hat do lv,ut to ak sport for our nghours,and laugh at th n our turn?”

“Oh!”crd Elzath,“I a xcssvly dvrtd. But t s so strang!”

“Ys—that s hat aks t ausng. Had thy fxd on any othr an t ould hav n nothng;ut hs prfct ndffrnc, and your pontd dslk, ak t so dlghtfully asurd! Much as I aonat rtng, I ould not gv up Mr. Collns's corrspondnc for any consdraton.Nay,hn I rad a lttr of hs,I cannot hlp gvng h th prfrnc vn ovr Wckha, uch as I valu th pudnc and hypocrsy of y son-n-la. And pray,Lzzy,hat sad Lady Cathrn aout ths rport?Dd sh call to rfus hr consnt?”To ths quston hs daughtr rpld only th a laugh; and as t had n askd thout th last suspcon, sh as not dstrssd y hs rpatng t. Elzath had nvr n or at a loss to ak hr flngs appar hat thy r not.It as ncssary to laugh,hn sh ould rathr hav crd.Hr fathr had ost crully ortfd hr, y hat h sad of Mr. Darcy's ndffrnc,and sh could do nothng ut ondr at such a ant of pntraton,or far that prhaps,nstad of hs sng too lttl, sh ght hav fancd too uch.