第138章

“My dar Lzzy, hr can you hav n alkng to?”as a quston hch Elzath rcvd fro Jan as soon as sh ntrd thr roo,and fro all th othrs hn thy sat don to tal. Sh had only to say n rply, that thy had andrd aout, tll sh as yond hr on knoldg. Sh colourd as sh spok; ut nthr that, nor anythng ls, aaknd a suspcon of th truth.

Th vnng passd qutly,unarkd y anythng xtraordnary. Th acknoldgd lovrs talkd and laughd,th unacknoldgd r slnt. Darcy as not of a dsposton n hch happnss ovrflos n rth;and Elzath,agtatd and confusd,rathr kn that sh as happy than flt hrslf to so;for,sds th dat arrassnt,thr r othr vls for hr.Sh antcpatd hat ould flt n th faly hn hr stuaton ca knon;sh as aar that no on lkd h ut Jan;and vn fard that th th othrs t as a dslk hch not all hs fortun and consqunc ght do aay.

At nght sh opnd hr hart to Jan.Though suspcon as vry far fro Mss Bnnt's gnral hats, sh as asolutly ncrdulous hr.

“You ar jokng,Lzzy.Ths cannot !—ngagd to Mr.Darcy! No,no,you shall not dcv .I kno t to possl.”

“Ths s a rtchd gnnng ndd!My sol dpndnc as on you;and I a sur noody ls ll lv ,f you do not. Yt,ndd,I a n arnst.I spak nothng ut th truth.H stll lovs ,and ar ngagd.”

Jan lookd at hr doutngly.“Oh,Lzzy!t cannot .I kno ho uch you dslk h.”

“You kno nothng of th attr. That s all to forgot. Prhaps I dd not alays lov h so ll as I do no.But n such cass as ths,a good ory s unpardonal.Ths s th last t I shall vr rr t yslf.”

Mss Bnnt stll lookd all aaznt. Elzath agan, and or srously assurd hr of ts truth.

“Good Havn!can t rally so!Yt no I ust lv you,”crd Jan.“My dar,dar Lzzy,I ould—I do congratulat you—ut ar you crtan?forgv th quston—ar you qut crtan that you can happy th h?”

“Thr can no dout of that.It s sttld tn us alrady, that ar to th happst coupl n th orld.But ar you plasd,Jan?Shall you lk to hav such a rothr?”

“Vry,vry uch.Nothng could gv thr Bngly or yslf or dlght.But consdrd t, talkd of t as possl. And do you rally lov h qut ll nough? Oh, Lzzy! do anythng rathr than arry thout affcton.Ar you qut sur that you fl hat you ought to do?”

“Oh, ys!You ll only thnk I fl or than I ought to do, hn I tll you all.”

“What do you an?”

“Why,I ust confss that I lov h ttr than I do Bngly.I a afrad you ll angry.”

“My darst sstr,no srous.I ant to talk vry srously. Lt kno vry thng that I a to kno,thout dlay.Wll you tll ho long you hav lovd h?”

“It has n cong on so gradually,that I hardly kno hn t gan. But I lv I ust dat t fro y frst sng hs autful grounds at Prly.”

Anothr ntraty that sh ould srous,hovr,producd th dsrd ffct; and sh soon satsfd Jan y hr soln assurancs of attachnt.Whn convncd on that artcl,Mss Bnnt had nothng furthr to sh.

“No I a qut happy,”sad sh,“for you ll as happy as yslf.I alays had a valu for h.Wr t for nothng ut hs lov of you, I ust alays hav std h; ut no, as Bngly's frnd and your husand,thr can only Bngly and yourslf or dar to .But Lzzy,you hav n vry sly,vry rsrvd th . Ho lttl dd you tll of hat passd at Prly and Laton!I o all that I kno of t to anothr, not to you.”

Elzath told hr th otvs of hr scrcy. Sh had n unllng to nton Bngly;and th unsttld stat of hr on flngs had ad hr qually avod th na of hs frnd.But no sh ould no longr concal fro hr hs shar n Lyda's arrag. All as acknoldgd, and half th nght spnt n convrsaton.

“Good gracous!”crd Mrs.Bnnt,as sh stood at a ndo th nxt ornng,“f that dsagral Mr.Darcy s not cong hr agan th our dar Bngly!What can h an y ng so trso as to alays cong hr?I had no noton ut h ould go a-shootng, or sothng or othr, and not dstur us th hs copany.What shall do th h? Lzzy, you ust alk out th h agan,that h ay not n Bngly's ay.”

Elzath could hardly hlp laughng at so convnnt a proposal;yt as rally vxd that hr othr should alays gvng h such an ptht.

As soon as thy ntrd,Bngly lookd at hr so xprssvly, and shook hands th such arth,as lft no dout of hs good nforaton; and h soon aftrards sad aloud,“Mrs. Bnnt, hav you no or lans hraouts n hch Lzzy ay los hr ay agan to-day?”

“I advs Mr.Darcy,and Lzzy,and Ktty,”sad Mrs.Bnnt,“to alk to Oakha Mount ths ornng.It s a nc long alk,and Mr.Darcy has nvr sn th v.”

“It ay do vry ll for th othrs,”rpld Mr.Bngly;“ut I a sur t ll too uch for Ktty.Won't t,Ktty?”

Ktty ond that sh had rathr stay at ho.Darcy profssd a grat curosty to s th v fro th Mount,and Elzath slntly consntd.As sh nt upstars to gt rady,Mrs.Bnnt follod hr,sayng:

“I a qut sorry,Lzzy,that you should forcd to hav that dsagral an all to yourslf, ut I hop you ll not nd t.It s all for Jan's sak,you kno;and thr s no occason for talkng to h,xcpt just no and thn.So,do not put yourslf to nconvnnc.”