第141章

Elzath's sprts soon rsng to playfulnss agan,sh antd Mr.Darcy to account for hs havng vr falln n lov th hr.“Ho could you gn?”sad sh.“I can coprhnd your gong on charngly, hn you had onc ad a gnnng; ut hat could st you off n th frst plac?”

“I cannot fx on th hour,or th spot,or th look,or th ords, hch lad th foundaton.It s too long ago.I as n th ddl for I kn that I had gun.”

“My auty you had arly thstood,and as for y annrs—y havour to you as at last alays ordrng on th uncvl,and I nvr spok to you thout rathr shng to gv you pan than not.No sncr;dd you adr for y prtnnc?”

“For th lvlnss of your nd,I dd.”

“You ay as ll call t prtnnc at onc.It as vry lttl lss.Th fact s, that you r sck of cvlty, of dfrnc, of offcous attnton.You r dsgustd th th on ho r alays spakng,and lookng,and thnkng for your approaton alon. I rousd, and ntrstd you, caus I as so unlk th. Had you not n rally aal, you ould hav hatd for t;ut n spt of th pans you took to dsgus yourslf, your flngs r alays nol and just;and n your hart,you thoroughly dspsd th prsons ho so assduously courtd you.Thr—I hav savd you th troul of accountng for t;and rally, all thngs consdrd, I gn to thnk t prfctly rasonal.To sur, you kn no actual good of —ut noody thnks of that hn thy fall n lov.”

“Was thr no good n your affctonat havour to Jan hl sh as ll at Nthrfld?”

“Darst Jan! ho could hav don lss for hr? But ak a vrtu of t y all ans. My good qualts ar undr your protcton,and you ar to xaggrat th as uch as possl;and,n rturn,t longs to to fnd occasons for tasng and quarrllng th you as oftn as ay ;and I shall gn drctly y askng you hat ad you so unllng to co to th pont at last?What ad you so shy of ,hn you frst calld,and aftrards dnd hr?Why,spcally,hn you calld,dd you look as f you dd not car aout ?”

“Bcaus you r grav and slnt,and gav no ncouragnt.”

“But I as arrassd.”

“And so as I.”

“You ght hav talkd to or hn you ca to dnnr.”

“A an ho had flt lss,ght.”

“Ho unlucky that you should hav a rasonal ansr to gv, and that I should so rasonal as to adt t!But I ondr ho long you ould hav gon on,f you had n lft to yourslf. I ondr hn you ould hav spokn, f I had not askd you! My rsoluton of thankng you for your kndnss to Lyda had crtanly grat ffct.Too uch,I a afrad;for hat cos of th oral,f our cofort sprngs fro a rach of pros?for I ought not to hav ntond th sujct.Ths ll nvr do.”

“You nd not dstrss yourslf.Th oral ll prfctly far. Lady Cathrn's unjustfal ndavours to sparat us r th ans of rovng all y douts. I a not ndtd for y prsnt happnss to your agr dsr of xprssng your grattud.I as not n a huour to at for any opnng of yours. My aunt's ntllgnc had gvn hop,and I as dtrnd at onc to kno vry thng.”

“Lady Cathrn has n of nfnt us,hch ought to ak hr happy, for sh lovs to of us.But tll ,hat dd you co don to Nthrfld for?Was t rly to rd to Longourn and arrassd? or had you ntndd any or srous consqunc?”

“My ral purpos as to s you, and to judg, f I could, hthr I ght vr hop to ak you lov .My avod on, or hat I avod to yslf,as to s hthr your sstr r stll partal to Bngly,and f sh r,to ak th confsson to h hch I hav snc ad.”

“Shall you vr hav courag to announc to Lady Cathrn hat s to fall hr?”

“I a or lkly to ant or t than courag,Elzath. But t ought to don,and f you ll gv a sht of papr,t shall don drctly.”

“And f I had not a lttr to rt yslf,I ght st y you and adr th vnnss of your rtng,as anothr young lady onc dd.But I hav an aunt,too,ho ust not longr nglctd.”

Fro an unllngnss to confss ho uch hr ntacy th Mr.Darcy had n ovr-ratd,Elzath had nvr yt ansrd Mrs.Gardnr's long lttr;ut no,havng that to councat hch sh kn ould ost lco,sh as alost ashad to fnd that hr uncl and aunt had alrady lost thr days of happnss,and datly rot as follos:

“I ould hav thankd you for,y dar aunt,as I ought to hav don,for your long,knd,satsfactory,dtal of partculars;ut to say th truth,I as too cross to rt.You supposd or than rally xstd. But no suppos as uch as you choos;gv a loos rn to your fancy,ndulg your agnaton n vry possl flght hch th sujct ll afford,and unlss you lv actually arrd,you cannot gratly rr.You ust rt agan vry soon,and pras h a grat dal or than you dd n your last. I thank you, agan and agan, for not gong to th Laks. Ho could I so slly as to sh t!Your da of th pons s dlghtful.W ll go round th Park vry day.I a th happst cratur n th orld.Prhaps othr popl hav sad so for, ut no on th such justc. I a happr vn than Jan; sh only sls,I laugh.Mr.Darcy snds you all th lov n th orld that h can spar fro .You ar all to co to Prly at Chrstas.Yours,tc.”

Mr. Darcy's lttr to Lady Cathrn as n a dffrnt styl;and stll dffrnt fro thr as hat Mr.Bnnt snt to Mr. Collns,n rply to hs last.

“Dar Sr,

“I ust troul you onc or for congratulatons. Elzath ll soon th f of Mr. Darcy. Consol Lady Cathrn as ll as you can.But,f I r you,I ould stand y th nph. H has or to gv.

“Yours sncrly,tc.”