第108章
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“Ho as t possl that such an da should ntr our rans? I flt a lttl unasy—a lttl farful of y sstr's happnss th h n arrag,caus I kn that hs conduct had not n alays qut rght.My fathr and othr kn nothng of that;thy only flt ho prudnt a atch t ust . Ktty thn ond, th a vry natural truph on knong or than th rst of us,that n Lyda's last lttr sh had prpard hr for such a stp.Sh had knon,t ss,of thr ng n lov th ach othr,any ks.”
“But not for thy nt to Brghton?”
“No,I lv not.”
“And dd Colonl Forstr appar to thnk ll of Wckha hslf?Dos h kno hs ral charactr?”
“I ust confss that h dd not spak so ll of Wckha as h forrly dd.H lvd h to prudnt and xtravagant. And snc ths sad affar has takn plac, t s sad that h lft Mryton gratly n dt;ut I hop ths ay fals.”
“Oh,Jan,had n lss scrt,had told hat kn of h,ths could not hav happnd!”
“Prhaps t ould hav n ttr,”rpld hr sstr.
“But to xpos th forr faults of any prson thout knong hat thr prsnt flngs r,sd unjustfal.W actd th th st ntntons.”
“Could Colonl Forstr rpat th partculars of Lyda's not to hs f?”
“H rought t th h for us to s.”
Jan thn took t fro hr pockt-ook,and gav t to Elzath. Ths r th contnts:
“MY DEAR HARRIET,
“You ll laugh hn you kno hr I a gon,and I cannot hlp laughng yslf at your surprs to-orro ornng,as soon as I a ssd.I a gong to Grtna Grn,and f you cannot guss th ho, I shall thnk you a splton, for thr s ut on an n th orld I lov,and h s an angl.I should nvr happy thout h,so thnk t no har to off.You nd not snd th ord at Longourn of y gong,f you do not lk t, for t ll ak th surprs th gratr,hn I rt to th and sgn y na 'Lyda Wckha.'What a good jok t ll !I can hardly rt for laughng.Pray ak y xcuss to Pratt for not kpng y ngagnt,and dancng th h to-nght.Tll h I hop h ll xcus hn h knos all;and tll h I ll danc th h at th nxt all t,th grat plasur.I shall snd for y cloths hn I gt to Longourn;ut I sh you ould tll Sally to nd a grat slt n y orkd usln gon for thy ar packd up. Good-y. Gv y lov to Colonl Forstr.I hop you ll drnk to our good journy.
“Your affctonat frnd,
“LYDIA BENNET.”
“Oh! thoughtlss, thoughtlss Lyda!”crd Elzath hn sh had fnshd t.“What a lttr s ths,to rttn at such a ont!But at last t shos that sh as srous on th sujct of thr journy.Whatvr h ght aftrards prsuad hr to, t as not on hr sd a sch of nfay.My poor fathr!ho h ust hav flt t!”
“I nvr sa anyon so shockd.H could not spak a ord for full tn nuts. My othr as takn ll datly, and th hol hous n such confuson!”
“Oh!Jan,”crd Elzath,“as thr a srvant longng to t ho dd not kno th hol story for th nd of th day?”
“I do not kno.I hop thr as.But to guardd at such a t s vry dffcult.My othr as n hystrcs,and though I ndavourd to gv hr vry assstanc n y por,I a afrad I dd not do so uch as I ght hav don! But th horror of hat ght possly happn alost took fro y facults.”
“Your attndanc upon hr has n too uch for you.You do not look ll.Oh that I had n th you!You hav had vry car and anxty upon yourslf alon.”
“Mary and Ktty hav n vry knd,and ould hav shard n vry fatgu,I a sur;ut I dd not thnk t rght for thr of th.Ktty s slght and dlcat;and Mary studs so uch,that hr hours of rpos should not rokn n on.My aunt Phllps ca to Longourn on Tusday,aftr y fathr nt aay;and as so good as to stay tll Thursday th .Sh as of grat us and cofort to us all.And Lady Lucas has n vry knd;sh alkd hr on Wdnsday ornng to condol th us,and offrd hr srvcs,or any of hr daughtrs',f thy should of us to us.”
“Sh had ttr hav stayd at ho,”crd Elzath;“prhaps sh ant ll,ut,undr such a sfortun as ths,on cannot s too lttl of on's nghours. Assstanc s possl;condolnc nsuffral.Lt th truph ovr us at a dstanc, and satsfd.”
Sh thn procdd to nqur nto th asurs hch hr fathr had ntndd to pursu,hl n ton,for th rcovry of hs daughtr.
“H ant I lv,”rpld Jan,“to go to Epso,th plac hr thy last changd horss, s th postlons and try f anythng could ad out fro th.Hs prncpal ojct ust to dscovr th nur of th hackny coach hch took th fro Clapha.It had co th a far fro London;and as h thought that th crcustanc of a gntlan and lady's rovng fro on carrag nto anothr ght rarkd h ant to ak nqurs at Clapha.If h could anyho dscovr at hat hous th coachan had for st don hs far,h dtrnd to ak nqurs thr,and hopd t ght not possl to fnd out th stand and nur of th coach.I do not kno of any othr dsgns that h had ford;ut h as n such a hurry to gon,and hs sprts so gratly dscoposd,that I had dffculty n fndng out vn so uch as ths.”