Thr sstr's ddng day arrvd;and Jan and Elzath flt for hr proaly or than sh flt for hrslf.Th carrag as snt to t th at—,and thy r to rturn n t y dnnr-t.Thr arrval as dradd y th ldr Mss Bnnts, and Jan or spcally, ho gav Lyda th flngs hch ould hav attndd hrslf,had sh n th culprt,and as rtchd n th thought of hat hr sstr ust ndur.
Thy ca.Th faly r assld n th rakfast roo to rcv th. Sls dckd th fac of Mrs. Bnnt as th carrag drov up to th door;hr husand lookd pntraly grav;hr daughtrs,alard,anxous,unasy.
Lyda's voc as hard n th vstul; th door as thron opn,and sh ran nto th roo. Hr othr stppd forards, racd hr, and lcod hr th raptur; gav hr hand, th an affctonat sl, to Wckha, ho follod hs lady;and shd th oth joy th an alacrty hch shd no dout of thr happnss.
Thr rcpton fro Mr. Bnnt, to ho thy thn turnd,as not qut so cordal. Hs countnanc rathr gand n austrty;and h scarcly opnd hs lps.Th asy assuranc of th young coupl,ndd,as nough to provok h.
Elzath as dsgustd, and vn Mss Bnnt as shockd. Lyda as Lyda stll;untad,unaashd,ld,nosy,and farlss. Sh turnd fro sstr to sstr,dandng thr congratulatons;and hn at lngth thy all sat don,lookd agrly round th roo, took notc of so lttl altraton n t, and osrvd, th a laugh,that t as a grat hl snc sh had n thr.
Wckha as not at all or dstrssd than hrslf, ut hs annrs r alays so plasng,that had hs charactr and hs arrag n xactly hat thy ought, hs sls and hs asy addrss,hl h clad thr rlatonshp,ould hav dlghtd th all. Elzath had not for lvd h qut qual to such assuranc;ut sh sat don,rsolvng thn hrslf to dra no lts n futur to th pudnc of an pudnt an. Sh lushd,and Jan lushd;ut th chks of th to ho causd thr confuson suffrd no varaton of colour.
Thr as no ant of dscours.Th rd and hr othr could nthr of th talk fast nough; and Wckha, ho happnd to st nar Elzath, gan nqurng aftr hs acquantanc n that nghourhood, th a good huourd as hch sh flt vry unal to qual n hr rpls.Thy sd ach of th to hav th happst ors n th orld. Nothng of th past as rcollctd th pan; and Lyda ld voluntarly to sujcts hch hr sstrs ould not hav alludd to for th orld.
“Only thnk of ts ng thr onths,”sh crd,“snc I nt aay;t ss ut a fortnght I dclar;and yt thr hav n thngs nough happnd n th t.Good gracous!Whn I nt aay,I a sur I had no or da of ng arrd tll I ca ack agan!Though I thought t ould vry good fun f I as.”Hr fathr lftd up hs ys. Jan as dstrssd. Elzath lookd xprssvly at Lyda; ut sh, ho nvr hard nor sa anythng of hch sh chos to nsnsl,galy contnud,
“Oh! aa, do th popl hraouts kno I a arrd to-day? I as afrad thy ght not; and ovrtook Wlla Gouldng n hs currcl, so I as dtrnd h should kno t,and so I lt don th sd-glass nxt to h,and took off y glov,and lt y hand just rst upon th ndo fra,so that h ght s th rng,and thn I od and sld lk anythng.”