第21章

“MissBertramthoughtyouwouldfollowher。“

“Ishouldnothavehadtofollowherifshehadstaid。“

Thiscouldnotbedenied，andFannywassilenced。

Afteranotherpause，hewenton——“Pray，MissPrice，areyousuchagreatadmirerofthisMr。Crawfordassomepeopleare？Formypart，Icanseenothinginhim。“

“Idonotthinkhimatallhandsome。“

“Handsome!Nobodycancallsuchanundersizedmanhandsome。

Heisnotfivefootnine。Ishouldnotwonderifheisnotmorethanfivefooteight。Ithinkheisanill-lookingfellow。

Inmyopinion，theseCrawfordsarenoadditionatall。

Wedidverywellwithoutthem。“

AsmallsighescapedFannyhere，andshedidnotknowhowtocontradicthim。

“IfIhadmadeanydifficultyaboutfetchingthekey，theremighthavebeensomeexcuse，butIwenttheverymomentshesaidshewantedit。“

“Nothingcouldbemoreobligingthanyourmanner，Iamsure，andIdaresayyouwalkedasfastasyoucould；butstillitissomedistance，youknow，fromthisspottothehouse，quiteintothehouse；andwhenpeoplearewaiting，theyarebadjudgesoftime，andeveryhalfminuteseemslikefive。“

Hegotupandwalkedtothegateagain，and“wishedhehadhadthekeyabouthimatthetime。“Fannythoughtshediscernedinhisstandingthereanindicationofrelenting，whichencouragedhertoanotherattempt，andshesaid，therefore，“Itisapityyoushouldnotjointhem。

Theyexpectedtohaveabetterviewofthehousefromthatpartofthepark，andwillbethinkinghowitmaybeimproved；andnothingofthatsort，youknow，canbesettledwithoutyou。“

Shefoundherselfmoresuccessfulinsendingawaythaninretainingacompanion。Mr。Rushworthwasworkedon。

“Well，“saidhe，“ifyoureallythinkIhadbettergo：

itwouldbefoolishtobringthekeyfornothing。“

Andlettinghimselfout，hewalkedoffwithoutfartherceremony。

Fanny’sthoughtswerenowallengrossedbythetwowhohadlefthersolongago，andgettingquiteimpatient，sheresolvedtogoinsearchofthem。Shefollowedtheirstepsalongthebottomwalk，andhadjustturnedupintoanother，whenthevoiceandthelaughofMissCrawfordoncemorecaughtherear；thesoundapproached，andafewmorewindingsbroughtthembeforeher。

Theywerejustreturnedintothewildernessfromthepark，towhichasidegate，notfastened，hadtemptedthemverysoonaftertheirleavingher，andtheyhadbeenacrossaportionoftheparkintotheveryavenuewhichFannyhadbeenhopingthewholemorningtoreachatlast，andhadbeensittingdownunderoneofthetrees。

Thiswastheirhistory。Itwasevidentthattheyhadbeenspendingtheirtimepleasantly，andwerenotawareofthelengthoftheirabsence。Fanny’sbestconsolationwasinbeingassuredthatEdmundhadwishedforherverymuch，andthatheshouldcertainlyhavecomebackforher，hadshenotbeentiredalready；butthiswasnotquitesufficien

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