第29章

Imusthavemydinner——Tobesure，Juliaisdressedbythistime。“

“Iamconvinced，madam，“saidEdmund，preventingFanny，“thatSirThomaswouldnotlikeit。“

“There，mydear，doyouhearwhatEdmundsays？“

“IfIweretodeclinethepart，“saidMaria，withrenewedzeal，“Juliawouldcertainlytakeit。“

“What!“criedEdmund，“ifsheknewyourreasons!“

“Oh!shemightthinkthedifferencebetweenus——

thedifferenceinoursituations——that_she_neednotbesoscrupulousas_I_mightfeelnecessary。

Iamsureshewouldargueso。No；youmustexcuseme；

Icannotretractmyconsent；itistoofarsettled，everybodywouldbesodisappointed，Tomwouldbequiteangry；

andifwearesoverynice，weshallneveractanything。“

“Iwasjustgoingtosaytheverysamething，“saidMrs。Norris。

“Ifeveryplayistobeobjectedto，youwillactnothing，andthepreparationswillbeallsomuchmoneythrownaway，andIamsure_that_wouldbeadiscredittousall。

Idonotknowtheplay；but，asMariasays，ifthereisanythingalittletoowarm(anditissowithmostofthem)itcanbeeasilyleftout。Wemustnotbeover-precise，Edmund。AsMr。Rushworthistoacttoo，therecanbenoharm。IonlywishTomhadknownhisownmindwhenthecarpentersbegan，fortherewasthelossofhalfaday’sworkaboutthoseside-doors。Thecurtainwillbeagoodjob，however。Themaidsdotheirworkverywell，andIthinkweshallbeabletosendbacksomedozensoftherings。Thereisnooccasiontoputthemsoveryclosetogether。I_am_ofsomeuse，Ihope，inpreventingwasteandmakingthemostofthings。

Thereshouldalwaysbeonesteadyheadtosuperintendsomanyyoungones。IforgottotellTomofsomethingthathappenedtomethisveryday。Ihadbeenlookingaboutmeinthepoultry-yard，andwasjustcomingout，whenwhoshouldIseebutDickJacksonmakinguptotheservants’hall-doorwithtwobitsofdealboardinhishand，bringingthemtofather，youmaybesure；

motherhadchancedtosendhimofamessagetofather，andthenfatherhadbidhimbringupthemtwobitsofboard，forhecouldnotnohowdowithoutthem。Iknewwhatallthismeant，fortheservants’dinner-bellwasringingattheverymomentoverourheads；andasIhatesuchencroachingpeople(theJacksonsareveryencroaching，Ihavealwayssaidso：justthesortofpeopletogetalltheycan)，Isaidtotheboydirectly(agreatlubberlyfellowoftenyearsold，youknow，whooughttobeashamedofhimself)，“_I’ll_taketheboardstoyourfather，Dick，sogetyouhomeagainasfastasyoucan。“

Theboylookedverysilly，andturnedawaywithoutofferingaword，forIbelieveImightspeakprettysharp；

andIdaresayitwillcurehimofcomingmaraudingaboutthehouseforonewhile。Ihatesuchgreediness——

sogoodasyourfatheristothefamily，employingthemanalltheyearround!“

Nobodywasatthetroubleofananswer；theotherssoonreturned；andEdmundfoundthattohaveendeavouredtosetthemrightmustbehisonlysatisfaction。

Dinnerpassedheavily。Mrs。Norr

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节