第70章

butbywhatothernamecanIcallyou？Doyousupposeyouareeverpresenttomyimaginationunderanyother？

No，itis’Fanny’thatIthinkofallday，anddreamofallnight。Youhavegiventhenamesuchrealityofsweetness，thatnothingelsecannowbedescriptiveofyou。“

Fannycouldhardlyhavekeptherseatanylonger，orhaverefrainedfromatleasttryingtogetawayinspiteofallthetoopublicoppositionsheforesawtoit，haditnotbeenforthesoundofapproachingrelief，theverysoundwhichshehadbeenlongwatchingfor，andlongthinkingstrangelydelayed。

Thesolemnprocession，headedbyBaddeley，oftea-board，urn，andcake-bearers，madeitsappearance，anddeliveredherfromagrievousimprisonmentofbodyandmind。

Mr。Crawfordwasobligedtomove。Shewasatliberty，shewasbusy，shewasprotected。

Edmundwasnotsorrytobeadmittedagainamongthenumberofthosewhomightspeakandhear。Butthoughtheconferencehadseemedfulllongtohim，andthoughonlookingatFannyhesawratheraflushofvexation，heinclinedtohopethatsomuchcouldnothavebeensaidandlistenedtowithoutsomeprofittothespeaker。

EdmundhaddeterminedthatitbelongedentirelytoFannytochusewhetherhersituationwithregardtoCrawfordshouldbementionedbetweenthemornot；andthatifshedidnotleadtheway，itshouldneverbetouchedonbyhim；

butafteradayortwoofmutualreserve，hewasinducedbyhisfathertochangehismind，andtrywhathisinfluencemightdoforhisfriend。

Aday，andaveryearlyday，wasactuallyfixedfortheCrawfords’departure；andSirThomasthoughtitmightbeaswelltomakeonemoreeffortfortheyoungmanbeforeheleftMansfield，thatallhisprofessionsandvowsofunshakenattachmentmighthaveasmuchhopetosustainthemaspossible。

SirThomaswasmostcordiallyanxiousfortheperfectionofMr。Crawford’scharacterinthatpoint。Hewishedhimtobeamodelofconstancy；andfanciedthebestmeansofeffectingitwouldbebynottryinghimtoolong。

Edmundwasnotunwillingtobepersuadedtoengageinthebusiness；hewantedtoknowFanny’sfeelings。

Shehadbeenusedtoconsulthimineverydifficulty，andhelovedhertoowelltobeartobedeniedherconfidencenow；hehopedtobeofservicetoher，hethoughthemustbeofservicetoher；whomelsehadshetoopenherheartto？Ifshedidnotneedcounsel，shemustneedthecomfortofcommunication。Fannyestrangedfromhim，silentandreserved，wasanunnaturalstateofthings；

astatewhichhemustbreakthrough，andwhichhecouldeasilylearntothinkshewaswantinghimtobreakthrough。

“Iwillspeaktoher，sir：Iwilltakethefirstopportunityofspeakingtoheralone，“

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节