第74章

Therewas，indeed，sodeepablushoverFanny’sfaceatthatmomentasmightwarrantstrongsuspicioninapredisposedmind。

“Excellentcreature!Iwillnotteaseyou。Everythingshalltakeitscourse。But，dearFanny，youmustallowthatyouwerenotsoabsolutelyunpreparedtohavethequestionaskedasyourcousinfancies。Itisnotpossiblebutthatyoumusthavehadsomethoughtsonthesubject，somesurmisesastowhatmightbe。Youmusthaveseenthathewastryingtopleaseyoubyeveryattentioninhispower。

Wasnothedevotedtoyouattheball？Andthenbeforetheball，thenecklace!Oh!youreceiveditjustasitwasmeant。Youwereasconsciousasheartcoulddesire。

Irememberitperfectly。“

“Doyoumean，then，thatyourbrotherknewofthenecklacebeforehand？Oh!MissCrawford，_that_wasnotfair。“

“Knewofit!Itwashisowndoingentirely，hisownthought。

Iamashamedtosaythatithadneverenteredmyhead，butIwasdelightedtoactonhisproposalforbothyoursakes。“

“Iwillnotsay，“repliedFanny，“thatIwasnothalfafraidatthetimeofitsbeingso，fortherewassomethinginyourlookthatfrightenedme，butnotatfirst；

Iwasasunsuspiciousofitatfirst——indeed，indeedIwas。

ItisastrueasthatIsithere。AndhadIhadanideaofit，nothingshouldhaveinducedmetoacceptthenecklace。

Astoyourbrother’sbehaviour，certainlyIwassensibleofaparticularity：Ihadbeensensibleofitsomelittletime，perhapstwoorthreeweeks；butthenIconsidereditasmeaningnothing：Iputitdownassimplybeinghisway，andwasasfarfromsupposingasfromwishinghimtohaveanyseriousthoughtsofme。Ihadnot，MissCrawford，beenaninattentiveobserverofwhatwaspassingbetweenhimandsomepartofthisfamilyinthesummerandautumn。

Iwasquiet，butIwasnotblind。IcouldnotbutseethatMr。Crawfordallowedhimselfingallantrieswhichdidmeannothing。“

“Ah!Icannotdenyit。Hehasnowandthenbeenasadflirt，andcaredverylittleforthehavochemightbemakinginyoungladies’affections。Ihaveoftenscoldedhimforit，butitishisonlyfault；andthereisthistobesaid，thatveryfewyoungladieshaveanyaffectionsworthcaringfor。Andthen，Fanny，thegloryoffixingonewhohasbeenshotatbysomany；ofhavingitinone’spowertopayoffthedebtsofone’ssex!Oh!Iamsureitisnotinwoman’snaturetorefusesuchatriumph。“

Fannyshookherhead。“Icannotthinkwellofamanwhosportswithanywoman’sfeelings；andtheremayoftenbeagreatdealmoresufferedthanastander-bycanjudgeof。“

“Idonotdefendhim。Ileavehimentirelytoyourmercy，andwhenhehasgotyouatEveringham，Idonotcarehowmuchyoulecturehim。ButthisIwillsay，thathisfault，thelikingtomakegirlsalittleinlovewithhim，isnothalfsodangeroustoawife’shappinessasatendencytofallinlovehimself，w

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