第85章

butthiscannotpossiblybepermittedbeforethemiddleofnextweek；thatis，hecannotanyhowbesparedtillafterthel4th，for_we_haveapartythatevening。

ThevalueofamanlikeHenry，onsuchanoccasion，iswhatyoucanhavenoconceptionof；soyoumusttakeituponmywordtobeinestimable。HewillseetheRushworths，whichownIamnotsorryfor——havingalittlecuriosity，andsoIthinkhashe——thoughhewillnotacknowledgeit。“

Thiswasalettertoberunthrougheagerly，tobereaddeliberately，tosupplymatterformuchreflection，andtoleaveeverythingingreatersuspensethanever。

Theonlycertaintytobedrawnfromitwas，thatnothingdecisivehadyettakenplace。Edmundhadnotyetspoken。

HowMissCrawfordreallyfelt，howshemeanttoact，ormightactwithoutoragainsthermeaning；whetherhisimportancetoherwerequitewhatithadbeenbeforethelastseparation；whether，iflessened，itwerelikelytolessenmore，ortorecoveritself，weresubjectsforendlessconjecture，andtobethoughtofonthatdayandmanydaystocome，withoutproducinganyconclusion。

TheideathatreturnedtheoftenestwasthatMissCrawford，afterprovingherselfcooledandstaggeredbyareturntoLondonhabits，wouldyetproveherselfintheendtoomuchattachedtohimtogivehimup。Shewouldtrytobemoreambitiousthanherheartwouldallow。

Shewouldhesitate，shewouldtease，shewouldcondition，shewouldrequireagreatdeal，butshewouldfinallyaccept。

ThiswasFanny’smostfrequentexpectation。Ahouseintown——that，shethought，mustbeimpossible。

YettherewasnosayingwhatMissCrawfordmightnotask。

Theprospectforhercousingrewworseandworse。

Thewomanwhocouldspeakofhim，andspeakonlyofhisappearance!Whatanunworthyattachment!TobederivingsupportfromthecommendationsofMrs。Fraser!

_She_whohadknownhimintimatelyhalfayear!

Fannywasashamedofher。ThosepartsoftheletterwhichrelatedonlytoMr。Crawfordandherself，touchedher，incomparison，slightly。WhetherMr。CrawfordwentintoNorfolkbeforeorafterthe14thwascertainlynoconcernofhers，though，everythingconsidered，shethoughthe_would_gowithoutdelay。ThatMissCrawfordshouldendeavourtosecureameetingbetweenhimandMrs。Rushworth，wasallinherworstlineofconduct，andgrosslyunkindandill-judged；butshehoped_he_

wouldnotbeactuatedbyanysuchdegradingcuriosity。

Heacknowledgednosuchinducement，andhissisteroughttohavegivenhimcreditforbetterfeelingsthanherown。

Shewasyetmoreimpatientforanotherletterfromtownafterreceivingthisthanshehadbeenbefore；

andforafewdayswassounsettledbyitaltogether，bywhathadcome，andwhatmightcome，thatherusualreadingsandconversationwithSusanweremuchsuspended。

Shecouldnotcommandherattentionasshewished。

IfMr。Crawfordrememberedhermessagetohercousin，shethoughtitverylikely，mostlikely，thathewouldwritetoheratallevents；itwouldbemostconsistentwithhisusualkindness；andtillshegotri

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节