第121章[第3页/共5页]

“Yes;he introduced us to his sister.”

“Very much.”

“You certainly do,”she replied with a smile;“but it does not follow that the interruption must be unwelcome.”

“Exceedingly well. I should have considered it as part of my duty, and the exertion would soon have been nothing. One ought not to repine;―but,to be sure,it would have been such a thing for me!The quiet,the retirement of such a life would have answered all my ideas of happiness!But it was not to be.Did you ever hear Darcy mention the circumstance, when you were in Kent?”

“True.Are the others coming out?”

“I dare say she will;she has got over the most trying age.”

“Certainly,”he replied,biting his lips.Elizabeth hoped she had silenced him;but he soon afterwards said:

“I mention it,because it is the living which I ought to have had. A most delightful place!―Excellent Parsonage House! It would have suited me in every respect.”

“I do not recollect that we did.”

“I have heard from authority, which I thought as good, that it was left you conditionally only,and at the will of the present patron.”