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Northanger Abbey-Part19_Jane Austen(1775-1817)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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near Fullerton. You must be near us."

"I am sure I shall be miserable if we do not.



If I can but be near you, I shall be satisfied.

But this is idle talking! I will not allow myself to think



of such things, till we have your father's answer.

Morland says that by sending it tonight to Salisbury,



we may have it tomorrow. Tomorrow? I know I shall never have

courage to open the letter. I know it will be the death



of me."

A reverie succeeded this conviction--and when



Isabella spoke again, it was to resolve on the quality

of her wedding-gown.



Their conference was put an end to by the anxious

young lover himself, who came to breathe his parting sigh



before he set off for Wiltshire. Catherine wished to

congratulate him, but knew not what to say, and her eloquence



was only in her eyes. From them, however, the eight parts

of speech shone out most expressively, and James could



combine them with ease. Impatient for the realization

of all that he hoped at home, his adieus were not long;



and they would have been yet shorter, had he not been

frequently detained by the urgent entreaties of his fair



one that he would go. Twice was he called almost from the

door by her eagerness to have him gone. "Indeed, Morland,



I must drive you away. Consider how far you have to ride.

I cannot bear to see you linger so. For heaven's sake,



waste no more time. There, go, go--I insist on it."

The two friends, with hearts now more united than ever,



were inseparable for the day; and in schemes of sisterly

happiness the hours flew along. Mrs. Thorpe and her son,



who were acquainted with everything, and who seemed only

to want Mr. Morland's consent, to consider Isabella's



engagement as the most fortunate circumstance imaginable

for their family, were allowed to join their counsels,



and add their quota of significant looks and mysterious

expressions to fill up the measure of curiosity



to be raised in the unprivileged younger sisters.

To Catherine's simple feelings, this odd sort of reserve



seemed neither kindly meant, nor consistently supported;

and its unkindness she would hardly have forborne



pointing out, had its inconsistency been less their friend;

but Anne and Maria soon set her heart at ease by the



sagacity of their "I know what"; and the evening was spent

in a sort of war of wit, a display of family ingenuity,



on one side in the mystery of an affected secret,

on the other of undefined discovery, all equally acute.



Catherine was with her friend again the next day,

endeavouring to support her spirits and while away the



many tedious hours before the delivery of the letters;

a needful exertion, for as the time of reasonable expectation



drew near, Isabella became more and more desponding,

and before the letter arrived, had worked herself



into a state of real distress. But when it did come,

where could distress be found? "I have had no difficulty



in gaining the consent of my kind parents, and am

promised that everything in their power shall be done



to forward my happiness," were the first three lines,

and in one moment all was joyfulsecurity. The brightest



glow was instantly spread over Isabella's features,

all care and anxiety seemed removed, her spirits became



almost too high for control, and she called herself without

scruple the happiest of mortals.



Mrs. Thorpe, with tears of joy, embraced her daughter,

her son, her visitor, and could have embraced half



the inhabitants of Bath with satisfaction. Her heart

was overflowing with tenderness. It was "dear John"



and "dear Catherine" at every word; "dear Anne and dear Maria"

must immediately be made sharers in their felicity;



and two "dears" at once before the name of Isabella were

not more than that beloved child had now well earned.



John himself was no skulker in joy. He not only bestowed

on Mr. Morland the high commendation of being one of the



finest fellows in the world, but swore off many sentences

in his praise.






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