“Good gracious!”cried Maria, after a few minutes' silence,“it seems but a day or two since we first came! and yet how many things have happened!”
“I know not, Miss Elizabeth,”said he,“whether Mrs. Collins has yet expressed her sense of your kindness in coming to us;but I am very certain you will not leave the house without receiving her thanks for it.The favor of your company has been much felt, I assure you.We know how little there is to tempt anyone to our humble abode.Our plain manner of living,our small rooms and few domestics,and the little we see of the world,must make Hunsford extremely dull to a young lady like yourself;but I hope you will believe us grateful for the condescension, and that we have done everything in our power to prevent your spending your time unpleasantly.”
“A great many indeed,”said her companion with a sigh.
Their journey was performed without much conversation, or any alarm; and within four hours of their leaving Hunsford they reached Mr. Gardiner's house,where they were to remain a few days.
Jane looked well, and Elizabeth had little opportunity of studying her spirits, amidst the various engagements which the kindness of her aunt had reserved for them.But Jane was to go home with her,and at Longbourn there would be leisure enough for observation.