A quarter of an hour, twenty minutes, passed away, and Fanny was still thinking of Edmund, Miss Crawford, and herself, without interruption from anyone. She began to be surprised at being left so long, and to listen with an anxious desire of hearing their steps and their voices again. She listened, and at length she heard; she heard voices and feet approaching; but she had just satisfied herself that it was not those she wanted, when Miss Bertram, Mr. Rushworth, and Mr. Crawford issued from the same path which she had trod herself, and were before her.

“Miss Price all alone!” and “My dear Fanny, how comes this?” were the first salutations. She told her story. “Poor dear Fanny,” cried her cousin, “how ill you have been used by them! You had better have stayed with us.”

Then seating herself with a gentleman on each side, she resumed the conversation which had engaged them before, and discussed the possibility of improvements with much animation. Nothing was fixed on—but Henry Crawford was full of ideas and projects, and, generally speaking, whatever he proposed was immediately approved, first by her, and then by Mr. Rushworth, whose principal business seemed to be to hear the others, and who scarcely risked an original thought of his own beyond a wish that they had seen his friend Smith's place.

After some minutes spent in this way, Miss Bertram, observing the iron gate, expressed a wish of passing through it into the park, that their views and their plans might be more comprehensive. It was the very thing of all others to be wished, it was the best, it was the only way of proceeding with any advantage, in Henry Crawford's opinion; and he directly saw a knoll not half a mile off, which would give them exactly the requisite command of the house. Go therefore they must to that knoll, and through that gate; but the gate was locked. Mr. Rushworth wished he had brought the key; he had been very near thinking whether he should not bring the key; he was determined he would never come without the key again; but still this did not remove the present evil. They could not get through; and as Miss Bertram's inclination for so doing did by no means lessen, it ended in Mr. Rushworth's declaring outright that he would go and fetch the key. He set off accordingly.

“It is undoubtedly the best thing we can do now, as we are so far from the house already,” said Mr. Crawford, when he was gone.

“Yes, there is nothing else to be done. But now, sincerely, do not you find the place altogether worse than you expected?”

“No, indeed, far otherwise. I find it better, grander, more complete in its style, though that style may not be the best. And to tell you the truth,” speaking rather lower, “I do not think that I shall ever see Sotherton again with so much pleasure as I do now. Another summer will hardly improve it to me.”

After a moment's embarrassment the lady replied, “You are too much a man of the world not to see with the eyes of the world. If other people think Sotherton improved, I have no doubt that you will.”

“I am afraid I am not quite so much the man of the world as might be good for me in some points. My feelings are not quite so evanescent, nor my memory of the past under such easy dominion as one finds to be the case with men of the world.”

This was followed by a short silence. Miss Bertram began again. “You seemed to enjoy your drive here very much this morning. I was glad to see you so well entertained. You and Julia were laughing the whole way.”

“Were we? Yes, I believe we were; but I have not the least recollection at what. Oh! I believe I was relating to her some ridiculous stories of an old Irish groom of my uncle's. Your sister loves to laugh.”

“You think her more light-hearted than I am?”

“More easily amused,” he replied; “consequently, you know,” smiling, “better company. I could not have hoped to entertain you with Irish anecdotes during a ten miles' drive.”

“Naturally, I believe, I am as lively as Julia, but I have more to think of now.”

“You have, undoubtedly—and there are situations in which very high spirits would denote insensibility. Your prospects, however, are too fair to justify want of spirits. You have a very smiling scene before you.”

“Do you mean literally or figuratively? Literally, I conclude. Yes, certainly, the sun shines, and the park looks very cheerful. But unluckily that iron gate, that ha-ha, give me a feeling of restraint and hardship.‘I cannot get out,’ as the starling said.” As she spoke, and it was with expression, she walked to the gate; he followed her. “Mr. Rushworth is so long fetching this key!”

“And for the world you would not get out without the key and without Mr. Rushworth's authority and protection, or I think you might with little difficulty pass round the edge of the gate, here, with my assistance; I think it might be done, if you really wished to be more at large, and could allow yourself to think it not prohibited.”

“Prohibited! nonsense! I certainly can get out that way, and I will. Mr. Rushworth will be here in a moment, you know—we shall not be out of sight.”

“Or if we are, Miss Price will be so good as to tell him that he will find us near that knoll, the grove of oak on the knoll.”

Fanny, feeling all this to be wrong, could not help making an effort to prevent it. “You will hurt yourself, Miss Bertram,” she cried; “you will certainly hurt yourself against those spikes—you will tear your gown—you will be in danger of slipping into the ha-ha. You had better not go.”

Her cousin was safe on the other side while these words were spoken, and, smiling with all the good humour of success, she said, “Thank you, my dear Fanny, but I and my gown are alive and well, and so goodbye.”

Fanny was again left to her solitude, and with no increase of pleasant feelings, for she was sorry for almost all that she had seen and heard, astonished at Miss Bertram, and angry with Mr. Crawford. By taking a circuitous route, and, as it appeared to her, very unreasonable direction to the knoll, they were soon beyond her eye; and for some minutes longer she remained without sight or sound of any companion. She seemed to have the little wood all to herself. She could almost have thought that Edmund and Miss Crawford had left it, but that it was impossible for Edmund to forget her so entirely.

She was again roused from disagreeable musings by sudden footsteps, somebody was coming at a quick pace down the principal walk. She expected Mr. Rushworth, but it was Julia, who, hot and out of breath, and with a look of disappointment, cried out on seeing her, “Hey-day! Where are the others? I thought Maria and Mr. Crawford were with you.”

Fanny explained.

“A pretty trick, upon my word! I cannot see them anywhere,” looking eagerly into the park. “But they cannot be very far off, and I think I am equal to as much as Maria, even without help.”

“But, Julia, Mr. Rushworth will be here in a moment with the key. Do wait for Mr. Rushworth.”

“Not I, indeed. I have had enough of the family for one morning. Why, child, I have but this moment escaped from his horrible mother. Such a penance as I have been enduring, while you were sitting here so composed and so happy! It might have been as well, perhaps, if you had been in my place, but you always contrive to keep out of these scrapes.”

This was a most unjust reflection, but Fanny could allow for it, and let it pass; Julia was vexed, and her temper was hasty; but she felt that it would not last, and therefore, taking no notice, only asked her if she had not seen Mr. Rushworth.

“Yes, yes, we saw him. He was posting away as if upon life and death, and could but just spare time to tell us his errand, and where you all were.”

“It is a pity that he should have so much trouble for nothing.”

“That is Miss Maria's concern. I am not obliged to punish myself for her sins. The mother I could not avoid, as long as my tiresome aunt was dancing about with the housekeeper, but the son I can get away from.”

And she immediately scrambled across the fence, and walked away, not attending to Fanny's last question of whether she had seen anything of Miss Crawford and Edmund. The sort of dread in which Fanny now sat of seeing Mr. Rushworth prevented her thinking so much of their continued absence, however, as she might have done. She felt that he had been very ill-used, and was quite unhappy in having to communicate what had passed. He joined her within five minutes after Julia's exit; and though she made the best of the story, he was evidently mortified and displeased in no common degree. At first he scarcely said anything; his looks only expressed his extreme surprise and vexation, and he walked to the gate and stood there, without seeming to know what to do.

“They desired me to stay—my cousin Maria charged me to say that you would find them at that knoll, or thereabouts.”

“I do not believe I shall go any farther,” said he sullenly; “I see nothing of them. By the time I get to the knoll, they may be gone somewhere else. I have had walking enough.”

And he sat down with a most gloomy countenance by Fanny.

“I am very sorry,” said she; “it is very unlucky.” And she longed to be able to say something more to the purpose.

After an interval of silence, “I think they might as well have stayed for me,” said he.

“Miss Bertram thought you would follow her.”

“I should not have had to follow her if she had stayed.”

This could not be denied, and Fanny was silenced. After another pause, he went on. “Pray, Miss Price, are you such a great admirer of this Mr. Crawford as some people are? For my part, I can see nothing in him.”

“I do not think him at all handsome.”

“Handsome! Nobody can call such an undersized man handsome. He is not five foot nine. I should not wonder if he was not more than five foot eight. I think he is an ill-looking fellow. In my opinion, these Crawfords are no addition at all. We did very well without them.”

A small sigh escaped Fanny here, and she did not know how to contradict him.

“If I had made any difficulty about fetching the key, there might have been some excuse, but I went the very moment she said she wanted it.”

“Nothing could be more obliging than your manner, I am sure, and I dare say you walked as fast as you could; but still it is some distance, you know, from this spot to the house, quite into the house; and when people are waiting, they are bad judges of time, and every half minute seems like five.”

He got up and walked to the gate again, and “wished he had had the key about him at the time.” Fanny thought she discerned in his standing there, an indication of relenting, which encouraged her to another attempt, and she said, therefore, “It is a pity you should not join them. They expected to have a better view of the house from that part of the park, and will be thinking how it may be improved; and nothing of that sort, you know, can be settled without you.”

She found herself more successful in sending away than in retaining a companion. Mr. Rushworth was worked on. “Well,” said he, “if you really think I had better go; it would be foolish to bring the key for nothing.” And letting himself out, he walked off without further ceremony.

Fanny's thoughts were now all engrossed by the two who had left her so long ago, and getting quite impatient, she resolved to go in search of them. She followed their steps along the bottom walk, and had just turned up into another, when the voice and the laugh of Miss Crawford once more caught her ear; the sound approached, and a few more windings brought them before her. They were just returned into the wilderness from the park, to which a side gate, not fastened, had tempted them very soon after their leaving her, and they had been across a portion of the park into the very avenue which Fanny had been hoping the whole morning to reach at last, and had been sitting down under one of the trees. This was their history. It was evident that they had been spending their time pleasantly, and were not aware of the length of their absence. Fanny's best consolation was in being assured that Edmund had wished for her very much, and that he should certainly have come back for her, had she not been tired already; but this was not quite sufficient to do away the pain of having been left a whole hour, when he had talked of only a few minutes, nor to banish the sort of curiosity she felt to know what they had been conversing about all that time; and the result of the whole was to her disappointment and depression, as they prepared by general agreement to return to the house.

On reaching the bottom of the steps to the terrace, Mrs. Rushworth and Mrs. Norris presented themselves at the top, just ready for the wilderness, at the end of an hour and half from their leaving the house. Mrs. Norris had been too well employed to move faster. Whatever cross accidents had occurred to intercept the pleasures of her nieces, she had found a morning of complete enjoyment—for the housekeeper, after a great many courtesies on the subject of pheasants, had taken her to the dairy, told her all about their cows, and given her the receipt for a famous cream cheese; and since Julia's leaving them they had been met by the gardener, with whom she had made a most satisfactory acquaintance, for she had set him right as to his grandson's illness, convinced him it was an ague, and promised him a charm for it; and he, in return, had shown her all his choicest nursery of plants, and actually presented her with a very curious specimen of heath.

On this rencontre they all returned to the house together, there to lounge away the time as they could with sofas, and chit-chat, and Quarterly Reviews, till the return of the others, and the arrival of dinner. It was late before the Miss Bertrams and the two gentlemen came in, and their ramble did not appear to have been more than partially agreeable, or at all productive of anything useful with regard to the object of the day. By their own accounts they had been all walking after each other, and the junction which had taken place at last seemed, to Fanny's observation, to have been as much too late for re-establishing harmony, as it confessedly had been for determining on any alteration. She felt, as she looked at Julia and Mr. Rushworth, that hers was not the only dissatisfied bosom amongst them; there was gloom on the face of each. Mr. Crawford and Miss Bertram were much more gay, and she thought that he was taking particular pains, during dinner, to do away any little resentment of the other two, and restore general good humour.

Dinner was soon followed by tea and coffee, a ten miles' drive home allowed no waste of hours; and from the time of their sitting down to table, it was a quick succession of busy nothings till the carriage came to the door, and Mrs. Norris, having fidgeted about, and obtained a few pheasants' eggs and a cream cheese from the housekeeper, and made abundance of civil speeches to Mrs. Rushworth, was ready to lead the way. At the same moment Mr. Crawford, approaching Julia, said, “I hope I am not to lose my companion, unless she is afraid of the evening air in so exposed a seat.” The request had not been foreseen, but was very graciously received, and Julia's day was likely to end almost as well as it began. Miss Bertram had made up her mind to something different, and was a little disappointed—but her conviction of being really the one preferred comforted her under it, and enabled her to receive Mr. Rushworth's parting attentions as she ought. He was certainly better pleased to hand her into the barouche than to assist her in ascending the box—and his complacency seemed confirmed by the arrangement.

“Well, Fanny, this has been a fine day for you, upon my word!” said Mrs. Norris, as they drove through the park. “Nothing but pleasure from beginning to end! I am sure you ought to be very much obliged to your aunt Bertram and me for contriving to let you go. A pretty good day's amusement you have had!”

Maria was just discontented enough to say directly, “I think you have done pretty well yourself, ma'am. Your lap seems full of good things, and here is a basket of something between us which has been knocking my elbow unmercifully.”

“My dear, it is only a beautiful little heath, which that nice old gardener would make me take; but if it is in your way, I will have it in my lap directly. There, Fanny, you shall carry that parcel for me—take great care of it—do not let it fall; it is a cream cheese, just like the excellent one we had at dinner. Nothing would satisfy that good old Mrs. Whitaker, but my taking one of the cheeses. I stood out as long as I could, till the tears almost came into her eyes, and I knew it was just the sort that my sister would be delighted with. That Mrs. Whitaker is a treasure! She was quite shocked when I asked her whether wine was allowed at the second table, and she has turned away two housemaids for wearing white gowns. Take care of the cheese, Fanny. Now I can manage the other parcel and the basket very well.”

“What else have you been sponging?” said Maria, half-pleased that Sotherton should be so complimented.

“Sponging, my dear! It is nothing but four of those beautiful pheasants' eggs, which Mrs. Whitaker would quite force upon me: she would not take a denial. She said it must be such an amusement to me, as she understood I lived quite alone, to have a few living creatures of that sort; and so to be sure it will. I shall get the dairy maid to set them under the first spare hen, and if they come to good I can have them moved to my own house and borrow a coop; and it will be a great delight to me in my lonely hours to attend to them. And if I have good luck, your mother shall have some.”

It was a beautiful evening, mild and still, and the drive was as pleasant as the serenity of Nature could make it; but when Mrs. Norris ceased speaking, it was altogether a silent drive to those within. Their spirits were in general exhausted—and to determine whether the day had afforded most pleasure or pain, might occupy the meditations of almost all.

十五分钟过去了，二十分钟过去了，范妮仍然在想着埃德蒙、克劳福德小姐和她自己，没有一个人来打断她的思绪。她开始感到奇怪，自己怎么会给撂下这么长时间，于是便侧耳倾听，急于想再听到他们的脚步声和说话声。她听了又听，终于听见了，听见说话声和脚步声越来越近。但是，她刚意识到来的并不是她所盼的人，伯特伦小姐、拉什沃思先生和克劳福德先生便从她走过的那条路上走出来，来到了她面前。

几个人一看见她，迎头而来的是这样的话：“普莱斯小姐孤零零一个人啊！”“亲爱的范妮，这是怎么回事呀？”范妮把事情的原委告诉了他们。“可怜的小范妮，”她表姐嚷道，“他们竟然这样怠慢你呀！你早该和我们待在一起的。”

然后，这位表姐便坐了下来，两位先生分坐在她两边。她又拾起了他们刚才谈论的话题，兴致勃勃地讨论如何改造庄园。没有得出任何结论——不过，亨利·克劳福德满脑子的主意和方案，而且一般说来，不论他提出什么建议，都会立即得到赞同，先是伯特伦小姐，接着是拉什沃思先生。拉什沃思先生的主要任务，似乎就是听别人出主意，自己不敢贸然提出任何主意，只是遗憾大家没见过他的朋友史密斯的庄园。

这样过了一阵，伯特伦小姐眼望着铁门，说是想穿过铁门到庄园里看看，以便他们的想法和计划能够更加周全。这正合其他几个人的心意。在亨利·克劳福德看来，这再好不过了，是唯一有益的行动方案。他当即发现，不到半英里以外有座小山丘，站在上面恰好可以俯瞰大宅。因此，他们必须到那山丘上，而且就打这铁门出去。可是门却锁着。拉什沃思先生后悔没带钥匙。他出来的时候，曾隐约想过是否要带钥匙，此刻他下定了决心，今后再来这里决不能不带钥匙。可是，这仍然不能解决眼下的问题。他们没法从铁门出去。由于伯特伦小姐要出铁门的兴致丝毫未减，最后拉什沃思先生毅然宣布，他要去取钥匙。于是，他就走了。

“我们离大宅这么远，这无疑是我们所能采取的最好办法。”拉什沃思先生走后，克劳福德先生说。

“是的，没有别的办法。不过说实话，难道你不觉得这座庄园总的来说比你预想的要差吗？”

“那倒没有，事实恰恰相反。我觉得比我预想的更好，更气派，就它的风格来说更趋完美，虽说这种风格可能算不上最好的。跟你说实话，”克劳福德先生声音压得低低地说，“我想，我要是再看到索瑟顿的话，就决不会像这次这样兴高采烈了。以后的夏天，我也不会觉得它比现在更好。”

伯特伦小姐不知说什么是好，过了一会才答道：“你是个深通世故的人，自然会用世俗的眼光看问题。要是别人觉得索瑟顿变得更好了，我相信你也会那样看的。”

“我恐怕还不是一个那么深通世故的人，因此不会顾及在某些方面于己是否有利。我的感情不像老于世故的人那样说变就变，我对往事的记忆也不像老于世故的人那样容易受别人的影响。”

接着是一阵短暂的沉默。伯特伦小姐又开口了：“今天上午你赶车来这里的时候，好像赶得很开心。我看到你那样快乐感到很高兴。你和朱莉娅笑了一路。”

“是吗？不错，我想我们是笑了一路，不过我丝毫记不得为什么而笑了。噢！我想我给她讲了我叔叔的爱尔兰老马夫的一些滑稽故事。你妹妹就爱笑。”

“你觉得她比我开朗吧。”

“更容易被逗乐，”克劳福德先生答道。“因而，你知道，”他说着笑了笑，“更好相处。我想，在十英里的旅途中，我很难拿一些爱尔兰的趣闻逸事逗你开心的。”

“我想，我天性和朱莉娅一样快活，不过我现在的心事比她多。”

“你的心事肯定比她多——在有些处境下，情绪高涨会意味着麻木不仁。不过你前程似锦，不该情绪低落。你的前面是一片明媚的景色。”

“你说的是字面意思还是比喻意义？我想是字面意思吧。景色的确不错，阳光灿烂，庄园令人赏心悦目。但遗憾的是，这座铁门、这道隐篱，给我一种监禁受难的感觉。正如椋鸟说的那样：‘我无法飞出牢笼。’[1]”伯特伦小姐一边神气活现地说着，一边向铁门走去，克劳福德先生跟在她后边。“拉什沃思先生取钥匙去了这么长时间！”

“没有钥匙，没有拉什沃思先生的许可和保护，你无论如何也是出不去的。不然的话，我想在我的帮助下，你可以毫不费力地从门上边翻过去。如果你真的想要自由，并且认为这不犯禁，我想还是可以这样做的。”

“犯禁！什么话呀！我当然可以那样出去，而且就要那样出去。你知道，拉什沃思先生一会儿就会回来——他不会看不见我们的。”

“即使他看不见我们，还可以请普莱斯小姐告诉他，让他到山丘附近，到山丘上的橡树林里找我们。”

范妮觉得这样做不妥，忍不住想要加以阻止。“你会受伤的，伯特伦小姐，”她嚷道，“那些尖头肯定会把你刺伤——会撕破你的衣服——你会掉到隐篱里去。你最好不要过去。”

话音未落，她表姐已平安无事地翻到了那边，脸上挂着扬扬得意的微笑，说道：“谢谢你，亲爱的范妮，我和我的衣服都安然无恙，再见。”

范妮又一次被孤零零地扔在那里，心情并不比原来好受。她几乎为她耳闻目睹的一切感到难过，对伯特伦小姐感到惊讶，对克劳福德先生感到气恼。他们俩走了一条迂回的路线，一条在她看来很不合理的路线，朝小山丘走去，很快就走没影了。就这样又过了一会儿，她既见不到人，也听不到什么动静。整个小树林里似乎就她一个人。她几乎感到，埃德蒙和克劳福德小姐已经离开了树林，可是埃德蒙不会把她忘得这么彻底。

突然传来一阵脚步声，又一次把她从懊恼的沉思中惊醒，有人脚步匆匆地顺着主径走来。她以为是拉什沃思先生，不料却是朱莉娅。只见她又热又气喘吁吁，满脸失望的样子，一见到范妮便嚷嚷道“：啊！别人都哪儿去了？我还以为玛丽亚和克劳福德先生与你在一起呢。”

范妮说明了事情的原委。

“我敢说，他们在捣鬼！我哪儿也看不到他们，”朱莉娅一边说一边用急切的目光往庄园里巡视，“不过他们不会离这儿很远。我想玛丽亚能做到的事我也能做到，甚至不用别人搀扶。”

“不过，朱莉娅，拉什沃思先生马上就会拿来钥匙。你还是等等他吧。”

“我才不等呢。我一个上午都在陪这家人，够腻烦的了。听着，姑娘，我是刚刚摆脱他那令人讨厌透顶的妈妈。你安安静静、快快活活地坐在这里，我却一直在活受罪呀！也许当初可以让你来干我这份差事，可你总是设法避开这种尴尬局面。”

对范妮的这番责难极不公正，不过范妮倒能宽容，不予计较。朱莉娅心里有气，性子又急。不过范妮觉得她持续不了多久，因而未予理会，只是问她有没有见到拉什沃思先生。

“见到了，见到了。他风风火火地跑开了，好像性命攸关似的，只是仓促地对我们说了声他去干什么，你们都在哪儿。”

“可惜他白辛苦了一场。”

“那是玛丽亚小姐的事。我犯不着因为她的过失而跟自己过不去。讨厌的大姨妈拉着管家婆东游西逛，弄得我甩不开拉什沃思太太，不过她儿子我却能甩掉。”

朱莉娅立即爬过栅栏走开了，也不理会范妮问的最后一个问题：她有没有看见克劳福德小姐和埃德蒙。不过，范妮坐在那里，由于担心看到拉什沃思先生，不再一味地去琢磨他们久去不归。她觉得他们太对不住拉什沃思先生，而刚才的事还得由她来告诉拉什沃思先生，她感到非常难受。朱莉娅跳出栅栏不到五分钟，拉什沃思先生便赶来了。尽管范妮把事情讲得十分婉转，但看得出来，拉什沃思先生感到非同一般的屈辱和气愤。起初他几乎什么都不说，只是脸上表现出极度的惊讶和恼怒，随即便走到铁门跟前，站在那里，仿佛不知如何是好。

“他们要我待在这儿——玛丽亚表姐叫我转告你，你可以在那座山丘或附近一带找到他们。”

“我想我一步也不想往前走了，”拉什沃思先生气呼呼地说，“我连他们的影子都看不见。等我赶到山丘那儿，他们也许又到别的地方了。我走路已经走得够多了。”

他在范妮身旁坐下，脸色异常阴郁。

“我感到很抱歉，”范妮说，“真令人遗憾。”她很想再说点妥帖的安慰话。

沉默了一阵之后，拉什沃思先生说：“我想他们完全可以在这儿等我。”

“伯特伦小姐认为你会去找她的。”

“她要是待在这儿，我就不用去找她了。”

这话是毋庸置疑的，因此范妮沉默不语。又停了一阵之后，拉什沃思先生继续说道：“请问，普莱斯小姐，你是不是像有些人那样，非常倾慕这位克劳福德先生？我却看不出他有什么了不起的。”

“我觉得他一点也不漂亮。”

“漂亮！谁也不会说这么一个矮小的男人漂亮。他还不到五英尺九英寸。我看他可能还不到五英尺八英寸。我觉得这家伙不好看。依我看，克劳福德家这兄妹俩完全是多余的，没有他们我们照样过得挺好。”

范妮听了这话，不由得轻轻叹息了一声，她不知道如何反驳他。

“我对取钥匙若是表现得丝毫勉强的话，他们不等我倒也情有可原，可是伯特伦小姐一说要钥匙，我就赶忙去取了。”

“我敢说，你当时表现得再爽快不过了，我敢说你是以最快的速度走的。不过你知道，从这儿到大宅，再进到大宅里面，总还有一段距离。而人在等待的时候，对时间就把握不准了，每过半分钟就像是过了五分钟。”

拉什沃思先生站起身来，又走到铁门跟前，嘴里说：“我当时身上带钥匙就好了。”范妮见他站在那儿，觉得他态度有所缓和，由此受到鼓励，想再劝说一次，于是便说道：“真遗憾，你没跟他们一起去。他们认为从庄园的那个地方可以更好地察看大宅，可以琢磨如何加以改进。可你要知道，你不在场，这种事什么也定不下来。”

范妮发现，把一个伙伴打发走比把他留在身边还要顺当些。拉什沃思先生被说动了。“好吧，”他说，“如果你真认为我还是去的好，我也不该白去取了一趟钥匙。”他开门走了出去，没再打个招呼便走开了。

这时候，范妮的心思完全回到了离她已久的那两个人身上，实在耐不住了，便决定去找他们。她顺着林边小路，朝他们去的方向走去，刚转到另一条小路上，便又一次听到了克劳福德小姐的说话声和笑声。声音越来越近，又转了几个弯，那两个人便出现在她面前。据他们说，他们是刚从庄园回到荒野上来的。他们离开她没走多久，便遇到一个边门没锁，于是情不自禁地走了进去。他们在庄园里走了一阵，终于走上了范妮一上午都盼着要去的那条林荫大道，在一棵树下坐了下来。原来他们是这样玩的。显然，他们玩得非常快活，忘记了已离开她有多久。埃德蒙对范妮说，他多么希望她也和他们在一起，当时若不是因为她已经走不动了，他肯定会回来叫她一块去的。这些话是对范妮的莫大安慰，但还不足以消除她内心的委屈，表哥本来说过一会儿就回来，却把她撂下了整整一个小时；这些话也不足以驱除她的好奇心，她想知道他们在此期间一直在谈些什么。到头来，她只能感到失望和伤心，因为他们一致表示，要回大宅去了。

拉什沃思太太和诺里斯太太走到阶径的台阶跟前，来到了顶部，准备往荒野走去，这时她们离开大宅已足有一个半小时了。诺里斯太太分心的事情太多，因而无法走快。尽管外甥女都遇到了不顺心的事，心里快活不起来，她却觉得一上午十分开心——女管家先是客客气气地就野鸡问题向她介绍了许多情况，接着把她领到奶牛场，又把奶牛的情况做了详细的介绍，给了她一张领单，让她去领一包有名的奶酪。朱莉娅离开她们之后，她们又遇到了园丁。诺里斯太太极其高兴能与园丁相识，因为她为园丁判明了他孙子的病症，告诉他说他孙子得的是疟疾，答应给他一个治疟疾的符咒。为了报答她，园丁领她观赏了他所有的奇花异草，还把一株非常稀罕的石楠送给了她。

相遇之后，大家一起回到大宅，坐在沙发上聊天，看《评论季刊》，借以消磨时间，等待其他人回来，等候开饭。两位伯特伦小姐和两位男士回来时天色已晚。他们的出游看来并不怎么愉快，也丝毫无助于这天原来的计划。照他们的说法，他们一直在你找我我找你，最后虽然终于碰到了一起，但是照范妮看来，似乎为时过晚，难以恢复原来的和谐气氛，而且正如他们所说的，也来不及做出改造庄园的任何决定。她看了看朱莉娅和拉什沃思先生，觉得心中不快的并不止自己一个人，他们两人都是满脸阴沉沉的。克劳福德先生和伯特伦小姐要快活得多。她觉得吃饭的时候，克劳福德先生煞费苦心地想要消除那两个人对他的怨恨，使席间个个都喜笑颜开。

饭后不久，茶和咖啡被送了上来。由于坐车回家还要走十英里，不允许耽搁很多时间，因而从就座入席开始，到马车来到门前为止，一连串无关紧要的客套应酬进行得紧紧张张。诺里斯太太先是坐立不安地折腾了一番，接着从女管家那里弄到几只野鸡蛋和一包奶酪，又对拉什沃思太太说了一大堆客气话，便准备带头动身了。与此同时，克劳福德先生走到朱莉娅跟前，说道：“我来时的伙伴如果不怕在夜色中坐在一个无遮无挡的位置上，我希望她回去时还能和我坐在一起。”朱莉娅没有料到他会提出这一请求，却和颜悦色地接受了，她这一天的结束很可能像开始一样愉快。伯特伦小姐本来心里另有打算，现在却有点失望——不过，她深信克劳福德先生真正的意中人是她，这足可使她聊以自慰，并能得体地接受拉什沃思先生临别时的殷勤。毫无疑问，比起把她扶上驾驶座，克劳福德先生倒更乐意把她扶进马车——这样的安排越发使他自鸣得意。

“范妮，我敢说你这一天过得不错呀！”马车打庄园里驶过时，诺里斯太太说，“自始至终好开心啊！我想你应该非常感激伯特伦姨妈和我，是我们安排让你来的。你这一天玩得多快活呀！”

玛丽亚心中不满，直言不讳地说：“我想，姨妈，你真是大获丰收啊。你怀里好像抱满了好东西。我们之间有一只篮子，里面装着什么东西，一直在碰我的胳膊肘，碰得我好痛。”

“亲爱的，那只不过是一小株漂亮的石楠，那个好心的老园丁非要叫我带上。不过要是妨碍了你，我这就把它抱在腿上。喂，范妮，你给我拿着那个包——要十分当心——不要掉下来。里边是奶酪，就是我们吃饭时吃的那种高级奶酪。那位惠特克太太真好，非让我拿一包不行。我一直不肯拿，后来见她都快急哭了才拿了一包。我知道我妹妹就喜欢这东西。那个惠特克太太真是个难得的好管家呀！我问她仆人在饭桌上是否允许喝酒时，她都吓了一跳。有两个女仆因为穿白裙子被她辞退了。小心奶酪，范妮。现在，我能照顾好另一个包裹和篮子了。”

“你还白捞来了些什么？”玛丽亚说，听了对方以这样的话恭维索瑟顿，颇有几分得意。

“亲爱的，怎么是白捞！只不过是四只漂亮的野鸡蛋，惠特克太太非要逼着我拿，我不拿她就不答应。她说她知道我孤零零一个人过日子，能养那么几个小生灵，一定会给我带来乐趣。我想肯定会很好玩。我打算把它们交给牛奶房女工，一有母鸡抱窝，就塞进去。要是能抱出来，我就把它们弄回家，借个鸡笼。我寂寞的时候照看照看它们，倒会很有意思。我要是养得好，还会给你母亲几只。”

当晚夜色很美，又温和又宁静，在如此静谧的大自然中坐车旅行，真是再惬意不过了。不过，诺里斯太太一不说话，车里的人便安静了。他们都已疲惫不堪——几乎所有的人都在琢磨，这一天给他们带来的是愉快还是痛苦。

* * *

[1]引自英国小说家劳伦斯·斯特恩（Laurence Sterne，1713—1768）所著《感伤的旅程》。此处伯特伦小姐借助《感伤的旅程》中的话，刻画索瑟顿的话，说得非常尖刻。对比拉什沃思先生在本卷第六章中说的话：“我敢说，我昨天回到索瑟顿的时候，它那样子看上去像一座监狱——俨然是一座阴森可怖的旧监狱。”