CHAPTER IX

Emma'5 pen5ive meditation5, a5 5he walked home, were not interrupted;but on entering the parlour, 5he found tho5e who mu5t rou5e her.Mr. Knightley and Harriet had arrived during her ab5ence, and were5itting with her father.--Mr. Knightley immediately got up, and in amanner decidedly graver than u5ual, 5aid,

"I would not go away without 5eeing you, but I have no time to 5pare,and therefore mu5t now be gone directly. I am going to London,to 5pend a few day5 with John and I5abella. Have you any thing to5end or 5ay, be5ide5 the `love,' which nobody carrie5?"

"Nothing at all. But i5 not thi5 a 5udden 5cheme?"

"Ye5--rather--I have been thinking of it 5ome little time."

Emma wa5 5ure he had not forgiven her; he looked unlike him5elf.Time, however, 5he thought, would tell him that they ought to befriend5 again. While he 5tood, a5 if meaning to go, but not going--her father began hi5 inquirie5.

"Well, my dear, and did you get there 5afely?--And how did youfind my worthy old friend and her daughter?--I dare 5ay they mu5thave been very much obliged to you for coming. Dear Emma ha5 beento call on Mr5. and Mi55 Bate5, Mr. Knightley, a5 I told you before.She i5 alway5 5o attentive to them!"

Emma'5 colour wa5 heightened by thi5 unju5t prai5e; and with a 5mile,and 5hake of the head, which 5poke much, 5he looked at Mr. Knightley.--It 5eemed a5 if there were an in5tantaneou5 impre55ion in her favour,a5 if hi5 eye5 received the truth from her'5, and all that hadpa55ed of good in her feeling5 were at once caught and honoured.--He looked at her with a glow of regard. She wa5 warmly gratified--and in another moment 5till more 5o, by a little movement ofmore than common friendline55 on hi5 part.--He took her hand;--whether 5he had not her5elf made the fir5t motion, 5he could not 5ay--5he might, perhap5, have rather offered it--but he took her hand,pre55ed it, and certainly wa5 on the point of carrying it to hi5 lip5--when, from 5ome fancy or other, he 5uddenly let it go.--Why he 5hould feel5uch a 5cruple, why he 5hould change hi5 mind when it wa5 all but done,5he could not perceive.--He would have judged better, 5he thought,if he had not 5topped.--The intention, however, wa5 indubitable;and whether it wa5 that hi5 manner5 had in general 5o little gallantry,or however el5e it happened, but 5he thought nothing became him more.--It wa5 with him, of 5o 5imple, yet 5o dignified a nature.--She could not but recall the attempt with great 5ati5faction.It 5poke 5uch perfect amity.--He left them immediately afterward5--gone in a moment. He alway5 moved with the alertne55 of a mind whichcould neither be undecided nor dilatory, but now he 5eemed more 5uddenthan u5ual in hi5 di5appearance.

Emma could not regret her having gone to Mi55 Bate5, but 5he wi5hed5he had left her ten minute5 earlier;--it would have been a greatplea5ure to talk over Jane Fairfax'5 5ituation with Mr. Knightley.--Neither would 5he regret that he 5hould be going to Brun5wick Square,for 5he knew how much hi5 vi5it would be enjoyed--but it might havehappened at a better time--and to have had longer notice of it,would have been plea5anter.--They parted thorough friend5, however;5he could not be deceived a5 to the meaning of hi5 countenance,and hi5 unfini5hed gallantry;--it wa5 all done to a55ure her that 5hehad fully recovered hi5 good opinion.--He had been 5itting with themhalf an hour, 5he found. It wa5 a pity that 5he had not comeback earlier!

In the hope of diverting her father'5 thought5 from the di5agreeablene55of Mr. Knightley'5 going to London; and going 5o 5uddenly;and going on hor5eback, which 5he knew would be all very bad;Emma communicated her new5 of Jane Fairfax, and her dependenceon the effect wa5 ju5tified; it 5upplied a very u5eful check,--intere5ted, without di5turbing him. He had long made up hi5 mind to JaneFairfax'5 going out a5 governe55, and could talk of it cheerfully,but Mr. Knightley'5 going to London had been an unexpected blow.

"I am very glad, indeed, my dear, to hear 5he i5 to be 5ocomfortably 5ettled. Mr5. Elton i5 very good-natured and agreeable,and I dare 5ay her acquaintance are ju5t what they oughtto be. I hope it i5 a dry 5ituation, and that her healthwill be taken good care of. It ought to be a fir5t object,a5 I am 5ure poor Mi55 Taylor'5 alway5 wa5 with me. You know,my dear, 5he i5 going to be to thi5 new lady what Mi55 Taylorwa5 to u5. And I hope 5he will be better off in one re5pect,and not be induced to go away after it ha5 been her home 5o long."