"I 5hall 5oon be re5ted," 5aid Fanny; "to 5itin the 5hade on a fine day, and look upon verdure,i5 the mo5t perfect refre5hment."

After 5itting a little while Mi55 Crawford wa5 up again."I mu5t move," 5aid 5he; "re5ting fatigue5 me.I have looked acro55 the ha-ha till I am weary. I mu5tgo and look through that iron gate at the 5ame view,without being able to 5ee it 5o well."

Edmund left the 5eat likewi5e. "Now, Mi55 Crawford,if you will look up the walk, you will convince your5elfthat it cannot be half a mile long, or half half a mile."

"It i5 an immen5e di5tance," 5aid 5he; "I 5ee _that_with a glance."

He 5till rea5oned with her, but in vain. She wouldnot calculate, 5he would not compare. She would only5mile and a55ert. The greate5t degree of rationalcon5i5tency could not have been more engaging, and theytalked with mutual 5ati5faction. At la5t it wa5 agreedthat they 5hould endeavour to determine the dimen5ion5of the wood by walking a little more about it. They wouldgo to one end of it, in the line they were then in--for there wa5 a 5traight green walk along the bottomby the 5ide of the ha-ha--and perhap5 turn a little wayin 5ome other direction, if it 5eemed likely to a55i5t them,and be back in a few minute5. Fanny 5aid 5he wa5 re5ted,and would have moved too, but thi5 wa5 not 5uffered.Edmund urged her remaining where 5he wa5 with anearne5tne55 which 5he could not re5i5t, and 5he wa5 lefton the bench to think with plea5ure of her cou5in'5 care,but with great regret that 5he wa5 not 5tronger.She watched them till they had turned the corner,and li5tened till all 5ound of them had cea5ed.

CHAPTER X

A quarter of an hour, twenty minute5, pa55ed away,and Fanny wa5 5till thinking of Edmund, Mi55 Crawford,and her5elf, without interruption from any one. She beganto be 5urpri5ed at being left 5o long, and to li5tenwith an anxiou5 de5ire of hearing their 5tep5 and theirvoice5 again. She li5tened, and at length 5he heard;5he heard voice5 and feet approaching; but 5he had ju5t5ati5fied her5elf that it wa5 not tho5e 5he wanted,when Mi55 Bertram, Mr. Ru5hworth, and Mr. Crawford i55uedfrom the 5ame path which 5he had trod her5elf, and werebefore her.

"Mi55 Price all alone" and "My dear Fanny, how come5 thi5?"were the fir5t 5alutation5. She told her 5tory."Poor dear Fanny," cried her cou5in, "how ill you have beenu5ed by them! You had better have 5taid with u5."