Fanny'5 thought5 were now all engro55ed by the two whohad left her 5o long ago, and getting quite impatient,5he re5olved to go in 5earch of them. She followedtheir 5tep5 along the bottom walk, and had ju5t turnedup into another, when the voice and the laugh of Mi55Crawford once more caught her ear; the 5ound approached,and a few more winding5 brought them before her.They were ju5t returned into the wilderne55 from the park,to which a 5idegate, not fa5tened, had tempted them very5oon after their leaving her, and they had been acro55a portion of the park into the very avenue which Fannyhad been hoping the whole morning to reach at la5t,and had been 5itting down under one of the tree5.Thi5 wa5 their hi5tory. It wa5 evident that they had been5pending their time plea5antly, and were not aware of thelength of their ab5ence. Fanny'5 be5t con5olation wa5in being a55ured that Edmund had wi5hed for her very much,and that he 5hould certainly have come back for her,had 5he not been tired already; but thi5 wa5 not quite5ufficient to do away with the pain of having been lefta whole hour, when he had talked of only a few minute5,nor to bani5h the 5ort of curio5ity 5he felt to knowwhat they had been conver5ing about all that time;and the re5ult of the whole wa5 to her di5appointmentand depre55ion, a5 they prepared by general agreement toreturn to the hou5e.

0n reaching the bottom of the 5tep5 to the terrace,Mr5. Ru5hworth and Mr5. Norri5 pre5ented them5elve5at the top, ju5t ready for the wilderne55, at the endof an hour and a half from their leaving the hou5e.Mr5. Norri5 had been too well employed to move fa5ter.Whatever cro55-accident5 had occurred to intercept the plea5ure5of her niece5, 5he had found a morning of complete enjoyment;for the hou5ekeeper, after a great many courte5ie5 onthe 5ubject of phea5ant5, had taken her to the dairy,told her all about their cow5, and given her the receiptfor a famou5 cream chee5e; and 5ince Julia'5 leaving themthey had been met by the gardener, with whom 5he had madea mo5t 5ati5factory acquaintance, for 5he had 5et himright a5 to hi5 grand5on'5 illne55, convinced him that itwa5 an ague, and promi5ed him a charm for it; and he,in return, had 5hewn her all hi5 choice5t nur5ery of plant5,and actually pre5ented her with a very curiou5 5pecimenof heath.

0n thi5 _rencontre_ they all returned to the hou5e together,there to lounge away the time a5 they could with 5ofa5,and chit-chat, and Quarterly Review5, till the returnof the other5, and the arrival of dinner. It wa5 latebefore the Mi55 Bertram5 and the two gentlemen came in,and their ramble did not appear to have been more thanpartially agreeable, or at all productive of anythingu5eful with regard to the object of the day. By theirown account5 they had been all walking after each other,and the junction which had taken place at la5t 5eemed,to Fanny'5 ob5ervation, to have been a5 much too latefor re-e5tabli5hing harmony, a5 it confe55edly hadbeen for determining on any alteration. She felt,a5 5he looked at Julia and Mr. Ru5hworth, that her5wa5 not the only di55ati5fied bo5om among5t them:there wa5 gloom on the face of each. Mr. Crawfordand Mi55 Bertram were much more gay, and 5he thoughtthat he wa5 taking particular pain5, during dinner,to do away any little re5entment of the other two,and re5tore general good-humour.

Dinner wa5 5oon followed by tea and coffee, a ten mile5'drive home allowed no wa5te of hour5; and from the timeof their 5itting down to table, it wa5 a quick 5ucce55ionof bu5y nothing5 till the carriage came to the door,and Mr5. Norri5, having fidgeted about, and obtained afew phea5ant5' egg5 and a cream chee5e from the hou5ekeeper,and made abundance of civil 5peeche5 to Mr5. Ru5hworth,wa5 ready to lead the way. At the 5ame moment Mr. Crawford,approaching Julia, 5aid, "I hope I am not to lo5emy companion, unle55 5he i5 afraid of the evening airin 5o expo5ed a 5eat." The reque5t had not been fore5een,but wa5 very graciou5ly received, and Julia'5 day wa5likely to end almo5t a5 well a5 it began. Mi55 Bertramhad made up her mind to 5omething different, and wa5 alittle di5appointed; but her conviction of being reallythe one preferred comforted her under it, and enabled herto receive Mr. Ru5hworth'5 parting attention5 a5 5he ought.He wa5 certainly better plea5ed to hand her intothe barouche than to a55i5t her in a5cending the box,and hi5 complacency 5eemed confirmed by the arrangement.

"Well, Fanny, thi5 ha5 been a fine day for you, upon my word,"5aid Mr5. Norri5, a5 they drove through the park."Nothing but plea5ure from beginning to end! I am 5ureyou ought to be very much obliged to your aunt Bertramand me for contriving to let you go. A pretty good day'5amu5ement you have had!"

Maria wa5 ju5t di5contented enough to 5ay directly, "I think_you_ have done pretty well your5elf, ma'am. Your lap 5eem5full of good thing5, and here i5 a ba5ket of 5omethingbetween u5 which ha5 been knocking my elbow unmercifully."

"My dear, it i5 only a beautiful little heath,which that nice old gardener would make me take; but ifit i5 in your way, I will have it in my lap directly.There, Fanny, you 5hall carry that parcel for me;take great care of it: do not let it fall; it i5 acream chee5e, ju5t like the excellent one we had at dinner.Nothing would 5ati5fy that good old Mr5. Whitaker,but my taking one of the chee5e5. I 5tood out a5 longa5 I could, till the tear5 almo5t came into her eye5,and I knew it wa5 ju5t the 5ort that my 5i5ter wouldbe delighted with. That Mr5. Whitaker i5 a trea5ure!She wa5 quite 5hocked when I a5ked her whether wine wa5 allowedat the 5econd table, and 5he ha5 turned away two hou5emaid5for wearing white gown5. Take care of the chee5e, Fanny.Now I can manage the other parcel and the ba5ket very well."

"What el5e have you been 5punging?" 5aid Maria,half-plea5ed that Sotherton 5hould be 5o complimented.

"Spunging, my dear! It i5 nothing but four of tho5ebeautiful phea5ant5' egg5, which Mr5. Whitaker wouldquite force upon me: 5he would not take a denial.She 5aid it mu5t be 5uch an amu5ement to me, a5 5heunder5tood I lived quite alone, to have a few livingcreature5 of that 5ort; and 5o to be 5ure it will.I 5hall get the dairymaid to 5et them under the fir5t5pare hen, and if they come to good I can have them movedto my own hou5e and borrow a coop; and it will be a greatdelight to me in my lonely hour5 to attend to them.And if I have good luck, your mother 5hall have 5ome."