Butitwasluncheontime，andnotonlyhadhenotasyetsaidawordofallthatwhichhehadcometosay，buthadnotasyetmadeanymovetowardsgettingitsaid。HowwashetoarrangethatLilyshouldbeleftalonewithhim？LadyJuliahadsaidthatsheshouldnotexpecthimbacktilldinner—time，andhehadansweredherlackadaisically，’Idon’tsupposeIshallbethereabovetenminutes。TheminuteswillsayallI’vegottosay，anddoallI’vegottodo。AndthenIsupposeIshallgoandcutnamesaboutbridges——eh，LadyJulia？’LadyJuliaunderstoodthewords；foronce，uponaformeroccasion，shehadfoundhimcuttingLily’snameontherailofawoodenbridgeinherbrother’sgrounds。ButhehadnowbeenacoupleofhoursattheSmallHouse，andhadnotsaidawordofthatwhichhehadcometosay。
’Areyougoingtowalkoutwithusafterlunch？’saidLily。
’Hewillhavehadwalkingenough，’saidMrsDale。
’We’llconvoyhimpartoftheway，’saidLily。
’I’mnotgoingyet，’saidJohnny，’unlessyouturnmeout。’
’Butwemusthaveourwalkbeforeitisdark，’saidLily。
’Youmightgoupwithhimtoyouruncle，’saidMrsDale。’Indeed，I
promisedtogouptheremyself，andsodidyou，Grace，toseethemicroscope。IheardMrDalegiveordersthatoneofthoselong—leggedreptilesshouldbecaughtonpurposeforyourinspection。’
MrsDale’slittleschemeforbringingthetwotogetherwasverytransparent，butitwasnotthelesswiseonthataccount。Schemeswilloftenbesuccessful，letthembeeversotransparent。Littleintriguesbecomenecessary，nottoconquerunwillingpeople，butpeoplewhoarewillingenough，who，nevertheless，cannotgivewayexceptunderthemachinationsofanintrigue。
’Idon’tthinkImindlookingatthelong—leggedcreature，today，’saidJohnny。
’Imustgoofcourse，’saidGrace。
Lilysaidnothingatthemoment，eitheraboutthelong—leggedcreatureorthewalk。Thatwhichmustbe，mustbe。SheknewwellwhyJohnEameshadcomethere。SheknewthatthevisitstohismotherandtoLadyJuliawouldneverhavebeenmade，butthathemighthavethisinterview。Andhehadarighttodemand，atanyrate，asmuchasthat。Thatwhichmustbe，mustbe。AndthereforewhenbothMrsDaleandGracestoutlymaintainedtheirpurposeofgoinguptothesquire，LilyneitherattemptedtopersuadeJohntoaccompanythemnorsaidthatshewoulddosoherself。
’Iwillconvoyyouhomemyself，’shesaid，’andGrace，whenshehasdonewiththebeetle，shallcomeandmeetme。Won’tyou，Grace？’
’Certainly。’
’Wearenothelplessyoungladiesintheseparts，noryettimorous，’
continuedLily。’Wecanwalkaboutwithoutbeingafraidofghosts，robbers，wildbulls，youngmen，orgypsies。Comethefieldpath，Grace。
Iwillgoasfarasthebigoakwithhim，andthenIshallturnback，andIshallcomeinbythestileoppositethechurchgate，andthroughthegarden。Soyoucan’tmissme。’
’Idaresayhe’llcomebackwithyou，’saidGrace。
’No，hewon’t。Hewilldonothingofthekind。He’llhavetogoonandopenLadyJulia’sbottleofportwineforhisowndrinking。’
AllthiswasverygoodonLily’spart，andverygoodalsoonthepartofMrsDale；andJohnwasofcourseverymuchobligedtothem。Buttherewasalackofromanceinitall，whichdidnotseemtohimtoarguewellastohissuccess。Hedidnotthinkmuchaboutit，buthefeltthatLilywouldnothavebeensoreadytoarrangetheirwalkhadsheintendedtoyieldtohisentreaty。Nodoubtintheselatterdaysplaingoodsensehadbecometheprevailingmarkofhercharacter——perhaps，asJohnnythought，alittletoostronglyprevailing；butevenwithallherplaingoodsenseanddeterminationtodispensewiththeabsurditiesofromanceintheaffairsofherlife，shewouldnothaveproposedherselfashiscompanionforawalkacrossthefieldsmerelythatshemighthaveanopportunityofacceptinghishand。Hedidnotsayallthistohimself，butheinstinctivelyfeltthatitwasso。Andhefeltalsothatitshouldhavebeenhisdutytoarrangethewalk，ortheproperopportunityforthescenethatwastocome。Shehaddoneitinstead——sheandhermotherbetweenthem，therebyforcinguponhimapainfulconvictionthathehimselfhadnotbeenequaltotheoccasion。’Ialwaysmakeamullofit，’hesaidtohimself，whenthegirlswentuptogettheirhats。
Theywentdowntogetherthroughthegarden，andpartedwherethepathsledaway，onetothegreathouseandtheothertowardsthechurch。’I’llcertainlycomeandcalluponthesquirebeforeIgobacktoLondon，’
saidJohnny。
We’lltellhimso，’saidMrsDale。’Hewouldbesuretohearthatyouhadbeenwithus，evenifwesaidnothingaboutit。’
’Ofcoursehewould，’saidLily；’Hopkinshasseenhim。’Thentheyseparated，andLilyandJohnEamesweretogether。
Hardlyawordwassaid，perhapsnotaword，tilltheyhadcrossedtheroadandgotintothefieldoppositetothechurch。Andinthisfirstfieldtherewasmorethanonepath，andthechildrenofthevillagewereoftenthere，andithadaboutitsomethingofapublicnature。JohnEamesfeltthatitwasbynomeansafittingfieldtosaythatwhichhehadtosay。Incrossingit，therefore，hemerelyremarkedthatthedaywasveryfineforwalking。Thenheaddedonespecialword，’Anditissogoodofyou，Lily，tocomewithme。’
’Iamverygladtocomewithyou。Iwoulddomorethanthat，John，toshowhowgladIamtoseeyou。’Thentheyhadcometothesecondlittlegate，andbeyondthatthefieldswerereallyfields，andtherewerestilesinsteadofwicket—gates，andthebusinessofthedaymustbebegun。
’Lily，wheneverIcomehereyousaythatyouaregladtoseeme？’
’AndsoIam——veryglad。Onlyyouwouldtakeitasmeaningwhatitdoesnotmean，Iwouldtellyou，thatofallmyfriendslivingawayfromthereachofmydailylife，youaretheonewhosecomingiseverthemostpleasanttome。’
’Oh，Lily！’
’Itwas，Ithink，onlyyesterdaythatIwastellingGracethatyouaremorelikeabrothertomethananyoneelse。Iwishitmightbeso。I
whichwemightsweartobebrotherandsister。I’ddomoreforyouthenthanwalkacrossthefieldswithyoutoGuestwickCottage。YourprosperitywouldthenbethethingintheworldforwhichIshouldbemostanxious。Andifyoushouldmarry——’
’Itcanneverbelikethatbetweenus，’saidJohnny。
’Canitnot？Ithinkitcan。Perhapsnotthisyear，ornextyear；
perhapsnotinthenextfiveyears。ButImakemyselfhappywiththinkingthatitmaybesosomeday。Ishallwaitforitpatiently，verypatiently，eventhoughyoushouldrebuffmeagainandagain——asyouhavedonenow。’
’Ihavenotrebuffedyou。’
’Notmaliciously，orinjuriously，oroffensively。Iwillbeverypatientandtakelittlerebuffswithoutcomplaining。Thisistheworstofitall。WhenGraceandIaretogetherwecannevermanageitwithouttearingourselvesalltopieces。Itismuchnicertohaveyoutohelpme。’
’Letmehelpyoualways，’hesaid，keepingherhandsinhisafterhehadaidedhertojumpfromthestiletotheground。
’Yes，asmybrother。’
’Thatisnonsense，Lily。’
’Isitnonsense？Nonsenseisahardword。’
’Itisnonsenseascomingfromyoutome。Lily，IsometimesthinkthatIampersecutingyou，writingtoyou，comingafteryou，asIamdoingnow——tellingthesamewhiningstory——asking，asking，andaskingforthatwhichyousayyouwillnevergiveme。AndthenIfeelashamedofmyself，andswearthatIwilldoitnomore。’
’Donotbeashamedofyourself；butyetdoitnomore。’
’Andthen，’hecontinued，withoutmindingherwords，’atothertimesI
feelthatitmustbemyownfault；thatifIonlyperseveredwithsufficientenergy，Imustbesuccessful。AtsuchtimesIswearIwillnevergiveitup。’
’Oh，John，...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：