📝 您未登录，登录后完成练习可保存成绩、查看最佳记录。
总字符
0
正确字符
0
错误字符
0
错误率
0.00%
耗时(秒)
0
速度 WPM
0
0 / 68
1On reaching home Fanny went immediately upstairs to deposit this unexpected acquisition, this doubtful good of a
2necklace, in some favourite box in the East room, which held all her smaller treasures; but on opening the door, what
3was her surprise to find her cousin Edmund there writing at the table! Such a sight having never occurred before, was
4almost as wonderful as it was welcome. "Fanny," said he directly, leaving his seat and his pen, and meeting her with
5something in his hand, "I beg your pardon for being here. I came to look for you, and after waiting a little while in
6hope of your coming in, was making use of your inkstand to explain my errand. You will find the beginning of a note to
7yourself; but I can now speak my business, which is merely to beg your acceptance of this little trifle--a chain for
8William's cross. You ought to have had it a week ago, but there has been a delay from my brother's not being in town by
9several days so soon as I expected; and I have only just now received it at Northampton. I hope you will like the chain
10itself, Fanny. I endeavoured to consult the simplicity of your taste; but, at any rate, I know you will be kind to my
11intentions, and consider it, as it really is, a token of the love of one of your oldest friends." And so saying, he was
12hurrying away, before Fanny, overpowered by a thousand feelings of pain and pleasure, could attempt to speak; but
13quickened by one sovereign wish, she then called out, "Oh! cousin, stop a moment, pray stop!" He turned back. "I cannot
14attempt to thank you," she continued, in a very agitated manner; "thanks are out of the question. I feel much more than
15I can possibly express. Your goodness in thinking of me in such a way is beyond--" "If that is all you have to say,
16Fanny" smiling and turning away again. "No, no, it is not. I want to consult you." Almost unconsciously she had now
17undone the parcel he had just put into her hand, and seeing before her, in all the niceness of jewellers' packing, a
18plain gold chain, perfectly simple and neat, she could not help bursting forth again, "Oh, this is beautiful indeed!
19This is the very thing, precisely what I wished for! This is the only ornament I have ever had a desire to possess. It
20will exactly suit my cross. They must and shall be worn together. It comes, too, in such an acceptable moment. Oh,
21cousin, you do not know how acceptable it is." "My dear Fanny, you feel these things a great deal too much. I am most
22happy that you like the chain, and that it should be here in time for to-morrow; but your thanks are far beyond the
23occasion. Believe me, I have no pleasure in the world superior to that of contributing to yours. No, I can safely say, I
24have no pleasure so complete, so unalloyed. It is without a drawback." Upon such expressions of affection Fanny could
25have lived an hour without saying another word; but Edmund, after waiting a moment, obliged her to bring down her mind
26from its heavenly flight by saying, "But what is it that you want to consult me about?" It was about the necklace, which
27she was now most earnestly longing to return, and hoped to obtain his approbation of her doing. She gave the history of
28her recent visit, and now her raptures might well be over; for Edmund was so struck with the circumstance, so delighted
29with what Miss Crawford had done, so gratified by such a coincidence of conduct between them, that Fanny could not but
30admit the superior power of one pleasure over his own mind, though it might have its drawback. It was some time before
31she could get his attention to her plan, or any answer to her demand of his opinion: he was in a reverie of fond
32reflection, uttering only now and then a few half-sentences of praise; but when he did awake and understand, he was very
33decided in opposing what she wished. "Return the necklace! No, my dear Fanny, upon no account. It would be mortifying
34her severely. There can hardly be a more unpleasant sensation than the having anything returned on our hands which we
35have given with a reasonable hope of its contributing to the comfort of a friend. Why should she lose a pleasure which
36she has shewn herself so deserving of?" "If it had been given to me in the first instance," said Fanny, "I should not
37have thought of returning it; but being her brother's present, is not it fair to suppose that she would rather not part
38with it, when it is not wanted?" "She must not suppose it not wanted, not acceptable, at least: and its having been
39originally her brother's gift makes no difference; for as she was not prevented from offering, nor you from taking it on
40that account, it ought not to prevent you from keeping it. No doubt it is handsomer than mine, and fitter for a
41ballroom." "No, it is not handsomer, not at all handsomer in its way, and, for my purpose, not half so fit. The chain
42will agree with William's cross beyond all comparison better than the necklace." "For one night, Fanny, for only one
43night, if it be a sacrifice; I am sure you will, upon consideration, make that sacrifice rather than give pain to one
44who has been so studious of your comfort. Miss Crawford's attentions to you have been--not more than you were justly
45entitled to--I am the last person to think that could be, but they have been invariable; and to be returning them with
46what must have something the air of ingratitude, though I know it could never have the meaning, is not in your nature, I
47am sure. Wear the necklace, as you are engaged to do, to-morrow evening, and let the chain, which was not ordered with
48any reference to the ball, be kept for commoner occasions. This is my advice. I would not have the shadow of a coolness
49between the two whose intimacy I have been observing with the greatest pleasure, and in whose characters there is so
50much general resemblance in true generosity and natural delicacy as to make the few slight differences, resulting
51principally from situation, no reasonable hindrance to a perfect friendship. I would not have the shadow of a coolness
52arise," he repeated, his voice sinking a little, "between the two dearest objects I have on earth." He was gone as he
53spoke; and Fanny remained to tranquillise herself as she could. She was one of his two dearest--that must support her.
54But the other: the first! She had never heard him speak so openly before, and though it told her no more than what she
55had long perceived, it was a stab, for it told of his own convictions and views. They were decided. He would marry Miss
56Crawford. It was a stab, in spite of every long-standing expectation; and she was obliged to repeat again and again,
57that she was one of his two dearest, before the words gave her any sensation. Could she believe Miss Crawford to deserve
58him, it would be--oh, how different would it be--how far more tolerable! But he was deceived in her: he gave her merits
59which she had not; her faults were what they had ever been, but he saw them no longer. Till she had shed many tears over
60this deception, Fanny could not subdue her agitation; and the dejection which followed could only be relieved by the
61influence of fervent prayers for his happiness. It was her intention, as she felt it to be her duty, to try to overcome
62all that was excessive, all that bordered on selfishness, in her affection for Edmund. To call or to fancy it a loss, a
63disappointment, would be a presumption for which she had not words strong enough to satisfy her own humility. To think
64of him as Miss Crawford might be justified in thinking, would in her be insanity. To her he could be nothing under any
65circumstances; nothing dearer than a friend. Why did such an idea occur to her even enough to be reprobated and
66forbidden? It ought not to have touched on the confines of her imagination. She would endeavour to be rational, and to
67deserve the right of judging of Miss Crawford's character, and the privilege of true solicitude for him by a sound
68intellect and an honest heart.
🎉 全部完成！共 68 行