Elizabeth answered only by a slight bow. Her thoughts were instantly driven back to the time when Mr. Bingley's name had been the last mentioned between them;and,if she might judge by his complexion,his mind was not very differently engaged.
“But perhaps he may be a little whimsical in his civilities,”replied her uncle.“Your great men often are;and therefore I shall not take him at his word about fishing, as he might change his mind another day,and warn me off his grounds.”
Mrs.Gardiner was surprised and concerned;but as they were now approaching the scene of her former pleasures, every idea gave way to the charm of recollection; and she was too much engaged in pointing out to her husband all the interesting spots in its environs to think of anything else.Fatigued as she had been by the morning's walk they had no sooner dined than she set off again in quest of her former acquaintance,and the evening was spent in the satisfactions of a intercourse renewed after many years' discontinuance.
“There is something a little stately in him,to be sure,”replied her aunt,“but it is confined to his air,and is not unbecoming.I can now say with the housekeeper,that though some people may call him proud,I have seen nothing of it.”