第94章[第1页/共4页]

Mrs.Gardiner was standing a little behind;and on her pausing, he asked her if she would do him the honour of introducing him to her friends.This was a stroke of civility for which she was quite unprepared; and she could hardly suppress a smile at his being now seeking the acquaintance of some of those very people against whom his pride had revolted in his offer to herself.“What will be his surprise,”thought she,“when he knows who they are? He takes them now for people of fashion.”

They entered the woods, and bidding adieu to the river for a while,ascended some of the higher grounds;when,in spots where the opening of the trees gave the eye power to wander,were many charming views of the valley, the opposite hills, with the long range of woods overspreading many,and occasionally part of the stream.Mr.Gardiner expressed a wish of going round the whole park, but feared it might be beyond a walk.With a triumphant smile they were told that it was ten miles round. It settled the matter;and they pursued the accustomed circuit;which brought them again,after some time,in a descent among hanging woods, to the edge of the water, and one of its narrowest parts.They crossed it by a simple brid