it is a truth acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife however little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood this truth is so well fixed in the of the families that he is considered as the property of some one or other of their daughters my dear mr bennet said his lady to him one day have you heard that netherfield park is let at last mr bennet replied that he had not but it is returned she for mrs long has just been here and she told me all about it mr bennet made no answer do not you want to know who has taken it cried his wife you want to tell me and i have no objection to hearing it illustration he came down to see the place copyright by george allen this was invitation enough why my dear you must know mrs long says that netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of that he came down on monday in a chaise and four to see the place and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with mr immediately that he is to take possession before and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week what is his name bingley is he married or single oh single my dear to be sure a single man of large fortune four or five thousand a year what a fine thing for our girls how so how can it them my dear mr bennet replied his wife how can you be so you must know that i am thinking of his marrying one of them is that his design in here design nonsense how can you talk so but it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes i see no occasion for that you and the girls may go or you may send them by themselves which perhaps will be still better for as you are as handsome as any of them mr bingley might like you the best of the party my dear you flatter me i certainly have had my share of beauty but i do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now when a woman has five up daughters she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty in such cases a woman has not often much beauty to think of but my dear you must indeed go and see mr bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood it is more than i for i assure you but consider your daughters only think what an establishment it would be for one of them sir william and lady lucas are determined to go merely on that account for in general you know they visit no new indeed you must go for it will be impossible for us to visit him if you do not you are over i dare say mr bingley will be very glad to see you and i will send a few lines by you to assure him of my consent to his marrying he chooses of the girls though i must throw in a good word for my little lizzy i desire you will do no such thing lizzy is not a better than the others and i am sure she is not half so handsome as jane nor half so good humoured as lydia but you are always giving her the preference they have none of them much to recommend them replied he they are all silly and ignorant like other girls but lizzy has something more of than her sisters mr bennet how can you your own children in such a way you take delight in me you have no compassion on my poor you mistake me my dear i have a high respect for your they are my old friends i have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least you do not know what i suffer but i hope you will get over it and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood it will be no use to us if twenty such should come since you will not visit them depend upon it my dear that when there are twenty i will visit them all mr bennet was so a of quick parts humour reserve and that the of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character her mind was less difficult to she was a woman of mean understanding little information and temper when she was she fancied herself the business of her life was to get her daughters married its was and news illustration m m bennet copyright by george allen illustration i hope mr bingley will like it copyright by george allen chapter illustration mr bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on mr bingley he had always intended to visit him though to the last always his wife that he should not go and till the evening after the visit was paid she had no knowledge of it it was then in the following manner observing his second daughter employed in a he suddenly addressed her with i hope mr bingley will like it lizzy we are not in a way to know what mr bingley likes said her mother since we are not to visit but you forget mamma said elizabeth that we shall meet him at the and that mrs long has promised to introduce him i do not believe mrs long will do any such thing she has two nieces of her own she is a selfish woman and i have no opinion of her no more have i said mr bennet and i am glad to find that you do not depend on her you mrs bennet not to make any reply but unable to contain herself began one of her daughters don t keep so kitty for heaven s sake have a little compassion on my you them to kitty has no in her said her father she times them ill i do not for my own amusement replied kitty when is your next ball to be lizzy to morrow fortnight ay so it is cried her mother and mrs long does not come back till the day before so it will be impossible for her to introduce him for she will not know him herself then my dear you may have the advantage of your friend and introduce mr bingley to her impossible mr bennet impossible when i am not acquainted with him myself how can you be so teasing i honour your a fortnight s acquaintance is certainly very little one cannot know what a man really is by the end of a fortnight but if we do not somebody else will and after all mrs long and her nieces must stand their chance and therefore as she will think it an act of kindness if you the office i will take it on myself the girls at their father mrs bennet said only nonsense nonsense what can be the meaning of that cried he do you consider the of introduction and the that is laid on them as nonsense i cannot quite agree with you there what say you mary for you are a young lady of deep reflection i know and read great books and make mary wished to say something very sensible but knew not how while mary is her ideas he continued let us return to mr bingley i am sick of mr bingley cried his wife i am sorry to hear that but why did you not tell me so before if i had known as much this morning i certainly would not have called on him it is very unlucky but as i have actually paid the visit we cannot escape the acquaintance now the astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished that of mrs bennet perhaps the rest though when the first of joy was over she began to declare that it was what she had expected all the while how good it was in you my dear mr bennet but i knew i should persuade you at last i was sure you loved your girls too well to neglect such an acquaintance well how pleased i am and it is such a good too that you should have gone this morning and never said a word about it till now now kitty you may as much as you choose said mr bennet and as he spoke he left the room with the raptures of his wife what an excellent father you have girls said she when the door was i do not know how you will ever make him for his kindness or me either for that matter at our time of life it is not so pleasant i can tell you to be making new every day but for your we would do anything lydia my love though you are the youngest i dare say mr bingley will dance with you at the next ball oh said lydia i am not afraid for though i am the youngest i m the the rest of the evening was spent in how soon he would return mr bennet s visit and when they should ask him to dinner illustration i m the illustration he a chapter illustration not all that mrs bennet however with the assistance of her five daughters could ask on the subject was to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of mr bingley they him in various with questions and but he the of them all and they were at last obliged to accept the second hand intelligence of their neighbour lady lucas her report was highly favourable sir william had been delighted with him he was quite young handsome extremely agreeable and to the whole he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party nothing could be more delightful to be fond of dancing was a certain step towards in love and very lively hopes of mr bingley s heart were entertained if i can but see one of my daughters settled at netherfield said mrs bennet to her husband and all the others equally well married i shall have nothing to wish for in a few days mr bingley returned mr bennet s visit and sat about ten minutes with him in his library he had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies of whose beauty he had heard much but he saw only the father the ladies were somewhat more fortunate for they had the advantage of from an window that he a and a an invitation to dinner was soon afterwards and already had mrs bennet the that were to do credit to her when an answer arrived which it all mr bingley was obliged to be in town the following day and consequently unable to accept the honour of their invitation etc mrs bennet was quite she could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in hertfordshire and she began to fear that he might always be about from one place to another and never settled at netherfield as he ought to be lady lucas her fears a little by the idea of his illustration when the party entered copyright by george allen being gone to london only to get a large party for the ball and a report soon followed that mr bingley was to bring ladies and gentlemen with him to the assembly the girls grieved over such a of ladies but were the day before the ball by hearing that instead of he had brought only six with him from london his five sisters and a cousin and when the party entered the assembly room it of only five altogether mr bingley his two sisters the husband of the eldest and another young man mr bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike he had a pleasant countenance and easy manners his sisters were fine women with an air of decided fashion his brother in law mr hurst merely looked the gentleman but his friend mr darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine tall person handsome features noble and the report which was in general within five minutes after his entrance of his having ten thousand a year the gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man the ladies declared he was much than mr bingley and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening till his manners gave a which turned the of his for he was discovered to be proud to be above his company and above being pleased and not all his large estate in derbyshire could him from having a most disagreeable countenance and being to be with his friend mr bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room he was lively and danced every dance was angry that the ball closed so early and talked of giving one himself at netherfield such amiable qualities must speak for themselves what a between him and his friend mr darcy danced only once with mrs hurst and once with miss bingley declined being introduced to any other lady and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room speaking occasionally to one of his own party his character was decided he was the most disagreeable man in the world and everybody hoped that he would never come there again amongst the most violent against him was mrs bennet whose dislike of his general behaviour was into particular resentment by his having one of her daughters elizabeth bennet had been obliged by the of gentlemen to sit down for two dances and during part of that time mr darcy had been standing near enough for her to a conversation between him and mr bingley who came from the dance for a few minutes to his friend to join it come darcy said he i must have you dance i hate to see you standing about by yourself in this manner you had much better dance i certainly shall not you know how i it unless i am particularly acquainted with my partner at such an assembly as this it would be your sisters are engaged and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a to me to stand up with i would not be so as you are cried bingley for a upon my honour i never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as i have this evening and there are several of them you see uncommonly pretty you are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room said mr darcy looking at the eldest miss bennet oh she is the most beautiful creature i ever but there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you who is very pretty and i dare say very agreeable do let me ask my partner to introduce you illustration she is tolerable copyright by george allen which do you mean and turning round he looked for a moment at elizabeth till her eye he his own and said she is tolerable but not handsome enough to me and i am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are by other men you had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles for you are your time with me mr bingley followed his advice mr darcy walked off and elizabeth remained with no very feelings towards him she told the story however with great spirit among her friends for she had a lively disposition which delighted in anything the evening altogether passed off to the whole family mrs bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the netherfield party mr bingley had danced with her twice and she had been distinguished by his sisters jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be though in a way elizabeth felt jane s pleasure mary had heard herself mentioned to miss bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood and catherine and lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball they returned therefore in good spirits to longbourn the village where they lived and of which they were the principal they found mr bennet still up with a book he was of time and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such expectations he had rather hoped that all his wife s views on the stranger would be disappointed but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear oh my dear mr bennet as she entered the room we have had a most delightful evening a most excellent ball i wish you had been there jane was so admired nothing could be like it everybody said how well she looked and mr bingley thought her quite beautiful and danced with her twice only think of that my dear he actually danced with her twice and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time first of all he asked miss lucas i was so vexed to see him stand up with her but however he did not admire her at all indeed nobody can you know and he seemed quite struck with jane as she was going down the dance so he inquired who she was and got introduced and asked her for the two next then the two third he danced with miss king and the two with maria lucas and the two with jane again and the two with lizzy and the if he had had any compassion for me cried her husband he would not have danced half so much for s sake say no more of his o that he had his in the first dance oh my dear continued mrs bennet i am quite delighted with him he is so excessively handsome and his sisters are charming women i never in my life saw anything more elegant than their i dare say the upon mrs hurst s gown here she was interrupted again mr bennet protested against any description of she was therefore obliged to seek another of the subject and related with much of spirit and some the shocking of mr darcy but i can assure you she added that lizzy does not lose much by not his fancy for he is a most disagreeable man not at all worth pleasing so high and so conceited that there was no him he walked here and he walked there himself so very great not handsome enough to dance with i wish you had been there my dear to have given him one of your set i quite the man illustration chapter illustration when jane and elizabeth were alone the former who had been in her praise of mr bingley before expressed to her sister how very much she admired him he is just what a young man ought to be said she sensible good humoured lively and i never saw such happy manners so much ease with such perfect good breeding he is also handsome replied elizabeth which a young man ought likewise to be if he possibly can his character is complete i was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time i did not expect such a compliment did not you i did for you but that is one great difference between us compliments always take you by surprise and me never what could be more natural than his asking you again he could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room no thanks to his gallantry for that well he certainly is very agreeable and i give you leave to like him you have liked many a person dear lizzy oh you are a great deal too you know to like people in general you never see a fault in anybody all the world are good and agreeable in your eyes i never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life i would wish not to be in anyone but i always speak what i think i know you do and it is that which makes the wonder with your good sense to be so blind to the and nonsense of others of is common enough one with it but to be without or design to take the good of everybody s character and make it still better and say nothing of the bad to you alone and so you like this man s sisters too do you their manners are not equal to his certainly not at first but they are very pleasing women when you with them miss bingley is to live with her brother and keep his house and i am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her elizabeth listened in silence but was not convinced their behaviour at the assembly had not been to please in general and with more of observation and less of temper than her sister and with a judgment too by any attention to herself she was very little disposed to them they were in fact very fine ladies not in good humour when they were pleased nor in the power of being agreeable where they chose it but proud and conceited they were rather handsome had been in one of the first private in town had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds were in the habit of more than they ought and of with people of rank and were therefore in every respect to think well of themselves and of others they were of a respectable family in the north of a circumstance more on their than that their brother s fortune and their own had been by mr bingley property to the of nearly a hundred thousand pounds from his father who had intended to purchase an estate but did not live to do it mr bingley intended it likewise and sometimes made choice of his county but as he was now provided with a good house and the liberty of a it was to many of those who best knew the of his temper whether he might not spend the of his days at netherfield and leave the next to purchase his sisters were very anxious for his having an estate of his own but though he was now established only as a miss bingley was by no means unwilling to at his table nor was mrs hurst who had married a man of more fashion than fortune less disposed to consider his house as her home when it her mr bingley had not been of age two years when he was tempted by an to look at netherfield house he did look at it and into it for half an hour was pleased with the situation and the principal rooms satisfied with what the said in its praise and took it immediately between him and darcy there was a very steady friendship in spite of a great of character bingley was to darcy by the and of his temper though no disposition could offer a greater to his own and though with his own he never appeared on the strength of darcy s regard bingley had the and of his judgment the highest opinion in understanding darcy was the superior bingley was by no means but darcy was clever he was at the same time reserved and and his manners though well were not in that respect his friend had greatly the advantage bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared darcy was continually giving the manner in which they spoke of the meryton assembly was bingley had never met with people or girls in his life everybody had been most kind and attentive to him there had been no no he had soon felt acquainted with all the room and as to miss bennet he could not an more beautiful darcy on the contrary had seen a of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest and from none received either attention or pleasure miss bennet he acknowledged to be pretty but she smiled too much mrs hurst and her sister allowed it to be so but still they admired her and liked her and pronounced her to be a sweet girl and one whom they should not object to know more of miss bennet was therefore established as a sweet girl and their brother felt by such commendation to think of her as he chose illustration copyright by george allen chapter illustration within a short walk of longbourn lived a family with whom the bennets were particularly intimate sir william lucas had been formerly in in meryton where he had made a tolerable fortune and to the honour of by an address to the king during his the had perhaps been felt too strongly it had given him a to his business and to his in a small town and quitting them both he had removed with his family to a house about a mile from meryton from that period lucas lodge where he could think with pleasure of his own importance and by business himself in being civil to all the world for though by his rank it did not him on the contrary he was all attention to everybody by nature friendly and his at st james s had made him lady lucas was a very good kind of woman not too clever to be a valuable neighbour to mrs bennet they had several children the eldest of them a sensible young woman about twenty was elizabeth s intimate friend that the miss lucases and the miss bennets should meet to talk over a ball was absolutely necessary and the morning after the assembly brought the former to longbourn to hear and to you began the evening well charlotte said mrs bennet with civil self command to miss lucas you were mr bingley s first choice yes but he seemed to like his second better oh you mean jane i suppose because he danced with her twice to be sure that did seem as if he admired her indeed i rather believe he did i heard something about it but i hardly know what something about mr perhaps you mean what i between him and mr did not i mention it to you mr s asking him how he liked our meryton and whether he did not think there were a great many pretty women in the room and which he thought the and his immediately to the last question oh the eldest miss bennet beyond a doubt there cannot be two opinions on that point upon my word well that was very decided indeed that does seem as if but however it may all come to nothing you know my were more to the purpose than yours eliza said charlotte mr darcy is not so well worth listening to as his friend is he poor eliza to be only just tolerable i beg you will not put it into lizzy s head to be vexed by his ill for he is such a disagreeable man that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him mrs long told me last night that he sat close to her for half an hour without once opening his lips illustration without once opening his lips copyright by george allen are you quite sure ma am is not there a little mistake said jane i certainly saw mr darcy speaking to her ay because she asked him at last how he liked netherfield and he could not help her but she said he seemed very angry at being spoke to miss bingley told me said jane that he never much unless among his intimate acquaintance with them he is remarkably agreeable i do not believe a word of it my dear if he had been so very agreeable he would have talked to mrs long but i can how it was everybody says that he is up with pride and i dare say he had heard that mrs long does not keep a carriage and had to come to the ball in a chaise i do not mind his not talking to mrs long said miss lucas but i wish he had danced with eliza another time lizzy said her mother i would not dance with him if i were you i believe ma am i may promise you never to dance with him his pride said miss lucas does not me so much as pride often does because there is an excuse for it one cannot wonder that so very fine a young man with family fortune everything in his favour should think highly of himself if i may so express it he has a right to be proud that is very true replied elizabeth and i could easily forgive his pride if he had not mine pride observed mary who herself upon the of her reflections is a very common i believe by all that i have ever read i am convinced that it is very common indeed that human nature is particularly to it and that there are very few of us who do not a feeling of self on the of some or other real or vanity and pride are different things though the words are often used a person may be proud without being vain pride more to our opinion of ourselves vanity to what we would have others think of us if i were as rich as mr darcy cried a young lucas who came with his sisters i should not care how proud i was i would keep a of and drink a of every day then you would drink a great deal more than you ought said mrs bennet and if i were to see you at it i should take away your directly the protested that she should not she continued to declare that she would and the only with the visit illustration illustration chapter illustration the ladies of longbourn soon waited on those of netherfield the visit was returned in due form miss bennet s pleasing manners grew on the good will of mrs hurst and miss bingley and though the mother was found to be and the younger sisters not worth speaking to a wish of being better acquainted with them was expressed towards the two eldest by jane this attention was received with the greatest pleasure but elizabeth still saw in their of everybody hardly even her sister and could not like them though their kindness to jane such as it was had a value as in all probability from the influence of their brother s admiration it was generally evident whenever they met that he did admire her and to her it was equally evident that jane was to the preference which she had to for him from the first and was in a way to be very much in love but she considered with pleasure that it was not likely to be discovered by the world in general since jane united with great strength of feeling a composure of temper and an cheerfulness of manner which would guard her from the of the impertinent she mentioned this to her friend miss lucas it may perhaps be pleasant replied charlotte to be able to on the public in such a case but it is sometimes a to be so very guarded if a woman her affection with the same from the object of it she may lose the opportunity of him and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the there is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment that it is not safe to leave any to itself we can all begin a slight preference is natural enough but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement in cases out of ten a woman had better show more affection than she bingley likes your sister undoubtedly but he may never do more than like her if she does not help him on but she does help him on as much as her nature will allow if i can perceive her regard for him he must be a indeed not to discover it too remember eliza that he does not know jane s disposition as you do but if a woman is partial to a man and does not to conceal it he must find it out perhaps he must if he sees enough of her but though bingley and jane meet tolerably often it is never for many hours together and as they always see each other in large parties it is impossible that every moment should be employed in together jane should therefore make the most of every half hour in which she can command his attention when she is secure of him there will be leisure for in love as much as she chooses your plan is a good one replied elizabeth where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married and if i were determined to get a rich husband or any husband i dare say i should it but these are not jane s feelings she is not by design as yet she cannot even be certain of the degree of her own regard nor of its she has known him only a fortnight she danced four dances with him at meryton she saw him one morning at his own house and has since dined in company with him four times this is not quite enough to make her understand his character not as you it had she merely dined with him she might only have discovered whether he had a good but you must remember that four have been also spent together and four may do a great deal yes these four have them to that they both like better than but with respect to any other i do not imagine that much has been well said charlotte i wish jane success with all my heart and if she were married to him to morrow i should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be his character for a twelvemonth happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance if the of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so it does not their felicity in the least they always continue to afterwards to have their share of vexation and it is better to know as little as possible of the of the person with whom you are to pass your life you make me laugh charlotte but it is not sound you know it is not sound and that you would never act in this way yourself occupied in observing mr bingley s attention to her sister elizabeth was far from that she was herself an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend mr darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty he had looked at her without admiration at the ball and when they next met he looked at her only to but no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good in her face than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly by the beautiful expression of her eyes to this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying though he had with a eye more than one of perfect in her form he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing and in spite of his that her manners were not those of the world he was caught by their easy of this she was perfectly to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with he began to wish to know more of her and as a step towards with her himself attended to her conversation with others his doing so drew her notice it was at sir william lucas s where a large party were assembled what does mr darcy mean said she to charlotte by listening to my conversation with colonel forster that is a question which mr darcy only can answer but if he does it any more i shall certainly let him know that i see what he is about he has a very eye and if i do not begin by being impertinent myself i shall soon afraid of him illustration the of several copyright by george allen on his approaching them soon afterwards though without to have any intention of speaking miss lucas her friend to mention such a subject to him which immediately elizabeth to do it she turned to him and said did not you think mr darcy that i expressed myself uncommonly well just now when i was teasing colonel forster to give us a ball at meryton with great but it is a subject which always makes a lady you are severe on us it will be her turn soon to be said miss lucas i am going to open the instrument eliza and you know what follows you are a very strange creature by way of a friend always wanting me to play and before anybody and everybody if my vanity had taken a turn you would have been but as it is i would really rather not sit down before those who must be in the habit of hearing the very best on miss lucas s however she added very well if it must be so it must and at mr darcy there is a very fine old saying which everybody here is of course with keep your to your and i shall keep mine to my her performance was pleasing though by no means after a or two and before she could reply to the of several that she would again she was eagerly succeeded at the instrument by her sister mary who having in consequence of being the only plain one in the family hard for knowledge and was always impatient for mary had neither nor taste and though vanity had given her application it had given her likewise a air and conceited manner which would have a degree of than she had reached elizabeth easy and had been listened to with much more pleasure though not playing half so well and mary at the end of a long was glad to purchase praise and gratitude by and at the request of her younger sisters who with some of the lucases and two or three officers joined eagerly in dancing at one end of the room mr darcy stood near them in silent indignation at such a of passing the evening to the of all conversation and was too much by his own thoughts to perceive that sir william lucas was his neighbour till sir william thus began what a charming amusement for young people this is mr darcy there is nothing like dancing after all i consider it as one of the first of certainly sir and it has the advantage also of being in amongst the less of the world every can dance sir william only smiled your friend he continued after a pause on seeing bingley join the and i doubt not that you are an in the yourself mr darcy you saw me dance at meryton i believe sir yes indeed and received no pleasure from the sight do you often dance at st james s never sir do you not think it would be a proper compliment to the place it is a compliment which i never pay to any place if i can avoid it you have a house in town i mr darcy i had once some thoughts of in town myself for i am fond of superior society but i did not feel quite certain that the air of london would agree with lady lucas he in hopes of an answer but his companion was not disposed to make any and elizabeth at that instant moving towards them he was struck with the notion of doing a very thing and called out to her my dear miss eliza why are not you dancing mr darcy you must allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner you cannot refuse to dance i am sure when so much beauty is before you and taking her hand he would have given it to mr darcy who though extremely surprised was not unwilling to receive it when she instantly drew back and said with some to sir william indeed sir i have not the least intention of dancing i entreat you not to suppose that i moved this way in order to beg for a partner mr darcy with grave propriety to be allowed the honour of her hand but in vain elizabeth was determined nor did sir william at all her purpose by his attempt at persuasion you so much in the dance miss eliza that it is to deny me the happiness of seeing you and though this gentleman the amusement in general he can have no objection i am sure to oblige us for one half hour mr darcy is all politeness said elizabeth smiling he is indeed but considering the my dear miss eliza we cannot wonder at his for who would object to such a partner elizabeth looked and turned away her had not her with the gentleman and he was thinking of her with some when thus by miss bingley i can the subject of your i should imagine not you are considering how it would be to pass many in this manner in such society and indeed i am quite of your opinion i was never more the and yet the the and yet the self importance of all these people what would i give to hear your on them your conjecture is totally wrong i assure you my mind was more engaged i have been on the very great pleasure which a of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow miss bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of such reflections mr darcy replied with great miss elizabeth bennet miss elizabeth bennet repeated miss bingley i am all astonishment how long has she been such a favourite and pray when am i to wish you joy that is exactly the question which i expected you to ask a lady s is very it from admiration to love from love to matrimony in a moment i knew you would be wishing me joy nay if you are so serious about it i shall consider the matter as absolutely settled you will have a charming mother in law indeed and of course she will be always at pemberley with you he listened to her with perfect indifference while she chose to herself in this manner and as his composure convinced her that all was safe her wit along illustration a note for miss bennet copyright by george allen chapter illustration mr bennet s property almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year which for his daughters was entailed in of on a relation and their mother s fortune though for her situation in life could but ill supply the of his her father had been an in meryton and had left her four thousand pounds she had a sister married to a mr philips who had been a to their father and succeeded him in the business and a brother settled in london in a respectable line of the village of longbourn was only one mile from meryton a most distance for the young ladies who were usually tempted thither three or four times a week to pay their duty to their aunt and to a s just over the way the two youngest of the family catherine and lydia were particularly frequent in these attentions their were more than their sisters and when nothing better offered a walk to meryton was necessary to their morning hours and conversation for the evening and however of news the country in general might be they always to learn some from their aunt at present indeed they were well both with news and happiness by the arrival of a militia regiment in the neighbourhood it was to remain the whole winter and meryton was the head their to mrs philips were now of the most interesting intelligence every day added something to their knowledge of the officers names and connections their were not long a secret and at length they began to know the officers themselves mr philips them all and this opened to his nieces a source of felicity unknown before they could talk of nothing but officers and mr bingley s large fortune the mention of which gave to their mother was in their eyes when to the of an after listening one morning to their on this subject mr bennet observed from all that i can by your manner of talking you must be two of the girls in the country i have suspected it some time but i am now convinced catherine was and made no answer but lydia with perfect indifference continued to express her admiration of and her hope of seeing him in the course of the day as he was going the next morning to london i am astonished my dear said mrs bennet that you should be so ready to think your own children silly if i wished to think of anybody s children it should not be of my own however if my children are silly i must hope to be always sensible of it yes but as it they are all of them very clever this is the only point i flatter myself on which we do not agree i had hoped that our sentiments in every particular but i must so far from you as to think our two youngest daughters uncommonly foolish my dear mr bennet you must not expect such girls to have the sense of their father and mother when they get to our age i dare say they will not think about officers any more than we do i remember the time when i liked a myself very well and indeed so i do still at my heart and if a young colonel with five or six thousand a year should want one of my girls i shall not say nay to him and i thought colonel forster looked very the other night at sir william s in his mamma cried lydia my aunt says that colonel forster and do not go so often to miss s as they did when they first came she sees them now very often standing in s library mrs bennet was prevented by the entrance of the with a note for miss bennet it came from netherfield and the servant waited for an answer mrs bennet s eyes with pleasure and she was eagerly calling out while her daughter read well jane who is it from what is it about what does he say well jane make haste and tell us make haste my love it is from miss bingley said jane and then read it aloud my dear friend if you are not so as to dine to day with louisa and me we shall be in danger of each other for the rest of our for a whole day s t te t te between two women can never end without a come as soon as you can on the of this my brother and the gentlemen are to dine with the officers yours ever caroline bingley with the officers cried lydia i wonder my aunt did not tell us of that dining out said mrs bennet that is very unlucky can i have the carriage said jane no my dear you had better go on because it seems likely to and then you must stay all night that would be a good scheme said elizabeth if you were sure that they would not offer to send her home oh but the gentlemen will have mr bingley s chaise to go to meryton and the have no horses to i had much rather go in the coach but my dear your father cannot spare the horses i am sure they are wanted in the mr bennet are not they illustration cheerful they are wanted in the much than i can get them but if you have got them to day said elizabeth my mother s purpose will be answered she did at last from her father an that the horses were engaged jane was therefore obliged to go on and her mother attended her to the door with many cheerful of a bad day her hopes were answered jane had not been gone long before it hard her sisters were uneasy for her but her mother was delighted the continued the whole evening without jane certainly could not come back this was a lucky idea of mine indeed said mrs bennet more than once as if the credit of making it were all her own till the next morning however she was not aware of all the felicity of her breakfast was scarcely over when a servant from netherfield brought the following note for elizabeth my dearest i find myself very this morning which i suppose is to be to my getting through yesterday my kind friends will not hear of my returning home till i am better they insist also on my seeing mr therefore do not be alarmed if you should hear of his having been to me and a and a there is not much the matter with me yours etc well my dear said mr bennet when elizabeth had read the note aloud if your daughter should have a of if she should it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of mr bingley and under your orders oh i am not at all afraid of her people do not of little she will be taken good care of as long as she there it is all very well i would go and see her if i could have the carriage elizabeth feeling really anxious determined to go to her though the carriage was not to be had and as she was no walking was her only she declared her resolution how can you be so silly cried her mother as to think of such a thing in all this you will not be to be seen when you get there i shall be very to see jane which is all i want is this a hint to me lizzy said her father to send for the horses no indeed i do not wish to avoid the walk the distance is nothing when one has a motive only three miles i shall be back by dinner i admire the of your observed mary but every of feeling should be by reason and in my opinion exertion should always be in to what is required we will go as far as meryton with you said catherine and lydia elizabeth accepted their company and the three young ladies set off together if we make haste said lydia as they walked along perhaps we may see something of before he in meryton they parted the two youngest to the of one of the officers and elizabeth continued her walk alone after at a quick over and over with impatient and finding herself at last within view of the house with and a face with the warmth of exercise she was shown into the breakfast parlour where all but jane were assembled and where her appearance a great deal of surprise that she should have walked three miles so early in the day in such weather and by herself was almost to mrs hurst and miss bingley and elizabeth was convinced that they her in contempt for it she was received however very by them and in their brother s manners there was something better than politeness there was good humour and kindness mr darcy said very little and mr hurst nothing at all the former was between admiration of the which exercise had given to her complexion and doubt as to the occasion s her coming so far alone the latter was thinking only of his breakfast her inquiries after her sister were not very answered miss bennet had ill and though up was very and not well enough to leave her room elizabeth was glad to be taken to her immediately and jane who had only been by the fear of giving alarm or inconvenience from expressing in her note how much she longed for such a visit was delighted at her entrance she was not equal however to much conversation and when miss bingley left them together could attempt little expressions of gratitude for the extraordinary kindness she was treated with elizabeth attended her when breakfast was over they were joined by the sisters and elizabeth began to like them herself when she saw how much affection and solicitude they showed for jane the came and having his said as might be supposed that she had caught a violent cold and that they must endeavour to get the better of it her to return to bed and promised her some the advice was followed readily for the increased and her head elizabeth did not quit her room for a moment nor were the other ladies often the gentlemen being out they had in fact nothing to do when the clock struck three elizabeth felt that she must go and very said so miss bingley offered her the carriage and she only wanted a little to accept it when jane such concern at parting with her that miss bingley was obliged to the offer of the chaise into an invitation to remain at netherfield for the present elizabeth most and a servant was to longbourn to the family with her stay and bring back a supply of clothes illustration the came illustration a chapter illustration at five o clock the two ladies to and at half past six elizabeth was to dinner to the civil inquiries which then in and amongst which she had the pleasure of the much superior solicitude of mr bingley she could not make a very favourable answer jane was by no means better the sisters on hearing this repeated three or four times how much they were grieved how shocking it was to have a bad cold and how excessively they being ill themselves and then thought no more of the matter and their indifference towards jane when not immediately before them elizabeth to the enjoyment of all her dislike their brother indeed was the only one of the party whom she could regard with any his anxiety for jane was evident and his attentions to herself most pleasing and they prevented her feeling herself so much an as she believed she was considered by the others she had very little notice from any but him miss bingley was by mr darcy her sister scarcely less so and as for mr hurst by whom elizabeth sat he was an man who lived only to drink and play at cards who when he found her prefer a plain to a had nothing to say to her when dinner was over she returned directly to jane and miss bingley began her as soon as she was out of the room her manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed a of pride and impertinence she had no conversation no style no taste no beauty mrs hurst thought the same and added she has nothing in short to recommend her but being an excellent i shall never forget her appearance this morning she really looked almost wild she did indeed louisa i could hardly keep my countenance very to come at all why must she be about the country because her sister had a cold her so so yes and her i hope you saw her six deep in i am absolutely certain and the gown which had been let down to it not doing its office your picture may be very louisa said bingley but this was all lost upon me i thought miss elizabeth bennet looked remarkably well when she came into the room this morning her quite my notice you observed it mr darcy i am sure said miss bingley and i am inclined to think that you would not wish to see your sister make such an certainly not to walk three miles or four miles or five miles or whatever it is above her in and alone quite alone what could she mean by it it seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence a most country town indifference to it an affection for her sister that is very pleasing said bingley i am afraid mr darcy observed miss bingley in a half whisper that this has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes not at all he replied they were by the exercise a short pause followed this speech and mrs hurst began again i have an regard for jane bennet she is really a very sweet girl and i wish with all my heart she were well settled but with such a father and mother and such low connections i am afraid there is no chance of it i think i have heard you say that their uncle is an in meryton yes and they have another who near that is added her sister and they both laughed heartily if they had enough to all cried bingley it would not make them one less agreeable but it must very their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world replied darcy to this speech bingley made no answer but his sisters gave it their and their for some time at the expense of their dear friend s relations with a renewal of however they to her room on leaving the dining parlour and sat with her till to coffee she was still very and elizabeth would not quit her at all till late in the evening when she had the comfort of seeing her and when it appeared to her rather right than pleasant that she should go down stairs herself on entering the drawing room she found the whole party at and was immediately invited to join them but them to be playing high she declined it and making her sister the excuse said she would herself for the short time she could stay with a book mr hurst looked at her with astonishment do you prefer reading to cards said he that is rather miss eliza bennet said miss bingley cards she is a great and has no pleasure in anything else i deserve neither such praise nor such cried elizabeth i am not a great and i have pleasure in many things in your sister i am sure you have pleasure said bingley and i hope it will soon be increased by seeing her quite well elizabeth thanked him from her heart and then walked towards a table where a few books were he immediately offered to her others all that his library and i wish my were larger for your and my own credit but i am an idle fellow and though i have not many i have more than i ever looked into elizabeth assured him that she could suit herself perfectly with those in the room i am astonished said miss bingley that my father should have left so small a of books what a delightful library you have at pemberley mr darcy it ought to be good he replied it has been the work of many and then you have added so much to it yourself you are always books i cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library in such days as these neglect i am sure you neglect nothing that can add to the of that noble place charles when you your house i wish it may be half as delightful as pemberley i wish it may but i would really advise you to make your purchase in that neighbourhood and take pemberley for a kind of there is not a county in than derbyshire with all my heart i will pemberley itself if darcy will it i am talking of charles upon my word caroline i should think it more possible to get pemberley by purchase than by elizabeth was so much caught by what passed as to leave her very little attention for her book and soon it wholly she drew near the card table and herself between mr bingley and his eldest sister to observe the game is miss darcy much since the said miss bingley will she be as tall as i am i think she will she is now about miss elizabeth bennet s or rather how i long to see her again i never met with anybody who delighted me so much such a countenance such manners and so extremely accomplished for her age her performance on the is it is to me said bingley how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are all young ladies accomplished my dear charles what do you mean yes all of them i think they all tables and i scarcely know any one who cannot do all this and i am sure i never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time without being informed that she was very accomplished your of the common extent of said darcy has too much truth the word is applied to many a woman who it no otherwise than by a or a but i am very far from with you in your of ladies in general i cannot boast of knowing more than half a in the whole of my acquaintance that are really accomplished nor i i am sure said miss bingley then observed elizabeth you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman yes i do comprehend a great deal in it oh certainly cried his no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly what is usually met with a woman must have a knowledge of music drawing dancing and the to deserve the word and besides all this she must a certain something in her air and manner of walking the tone of her voice her address and expressions or the word will be but half deserved all this she must added darcy and to all she must yet add something more in the improvement of her mind by reading i am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women i rather wonder now at your knowing any are you so severe upon your own sex as to doubt the possibility of all this i never saw such a woman i never saw such and taste and application and elegance as you describe united mrs hurst and miss bingley both cried out against the of her doubt and were both that they knew many women who answered this description when mr hurst called them to order with of their to what was going forward as all conversation was at an end elizabeth soon afterwards left the room eliza bennet said miss bingley when the door was closed on her is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by their own and with many men i it but in my opinion it is a a very mean undoubtedly replied darcy to whom this was chiefly addressed there is in all the which ladies sometimes to for whatever to is miss bingley was not so entirely satisfied with this reply as to continue the subject elizabeth joined them again only to say that her sister was worse and that she could not leave her bingley urged mr s being sent for immediately while his sisters convinced that no country advice could be of any service recommended an express to town for one of the most this she would not hear of but she was not so unwilling to with their brother s proposal and it was settled that mr should be sent for early in the morning if miss bennet were not better bingley was quite uncomfortable his sisters declared that they were miserable they their however by after supper while he could find no better relief to his feelings than by giving his housekeeper directions that every possible attention might be paid to the sick lady and her sister illustration m bennet and her two youngest girls copyright by george allen chapter illustration elizabeth passed the chief of the night in her sister s room and in the morning had the pleasure of being able to send a tolerable answer to the inquiries which she very early received from mr bingley by a and some time afterwards from the two elegant ladies who waited on his sisters in spite of this however she to have a note sent to longbourn her mother to visit jane and form her own judgment of her situation the note was immediately and its contents as with mrs bennet accompanied by her two youngest girls reached netherfield soon after the family breakfast had she found jane in any danger mrs bennet would have been very miserable but being satisfied on seeing her that her was not she had no wish of her immediately as her to health would probably her from netherfield she would not listen therefore to her daughter s proposal of being carried home neither did the who arrived about the same time think it at all advisable after sitting a little while with jane on miss bingley s appearance and invitation the mother and three daughters all attended her into the breakfast parlour bingley met them with hopes that mrs bennet had not found miss bennet worse than she expected indeed i have sir was her answer she is a great deal too ill to be moved mr says we must not think of moving her we must a little longer on your kindness removed cried bingley it must not be thought of my sister i am sure will not hear of her removal you may depend upon it madam said miss bingley with cold civility that miss bennet shall receive every possible attention while she with us mrs bennet was in her i am sure she added if it was not for such good friends i do not know what would become of her for she is very ill indeed and a deal though with the greatest patience in the world which is always the way with her for she has without the temper i ever met with i often tell my other girls they are nothing to her you have a sweet room here mr bingley and a charming prospect over that walk i do not know a place in the country that is equal to netherfield you will not think of quitting it in a hurry i hope though you have but a short whatever i do is done in a hurry replied he and therefore if i should to quit netherfield i should probably be off in five minutes at present however i consider myself as quite fixed here that is exactly what i should have supposed of you said elizabeth you begin to comprehend me do you cried he turning towards her oh yes i understand you perfectly i wish i might take this for a compliment but to be so easily seen through i am afraid is that is as it it does not follow that a deep character is more or less than such a one as yours lizzy cried her mother remember where you are and do not run on in the wild manner that you are suffered to do at home i did not know before continued bingley immediately that you were a of character it must be an study yes but are the most they have at least that advantage the country said darcy can in general supply but few subjects for such a study in a country neighbourhood you in a very and society but people themselves so much that there is something new to be observed in them for ever yes indeed cried mrs bennet offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood i assure you there is quite as much of that going on in the country as in town everybody was surprised and darcy after looking at her for a moment turned away mrs bennet who fancied she had gained a complete over him continued her triumph i cannot see that london has any great advantage over the country for my part except the and public the country is a deal is not it mr bingley when i am in the country he replied i never wish to leave it and when i am in town it is pretty much the same they have each their advantages and i can be equally happy in either ay that is because you have the right disposition but that gentleman looking at darcy seemed to think the country was nothing at all indeed mamma you are mistaken said elizabeth for her mother you quite mr darcy he only meant that there was not such a variety of people to be met with in the country as in town which you must acknowledge to be true certainly my dear nobody said there were but as to not meeting with many people in this neighbourhood i believe there are few larger i know we dine with four and twenty families nothing but concern for elizabeth could bingley to keep his countenance his sister was less delicate and directed her eye towards mr darcy with a very smile elizabeth for the sake of saying something that might turn her mother s thoughts now asked her if charlotte lucas had been at longbourn since her coming away yes she called yesterday with her father what an agreeable man sir william is mr bingley is not he so much the man of fashion so and so easy he has always something to say to everybody that is my idea of good breeding and those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their quite mistake the matter did charlotte dine with you no she would go home i fancy she was wanted about the for my part mr bingley i always keep servants that can do their own work my daughters are brought up differently but everybody is to judge for themselves and the lucases are a very good sort of girls i assure you it is a pity they are not handsome not that i think charlotte so very plain but then she is our particular friend she seems a very pleasant young woman said bingley oh dear yes but you must own she is very plain lady lucas herself has often said so and me jane s beauty i do not like to boast of my own child but to be sure jane one does not often see anybody better looking it is what everybody says i do not trust my own partiality when she was only there was a gentleman at my brother gardiner s in town so much in love with her that my sister in law was sure he would make her an offer before we came away but however he did not perhaps he thought her too young however he wrote some on her and very pretty they were and so his affection said elizabeth there has been many a one i fancy overcome in the same way i wonder who first discovered the of in away love i have been used to consider as the of love said darcy of a fine love it may everything what is strong already but if it be only a slight sort of inclination i am convinced that one good will it entirely away darcy only smiled and the general pause which made elizabeth lest her mother should be herself again she longed to speak but could think of nothing to say and after a short silence mrs bennet began repeating her thanks to mr bingley for his kindness to jane with an apology for him also with lizzy mr bingley was civil in his answer and forced his younger sister to be civil also and say what the occasion required she performed her part indeed without much but mrs bennet was satisfied and soon afterwards ordered her carriage upon this the youngest of her daughters put herself forward the two girls had been to each other during the whole visit and the of it was that the youngest should mr bingley with having promised on his first coming into the country to give a ball at netherfield lydia was a well girl of with a fine complexion and good humoured countenance a favourite with her mother whose affection had brought her into public at an early age she had high spirits and a sort of natural self consequence which the attentions of the officers to whom her uncle s good and her own easy manners recommended her had increased into assurance she was very equal therefore to address mr bingley on the subject of the ball and reminded him of his promise that it would be the most thing in the world if he did not keep it his answer to this sudden was delightful to her mother s i am perfectly ready i assure you to keep my engagement and when your sister is recovered you shall if you please name the very day of the ball but you would not wish to be dancing while she is ill lydia declared herself satisfied oh yes it would be much better to wait till jane was well and by that time most likely would be at meryton again and when you have given your ball she added i shall insist on their giving one also i shall tell colonel forster it will be quite a shame if he does not mrs bennet and her daughters then and elizabeth returned instantly to jane leaving her own and her relations behaviour to the remarks of the two ladies and mr darcy the latter of whom however could not be prevailed on to join in their of her in spite of all miss bingley s on fine eyes illustration chapter illustration the day passed much as the day before had done mrs hurst and miss bingley had spent some hours of the morning with the who continued though to and in the evening elizabeth joined their party in the drawing room the table however did not appear mr darcy was writing and miss bingley seated near him was watching the of his letter and repeatedly calling off his attention by to his sister mr hurst and mr bingley were at and mrs hurst was observing their game elizabeth took up some and was amused in attending to what passed between darcy and his companion the of the lady either on his hand writing or on the of his lines or on the length of his letter with the perfect with which her were received formed a and was exactly in with her opinion of each how delighted miss darcy will be to receive such a letter he made no answer you write uncommonly fast you are mistaken i write rather how many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year letters of business too how i should think them it is fortunate then that they fall to my instead of to yours pray tell your sister that i long to see her i have already told her so once by your desire i am afraid you do not like your let me it for you i remarkably well thank you but i always my own how can you to write so even he was silent tell your sister i am delighted to hear of her improvement on the and pray let her know that i am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table and i think it superior to miss s will you give me leave to your raptures till i write again at present i have not room to do them justice oh it is of no consequence i shall see her in but do you always write such charming long letters to her mr darcy they are generally long but whether always charming it is not for me to determine it is a with me that a person who can write a long letter with ease cannot write ill that will not do for a compliment to darcy caroline cried her brother because he does not write with ease he too much for words of four do not you darcy my style of writing is very different from yours oh cried miss bingley charles in the most way he out half his words and the rest my ideas so that i have not time to express them by which means my letters sometimes no ideas at all to my your mr bingley said elizabeth must nothing is more said darcy than the appearance of it is often only of opinion and sometimes an boast and which of the two do you call my little piece of modesty the boast for you are really proud of your in writing because you consider them as proceeding from a of thought and of which if not you think at least highly interesting the power of doing anything with is always much by the and often without any attention to the of the performance when you told mrs bennet this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting netherfield you should be gone in five minutes you meant it to be a sort of of compliment to yourself and yet what is there so very in a which must leave very necessary business and can be of no real advantage to yourself or anyone else nay cried bingley this is too much to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning and yet upon my honour i believed what i said of myself to be true and i believe it at this moment at least therefore i did not the character of merely to show off before the ladies i you believed it but i am by no means convinced that you would be gone with such your conduct would be quite as on chance as that of any man i know and if as you were your a friend were to say bingley you had better stay till next week you would probably do it you would probably not go and at another word might stay a month you have only proved by this cried elizabeth that mr bingley did not do justice to his own disposition you have shown him off now much more than he did himself i am exceedingly gratified said bingley by your what my friend says into a compliment on the of my temper but i am afraid you are giving it a turn which that gentleman did by no means for he would certainly think the better of me if under such a circumstance i were to give a denial and off as fast as i could would mr darcy then consider the of your intention as for by your in to it upon my word i cannot exactly explain the matter darcy must speak for himself you expect me to account for opinions which you choose to call mine but which i have never acknowledged allowing the case however to stand according to your you must remember miss bennet that the friend who is supposed to desire his return to the house and the delay of his plan has merely desired it asked it without one in favour of its propriety to readily easily to the persuasion of a friend is no merit with you to without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either you appear to me mr darcy to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection a regard for the would often make one readily to a request without waiting for to reason one into it i am not particularly speaking of such a case as you have supposed about mr bingley we may as well wait perhaps till the circumstance before we the of his behaviour but in general and cases between friend and friend where one of them is desired by the other to change a resolution of no very great moment should you think ill of that person for with the desire without waiting to be into it will it not be advisable before we on this subject to with rather more the degree of importance which is to to this request as well as the degree of intimacy between the parties by all means cried bingley let us hear all the particulars not their and for that will have more weight in the miss bennet than you may be aware of i assure you that if darcy were not such a great tall fellow in comparison with myself i should not pay him half so much deference i declare i do not know a more object than darcy on particular occasions and in particular at his own house especially and of a sunday evening when he has nothing to do mr darcy smiled but elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended and therefore her laugh miss bingley warmly the he had received in an with her brother for talking such nonsense i see your design bingley said his friend you dislike an and want to silence this perhaps i do are too much like if you and miss bennet will yours till i am out of the room i shall be very thankful and then you may say whatever you like of me what you ask said elizabeth is no sacrifice on my side and mr darcy had much better his letter mr darcy took her advice and did his letter when that business was over he applied to miss bingley and elizabeth for the indulgence of some music miss bingley moved with to the and after a request that elizabeth would lead the way which the other as and more earnestly she seated herself mrs hurst with her sister and while they were thus employed elizabeth could not help observing as she turned over some music books that lay on the instrument how frequently mr darcy s eyes were fixed on her she hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man and yet that he should look at her because he her was still more strange she could only imagine however at last that she drew his notice because there was something about her more wrong and according to his ideas of right than in any other person present the did not pain her she liked him too little to care for his approbation after playing some miss bingley the charm by a lively air and soon afterwards mr darcy drawing near elizabeth said to her do you not feel a great inclination miss bennet to such an opportunity of dancing a she smiled but made no answer he repeated the question with some surprise at her silence oh said she i heard you before but i could not immediately determine what to say in reply you wanted me i know to say yes that you might have the pleasure of my taste but i always delight in those kind of schemes and a person of their contempt i have therefore made up my mind to tell you that i do not want to dance a at all and now me if you dare indeed i do not dare elizabeth having rather expected to him was at his gallantry but there was a of and in her manner which made it difficult for her to anybody and darcy had never been so by any woman as he was by her he really believed that were it not for the of her connections he should be in some danger miss bingley saw or suspected enough to be and her great anxiety for the of her dear friend jane received some assistance from her desire of getting of elizabeth she often tried to darcy into her by talking of their supposed marriage and his happiness in such an i hope said she as they were walking together in the the next day you will give your mother in law a few when this desirable event takes place as to the advantage of her and if you can it to the younger girls of running after the officers and if i may mention so delicate a subject endeavour to that little something on and impertinence which your lady illustration no no stay where you are copyright by george allen have you anything else to for my domestic felicity oh yes do let the of your uncle and aunt philips be placed in the at pemberley put them next to your great uncle the judge they are in the same profession you know only in different lines as for your elizabeth s picture you must not attempt to have it taken for what could do justice to those beautiful eyes it would not be easy indeed to their expression but their colour and and the so remarkably fine might be at that moment they were met from another walk by mrs hurst and elizabeth herself i did not know that you intended to walk said miss bingley in some confusion lest they had been you used us ill answered mrs hurst running away without telling us that you were coming out then taking the of mr darcy she left elizabeth to walk by herself the just admitted three mr darcy felt their and immediately said this walk is not enough for our party we had better go into the but elizabeth who had not the least inclination to remain with them answered no no stay where you are you are and appear to advantage the would be by a good she then ran off as she about in the hope of being at home again in a day or two jane was already so much recovered as to leaving her room for a couple of hours that evening illustration up the fire copyright by george allen chapter illustration when the ladies removed after dinner elizabeth ran up to her sister and seeing her well guarded from cold attended her into the drawing room where she was welcomed by her two friends with many professions of pleasure and elizabeth had never seen them so agreeable as they were during the hour which passed before the gentlemen appeared their powers of conversation were considerable they could describe an entertainment with relate an with humour and laugh at their acquaintance with spirit but when the gentlemen entered jane was no longer the first object miss bingley s eyes were instantly turned towards darcy and she had something to say to him before he had many he addressed himself directly to miss bennet with a mr hurst also made her a slight bow and said he was very glad but and warmth remained for bingley s he was full of joy and attention the first half hour was spent in up the fire lest she should suffer from the change of room and she removed at his desire to the other side of the that she might be farther from the door he then sat down by her and talked scarcely to anyone else elizabeth at work in the opposite saw it all with great delight when tea was over mr hurst reminded his sister in law of the card table but in vain she had private intelligence that mr darcy did not wish for cards and mr hurst soon found even his open she assured him that no one intended to play and the silence of the whole party on the subject seemed to justify her mr hurst had therefore nothing to do but to himself on one of the and go to darcy took up a book miss bingley did the same and mrs hurst occupied in playing with her and joined now and then in her brother s conversation with miss bennet miss bingley s attention was quite as much engaged in watching mr darcy s through his book as in reading her own and she was either making some inquiry or looking at his she could not him however to any conversation he merely answered her question and read on at length quite by the attempt to be amused with her own book which she had only chosen because it was the second of his she gave a great and said how pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way i declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading how much sooner one of anything than of a book when i have a house of my own i shall be miserable if i have not an excellent library no one made any reply she then again threw her book and her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement when hearing her brother mentioning a ball to miss bennet she turned suddenly towards him and said by the charles are you really serious in a dance at netherfield i would advise you before you determine on it to the wishes of the present party i am much mistaken if there are not some among us to whom a ball would be rather a than a pleasure if you mean darcy cried her brother he may go to bed if he chooses before it but as for the ball it is quite a settled thing and as soon as has made enough i shall send round my cards i should like balls better she replied if they were carried on in a different manner but there is something in the usual of such a meeting it would be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day much more rational my dear caroline i dare say but it would not be near so much like a ball miss bingley made no answer and soon afterwards got up and walked about the room her figure was elegant and she walked well but darcy at whom it was all was still in the of her feelings she resolved on one more and turning to elizabeth said miss eliza bennet let me persuade you to follow my and take a turn about the room i assure you it is very after sitting so long in one elizabeth was surprised but agreed to it immediately miss bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility mr darcy looked up he was as much to the of attention in that quarter as elizabeth herself could be and closed his book he was directly invited to join their party but he declined it observing that he could imagine but two motives for their to walk up and down the room together with either of which motives his them would what could he mean she was to know what could be his meaning and asked elizabeth whether she could at all understand him not at all was her answer but depend upon it he means to be severe on us and our way of him will be to ask nothing about it miss bingley however was incapable of mr darcy in anything and therefore in an explanation of his two motives i have not the smallest objection to them said he as soon as she allowed him to speak you either choose this of passing the evening because you are in each other s confidence and have secret affairs to or because you are that your appear to the greatest advantage in walking if the first i should be completely in your way and if the second i can admire you much better as i sit by the fire oh shocking cried miss bingley i never heard anything so abominable how shall we him for such a speech nothing so easy if you have but the inclination said elizabeth we can all and one another him laugh at him intimate as you are you must know how it is to be done but upon my honour i do not i do assure you that my intimacy has not yet taught me that of temper and presence of mind no no i feel he may us there and as to we will not expose ourselves if you please by to laugh without a subject mr darcy may himself mr darcy is not to be laughed at cried elizabeth that is an advantage and i hope it will continue for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance i love a laugh miss bingley said he has given me credit for more than can be the wisest and best of men nay the wisest and best of their actions may be rendered by a person whose first object in life is a certainly replied elizabeth there are such people but i hope i am not one of them i hope i never what is or good and nonsense and do me i own and i laugh at them whenever i can but these i suppose are what you are without perhaps that is not possible for anyone but it has been the study of my life to avoid those which often expose a strong understanding to such as vanity and pride yes vanity is a indeed but pride where there is a real of mind pride will be always under good elizabeth turned away to a smile your of mr darcy is over i said miss bingley and pray what is the i am perfectly convinced by it that mr darcy has no he it himself without no said darcy i have made no such i have enough but they are not i hope of understanding my temper i dare not for it is i believe too little certainly too little for the of the world i cannot forget the and of others so soon as i ought nor their against myself my feelings are not about with every attempt to them my temper would perhaps be called my good opinion once lost is lost for ever that is a indeed cried elizabeth resentment is a in a character but you have chosen your fault well i really cannot laugh at it you are safe from me there is i believe in every disposition a to some particular evil a natural which not even the best education can overcome and your is a to hate everybody and yours he replied with a smile is to them do let us have a little music cried miss bingley of a conversation in which she had no share louisa you will not mind my mr hurst her sister made not the smallest objection and the was opened and darcy after a few moments recollection was not sorry for it he began to feel the danger of elizabeth too much attention illustration chapter illustration in consequence of an between the sisters elizabeth wrote the next morning to her mother to beg that the carriage might be sent for them in the course of the day but mrs bennet who had on her daughters remaining at netherfield till the following tuesday which would exactly jane s week could not bring herself to receive them with pleasure before her answer therefore was not at least not to elizabeth s wishes for she was impatient to get home mrs bennet sent them word that they could not possibly have the carriage before tuesday and in her it was added that if mr bingley and his sister them to stay longer she could spare them very well against staying longer however elizabeth was resolved nor did she much expect it would be asked and on the contrary of being considered as themselves long she urged jane to mr bingley s carriage immediately and at length it was settled that their design of leaving netherfield that morning should be mentioned and the request made the communication excited many professions of concern and enough was said of wishing them to stay at least till the following day to work on jane and till the morrow their going was miss bingley was then sorry that she had the delay for her and dislike of one sister much her affection for the other the master of the house heard with real that they were to go so soon and repeatedly tried to persuade miss bennet that it would not be safe for her that she was not enough recovered but jane was where she felt herself to be right to mr darcy it was welcome intelligence elizabeth had been at netherfield long enough she him more than he liked and miss bingley was to her and more teasing than usual to himself he resolved to be particularly that no of admiration should now escape him nothing that could her with the hope of his felicity sensible that if such an idea had been his behaviour during the last day must have material weight in or it steady to his purpose he scarcely spoke ten words to her through the whole of saturday and though they were at one time left by themselves for half an hour he most to his book and would not even look at her on sunday after morning service the separation so agreeable to almost all took place miss bingley s civility to elizabeth increased at last very as well as her affection for jane and when they parted after the latter of the pleasure it would always give her to see her either at longbourn or netherfield and her most she even shook hands with the former elizabeth took leave of the whole party in the spirits they were not welcomed home very by their mother mrs bennet wondered at their coming and thought them very wrong to give so much trouble and was sure jane would have caught cold again but their father though very in his expressions of pleasure was really glad to see them he had felt their importance in the family circle the evening conversation when they were all assembled had lost much of its and almost all its sense by the absence of jane and elizabeth they found mary as usual deep in the study of and human nature and had some new to admire and some new of to listen to catherine and lydia had information for them of a different sort much had been done and much had been said in the regiment since the wednesday several of the officers had dined lately with their uncle a private had been and it had actually been that colonel forster was going to be married illustration chapter illustration i hope my dear said mr bennet to his wife as they were at breakfast the next morning that you have ordered a good dinner to day because i have reason to expect an addition to our family party who do you mean my dear i know of nobody that is coming i am sure unless charlotte lucas should happen to call in and i hope my are good enough for her i do not believe she often sees such at home the person of whom i speak is a gentleman and a stranger mrs bennet s eyes a gentleman and a stranger it is mr bingley i am sure why jane you never dropped a word of this you thing well i am sure i shall be extremely glad to see mr bingley but good lord how unlucky there is not a of to be got to day lydia my love the bell i must speak to hill this moment it is not mr bingley said her husband it is a person whom i never saw in the whole course of my life this roused a general astonishment and he had the pleasure of being eagerly by his wife and five daughters at once after himself some time with their curiosity he thus explained about a month ago i received this letter and about a fortnight ago i answered it for i thought it a case of some delicacy and early attention it is from my cousin mr collins who when i am may turn you all out of this house as soon as he oh my dear cried his wife i cannot bear to hear that mentioned pray do not talk of that man i do think it is the thing in the world that your estate should be entailed away from your own children and i am sure if i had been you i should have tried long ago to do something or other about it jane and elizabeth to explain to her the nature of an entail they had often it before but it was a subject on which mrs bennet was beyond the reach of reason and she continued to against the of an estate away from a family of five daughters in favour of a man whom nobody cared anything about it certainly is a most affair said mr bennet and nothing can clear mr collins from the of longbourn but if you will listen to his letter you may perhaps be a little softened by his manner of expressing himself no that i am sure i shall not and i think it was very impertinent of him to write to you at all and very i hate such false friends why could not he keep on with you as his father did before him why indeed he does seem to have had some on that head as you will hear right hunsford near kent dear sir the between yourself and my late honoured father always gave me much uneasiness and since i have had the misfortune to lose him i have frequently wished to the but for some time i was kept back by my own lest it might seem to his memory for me to be on good terms with anyone with whom it had always pleased him to be at there mrs bennet my mind however is now made up on the subject for having received at i have been so fortunate as to be distinguished by the of the right honourable lady catherine de bourgh of sir de bourgh whose and has me to the valuable of this parish where it shall be my earnest endeavour to myself with grateful respect towards her ladyship and be ever ready to those and which are by the church of as a clergyman moreover i feel it my duty to and the of peace in all families within the reach of my influence and on these i flatter myself that my present of good will are highly and that the circumstance of my being next in the entail of longbourn estate will be kindly on your side and not lead you to the offered i cannot be otherwise than concerned at being the means of your amiable daughters and beg leave to for it as well as to assure you of my to make them every possible but of this if you should have no objection to receive me into your house i myself the satisfaction of waiting on you and your family monday by four o clock and shall probably on your till the saturday following which i can do without any inconvenience as lady catherine is far from to my occasional absence on a sunday provided that some other clergyman is engaged to do the duty of the day i remain dear sir with compliments to your lady and daughters your well and friend william collins at four o clock therefore we may expect this peace making gentleman said mr bennet as he up the letter he seems to be a most and young man upon my word and i doubt not will prove a valuable acquaintance especially if lady catherine should be so as to let him come to us again there is some sense in what he says about the girls however and if he is disposed to make them any i shall not be the person to him though it is difficult said jane to in what way he can mean to make us the he our due the wish is certainly to his credit elizabeth was chiefly struck with his extraordinary deference for lady catherine and his kind intention of marrying and his whenever it were required he must be an i think said she i cannot make him out there is something very in his style and what can he mean by for being next in the entail we cannot suppose he would help it if he could can he be a sensible man sir no my dear i think not i have great hopes of finding him quite the there is a of and self importance in his letter which well i am impatient to see him in point of said mary his letter does not seem the idea of the perhaps is not wholly new yet i think it is well expressed to catherine and lydia neither the letter nor its were in any degree interesting it was next to impossible that their cousin should come in a and it was now some weeks since they had received pleasure from the society of a man in any other colour as for their mother mr collins s letter had done away much of her ill will and she was preparing to see him with a degree of composure which astonished her husband and daughters mr collins was to his time and was received with great politeness by the whole family mr bennet indeed said little but the ladies were ready enough to talk and mr collins seemed neither in need of encouragement nor inclined to be silent himself he was a tall looking young man of five and twenty his air was grave and and his manners were very formal he had not been long seated before he mrs bennet on having so fine a family of daughters said he had heard much of their beauty but that in this instance had short of the truth and added that he did not doubt her seeing them all in due time well disposed of in marriage this gallantry was not much to the taste of some of his but mrs bennet who with no compliments answered most readily you are very kind sir i am sure and i wish with all my heart it may prove so for else they will be enough things are settled so you perhaps to the entail of this estate sir i do indeed it is a affair to my poor girls you must confess not that i mean to find fault with you for such things i know are all chance in this world there is no knowing how will go when once they come to be entailed i am very sensible madam of the to my fair cousins and could say much on the subject but that i am of appearing forward and but i can assure the young ladies that i come prepared to admire them at present i will not say more but perhaps when we are better acquainted he was interrupted by a to dinner and the girls smiled on each other they were not the only objects of mr collins s admiration the hall the dining room and all its furniture were and and his commendation of everything would have mrs bennet s heart but for the mortifying of his it all as his own future property the dinner too in its turn was highly admired and he begged to know to which of his fair cousins the of its was but here he was set right by mrs bennet who assured him with some that they were very well able to keep a good and that her daughters had nothing to do in the he begged pardon for having her in a softened tone she declared herself not at all offended but he continued to for about a quarter of an hour illustration chapter illustration during dinner mr bennet scarcely spoke at all but when the servants were he thought it time to have some conversation with his and therefore a subject in which he expected him to by observing that he seemed very fortunate in his patroness lady catherine de bourgh s attention to his wishes and consideration for his comfort appeared very remarkable mr bennet could not have chosen better mr collins was in her praise the subject him to more than usual of manner and with a most important aspect he protested that he had never in his life such behaviour in a person of rank such and condescension as he had himself from lady catherine she had been pleased to of both the which he had already had the honour of before her she had also asked him twice to dine at rosings and had sent for him only the saturday before to make up her of in the evening lady catherine was proud by many people he knew but he had never seen anything but in her she had always spoken to him as she would to any other gentleman she made not the smallest objection to his in the society of the neighbourhood nor to his leaving his parish occasionally for a week or two to visit his relations she had even to advise him to marry as soon as he could provided he chose with and had once paid him a visit in his humble parsonage where she had perfectly all the he had been making and had even to some herself some in the upstairs that is all very proper and civil i am sure said mrs bennet and i dare say she is a very agreeable woman it is a pity that great ladies in general are not more like her does she live near you sir the garden in which my humble abode is only by a lane from rosings park her ladyship s i think you said she was a sir has she any family she has one only daughter the of rosings and of very property cried mrs bennet her head then she is better off than many girls and what sort of young lady is she is she handsome she is a most charming young lady indeed lady catherine herself says that in point of true beauty miss de bourgh is far superior to the of her sex because there is that in her features which the young woman of distinguished she is of a which has prevented her making that in many which she could not otherwise have of as i am informed by the lady who her education and who still with them but she is perfectly amiable and often to by my humble abode in her little and has she been i do not remember her name among the ladies at her indifferent state of health her being in town and by that means as i told lady catherine myself one day has the of its her ladyship seemed pleased with the idea and you may imagine that i am happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments which are always acceptable to ladies i have more than once observed to lady catherine that her charming daughter seemed to be a and that the most rank instead of giving her consequence would be by her these are the kind of little things which please her ladyship and it is a sort of attention which i myself to pay you judge very properly said mr bennet and it is happy for you that you the of with delicacy may i ask whether these pleasing attentions from the of the moment or are the of study they arise chiefly from what is passing at the time and though i sometimes myself with and such little elegant compliments as may be to occasions i always wish to give them as an air as possible mr bennet s expectations were answered his cousin was as as he had hoped and he listened to him with the enjoyment at the same time the most composure of countenance and except in an occasional glance at elizabeth no partner in his pleasure by tea time however the had been enough and mr bennet was glad to take his into the drawing room again and when tea was over glad to invite him illustration protested that he never read t to read aloud to the ladies mr collins readily and a book was produced but on it for everything it to be from a library he back and pardon protested that he never read kitty at him and lydia exclaimed other books were produced and after some he chose s lydia as he opened the and before he had with very read three she interrupted him with do you know mamma that my uncle philips of turning away and if he does colonel forster will him my aunt told me so herself on saturday i shall walk to meryton to morrow to hear more about it and to ask when mr denny comes back from town lydia was by her two eldest sisters to hold her but mr collins much offended laid his book and said i have often observed how little young ladies are interested by books of a serious though written for their it me i confess for certainly there can be nothing so to them as but i will no longer my young cousin then turning to mr bennet he offered himself as his at mr bennet accepted the observing that he acted very in leaving the girls to their own mrs bennet and her daughters most for lydia s interruption and promised that it should not again if he would his book but mr collins after them that he bore his young cousin no ill will and should never her behaviour as any seated himself at another table with mr bennet and prepared for illustration chapter illustration mr collins was not a sensible man and the of nature had been but little by education or society the greatest part of his life having been spent under the of an and father and though he to one of the he had merely kept the necessary terms without at it any useful acquaintance the in which his father had brought him up had given him great of manner but it was now a good deal by the self of a weak head living in and the feelings of early and unexpected a fortunate chance had recommended him to lady catherine de bourgh when the living of hunsford was and the respect which he felt for her high rank and his for her as his patroness with a very good opinion of himself of his authority as a clergyman and his right as a made him altogether a of pride and self importance and having now a good house and a very income he intended to marry and in seeking a with the longbourn family he had a wife in view as he meant to choose one of the daughters if he found them as handsome and amiable as they were represented by common report this was his plan of of for their father s estate and he thought it an excellent one full of and and excessively generous and on his own part his plan did not on seeing them miss bennet s face his views and established all his of what was due to and for the first evening she was his settled choice the next morning however made an alteration for in a quarter of an hour s t te t te with mrs bennet before breakfast a conversation beginning with his parsonage house and naturally to the of his hopes that a mistress for it might be found at longbourn produced from her very smiles and general encouragement a against the very jane he had fixed on as to her younger daughters she could not take upon her to say she could not answer but she did not know of any her eldest daughter she must just mention she felt it on her to hint was likely to be very soon engaged mr collins had only to change from jane to elizabeth and it was soon done done while mrs bennet was the fire elizabeth equally next to jane in and beauty succeeded her of course mrs bennet up the hint and trusted that she might soon have two daughters married and the man whom she could not bear to speak of the day before was now high in her good lydia s intention of walking to meryton was not forgotten every sister except mary agreed to go with her and mr collins was to them at the request of mr bennet who was most anxious to get of him and have his library to himself for thither mr collins had followed him after breakfast and there he would continue engaged with one of the in the but really talking to mr bennet with little of his house and garden at hunsford such mr bennet exceedingly in his library he had been always sure of leisure and and though prepared as he told elizabeth to meet with folly and in every other room in the house he was used to be free from them there his civility therefore was most in mr collins to join his daughters in their walk and mr collins being in fact much better fitted for a than a was extremely well pleased to close his large book and go in on his side and civil on that of his cousins their time passed till they entered meryton the attention of the younger was then no longer to be gained by him their eyes were immediately up the street in quest of the officers and nothing less than a very indeed or a really new in a window could them but the attention of every lady was soon caught by a young man whom they had never seen before of most gentlemanlike appearance walking with an officer on the other side of the way the officer was the very mr denny whose return from london lydia came to inquire and he as they passed all were struck with the stranger s air all wondered who he could be and kitty and lydia determined if possible to find out led the way across the street under of wanting something in an opposite and had just gained the when the two gentlemen turning back had reached the same spot mr denny addressed them directly and permission to introduce his friend mr wickham who had returned with him the day before from town and he was happy to say had accepted a commission in their corps this was exactly as it should be for the young man wanted only to make him completely charming his appearance was greatly in his favour he had all the best parts of beauty a fine countenance a good figure and very pleasing address the introduction was followed up on his side by a happy of conversation a at the same time perfectly and and the whole party were still standing and talking together very when the sound of horses drew their notice and darcy and bingley were seen down the street on the ladies of the the two gentlemen came directly towards them and began the usual civilities bingley was the principal and miss bennet the principal object he was then he said on his way to longbourn on purpose to inquire after her mr darcy it with a bow and was beginning to determine not to his eyes on elizabeth when they were suddenly by the sight of the stranger and elizabeth to see the countenance of both as they looked at each other was all astonishment at the effect of the meeting both changed colour one looked the other mr wickham after a few moments his a which mr darcy just to return what could be the meaning of it it was impossible to imagine it was impossible not to long to know in another minute mr bingley but without to have noticed what passed took leave and on with his friend mr denny and mr wickham walked with the young ladies to the door of mr philips s house and then made their in spite of miss lydia s that they would come in and even in spite of mrs philips s up the parlour window and the invitation mrs philips was always glad to see her nieces and the two eldest from their absence were particularly welcome and she was eagerly expressing her surprise at their sudden return home which as their own carriage had not them she should have known nothing about if she had not happened to see mr s in the street who had told her that they were not to send any more to netherfield because the miss bennets were come away when her civility was towards mr collins by jane s introduction of him she received him with her very best politeness which he returned with as much more for his without any acquaintance with her which he could not help himself however might be by his relationship to the young ladies who introduced him to her notice mrs philips was quite by such an of good breeding but her of one stranger was soon put an end to by and inquiries about the other of whom however she could only tell her nieces what they already knew that mr denny had brought him from london and that he was to have a s commission in the shire she had been watching him the last hour she said as he walked up and down the street and had mr wickham appeared kitty and lydia would certainly have continued the but no one passed the windows now except a few of the officers who in comparison with the stranger were become disagreeable some of them were to dine with the the next day and their aunt promised to make her husband call on mr wickham and give him an invitation also if the family from longbourn would come in the evening this was agreed to and mrs philips protested that they would have a comfortable game of and a little of supper afterwards the prospect of such was very and they parted in good spirits mr collins repeated his in quitting the room and was assured with civility that they were perfectly as they walked home elizabeth related to jane what she had seen pass between the two gentlemen but though jane would have either or both had they appeared to be wrong she could no more explain such behaviour than her sister mr collins on his return highly gratified mrs bennet by mrs philips s manners and politeness he protested that except lady catherine and her daughter he had never seen a more elegant woman for she had not only received him with the utmost civility but had even him in her invitation for the next evening unknown to her before something he supposed might be to his connection with them but yet he had never met with so much attention in the whole course of his life illustration chapter illustration as no objection was made to the young people s engagement with their aunt and all mr collins s of leaving mr and mrs bennet for a single evening during his visit were most the coach him and his five cousins at a hour to meryton and the girls had the pleasure of hearing as they entered the drawing room that mr wickham had accepted their uncle s invitation and was then in the house when this information was given and they had all taken their mr collins was at leisure to look him and admire and he was so much struck with the and furniture of the that he declared he might almost have supposed himself in the small summer breakfast parlour at rosings a comparison that did not at first much but when mrs philips understood from him what rosings was and who was its when she had listened to the description of only one of lady catherine s drawing rooms and found that the piece alone had eight hundred pounds she felt all the force of the compliment and would hardly have a comparison with the housekeeper s room in to her all the of lady catherine and her with occasional in praise of his own humble abode and the it was receiving he was employed the gentlemen joined them and he found in mrs philips a very attentive whose opinion of his consequence increased with what she heard and who was resolving to it all among her neighbours as soon as she could to the girls who could not listen to their cousin and who had nothing to do but to wish for an instrument and their own indifferent of on the piece the of waiting appeared very long it was over at last however the gentlemen did approach and when mr wickham walked into the room elizabeth felt that she had neither been seeing him before nor thinking of him since with the smallest degree of unreasonable admiration the officers of the shire were in general a very gentlemanlike set and the best of them were of the present party but mr wickham was as far beyond them all in person countenance air and walk as they were superior to the uncle philips who followed them into the room illustration the officers of the shire copyright by george allen mr wickham was the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned and elizabeth was the happy woman by whom he finally seated himself and the agreeable manner in which he immediately into conversation though it was only on its being a night and on the probability of a made her feel that the most might be rendered interesting by the of the with such for the notice of the fair as mr wickham and the officers mr collins seemed to into to the young ladies he certainly was nothing but he had still at a kind in mrs philips and was by her most with coffee and when the card tables were placed he had an opportunity of her in return by sitting down to i know little of the game at present said he but i shall be glad to myself for in my situation of life mrs philips was very thankful for his but could not wait for his reason mr wickham did not play at and with ready delight was he received at the other table between elizabeth and lydia at first there seemed danger of lydia s him entirely for she was a most determined but being likewise extremely fond of she soon grew too much interested in the game too eager in making and after to have attention for anyone in particular allowing for the common of the game mr wickham was therefore at leisure to talk to elizabeth and she was very willing to hear him though what she chiefly wished to hear she could not hope to be told the of his acquaintance with mr darcy she dared not even mention that gentleman her curiosity however was relieved mr wickham began the subject himself he inquired how far netherfield was from meryton and after receiving her answer asked in a manner how long mr darcy had been staying there about a month said elizabeth and then unwilling to let the subject added he is a man of very large property in derbyshire i understand yes replied wickham his estate there is a noble one a clear ten thousand you could not have met with a person more capable of giving you certain information on that head than myself for i have been connected with his family in a particular manner from my elizabeth could not but look surprised you may well be surprised miss bennet at such an after seeing as you probably might the very cold manner of our meeting yesterday are you much acquainted with mr darcy as much as i ever wish to be cried elizabeth warmly i have spent four days in the same house with him and i think him very disagreeable i have no right to give my opinion said wickham as to his being agreeable or otherwise i am not to form one i have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge it is impossible for me to be but i believe your opinion of him would in general and perhaps you would not express it quite so strongly else here you are in your own family upon my word i say no more here than i might say in any house in the neighbourhood except netherfield he is not at all liked in hertfordshire everybody is with his pride you will not find him more spoken of by anyone i cannot pretend to be sorry said wickham after a short interruption that he or that any man should not be beyond their but with him i believe it does not often happen the world is by his fortune and consequence or frightened by his high and manners and sees him only as he chooses to be seen i should take him even on my slight acquaintance to be an ill man wickham only shook his head i wonder said he at the next opportunity of speaking whether he is likely to be in this country much longer i do not at all know but i heard nothing of his going away when i was at netherfield i hope your in favour of the shire will not be affected by his being in the neighbourhood oh no it is not for me to be away by mr darcy if he wishes to avoid seeing me he must go we are not on friendly terms and it always gives me pain to meet him but i have no reason for him but what i might to all the world a sense of very great ill and most painful at his being what he is his father miss bennet the late mr darcy was one of the best men that ever and the friend i ever had and i can never be in company with this mr darcy without being grieved to the by a thousand recollections his behaviour to myself has been but i believe i could forgive him anything and everything rather than his the hopes and the memory of his father elizabeth found the interest of the subject increase and listened with all her heart but the delicacy of it prevented further inquiry mr wickham began to speak on more general meryton the neighbourhood the society appearing highly pleased with all that he had yet seen and speaking of the latter especially with but very gallantry it was the prospect of constant society and good society he added which was my chief to enter the shire i know it to be a most respectable agreeable corps and my friend denny tempted me further by his account of their present and the very great attentions and excellent acquaintance meryton had them society i own is necessary to me i have been a disappointed man and my spirits will not bear i must have employment and society a life is not what i was intended for but circumstances have now made it eligible the church ought to have been my profession i was brought up for the church and i should at this time have been in possession of a most valuable living had it pleased the gentleman we were speaking of just now indeed yes the late mr darcy me the next of the best living in his he was my and excessively attached to me i cannot do justice to his kindness he meant to for me and thought he had done it but when the living it was given good cried elizabeth but how could that be how could his will be why did not you seek there was just such an in the terms of the as to give me no hope from law a man of honour could not have doubted the intention but mr darcy chose to doubt it or to it as a merely and to that i had all to it by imprudence in short anything or nothing certain it is that the living became two years ago exactly as i was of an age to hold it and that it was given to another man and no less certain is it that i cannot myself of having really done anything to deserve to lose it i have a warm temper and i may perhaps have sometimes spoken my opinion of him and to him too i can nothing worse but the fact is that we are very different sort of men and that he me this is quite shocking he to be some time or other he will be but it shall not be by me till i can forget his father i can never or expose him elizabeth honoured him for such feelings and thought him than ever as he expressed them but what said she after a pause can have been his motive what can have him to so a determined dislike of me a dislike which i cannot but in some to had the late mr darcy liked me less his son might have with me better but his father s attachment to me him i believe very early in life he had not a temper to bear the sort of in which we stood the sort of preference which was often given me i had not thought mr darcy so bad as this though i have never liked him i had not thought so very ill of him i had supposed him to be his fellow in general but did not him of to such such such as this after a few minutes reflection however she continued i do remember his one day at netherfield of the of his of his having an temper his disposition must be dreadful i will not trust myself on the subject replied wickham i can hardly be just to him elizabeth was again deep in thought and after a time exclaimed to in such a manner the the friend the favourite of his father she could have added a young man too like you whose very countenance may for your being amiable but she herself with and one too who had probably been his own companion from connected together as i think you said in the manner we were in the same parish within the same park the greatest part of our youth was passed together of the same house the same objects of the same care my father began life in the profession which your uncle mr philips to do so much credit to but he gave up everything to be of use to the late mr darcy and all his time to the care of the pemberley property he was most highly esteemed by mr darcy a most intimate friend mr darcy often acknowledged himself to be under the greatest to my father s and when immediately before my father s death mr darcy gave him a promise of for me i am convinced that he felt it to be as much a of gratitude to him as of affection to myself how strange cried elizabeth how abominable i wonder that the very pride of this mr darcy has not made him just to you if from no better motive that he should not have been too proud to be for i must call it it is replied wickham for almost all his actions may be to pride and pride has often been his best friend it has connected him with virtue than any other feeling but we are none of us and in his behaviour to me there were stronger even than pride can such abominable pride as his have ever done him good yes it has often led him to be and generous to give his money to to assist his and the poor family pride and pride for he is very proud of what his father was have done this not to appear to disgrace his family to from the qualities or lose the influence of the pemberley house is a motive he has also pride which with some affection makes him a very kind and of his sister and you will hear him generally cried up as the most attentive and best of what sort of a girl is miss darcy he shook his head i wish i could call her amiable it gives me pain to speak ill of a darcy but she is too much like her brother very very proud as a child she was affectionate and pleasing and extremely fond of me and i have hours and hours to her amusement but she is nothing to me now she is a handsome girl about or sixteen and i understand highly accomplished since her father s death her home has been london where a lady with her and her education after many and many of other subjects elizabeth could not help once more to the first and saying i am astonished at his intimacy with mr bingley how can mr bingley who seems good humour itself and is i really believe truly amiable be in friendship with such a man how can they suit each other do you know mr bingley not at all he is a sweet amiable charming man he cannot know what mr darcy is probably not but mr darcy can please where he chooses he does not want abilities he can be a companion if he it worth his while among those who are at all his in consequence he is a very different man from what he is to the less his pride never him but with the rich he is just sincere rational honourable and perhaps agreeable allowing something for fortune and figure the party soon afterwards up the round the other table and mr collins took his between his cousin elizabeth and mrs philips the usual inquiries as to his success were made by the latter it had not been very great he had lost every point but when mrs philips began to express her concern he assured her with much earnest that it was not of the least importance that he considered the money as a and begged she would not make herself uneasy i know very well madam said he that when persons sit down to a card table they must take their chance of these things and i am not in such circumstances as to make five any object there are undoubtedly many who could not say the same but thanks to lady catherine de bourgh i am removed far beyond the necessity of little matters mr wickham s attention was caught and after observing mr collins for a few moments he asked elizabeth in a low voice whether her relations were very acquainted with the family of de bourgh lady catherine de bourgh she replied has very lately given him a living i hardly know how mr collins was first introduced to her notice but he certainly has not known her long you know of course that lady catherine de bourgh and lady darcy were sisters consequently that she is aunt to the present mr darcy no indeed i did not i knew nothing at all of lady catherine s connections i never heard of her till the day before yesterday her daughter miss de bourgh will have a very large fortune and it is believed that she and her cousin will the two this information made elizabeth smile as she thought of poor miss bingley vain indeed must be all her attentions vain and useless her affection for his sister and her praise of himself if he were already self to another mr collins said she highly both of lady catherine and her daughter but from some particulars that he has related of her ladyship i his gratitude him and that in spite of her being his patroness she is an conceited woman i believe her to be both in a great degree replied wickham i have not seen her for many years but i very well remember that i never liked her and that her manners were and she has the of being remarkably sensible and clever but i rather believe she part of her abilities from her rank and fortune part from her manner and the rest from the pride of her nephew who chooses that everyone connected with him should have an understanding of the first elizabeth allowed that he had given a very rational account of it and they continued talking together with satisfaction till supper put an end to cards and gave the rest of the ladies their share of mr wickham s attentions there could be no conversation in the of mrs philips s supper party but his manners recommended him to everybody whatever he said was said well and whatever he did done elizabeth went away with her head full of him she could think of nothing but of mr wickham and of what he had told her all the way home but there was not time for her even to mention his name as they went for neither lydia nor mr collins were once silent lydia talked of of the she had lost and the she had and mr collins in the civility of mr and mrs philips that he did not in the least regard his at all the at supper and repeatedly that he his cousins had more to say than he could well before the carriage stopped at longbourn house illustration delighted to see their dear friend again chapter illustration elizabeth related to jane the next day what had passed between mr wickham and herself jane listened with astonishment and concern she knew not how to believe that mr darcy could be so of mr bingley s regard and yet it was not in her nature to question the of a young man of such amiable appearance as wickham the possibility of his having really such was enough to interest all her feelings and nothing therefore remained to be done but to think well of them both to the conduct of each and throw into the account of accident or mistake whatever could not be otherwise explained they have both said she been deceived i dare say in some way or other of which we can form no idea interested people have perhaps each to the other it is in short impossible for us to conjecture the or circumstances which may have them without blame on either side very true indeed and now my dear jane what have you got to say in of the interested people who have probably been concerned in the business do clear them too or we shall be obliged to think ill of somebody laugh as much as you choose but you will not laugh me out of my opinion my dearest lizzy do but consider in what a light it mr darcy to be his father s favourite in such a manner one whom his father had promised to for it is impossible no man of common no man who had any value for his character could be capable of it can his most intimate friends be so excessively deceived in him oh no i can much more easily believe mr bingley s being on than that mr wickham should such a of himself as he gave me last night names everything mentioned without if it be not so let mr darcy it besides there was truth in his looks it is difficult indeed it is distressing one does not know what to think i beg your pardon one knows exactly what to think but jane could think with certainty on only one point that mr bingley if he had been on would have much to suffer when the affair became public the two young ladies were from the where this conversation passed by the arrival of some of the very persons of whom they had been speaking mr bingley and his sisters came to give their invitation for the long expected ball at netherfield which was fixed for the following tuesday the two ladies were delighted to see their dear friend again called it an age since they had met and repeatedly asked what she had been doing with herself since their separation to the rest of the family they paid little attention mrs bennet as much as possible saying not much to elizabeth and nothing at all to the others they were soon gone again rising from their with an which took their brother by surprise and off as if eager to escape from mrs bennet s civilities the prospect of the netherfield ball was extremely agreeable to every female of the family mrs bennet chose to consider it as given in compliment to her eldest daughter and was particularly flattered by receiving the invitation from mr bingley himself instead of a card jane to herself a happy evening in the society of her two friends and the attentions of their brother and elizabeth thought with pleasure of dancing a great deal with mr wickham and of seeing a of everything in mr darcy s look and behaviour the happiness by catherine and lydia less on any single event or any particular person for though they each like elizabeth meant to dance half the evening with mr wickham he was by no means the only partner who could satisfy them and a ball was at any a ball and even mary could assure her family that she had no for it while i can have my to myself said she it is enough i think it is no sacrifice to join occasionally in evening engagements society has claims on us all and i myself one of those who consider of and amusement as desirable for everybody elizabeth s spirits were so high on the occasion that though she did not often speak to mr collins she could not help asking him whether he intended to accept mr bingley s invitation and if he did whether he would think it proper to join in the evening s amusement and she was rather surprised to find that he entertained no whatever on that head and was very far from a either from the or lady catherine de bourgh by to dance i am by no means of opinion i assure you said he that a ball of this kind given by a young man of character to respectable people can have any evil and i am so far from to dancing myself that i shall hope to be honoured with the hands of all my fair cousins in the course of the evening and i take this opportunity of yours miss elizabeth for the two first dances especially a preference which i trust my cousin jane will to the right cause and not to any for her elizabeth felt herself completely taken in she had being engaged by wickham for those very dances and to have mr collins instead her had been never worse there was no help for it however mr wickham s happiness and her own was delayed a little longer and mr collins s proposal accepted with as good a as she could she was not the better pleased with his gallantry from the idea it of something more it now first struck her that she was from among her sisters as of being the mistress of hunsford parsonage and of to form a table at rosings in the absence of more eligible visitors the idea soon reached to conviction as she observed his increasing civilities towards herself and heard his frequent attempt at a compliment on her wit and and though more astonished than gratified herself by this effect of her it was not long before her mother gave her to understand that the probability of their marriage was exceedingly agreeable to her elizabeth however did not choose to take the hint being well aware that a serious must be the consequence of any reply mr collins might never make the offer and till he did it was useless to about him if there had not been a netherfield ball to prepare for and talk of the younger miss bennets would have been in a state at this time for from the day of the invitation to the day of the ball there was such a of as prevented their walking to meryton once no aunt no officers no news could be after the very for netherfield were got by even elizabeth might have found some of her patience in weather which totally the improvement of her acquaintance with mr wickham and nothing less than a dance on tuesday could have made such a saturday sunday and monday to kitty and lydia illustration chapter illustration till elizabeth entered the drawing room at netherfield and looked in vain for mr wickham among the of there assembled a doubt of his being present had never occurred to her the certainty of meeting him had not been by any of those recollections that might not have alarmed her she had dressed with more than usual care and prepared in the highest spirits for the of all that remained of his heart that it was not more than might be in the course of the evening but in an instant the dreadful suspicion of his being purposely for mr darcy s pleasure in the invitation to the officers and though this was not exactly the case the fact of his absence was pronounced by his friend mr denny to whom lydia eagerly applied and who told them that wickham had been obliged to go to town on business the day before and was not yet returned with a smile i do not imagine his business would have called him away just now if he had not wished to avoid a certain gentleman here this part of his intelligence though by lydia was caught by elizabeth and as it assured her that darcy was not less for wickham s absence than if her first had been just every feeling of displeasure against the former was so by immediate disappointment that she could hardly reply with tolerable civility to the inquiries which he directly afterwards approached to make attention forbearance patience with darcy was to wickham she was resolved against any sort of conversation with him and turned away with a degree of ill humour which she could not wholly even in speaking to mr bingley whose blind partiality her but elizabeth was not formed for ill humour and though every prospect of her own was for the evening it could not long on her spirits and having told all her to charlotte lucas whom she had not seen for a week she was soon able to make a to the of her cousin and to point him out to her particular notice the two first dances however brought a return of distress they were dances of mortification mr collins awkward and instead of attending and often moving wrong without being aware of it gave her all the shame and misery which a disagreeable partner for a couple of dances can give the moment of her from him was she danced next with an officer and had the of talking of wickham and of hearing that he was liked when those dances were over she returned to charlotte lucas and was in conversation with her when she found herself suddenly addressed by mr darcy who took her so much by surprise in his application for her hand that without knowing what she did she accepted him he walked away again immediately and she was left to over her own want of presence of mind charlotte tried to console her i dare say you will find him very agreeable heaven that would be the greatest misfortune of all to find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate do not wish me such an evil when the dancing however and darcy approached to her hand charlotte could not help her in a whisper not to be a and allow her fancy for wickham to make her appear unpleasant in the eyes of a man often times his consequence elizabeth made no answer and took her place in the set at the to which she was arrived in being allowed to stand opposite to mr darcy and reading in her neighbours looks their equal amazement in it they stood for some time without speaking a word and she began to imagine that their silence was to last through the two dances and at first was resolved not to it till suddenly that it would be the greater to her partner to oblige him to talk she made some slight observation on the dance he replied and was again silent after a pause of some minutes she addressed him a second time with it is your turn to say something now mr darcy i talked about the dance and you ought to make some kind of on the of the room or the of he smiled and assured her that whatever she wished him to say should be said very well that reply will do for the present perhaps by and by i may observe that private balls are much than public but now we may be silent do you talk by then while you are dancing sometimes one must speak a little you know it would look to be entirely silent for half an hour together and yet for the advantage of some conversation ought to be so as that they may have the trouble of saying as little as possible are you your own feelings in the present case or do you imagine that you are gratifying mine both replied elizabeth for i have always seen a great in the turn of our we are each of an disposition unwilling to speak unless we expect to say something that will the whole room and be down to with all the of a this is no very resemblance of your own character i am sure said he how near it may be to mine i cannot pretend to say you think it a undoubtedly i must not on my own performance he made no answer and they were again silent till they had gone down the dance when he asked her if she and her sisters did not very often walk to meryton she answered in the and unable to the temptation added when you met us there the other day we had just been a new acquaintance the effect was immediate a of his features but he said not a word and elizabeth though herself for her own could not go on at length darcy spoke and in a manner said mr wickham is with such happy manners as may his making friends whether he may be equally capable of them is less certain he has been so unlucky as to lose your friendship replied elizabeth with and in a manner which he is likely to suffer from all his life darcy made no answer and seemed desirous of the subject at that moment sir william lucas appeared close to them meaning to pass through the set to the other side of the room but on mr darcy he stopped with a bow of superior to compliment him on his dancing and his partner i have been most highly gratified indeed my dear sir such very superior dancing is not often seen it is evident that you to the first allow me to say however that your fair partner does not disgrace you and that i must hope to have this pleasure often repeated especially when a certain desirable event my dear miss eliza at her sister and bingley shall take place what congratulations will then in i to mr darcy but let me not you sir you will not thank me for you from the of that young lady whose eyes are also me illustration such very superior dancing is not often seen copyright by george allen the latter part of this address was scarcely heard by darcy but sir william s to his friend seemed to him and his eyes were directed with a very serious expression towards bingley and jane who were dancing together himself however shortly he turned to his partner and said sir william s interruption has made me forget what we were talking of i do not think we were speaking at all sir william could not have interrupted any two people in the room who had less to say for themselves we have tried two or three subjects already without success and what we are to talk of next i cannot imagine what think you of books said he smiling books oh no i am sure we never read the same or not with the same feelings i am sorry you think so but if that be the case there can at least be no want of subject we may our different opinions no i cannot talk of books in a ball room my head is always full of something else the present always you in such does it said he with a look of doubt yes always she replied without knowing what she said for her thoughts had far from the subject as soon afterwards appeared by her suddenly i remember hearing you once say mr darcy that you hardly ever that your resentment once was you are very i suppose as to its being i am said he with a voice and never allow yourself to be by i hope not it is particularly on those who never change their opinion to be secure of properly at first may i ask to what these questions merely to the illustration of your character said she to off her i am trying to make it out and what is your success she shook her head i do not get on at all i hear such different of you as me exceedingly i can readily believe answered he that may greatly with respect to me and i could wish miss bennet that you were not to my character at the present moment as there is reason to fear that the performance would no credit on either but if i do not take your now i may never have another opportunity i would by no means any pleasure of yours he replied she said no more and they went down the other dance and parted in silence on each side though not to an equal degree for in darcy s there was a tolerably feeling towards her which soon her pardon and directed all his anger against another they had not long when miss bingley came towards her and with an expression of civil disdain thus her so miss eliza i hear you are quite delighted with george wickham your sister has been talking to me about him and asking me a thousand questions and i find that the young man to tell you among his other that he was the son of old wickham the late mr darcy s let me recommend you however as a friend not to give confidence to all his for as to mr darcy s him ill it is perfectly false for on the contrary he has been always remarkably kind to him though george wickham has treated mr darcy in a most manner i do not know the particulars but i know very well that mr darcy is not in the least to blame that he cannot bear to hear george wickham mentioned and that though my brother thought he could not well avoid him in his invitation to the officers he was excessively glad to find that he had taken himself out of the way his coming into the country at all is a most thing indeed and i wonder how he could to do it i pity you miss eliza for this discovery of your favourite s but really considering his one could not expect much better his and his appear by your account to be the same said elizabeth for i have heard you him of nothing worse than of being the son of mr darcy s and of that i can assure you he informed me himself i beg your pardon replied miss bingley turning away with a excuse my interference it was kindly meant girl said elizabeth to herself you are much mistaken if you expect to influence me by such a as this i see nothing in it but your own ignorance and the of mr darcy she then her eldest sister who had to make inquiries on the same subject of bingley jane met her with a smile of such sweet a of such happy expression as marked how well she was satisfied with the of the evening elizabeth instantly read her feelings and at that moment solicitude for wickham resentment against his and everything else gave way before the hope of jane s being in the way for happiness i want to know said she with a countenance no less smiling than her sister s what you have learnt about mr wickham but perhaps you have been too engaged to think of any third person in which case you may be sure of my pardon no replied jane i have not forgotten him but i have nothing satisfactory to tell you mr bingley does not know the whole of his and is quite ignorant of the circumstances which have offended mr darcy but he will for the good conduct the and honour of his friend and is perfectly convinced that mr wickham has deserved much less attention from mr darcy than he has received and i am sorry to say that by his account as well as his sister s mr wickham is by no means a respectable young man i am afraid he has been very imprudent and has deserved to lose mr darcy s regard mr bingley does not know mr wickham himself no he never saw him till the other morning at meryton this account then is what he has received from mr darcy i am perfectly satisfied but what does he say of the living he does not exactly recollect the circumstances though he has heard them from mr darcy more than once but he that it was left to him only i have not a doubt of mr bingley s said elizabeth warmly but you must excuse my not being convinced by assurances only mr bingley s of his friend was a very able one i dare say but since he is with several parts of the story and has learnt the rest from that friend himself i shall still to think of both gentlemen as i did before she then changed the discourse to one more gratifying to each and on which there could be no difference of sentiment elizabeth listened with delight to the happy though hopes which jane entertained of bingley s regard and said all in her power to her confidence in it on their being joined by mr bingley himself elizabeth to miss lucas to whose inquiry after the of her last partner she had scarcely replied before mr collins came up to them and told her with great that he had just been so fortunate as to make a most important discovery i have found out said he by a accident that there is now in the room a near relation to my patroness i happened to the gentleman himself mentioning to the young lady who does the of this house the names of his cousin miss de bourgh and of her mother lady catherine how these sort of things who would have thought of my meeting with perhaps a nephew of lady catherine de bourgh in this assembly i am most thankful that the discovery is made in time for me to pay my respects to him which i am now going to do and trust he will excuse my not having done it before my ignorance of the connection must my apology you are not going to introduce yourself to mr darcy indeed i am i shall entreat his pardon for not having done it i believe him to be lady catherine s nephew it will be in my power to assure him that her ladyship was quite well yesterday elizabeth tried hard to him from such a scheme him that mr darcy would consider his him without introduction as an impertinent rather than a compliment to his aunt that it was not in the least necessary there should be any notice on either side and that if it were it must to mr darcy the superior in consequence to begin the acquaintance mr collins listened to her with the determined air of following his own inclination and when she ceased speaking replied thus my dear miss elizabeth i have the highest opinion in the world of your excellent judgment in all matters within the of your understanding but me to say that there must be a difference between the established of amongst the and those which the for give me leave to observe that i consider the office as equal in point of with the highest rank in the provided that a proper of behaviour is at the same time you must therefore allow me to follow the of my on this occasion which lead me to what i look on as a point of duty pardon me for to by your advice which on every other subject shall be my constant though in the case before us i consider myself more fitted by education and study to on what is right than a young lady like yourself and with a low bow he left her to mr darcy whose reception of his she eagerly watched and whose astonishment at being so addressed was very evident her cousin his speech with a bow and though she could not hear a word of it she felt as if hearing it all and saw in the of his lips the words apology hunsford and lady catherine de bourgh it vexed her to see him expose himself to such a man mr darcy was him with wonder and when at last mr collins allowed him to speak replied with an air of civility mr collins however was not from speaking again and mr darcy s contempt seemed increasing with the length of his second speech and at the end of it he only made him a slight bow and moved another way mr collins then returned to elizabeth i have no reason i assure you said he to be with my reception mr darcy seemed much pleased with the attention he answered me with the utmost civility and even paid me the compliment of saying that he was so well convinced of lady catherine s as to be certain she could never bestow a favour it was really a very handsome thought upon the whole i am much pleased with him as elizabeth had no longer any interest of her own to pursue she turned her attention almost entirely on her sister and mr bingley and the of agreeable reflections which her gave to made her perhaps almost as happy as jane she saw her in idea settled in that very house in all the felicity which a marriage of true affection could bestow and she felt capable under such circumstances of even to like bingley s two sisters her mother s thoughts she plainly saw were the same way and she determined not to near her lest she might hear too much when they sat down to supper therefore she considered it a most unlucky perverseness which placed them within one of each other and was she vexed to find that her mother was talking to that one person lady lucas openly and of nothing else but of her expectation that jane would be soon married to mr bingley it was an subject and mrs bennet seemed incapable of while the advantages of the match his being such a charming young man and so rich and living but three miles from them were the first of self and then it was such a comfort to think how fond the two sisters were of jane and to be certain that they must desire the connection as much as she could do it was moreover such a thing for her younger daughters as jane s marrying so greatly must throw them in the way of other rich men and it was so pleasant at her time of life to be able to her single daughters to the care of their sister that she might not be obliged to go into company more than she liked it was necessary to make this circumstance a matter of pleasure because on such occasions it is the but no one was less likely than mrs bennet to find comfort in staying at home at any period of her life she concluded with many good wishes that lady lucas might soon be equally fortunate though and believing there was no chance of it in vain did elizabeth endeavour to the of her mother s words or persuade her to describe her felicity in a less whisper for to her vexation she could perceive that the chief of it was by mr darcy who sat opposite to them her mother only her for being what is mr darcy to me pray that i should be afraid of him i am sure we him no such particular civility as to be obliged to say nothing he may not like to hear for heaven s sake madam speak what advantage can it be to you to mr darcy you will never recommend yourself to his friend by so doing nothing that she could say however had any influence her mother would talk of her views in the same tone elizabeth blushed and blushed again with shame and vexation she could not help frequently her eye at mr darcy though every glance convinced her of what she dreaded for though he was not always looking at her mother she was convinced that his attention was fixed by her the expression of his face changed gradually from contempt to a and steady at length however mrs bennet had no more to say and lady lucas who had been long at the of which she saw no of was left to the of cold and elizabeth now began to but not long was the of for when supper was over was talked of and she had the mortification of seeing mary after very little entreaty preparing to oblige the company by many looks and silent did she endeavour to prevent such a proof of but in vain mary would not understand them such an opportunity of was delightful to her and she began her elizabeth s eyes were fixed on her with most painful and she watched her through the several with an impatience which was very ill at their close for mary on receiving amongst the thanks of the table the hint of a hope that she might be prevailed on to favour them again after the pause of half a minute began another mary s powers were by no means fitted for such a her voice was weak and her manner affected elizabeth was in she looked at jane to see how she bore it but jane was very talking to bingley she looked at his two sisters and saw them making of at each other and at darcy who continued however grave she looked at her father to entreat his interference lest mary should be all night he took the hint and when mary had finished her second said aloud that will do extremely well child you have delighted us long enough let the other young ladies have time to mary though not to hear was somewhat and elizabeth sorry for her and sorry for her father s speech was afraid her anxiety had done no good others of the party were now applied to if i said mr collins were so fortunate as to be able to i should have great pleasure i am sure in the company with an air for i consider music as a very and perfectly with the profession of a clergyman i do not mean however to that we can be in too much of our time to music for there are certainly other things to be attended to the of a parish has much to do in the first place he must make such an for as may be to himself and not to his he must write his own and the time that will not be too much for his parish and the care and improvement of his dwelling which he cannot be from making as comfortable as possible and i do not think it of light importance that he should have attentive and manners towards everybody especially towards those to whom he his i cannot him of that duty nor could i think well of the man who should an occasion of his respect towards anybody connected with the family and with a bow to mr darcy he concluded his speech which had been spoken so as to be heard by half the room many many smiled but no one looked more amused than mr bennet himself while his wife seriously mr collins for having spoken so and observed in a half whisper to lady lucas that he was a remarkably clever good kind of young man to elizabeth it appeared that had her family made an to expose themselves as much as they could during the evening it would have been impossible for them to play their parts with more spirit or success and happy did she think it for bingley and her sister that some of the had his notice and that his feelings were not of a sort to be much distressed by the folly which he must have that his two sisters and mr darcy however should have such an opportunity of her relations was bad enough and she could not determine whether the silent contempt of the gentleman or the smiles of the ladies were more the rest of the evening brought her little amusement she was by mr collins who continued most by her side and though he could not with her to dance with him again put it out of her power to dance with others in vain did she entreat him to stand up with somebody else and offered to introduce him to any young lady in the room he assured her that as to dancing he was perfectly indifferent to it that his chief object was by delicate attentions to recommend himself to her and that he should therefore make a point of remaining close to her the whole evening there was no upon such a she owed her greatest relief to her friend miss lucas who often joined them and good engaged mr collins s conversation to herself she was at least free from the of mr darcy s further notice though often standing within a very short distance of her quite he never came near enough to speak she felt it to be the probable consequence of her to mr wickham and rejoiced in it the longbourn party were the last of all the company to and by a man of mrs bennet had to wait for their carriage a quarter of an hour after everybody else was gone which gave them time to see how heartily they were wished away by some of the family mrs hurst and her sister scarcely opened their except to of and were impatient to have the house to themselves they every attempt of mrs bennet at conversation and by so doing threw a over the whole party which was very little relieved by the long of mr collins who was mr bingley and his sisters on the elegance of their entertainment and the and politeness which had marked their behaviour to their darcy said nothing at all mr bennet in equal silence was the scene mr bingley and jane were standing together a little from the rest and talked only to each other elizabeth as steady a silence as either mrs hurst or miss bingley and even lydia was too much to utter more than the occasional of lord how i am accompanied by a violent when at length they to take leave mrs bennet was most civil in her hope of seeing the whole family soon at longbourn and addressed herself particularly to mr bingley to assure him how happy he would make them by a family dinner with them at any time without the of a formal invitation bingley was all grateful pleasure and he readily engaged for taking the earliest opportunity of waiting on her after his return from london he was obliged to go the next day for a short time mrs bennet was perfectly satisfied and quitted the house under the delightful persuasion that allowing for the necessary of new carriages and wedding clothes she should undoubtedly see her daughter settled at netherfield in the course of three or four months of having another daughter married to mr collins she thought with equal certainty and with considerable though not equal pleasure elizabeth was the least dear to her of all her children and though the man and the match were quite good enough for her the worth of each was by mr bingley and netherfield illustration to assure you in the most language chapter illustration the next day opened a new scene at longbourn mr collins made his in form having resolved to do it without loss of time as his leave of absence only to the following saturday and having no feelings of to make it distressing to himself even at the moment he set about it in a very manner with all the which he supposed a part of the business on finding mrs bennet elizabeth and one of the younger girls together soon after breakfast he addressed the mother in these words may i hope madam for your interest with your fair daughter elizabeth when i for the honour of a private with her in the course of this morning before elizabeth had time for anything but a of surprise mrs bennet instantly answered oh dear yes certainly i am sure lizzy will be very happy i am sure she can have no objection come kitty i want you upstairs and her work together she was away when elizabeth called out dear ma am do not go i beg you will not go mr collins must excuse me he can have nothing to say to me that anybody need not hear i am going away myself no no nonsense lizzy i desire you will stay where you are and upon elizabeth s really with vexed and embarrassed looks about to escape she added lizzy i insist upon your staying and hearing mr collins elizabeth would not such an and a moment s consideration making her also sensible that it would be wisest to get it over as soon and as quietly as possible she sat down again and tried to conceal by employment the feelings which were between distress and mrs bennet and kitty walked off and as soon as they were gone mr collins began believe me my dear miss elizabeth that your modesty so far from doing you any rather to your other you would have been less amiable in my eyes had there not been this little but allow me to assure you that i have your mother s permission for this address you can hardly doubt the of my discourse however your natural delicacy may lead you to my attentions have been too marked to be mistaken almost as soon as i entered the house i you out as the companion of my future life but before i am run away with by my feelings on this subject perhaps it will be advisable for me to state my for marrying and moreover for coming into hertfordshire with the design of a wife as i certainly did the idea of mr collins with all his composure being run away with by his feelings made elizabeth so near laughing that she could not use the short pause he allowed in any attempt to him farther and he continued my for marrying are first that i think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances like myself to set the of matrimony in his parish that i am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness and which perhaps i ought to have mentioned that it is the particular advice and of the very noble lady whom i have the honour of calling patroness twice has she to give me her opinion too on this subject and it was but the very saturday night before i left hunsford between our at while mrs jenkinson was miss de bourgh s that she said mr collins you must marry a clergyman like you must marry choose properly choose a for my sake and for your own let her be an useful sort of person not brought up high but able to make a small income go a good way this is my advice find such a woman as soon as you can bring her to hunsford and i will visit her allow me by the way to observe my fair cousin that i do not the notice and kindness of lady catherine de bourgh as among the least of the advantages in my power to offer you will find her manners beyond anything i can describe and your wit and i think must be acceptable to her especially when with the silence and respect which her rank will thus much for my general intention in favour of matrimony it to be told why my views were directed to longbourn instead of my own neighbourhood where i assure you there are many amiable young women but the fact is that being as i am to this estate after the death of your honoured father who however may live many years longer i could not satisfy myself without resolving to choose a wife from among his daughters that the loss to them might be as little as possible when the event takes place which however as i have already said may not be for several years this has been my motive my fair cousin and i flatter myself it will not me in your esteem and now nothing for me but to assure you in the most language of the of my affection to fortune i am perfectly indifferent and shall make no of that nature on your father since i am well aware that it could not be with and that one thousand pounds in the which will not be yours till after your mother s is all that you may ever be to on that head therefore i shall be silent and you may assure yourself that no reproach shall ever pass my lips when we are married it was absolutely necessary to him now you are too sir she cried you forget that i have made no answer let me do it without further loss of time accept my thanks for the compliment you are me i am very sensible of the honour of your proposals but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than them i am not now to learn replied mr collins with a formal of the hand that it is usual with young ladies to the addresses of the man whom they mean to accept when he first for their favour and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time i am therefore by no means by what you have just said and shall hope to lead you to the long upon my word sir cried elizabeth your hope is rather an extraordinary one after my i do assure you that i am not one of those young ladies if such young ladies there are who are so as to their happiness on the chance of being asked a second time i am perfectly serious in my refusal you could not make me happy and i am convinced that i am the last woman in the world who would make you so nay were your friend lady catherine to know me i am persuaded she would find me in every respect ill for the situation were it certain that lady catherine would think so said mr collins very but i cannot imagine that her ladyship would at all of you and you may be certain that when i have the honour of seeing her again i shall speak in the highest terms of your modesty and other amiable indeed mr collins all praise of me will be you must give me leave to judge for myself and pay me the compliment of believing what i say i wish you very happy and very rich and by refusing your hand do all in my power to prevent your being otherwise in making me the offer you must have satisfied the delicacy of your feelings with regard to my family and may take possession of longbourn estate whenever it without any self reproach this matter may be considered therefore as finally settled and rising as she thus spoke she would have quitted the room had not mr collins thus addressed her when i do myself the honour of speaking to you next on the subject i shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me though i am far from you of at present because i know it to be the established of your sex to a man on the first application and perhaps you have even now said as much to encourage my suit as would be with the true delicacy of the female character really mr collins cried elizabeth with some warmth you me exceedingly if what i have said can appear to you in the form of encouragement i know not how to express my refusal in such a way as may you of its being one you must give me leave to flatter myself my dear cousin that your refusal of my addresses are merely words of course my for believing it are these it does not appear to me that my hand is of your or that the establishment i can offer would be any other than highly desirable my situation in life my connections with the family of de bourgh and my relationship to your own are circumstances highly in my favour and you should take it into further consideration that in spite of your it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you your is so small that it will in all the of your and amiable as i must therefore that you are not serious in your of me i shall choose to it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense according to the usual of elegant i do assure you sir that i have no whatever to that kind of elegance which in a respectable man i would rather be paid the compliment of being believed sincere i thank you again and again for the honour you have done me in your proposals but to accept them is absolutely impossible my feelings in every respect it can i speak do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to you but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart you are charming cried he with an air of awkward gallantry and i am persuaded that when by the express authority of both your excellent parents my proposals will not fail of being acceptable to such in self elizabeth would make no reply and immediately and in silence determined that if he in considering her repeated as encouragement to to her father whose might be in such a manner as must be and whose behaviour at least could not be mistaken for the and of an elegant female illustration chapter illustration mr collins was not left long to the silent of his love for mrs bennet having about in the to for the end of the no sooner saw elizabeth open the door and with quick step pass her towards the than she entered the breakfast room and both him and herself in warm terms on the happy prospect of their connection mr collins received and returned these with equal pleasure and then proceeded to relate the particulars of their with the of which he trusted he had every reason to be satisfied since the refusal which his cousin had given him would naturally from her modesty and the delicacy of her character this information however mrs bennet she would have been glad to be equally satisfied that her daughter had meant to encourage him by against his proposals but she dared not believe it and could not help saying so but depend upon it mr collins she added that lizzy shall be brought to reason i will speak to her about it myself directly she is a very foolish girl and does not know her own interest but i will make her know it pardon me for you madam cried mr collins but if she is really and foolish i know not whether she would altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation who naturally looks for happiness in the marriage state if therefore she actually in my suit perhaps it were better not to force her into me because if to such of temper she could not much to my felicity sir you quite me said mrs bennet alarmed lizzy is only in such matters as these in everything else she is as good natured a girl as ever lived i will go directly to mr bennet and we shall very soon settle it with her i am sure she would not give him time to reply but instantly to her husband called out as she entered the library oh mr bennet you are wanted immediately we are all in an you must come and make lizzy marry mr collins for she she will not have him and if you do not make haste he will change his mind and not have her mr bennet raised his eyes from his book as she entered and fixed them on her face with a which was not in the least altered by her communication i have not the pleasure of understanding you said he when she had finished her speech of what are you talking of mr collins and lizzy lizzy she will not have mr collins and mr collins to say that he will not have lizzy and what am i to do on the occasion it seems a hopeless business speak to lizzy about it yourself tell her that you insist upon her marrying him let her be called down she shall hear my opinion mrs bennet the bell and miss elizabeth was to the library come here child cried her father as she appeared i have sent for you on an affair of importance i understand that mr collins has made you an offer of marriage is it true elizabeth replied that it was very well and this offer of marriage you have refused i have sir very well we now come to the point your mother upon your it is it not so mrs bennet yes or i will never see her again an unhappy is before you elizabeth from this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents your mother will never see you again if you do not marry mr collins and i will never see you again if you do elizabeth could not but smile at such a conclusion of such a beginning but mrs bennet who had persuaded herself that her husband the affair as she wished was excessively disappointed what do you mean mr bennet by talking in this way you promised me to insist upon her marrying him my dear replied her husband i have two small to request first that you will allow me the free use of my understanding on the present occasion and of my room i shall be glad to have the library to myself as soon as may be not yet however in spite of her disappointment in her husband did mrs bennet give up the point she talked to elizabeth again and again and her by she endeavoured to secure jane in her interest but jane with all possible declined and elizabeth sometimes with real and sometimes with replied to her though her manner however her never did mr collins was in on what had passed he thought too well of himself to comprehend on what motive his cousin could refuse him and though his pride was hurt he suffered in no other way his regard for her was quite and the possibility of her her mother s reproach prevented his feeling any regret while the family were in this confusion charlotte lucas came to spend the day with them she was met in the by lydia who to her cried in a half whisper i am glad you are come for there is such fun here what do you think has happened this morning mr collins has made an offer to lizzy and she will not have him illustration they entered the breakfast room charlotte had hardly time to answer before they were joined by kitty who came to tell the same news and no sooner had they entered the breakfast room where mrs bennet was alone than she likewise began on the subject calling on miss lucas for her compassion and her to persuade her friend lizzy to with the wishes of her family pray do my dear miss lucas she added in a tone for nobody is on my side nobody takes part with me i am used nobody for my poor charlotte s reply was spared by the entrance of jane and elizabeth ay there she comes continued mrs bennet looking as as may be and no more for us than if we were at provided she can have her own way but i tell you what miss lizzy if you take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way you will never get a husband at all and i am sure i do not know who is to you when your father is i shall not be able to keep you and so i you i have done with you from this very day i told you in the library you know that i should never speak to you again and you will find me as good as my word i have no pleasure in talking to children not that i have much pleasure indeed in talking to anybody people who suffer as i do from can have no great inclination for talking nobody can tell what i suffer but it is always so those who do not are never her daughters listened in silence to this sensible that any attempt to reason with or her would only increase the she talked on therefore without interruption from any of them till they were joined by mr collins who entered with an air more than usual and on whom she said to the girls now i do insist upon it that you all of you hold your and let mr collins and me have a little conversation together elizabeth passed quietly out of the room jane and kitty followed but lydia stood her ground determined to hear all she could and charlotte first by the civility of mr collins whose inquiries after herself and all her family were very minute and then by a little curiosity satisfied herself with walking to the window and not to hear in a voice mrs bennet thus began the conversation oh mr collins my dear madam replied he let us be for ever silent on this point far be it from me he continued in a voice that marked his displeasure to the behaviour of your daughter to evils is the duty of us all the peculiar duty of a young man who has been so fortunate as i have been in early and i trust i am resigned perhaps not the less so from feeling a doubt of my happiness had my fair cousin honoured me with her hand for i have often observed that is never so perfect as when the to lose somewhat of its value in our you will not i hope consider me as any to your family my dear madam by thus my to your daughter s favour without having paid yourself and mr bennet the compliment of you to your authority in my my conduct may i fear be in having accepted my from your daughter s lips instead of your own but we are all to error i have certainly meant well through the whole affair my object has been to secure an amiable companion for myself with due consideration for the advantage of all your family and if my manner has been at all i here beg leave to illustration chapter illustration the of mr collins s offer was now nearly at an end and elizabeth had only to suffer from the uncomfortable feelings attending it and occasionally from some of her mother as for the gentleman himself his feelings were chiefly expressed not by embarrassment or or by trying to avoid her but by of manner and silence he scarcely ever spoke to her and the attentions which he had been so sensible of himself were for the rest of the day to miss lucas whose civility in listening to him was a relief to them all and especially to her friend the morrow produced no of mrs bennet s ill humour or ill health mr collins was also in the same state of angry pride elizabeth had hoped that his resentment might his visit but his plan did not appear in the least affected by it he was always to have gone on saturday and to saturday he still meant to stay after breakfast the girls walked to meryton to inquire if mr wickham were returned and to over his absence from the netherfield ball he joined them on their entering the town and attended them to their aunt s where his regret and vexation and the concern of everybody were well talked over to elizabeth however he voluntarily acknowledged that the necessity of his absence had been self i found said he as the time drew near that i had better not meet mr darcy that to be in the same room the same party with him for so many hours together might be more than i could bear and that might arise unpleasant to more than myself she highly his forbearance and they had leisure for a full of it and for all the which they bestowed on each other as wickham and another officer walked back with them to longbourn and during the walk he particularly attended to her his them was a advantage she felt all the compliment it offered to herself and it was most acceptable as an occasion of him to her father and mother illustration walked back with them copyright by george allen soon after their return a letter was to miss bennet it came from netherfield and was opened immediately the contained a of elegant little paper well with a lady s fair hand and elizabeth saw her sister s countenance change as she read it and saw her dwelling on some particular jane recollected herself soon and the letter away tried to join with her usual cheerfulness in the general conversation but elizabeth felt an anxiety on the subject which drew off her attention even from wickham and no sooner had he and his companion taken leave than a glance from jane invited her to follow her upstairs when they had gained their own room jane taking out her letter said this is from caroline bingley what it has surprised me a good deal the whole party have left netherfield by this time and are on their way to town and without any intention of coming back again you shall hear what she says she then read the first sentence aloud which the information of their having just resolved to follow their brother to town directly and of their meaning to dine that day in street where mr hurst had a house the next was in these words i do not pretend to regret anything i shall leave in hertfordshire except your society my dearest friend but we will hope at some future period to enjoy many of that delightful intercourse we have known and in the may the pain of separation by a very frequent and most i depend on you for that to these high expressions elizabeth listened with all the of and though the of their removal surprised her she saw nothing in it really to it was not to be supposed that their absence from netherfield would prevent mr bingley s being there and as to the loss of their society she was persuaded that jane must soon to regard it in the enjoyment of his it is unlucky said she after a short pause that you should not be able to see your friends before they leave the country but may we not hope that the period of future happiness to which miss bingley looks forward may than she is aware and that the delightful intercourse you have known as friends will be renewed with yet greater satisfaction as sisters mr bingley will not be in london by them caroline says that none of the party will return into hertfordshire this winter i will read it to you when my brother left us yesterday he that the business which took him to london might be concluded in three or four days but as we are certain it cannot be so and at the same time convinced that when charles to town he will be in no hurry to leave it again we have determined on following him thither that he may not be obliged to spend his hours in a many of my acquaintance are already there for the winter i wish i could hear that you my dearest friend had any intention of making one in the but of that i i sincerely hope your christmas in hertfordshire may in the which that generally and that your will be so as to prevent your feeling the loss of the three of whom we shall you it is evident by this added jane that he comes back no more this winter it is only evident that miss bingley does not mean he should why will you think so it must be his own doing he is his own master but you do not know all i will read you the which particularly me i will have no from you mr darcy is impatient to see his sister and to confess the truth we are scarcely less eager to meet her again i really do not think georgiana darcy has her equal for beauty elegance and and the affection she in louisa and myself is heightened into something still more interesting from the hope we dare to of her being our sister i do not know whether i ever before mentioned to you my feelings on this subject but i will not leave the country without them and i trust you will not esteem them unreasonable my brother her greatly already he will have frequent opportunity now of seeing her on the most intimate her relations all wish the connection as much as his own and a sister s partiality is not me i think when i call charles most capable of engaging any woman s heart with all these circumstances to favour an attachment and nothing to prevent it am i wrong my dearest jane in the hope of an event which will secure the happiness of so many what think you of this sentence my dear lizzy said jane as she finished it is it not clear enough does it not declare that caroline neither nor wishes me to be her sister that she is perfectly convinced of her brother s indifference and that if she the nature of my feelings for him she means most kindly to put me on my guard can there be any other opinion on the subject yes there can for mine is totally different will you hear it most you shall have it in a few words miss bingley sees that her brother is in love with you and wants him to marry miss darcy she follows him to town in the hope of him there and to persuade you that he does not care about you jane shook her head indeed jane you ought to believe me no one who has ever seen you together can doubt his affection miss bingley i am sure cannot she is not such a could she have seen half as much love in mr darcy for herself she would have ordered her wedding clothes but the case is this we are not rich enough or enough for them and she is the more anxious to get miss darcy for her brother from the notion that when there has been one marriage she may have less trouble in a second in which there is certainly some and i dare say it would if miss de bourgh were out of the way but my dearest jane you cannot seriously imagine that because miss bingley you her brother greatly miss darcy he is in the smallest degree less sensible of your merit than when he took leave of you on tuesday or that it will be in her power to persuade him that instead of being in love with you he is very much in love with her friend if we thought of miss bingley replied jane your of all this might make me quite easy but i know the is caroline is incapable of anyone and all that i can hope in this case is that she is deceived herself that is right you could not have a more happy idea since you will not take comfort in mine believe her to be deceived by all means you have now done your duty by her and must no longer but my dear sister can i be happy even supposing the best in a man whose sisters and friends are all wishing him to marry you must for yourself said elizabeth and if upon you find that the misery of his two sisters is more than to the happiness of being his wife i advise you by all means to refuse him how can you talk so said jane smiling you must know that though i should be exceedingly grieved at their disapprobation i could not i did not think you would and that being the case i cannot consider your situation with much compassion but if he no more this winter my choice will never be required a thousand things may arise in six months the idea of his returning no more elizabeth treated with the utmost contempt it appeared to her merely the of caroline s interested wishes and she could not for a moment suppose that those wishes however openly or spoken could influence a young man so totally of everyone she represented to her sister as as possible what she felt on the subject and had soon the pleasure of seeing its happy effect jane s temper was not and she was gradually led to hope though the of affection sometimes the hope that bingley would return to netherfield and answer every wish of her heart they agreed that mrs bennet should only hear of the departure of the family without being alarmed on the of the gentleman s conduct but even this partial communication gave her a great deal of concern and she it as exceedingly unlucky that the ladies should happen to go away just as they were all getting so intimate together after it however at some length she had the consolation of thinking that mr bingley would be soon down again and soon dining at longbourn and the conclusion of all was the comfortable that though he had been invited only to a family dinner she would take care to have two full illustration chapter illustration the bennets were engaged to dine with the lucases and again during the chief of the day was miss lucas so kind as to listen to mr collins elizabeth took an opportunity of her it him in good humour said she and i am more obliged to you than i can express charlotte assured her friend of her satisfaction in being useful and that it her for the little sacrifice of her time this was very amiable but charlotte s kindness farther than elizabeth had any of its object was nothing less than to secure her from any return of mr collins s addresses by engaging them towards herself such was miss lucas s scheme and were so favourable that when they parted at night she would have felt almost sure of success if he had not been to leave hertfordshire so very soon but here she did to the fire and independence of his character for it led him to escape out of longbourn house the next morning with and to lucas lodge to throw himself at her he was anxious to avoid the notice of his cousins from a conviction that if they saw him they could not fail to conjecture his design and he was not willing to have the attempt known till its success could be known likewise for though feeling almost secure and with reason for charlotte had been tolerably he was since the of wednesday his reception however was of the most kind miss lucas perceived him from an window as he walked towards the house and instantly set out to meet him in the lane but little had she dared to hope that so much love and her there in as short a time as mr collins s long would allow everything was settled between them to the satisfaction of both and as they entered the house he earnestly her to name the day that was to make him the happiest of men and though such a must be for the present the lady felt no inclination to with his happiness the with which he was by nature must guard his from any charm that could make a woman wish for its and miss lucas who accepted him from the and desire of an establishment cared not how soon that establishment were gained sir william and lady lucas were speedily applied to for their consent and it was bestowed with a most mr collins s present circumstances made it a most eligible match for their daughter to whom they could give little fortune and his of future were exceedingly fair lady lucas began directly to with more interest than the matter had ever illustration so much love and copyright by george allen excited before how many years longer mr bennet was likely to live and sir william gave it as his decided opinion that whenever mr collins should be in possession of the longbourn estate it would be highly that both he and his wife should make their appearance at st james s the whole family in short were properly on the occasion the younger girls formed hopes of coming out a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done and the were relieved from their apprehension of charlotte s an old charlotte herself was tolerably she had gained her point and had time to consider of it her reflections were in general satisfactory mr collins to be sure was neither sensible nor agreeable his society was and his attachment to her must be but still he would be her husband without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony marriage had always been her object it was the only honourable for well young women of small fortune and however of giving happiness must be their from want this she had now and at the age of twenty without having ever been handsome she felt all the good of it the least agreeable circumstance in the business was the surprise it must occasion to elizabeth bennet whose friendship she beyond that of any other person elizabeth would wonder and probably would blame her and though her resolution was not to be her feelings must be hurt by such a disapprobation she resolved to give her the information herself and therefore mr collins when he returned to longbourn to dinner to no hint of what had passed before any of the family a promise of secrecy was of course very given but it could not be kept without difficulty for the curiosity excited by his long absence in such very direct questions on his return as required some to and he was at the same time great self denial for he was to his love as he was to begin his journey too early on the morrow to see any of the family the of leave taking was performed when the ladies moved for the night and mrs bennet with great politeness and said how happy they should be to see him at longbourn again whenever his other engagements might allow him to visit them my dear madam he replied this invitation is particularly gratifying because it is what i have been to receive and you may be very certain that i shall myself of it as soon as possible they were all astonished and mr bennet who could by no means wish for so a return immediately said but is there not danger of lady catherine s disapprobation here my good sir you had better neglect your relations than run the of your patroness my dear sir replied mr collins i am particularly obliged to you for this friendly and you may depend upon my not taking so material a step without her ladyship s you cannot be too much on your guard anything rather than her displeasure and if you find it likely to be raised by your coming to us again which i should think exceedingly probable stay quietly at home and be satisfied that we shall take no believe me my dear sir my gratitude is warmly excited by such affectionate attention and depend upon it you will speedily receive from me a letter of thanks for this as well as for every other of your regard during my stay in hertfordshire as for my fair cousins though my absence may not be long enough to it necessary i shall now take the liberty of wishing them health and happiness not my cousin elizabeth with proper civilities the ladies then all of them equally surprised to find that he a quick return mrs bennet wished to understand by it that he thought of his addresses to one of her younger girls and mary might have been prevailed on to accept him she his abilities much than any of the others there was a in his reflections which often struck her and though by no means so clever as herself she thought that if encouraged to read and himself by such an as hers he might become a very agreeable companion but on the following morning every hope of this kind was done away miss lucas called soon after breakfast and in a private with elizabeth related the event of the day before the possibility of mr collins s himself in love with her friend had once occurred to elizabeth within the last day or two but that charlotte could encourage him seemed almost as far from possibility as that she could encourage him herself and her astonishment was consequently so great as to overcome at first the of and she could not help out engaged to mr collins my dear charlotte impossible the steady countenance which miss lucas had in telling her story gave way to a confusion here on receiving so direct a reproach though as it was no more than she expected she soon her composure and replied why should you be surprised my dear eliza do you think it that mr collins should be able to any woman s good opinion because he was not so happy as to with you but elizabeth had now recollected herself and making a strong for it was able to assure her with tolerable that the prospect of their relationship was highly grateful to her and that she wished her all happiness i see what you are feeling replied charlotte you must be surprised very much surprised so lately as mr collins was wishing to marry you but when you have had time to think it all over i hope you will be satisfied with what i have done i am not you know i never was i ask only a comfortable home and considering mr collins s character connections and situation in life i am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state elizabeth quietly answered undoubtedly and after an awkward pause they returned to the rest of the family charlotte did not stay much longer and elizabeth was then left to on what she had heard it was a long time before she became at all to the idea of so a match the of mr collins s making two of marriage within three days was nothing in comparison of his being now accepted she had always felt that charlotte s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own but she could not have supposed it possible that when called into she would have every better feeling to advantage charlotte the wife of mr collins was a most picture and to the of a friend herself and in her esteem was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the she had chosen illustration protested he must be entirely mistaken copyright by george allen chapter illustration elizabeth was sitting with her mother and sisters on what she had heard and whether she was to mention it when sir william lucas himself appeared sent by his daughter to her engagement to the family with many compliments to them and much self on the prospect of a connection between the he the matter to an not merely but for mrs bennet with more than politeness protested he must be entirely mistaken and lydia always and often exclaimed good lord sir william how can you tell such a story do not you know that mr collins wants to marry lizzy nothing less than the of a could have without anger such but sir william s good breeding carried him through it all and though he begged leave to be as to the truth of his information he listened to all their impertinence with the most elizabeth feeling it on her to him from so unpleasant a situation now put herself forward to his account by mentioning her knowledge of it from charlotte herself and endeavoured to put a to the of her mother and sisters by the of her congratulations to sir william in which she was readily joined by jane and by making a variety of remarks on the happiness that might be expected from the match the excellent character of mr collins and the distance of hunsford from london mrs bennet was in fact too much to say a great deal while sir william remained but no sooner had he left them than her feelings found a in the first place she in the whole of the matter she was very sure that mr collins had been taken in she trusted that they would never be happy together and that the match might be broken off two however were plainly from the whole one that elizabeth was the real cause of all the and the other that she herself had been used by them all and on these two she during the rest of the day nothing could console and nothing her nor did that day out her resentment a week before she could see elizabeth without her a month passed away before she could speak to sir william or lady lucas without being and many months were gone before she could at all forgive their daughter mr bennet s were much more on the occasion and such as he did he pronounced to be of a most agreeable sort for it gratified him he said to discover that charlotte lucas whom he had been used to think tolerably sensible was as foolish as his wife and more foolish than his daughter jane herself a little surprised at the match but she said less of her astonishment than of her earnest desire for their happiness nor could elizabeth persuade her to consider it as improbable kitty and lydia were far from miss lucas for mr collins was only a clergyman and it affected them in no other way than as a piece of news to at meryton lady lucas could not be of triumph on being able to on mrs bennet the comfort of having a daughter well married and she called at longbourn rather than usual to say how happy she was though mrs bennet s looks and ill natured remarks might have been enough to happiness away between elizabeth and charlotte there was a which kept them silent on the subject and elizabeth felt persuaded that no real confidence could ever between them again her disappointment in charlotte made her turn with regard to her sister of whose and delicacy she was sure her opinion could never be and for whose happiness she grew more anxious as bingley had now been gone a week and nothing was heard of his return jane had sent caroline an early answer to her letter and was the days till she might hope to hear again the promised letter of thanks from mr collins arrived on tuesday addressed to their father and written with all the of gratitude which a month s abode in the family might have after his on that head he proceeded to inform them with many expressions of his happiness in having the affection of their amiable neighbour miss lucas and then explained that it was merely with the view of her society that he had been so ready to close with their kind wish of seeing him again at longbourn he hoped to be able to return on monday fortnight for lady catherine he added so heartily his marriage that she wished it to take place as soon as possible which he trusted would be an with his amiable charlotte to name an early day for making him the happiest of men mr collins s return into hertfordshire was no longer a matter of pleasure to mrs bennet on the contrary she was as much disposed to of it as her husband it was very strange that he should come to longbourn instead of to lucas lodge it was also very and exceedingly she having visitors in the house while her health was so indifferent and were of all people the most disagreeable such were the of mrs bennet and they gave way only to the greater distress of mr bingley s continued absence neither jane nor elizabeth were comfortable on this subject day after day passed away without bringing any other of him than the report which shortly prevailed in meryton of his coming no more to netherfield the whole winter a report which highly mrs bennet and which she never to as a most falsehood even elizabeth began to fear not that bingley was indifferent but that his sisters would be in him away unwilling as she was to admit an idea so to jane s happiness and so to the of her she could not prevent its frequently the united of his two sisters and of his friend by the of miss darcy and the of london might be too much she feared for the strength of his attachment as for jane her anxiety under this suspense was of course more painful than elizabeth s but whatever she felt she was desirous of and between herself and elizabeth therefore the subject was never alluded to but as no such delicacy her mother an hour seldom passed in which she did not talk of bingley express her impatience for his arrival or even jane to confess that if he did not come back she should think herself very ill used it all jane s steady to bear these with tolerable mr collins returned most on the monday fortnight but his reception at longbourn was not quite so gracious as it had been on his first introduction he was too happy however to need much attention and for the others the business of love making relieved them from a great deal of his company the chief of every day was spent by him at lucas lodge and he sometimes returned to longbourn only in time to make an apology for his absence before the family went to bed illustration whenever she spoke in a low voice mrs bennet was really in a most state the very mention of anything the match threw her into an of ill humour and wherever she went she was sure of hearing it talked of the sight of miss lucas was to her as her in that house she her with abhorrence whenever charlotte came to see them she concluded her to be the hour of possession and whenever she spoke in a low voice to mr collins was convinced that they were talking of the longbourn estate and resolving to turn herself and her daughters out of the house as soon as mr bennet was she of all this to her husband indeed mr bennet said she it is very hard to think that charlotte lucas should ever be mistress of this house that i should be forced to make way for her and live to see her take my place in it my dear do not give way to such thoughts let us hope for better things let us flatter ourselves that i may be the this was not very to mrs bennet and therefore instead of making any answer she went on as before i cannot bear to think that they should have all this estate if it was not for the entail i should not mind it what should not you mind i should not mind anything at all let us be thankful that you are from a state of such i never can be thankful mr bennet for anything about the entail how anyone could have the to entail away an estate from one s own daughters i cannot understand and all for the sake of mr collins too why should he have it more than anybody else i leave it to yourself to determine said mr bennet illustration chapter illustration miss bingley s letter arrived and put an end to doubt the very first sentence the assurance of their being all settled in london for the winter and concluded with her brother s regret at not having had time to pay his respects to his friends in hertfordshire before he left the country hope was over entirely over and when jane could to the rest of the letter she found little except the affection of the that could give her any comfort miss darcy s praise occupied the chief of it her many were again on and caroline of their increasing intimacy and ventured to the of the wishes which had been in her former letter she wrote also with great pleasure of her brother s being an of mr darcy s house and mentioned with raptures some of the latter with regard to new furniture elizabeth to whom jane very soon the chief of all this heard it in silent indignation her heart was between concern for her sister and resentment against all others to caroline s of her brother s being partial to miss darcy she paid no credit that he was really fond of jane she doubted no more than she had ever done and much as she had always been disposed to like him she could not think without anger hardly without contempt on that of temper that want of proper resolution which now made him the of his friends and led him to sacrifice his own happiness to the of their had his own happiness however been the only sacrifice he might have been allowed to with it in whatever manner he thought best but her sister s was in it as she thought he must be sensible himself it was a subject in short on which reflection would be long and must be she could think of nothing else and yet whether bingley s regard had really away or were by his friends interference whether he had been aware of jane s attachment or whether it had his observation were the case though her opinion of him must be affected by the difference her sister s situation remained the same her peace equally a day or two passed before jane had courage to speak of her feelings to elizabeth but at last on mrs bennet s leaving them together after a longer than usual about netherfield and its master she could not help saying o that my dear mother had more command over herself she can have no idea of the pain she gives me by her reflections on him but i will not it cannot last long he will be and we shall all be as we were before elizabeth looked at her sister with solicitude but said nothing you doubt me cried jane indeed you have no reason he may live in my memory as the most amiable man of my acquaintance but that is all i have nothing either to hope or fear and nothing to reproach him with thank i have not that pain a little time therefore i shall certainly try to get the better with a stronger voice she soon added i have this comfort immediately that it has not been more than an error of fancy on my side and that it has done no to anyone but myself my dear jane exclaimed elizabeth you are too good your and are really i do not know what to say to you i feel as if i had never done you justice or loved you as you deserve miss bennet eagerly all extraordinary merit and threw back the praise on her sister s warm affection nay said elizabeth this is not fair you wish to think all the world respectable and are hurt if i speak ill of anybody i only want to think you perfect and you set yourself against it do not be afraid of my running into any of my on your of good will you need not there are few people whom i really love and still of whom i think well the more i see of the world the more am i with it and every day my belief of the of all human and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense i have met with two lately one i will not mention the other is charlotte s marriage it is in every view it is my dear lizzy do not give way to such feelings as these they will your happiness you do not make enough for difference of situation and temper consider mr collins s and charlotte s steady character remember that she is one of a large family that as to fortune it is a most eligible match and be ready to believe for everybody s sake that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our cousin to oblige you i would try to believe almost anything but no one else could be by such a belief as this for were i persuaded that charlotte had any regard for him i should only think worse of her understanding than i now do of her heart my dear jane mr collins is a conceited silly man you know he is as well as i do and you must feel as well as i do that the woman who him cannot have a proper way of thinking you shall not her though it is charlotte lucas you shall not for the sake of one change the meaning of and nor endeavour to persuade yourself or me that is and of danger for happiness i must think your language too strong in speaking of both replied jane and i hope you will be convinced of it by seeing them happy together but enough of this you alluded to something else you mentioned two i cannot you but i entreat you dear lizzy not to pain me by thinking that person to blame and saying your opinion of him is we must not be so ready to fancy ourselves we must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and it is very often nothing but our own vanity that us women fancy admiration means more than it does and men take care that they should if it is done they cannot be but i have no idea of there being so much design in the world as some persons imagine i am far from any part of mr bingley s conduct to design said elizabeth but without to do wrong or to make others unhappy there may be error and there may be misery want of attention to other people s feelings and want of resolution will do the business and do you it to either of those yes to the last but if i go on i shall you by saying what i think of persons you esteem me you can you then in supposing his sisters influence him yes in with his friend i cannot believe it why should they try to influence him they can only wish his happiness and if he is attached to me no other woman can secure it your first is false they may wish many things besides his happiness they may wish his increase of and consequence they may wish him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money great connections and pride beyond a doubt they do wish him to choose miss darcy replied jane but this may be from better feelings than you are supposing they have known her much longer than they have known me no wonder if they love her better but whatever may be their own wishes it is very they should have their brother s what sister would think herself at liberty to do it unless there were something very if they believed him attached to me they would not try to part us if he were so they could not by supposing such an affection you make everybody and wrong and me most unhappy do not distress me by the idea i am not ashamed of having been mistaken or at least it is slight it is nothing in comparison of what i should feel in thinking ill of him or his sisters let me take it in the best light in the light in which it may be understood elizabeth could not such a wish and from this time mr bingley s name was scarcely ever mentioned between them mrs bennet still continued to wonder and at his returning no more and though a day seldom passed in which elizabeth did not account for it there seemed little chance of her ever considering it with less her daughter endeavoured to her of what she did not believe herself that his attentions to jane had been merely the effect of a common and which ceased when he saw her no more but though the probability of the was admitted at the time she had the same story to every day mrs bennet s best comfort was that mr bingley must be down again in the summer mr bennet treated the matter differently so lizzy said he one day your sister is in love i find i congratulate her next to being married a girl likes to be in love a little now and then it is something to think of and gives her a sort of among her companions when is your turn to come you will hardly bear to be long by jane now is your time here are officers enough at meryton to all the young ladies in the country let wickham be your man he is a pleasant fellow and would you thank you sir but a less agreeable man would satisfy me we must not all expect jane s good fortune true said mr bennet but it is a comfort to think that whatever of that kind may you you have an affectionate mother who will always make the most of it mr wickham s society was of material service in the which the late had thrown on many of the longbourn family they saw him often and to his other was now added that of general the whole of what elizabeth had already heard his claims on mr darcy and all that he had suffered from him was now openly acknowledged and and everybody was pleased to think how much they had always mr darcy before they had known anything of the matter miss bennet was the only creature who could suppose there might be any circumstances in the case unknown to the society of hertfordshire her and steady always for and urged the possibility of but by everybody else mr darcy was as the worst of men illustration chapter illustration after a week spent in professions of love and schemes of felicity mr collins was called from his amiable charlotte by the arrival of saturday the pain of separation however might be on his side by for the reception of his as he had reason to hope that shortly after his next return into hertfordshire the day would be fixed that was to make him the happiest of men he took leave of his relations at longbourn with as much as before wished his fair cousins health and happiness again and promised their father another letter of thanks on the following monday mrs bennet had the pleasure of receiving her brother and his wife who came as usual to spend the christmas at longbourn mr gardiner was a sensible gentlemanlike man greatly superior to his sister as well by nature as education the netherfield ladies would have had difficulty in believing that a man who lived by and within view of his own could have been so well and agreeable mrs gardiner who was several years younger than mrs bennet and mrs philips was an amiable elegant woman and a great favourite with her longbourn nieces between the two eldest and herself especially there a very particular regard they had frequently been staying with her in town the first part of mrs gardiner s business on her arrival was to her and describe the when this was done she had a less part to play it became her turn to listen mrs bennet had many to relate and much to of they had all been very ill used since she last saw her sister two of her girls had been on the point of marriage and after all there was nothing in it i do not blame jane she continued for jane would have got mr bingley if she could but lizzy oh sister it is very hard to think that she might have been mr collins s wife by this time had not it been for her own perverseness he made her an offer in this very room and she refused him the consequence of it is that lady lucas will have a daughter married before i have and that longbourn estate is just as much entailed as ever the lucases are very people indeed sister they are all for what they can get i am sorry to say it of them but so it is it makes me very and to be so in my own family and to have neighbours who think of themselves before anybody else however your coming just at this time is the greatest of and i am very glad to hear what you tell us of long mrs gardiner to whom the chief of this news had been given before in the course of jane and elizabeth s with her made her sister a slight answer and in compassion to her nieces turned the conversation when alone with elizabeth afterwards she spoke more on the subject it seems likely to have been a desirable match for jane said she i am sorry it went off but these things happen so often a young man such as you describe mr bingley so easily in love with a pretty girl for a few weeks and when accident them so easily her that these sort of are very frequent illustration offended two or three young ladies copyright by george allen an excellent consolation in its way said elizabeth but it will not do for us we do not suffer by accident it does not often happen that the interference of friends will persuade a young man of fortune to think no more of a girl whom he was violently in love with only a few days before but that expression of violently in love is so so so that it gives me very little idea it is as often applied to feelings which arise only from a half hour s acquaintance as to a real strong attachment pray how violent was mr bingley s love i never saw a more inclination he was quite to other people and wholly by her every time they met it was more decided and remarkable at his own ball he offended two or three young ladies by not asking them to dance and i spoke to him twice myself without receiving an answer could there be is not general the very of love oh yes of that kind of love which i suppose him to have felt poor jane i am sorry for her because with her disposition she may not get over it immediately it had better have happened to you lizzy you would have laughed yourself out of it sooner but do you think she would be prevailed on to go back with us change of scene might be of service and perhaps a little relief from home may be as useful as anything elizabeth was exceedingly pleased with this proposal and felt persuaded of her sister s ready i hope added mrs gardiner that no consideration with regard to this young man will influence her we live in so different a part of town all our connections are so different and as you well know we go out so little that it is very improbable they should meet at all unless he really comes to see her and that is quite impossible for he is now in the of his friend and mr darcy would no more suffer him to call on jane in such a part of london my dear aunt how could you think of it mr darcy may perhaps have heard of such a place as gracechurch street but he would hardly think a month s enough to him from its were he once to enter it and depend upon it mr bingley never without him so much the better i hope they will not meet at all but does not jane with his sister she will not be able to help calling she will the acquaintance entirely but in spite of the certainty in which elizabeth affected to place this point as well as the still more interesting one of bingley s being from seeing jane she felt a solicitude on the subject which convinced her on that she did not consider it entirely hopeless it was possible and sometimes she thought it probable that his affection might be and the influence of his friends by the more natural influence of jane s miss bennet accepted her aunt s invitation with pleasure and the were no otherwise in her thoughts at the same time than as she hoped by caroline s not living in the same house with her brother she might occasionally spend a morning with her without any danger of seeing him the gardiners stayed a week at longbourn and what with the the lucases and the officers there was not a day without its engagement mrs bennet had so provided for the entertainment of her brother and sister that they did not once sit down to a family dinner when the engagement was for home some of the officers always made part of it of which officers mr wickham was sure to be one and on these occasions mrs gardiner rendered by elizabeth s warm commendation of him observed them both without supposing them from what she saw to be very seriously in love their preference of each other was plain enough to make her a little uneasy and she resolved to speak to elizabeth on the subject before she left hertfordshire and to her the imprudence of such an attachment to mrs gardiner wickham had one means of pleasure with his general powers about ten or a years ago before her marriage she had spent a considerable time in that very part of derbyshire to which he they had therefore many acquaintance in common and though wickham had been little there since the death of darcy s father five years before it was yet in his power to give her intelligence of her former friends than she had been in the way of mrs gardiner had seen pemberley and known the late mr darcy by character perfectly well here consequently was an subject of discourse in her recollection of pemberley with the minute description which wickham could give and in her of praise on the character of its late she was both him and herself on being made acquainted with the present mr darcy s of him she tried to remember something of that gentleman s disposition when quite a which might agree with it and was at last that she recollected having heard mr fitzwilliam darcy formerly spoken of as a very proud ill natured illustration will you come and see me chapter illustration mrs gardiner s to elizabeth was and kindly given on the first favourable opportunity of speaking to her alone after telling her what she thought she thus went on you are too sensible a girl lizzy to fall in love merely because you are against it and therefore i am not afraid of speaking openly seriously i would have you be on your guard do not yourself or endeavour to him in an affection which the want of fortune would make so very imprudent i have nothing to say against him he is a most interesting young man and if he had the fortune he ought to have i should think you could not do better but as it is you must not let your fancy run away with you you have sense and we all expect you to use it your father would depend on your resolution and good conduct i am sure you must not your father my dear aunt this is being serious indeed yes and i hope to you to be serious likewise well then you need not be under any alarm i will take care of myself and of mr wickham too he shall not be in love with me if i can prevent it elizabeth you are not serious now i beg your pardon i will try again at present i am not in love with mr wickham no i certainly am not but he is beyond all comparison the most agreeable man i ever saw and if he really attached to me i believe it will be better that he should not i see the imprudence of it oh that abominable mr darcy my father s opinion of me does me the greatest honour and i should be miserable to it my father however is partial to mr wickham in short my dear aunt i should be very sorry to be the means of making any of you unhappy but since we see every day that where there is affection young people are seldom by immediate want of fortune from entering into engagements with each other how can i promise to be than so many of my fellow if i am tempted or how am i even to know that it would be to all that i can promise you therefore is not to be in a hurry i will not be in a hurry to believe myself his first object when i am in company with him i will not be wishing in short i will do my best perhaps it will be as well if you his coming here so very often at least you should not your mother of him as i did the other day said elizabeth with a smile very true it will be in me to from that but do not imagine that he is always here so often it is on your account that he has been so frequently invited this week you know my mother s ideas as to the necessity of constant company for her friends but really and upon my honour i will try to do what i think to be wisest and now i hope you are satisfied her aunt assured her that she was and elizabeth having thanked her for the kindness of her they parted a instance of advice being given on such a point without being mr collins returned into hertfordshire soon after it had been quitted by the gardiners and jane but as he took up his abode with the lucases his arrival was no great inconvenience to mrs bennet his marriage was now fast approaching and she was at length so far resigned as to think it and even repeatedly to say in an ill natured tone that she wished they might be happy was to be the wedding day and on wednesday miss lucas paid her visit and when she rose to take leave elizabeth ashamed of her mother s and good wishes and sincerely affected herself accompanied her out of the room as they went down stairs together charlotte said i shall depend on hearing from you very often eliza that you certainly shall and i have another favour to ask will you come and see me we shall often meet i hope in hertfordshire i am not likely to leave kent for some time promise me therefore to come to hunsford elizabeth could not refuse though she little pleasure in the visit my father and maria are to come to me in added charlotte and i hope you will consent to be of the party indeed eliza you will be as welcome to me as either of them the wedding took place the and set off for kent from the church door and everybody had as much to say or to hear on the subject as usual elizabeth soon heard from her friend and their was as and frequent as it ever had been that it should be equally was impossible elizabeth could never address her without feeling that all the comfort of intimacy was over and though determined not to as a it was for the sake of what had been rather than what was charlotte s first letters were received with a good deal of eagerness there could not but be curiosity to know how she would speak of her new home how she would like lady catherine and how happy she would dare herself to be though when the letters were read elizabeth felt that charlotte expressed herself on every point exactly as she might have she wrote seemed with and mentioned nothing which she could not praise the house furniture neighbourhood and were all to her taste and lady catherine s behaviour was most friendly and it was mr collins s picture of hunsford and rosings softened and elizabeth perceived that she must wait for her own visit there to know the rest jane had already written a few lines to her sister to their safe arrival in london and when she wrote again elizabeth hoped it would be in her power to say something of the her impatience for this second letter was as well as impatience generally is jane had been a week in town without either seeing or hearing from caroline she for it however by supposing that her last letter to her friend from longbourn had by some accident been lost my aunt she continued is going to morrow into that part of the town and i shall take the opportunity of calling in street she wrote again when the visit was paid and she had seen miss bingley i did not think caroline in spirits were her words but she was very glad to see me and me for giving her no notice of my coming to london i was right therefore my last letter had never reached her i inquired after their brother of course he was well but so much engaged with mr darcy that they scarcely ever saw him i found that miss darcy was expected to dinner i wish i could see her my visit was not long as caroline and mrs hurst were going out i dare say i shall soon see them here elizabeth shook her head over this letter it convinced her that accident only could discover to mr bingley her sister s being in town four weeks passed away and jane saw nothing of him she endeavoured to persuade herself that she did not regret it but she could no longer be blind to miss bingley s after waiting at home every morning for a fortnight and every evening a fresh excuse for her the visitor did at last appear but the of her stay and yet more the alteration of her manner would allow jane to herself no longer the letter which she wrote on this occasion to her sister will prove what she felt my dearest lizzy will i am sure be incapable of in her better judgment at my expense when i confess myself to have been entirely deceived in miss bingley s regard for me but my dear sister though the event has proved you right do not think me if i still that considering what her behaviour was my confidence was as natural as your suspicion i do not at all comprehend her reason for wishing to be intimate with me but if the same circumstances were to happen again i am sure i should be deceived again caroline did not return my visit till yesterday and not a note not a line did i receive in the when she did come it was very evident that she had no pleasure in it she made a slight formal apology for not calling before said not a word of wishing to see me again and was in every respect so altered a creature that when she went away i was perfectly resolved to continue the acquaintance no longer i pity though i cannot help her she was very wrong in me out as she did i can say that every to intimacy began on her side but i pity her because she must feel that she has been wrong and because i am very sure that anxiety for her brother is the cause of it i need not explain myself farther and though we know this anxiety to be quite yet if she it it will easily account for her behaviour to me and so dear as he is to his sister whatever anxiety she may feel on his is natural and amiable i cannot but wonder however at her having any such fears now because if he had at all cared about me we must have met long long ago he knows of my being in town i am certain from something she said herself and yet it would seem by her manner of talking as if she wanted to persuade herself that he is really partial to miss darcy i cannot understand it if i were not afraid of i should be almost tempted to say that there is a strong appearance of in all this i will endeavour to every painful thought and think only of what will make me happy your affection and the kindness of my dear uncle and aunt let me hear from you very soon miss bingley said something of his never returning to netherfield again of giving up the house but not with any certainty we had better not mention it i am extremely glad that you have such pleasant from our friends at hunsford pray go to see them with sir william and maria i am sure you will be very comfortable there yours etc this letter gave elizabeth some pain but her spirits returned as she considered that jane would no longer be by the sister at least all expectation from the brother was now absolutely over she would not even wish for any renewal of his attentions his character on every of it and as a for him as well as a possible advantage to jane she seriously hoped he might really soon marry mr darcy s sister as by wickham s account she would make him regret what he had thrown away mrs gardiner about this time reminded elizabeth of her promise that gentleman and required information and elizabeth had such to send as might rather give to her aunt than to herself his partiality had his attentions were over he was the of some one else elizabeth was enough to see it all but she could see it and write of it without material pain her heart had been but and her vanity was satisfied with believing that she would have been his only choice had fortune it the sudden of ten thousand pounds was the most remarkable charm of the young lady to whom he was now himself agreeable but elizabeth less clear perhaps in this case than in charlotte s did not with him for his wish of independence nothing on the contrary could be more natural and while able to suppose that it him a few to her she was ready to allow it a and desirable for both and could very sincerely wish him happy all this was acknowledged to mrs gardiner and after the circumstances she thus went on i am now convinced my dear aunt that i have never been much in love for had i really that and i should at present his very name and wish him all manner of evil but my feelings are not only towards him they are even towards miss king i cannot find out that i hate her at all or that i am in the least unwilling to think her a very good sort of girl there can be no love in all this my has been and though i should certainly be a more interesting object to all my acquaintance were i in love with him i cannot say that i regret my importance may sometimes be too kitty and lydia take his much more to heart than i do they are young in the of the world and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain illustration on the stairs chapter illustration with no greater than these in the longbourn family and otherwise by little beyond the to meryton sometimes and sometimes cold did and pass away was to take elizabeth to hunsford she had not at first thought very seriously of going thither but charlotte she soon found was on the plan and she gradually to consider it herself with greater pleasure as well as greater certainty absence had increased her desire of seeing charlotte again and her of mr collins there was in the scheme and as with such a mother and such sisters home could not be a little change was not for its own sake the journey would moreover give her a at jane and in short as the time drew near she would have been very sorry for any delay everything however went on and was finally settled according to charlotte s first she was to sir william and his second daughter the improvement of a night in london was added in time and the plan became as perfect as plan could be the only pain was in leaving her father who would certainly miss her and who when it came to the point so little liked her going that he told her to write to him and almost promised to answer her letter the between herself and mr wickham was perfectly friendly on his side even more his present pursuit could not make him forget that elizabeth had been the first to and to deserve his attention the first to listen and to pity the first to be admired and in his manner of her wishing her every enjoyment her of what she was to expect in lady catherine de bourgh and their opinion of her their opinion of everybody would always there was a solicitude an interest which she felt must ever her to him with a most sincere regard and she parted from him convinced that whether married or single he must always be her of the amiable and pleasing her fellow the next day were not of a kind to make her think him less agreeable sir william lucas and his daughter maria a good humoured girl but as as himself had nothing to say that could be worth hearing and were listened to with about as much delight as the of the chaise elizabeth loved but she had known sir william s too long he could tell her nothing new of the of his and and his civilities were out like his information it was a journey of only twenty four miles and they began it so early as to be in gracechurch street by as they drove to mr gardiner s door jane was at a drawing room window watching their arrival when they entered the she was there to welcome them and elizabeth looking earnestly in her face was pleased to see it and as ever on the stairs were a of little and girls whose eagerness for their cousin s appearance would not allow them to wait in the drawing room and whose as they had not seen her for a twelvemonth prevented their coming all was joy and kindness the day passed most away the morning in and and the evening at one of the elizabeth then to sit by her aunt their first subject was her sister and she was more grieved than astonished to hear in reply to her minute inquiries that though jane always to support her spirits there were of it was reasonable however to hope that they would not continue long mrs gardiner gave her the particulars also of miss bingley s visit in gracechurch street and repeated at different times between jane and herself which proved that the former had from her heart given up the acquaintance mrs gardiner then her niece on wickham s and her on it so well but my dear elizabeth she added what sort of girl is miss king i should be sorry to think our friend pray my dear aunt what is the difference in affairs between the and the motive where does end and begin last christmas you were afraid of his marrying me because it would be imprudent and now because he is trying to get a girl with only ten thousand pounds you want to find out that he is if you will only tell me what sort of girl miss king is i shall know what to think she is a very good kind of girl i believe i know no of her but he paid her not the smallest attention till her s death made her mistress of this fortune no why should he if it were not for him to my because i had no money what occasion could there be for making love to a girl whom he did not care about and who was equally poor but there seems in his attentions towards her so soon after this event a man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant which other people may observe if she does not object to it why should we her not does not justify him it only her being in something herself sense or feeling well cried elizabeth have it as you choose he shall be and she shall be foolish no lizzy that is what i do not choose i should be sorry you know to think ill of a young man who has lived so long in derbyshire oh if that is all i have a very poor opinion of young men who live in derbyshire and their intimate friends who live in hertfordshire are not much better i am sick of them all thank heaven i am going to morrow where i shall find a man who has not one agreeable who has neither manners nor sense to recommend him men are the only worth knowing after all take care lizzy that speech strongly of disappointment before they were by the conclusion of the play she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they taking in the summer we have not quite determined how far it shall us said mrs gardiner but perhaps to the lakes no scheme could have been more agreeable to elizabeth and her of the invitation was most ready and grateful my dear dear aunt she cried what delight what felicity you give me fresh life and to disappointment and what are men to and oh what hours of we shall spend and when we do return it shall not be like other without being able to give one idea of anything we will know where we have gone we will recollect what we have seen lakes and shall not be together in our nor when we attempt to describe any particular scene will we begin about its situation let our first be less than those of the of illustration at the door chapter illustration every object in the next day s journey was new and interesting to elizabeth and her spirits were in a state of enjoyment for she had seen her sister looking so well as to all fear for her health and the prospect of her tour was a constant source of delight when they left the high road for the lane to hunsford every eye was in of the parsonage and every turning expected to bring it in view the of rosings park was their on one side elizabeth smiled at the recollection of all that she had heard of its at length the parsonage was the garden to the road the house standing in it the and the everything declared they were mr collins and charlotte appeared at the door and the carriage stopped at the small gate which led by a short walk to the house the and smiles of the whole party in a moment they were all out of the chaise at the sight of each other mrs collins welcomed her friend with the pleasure and elizabeth was more and more satisfied with coming when she found herself so received she saw instantly that her cousin s manners were not altered by his marriage his formal civility was just what it had been and he her some minutes at the gate to hear and satisfy his inquiries after all her family they were then with no other delay than his out the of the entrance taken into the house and as soon as they were in the parlour he welcomed them a second time with to his humble abode and repeated all his wife s of elizabeth was prepared to see him in his and she could not help that in the good of the room its aspect and its furniture he addressed himself particularly to her as if wishing to make her feel what she had lost in refusing him but though everything seemed and comfortable she was not able to him by any of and rather looked with wonder at her friend that she could have so cheerful an air with such a companion when mr collins said anything of which his wife might be ashamed which certainly was not seldom she turned her eye on charlotte once or twice she could a but in general charlotte did not hear after sitting long enough to admire every of furniture in the room from the to the to give an account of their journey and of all that had happened in london mr collins invited them to take a in the garden which was large and well laid out and to the of which he attended himself to work in his garden was one of his most respectable pleasures and elizabeth admired the command of countenance with which charlotte talked of the of the exercise and she encouraged it as much as possible here the way through every walk and walk and scarcely allowing them an to utter the he asked for every view was out with a which left beauty entirely behind he could the in every direction and could tell how many there were in the most but of all the views which his garden or which the country or the could boast none were to be with the prospect of rosings by an opening in the that the park nearly opposite the of his house it was a handsome well on rising ground from his garden mr collins would have led them round his two but the ladies not having to the of a turned back and while sir william accompanied him charlotte took her sister and friend over the house extremely well pleased probably to have the opportunity of it without her husband s help it was rather small but well and and everything was fitted up and with a and of which elizabeth gave charlotte all the credit when mr collins could be forgotten there was really a great air of comfort and by charlotte s evident enjoyment of it elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten she had already learnt that lady catherine was still in the country it was spoken of again while they were at dinner when mr collins in observed yes miss elizabeth you will have the honour of seeing lady catherine de bourgh on the sunday at church and i need not say you will be delighted with her she is all and condescension and i doubt not but you will be honoured with some of her notice when service is over i have scarcely any in saying that she will you and my sister maria in every invitation with which she us during your stay here her behaviour to my dear charlotte is charming we dine at rosings twice every week and are never allowed to walk home her ladyship s carriage is ordered for us i should say one of her ladyship s carriages for she has several lady catherine is a very respectable sensible woman indeed added charlotte and a most attentive neighbour very true my dear that is exactly what i say she is the sort of woman whom one cannot regard with too much deference the evening was spent chiefly in talking over hertfordshire news and telling again what had been already written and when it closed elizabeth in the of her had to upon charlotte s degree of to understand her address in and composure in with her husband and to acknowledge that it was all done very well she had also to how her visit would pass the quiet of their usual the of mr collins and the of their intercourse with rosings a lively soon settled it all about the of the next day as she was in her room getting ready for a walk a sudden seemed to speak the whole house in confusion and after listening a moment she heard somebody running upstairs in a violent hurry and calling after her she opened the door and met maria in the place who with agitation cried out illustration in conversation with the ladies copyright by george allen oh my dear eliza pray make haste and come into the dining room for there is such a sight to be seen i will not tell you what it is make haste and come down this moment elizabeth asked questions in vain maria would tell her nothing more and down they ran into the dining room which the lane in quest of this wonder it was two ladies in a low at the garden gate and is this all cried elizabeth i expected at least that the were got into the garden and here is nothing but lady catherine and her daughter my dear said maria quite shocked at the mistake it is not lady catherine the old lady is mrs jenkinson who with them the other is miss de bourgh only look at her she is quite a little creature who would have thought she could be so and small she is to keep charlotte out of doors in all this why does she not come in oh charlotte says she hardly ever does it is the greatest of when miss de bourgh comes in i like her appearance said elizabeth struck with other ideas she looks and yes she will do for him very well she will make him a very proper wife mr collins and charlotte were both standing at the gate in conversation with the ladies and sir william to elizabeth s high was in the in earnest of the before him and whenever miss de bourgh looked that way at length there was nothing more to be said the ladies drove on and the others returned into the house mr collins no sooner saw the two girls than he began to congratulate them on their good fortune which charlotte explained by them know that the whole party was asked to dine at rosings the next day illustration lady catherine said she you have given me a copyright by george allen chapter illustration mr collins s triumph in consequence of this invitation was complete the power of the of his patroness to his visitors and of them see her civility towards himself and his wife was exactly what he had wished for and that an opportunity of doing it should be given so soon was such an instance of lady catherine s condescension as he knew not how to admire enough i confess said he that i should not have been at all surprised by her ladyship s asking us on sunday to drink tea and spend the evening at rosings i rather expected from my knowledge of her that it would happen but who could have such an attention as this who could have that we should receive an invitation to dine there an invitation moreover the whole party so immediately after your arrival i am the less surprised at what has happened replied sir william from that knowledge of what the manners of the great really are which my situation in life has allowed me to about the such of elegant breeding are not scarcely anything was talked of the whole day or next morning but their visit to rosings mr collins was them in what they were to expect that the sight of such rooms so many servants and so a dinner might not wholly them when the ladies were for the he said to elizabeth do not make yourself uneasy my dear cousin about your lady catherine is far from that elegance of in us which herself and daughter i would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest there is no occasion for anything more lady catherine will not think the worse of you for being dressed she likes to have the of rank while they were dressing he came two or three times to their different doors to recommend their being quick as lady catherine very much to be kept waiting for her dinner such of her ladyship and her manner of living quite frightened maria lucas who had been little used to company and she looked forward to her introduction at rosings with as much apprehension as her father had done to his at st james s as the weather was fine they had a pleasant walk of about half a mile across the park every park has its beauty and its and elizabeth saw much to be pleased with though she could not be in such raptures as mr collins expected the scene to and was but affected by his of the windows in of the house and his relation of what the altogether had sir de bourgh when they the to the hall maria s alarm was every moment increasing and even sir william did not look perfectly elizabeth s courage did not fail her she had heard nothing of lady catherine that spoke her from any extraordinary or virtue and the of money and rank she thought she could without from the entrance hall of which mr collins out with a air the fine and finished they followed the servants through an to the room where lady catherine her daughter and mrs jenkinson were sitting her ladyship with great condescension to receive them and as mrs collins had settled it with her husband that the office of introduction should be hers it was performed in a proper manner without any of those and thanks which he would have thought necessary in spite of having been at st james s sir william was so completely by the him that he had but just courage enough to make a very low bow and take his seat without saying a word and his daughter frightened almost out of her sat on the of her chair not knowing which way to look elizabeth found herself quite equal to the scene and could observe the three ladies before her lady catherine was a tall large woman with strongly marked features which might once have been handsome her air was not nor was her manner of receiving them such as to make her visitors forget their rank she was not rendered by silence but whatever she said was spoken in so a tone as marked her self importance and brought mr wickham immediately to elizabeth s mind and from the observation of the day altogether she believed lady catherine to be exactly what he had represented when after the mother in whose countenance and she soon found some resemblance of mr darcy she turned her eyes on the daughter she could almost have joined in maria s astonishment at her being so and so small there was neither in figure nor face any between the ladies miss de bourgh was and her features though not plain were and she spoke very little except in a low voice to mrs jenkinson in whose appearance there was nothing remarkable and who was entirely engaged in listening to what she said and a in the proper direction before her eyes after sitting a few minutes they were all sent to one of the windows to admire the view mr collins attending them to point out its and lady catherine kindly them that it was much better worth looking at in the summer the dinner was exceedingly handsome and there were all the servants and all the of which mr collins had promised and as he had likewise he took his seat at the of the table by her ladyship s desire and looked as if he felt that life could nothing greater he and and with delighted and every was first by him and then by sir william who was now enough recovered to whatever his son in law said in a manner which elizabeth wondered lady catherine could bear but lady catherine seemed gratified by their admiration and gave most gracious smiles especially when any on the table proved a to them the party did not supply much conversation elizabeth was ready to speak whenever there was an opening but she was seated between charlotte and miss de bourgh the former of whom was engaged in listening to lady catherine and the latter said not a word to her all the mrs jenkinson was chiefly employed in watching how little miss de bourgh her to try some other and she was maria thought speaking out of the question and the gentlemen did nothing but and admire when the ladies returned to the drawing room there was little to be done but to hear lady catherine talk which she did without any till coffee came in her opinion on every subject in so a manner as proved that she was not used to have her judgment she inquired into charlotte s domestic concerns and and gave her a great deal of advice as to the of them all told her how everything ought to be in so small a family as hers and her as to the care of her and her elizabeth found that nothing was this great lady s attention which could her with an occasion for to others in the of her discourse with mrs collins she addressed a variety of questions to maria and elizabeth but especially to the latter of whose connections she knew the least and who she observed to mrs collins was a very pretty kind of girl she asked her at different times how many sisters she had whether they were or younger than herself whether any of them were likely to be married whether they were handsome where they had been what carriage her father kept and what had been her mother s name elizabeth felt all the impertinence of her questions but answered them very lady catherine then observed your father s estate is entailed on mr collins i think for your sake turning to charlotte i am glad of it but otherwise i see no occasion for from the female line it was not thought necessary in sir de bourgh s family do you play and miss bennet a little oh then some time or other we shall be happy to hear you our instrument is a one probably superior to you shall try it some day do your sisters play and one of them does why did not you all learn you ought all to have the miss all play and their father has not so good an income as yours do you draw no not at all what none of you not one that is very strange but i suppose you had no opportunity your mother should have taken you to town every for the of my mother would have no objection but my father london has your governess left you we never had any governess no governess how was that possible five daughters brought up at home without a governess i never heard of such a thing your mother must have been quite a to your education elizabeth could hardly help smiling as she assured her that had not been the case then who taught you who attended to you without a governess you must have been with some families i believe we were but such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means we were always encouraged to read and had all the that were necessary those who chose to be idle certainly might ay no doubt but that is what a governess will prevent and if i had known your mother i should have her most to one i always say that nothing is to be done in education without steady and and nobody but a governess can give it it is how many families i have been the means of in that way i am always glad to get a young person well placed out four nieces of mrs jenkinson are most through my means and it was but the other day that i recommended another young person who was merely mentioned to me and the family are quite delighted with her mrs collins did i tell you of lady s calling yesterday to thank me she miss a lady catherine said she you have given me a are any of your younger sisters out miss bennet yes ma am all all what all five out at once very and you only the second the younger out before the elder are married your younger sisters must be very young yes my youngest is not sixteen perhaps she is full young to be much in company but really ma am i think it would be very hard upon younger sisters that they should not have their share of society and amusement because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early the last has as good a right to the pleasures of youth as the first and to be kept back on such a motive i think it would not be very likely to affection or delicacy of mind upon my word said her ladyship you give your opinion very for so young a person pray what is your age with three younger sisters up replied elizabeth smiling your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it lady catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer and elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to with so much impertinence you cannot be more than twenty i am sure therefore you need not conceal your age i am not one and twenty when the gentlemen had joined them and tea was over the card tables were placed lady catherine sir william and mr and mrs collins sat down to and as miss de bourgh chose to play at the two girls had the honour of mrs jenkinson to make up her party their table was scarcely a syllable was that did not relate to the game except when mrs jenkinson expressed her fears of miss de bourgh s being too or too cold or having too much or too little light a great deal more passed at the other table lady catherine was generally speaking the of the three others or some of herself mr collins was employed in to everything her ladyship said her for every he and if he thought he too many sir william did not say much he was his memory with and noble names when lady catherine and her daughter had as long as they chose the tables were broken up the carriage was offered to mrs collins accepted and immediately ordered the party then round the fire to hear lady catherine determine what weather they were to have on the morrow from these they were by the arrival of the coach and with many of on mr collins s side and as many on sir william s they as soon as they had from the door elizabeth was called on by her cousin to give her opinion of all that she had seen at rosings which for charlotte s sake she made more favourable than it really was but her commendation though her some trouble could by no means satisfy mr collins and he was very soon obliged to take her ladyship s praise into his own hands illustration chapter illustration sir william stayed only a week at hunsford but his visit was long enough to him of his daughter s being most settled and of her such a husband and such a neighbour as were not often met with while sir william was with them mr collins his to him out in his and him the country but when he went away the whole family returned to their usual and elizabeth was thankful to find that they did not see more of her cousin by the alteration for the chief of the time between breakfast and dinner was now passed by him either at work in the garden or in reading and writing and looking out of window in his own book room which the road the room in which the ladies sat was elizabeth at first had rather wondered that charlotte should not prefer the dining parlour for common use it was a better room and had a aspect but she soon saw that her friend had an excellent reason for what she did for mr collins would undoubtedly have been much less in his own had they sat in one equally lively and she gave charlotte credit for the arrangement from the drawing room they could nothing in the lane and were indebted to mr collins for the knowledge of what carriages went along and how often especially miss de bourgh drove by in her which he never coming to inform them of though it happened almost every day she not stopped at the parsonage and had a few minutes conversation with charlotte but was scarcely ever prevailed on to get out very few days passed in which mr collins did not walk to rosings and not many in which his wife did not think it necessary to go likewise and till elizabeth recollected that there might be other family to be disposed of she could not understand the sacrifice of so many hours now and then they were honoured with a call from her ladyship and nothing her observation that was passing in the room during these she into their looked at their work and them to do it differently found fault with the arrangement of the furniture or the in and if she accepted any seemed to do it only for the sake of finding out that mrs collins s of were too large for her family elizabeth soon perceived that though this great lady was not in the commission of the peace for the county she was a most in her own parish the concerns of which were carried to her by mr collins and whenever any of the were disposed to be or too poor she into the village to settle their silence their and them into and illustration he never to inform them the entertainment of dining at rosings was repeated about twice a week and allowing for the loss of sir william and there being only one card table in the evening every such entertainment was the of the first their other engagements were few as the style of living of the neighbourhood in general was beyond the collinses reach this however was no evil to elizabeth and upon the whole she spent her time enough there were half hours of pleasant conversation with charlotte and the weather was so fine for the time of year that she had often great enjoyment out of doors her favourite walk and where she frequently went while the others were calling on lady catherine was along the open which that side of the park where there was a which no one seemed to value but herself and where she felt beyond the reach of lady catherine s curiosity in this quiet way the first fortnight of her visit soon passed away was approaching and the week it was to bring an addition to the family at rosings which in so small a circle must be important elizabeth had heard soon after her arrival that mr darcy was expected there in the course of a few weeks and though there were not many of her acquaintance whom she did not prefer his coming would one new to look at in their rosings parties and she might be amused in seeing how hopeless miss bingley s on him were by his behaviour to his cousin for whom he was by lady catherine who talked of his coming with the greatest satisfaction spoke of him in terms of the highest admiration and seemed almost angry to find that he had already been frequently seen by miss lucas and herself his arrival was soon known at the parsonage for mr collins was walking the whole morning within view of the opening into hunsford lane in order to have illustration the gentlemen accompanied him copyright by george allen the earliest assurance of it and after making his bow as the carriage turned into the park hurried home with the great intelligence on the following morning he to rosings to pay his respects there were two of lady catherine to them for mr darcy had brought with him a colonel fitzwilliam the younger son of his uncle lord and to the great surprise of all the party when mr collins returned the gentlemen accompanied him charlotte had seen them from her husband s room the road and immediately running into the other told the girls what an honour they might expect i may thank you eliza for this piece of civility mr darcy would never have come so soon to wait upon me elizabeth had scarcely time to all right to the compliment before their approach was by the door bell and shortly afterwards the three gentlemen entered the room colonel fitzwilliam who led the way was about not handsome but in person and address most truly the gentleman mr darcy looked just as he had been used to look in hertfordshire paid his compliments with his usual reserve to mrs collins and whatever might be his feelings towards her friend met her with every appearance of composure elizabeth merely to him without saying a word colonel fitzwilliam entered into conversation directly with the and ease of a well man and talked very but his cousin after having addressed a slight observation on the house and garden to mrs collins sat for some time without speaking to anybody at length however his civility was so far as to inquire of elizabeth after the health of her family she answered him in the usual way and after a moment s pause added my eldest sister has been in town these three months have you never happened to see her there she was perfectly sensible that he never had but she wished to see whether he would any of what had passed between the and jane and she thought he looked a little as he answered that he had never been so fortunate as to meet miss bennet the subject was no further and the gentlemen soon afterwards went away illustration at church chapter illustration colonel fitzwilliam s manners were very much admired at the parsonage and the ladies all felt that he must add to the pleasure of their engagements at rosings it was some days however before they received any invitation thither for while there were visitors in the house they could not be necessary and it was not till day almost a week after the gentlemen s arrival that they were honoured by such an attention and then they were merely asked on leaving church to come there in the evening for the last week they had seen very little of either lady catherine or her daughter colonel fitzwilliam had called at the parsonage more than once during the time but mr darcy they had only seen at church the invitation was accepted of course and at a proper hour they joined the party in lady catherine s drawing room her ladyship received them but it was plain that their company was by no means so acceptable as when she could get nobody else and she was in fact almost by her speaking to them especially to darcy much more than to any other person in the room colonel fitzwilliam seemed really glad to see them anything was a welcome relief to him at rosings and mrs collins s pretty friend had moreover caught his fancy very much he now seated himself by her and talked so of kent and hertfordshire of travelling and staying at home of new books and music that elizabeth had never been half so well entertained in that room before and they with so much spirit and as to draw the attention of lady catherine herself as well as of mr darcy his eyes had been soon and repeatedly turned towards them with a look of curiosity and that her ladyship after a while the feeling was more openly acknowledged for she did not to call out what is that you are saying fitzwilliam what is it you are talking of what are you telling miss bennet let me hear what it is we were talking of music madam said he when no longer able to avoid a reply of music then pray speak aloud it is of all subjects my delight i must have my share in the conversation if you are speaking of music there are few people in i suppose who have more true enjoyment of music than myself or a better natural taste if i had ever learnt i should have been a great and so would if her health had allowed her to i am that she would have performed how does georgiana get on darcy mr darcy spoke with affectionate praise of his sister s i am very glad to hear such a good account of her said lady catherine and pray tell her from me that she cannot expect to if she does not a great deal i assure you madam he replied that she does not need such advice she very so much the better it cannot be done too much and when i next write to her i shall charge her not to neglect it on any account i often tell young ladies that no in music is to be without constant i have told miss bennet several times that she will never play really well unless she more and though mrs collins has no instrument she is very welcome as i have often told her to come to rosings every day and play on the in mrs jenkinson s room she would be in nobody s way you know in that part of the house mr darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt s ill breeding and made no answer when coffee was over colonel fitzwilliam reminded elizabeth of having promised to play to him and she sat down directly to the instrument he drew a chair near her lady catherine listened to half a and then talked as before to her other nephew till the latter walked away from her and moving with his usual towards the himself so as to command a full view of the fair s countenance elizabeth saw what he was doing and at the first pause turned to him with an smile and said you mean to me mr darcy by coming in all this state to hear me but i will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well there is a about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others my courage always with every attempt to me i shall not say that you are mistaken he replied because you could not really believe me to any design of you and i have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know that you find great enjoyment in occasionally opinions which in fact are not your own elizabeth laughed heartily at this picture of herself and said to colonel fitzwilliam your cousin will give you a very pretty notion of me and you not to believe a word i say i am particularly unlucky in meeting with a person so well able to expose my real character in a part of the world where i had hoped to pass myself off with some degree of credit indeed mr darcy it is very in you to mention all that you knew to my in hertfordshire and give me leave to say very too for it is me to and such things may come out as will your relations to hear i am not afraid of you said he pray let me hear what you have to him of cried colonel fitzwilliam i should like to know how he among you shall hear then but prepare for something very dreadful the first time of my ever seeing him in hertfordshire you must know was at a ball and at this ball what do you think he did he danced only four dances i am sorry to pain you but so it was he danced only four dances though gentlemen were and to my certain knowledge more than one young lady was sitting down in want of a partner mr darcy you cannot deny the fact i had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party true and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball room well colonel fitzwilliam what do i play next my wait your orders perhaps said darcy i should have judged better had i an introduction but i am ill to recommend myself to shall we ask your cousin the reason of this said elizabeth still colonel fitzwilliam shall we ask him why a man of sense and education and who has lived in the world is ill to recommend himself to i can answer your question said fitzwilliam without to him it is because he will not give himself the trouble i certainly have not the which some people said darcy of easily with those i have never seen before i cannot their tone of conversation or appear interested in their concerns as i often see done my said elizabeth do not over this instrument in the manner which i see so many women s do they have not the same force or and do not the same expression but then i have always supposed it to be my own fault because i would not take the trouble of it is not that i do not believe my as capable as any other woman s of superior darcy smiled and said you are perfectly right you have employed your time much better no one admitted to the of hearing you can think anything wanting we neither of us to here they were interrupted by lady catherine who called out to know what they were talking of elizabeth immediately began playing again lady catherine approached and after listening for a few minutes said to darcy miss bennet would not play at all if she more and could have the advantage of a london master she has a very good notion of though her taste is not equal to s would have been a delightful had her health allowed her to learn elizabeth looked at darcy to see how he to his cousin s praise but neither at that moment nor at any other could she any of love and from the whole of his behaviour to miss de bourgh she this comfort for miss bingley that he might have been just as likely to marry her had she been his relation lady catherine continued her remarks on elizabeth s performance with them many on and taste elizabeth received them with all the forbearance of civility and at the request of the gentlemen remained at the instrument till her ladyship s carriage was ready to take them all home illustration chapter illustration elizabeth was sitting by herself the next morning and writing to jane while mrs collins and maria were gone on business into the village when she was by a at the door the certain of a visitor as she had heard no carriage she thought it not to be lady catherine and under that apprehension was away her half finished letter that she might escape all impertinent questions when the door opened and to her very great surprise mr darcy and mr darcy only entered the room he seemed astonished too on finding her alone and for his by her know that he had understood all the ladies to be within they then sat down and when her inquiries after rosings were made seemed in danger of into silence it was absolutely necessary therefore to think of something and in this when she had seen him last in hertfordshire and feeling to know what he would say on the subject of their departure she observed how very suddenly you all quitted netherfield last mr darcy it must have been a most agreeable surprise to mr bingley to see you all after him so soon for if i recollect right he went but the day before he and his sisters were well i hope when you left london perfectly so i thank you she found that she was to receive no other answer and after a short pause added i think i have understood that mr bingley has not much idea of ever returning to netherfield again i have never heard him say so but it is probable that he may spend very little of his time there in future he has many friends and he is at a time of life when friends and engagements are continually increasing if he means to be but little at netherfield it would be better for the neighbourhood that he should give up the place entirely for then we might possibly get a settled family there but perhaps mr bingley did not take the house so much for the of the neighbourhood as for his own and we must expect him to keep or quit it on the same i should not be surprised said darcy if he were to give it up as soon as any eligible purchase elizabeth made no answer she was afraid of talking longer of his friend and having nothing else to say was now determined to leave the trouble of finding a subject to him he took the hint and soon began with this seems a very comfortable house lady catherine i believe did a great deal to it when mr collins first came to hunsford i believe she did and i am sure she could not have bestowed her kindness on a more grateful object mr collins very fortunate in his choice of a wife yes indeed his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of the very few sensible women who would have accepted him or have made him happy if they had my friend has an excellent understanding though i am not certain that i consider her marrying mr collins as the wisest thing she ever did she seems perfectly happy however and in a light it is certainly a very good match for her it must be very agreeable to her to be settled within so easy a distance of her own family and friends an easy distance do you call it it is nearly fifty miles and what is fifty miles of good road little more than half a day s journey yes i call it a very easy distance i should never have considered the distance as one of the advantages of the match cried elizabeth i should never have said mrs collins was settled near her family it is a proof of your own attachment to hertfordshire anything beyond the very neighbourhood of longbourn i suppose would appear far as he spoke there was a sort of smile which elizabeth fancied she understood he must be supposing her to be thinking of jane and netherfield and she blushed as she answered i do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too near her family the far and the near must be and depend on many circumstances where there is fortune to make the expense of travelling distance no evil but that is not the case here mr and mrs collins have a comfortable income but not such a one as will allow of frequent and i am persuaded my friend would not call herself near her family under less than half the present distance mr darcy drew his chair a little towards her and said you cannot have a right to such very strong attachment you cannot have been always at longbourn elizabeth looked surprised the gentleman some change of feeling he drew back his chair took a from the table and over it said in a voice are you pleased with kent a short on the subject of the country on either side and and soon put an end to by the entrance of charlotte and her sister just returned from their walk the t te t te surprised them mr darcy related the mistake which had his on miss bennet and after sitting a few minutes longer without saying much to anybody went away illustration accompanied by their aunt copyright by george allen what can be the meaning of this said charlotte as soon as he was gone my dear eliza he must be in love with you or he would never have called on us in this way but when elizabeth told of his silence it did not seem very likely even to charlotte s wishes to be the case and after various they could at last only suppose his visit to from the difficulty of finding anything to do which was the more probable from the time of year all were over within doors there was lady catherine books and a table but gentlemen cannot be always within doors and in the of the parsonage or the of the walk to it or of the people who lived in it the two cousins found a temptation from this period of walking thither almost every day they called at various times of the morning sometimes sometimes together and now and then accompanied by their aunt it was plain to them all that colonel fitzwilliam came because he had pleasure in their society a persuasion which of course recommended him still more and elizabeth was reminded by her own satisfaction in being with him as well as by his evident admiration of her former favourite george wickham and though in them she saw there was less in colonel fitzwilliam s manners she believed he might have the best informed mind but why mr darcy came so often to the parsonage it was more difficult to understand it could not be for society as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips and when he did speak it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice a sacrifice to propriety not a pleasure to himself he seldom appeared really mrs collins knew not what to make of him colonel fitzwilliam s occasionally laughing at his proved that he was generally different which her own knowledge of him could not have told her and as she would have liked to believe this change the effect of love and the object of that love her friend eliza she set herself seriously to work to find it out she watched him whenever they were at rosings and whenever he came to hunsford but without much success he certainly looked at her friend a great deal but the expression of that look was it was an earnest but she often doubted whether there were much admiration in it and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind she had once or twice to elizabeth the possibility of his being partial to her but elizabeth always laughed at the idea and mrs collins did not think it right to the subject from the danger of expectations which might only end in disappointment for in her opinion it admitted not of a doubt that all her friend s dislike would if she could suppose him to be in her power in her kind schemes for elizabeth she sometimes her marrying colonel fitzwilliam he was beyond comparison the man he certainly admired her and his situation in life was most eligible but to these advantages mr darcy had considerable in the church and his cousin could have none at all illustration on looking up chapter illustration more than once did elizabeth in her within the park meet mr darcy she felt all the perverseness of the that should bring him where no one else was brought and to prevent its ever again took care to inform him at first that it was a favourite of hers how it could a second time therefore was very yet it did and even the third it seemed like ill nature or a for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal inquiries and an awkward pause and then away but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her he never said a great deal nor did she give herself the trouble of talking or of listening much but it struck her in the course of their third that he was asking some questions about her pleasure in being at hunsford her love of and her opinion of mr and mrs collins s happiness and that in speaking of rosings and her not perfectly understanding the house he seemed to expect that whenever she came into kent again she would be staying there too his words seemed to it could he have colonel fitzwilliam in his thoughts she supposed if he meant anything he must mean an to what might arise in that quarter it distressed her a little and she was quite glad to find herself at the gate in the opposite the parsonage she was engaged one day as she walked in jane s last letter and dwelling on some which proved that jane had not written in spirits when instead of being again surprised by mr darcy she saw on looking up that colonel fitzwilliam was meeting her away the letter immediately and a smile she said i did not know before that you ever walked this way i have been making the tour of the park he replied as i generally do every year and intended to close it with a call at the parsonage are you going much farther no i should have turned in a moment and accordingly she did turn and they walked towards the parsonage together do you certainly leave kent on saturday said she yes if darcy does not put it off again but i am at his he the business just as he and if not able to please himself in the arrangement he has at least great pleasure in the power of choice i do not know anybody who seems more to enjoy the power of doing what he likes than mr darcy he likes to have his own way very well replied colonel fitzwilliam but so we all do it is only that he has better means of having it than many others because he is rich and many others are poor i speak a younger son you know must be to self denial and dependence in my opinion the younger son of an can know very little of either now seriously what have you ever known of self denial and dependence when have you been prevented by want of money from going wherever you chose or anything you had a fancy for these are home questions and perhaps i cannot say that i have many of that nature but in matters of greater weight i may suffer from the want of money younger cannot marry where they like unless where they like women of fortune which i think they very often do our of expense make us too and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention to money is this thought elizabeth meant for me and she coloured at the idea but herself said in a lively tone and pray what is the usual of an s younger son unless the elder brother is very i suppose you would not ask above fifty thousand pounds he answered her in the same style and the subject dropped to a silence which might make him fancy her affected with what had passed she soon afterwards said i imagine your cousin brought you down with him chiefly for the sake of having somebody at his i wonder he does not marry to secure a of that kind but perhaps his sister does as well for the present and as she is under his care he may do what he likes with her no said colonel fitzwilliam that is an advantage which he must with me i am joined with him in the of miss darcy are you indeed and pray what sort of a do you make does your charge give you much trouble young ladies of her age are sometimes a little difficult to and if she has the true darcy spirit she may like to have her own way as she spoke she observed him looking at her earnestly and the manner in which he immediately asked her why she supposed miss darcy likely to give them any uneasiness convinced her that she had or other got pretty near the truth she directly replied you need not be frightened i never heard any of her and i dare say she is one of the most in the world she is a very great favourite with some ladies of my acquaintance mrs hurst and miss bingley i think i have heard you say that you know them i know them a little their brother is a pleasant gentlemanlike man he is a great friend of darcy s oh yes said elizabeth mr darcy is uncommonly kind to mr bingley and takes a deal of care of him care of him yes i really believe darcy does take care of him in those where he most wants care from something that he told me in our journey i have reason to think bingley very much indebted to him but i ought to beg his pardon for i have no right to suppose that bingley was the person meant it was all conjecture what is it you mean it is a circumstance which darcy of course could not wish to be generally known because if it were to get round to the lady s family it would be an unpleasant thing you may depend upon my not mentioning it and remember that i have not much reason for supposing it to be bingley what he told me was merely this that he himself on having lately a friend from the of a most imprudent marriage but without mentioning names or any other particulars and i only suspected it to be bingley from believing him the kind of young man to get into a of that sort and from knowing them to have been together the whole of last summer did mr darcy give you his for this interference i understood that there were some very strong objections against the lady and what did he use to separate them he did not talk to me of his own said fitzwilliam smiling he only told me what i have now told you elizabeth made no answer and walked on her heart with indignation after watching her a little fitzwilliam asked her why she was so i am thinking of what you have been telling me said she your cousin s conduct does not suit my feelings why was he to be the judge you are rather disposed to call his interference i do not see what right mr darcy had to on the propriety of his friend s inclination or why upon his own judgment alone he was to determine and direct in what manner that friend was to be happy but she continued herself as we know none of the particulars it is not fair to him it is not to be supposed that there was much affection in the case that is not an said fitzwilliam but it is the honour of my cousin s triumph very this was spoken but it appeared to her so just a picture of mr darcy that she would not trust herself with an answer and therefore the conversation talked on indifferent matters till they reached the parsonage there into her own room as soon as their visitor left them she could think without interruption of all that she had heard it was not to be supposed that any other people could be meant than those with whom she was connected there could not in the world two men over whom mr darcy could have such influence that he had been concerned in the taken to separate mr bingley and jane she had never doubted but she had always to miss bingley the principal design and arrangement of them if his own vanity however did not him he was the cause his pride and were the cause of all that jane had suffered and still continued to suffer he had for a while every hope of happiness for the most affectionate generous heart in the world and no one could say how an evil he might have there were some very strong objections against the lady were colonel fitzwilliam s words and these strong objections probably were her having one uncle who was a country and another who was in business in london to jane herself she exclaimed there could be no possibility of objection all and goodness as she is her understanding excellent her mind improved and her manners neither could anything be urged against my father who though with some has abilities which mr darcy himself need not disdain and which he will probably never reach when she thought of her mother indeed her confidence gave way a little but she would not allow that any objections there had material weight with mr darcy whose pride she was convinced would receive a from the want of importance in his friend s connections than from their want of sense and she was quite decided at last that he had been by this worst kind of pride and by the wish of mr bingley for his sister the agitation and tears which the subject brought on a and it grew so much worse towards the evening that added to her to see mr darcy it determined her not to her cousins to rosings where they were engaged to drink tea mrs collins seeing that she was really did not her to go and as much as possible prevented her husband from her but mr collins could not conceal his apprehension of lady catherine s being rather by her staying at home illustration chapter illustration when they were gone elizabeth as if intending to herself as much as possible against mr darcy chose for her employment the of all the letters which jane had written to her since her being in kent they contained no nor was there any of past or any communication of present but in all and in almost every line of each there was a want of that cheerfulness which had been used to her style and which proceeding from the of a mind at ease with itself and kindly disposed towards everyone had been scarcely ever elizabeth noticed every sentence the idea of uneasiness with an attention which it had hardly received on the first mr darcy s boast of what misery he had been able to gave her a sense of her sister s it was some consolation to think that his visit to rosings was to end on the day after the next and a still greater that in less than a fortnight she should herself be with jane again and to to the of her spirits by all that affection could do she could not think of darcy s leaving kent without that his cousin was to go with him but colonel fitzwilliam had made it clear that he had no at all and agreeable as he was she did not mean to be unhappy about him while this point she was suddenly roused by the sound of the door bell and her spirits were a little by the idea of its being colonel fitzwilliam himself who had once before called late in the evening and might now come to inquire particularly after her but this idea was soon and her spirits were very differently affected when to her utter amazement she saw mr darcy walk into the room in a hurried manner he immediately began an inquiry after her health his visit to a wish of hearing that she were better she answered him with cold civility he sat down for a few moments and then getting up walked about the room elizabeth was surprised but said not a word after a silence of several minutes he came towards her in an manner and thus began in vain have i it will not do my feelings will not be you must allow me to tell you how i admire and love you elizabeth s astonishment was beyond expression she coloured doubted and was silent this he considered encouragement and the of all that he felt and had long felt for her immediately followed he spoke well but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be and he was not more on the subject of than of pride his sense of her of its being a of the family which judgment had always to inclination were on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was but was very to recommend his suit in spite of her dislike she could not be to the compliment of such a man s affection and though her did not for an instant she was at first sorry for the pain he was to receive till roused to resentment by his language she lost all compassion in anger she tried however to herself to answer him with patience when he should have done he concluded with to her the strength of that attachment which in spite of all his endeavours he had found impossible to and with expressing his hope that it would now be by her of his hand as he said this she could easily see that he had no doubt of a favourable answer he spoke of apprehension and anxiety but his countenance expressed real such a circumstance could only farther and when he ceased the colour rose into her and she said in such cases as this it is i believe the established to express a sense of obligation for the sentiments however they may be returned it is natural that obligation should be felt and if i could feel gratitude i would now thank you but i cannot i have never desired your good opinion and you have certainly bestowed it most i am sorry to have pain to anyone it has been most done however and i hope will be of short the feelings which you tell me have long prevented the of your regard can have little difficulty in it after this explanation mr darcy who was against the piece with his eyes fixed on her face seemed to her words with no less resentment than surprise his complexion became with anger and the of his mind was in every he was for the appearance of composure and would not open his lips till he believed himself to have it the pause was to elizabeth s feelings dreadful at length in a voice of forced he said and this is all the reply which i am to have the honour of i might perhaps wish to be informed why with so little endeavour at civility i am thus but it is of small importance i might as well inquire replied she why with so evident a design of and me you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will against your reason and even against your character was not this some excuse for if i was but i have other you know i have had not my own feelings decided against you had they been indifferent or had they even been favourable do you think that any consideration would me to accept the man who has been the means of perhaps for ever the happiness of a most sister as she pronounced these words mr darcy changed colour but the was short and he listened without to her while she continued i have every reason in the world to think ill of you no motive can excuse the and part you acted there you dare not you cannot deny that you have been the principal if not the only means of them from each other of one to the of the world for and the other to its for disappointed hopes and them both in misery of the kind she and saw with no slight indignation that he was listening with an air which proved him wholly by any feeling of he even looked at her with a smile of affected can you deny that you have done it she repeated with he then replied i have no wish of that i did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister or that i rejoice in my success towards him i have been than towards myself elizabeth the appearance of this civil reflection but its meaning did not escape nor was it likely to her but it is not merely this affair she continued on which my dislike is long before it had taken place my opinion of you was decided your character was in the which i received many months ago from mr wickham on this subject what can you have to say in what act of friendship can you here yourself or under what can you here upon others you take an eager interest in that gentleman s concerns said darcy in a less tone and with a heightened colour who that knows what his have been can help feeling an interest in him his repeated darcy yes his have been great indeed and of your cried elizabeth with you have him to his present state of you have the advantages which you must know to have been for him you have the best years of his life of that independence which was no less his due than his you have done all this and yet you can the mention of his with contempt and and this cried darcy as he walked with quick across the room is your opinion of me this is the in which you hold me i thank you for it so my according to this are indeed but perhaps added he in his walk and turning towards her these might have been had not your pride been hurt by my of the that had long prevented my any serious design these might have been had i with greater concealed my and flattered you into the belief of my being by inclination by reason by reflection by everything but of every sort is my abhorrence nor am i ashamed of the feelings i related they were natural and just could you expect me to rejoice in the of your connections to congratulate myself on the hope of relations whose in life is so my own elizabeth felt herself more angry every moment yet she tried to the utmost to speak with composure when she said you are mistaken mr darcy if you suppose that the of your affected me in any other way than as it spared me the concern which i might have felt in refusing you had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner she saw him at this but he said nothing and she continued you could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it again his astonishment was and he looked at her with an expression of and mortification she went on from the very beginning from the first moment i may almost say of my acquaintance with you your manners me with the belief of your your and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others were such as to form that of disapprobation on which have so a dislike and i had not known you a month before i felt that you were the last man in the world whom i could ever be prevailed on to marry you have said quite enough madam i perfectly comprehend your feelings and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been forgive me for having taken up so much of your time and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness and with these words he hastily left the room and elizabeth heard him the next moment open the door and quit the house the of her mind was now great she knew not how to support herself and from sat down and cried for half an hour her astonishment as she on what had passed was increased by every of it that she should receive an offer of marriage from mr darcy that he should have been in love with her for so many months so much in love as to wish to marry her in spite of all the objections which had made him prevent his friend s marrying her sister and which must appear at least with equal force in his own case was almost it was gratifying to have so strong an affection but his pride his abominable pride his of what he had done with respect to jane his assurance in though he could not justify it and the manner which he had mentioned mr wickham his towards whom he had not to deny soon the pity which the consideration of his attachment had for a moment excited she continued in very reflections till the sound of lady catherine s carriage made her feel how she was to charlotte s observation and hurried her away to her room illustration hearing herself called chapter illustration elizabeth the next morning to the same thoughts and which had at length closed her eyes she could not yet recover from the surprise of what had happened it was impossible to think of anything else and totally for employment she resolved soon after breakfast to herself in air and exercise she was proceeding directly to her favourite walk when the recollection of mr darcy s sometimes coming there stopped her and instead of entering the park she turned up the lane which led her farther from the road the park was still the on one side and she soon passed one of the into the ground after walking two or three times along that part of the lane she was tempted by the of the morning to at the and look into the park the five weeks which she had now passed in kent had made a great difference in the country and every day was to the of the early she was on the point of her walk when she caught a of a gentleman within the sort of which the park he was moving that way and of its being mr darcy she was directly but the person who was now near enough to see her and forward with eagerness pronounced her name she had turned away but on hearing herself called though in a voice which proved it to be mr darcy she moved again towards the gate he had by that time reached it also and out a letter which she took said with a look of composure i have been walking in the some time in the hope of meeting you will you do me the honour of reading that letter and then with a slight bow turned again into the and was soon out of sight with no expectation of pleasure but with the curiosity elizabeth opened the letter and to her still increasing wonder perceived an two of letter paper written quite through in a very close hand the itself was likewise full her way along the lane she then began it it was from rosings at eight o clock in the morning and was as follows be not alarmed madam on receiving this letter by the apprehension of its any of those sentiments or renewal of those which were last night so to you i write without any intention of you or myself by dwelling on wishes which for the happiness of both cannot be too soon forgotten and the which the and the of this letter must occasion should have been spared had not my character required it to be written and read you must therefore pardon the with which i your attention your feelings i know will bestow it but i it of your justice two of a very different nature and by no means of equal you last night laid to my charge the first mentioned was that of the sentiments of either i had mr bingley from your sister and the other that i had in of various claims in of honour and the immediate and the of mr wickham and to have thrown off the companion of my youth the acknowledged favourite of my father a young man who had scarcely any other dependence than on our and who had been brought up to expect its exertion would be a to which the separation of two young persons whose affection could be the of only a few weeks could bear no comparison but from the of that blame which was last night so bestowed each circumstance i shall hope to be in future when the following account of my actions and their motives has been read if in the explanation of them which is due to myself i am under the necessity of feelings which may be to yours i can only say that i am sorry the necessity must be and further apology would be i had not been long in hertfordshire before i saw in common with others that bingley your elder sister to any other young woman in the country but it was not till the evening of the dance at netherfield that i had any apprehension of his feeling a serious attachment i had often seen him in love before at that ball while i had the honour of dancing with you i was first made acquainted by sir william lucas s information that bingley s attentions to your sister had given to a general expectation of their marriage he spoke of it as a certain event of which the time alone could be from that moment i observed my friend s behaviour and i could then perceive that his partiality for miss bennet was beyond what i had ever in him your sister i also watched her look and manners were open cheerful and engaging as ever but without any of peculiar regard and i remained convinced from the evening s that though she received his attentions with pleasure she did not invite them by any of sentiment if you have not been mistaken here i must have been in an error your superior knowledge of your sister must make the latter probable if it be so if i have been by such error to pain on her your resentment has not been unreasonable but i shall not to that the of your sister s countenance and air was such as might have given the most a conviction that however amiable her temper her heart was not likely to be easily that i was desirous of believing her indifferent is certain but i will to say that my and are not usually by my hopes or fears i did not believe her to be indifferent because i wished it i believed it on conviction as truly as i wished it in reason my objections to the marriage were not merely those which i last night acknowledged to have required the utmost force of to put in my own case the want of connection could not be so great an evil to my friend as to me but there were other of which though still and to an equal degree in both i had myself endeavoured to forget because they were not immediately before me these must be though the situation of your mother s family though was nothing in comparison of that want of propriety so frequently so almost by herself by your three younger sisters and occasionally even by your father pardon me it me to you but your concern for the of your relations and your displeasure at this of them let it give you consolation to consider that to have so as to avoid any share of the like is praise no less generally bestowed on you and your eldest sister than it is honourable to the sense and disposition of both i will only say farther that from what passed that evening my opinion of all parties was and every heightened which could have led me before to my friend from what i esteemed a most unhappy connection he left netherfield for london on the day following as you i am certain remember with the design of soon returning the part which i acted is now to be explained his sisters uneasiness had been equally excited with my own our of feeling was soon discovered and sensible that no time was to be lost in their brother we shortly resolved on him directly in london we accordingly went and there i readily engaged in the office of out to my friend the certain evils of such a choice i and them earnestly but however this might have or delayed his i do not suppose that it would have prevented the marriage had it not been by the assurance which i not in giving of your sister s indifference he had before believed her to return his affection with sincere if not with equal regard but bingley has great natural modesty with a stronger dependence on my judgment than on his own to him therefore that he had deceived himself was no very difficult point to persuade him against returning into hertfordshire when that conviction had been given was scarcely the work of a moment i cannot blame myself for having done thus much there is but one part of my conduct in the whole affair on which i do not with satisfaction it is that i to the of so far as to conceal from him your sister s being in town i knew it myself as it was known to miss bingley but her brother is even yet ignorant of it that they might have met without ill consequence is perhaps probable but his regard did not appear to me enough for him to see her without some danger perhaps this this was me it is done however and it was done for the best on this subject i have nothing more to say no other apology to offer if i have your sister s feelings it was done and though the motives which me may to you very naturally appear insufficient i have not yet learnt to them with respect to that other more of having mr wickham i can only it by before you the whole of his connection with my family of what he has particularly me i am ignorant but of the truth of what i shall relate i can more than one of mr wickham is the son of a very respectable man who had for many years the of all the pemberley and whose good conduct in the of his trust naturally inclined my father to be of service to him and on george wickham who was his his kindness was therefore bestowed my father him at and afterwards at most important assistance as his own father always poor from the of his wife would have been unable to give him a gentleman s education my father was not only fond of this young man s society whose manners were always engaging he had also the highest opinion of him and the church would be his profession intended to for him in it as for myself it is many many years since i first began to think of him in a very different manner the the want of which he was to guard from the knowledge of his best friend could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself and who had of seeing him in moments which mr darcy could not have here again i shall give you pain to what degree you only can tell but whatever may be the sentiments which mr wickham has a suspicion of their nature shall not prevent me from his real character it even another motive my excellent father about five years ago and his attachment to mr wickham was to the last so steady that in his will he particularly recommended it to me to his in the best manner that his profession might allow and if he took orders desired that a valuable family living might be his as soon as it became there was also a of one thousand pounds his own father did not long mine and within half a year from these mr wickham wrote to inform me that having finally resolved against taking orders he hoped i should not think it unreasonable for him to expect some more immediate advantage in of the by which he could not be he had some intention he added of the law and i must be aware that the interest of one thousand pounds would be a very insufficient support i rather wished than believed him to be sincere but at any was perfectly ready to to his proposal i knew that mr wickham ought not to be a clergyman the business was therefore soon settled he resigned all to assistance in the church were it possible that he could ever be in a situation to receive it and accepted in return three thousand pounds all connection between us seemed now i thought too ill of him to invite him to pemberley or admit his society in town in town i believe he chiefly lived but his the law was a and being now free from all his life was a life of and for about three years i heard little of him but on the of the of the living which had been for him he applied to me again by letter for the his circumstances he assured me and i had no difficulty in believing it were exceedingly bad he had found the law a most study and was now absolutely resolved on being if i would present him to the living in question of which he trusted there could be little doubt as he was well assured that i had no other person to for and i could not have forgotten my father s you will hardly blame me for refusing to with this entreaty or for every of it his resentment was in to the distress of his circumstances and he was as violent in his of me to others as in his to myself after this period every appearance of acquaintance was dropped how he lived i know not but last summer he was again most on my notice i must now mention a circumstance which i would wish to forget myself and which no obligation less than the present should me to to any human being having said thus much i feel no doubt of your secrecy my sister who is more than ten years my was left to the of my mother s nephew colonel fitzwilliam and myself about a year ago she was taken from and an establishment formed for her in london and last summer she went with the lady who over it to and thither also went mr wickham undoubtedly by design for there proved to have been a acquaintance between him and mrs in whose character we were most deceived and by her and he so far recommended himself to georgiana whose affectionate heart a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child that she was persuaded to believe herself in love and to consent to an elopement she was then but which must be her excuse and after her imprudence i am happy to add that i owed the knowledge of it to herself i joined them a day or two before the intended elopement and then georgiana unable to support the idea of and a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father acknowledged the whole to me you may imagine what i felt and how i acted regard for my sister s credit and feelings prevented any public but i wrote to mr wickham who left the place immediately and mrs was of course removed from her charge mr wickham s chief object was my sister s fortune which is thousand pounds but i cannot help supposing that the hope of himself on me was a strong his would have been complete indeed this madam is a of every event in which we have been concerned together and if you do not absolutely it as false you will i hope me of towards mr wickham i know not in what manner under what form of falsehood he has on you but his success is not perhaps to be wondered at ignorant as you were of everything either could not be in your power and suspicion certainly not in your inclination you may possibly wonder why all this was not told you last night but i was not then master enough of myself to know what could or ought to be for the truth of everything here related i can more particularly to the of colonel fitzwilliam who from our near relationship and constant intimacy and still more as one of the of my father s will has been acquainted with every particular of these if your abhorrence of me should make my you cannot be prevented by the same cause from in my cousin and that there may be the possibility of him i shall endeavour to find some opportunity of this letter in your hands in the course of the morning i will only add you fitzwilliam darcy illustration chapter illustration elizabeth when mr darcy gave her the letter did not expect it to contain a renewal of his she had formed no expectation at all of its contents but such as they were it may be well supposed how eagerly she went through them and what a of they excited her feelings as she read were scarcely to be with amazement did she first understand that he believed any apology to be in his power and was she persuaded that he could have no explanation to give which a just sense of shame would not conceal with a strong against everything he might say she began his account of what had happened at netherfield she read with an eagerness which hardly left her power of and from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes his belief of her sister s she instantly resolved to be false and his account of the real the worst objections to the match made her too angry to have any wish of doing him justice he expressed no regret for what he had done which satisfied her his style was not but it was all pride and but when this subject was succeeded by his account of mr wickham when she read with somewhat attention a relation of which if true must every opinion of his worth and which bore so an to his own of himself her feelings were yet more painful and more difficult of astonishment apprehension and even her she wished to it entirely repeatedly this must be false this cannot be this must be the falsehood and when she had gone through the whole letter though scarcely knowing anything of the last or two put it hastily away that she would not regard it that she would never look in it again in this state of mind with thoughts that could rest on nothing she walked on but it would not do in half a minute the letter was again and herself as well as she could she again began the mortifying of all that related to wickham and herself so far as to the meaning of every sentence the account of his connection with the pemberley family was exactly what he had related himself and the kindness of the late mr darcy though she had not before known its extent agreed equally well with his own words so far each the other but when she came to the will the difference was great what wickham had said of the living was fresh in her memory and as she his very words it was impossible not to feel that there was on one side or the other and for a few moments she flattered herself that her wishes did not but when she read and read with the attention the particulars immediately following of wickham s all to the living of his receiving in so considerable a as three thousand pounds again was she forced to she put down the letter every circumstance with what she meant to be on the probability of each but with little success on both it was only again she read on but every line proved more that the affair which she had believed it impossible that any could so as to mr darcy s conduct in it less than was capable of a turn which must make him entirely the whole the and general which he not to lay to mr wickham s charge exceedingly shocked her the more so as she could bring no proof of its she had never heard of him before his entrance into the shire militia in which he had engaged at the persuasion of the young man who on meeting him in town had there renewed a slight acquaintance of his former way of life nothing had been known in hertfordshire but what he told illustration meeting in town copyright by george allen himself as to his real character had information been in her power she had never felt a wish of his countenance voice and manner had established him at once in the possession of every virtue she tried to recollect some instance of goodness some distinguished of or that might him from the of mr darcy or at least by the of virtue for those under which she would endeavour to what mr darcy had as the and of many years but no such recollection her she could see him instantly before her in every charm of air and address but she could remember no more good than the general approbation of the neighbourhood and the regard which his powers had gained him in the after on this point a considerable while she once more continued to read but the story which followed of his on miss darcy received some from what had passed between colonel fitzwilliam and herself only the morning before and at last she was for the truth of every particular to colonel fitzwilliam himself from whom she had received the information of his near concern in all his cousin s affairs and whose character she had no reason to question at one time she had almost resolved on to him but the idea was by the of the application and at length wholly by the conviction that mr darcy would never have such a proposal if he had not been well assured of his cousin s she perfectly remembered everything that had passed in conversation between wickham and herself in their first evening at mr philips s many of his expressions were still fresh in her memory she was now struck with the of such to a stranger and wondered it had her before she saw the of himself forward as he had done and the of his professions with his conduct she remembered that he had of having no fear of seeing mr darcy that mr darcy might leave the country but that he should stand his ground yet he had the netherfield ball the very next week she remembered also that till the netherfield family had quitted the country he had told his story to no one but herself but that after their removal it had been that he had then no no in mr darcy s character though he had assured her that respect for the father would always prevent his the son how differently did everything now appear in which he was concerned his attentions to miss king were now the consequence of views and and the of her fortune proved no longer the of his wishes but his eagerness to at anything his behaviour to herself could now have had no tolerable motive he had either been deceived with regard to her fortune or had been gratifying his vanity by the preference which she believed she had most shown every in his favour grew and and in further of mr darcy she could not but allow that mr bingley when by jane had long ago his in the affair that proud and as were his manners she had never in the whole course of their acquaintance an acquaintance which had brought them much together and given her a sort of intimacy with his seen anything that him to be or anything that spoke him of or that among his own connections he was esteemed and that even wickham had allowed him merit as a brother and that she had often heard him speak so of his sister as to prove him capable of some amiable feeling that had his actions been what wickham represented them so a of everything right could hardly have been concealed from the world and that friendship between a person capable of it and such an amiable man as mr bingley was she grew absolutely ashamed of herself of neither darcy nor wickham could she think without feeling that she had been blind partial how have i acted she cried i who have myself on my i who have myself on my abilities who have often the generous of my sister and gratified my vanity in useless or how is this discovery yet how just a had i been in love i could not have been more blind but vanity not love has been my folly pleased with the preference of one and offended by the neglect of the other on the very beginning of our acquaintance i have and ignorance and reason away where either were concerned till this moment i never knew myself from herself to jane from jane to bingley her thoughts were in a line which soon brought to her recollection that mr darcy s explanation there had appeared very insufficient and she read it again different was the effect of a second how could she deny that credit to his in one instance which she had been obliged to give in the other he declared himself to have been totally of her sister s attachment and she could not help what charlotte s opinion had always been neither could she deny the justice of his description of jane she felt that jane s feelings though were little and that there was a constant in her air and manner not often united with great when she came to that part of the letter in which her family were mentioned in of such mortifying yet reproach her sense of shame was severe the justice of the charge struck her too for denial and the circumstances to which he particularly alluded as having passed at the netherfield ball and as all his first disapprobation could not have made a stronger impression on his mind than on hers the compliment to herself and her sister was not it but it could not console her for the contempt which had been thus self by the rest of her family and as she considered that jane s disappointment had in fact been the work of her relations and how the credit of both must be hurt by such of conduct she felt beyond anything she had ever known before after along the lane for two hours giving way to every variety of thought and herself as well as she could to a change so sudden and so important and a recollection of her long absence made her at length return home and she entered the house with the wish of appearing cheerful as usual and the resolution of such reflections as must make her for conversation she was immediately told that the two gentlemen from rosings had each called during her absence mr darcy only for a few minutes to take leave but that colonel fitzwilliam had been sitting with them at least an hour for her return and almost resolving to walk after her till she could be found elizabeth could but just concern in him she really rejoiced at it colonel fitzwilliam was no longer an object she could think only of her letter illustration his parting chapter illustration the two gentlemen left rosings the next morning and mr collins having been in waiting near the to make them his parting was able to bring home the pleasing intelligence of their appearing in very good health and in as tolerable spirits as could be expected after the scene so lately gone through at rosings to rosings he then to console lady catherine and her daughter and on his return brought back with great satisfaction a from her ladyship that she felt herself so as to make her very desirous of having them all to dine with her elizabeth could not see lady catherine without that had she chosen it she might by this time have been to her as her future niece nor could she think without a smile of what her ladyship s indignation would have been what would she have said how would she have behaved were the questions with which she amused herself their first subject was the of the rosings party i assure you i feel it exceedingly said lady catherine i believe nobody the loss of friends so much as i do but i am particularly attached to these young men and know them to be so much attached to me they were excessively sorry to go but so they always are the dear colonel his spirits tolerably till just at last but darcy seemed to feel it most more i think than last year his attachment to rosings certainly mr collins had a compliment and an to throw in here which were kindly smiled on by the mother and daughter lady catherine observed after dinner that miss bennet seemed out of spirits and immediately for it herself by supposing that she did not like to go home again so soon she added but if that is the case you must write to your mother to beg that you may stay a little longer mrs collins will be very glad of your company i am sure i am much obliged to your ladyship for your kind invitation replied elizabeth but it is not in my power to accept it i must be in town next saturday why at that you will have been here only six weeks i expected you to stay two months i told mrs collins so before you came there can be no occasion for your going so soon mrs bennet could certainly spare you for another fortnight but my father cannot he wrote last week to hurry my return illustration copyright by george allen oh your father of course may spare you if your mother can daughters are never of so much consequence to a father and if you will stay another month complete it will be in my power to take one of you as far as london for i am going there early in for a week and as does not object to the there will be very good room for one of you and indeed if the weather should happen to be i should not object to taking you both as you are neither of you large you are all kindness madam but i believe we must by our plan lady catherine seemed resigned mrs collins you must send a servant with them you know i always speak my mind and i cannot bear the idea of two young women travelling post by themselves it is highly you must to send somebody i have the greatest dislike in the world to that sort of thing young women should always be properly guarded and attended according to their situation in life when my niece georgiana went to last summer i made a point of her having two men servants go with her miss darcy the daughter of mr darcy of pemberley and lady could not have appeared with propriety in a different manner i am excessively attentive to all those things you must send with the young ladies mrs collins i am glad it occurred to me to mention it for it would really be to you to let them go alone my uncle is to send a servant for us oh your uncle he a man servant does he i am very glad you have somebody who of those things where shall you change horses oh of course if you mention my name at the bell you will be attended to lady catherine had many other questions to ask their journey and as she did not answer them all herself attention was necessary which elizabeth believed to be lucky for her or with a mind so occupied she might have forgotten where she was reflection must be reserved for hours whenever she was alone she gave way to it as the greatest relief and not a day went by without a walk in which she might in all the delight of unpleasant recollections mr darcy s letter she was in a fair way of soon knowing by heart she every sentence and her feelings towards its were at times different when she remembered the style of his address she was still full of indignation but when she considered how she had and him her anger was turned against herself and his disappointed feelings became the object of compassion his attachment excited gratitude his general character respect but she could not him nor could she for a moment her refusal or feel the inclination ever to see him again in her own past behaviour there was a constant source of vexation and regret and in the unhappy of her family a subject of yet they were hopeless of her father with laughing at them would never himself to the wild of his youngest daughters and her mother with manners so far from right herself was entirely of the evil elizabeth had frequently united with jane in an endeavour to the imprudence of catherine and lydia but while they were by their mother s indulgence what chance could there be of improvement catherine weak and completely under lydia s had been always by their advice and lydia self and would scarcely give them a hearing they were ignorant idle and vain while there was an officer in meryton they would with him and while meryton was within a walk of longbourn they would be going there for ever anxiety on jane s was another concern and mr darcy s explanation by bingley to all her former good opinion heightened the sense of what jane had lost his affection was proved to have been sincere and his conduct of all blame unless any could to the of his confidence in his friend how then was the thought that of a situation so desirable in every respect so with advantage so for happiness jane had been by the folly and of her own family when to these recollections was added the of wickham s character it may be easily believed that the happy spirits which had seldom been before were now so much affected as to make it almost impossible for her to appear tolerably cheerful their engagements at rosings were as frequent during the last week of her stay as they had been at first the very last evening was spent there and her ladyship again inquired into the particulars of their journey gave them directions as to the best of and was so on the necessity of in the only right way that maria thought herself obliged on her return to all the work of the morning and her when they parted lady catherine with great condescension wished them a good journey and invited them to come to hunsford again next year and miss de bourgh herself so far as to and hold out her hand to both illustration the of his feelings chapter illustration on saturday morning elizabeth and mr collins met for breakfast a few minutes before the others appeared and he took the opportunity of the parting civilities which he necessary i know not miss elizabeth said he whether mrs collins has yet expressed her sense of your kindness in coming to us but i am very certain you will not leave the house without receiving her thanks for it the favour of your company has been much felt i assure you we know how little there is to anyone to our humble abode our plain manner of living our small rooms and few and the little we see of the world must make hunsford extremely to a young lady like yourself but i hope you will believe us grateful for the condescension and that we have done everything in our power to prevent you your time elizabeth was eager with her thanks and assurances of happiness she had spent six weeks with great enjoyment and the pleasure of being with charlotte and the kind attention she had received must make her feel the obliged mr collins was gratified and with a more smiling replied it gives me the greatest pleasure to hear that you have passed your time not we have certainly done our best and most having it in our power to introduce you to very superior society and from our connection with rosings the frequent means of the humble home scene i think we may flatter ourselves that your hunsford visit cannot have been entirely our situation with regard to lady catherine s family is indeed the sort of extraordinary advantage and which few can boast you see on what a we are you see how continually we are engaged there in truth i must acknowledge that with all the of this humble parsonage i should not think anyone in it an object of compassion while they are of our intimacy at rosings words were insufficient for the of his feelings and he was obliged to walk about the room while elizabeth tried to civility and truth in a few short you may in fact a very favourable report of us into hertfordshire my dear cousin i flatter myself at least that you will be able to do so lady catherine s great attentions to mrs collins you have been a of and altogether i trust it does not appear that your friend has drawn an unfortunate but on this point it will be as well to be silent only let me assure you my dear miss elizabeth that i can from my heart most wish you equal felicity in marriage my dear charlotte and i have but one mind and one way of thinking there is in everything a most remarkable resemblance of character and ideas between us we seem to have been for each other elizabeth could say that it was a great happiness where that was the case and with equal could add that she believed and rejoiced in his domestic she was not sorry however to have the of them interrupted by the entrance of the lady from whom they poor charlotte it was to leave her to such society but she had chosen it with her eyes open and though that her visitors were to go she did not seem to ask for compassion her home and her her parish and her and all their concerns had not yet lost their at length the chaise arrived the were on the placed within and it was pronounced to be ready after an affectionate parting between the friends elizabeth was attended to the carriage by mr collins and as they walked down the garden he was her with his best respects to all her family not his thanks for the kindness he had received at longbourn in the winter and his compliments to mr and mrs gardiner though unknown he then her in maria followed and the door was on the point of being closed when he suddenly reminded them with some that they had forgotten to leave any for the ladies of rosings illustration they had forgotten to leave any but he added you will of course wish to have your humble respects to them with your grateful thanks for their kindness to you while you have been here elizabeth made no objection the door was then allowed to be and the carriage drove off good gracious cried maria after a few minutes silence it seems but a day or two since we first came and yet how many things have happened a great many indeed said her companion with a we have dined times at rosings besides tea there twice how much i shall have to tell elizabeth added and how much i shall have to conceal their journey was performed without much conversation or any alarm and within four hours of their leaving hunsford they reached mr gardiner s house where they were to remain a few days jane looked well and elizabeth had little opportunity of her spirits the various engagements which the kindness of her aunt had reserved for them but jane was to go home with her and at longbourn there would be leisure enough for observation it was not without an that she could wait even for longbourn before she told her sister of mr darcy s proposals to know that she had the power of what would so exceedingly jane and must at the same time so highly whatever of her own vanity she had not yet been able to reason away was such a temptation to as nothing could have but the state of in which she remained as to the extent of what she should and her fear if she once entered on the subject of being hurried into repeating something of bingley which might only her sister further illustration how we are in chapter illustration it was the second week in may in which the three young ladies set out together from gracechurch street for the town of in hertfordshire and as they drew near the inn where mr bennet s carriage was to meet them they perceived in of the s both kitty and lydia looking out of a dining room upstairs these two girls had been above an hour in the place employed in an opposite watching the on guard and dressing a and after their sisters they a table set out with such cold as an inn usually is not this is not this an agreeable surprise and we mean to you all added lydia but you must us the money for we have just spent at the out there then her look here i have this i do not think it is very pretty but i thought i might as well it as not i shall it to as soon as i get home and see if i can make it up any better and when her sisters it as she added with perfect oh but there were two or three much in the and when i have some coloured to it with fresh i think it will be very tolerable besides it will not much what one this summer after the shire have left meryton and they are going in a fortnight are they indeed cried elizabeth with the greatest satisfaction they are going to be near brighton and i do so want to take us all there for the summer it would be such a scheme and i dare say would hardly anything at all mamma would like to go too of all things only think what a miserable summer else we shall have yes thought elizabeth that would be a delightful scheme indeed and completely do for us at once good heaven brighton and a whole of to us who have been already by one poor regiment of militia and the balls of meryton now i have got some news for you said lydia as they sat down to table what do you think it is excellent news news and about a certain person that we all like jane and elizabeth looked at each other and the was told that he need not stay lydia laughed and said ay that is just like your and you thought the must not hear as if he cared i dare say he often worse things said than i am going to say but he is an fellow i am glad he is gone i never saw such a long in my life well but now for my news it is about dear wickham too good for the is not it there is no danger of wickham s marrying mary king there s for you she is gone down to her uncle at gone to stay wickham is safe and mary king is safe added elizabeth safe from a connection imprudent as to fortune she is a great for going away if she liked him but i hope there is no strong attachment on either side said jane i am sure there is not on his i will answer for it he never cared three about her who could about such a little thing elizabeth was shocked to think that however incapable of such of expression herself the of the sentiment was little other than her own had formerly and fancied as soon as all had and the elder paid the carriage was ordered and after some the whole party with all their and and the addition of kitty s and lydia s were seated in it how we are in cried lydia i am glad i brought my if it is only for the fun of having another well now let us be quite comfortable and and talk and laugh all the way home and in the first place let us hear what has happened to you all since you went away have you seen any pleasant men have you had any i was in great hopes that one of you would have got a husband before you came back jane will be quite an old soon i declare she is almost three and twenty lord how ashamed i should be of not being married before three and twenty my aunt philips wants you so to get you can t think she says lizzy had better have taken mr collins but i do not think there would have been any fun in it lord how i should like to be married before any of you and then i would you about to all the balls dear me we had such a good piece of fun the other day at colonel forster s kitty and me were to spend the day there and mrs forster promised to have a little dance in the evening by the mrs forster and me are such friends and so she asked the two to come but was ill and so was forced to come by herself and then what do you think we did we dressed up in woman s clothes on purpose to pass for a lady only think what fun not a knew of it but colonel and mrs forster and kitty and me except my aunt for we were forced to one of her and you cannot imagine how well he looked when denny and wickham and and two or three more of the men came in they did not know him in the least lord how i laughed and so did mrs forster i thought i should have and that made the men something and then they soon found out what was the matter with such kind of of their parties and good did lydia by kitty s and endeavour to her companions all the way to longbourn elizabeth listened as little as she could but there was no the frequent mention of wickham s name their reception at home was most kind mrs bennet rejoiced to see jane in beauty and more than once during dinner did mr bennet say voluntarily to elizabeth i am glad you are come back lizzy their party in the dining room was large for almost all the lucases came to meet maria and hear the news and various were the subjects which occupied them lady lucas was of maria across the table after the and of her eldest daughter mrs bennet was engaged on one hand an account of the present from jane who sat some way her and on the other them all to the younger miss lucases and lydia in a voice rather than any other person s was the various pleasures of the morning to anybody who would hear her oh mary said she i wish you had gone with us for we had such fun as we went along kitty and me drew up all the and there was nobody in the coach and i should have gone so all the way if kitty had not been sick and when we got to the george i do think we behaved very for we treated the other three with the cold in the world and if you would have gone we would have treated you too and then when we came away it was such fun i thought we never should have got into the coach i was ready to of and then we were so all the way home we talked and laughed so that anybody might have heard us ten miles off to this mary very replied far be it from me my dear sister to such pleasures they would be with the of female but i confess they would have no for me i should prefer a book but of this answer lydia heard not a word she seldom listened to anybody for more than half a minute and never attended to mary at all in the lydia was with the rest of the girls to walk to meryton and see how everybody went on but elizabeth the scheme it should not be said that the miss bennets could not be at home half a day before they were in pursuit of the officers there was another reason too for her she dreaded seeing wickham again and was resolved to avoid it as long as possible the comfort to her of the regiment s approaching removal was indeed beyond expression in a fortnight they were to go and once gone she hoped there could be nothing more to her on his account she had not been many hours at home before she found that the brighton scheme of which lydia had given them a hint at the inn was under frequent between her parents elizabeth saw directly that her father had not the smallest intention of but his were at the same time so and that her mother though often had never yet of at last illustration chapter illustration elizabeth s impatience to jane with what had happened could no longer be overcome and at length resolving to every particular in which her sister was concerned and preparing her to be surprised she related to her the next morning the chief of the scene between mr darcy and herself miss bennet s astonishment was soon by the strong partiality which made any admiration of elizabeth appear perfectly natural and all surprise was shortly lost in other feelings she was sorry that mr darcy should have his sentiments in a manner so little to recommend them but still more was she grieved for the which her sister s refusal must have given him his being so sure of was wrong said she and certainly ought not to have appeared but consider how much it must increase his disappointment indeed replied elizabeth i am heartily sorry for him but he has other feelings which will probably soon away his regard for me you do not blame me however for refusing him blame you oh no but you blame me for having spoken so warmly of wickham no i do not know that you were wrong in saying what you did but you will know it when i have told you what happened the very next day she then spoke of the letter repeating the whole of its contents as far as they concerned george wickham what a was this for poor jane who would have gone through the world without believing that so much in the whole of as was here in one nor was darcy s though grateful to her feelings capable of her for such discovery most earnestly did she to prove the probability of error and seek to clear one without the other this will not do said elizabeth you never will be able to make both of them good for anything take your choice but you must be satisfied with only one there is but such a of merit between them just enough to make one good sort of man and of late it has been about pretty much for my part i am inclined to believe it all mr darcy s but you shall do as you choose it was some time however before a smile could be from jane i do not know when i have been more shocked said she wickham so very bad it is almost past belief and poor mr darcy dear lizzy only consider what he must have suffered such a disappointment and with the knowledge of your ill opinion too and having to relate such a thing of his sister it is really too distressing i am sure you must feel it so oh no my regret and compassion are all done away by seeing you so full of both i know you will do him such justice that i am every moment more and indifferent your makes me and if you over him much longer my heart will be as light as a poor wickham there is such an expression of goodness in his countenance such an and in his manner there certainly was some great in the education of those two young men one has got all the goodness and the other all the appearance of it i never thought mr darcy so in the appearance of it as you used to do and yet i meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him without any reason it is such a to one s such an opening for wit to have a dislike of that kind one may be continually without saying anything just but one cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then on something lizzy when you first read that letter i am sure you could not the matter as you do now indeed i could not i was uncomfortable enough i was very uncomfortable i may say unhappy and with no one to speak to of what i felt no jane to comfort me and say that i had not been so very weak and vain and as i knew i had oh how i wanted you how unfortunate that you should have used such very strong expressions in speaking of wickham to mr darcy for now they do appear wholly certainly but the misfortune of speaking with is a most natural consequence of the i had been there is one point on which i want your advice i want to be told whether i ought or ought not to make our acquaintance in general understand wickham s character miss bennet a little and then replied there can be no occasion for him so what is your own opinion that it ought not to be mr darcy has not me to make his communication public on the contrary every particular to his sister was meant to be kept as much as possible to myself and if i endeavour to people as to the rest of his conduct who will believe me the general against mr darcy is so violent that it would be the death of half the good people in meryton to attempt to place him in an amiable light i am not equal to it wickham will soon be gone and therefore it will not to anybody here what he really is some time it will be all found out and then we may laugh at their in not knowing it before at present i will say nothing about it you are quite right to have his made public might him for ever he is now perhaps sorry for what he has done and anxious to a character we must not make him the of elizabeth s mind was by this conversation she had got of two of the which had on her for a fortnight and was certain of a willing in jane whenever she might wish to talk again of either but there was still something behind of which the she dared not relate the other half of mr darcy s letter nor explain to her sister how sincerely she had been by his friend here was knowledge in which no one could and she was sensible that nothing less than a perfect understanding between the parties could justify her in off this last of and then said she if that very improbable event should ever take place i shall merely be able to tell what bingley may tell in a much more agreeable manner himself the liberty of communication cannot be mine till it has lost all its value she was now on being settled at home at leisure to observe the real state of her sister s spirits jane was not happy she still a very affection for bingley having never even fancied herself in love before her regard had all the warmth of first attachment and from her age and disposition greater than first often boast and so did she value his and prefer him to every other man that all her good sense and all her attention to the feelings of her friends were to the indulgence of those which must have been to her own health and their well lizzy said mrs bennet one day what is your opinion now of this business of jane s for my part i am determined never to speak of it again to anybody i told my sister philips so the other day but i cannot find out that jane saw anything of him in london well he is a very young man and i do not suppose there is the least chance in the world of her ever getting him now there is no talk of his coming to netherfield again in the summer and i have inquired of everybody too who is likely to know illustration i am determined never to speak of it again i do not believe that he will ever live at netherfield any more oh well it is just as he chooses nobody wants him to come though i shall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill and if i was her i would not have put up with it well my comfort is i am sure jane will of a broken heart and then he will be sorry for what he has done but as elizabeth could not receive comfort from any such expectation she made no answer well lizzy continued her mother soon afterwards and so the collinses live very comfortable do they well well i only hope it will last and what sort of table do they keep charlotte is an excellent i dare say if she is half as as her mother she is enough there is nothing in their i dare say no nothing at all a great deal of good depend upon it yes yes they will take care not to their income they will never be distressed for money well much good may it do them and so i suppose they often talk of having longbourn when your father is they look upon it quite as their own i dare say whenever that it was a subject which they could not mention before me no it would have been strange if they had but i make no doubt they often talk of it between themselves well if they can be easy with an estate that is not their own so much the better i should be ashamed of having one that was only entailed on me illustration when colonel s regiment went away copyright by george allen chapter illustration the first week of their return was soon gone the second began it was the last of the regiment s stay in meryton and all the young ladies in the neighbourhood were the was almost the elder miss bennets alone were still able to drink and and pursue the usual course of their very frequently were they for this by kitty and lydia whose own misery was and who could not comprehend such hard in any of the family good heaven what is to become of us what are we to do would they often in the of how can you be smiling so lizzy their affectionate mother all their she remembered what she had herself on a occasion five and twenty years ago i am sure said she i cried for two days together when colonel s regiment went away i thought i should have my heart i am sure i shall mine said lydia if one could but go to brighton observed mrs bennet oh yes if one could but go to brighton but is so disagreeable a little would set me up for ever and my aunt philips is sure it would do me a great deal of good added kitty such were the kind of through longbourn house elizabeth tried to be by them but all sense of pleasure was lost in shame she felt the justice of mr darcy s objections and never had she before been so much disposed to pardon his interference in the views of his friend but the of lydia s prospect was shortly away for she received an invitation from mrs forster the wife of the colonel of the regiment to her to brighton this friend was a very young woman and very lately married a resemblance in good humour and good spirits had recommended her and lydia to each other and out of their three months acquaintance they had been intimate two the of lydia on this occasion her of mrs forster the delight of mrs bennet and the mortification of kitty are scarcely to be wholly to her sister s feelings lydia about the house in calling for everyone s congratulations and laughing and talking with more than ever the kitty continued in the parlour at her in terms as unreasonable as her was i cannot see why mrs forster should not ask me as well as lydia said she though i am not her particular friend i have just as much right to be asked as she has and more too for i am two years in vain did elizabeth attempt to make her reasonable and jane to make her resigned as for elizabeth herself this invitation was so far from in her the same feelings as in her mother and lydia that she considered it as the death of all possibility of common sense for the latter and as such a step must make her were it known she could not help her father not to let her go she represented to him all the of lydia s general behaviour the little advantage she could from the friendship of such a woman as mrs forster and the probability of her being yet more imprudent with such a companion at brighton where the must be greater than at home he heard her and then said lydia will never be easy till she has herself in some public place or other and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances if you were aware said elizabeth of the very great to us all which must arise from the public notice of lydia s and imprudent manner nay which has already from it i am sure you would judge differently in the affair already repeated mr bennet what has she frightened away some of your poor little lizzy but do not be down such as cannot bear to be connected with a little are not worth a regret come let me see the of the who have been kept by lydia s folly indeed you are mistaken i have no such to it is not of peculiar but of general evils which i am now our importance our in the world must be affected by the wild the assurance and disdain of all which lydia s character excuse me for i must speak plainly if you my dear father will not take the trouble of her spirits and of her that her present are not to be the business of her life she will soon be beyond the reach of her character will be fixed and she will at sixteen be the most determined that ever made herself and her family a too in the worst and degree of without any beyond youth and a tolerable person and from the ignorance and of her mind wholly unable to off any of that contempt which her for admiration will in this danger kitty is also she will follow wherever lydia vain ignorant idle and absolutely oh my dear father can you suppose it possible that they will not be and wherever they are known and that their sisters will not be often in the disgrace mr bennet saw that her whole heart was in the subject and taking her hand said in reply do not make yourself uneasy my love wherever you and jane are known you must be and and you will not appear to less advantage for having a couple of or i may say three very silly sisters we shall have no peace at longbourn if lydia does not go to brighton let her go then colonel forster is a sensible man and will keep her out of any real and she is too poor to be an object of to anybody at brighton she will be of less importance even as a common than she has been here the officers will find women better worth their notice let us hope therefore that her being there may her her own at any she cannot many worse without us to her up for the rest of her life with this answer elizabeth was forced to be but her own opinion continued the same and she left him disappointed and sorry it was not in her nature however to increase her by dwelling on them she was of having performed her duty and to over evils or them by anxiety was no part of her disposition had lydia and her mother known the of her with her father their indignation would hardly have found expression in their united in lydia s a visit to brighton every possibility of happiness she saw with the eye of fancy the of that place with officers she saw herself the object of attention to and to of them at present unknown she saw all the of the its in of lines with the young and the and with and to complete the view she saw herself seated a with at least six officers at once illustration copyright by george allen had she known that her sister to her from such and such as these what would have been her they could have been understood only by her mother who might have felt nearly the same lydia s going to brighton was all that her for the conviction of her husband s never intending to go there himself but they were entirely ignorant of what had passed and their raptures continued with little to the very day of lydia s leaving home elizabeth was now to see mr wickham for the last time having been frequently in company with him since her return agitation was pretty well over the of former partiality entirely so she had even learnt to in the very which had first delighted her an and a to and in his present behaviour to herself moreover she had a fresh source of displeasure for the inclination he soon of those attentions which had marked the early part of their acquaintance could only after what had since passed to her she lost all concern for him in finding herself thus as the object of such idle and gallantry and while she it could not but feel the contained in his believing that however long and for whatever cause his attentions had been her vanity would be gratified and her preference at any time by their renewal on the very last day of the regiment s remaining in meryton he dined with others of the officers at longbourn and so little was elizabeth disposed to part from him in good humour that on his making some inquiry as to the manner in which her time had passed at hunsford she mentioned colonel fitzwilliam s and mr darcy s having both spent three weeks at rosings and asked him if he were acquainted with the former he looked surprised alarmed but with a moment s recollection and a returning smile replied that he had formerly seen him often and after observing that he was a very gentlemanlike man asked her how she had liked him her answer was warmly in his favour with an air of indifference he soon afterwards added how long did you say that he was at rosings nearly three weeks and you saw him frequently yes almost every day his manners are very different from his cousin s yes very different but i think mr darcy on acquaintance indeed cried wickham with a look which did not escape her and pray may i ask but himself he added in a tone is it in address that he has he to add of civility to his style for i dare not hope he continued in a and more serious tone that he is improved in oh no said elizabeth in i believe he is very much what he ever was while she spoke wickham looked as if scarcely knowing whether to rejoice over her words or to their meaning there was a something in her countenance which made him listen with an and anxious attention while she added when i said that he improved on acquaintance i did not mean that either his mind or manners were in a state of improvement but that from knowing him better his disposition was better understood wickham s alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion and look for a few minutes he was silent till off his embarrassment he turned to her again and said in the of you who so well know my feelings towards mr darcy will readily comprehend how sincerely i must rejoice that he is enough to even the appearance of what is right his pride in that direction may be of service if not to himself to many others for it must him from such as i have suffered by i only fear that the sort of to which you i imagine have been is merely on his to his aunt of whose good opinion and judgment he much in his fear of her has always i know when they were together and a good deal is to be to his wish of the match with miss de bourgh which i am certain he has very much at heart elizabeth could not a smile at this but she answered only by a slight inclination of the head she saw that he wanted to her on the old subject of his and she was in no humour to him the rest of the evening passed with the appearance on his side of usual cheerfulness but with no further attempt to elizabeth and they parted at last with civility and possibly a desire of never meeting again when the party up lydia returned with mrs forster to meryton from they were to set out early the next morning the separation between her and her family was rather than kitty was the only one who tears but she did from vexation and mrs bennet was in her good wishes for the felicity of her daughter and in her that she would not miss the opportunity of herself as much as possible advice which there was every reason to believe would be attended to and in the happiness of lydia herself in the more of her sisters were without being heard illustration the arrival of the gardiners chapter illustration had elizabeth s opinion been all drawn from her own family she could not have formed a very pleasing picture of felicity or domestic comfort her father by youth and beauty and that appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give had married a woman whose weak understanding and mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her respect esteem and confidence had for ever and all his views of domestic happiness were but mr bennet was not of a disposition to seek comfort for the disappointment which his own imprudence had brought on in any of those pleasures which too often console the unfortunate for their folly or their he was fond of the country and of books and from these had his principal to his wife he was very little otherwise indebted than as her ignorance and folly had to his amusement this is not the sort of happiness which a man would in general wish to to his wife but where other powers of entertainment are wanting the true will from such as are given elizabeth however had never been blind to the of her father s behaviour as a husband she had always seen it with pain but his abilities and grateful for his affectionate of herself she endeavoured to forget what she could not and to from her thoughts that of obligation and which in his wife to the contempt of her own children was so highly but she had never felt so strongly as now the which must the children of so a marriage nor ever been so aware of the evils from so ill judged a direction of which used might at least have the of his daughters even if incapable of the mind of his wife when elizabeth had rejoiced over wickham s departure she found little other cause for satisfaction in the loss of the regiment their parties were less than before and at home she had a mother and sister whose constant at the of everything them threw a real over their domestic circle and though kitty might in time her natural degree of sense since the of her were removed her other sister from whose disposition greater evil might be was likely to be in all her folly and assurance by a situation of such danger as a place and a upon the whole therefore she found what has been sometimes found before that an event to which she had looked forward with impatient desire did not in taking place bring all the satisfaction she had promised herself it was consequently necessary to name some other period for the of felicity to have some other point on which her wishes and hopes might be fixed and by again the pleasure of console herself for the present and prepare for another disappointment her tour to the lakes was now the object of her happiest thoughts it was her best consolation for all the uncomfortable hours which the of her mother and kitty made and could she have jane in the scheme every part of it would have been perfect but it is fortunate thought she that i have something to wish for were the whole arrangement complete my disappointment would be certain but here by with me one source of regret in my sister s absence i may hope to have all my expectations of pleasure a scheme of which every part delight can never be and general disappointment is only off by the of some little peculiar vexation when lydia went away she promised to write very often and very to her mother and kitty but her letters were always long expected and always very short those to her mother contained little else than that they were just returned from the library where such and such officers had attended them and where she had seen such beautiful as made her quite wild that she had a new gown or a new which she would have more but was obliged to leave off in a violent hurry as mrs forster called her and they were going to the and from her with her sister there was still less to be learnt for her letters to kitty though rather longer were much too full of lines under the words to be made public after the first fortnight or three weeks of her absence health good humour and cheerfulness began to at longbourn everything a aspect the families who had been in town for the winter came back again and summer and summer engagements mrs bennet was to her usual and by the of kitty was so much recovered as to be able to enter meryton without tears an event of such happy promise as to make elizabeth hope that by the following christmas she might be so tolerably reasonable as not to mention an officer above once a day unless by some and arrangement at the office another regiment should be in meryton the time fixed for the beginning of their tour was now fast approaching and a fortnight only was wanting of it when a letter arrived from mrs gardiner which at once delayed its and its extent mr gardiner would be prevented by business from out till a fortnight in and must be in london again within a month and as that left too short a period for them to go so far and see so much as they had or at least to see it with the leisure and comfort they had on they were obliged to give up the lakes and a more tour and according to the present plan were to go no farther than derbyshire in that county there was enough to be seen to the chief of their three weeks and to mrs gardiner it had a strong the town where she had formerly passed some years of her life and where they were now to spend a few days was probably as great an object of her curiosity as all the of or the elizabeth was excessively disappointed she had set her heart on seeing the lakes and still thought there might have been time enough but it was her business to be satisfied and certainly her temper to be happy and all was soon right again with the mention of derbyshire there were many ideas connected it was impossible for her to see the word without thinking of pemberley and its but said she i may enter his county with and it of a few without his me the period of expectation was now four weeks were to pass away before her uncle and aunt s arrival but they did pass away and mr and mrs gardiner with their four children did at length appear at longbourn the children two girls of six and eight years old and two younger were to be left under the particular care of their cousin jane who was the general favourite and whose steady sense and of temper exactly her for attending to them in every way them playing with them and them the gardiners stayed only one night at longbourn and set off the next morning with elizabeth in pursuit of and amusement one enjoyment was certain that of as companions a which health and temper to bear cheerfulness to every pleasure and affection and intelligence which might supply it among themselves if there were it is not the object of this work to give a description of derbyshire nor of any of the remarkable through which their thither lay etc are known a small part of derbyshire is all the present concern to the little town of lambton the scene of mrs gardiner s former and where she had lately that some acquaintance still remained they their after having seen all the principal of the country and within five miles of lambton elizabeth found from her aunt that pemberley was it was not in their direct road nor more than a mile or two out of it in talking over their the evening before mrs gardiner expressed an inclination to see the place again mr gardiner declared his and elizabeth was applied to for her approbation my love should not you like to see a place of which you have heard so much said her aunt a place too with which so many of your acquaintance are connected wickham passed all his youth there you know elizabeth was distressed she felt that she had no business at pemberley and was obliged to a for seeing it she must own that she was of great after going over so many she really had no pleasure in fine or mrs gardiner her if it were merely a fine house said she i should not care about it myself but the are delightful they have some of the woods in the country elizabeth said no more but her mind could not the possibility of meeting mr darcy while the place instantly occurred it would be dreadful she blushed at the very idea and thought it would be better to speak openly to her aunt than to run such a but against this there were objections and she finally resolved that it could be the last if her private inquiries as to the absence of the family were answered accordingly when she at night she asked the whether pemberley were not a very fine place what was the name of its and with no little alarm whether the family were down for the summer a most welcome followed the last question and her being now removed she was at leisure to feel a great deal of curiosity to see the house herself and when the subject was the next morning and she was again applied to could readily answer and with a proper air of indifference that she had not really any dislike to the scheme to pemberley therefore they were to go illustration as to the chapter illustration elizabeth as they drove along watched for the first appearance of pemberley woods with some and when at length they turned in at the lodge her spirits were in a high the park was very large and contained great variety of ground they entered it in one of its and drove for some time through a beautiful over a extent elizabeth s mind was too full for conversation but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view they gradually for half a mile and then found themselves at the of a considerable where the ceased and the eye was instantly caught by pemberley house on the opposite side of the into which the road with some it was a large handsome standing well on rising ground and by a of high and in a of some natural importance was into greater but without any appearance its were neither formal nor elizabeth was delighted she had never seen a place for which nature had done more or where natural beauty had been so little by an awkward taste they were all of them warm in their admiration and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of pemberley might be something they the hill the and drove to the door and while the aspect of the house all her apprehension of meeting its returned she dreaded lest the had been mistaken on to see the place they were admitted into the hall and elizabeth as they waited for the housekeeper had leisure to wonder at her being where she was the housekeeper came a respectable looking woman much less fine and more civil than she had any notion of finding her they followed her into the dining parlour it was a large well room fitted up elizabeth after it went to a window to enjoy its prospect the hill with from which they had receiving increased from the distance was a beautiful object every disposition of the ground was good and she looked on the whole scene the river the on its and the of the as far as she could it with delight as they passed into other rooms these objects were taking different but from every window there were to be seen the rooms were and handsome and their furniture to the fortune of their but elizabeth saw with admiration of his taste that it was neither nor fine with less of and more real elegance than the furniture of rosings and of this place thought she i might have been mistress with these rooms i might have now been acquainted instead of them as a stranger i might have rejoiced in them as my own and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt but no herself that could never be my uncle and aunt would have been lost to me i should not have been allowed to invite them this was a lucky recollection it her from something like regret she longed to inquire of the housekeeper whether her master were really but had not courage for it at length however the question was asked by her uncle and she turned away with alarm while mrs reynolds replied that he was but we expect him to morrow with a large party of friends how rejoiced was elizabeth that their own journey had not by any circumstance been delayed a day her aunt now called her to look at a picture she approached and saw the of mr wickham amongst several other over the piece her aunt asked her how she liked it the housekeeper came forward and told them it was the picture of a young gentleman the son of her late master s who had been brought up by him at his own expense he is now gone into the she added but i am afraid he has turned out very wild mrs gardiner looked at her niece with a smile but elizabeth could not return it and that said mrs reynolds to another of the is my master and very like him it was drawn at the same time as the other about eight years ago i have heard much of your master s fine person said mrs gardiner looking at the picture it is a handsome face but lizzy you can tell us whether it is like or not mrs reynolds respect for elizabeth seemed to increase on this of her knowing her master does that young lady know mr darcy elizabeth coloured and said a little and do not you think him a very handsome gentleman ma am yes very handsome i am sure i know none so handsome but in the upstairs you will see a larger picture of him than this this room was my late master s favourite room and these are just as they used to be then he was very fond of them this to elizabeth for mr wickham s being among them mrs reynolds then directed their attention to one of miss darcy drawn when she was only eight years old and is miss darcy as handsome as her brother said mr gardiner oh yes the young lady that ever was seen and so accomplished she and all day long in the next room is a new instrument just come down for her a present from my master she comes here to morrow with him mr gardiner whose manners were easy and pleasant encouraged her by his questions and remarks mrs reynolds either from pride or attachment had great pleasure in talking of her master and his sister is your master much at pemberley in the course of the year not so much as i could wish sir but i dare say he may spend half his time here and miss darcy is always down for the summer months except thought elizabeth when she to if your master would marry you might see more of him yes sir but i do not know when that will be i do not know who is good enough for him mr and mrs gardiner smiled elizabeth could not help saying it is very much to his credit i am sure that you should think so i say no more than the truth and what everybody will say that knows him replied the other elizabeth thought this was going pretty far and she listened with increasing astonishment as the housekeeper added i have never had a word from him in my life and i have known him ever since he was four years old this was praise of all others most extraordinary most opposite to her ideas that he was not a good man had been her opinion her attention was she longed to hear more and was grateful to her uncle for saying there are very few people of whom so much can be said you are lucky in having such a master yes sir i know i am if i were to go through the world i could not meet with a better but i have always observed that they who are good natured when children are good natured when they up and he was always the most generous in the world elizabeth almost at her can this be mr darcy thought she his father was an excellent man said mrs gardiner yes ma am that he was indeed and his son will be just like him just as to the poor elizabeth listened wondered doubted and was impatient for more mrs reynolds could interest her on no other point she related the subjects of the the of the rooms and the of the furniture in vain mr gardiner highly amused by the kind of family to which he her commendation of her master soon led again to the subject and she with on his many as they proceeded together up the great he is the best and the best master said she that ever lived not like the wild young men now a days who think of nothing but themselves there is not one of his or servants but what will give him a good name some people call him proud but i am sure i never saw anything of it to my fancy it is only because he does not away like other young men in what an amiable light does this place him thought elizabeth this fine account of him her aunt as they walked is not quite with his behaviour to our poor friend perhaps we might be deceived that is not very likely our authority was too good on the above they were shown into a very pretty sitting room lately fitted up with greater elegance and than the and were informed that it was but just done to give pleasure to miss darcy who had taken a to the room when last at pemberley he is certainly a good brother said elizabeth as she walked towards one of the windows mrs reynolds miss darcy s delight when she should enter the room and this is always the way with him she added whatever can give his sister any pleasure is sure to be done in a moment there is nothing he would not do for her the picture and two or three of the principal bed rooms were all that remained to be shown in the former were many good but elizabeth knew nothing of the and from such as had been already she had turned to look at some of miss darcy s in whose subjects were usually more interesting and also more in the there were many family but they could have little to the attention of a stranger elizabeth walked on in quest of the only face whose features would be known to her at last it her and she a resemblance of mr darcy with such a smile over the face as she remembered to have sometimes seen when he looked at her she stood several minutes before the picture in earnest and returned to it again before they quitted the mrs reynolds informed them that it had been taken in his father s there was certainly at this moment in elizabeth s mind a more towards the than she had ever felt in the of their acquaintance the commendation bestowed on him by mrs reynolds was of no nature what praise is more valuable than the praise of an servant as a brother a a master she considered how many people s happiness were in his how much of pleasure or pain it was in his power to bestow how much of good or evil must be done by him every idea that had been brought forward by the housekeeper was favourable to his character and as she stood before the on which he was represented and fixed his eyes upon herself she thought of his regard with a sentiment of gratitude than it had ever raised before she remembered its warmth and softened its of expression when all of the house that was open to general had been seen they returned down stairs and taking leave of the housekeeper were over to the who met them at the hall door as they walked across the lawn towards the river elizabeth turned back to look again her uncle and aunt stopped also and while the former was as to the of the the of it himself suddenly came forward from the road which led behind it to the they were within twenty of each other and so was his appearance that it was impossible to avoid his sight their eyes instantly met and the of each were with the he absolutely and for a moment seemed from surprise but shortly himself towards the party and spoke to elizabeth if not in terms of perfect composure at least of perfect civility she had turned away but on his approach received his compliments with an embarrassment impossible to be overcome had his first appearance or his resemblance to the picture they had just been been insufficient to assure the other two that they now saw mr darcy the s expression of surprise on his master must immediately have told it they stood a little while he was talking to their niece who astonished and scarcely dared her eyes to his face and knew not what answer she returned to his civil inquiries after her family at the alteration of his manner since they last parted every sentence that he was increasing her embarrassment and every idea of the of her being found there to her mind the few minutes in which they continued together were some of the most uncomfortable of her life nor did he seem much more at ease when he spoke his had none of its usual and he repeated his inquiries as to the time of her having left longbourn and of her stay in derbyshire so often and in so hurried a way as plainly spoke the of his thoughts at length every idea seemed to fail him and after standing a few moments without saying a word he suddenly recollected himself and took leave the others then joined her and expressed their admiration of his figure but elizabeth heard not a word and wholly by her own feelings followed them in silence she was by shame and vexation her coming there was the most unfortunate the most ill judged thing in the world how strange must it appear to him in what a light might it not so vain a man it might seem as if she had purposely thrown herself in his way again oh why did she come or why did he thus come a day before he was expected had they been only ten minutes sooner they should have been beyond the reach of his for it was plain that he was that moment arrived that moment from his or his carriage she blushed again and again over the perverseness of the meeting and his behaviour so altered what could it mean that he should even speak to her was but to speak with such civility to inquire after her family never in her life had she seen his manners so little never had he spoken with such as on this unexpected meeting what a did it offer to his last address in rosings park when he put his letter into her hand she knew not what to think or how to account for it they had now entered a beautiful walk by the side of the and every step was bringing forward a fall of ground or a reach of the woods to which they were approaching but it was some time before elizabeth was sensible of any of it and though she answered to the repeated of her uncle and aunt and seemed to direct her eyes to such objects as they out she distinguished no part of the scene her thoughts were all fixed on that one spot of pemberley house it might be where mr darcy then was she longed to know what at that moment was passing in his mind in what manner he thought of her and whether in of everything she was still dear to him perhaps he had been civil only because he felt himself at ease yet there had been that in his voice which was not like ease whether he had felt more of pain or of pleasure in seeing her she could not tell but he certainly had not seen her with composure at length however the remarks of her companions on her absence of mind roused her and she felt the necessity of appearing more like herself they entered the woods and to the river for a while some of the in where the opening of the gave the eye power to were many charming views of the the opposite with the long of woods many and occasionally part of the mr gardiner expressed a wish of going round the whole park but feared it might be beyond a walk with a smile they were told that it was ten miles round it settled the matter and they the which brought them again after some time in a among woods to the of the and one of its parts they it by a in character with the general air of the scene it was a spot less than any they had yet and the here into a allowed room only for the and a walk the which it elizabeth longed to its but when they had the and perceived their distance from the house mrs gardiner who was not a great could go no farther and thought only of returning to the carriage as as possible her niece was therefore obliged to and they took their way towards the house on the opposite side of the river in the direction but their was for mr gardiner though seldom able to the taste was very fond of and was so much engaged in watching the occasional appearance of some in the and talking to the man about them that he but little on in this manner they were again surprised and elizabeth s astonishment was quite equal to what it had been at first by the sight of mr darcy approaching them and at no great distance the walk being here less than on the other side allowed them to see him before they met elizabeth however astonished was at least more prepared for an than before and resolved to appear and to speak with if he really intended to meet them for a few moments indeed she felt that he would probably into some other the idea while a turning in the walk concealed him from their view the turning past he was immediately before them with a glance she saw that he had lost none of his civility and to his politeness she began as they met to admire the beauty of the place but she had not got beyond the words delightful and charming when some unlucky recollections and she fancied that praise of pemberley from her might be her colour changed and she said no more mrs gardiner was standing a little behind and on her he asked her if she would do him the honour of him to her friends this was a of civility for which she was quite and she could hardly a smile at his being now seeking the acquaintance of some of those very people against whom his pride had 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 the introduction however was immediately made and as she their relationship to herself she a look at him to see how he bore it and was not without the expectation of his as fast as he could from such companions that he was surprised by the connection was evident he it however with and so far from going away turned back with them and entered into conversation with mr gardiner elizabeth could not but be pleased could not but triumph it was that he should know she had some relations for whom there was no need to she listened most to all that passed between them and in every expression every sentence of her uncle which marked his intelligence his taste or his good manners the conversation soon turned upon and she heard mr darcy invite him with the greatest civility to there as often as he chose while he continued in the neighbourhood at the same time to supply him with and out those parts of the where there was usually most mrs gardiner who was walking in with elizabeth gave her a look of her wonder elizabeth said nothing but it gratified her exceedingly the compliment must be all for herself her astonishment however was and continually was she repeating why is he so altered from what can it it cannot be for me it cannot be for my sake that his manners are thus softened my at hunsford could not work such a change as this it is impossible that he should still love me after walking some time in this way the two ladies in the two gentlemen behind on their after to the of the river for the better of some there to be a little alteration it in mrs gardiner who by the exercise of the morning found elizabeth s to her support and consequently her husband s mr darcy took her place by her niece and they walked on together after a short silence the lady first spoke she wished him to know that she had been assured of his absence before she came to the place and accordingly began by observing that his arrival had been very unexpected for your housekeeper she added informed us that you would certainly not be here till to morrow and indeed before we left we understood that you were not immediately expected in the country he acknowledged the truth of it all and said that business with his had his coming forward a few hours before the rest of the party with whom he had been travelling they will join me early to morrow he continued and among them are some who will an acquaintance with you mr bingley and his sisters elizabeth answered only by a slight bow her thoughts were instantly back to the time when mr bingley s name had been last mentioned between them and if she might judge from his complexion his mind was not very differently engaged there is also one other person in the party he continued after a pause who more particularly wishes to be known to you will you allow me or do i ask too much to introduce my sister to your acquaintance during your stay at lambton the surprise of such an application was great indeed it was too great for her to know in what manner she to it she immediately felt that whatever desire miss darcy might have of being acquainted with her must be the work of her brother and without looking farther it was satisfactory it was gratifying to know that his resentment had not made him think really ill of her they now walked on in silence each of them deep in thought elizabeth was not comfortable that was impossible but she was flattered and pleased his wish of his sister to her was a compliment of the highest kind they soon the others and when they had reached the carriage mr and mrs gardiner were half a quarter of a mile behind he then asked her to walk into the house but she declared herself not and they stood together on the lawn at such a time much might have been said and silence was very awkward she wanted to talk but there seemed an on every subject at last she recollected that she had been travelling and they talked of and with great yet time and her aunt moved and her patience and her ideas were nearly out before the t te t te was over on mr and mrs gardiner s coming up they were all to go into the house and take some but this was declined and they parted on each side with the utmost politeness mr darcy the ladies into the carriage and when it drove off elizabeth saw him walking towards the house the of her uncle and aunt now began and each of them pronounced him to be superior to anything they had expected he is perfectly well behaved and said her uncle there is something a little in him to be sure replied her aunt but it is to his air and is not i can now say with the housekeeper that though some people may call him proud i have seen nothing of it i was never more surprised than by his behaviour to us it was more than civil it was really attentive and there was no necessity for such attention his acquaintance with elizabeth was very to be sure lizzy said her aunt he is not so handsome as wickham or rather he has not wickham s countenance for his features are perfectly good but how came you to tell us that he was so disagreeable elizabeth herself as well as she could said that she had liked him better when they met in kent than before and that she had never seen him so pleasant as this morning but perhaps he may be a little in his civilities replied her uncle your great men often are and therefore i shall not take him at his word about as he might change his mind another day and me off his elizabeth felt that they had entirely mistaken his character but said nothing from what we have seen of him continued mrs gardiner i really should not have thought that he could have behaved in so a way by anybody as he has done by poor wickham he has not an ill natured look on the contrary there is something pleasing about his when he and there is something of in his countenance that would not give one an idea of his heart but to be sure the good lady who showed us the house did give him a most character i could hardly help laughing aloud sometimes but he is a master i suppose and that in the eye of a servant every virtue elizabeth here felt herself called on to say something in of his behaviour to wickham and therefore gave them to understand in as guarded a manner as she could that by what she had heard from his relations in kent his actions were capable of a very different and that his character was by no means so nor wickham s so amiable as they had been considered in hertfordshire in of this she related the particulars of all the in which they had been connected without actually her authority but it to be such as might be on 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 out to her husband all the interesting in its to think of anything else 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 of an intercourse renewed after many years the of the day were too full of interest to leave elizabeth much attention for any of these new friends and she could do nothing but think and think with wonder of mr darcy s civility and above all of his wishing her to be acquainted with his sister illustration chapter illustration elizabeth had settled it that mr darcy would bring his sister to visit her the very day after her pemberley and was consequently resolved not to be out of sight of the inn the whole of that morning but her conclusion was false for on the very morning after their own arrival at lambton these visitors came they had been walking about the place with some of their new friends and were just returned to the inn to themselves for dining with the same family when the sound of a carriage drew them to a window and they saw a gentleman and lady in a up the street elizabeth immediately the what it meant and no small degree of surprise to her relations by them with the honour which she expected her uncle and aunt were all amazement and the embarrassment of her manner as she spoke joined to the circumstance itself and many of the circumstances of the day opened to them a new idea on the business nothing had ever it before but they now felt that there was no other way of for such attentions from such a quarter than by supposing a partiality for their niece while these were passing in their the of elizabeth s feelings was every moment increasing she was quite at her own but amongst other of she dreaded lest the partiality of the brother should have said too much in her favour and more than anxious to please she naturally suspected that every power of pleasing would fail her she from the window of being seen and as she walked up and down the room to herself saw such looks of surprise in her uncle and aunt as made everything worse miss darcy and her brother appeared and this introduction took place with astonishment did elizabeth see that her new acquaintance was at least as much embarrassed as herself since her being at lambton she had heard that miss darcy was exceedingly proud but the observation of a very few minutes convinced her that she was only exceedingly she found it difficult to even a word from her beyond a miss darcy was tall and on a larger than elizabeth and though little more than sixteen her figure was formed and her appearance and she was less handsome than her brother but there was sense and good humour in her face and her manners were perfectly and elizabeth who had expected to find in her as and an as ever mr darcy had been was much relieved by such different feelings they had not been long together before darcy told her that bingley was also coming to wait on her and she had time to express her satisfaction and prepare for such a visitor when bingley s quick step was heard on the stairs and in a moment he entered the room all elizabeth s anger against him had been long done away but had she still felt any it could hardly have stood its ground against the with which he expressed himself on seeing her again he inquired in a friendly though general way after her family and looked and spoke with the same good humoured ease that he had ever done to mr and mrs gardiner he was scarcely a less interesting than to herself they had long wished to see him the whole party before them indeed excited a lively attention the which had just of mr darcy and their niece directed their observation towards each with an earnest though guarded inquiry and they soon drew from those inquiries the full conviction that one of them at least knew what it was to love of the lady s they remained a little in doubt but that the gentleman was with admiration was evident enough elizabeth on her side had much to do she wanted to the feelings of each of her visitors she wanted to her own and to make herself agreeable to all and in the latter object where she feared most to fail she was most sure of success for those to whom she endeavoured to give pleasure were in her favour bingley was ready georgiana was eager and darcy determined to be pleased illustration to make herself agreeable to all copyright by george allen in seeing bingley her thoughts naturally to her sister and oh how did she long to know whether any of his were directed in a like manner sometimes she could fancy that he talked less than on former occasions and once or twice pleased herself with the notion that as he looked at her he was trying to a resemblance but though this might be she could not be deceived as to his behaviour to miss darcy who had been set up as a to jane no look appeared on either side that spoke particular regard nothing occurred between them that could justify the hopes of his sister on this point she was soon satisfied and two or three little circumstances occurred they parted which in her anxious a recollection of jane not by and a wish of saying more that might lead to the mention of her had he dared he observed to her at a moment when the others were talking together and in a tone which had something of real regret that it was a very long time since he had had the pleasure of seeing her and before she could reply he added it is above eight months we have not met since the of when we were all dancing together at netherfield elizabeth was pleased to find his memory so and he afterwards took occasion to ask her when to by any of the rest whether all her sisters were at longbourn there was not much in the question nor in the but there was a look and a manner which gave them meaning it was not often that she could turn her eyes on mr darcy himself but whenever she did a she saw an expression of general and in all that he said she heard an so far removed from or disdain of his companions as convinced her that the improvement of manners which she had yesterday however its might prove had at least one day when she saw him thus seeking the acquaintance and the good opinion of people with whom any intercourse a few months ago would have been a disgrace when she saw him thus civil not only to herself but to the very relations whom he had openly and recollected their last lively scene in hunsford parsonage the difference the change was so great and struck so on her mind that she could hardly her astonishment from being never even in the company of his dear friends at netherfield or his relations at rosings had she seen him so desirous to please so free from self consequence or reserve as now when no importance could from the success of his endeavours and when even the acquaintance of those to whom his attentions were addressed would draw down the and of the ladies both of netherfield and rosings their visitors stayed with them above half an hour and when they to mr darcy called on his sister to join him in expressing their wish of seeing mr and mrs gardiner and miss bennet to dinner at pemberley before they left the country miss darcy though with a which marked her little in the habit of giving readily mrs gardiner looked at her niece desirous of knowing how she whom the invitation most concerned felt disposed as to its but elizabeth had turned away her head however that this spoke rather a embarrassment than any dislike of the proposal and seeing in her husband who was fond of society a perfect to accept it she ventured to for her and the day after the next was fixed on bingley expressed great pleasure in the certainty of seeing elizabeth again having still a great deal to say to her and many inquiries to make after all their hertfordshire friends elizabeth all this into a wish of hearing her speak of her sister was pleased and on this account as well as some others found herself when their visitors left them capable of considering the last half hour with some satisfaction though while it was passing the enjoyment of it had been little eager to be alone and of inquiries or from her uncle and aunt she stayed with them only long enough to hear their favourable opinion of bingley and then hurried away to but she had no reason to fear mr and mrs gardiner s curiosity it was not their wish to force her communication it was evident that she was much better acquainted with mr darcy than they had before any idea of it was evident that he was very much in love with her they saw much to interest but nothing to justify inquiry of mr darcy it was now a matter of anxiety to think well and as far as their acquaintance reached there was no fault to find they could not be by his politeness and had they drawn his character from their own feelings and his servant s report without any to any other account the circle in hertfordshire to which he was known would not have it for mr darcy there was now an interest however in believing the housekeeper and they soon became sensible that the authority of a servant who had known him since he was four years old and whose own manners was not to be hastily neither had anything occurred in the intelligence of their lambton friends that could its weight they had nothing to him of but pride pride he probably had and if not it would certainly be by the of a small town where the family did not visit it was acknowledged however that he was a man and did much good among the poor with respect to wickham the soon found that he was not there in much for though the chief of his concerns with the son of his were understood it was yet a well known fact that on his quitting derbyshire he had left many debts behind him which mr darcy afterwards as for elizabeth her thoughts were at pemberley this evening more than the last and the evening though as it passed it seemed long was not long enough to determine her feelings towards one in that and she lay two whole hours to make them out she certainly did not hate him no had long ago and she had almost as long been ashamed of ever feeling a dislike against him that could be so called the respect by the conviction of his valuable qualities though at first admitted had for some time ceased to be to her feelings and it was now heightened into somewhat of a nature by the so highly in his favour and bringing forward his disposition in so amiable a light which yesterday had produced but above all above respect and esteem there was a motive within her of good will which could not be it was gratitude gratitude not merely for having once loved her but for her still well enough to forgive all the and of her manner in him and all the her he who she had been persuaded would avoid her as his greatest seemed on this meeting most eager to the acquaintance and without any of regard or any of manner where their two only were concerned was the good opinion of her friends and on making her known to his sister such a change in a man of so much pride excited not only astonishment but gratitude for to love love it must be and as such its impression on her was of a sort to be encouraged as by no means though it could not be exactly she she esteemed she was grateful to him she felt a real interest in his and she only wanted to know how far she wished that to depend upon herself and how far it would be for the happiness of both that she should the power which her fancy told her she still of bringing on the renewal of his addresses it had been settled in the evening between the aunt and niece that such a civility as miss darcy s in coming to them on the very day of her arrival at pemberley for she had reached it only to a late breakfast ought to be though it could not be by some exertion of politeness on their side and consequently that it would be highly to wait on her at pemberley the following morning they were therefore to go elizabeth was pleased though when she asked herself the reason she had very little to say in reply mr gardiner left them soon after breakfast the scheme had been renewed the day before and a engagement made of his meeting some of the gentlemen at pemberley by illustration engaged by the river chapter illustration convinced as elizabeth now was that miss bingley s dislike of her had in she could not help feeling how very her appearance at pemberley must be to her and was to know with how much civility on that lady s side the acquaintance would now be renewed on the house they were shown through the hall into the whose aspect rendered it delightful for summer its windows opening to the ground admitted a most view of the high behind the house and of the beautiful and which were over the lawn in this room they were received by miss darcy who was sitting there with mrs hurst and miss bingley and the lady with whom she lived in london georgiana s reception of them was very civil but attended with all that embarrassment which though proceeding from and the fear of doing wrong would easily give to those who felt themselves the belief of her being proud and reserved mrs gardiner and her niece however did her justice and her by mrs hurst and miss bingley they were noticed only by a and on their being seated a pause awkward as such must always be succeeded for a few moments it was first broken by mrs a agreeable looking woman whose endeavour to introduce some kind of discourse proved her to be more truly well than either of the others and between her and mrs gardiner with occasional help from elizabeth the conversation was carried on miss darcy looked as if she wished for courage enough to join in it and sometimes did a short sentence when there was least danger of its being heard elizabeth soon saw that she was herself watched by miss bingley and that she could not speak a word especially to miss darcy without calling her attention this observation would not have prevented her from trying to talk to the latter had they not been seated at an distance but she was not sorry to be spared the necessity of saying much her own thoughts were her she expected every moment that some of the gentlemen would enter the room she wished she feared that the master of the house might be amongst them and whether she wished or feared it most she could scarcely determine after sitting in this manner a quarter of an hour without hearing miss bingley s voice elizabeth was roused by receiving from her a cold inquiry after the health of her family she answered with equal indifference and and the other said no more the next which their visit was produced by the entrance of servants with cold and a variety of all the in but this did not take place till after many a look and smile from mrs to miss darcy had been given to her of her post there was now employment for the whole party for though they could not all talk they could all and the beautiful of and soon them round the table while thus engaged elizabeth had a fair opportunity of whether she most feared or wished for the appearance of mr darcy by the feelings which prevailed on his entering the room and then though but a moment before she had believed her wishes to she began to regret that he came he had been some time with mr gardiner who with two or three other gentlemen from the house was engaged by the river and had left him only on that the ladies of the family intended a visit to georgiana that morning no sooner did he appear than elizabeth resolved to be perfectly easy and a resolution the more necessary to be made but perhaps not the more easily kept because she saw that the of the whole party were against them and that there was scarcely an eye which did not his behaviour when he first came into the room in no countenance was attentive curiosity so strongly marked as in miss bingley s in spite of the smiles which her face whenever she spoke to one of its objects for had not yet made her and her attentions to mr darcy were by no means over miss darcy on her brother s entrance herself much more to talk and elizabeth saw that he was anxious for his sister and herself to get acquainted and as much as possible every attempt at conversation on either side miss bingley saw all this likewise and in the imprudence of anger took the first opportunity of saying with civility pray miss eliza are not the shire militia removed from meryton they must be a great loss to your family in darcy s presence she dared not mention wickham s name but elizabeth instantly that he was in her thoughts and the various recollections connected with him gave her a moment s distress but herself to the ill natured she answered the question in a tolerably tone while she spoke an glance showed her darcy with a heightened complexion earnestly looking at her and his sister overcome with confusion and unable to up her eyes had miss bingley known what pain she was then giving her friend she undoubtedly would have from the hint but she had merely intended to elizabeth by bringing forward the idea of a man to whom she believed her partial to make her a which might her in darcy s opinion and perhaps to the latter of all the and by which some part of her family were connected with that corps not a syllable had ever reached her of miss darcy s elopement to no creature had it been where secrecy was possible except to elizabeth and from all bingley s connections her brother was particularly anxious to conceal it from that very wish which elizabeth had long ago to him of their her own he had certainly formed such a plan and without meaning that it should his endeavour to separate him from miss bennet it is probable that it might add something to his lively concern for the of his friend elizabeth s behaviour however soon his and as miss bingley vexed and disappointed dared not approach to wickham georgiana also recovered in time though not enough to be able to speak any more her brother whose eye she feared to meet scarcely recollected her interest in the affair and the very circumstance which had been to turn his thoughts from elizabeth seemed to have fixed them on her more and more their visit did not continue long after the question and answer above mentioned and while mr darcy was attending them to their carriage miss bingley was her feelings in on elizabeth s person behaviour and but georgiana would not join her her brother s was enough to her favour his judgment could not and he had spoken in such terms of elizabeth as to leave georgiana without the power of finding her otherwise than and amiable when darcy returned to the miss bingley could not help repeating to him some part of what she had been saying to his sister how very ill eliza bennet looks this morning mr darcy she cried i never in my life saw anyone so much altered as she is since the winter she is so and louisa and i were that we should not have known her again however little mr darcy might have liked such an address he himself with that he perceived no other alteration than her being rather no consequence of travelling in the summer for my own part she i must confess that i never could see any beauty in her her face is too her complexion has no and her features are not at all handsome her wants character there is nothing marked in its lines her are tolerable but not out of the common way and as for her eyes which have sometimes been called so fine i never could perceive anything extraordinary in them they have a look which i do not like at all and in her air altogether there is a self without fashion which is persuaded as miss bingley was that darcy admired elizabeth this was not the best of herself but angry people are not always and in seeing him at last look somewhat she had all the success she expected he was silent however and from a of making him speak she continued i remember when we first knew her in hertfordshire how we all were to find that she was a beauty and i particularly recollect your saying one night after they had been dining at netherfield she a beauty i should as soon call her mother a wit but afterwards she seemed to on you and i believe you thought her rather pretty at one time yes replied darcy who could contain himself no longer but that was only when i first knew her for it is many months since i have considered her as one of the women of my acquaintance he then went away and miss bingley was left to all the satisfaction of having forced him to say what gave no one any pain but herself mrs gardiner and elizabeth talked of all that had occurred during their visit as they returned except what had particularly interested them both the looks and behaviour of everybody they had seen were except of the person who had engaged their attention they talked of his sister his friends his house his of everything but himself yet elizabeth was to know what mrs gardiner thought of him and mrs gardiner would have been highly gratified by her niece s beginning the subject illustration chapter illustration elizabeth had been a good deal disappointed in not finding a letter from jane on their first arrival at lambton and this disappointment had been renewed on each of the that had now been spent there but on the third her was over and her sister by the of two letters from her at once on one of which was marked that it had been sent elizabeth was not surprised at it as jane had written the direction remarkably ill they had just been preparing to walk as the letters came in and her uncle and aunt leaving her to enjoy them in quiet set off by themselves the one sent must be first attended to it had been written five days ago the beginning contained an account of all their little parties and engagements with such news as the country but the latter half which was a day and written in evident agitation gave more important intelligence it was to this effect since writing the above dearest lizzy something has occurred of a most unexpected and serious nature but i am afraid of you be assured that we are all well what i have to say to poor lydia an express came at last night just as we were all gone to bed from colonel forster to inform us that she was gone off to scotland with one of his officers to own the truth with wickham imagine our surprise to kitty however it does not seem so wholly unexpected i am very very sorry so imprudent a match on both but i am willing to hope the best and that his character has been and i can easily believe him but this step and let us rejoice over it nothing bad at heart his choice is at least for he must know my father can give her nothing our poor mother is grieved my father it better how thankful am i that we never let them know what has been said against him we must forget it ourselves they were off saturday night about as is but were not till yesterday morning at eight the express was sent off directly my dear lizzy they must have passed within ten miles of us colonel forster gives us reason to expect him here soon lydia left a few lines for his wife her of their intention i must for i cannot be long from my poor mother i am afraid you will not be able to make it out but i hardly know what i have written without allowing herself time for consideration and scarcely knowing what she felt elizabeth on this letter instantly the other and opening it with the utmost impatience read as follows it had been written a day than the conclusion of the first by this time my dearest sister you have received my hurried letter i wish this may be more but though not for time my head is so that i cannot answer for being dearest lizzy i hardly know what i would write but i have bad news for you and it cannot be delayed imprudent as a marriage between mr wickham and our poor lydia would be we are now anxious to be assured it has taken place for there is but too much reason to fear they are not gone to scotland colonel forster came yesterday having left brighton the day before not many hours after the express though lydia s short letter to mrs gave them to understand that they were going to something was dropped by denny expressing his belief that never intended to go there or to marry lydia at all which was repeated to colonel who instantly taking the alarm set off from intending to their he did them easily to but no farther for on entering that place they removed into a coach and the chaise that brought them from all that is known after this is that they were seen to continue the london road i know not what to think after making every possible inquiry on that side of london colonel came on into hertfordshire them at all the and at the in and but without any success no such people had been seen to pass through with the concern he came on to longbourn and his to us in a manner most to his heart i am sincerely grieved for him and mrs but no one can throw any blame on them our distress my dear lizzy is very great my father and mother believe the worst but i cannot think so ill of him many circumstances might make it more eligible for them to be married in town than to pursue their first plan and even if he could form such a design against a young woman of lydia s connections which is not likely can i suppose her so lost to everything impossible i to find however that colonel is not disposed to depend upon their marriage he shook his head when i expressed my hopes and said he feared was not a man to be trusted my poor mother is really ill and her room could she herself it would be better but this is not to be expected and as to my father i never in my life saw him so affected poor kitty has anger for having concealed their attachment but as it was a matter of confidence one cannot wonder i am truly glad dearest lizzy that you have been spared something of these distressing but now as the first is over shall i own that i long for your return i am not so selfish however as to for it if i take up my again to do what i have just told you i would not but circumstances are such that i cannot help earnestly you all to come here as soon as possible i know my dear uncle and aunt so well that i am not afraid of it though i have still something more to ask of the former my father is going to london with colonel forster instantly to try to discover her what he means to do i am sure i know not but his distress will not allow him to pursue any in the best and way and colonel forster is obliged to be at brighton again to morrow evening in such an my uncle s advice and assistance would be everything in the world he will immediately comprehend what i must feel and i upon his goodness oh where where is my uncle cried elizabeth from her seat as she finished the letter in eagerness to follow him without a moment of the time so but as she reached the door it was opened by a servant and mr darcy appeared her face and manner made him and before he could recover himself enough to speak she in whose mind every idea was by lydia s situation hastily exclaimed i beg your pardon but i must leave you i must find mr gardiner this moment on business that cannot be delayed i have not an instant to lose good what is the matter cried he with more feeling than politeness then himself i will not you a minute but let me or let the servant go after mr and mrs gardiner you are not well enough you cannot go yourself elizabeth but her under her and she felt how little would be gained by her to pursue them calling back the servant therefore she him though in so an as made her almost to his master and mistress home instantly on his quitting the room she sat down unable to support herself and looking so ill that it was impossible for darcy to leave her or to from saying in a tone of and let me call your is there nothing you could take to give you present relief a of shall i get you one you are very ill no i thank you she replied to recover herself there is nothing the matter with me i am quite well i am only distressed by some dreadful news which i have just received from longbourn she into tears as she alluded to it and for a few minutes could not speak another word darcy in wretched suspense could only say something of his illustration i have not an instant to lose concern and observe her in silence at length she spoke again i have just had a letter from jane with such dreadful news it cannot be concealed from anyone my youngest sister has left all her friends has has thrown herself into the power of of mr wickham they are gone off together from brighton you know him too well to doubt the rest she has no money no connections nothing that can him to she is lost for ever darcy was fixed in astonishment when i consider she added in a yet more voice that i might have prevented it i who knew what he was had i but explained some part of it only some part of what i learnt to my own family had his character been known this could not have happened but it is all all too late now i am grieved indeed cried darcy grieved shocked but is it certain absolutely certain oh yes they left brighton together on sunday night and were almost to london but not beyond they are certainly not gone to scotland and what has been done what has been to recover her my father has gone to london and jane has written to beg my uncle s immediate assistance and we shall be off i hope in half an hour but nothing can be done i know very well that nothing can be done how is such a man to be on how are they even to be discovered i have not the smallest hope it is every way darcy shook his head in silent when my eyes were opened to his real character oh had i known what i ought what i dared to do but i knew not i was afraid of doing too much wretched wretched mistake darcy made no answer he seemed scarcely to hear her and was walking up and down the room in earnest his his air elizabeth soon observed and instantly understood it her power was everything must under such a proof of family such an assurance of the disgrace she could neither wonder nor but the belief of his self brought nothing to her no of her distress it was on the contrary exactly to make her understand her own wishes and never had she so felt that she could have loved him as now when all love must be vain but self though it would could not her lydia the the misery she was bringing on them all soon up every private care and her face with her elizabeth was soon lost to everything else and after a pause of several minutes was only to a sense of her situation by the voice of her companion who in a manner which though it spoke compassion spoke likewise said i am afraid you have been long my absence nor have i anything to in excuse of my stay but real though concern would to heaven that anything could be either said or done on my part that might offer consolation to such distress but i will not you with vain wishes which may seem purposely to ask for your thanks this unfortunate affair will i fear prevent my sister s having the pleasure of seeing you at pemberley to day oh yes be so kind as to for us to miss darcy say that business us home immediately conceal the unhappy truth as long as it is possible i know it cannot be long he readily assured her of his secrecy again expressed his for her distress wished it a conclusion than there was at present reason to hope and leaving his compliments for her relations with only one serious parting look went away as he quitted the room elizabeth felt how improbable it was that they should ever see each other again on such terms of as had marked their several in derbyshire and as she threw a glance over the whole of their acquaintance so full of and at the perverseness of those feelings which would now have its and would formerly have rejoiced in its if gratitude and esteem are good of affection elizabeth s change of sentiment will be neither improbable nor but if otherwise if the regard from such is unreasonable or in comparison of what is so often as on a first with its object and even before two words have been nothing can be said in her except that she had given somewhat of a to the latter in her partiality for wickham and that its ill success might perhaps her to seek the other less interesting of attachment be that as it may she saw him go with regret and in this early of what lydia s must found as she on that wretched business never since reading jane s second letter had she entertained a hope of wickham s meaning to marry her no one but jane she thought could flatter herself with such an expectation surprise was the least of all her feelings on this while the contents of the first letter remained on her mind she was all surprise all astonishment that wickham should marry a girl whom it was impossible he could marry for money and how lydia could ever have attached him had appeared but now it was all too natural for such an attachment as this she might have and though she did not suppose lydia to be engaging in an elopement without the intention of marriage she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would her from an easy she had never perceived while the regiment was in hertfordshire that lydia had any partiality for him but she was convinced that lydia had wanted only encouragement to herself to anybody sometimes one officer sometimes another had been her favourite as their attentions raised them in her opinion her had been continually but never without an object the of neglect and mistaken indulgence towards such a girl oh how did she now feel it she was wild to be at home to hear to see to be upon the spot to share with jane in the that must now fall wholly upon her in a family so a father a mother incapable of exertion and constant and though almost persuaded that nothing could be done for lydia her uncle s interference seemed of the utmost importance and till he entered the room the misery of her impatience was severe mr and mrs gardiner had hurried back in alarm supposing by the servant s account that their niece was taken suddenly ill but them instantly on that head she eagerly the cause of their reading the two letters aloud and dwelling on the of the last with though lydia had never been a favourite with them mr and mrs gardiner could not but be affected not lydia only but all were concerned in it and after the first of surprise and mr gardiner readily promised every assistance in his power elizabeth though no less thanked him with tears of gratitude and all three being by one spirit everything to their journey was speedily settled they were to be off as soon as possible but what is to be done about pemberley cried mrs gardiner told us mr darcy was here when you sent for us was it so yes and i told him we should not be able to keep our engagement that is all settled what is all settled repeated the other as she ran into her room to prepare and are they upon such terms as for her to the real truth oh that i knew how it was but wishes were vain or at best could only to her in the hurry and confusion of the following hour had elizabeth been at leisure to be idle she would have remained certain that all employment was impossible to one so wretched as herself but she had her share of business as well as her aunt and amongst the rest there were to be written to all their friends at lambton with false for their sudden departure an hour however saw the whole and mr gardiner having settled his account at the inn nothing remained to be done but to go and elizabeth after all the misery of the morning found herself in a of time than she could have supposed seated in the carriage and on the road to longbourn illustration the first pleasing earnest of their welcome chapter illustration i have been thinking it over again elizabeth said her uncle as they drove from the town and really upon serious consideration i am much more inclined than i was to judge as your eldest sister does of the matter it to me so very that any young man should form such a design against a girl who is by no means or and who was actually staying in his colonel s family that i am strongly inclined to hope the best could he expect that her friends would not step forward could he expect to be noticed again by the regiment after such an to colonel forster his temptation is not to the do you really think so cried elizabeth up for a moment upon my word said mrs gardiner i begin to be of your uncle s opinion it is really too great a of honour and interest for him to be of it i cannot think so very ill of wickham can you yourself so wholly give him up as to believe him capable of it not perhaps of his own interest but of every other neglect i can believe him capable if indeed it should be so but i dare not hope it why should they not go on to scotland if that had been the case in the first place replied mr gardiner there is no proof that they are not gone to scotland oh but their from the chaise into a coach is such a and besides no of them were to be found on the road well then supposing them to be in london they may be there though for the purpose of for no more purpose it is not likely that money should be very on either side and it might them that they could be more though less married in london than in scotland but why all this secrecy why any fear of why must their marriage be private oh no no this is not likely his most particular friend you see by jane s account was persuaded of his never intending to marry her wickham will never marry a woman without some money he cannot afford it and what claims has lydia what has she beyond youth health and good humour that could make him for her sake every chance of himself by marrying well as to what the of disgrace in the corps might throw on a elopement with her i am not able to judge for i know nothing of the that such a step might but as to your other objection i am afraid it will hardly hold good lydia has no to step forward and he might imagine from my father s behaviour from his and the little attention he has ever seemed to give to what was going forward in his family that he would do as little and think as little about it as any father could do in such a matter but can you think that lydia is so lost to everything but love of him as to consent to live with him on any other terms than marriage it does seem and it is most shocking indeed replied elizabeth with tears in her eyes that a sister s sense of and virtue in such a point should admit of doubt but really i know not what to say perhaps i am not doing her justice but she is very young she has never been taught to think on serious subjects and for the last half year nay for a twelvemonth she has been given up to nothing but amusement and vanity she has been allowed to of her time in the most idle and manner and to any opinions that came in her way since the shire were first in meryton nothing but love and officers have been in her head she has been doing everything in her power by thinking and talking on the subject to give greater what shall i call it to her feelings which are naturally lively enough and we all know that wickham has every charm of person and address that can a woman but you see that jane said her aunt does not think so ill of wickham as to believe him capable of the attempt of whom does jane ever think ill and who is there whatever might be their former conduct that she would believe capable of such an attempt till it were proved against them but jane knows as well as i do what wickham really is we both know that he has been in every sense of the word that he has neither nor honour that he is as false and as he is and do you really know all this cried mrs gardiner whose curiosity as to the of her intelligence was all i do indeed replied elizabeth i told you the other day of his behaviour to mr darcy and you yourself when last at longbourn heard in what manner he spoke of the man who had behaved with such forbearance and towards him and there are other circumstances which i am not at liberty which it is not worth while to relate but his about the whole pemberley family are from what he said of miss darcy i was prepared to see a proud reserved disagreeable girl yet he knew to the contrary himself he must know that she was as amiable and as we have found her but does lydia know nothing of this can she be ignorant of what you and jane seem so well to understand oh yes that that is the worst of all till i was in kent and saw so much both of mr darcy and his relation colonel fitzwilliam i was ignorant of the truth myself and when i returned home the shire was to leave meryton in a week or fortnight s time as that was the case neither jane to whom i related the whole nor i thought it necessary to make our knowledge public for of what use could it be to anyone that the good opinion which all the neighbourhood had of him should then be and even when it was settled that lydia should go with mrs forster the necessity of opening her eyes to his character never occurred to me that she could be in any danger from the never entered my head that such a consequence as this should you may easily believe was far enough from my thoughts when they all removed to brighton therefore you had no reason i suppose to believe them fond of each other not the i can remember no of affection on either side and had anything of the kind been you must be aware that is not a family on which it could be thrown away when first he entered the corps she was ready enough to admire him but so we all were every girl in or near meryton was out of her about him for the first two months but he never distinguished her by any particular attention and consequently after a period of and wild admiration her fancy for him gave way and others of the regiment who treated her with more again became her it may be easily believed that however little of could be added to their fears hopes and on this interesting subject by its repeated no other could them from it long during the whole of the journey from elizabeth s thoughts it was never fixed there by the of all self reproach she could find no of ease or they as as possible and one night on the road reached longbourn by the next day it was a comfort to elizabeth to consider that jane could not have been by long expectations the little gardiners by the sight of a chaise were standing on the of the house as they entered the and when the carriage drove up to the door the surprise that up their and itself over their whole in a variety of and was the first pleasing earnest of their welcome elizabeth out and after giving each of them a hurried into the where jane who came running from her mother s immediately met her elizabeth as she her tears the eyes of both lost not a moment in asking whether anything had been heard of the not yet replied jane but now that my dear uncle is come i hope everything will be well is my father in town yes he went on tuesday as i wrote you word and have you heard from him often we have heard only once he wrote me a few lines on wednesday to say that he had arrived in and to give me his directions which i particularly begged him to do he merely added that he should not write again till he had something of importance to mention and my mother how is she how are you all my mother is tolerably well i trust though her spirits are greatly she is upstairs and will have great satisfaction in seeing you all she does not yet leave her dressing room mary and kitty thank heaven are quite well but you how are you cried elizabeth you look how much you must have gone through her sister however assured her of her being perfectly well and their conversation which had been passing while mr and mrs gardiner were engaged with their children was now put an end to by the approach of the whole party jane ran to her uncle and aunt and welcomed and thanked them both with smiles and tears when they were all in the drawing room the questions which elizabeth had already asked were of course repeated by the others and they soon found that jane had no intelligence to give the hope of good however which the of her heart had not yet her she still expected that it would all end well and that every morning would bring some letter either from lydia or her father to explain their and perhaps the marriage mrs bennet to whose they all after a few minutes conversation together received them exactly as might be expected with tears and of regret against the conduct of wickham and of her own and ill everybody but the person to whose ill indulgence the of her daughter must be if i had been able said she to my point in going to brighton with all my family this would not have happened but poor dear lydia had nobody to take care of her why did the ever let her go out of their sight i am sure there was some great neglect or other on their side for she is not the kind of girl to do such a thing if she had been well looked after i always thought they were very to have the charge of her but i was over as i always am poor dear child and now here s mr bennet gone away and i know he will wickham wherever he him and then he will be and what is to become of us all the collinses will turn us out before he is cold in his grave and if you are not kind to us brother i do not know what we shall do they all exclaimed against such ideas and mr gardiner after general assurances of his affection for her and all her family told her that he meant to be in london the very next day and would assist mr bennet in every endeavour for lydia do not give way to useless alarm added he though it is right to be prepared for the worst there is no occasion to look on it as certain it is not quite a week since they left brighton in a few days more we may some news of them and till we know that they are not married and have no design of marrying do not let us give the matter over as lost as soon as i get to town i shall go to my brother and make him come home with me to gracechurch street and then we may together as to what is to be done oh my dear brother replied mrs bennet that is exactly what i could most wish for and now do when you get to town find them out wherever they may be and if they are not married already make them marry and as for wedding clothes do not let them wait for that but tell lydia she shall have as much money as she chooses to them after they are married and above all things keep mr bennet from tell him what a dreadful state i am in that i am frightened out of my and have such such all over me such in my side and in my head and such at my heart that i can get no rest by night nor by day and tell my dear lydia not to give any directions about her clothes till she has seen me for she does not know which are the best oh brother how kind you are i know you will it all but mr gardiner though he assured her again of his earnest endeavours in the cause could not avoid to her as well in her hopes as her fears and after talking with her in this manner till dinner was on table they left her to all her feelings on the housekeeper who attended in the absence of her daughters though her brother and sister were persuaded that there was no real occasion for such a from the family they did not attempt to it for they knew that she had not enough to hold her before the servants while they waited at table and judged it better that one only of the and the one whom they could most trust should comprehend all her fears and solicitude on the subject in the dining room they were soon joined by mary and kitty who had been too engaged in their separate to make their appearance before one came from her books and the other from her the of both however were tolerably and no change was in either except that the loss of her favourite sister or the anger which she had herself in the business had given something more of than usual to the of kitty as for mary she was mistress enough of herself to whisper to elizabeth with a countenance of grave reflection soon after they were seated at table this is a most unfortunate affair and will probably be much talked of but we must the of and into the of each other the of consolation then in elizabeth no inclination of she added unhappy as the event must be for lydia we may draw from it this useful that loss of virtue in a female is that one false step her in that her is no less than it is beautiful and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the of the other sex elizabeth up her eyes in amazement but was too much to make any reply mary however continued to console herself with such kind of from the evil before them in the the two elder miss bennets were able to be for half an hour by themselves and elizabeth instantly herself of the opportunity of making any inquiries which jane was equally eager to satisfy after in general over the dreadful of this event which elizabeth considered as all but certain and miss bennet could not to be wholly impossible the former continued the subject by saying but tell me all and everything about it which i have not already heard give me further particulars what did colonel forster say had they no apprehension of anything before the elopement took place they must have seen them together for ever colonel forster did own that he had often suspected some partiality especially on lydia s side but nothing to give him any alarm i am so grieved for him his behaviour was attentive and kind to the utmost he was coming to us in order to assure us of his concern before he had any idea of their not being gone to scotland when that apprehension first got it his journey and was denny convinced that wickham would not marry did he know of their intending to go off had colonel forster seen denny himself yes but when by him denny knowing anything of their plan and would not give his real opinion about it he did not his persuasion of their not marrying and from that i am inclined to hope he might have been before and till colonel forster came himself not one of you entertained a doubt i suppose of their being really married how was it possible that such an idea should enter our i felt a little uneasy a little of my sister s happiness with him in marriage because i knew that his conduct had not been always quite right my father and mother knew nothing of that they only felt how imprudent a match it must be kitty then with a very natural triumph on knowing more than the rest of us that in lydia s last letter she had prepared her for such a step she had known it seems of their being in love with each other many weeks but not before they went to brighton no i believe not and did colonel forster appear to think ill of wickham himself does he know his real character i must confess that he did not speak so well of wickham as he formerly did he believed him to be imprudent and and since this affair has taken place it is said that he left meryton greatly in but i hope this may be false oh jane had we been less secret had we told what we knew of him this could not have happened perhaps it would have been better replied her sister but to expose the former of any person without knowing what their present feelings were seemed we acted with the best could colonel forster the particulars of lydia s note to his wife he brought it with him for us to see jane then took it from her book and gave it to elizabeth these were the contents my dear you will laugh when you know where i am gone and i cannot help laughing myself at your surprise to morrow morning as soon as i am i am going to and if you cannot with who i shall think you a for there is but one man in the world i love and he is an i should never be happy without him so think it no to be off you need not send them word at longbourn of my going if you do not like it for it will make the surprise the greater when i write to them and my name lydia wickham what a good it will be i can hardly write for laughing pray make my to for not my engagement and dancing with him to night tell him i hope he will excuse me when he knows all and tell him i will dance with him at the next ball we meet with great pleasure i shall send for my clothes when i get to longbourn but i wish you would tell to a great in my gown before they are up good give my love to colonel forster i hope you will drink to our good journey your affectionate friend lydia bennet oh lydia cried elizabeth when she had finished it what a letter is this to be written at such a moment but at least it that she was serious in the object of her journey whatever he might afterwards persuade her to it was not on her side a scheme of my poor father how he must have felt it i never saw anyone so shocked he could not speak a word for full ten minutes my mother was taken ill immediately and the whole house in such confusion oh jane cried elizabeth was there a servant to it who did not know the whole story before the end of the day i do not know i hope there was but to be guarded at such a time is very difficult my mother was in and though i endeavoured to give her every assistance in my power i am afraid i did not do so much as i might have done but the of what might possibly happen almost took from me my your upon her has been too much for you you do not look well oh that i had been with you you have had every care and anxiety upon yourself alone mary and kitty have been very kind and would have in every i am sure but i did not think it right for either of them kitty is slight and delicate and mary so much that her hours of should not be broken in on my aunt philips came to longbourn on tuesday after my father went away and was so good as to stay till with me she was of great use and comfort to us all and lady lucas has been very kind she walked here on wednesday morning to with us and offered her or any of her daughters if they could be of use to us she had better have stayed at home cried elizabeth perhaps she meant well but under such a misfortune as this one cannot see too little of one s neighbours assistance is impossible let them triumph over us at a distance and be satisfied she then proceeded to inquire into the which her father had intended to pursue while in town for the of his daughter he meant i believe replied jane to go to the place where they last changed horses see the and try if anything could be made out from them his principal object must be to discover the of the coach which took them from it had come with a from london and as he thought the circumstance of a gentleman and lady s from one carriage into another might be he meant to make inquiries at if he could discover at what house the had before set down his he determined to make inquiries there and hoped it might not be impossible to find out the stand and of the coach i do not know of any other that he had formed but he was in such a hurry to be gone and his spirits so greatly that i had difficulty in finding out even so much as this illustration the post chapter illustration the whole party were in hopes of a letter from mr bennet the next morning but the post came in without bringing a single line from him his family knew him to be on all common occasions a most and but at such a time they had hoped for exertion they were forced to that he had no pleasing intelligence to send but even of that they would have been glad to be certain mr gardiner had waited only for the letters before he set off when he was gone they were certain at least of receiving constant information of what was going on and their uncle promised at parting to on mr bennet to return to longbourn as soon as he could to the great consolation of his sister who considered it as the only for her husband s not being in a mrs gardiner and the children were to remain in hertfordshire a few days longer as the former thought her presence might be to her nieces she in their on mrs bennet and was a great comfort to them in their hours of their other aunt also them frequently and always as she said with the design of and them up though as she never came without some fresh instance of wickham s or she seldom went away without leaving them more than she found them all meryton seemed to the man who but three months before had been almost an of light he was declared to be in to every in the place and his all honoured with the of had been into every s family everybody declared that he was the young man in the world and everybody began to find out that they had always the appearance of his goodness elizabeth though she did not credit above half of what was said believed enough to make her former assurance of her sister s still more certain and even jane who believed still less of it became almost hopeless more especially as the time was now come when if they had gone to scotland which she had never before entirely of they must in all probability have gained some news of them mr gardiner left longbourn on sunday on tuesday his wife received a letter from him it told them that on his arrival he had immediately found out his brother and persuaded him to come to gracechurch street that mr bennet had been to and before his arrival but without any satisfactory information and that he was now determined to inquire at all the principal in town as mr bennet thought it possible they might have gone to one of them on their first coming to london before they mr gardiner himself did not expect any success from this but as his brother was eager in it he meant to assist him in it he added that mr bennet seemed wholly at present to leave london and promised to write again very soon there was also a to this effect i have written to colonel forster to desire him to find out if possible from some of the young man s in the regiment whether wickham has any relations or connections who would be likely to know in what part of the town he has now concealed himself if there were anyone that one could to with a probability of such a as that it might be of consequence at present we have nothing to us colonel forster will i dare say do everything in his power to satisfy us on this head but on second thoughts perhaps lizzy could tell us what relations he has now living better than any other person elizabeth was at no loss to understand from this deference for her authority proceeded but it was not in her power to give any information of so satisfactory a nature as the compliment deserved she had never heard of his having had any relations except a father and mother both of whom had been many years it was possible however that some of his companions in the shire might be able to give more information and though she was not very in it the application was a something to look forward to every day at longbourn was now a day of anxiety but the most anxious part of each was when the post was expected the arrival of letters was the first object of every morning s impatience through letters whatever of good or bad was to be told would be and every day was expected to bring some news of importance but before they heard again from mr gardiner a letter arrived for their father from a different quarter from mr collins which as jane had received directions to open all that came for him in his absence she accordingly read and elizabeth who knew what his letters always were looked over her and read it likewise it was as follows my dear sir i feel myself called upon by our relationship and my situation in life to with you on the you are now under of which we were yesterday informed by a letter from hertfordshire be assured my dear sir that mrs collins and myself sincerely with you and all your respectable family in your present distress which must be of the kind because proceeding from a cause which no time can no shall be wanting on my part that can so severe a misfortune or that may comfort you under a circumstance that must be of all others most to a s mind the death of your daughter would have been a in comparison of this and it is the more to be because there is reason to suppose as my dear charlotte me that this of behaviour in your illustration to whom i have related the affair copyright by george allen daughter has proceeded from a degree of indulgence though at the same time for the consolation of yourself and mrs bennet i am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad or she could not be of such an at so early an age that may be you are to be in which opinion i am not only joined by mrs collins but likewise by lady catherine and her daughter to whom i have related the affair they agree with me in that this false step in one daughter will be to the of all the others for who as lady catherine herself says will themselves with such a family and this consideration me moreover to with satisfaction on a certain event of last for had it been otherwise i must have been in all your and disgrace let me advise you then my dear sir to console yourself as much as possible to throw off your child from your affection for ever and leave her to the of her own i am dear sir etc etc mr gardiner did not write again till he had received an answer from colonel forster and then he had nothing of a pleasant nature to send it was not known that wickham had a single relation with whom he kept up any connection and it was certain that he had no near one living his former acquaintance had been but since he had been in the militia it did not appear that he was on terms of particular friendship with any of them there was no one therefore who could be out as likely to give any news of him and in the wretched state of his own there was a very motive for secrecy in addition to his fear of discovery by lydia s relations for it had just that he had left debts behind him to a very considerable colonel forster believed that more than a thousand pounds would be necessary to clear his at brighton he owed a good deal in the town but his debts of honour were still more mr gardiner did not attempt to conceal these particulars from the longbourn family jane heard them with a she cried this is wholly unexpected i had not an idea of it mr gardiner added in his letter that they might expect to see their father at home on the following day which was saturday rendered by the ill success of all their endeavours he had to his brother in law s entreaty that he would return to his family and leave it to him to do whatever occasion might to be advisable for their pursuit when mrs bennet was told of this she did not express so much satisfaction as her children expected considering what her anxiety for his life had been before what is he coming home and without poor lydia she cried sure he will not leave london before he has found them who is to wickham and make him marry her if he comes away as mrs gardiner began to wish to be at home it was settled that she and her children should go to london at the same time that mr bennet came from it the coach therefore took them the first of their journey and brought its master back to longbourn mrs gardiner went away in all the about elizabeth and her derbyshire friend that had attended her from that part of the world his name had never been voluntarily mentioned before them by her niece and the kind of half expectation which mrs gardiner had formed of their being followed by a letter from him had in nothing elizabeth had received none since her return that could come from pemberley the present unhappy state of the family rendered any other excuse for the of her spirits nothing therefore could be from that though elizabeth who was by this time tolerably well acquainted with her own feelings was perfectly aware that had she known nothing of darcy she could have the of lydia s somewhat better it would have spared her she thought one night out of two when mr bennet arrived he had all the appearance of his usual composure he said as little as he had ever been in the habit of saying made no mention of the business that had taken him away and it was some time before his daughters had courage to speak of it it was not till the when he joined them at tea that elizabeth ventured to introduce the subject and then on her expressing her for what he must have he replied say nothing of that who should suffer but myself it has been my own doing and i ought to feel it you must not be too severe upon yourself replied elizabeth you may well me against such an evil human nature is so to fall into it no lizzy let me once in my life feel how much i have been to blame i am not afraid of being by the impression it will pass away soon enough do you suppose them to be in london yes where else can they be so well concealed and lydia used to want to go to london added kitty she is happy then said her father and her there will probably be of some then after a short silence he continued lizzy i bear you no ill will for being in your advice to me last may which considering the event some of mind they were interrupted by miss bennet who came to her mother s tea this is a cried he which does one good it gives such an elegance to misfortune another day i will do the same i will sit in my library in my and gown and give as much trouble as i can or perhaps i may it till kitty away i am not going to run away said kitty if i should ever go to brighton i would better than lydia you go to brighton i would not trust you so near it as for fifty pounds no kitty i have at least learnt to be and you will feel the of it no officer is ever to enter my house again nor even to pass through the village balls will be absolutely unless you stand up with one of your sisters and you are never to out of doors till you can prove that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner kitty who took all these in a serious light began to well well said he do not make yourself unhappy if you are a good girl for the next ten years i will take you to a at the end of them illustration chapter illustration two days after mr bennet s return as jane and elizabeth were walking together in the behind the house they saw the housekeeper coming towards them and that she came to call them to their mother went forward to meet her but instead of the expected when they approached her she said to miss bennet i beg your pardon madam for you but i was in hopes you might have got some good news from town so i took the liberty of coming to ask what do you mean hill we have heard nothing from town dear madam cried mrs hill in great astonishment don t you know there is an express come for master from mr gardiner he has been here this half hour and master has had a letter away ran the girls too eager to get in to have time for speech they ran through the into the breakfast room from to the library their father was in neither and they were on the point of seeking him upstairs with their mother when they were met by the who said if you are looking for my master ma am he is walking towards the little upon this information they instantly passed through the hall once more and ran across the lawn after their father who was his way towards a small on one side of the jane who was not so light nor so much in the habit of running as elizabeth soon behind while her sister for came up with him and eagerly cried out oh what news what news have you heard from my uncle yes i have had a letter from him by express well and what news does it bring good or bad what is there of good to be expected said he taking the letter from his but perhaps you would like to read it elizabeth caught it from his hand jane now came up read it aloud said their father for i hardly know myself what it is about right gracechurch street monday my dear brother at last i am able to send you some of my niece and such as upon the whole i hope will give you satisfaction soon after you left me on saturday i was fortunate enough to find out in what part of london they were the particulars i reserve till we meet it is enough to know they are discovered i have seen them both illustration but perhaps you would like to read it copyright by george allen then it is as i always hoped cried jane they are married elizabeth read on i have seen them both they are not married nor can i find there was any intention of being so but if you are willing to the engagements which i have ventured to make on your side i hope it will not be long before they are all that is required of you is to assure to your daughter by her equal share of the five thousand pounds among your children after the of yourself and my sister and moreover to enter into an engagement of allowing her during your life one hundred pounds these are which considering everything i had no in with as far as i thought myself for you i shall send this by express that no time may be lost in bringing me your answer you will easily comprehend from these particulars that mr wickham s circumstances are not so hopeless as they are generally believed to be the world has been deceived in that respect and i am happy to say there will be some little money even when all his debts are to settle on my niece in addition to her own fortune if as i will be the case you send me full powers to act in your name the whole of this business i will immediately give directions to for preparing a proper there will not be the smallest occasion for your coming to town again therefore stay quietly at longbourn and depend on my and care send back your answer as soon as you can and be to write we have judged it best that my niece should be married from this house of which i hope you will she comes to us to day i shall write again as soon as anything more is determined on yours etc gardiner is it possible cried elizabeth when she had finished can it be possible that he will marry her wickham is not so then as we have thought him said her sister my dear father i congratulate you and have you answered the letter said elizabeth no but it must be done soon most earnestly did she then entreat him to lose no more time before he wrote oh my dear father she cried come back and write immediately consider how important every moment is in such a case let me write for you said jane if you dislike the trouble yourself i dislike it very much he replied but it must be done and so saying he turned back with them and walked towards the house and may i ask said elizabeth but the terms i suppose must be with with i am only ashamed of his asking so little and they must marry yet he is such a man yes yes they must marry there is nothing else to be done but there are two things that i want very much to know one is how much money your uncle has laid down to bring it about and the other how i am ever to pay him money my uncle cried jane what do you mean sir i mean that no man in his proper would marry lydia on so slight a temptation as one hundred a year during my life and fifty after i am gone that is very true said elizabeth though it had not occurred to me before his debts to be and something still to remain oh it must be my uncle s generous good man i am afraid he has distressed himself a small could not do all this no said her father wickham s a if he takes her with a less than ten thousand pounds i should be sorry to think so ill of him in the very beginning of our relationship ten thousand pounds heaven how is half such a to be mr bennet made no answer and each of them deep in thought continued silent till they reached the house their father then went to the library to write and the girls walked into the breakfast room and they are really to be married cried elizabeth as soon as they were by themselves how strange this is and for this we are to be thankful that they should marry small as is their chance of happiness and wretched as is his character we are forced to rejoice oh lydia i comfort myself with thinking replied jane that he certainly would not marry lydia if he had not a real regard for her though our kind uncle has done something towards him i cannot believe that ten thousand pounds or anything like it has been he has children of his own and may have more how could he spare half ten thousand pounds if we are ever able to learn what wickham s debts have been said elizabeth and how much is settled on his side on our sister we shall exactly know what mr gardiner has done for them because wickham has not of his own the kindness of my uncle and aunt can never be their taking her home and her their and countenance is such a sacrifice to her advantage as years of gratitude cannot enough acknowledge by this time she is actually with them if such goodness does not make her miserable now she will never deserve to be happy what a meeting for her when she first sees my aunt we must endeavour to forget all that has passed on either side said jane i hope and trust they will yet be happy his to marry her is a proof i will believe that he is come to a right way of thinking their affection will steady them and i flatter myself they will settle so quietly and live in so rational a manner as may in time make their past imprudence forgotten their conduct has been such replied elizabeth as neither you nor i nor anybody can ever forget it is useless to talk of it it now occurred to the girls that their mother was in all perfectly ignorant of what had happened they went to the library therefore and asked their father whether he would not wish them to make it known to her he was writing and without his head replied just as you please may we take my uncle s letter to read to her take whatever you like and get away elizabeth took the letter from his writing table and they went upstairs together mary and kitty were both with mrs bennet one communication would therefore do for all after a slight for good news the letter was read aloud mrs bennet could hardly contain herself as soon as jane had read mr gardiner s hope of lydia s being soon married her joy and every following sentence added to its she was now in an as violent from delight as she had ever been from alarm and vexation to know that her daughter would be married was enough she was by no fear for her felicity nor by any of her my dear dear lydia she cried this is delightful indeed she will be married i shall see her again she will be married at sixteen my good kind brother i knew how it would be i knew he would everything how i long to see her and to see dear wickham too but the clothes the wedding clothes i will write to my sister gardiner about them directly lizzy my dear run down to your father and ask him how much he will give her stay stay i will go myself the bell kitty for hill i will put on my things in a moment my dear dear lydia how we shall be together when we meet her eldest daughter endeavoured to give some relief to the of these by her thoughts to the which mr gardiner s behaviour laid them all under for we must this happy conclusion she added in a great to his kindness we are persuaded that he has himself to assist mr wickham with money well cried her mother it is all very right who should do it but her own uncle if he had not had a family of his own i and my children must have had all his money you know and it is the first time we have ever had anything from him except a few well i am so happy in a short time i shall have a daughter married mrs wickham how well it and she was only sixteen last my dear jane i am in such a that i am sure i can t write so i will and you write for me we will settle with your father about the money afterwards but the things should be ordered immediately she was then proceeding to all the particulars of and and would shortly have some very orders had not jane though with some difficulty persuaded her to wait till her father was at leisure to be one day s delay she observed would be of small importance and her mother was too happy to be quite so as usual other schemes too came into her head i will go to meryton said she as soon as i am dressed and tell the good good news to my sister philips and as i come back i can call on lady lucas and mrs long kitty run down and order the carriage an would do me a great deal of good i am sure girls can i do anything for you in meryton oh here comes hill my dear hill have you heard the good news miss lydia is going to be married and you shall all have a of to make at her wedding mrs hill began instantly to express her joy elizabeth received her congratulations amongst the rest and then sick of this folly took in her own room that she might think with poor lydia s situation must at best be bad enough but that it was no worse she had need to be thankful she felt it so and though in looking forward neither rational happiness nor could be expected for her sister in looking back to what they had feared only two hours ago she felt all the advantages of what they had gained illustration the old ladies copyright by george allen chapter illustration mr bennet had very often wished before this period of his life that instead of his whole income he had laid by an for the better of his children and of his wife if she him he now wished it more than ever had he done his duty in that respect lydia need not have been indebted to her uncle for whatever of honour or credit could now be for her the satisfaction of on one of the most young men in great to be her husband might then have in its proper place he was seriously concerned that a cause of so little advantage to anyone should be at the expense of his brother in law and he was determined if possible to find out the extent of his assistance and to the obligation as soon as he could when first mr bennet had married was to be perfectly useless for of course they were to have a son this son was to join in off the entail as soon as he should be of age and the and younger children would by that means be provided for five daughters entered the world but yet the son was to come and mrs bennet for many years after lydia s had been certain that he would this event had at last been of but it was then too late to be mrs bennet had no turn for and her husband s love of independence had alone prevented their their income five thousand pounds was settled by marriage on mrs bennet and the children but in what it should be amongst the latter on the will of the parents this was one point with regard to lydia at least which was now to be settled and mr bennet could have no in to the proposal before him in terms of grateful for the kindness of his brother though expressed most he then on paper his perfect approbation of all that was done and his to the engagements that had been made for him he had never before supposed that could wickham be prevailed on to marry his daughter it would be done with so little inconvenience to himself as by the present arrangement he would scarcely be ten pounds a year the by the hundred that was to be paid them for what with her and and the in money which passed to her through her mother s hands lydia s had been very little within that that it would be done with such exertion on his side too was another very welcome surprise for his chief wish at present was to have as little trouble in the business as possible when the first of which had produced his in seeking her were over he naturally returned to all his former his letter was soon for though in business he was quick in its he begged to know further particulars of what he was indebted to his brother but was too angry with lydia to send any to her the good news through the house and with through the neighbourhood it was in the latter with to be sure it would have been more for the advantage of conversation had miss lydia bennet come upon the town or as the happiest been from the world in some house but there was much to be talked of in marrying her and the good natured wishes for her well doing which had proceeded before from all the old ladies in meryton lost but little of their spirit in this change of circumstances because with such a husband her misery was considered certain it was a fortnight since mrs bennet had been down stairs but on this happy day she again took her seat at the head of her table and in spirits high no sentiment of shame gave a to her triumph the marriage of a daughter which had been the first object of her wishes since jane was sixteen was now on the point of and her thoughts and her words ran wholly on those of elegant fine new carriages and servants she was through the neighbourhood for a proper situation for her daughter and without knowing or considering what their income might be many as in and importance park might do said she if the would quit it or the great house at if the drawing room were larger but is too far off i could not bear to have her ten miles from me and as for lodge the are dreadful her husband allowed her to talk on without interruption while the servants remained but when they had he said to her mrs bennet before you take any or all of these for your son and daughter let us come to a right understanding into one house in this neighbourhood they shall never have i will not encourage the imprudence of either by receiving them at longbourn a long followed this but mr bennet was it soon led to another and mrs bennet found with amazement and that her husband would not a to clothes for his daughter he protested that she should receive from him no of affection whatever on the occasion mrs bennet could hardly comprehend it that his anger could be carried to such a point of resentment as to refuse his daughter a without which her marriage would scarcely seem all that she could believe possible she was more to the disgrace which her want of new clothes must on her daughter s than to any sense of shame at her and living with wickham a fortnight before they took place elizabeth was now most heartily sorry that she had from the distress of the moment been led to make mr darcy acquainted with their fears for her sister for since her marriage would so shortly give the proper to the elopement they might hope to conceal its beginning from all those who were not immediately on the spot she had no fear of its farther through his means there were few people on whose secrecy she would have more but at the same time there was no one whose knowledge of a sister s would have her so much not however from any fear of from it to herself for at any there seemed a between them had lydia s marriage been concluded on the most honourable terms it was not to be supposed that mr darcy would himself with a family where to every other objection would now be added an and relationship of the kind with the man whom he so from such a connection she could not wonder that he should the wish of her regard which she had assured herself of his feeling in derbyshire could not in rational expectation such a as this she was she was grieved she though she hardly knew of what she became of his esteem when she could no longer hope to be by it she wanted to hear of him when there seemed the least chance of intelligence she was convinced that she could have been happy with him when it was no longer likely they should meet what a triumph for him as she often thought could he know that the proposals which she had only four months ago would now have been and received he was as generous she doubted not as the most generous of his sex but while he was there must be a triumph she began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who in disposition and would most suit her his understanding and temper though her own would have answered all her wishes it was an that must have been to the advantage of both by her ease and his mind might have been softened his manners improved and from his judgment information and knowledge of the world she must have received of greater importance but no such happy marriage could now the what felicity really was an of a different and the possibility of the other was soon to be formed in their family how wickham and lydia were to be in tolerable independence she could not imagine but how little of happiness could to a couple who were only brought together because their were stronger than their virtue she could easily conjecture mr gardiner soon wrote again to his brother to mr bennet s he replied with assurances of his eagerness to the of any of his family and concluded with that the subject might never be mentioned to him again the principal of his letter was to inform them that mr wickham had resolved on quitting the militia it was greatly my wish that he should do so he added as soon as his marriage was fixed on and i think you will agree with me in considering a removal from that corps as highly advisable both on his account and my niece s it is mr wickham s intention to go into the and among his former friends there are still some who are able and willing to assist him in the he has the promise of an in general s regiment now in the north it is an advantage to have it so far from this part of the he and i hope among different people where they may each have a character to they will both be more i have written to colonel forster to inform him of our present and to request that he will satisfy the various of mr wickham in and near brighton with assurances of for which i have myself and will you give yourself the trouble of assurances to his in meryton of whom i shall a according to his information he has given in all his debts i hope at least he has not deceived us has our directions and all will be in a week they will then join his regiment unless they are first invited to longbourn and i understand from mrs gardiner that my niece is very desirous of seeing you all before she the she is well and to be remembered to you and her mother yours etc gardiner mr bennet and his daughters saw all the advantages of wickham s removal from the shire as as mr gardiner could do but mrs bennet was not so well pleased with it lydia s being settled in the north just when she had expected most pleasure and pride in her company for she had by no means given up her plan of their in hertfordshire was a severe disappointment and besides it was such a pity that lydia should be taken from a regiment where she was acquainted with everybody and had so many she is so fond of mrs forster said she it will be quite shocking to send her away and there are several of the young men too that she likes very much the officers may not be so pleasant in general s regiment his daughter s request for such it might be considered of being admitted into her family again before she set off for the north received at first an but jane and elizabeth who agreed in wishing for the sake of their sister s feelings and consequence that she should be noticed on her marriage by her parents urged him so earnestly yet so and so to receive her and her husband at longbourn as soon as they were married that he was prevailed on to think as they thought and act as they wished and their mother had the satisfaction of knowing that she should be able to show her married daughter in the neighbourhood before she was to the north when mr bennet wrote again to his brother therefore he sent his permission for them to come and it was settled that as soon as the was over they should to longbourn elizabeth was surprised however that wickham should consent to such a scheme and had she only her own inclination any meeting with him would have been the last object of her wishes illustration with an affectionate smile copyright by george allen chapter illustration their sister s wedding day arrived and jane and elizabeth felt for her probably more than she felt for herself the carriage was sent to meet them at and they were to return in it by their arrival was dreaded by the elder miss bennets and jane more especially who gave lydia the feelings which would have attended herself had she been the and was wretched in the thought of what her sister must they came the family were assembled in the breakfast room to receive them smiles the face of mrs bennet as the carriage drove up to the door her husband looked grave her daughters alarmed anxious uneasy lydia s voice was heard in the the door was thrown open and she ran into the room her mother her and welcomed her with gave her hand with an affectionate smile to wickham who followed his lady and wished them both joy with an which showed no doubt of their happiness their reception from mr bennet to whom they then turned was not quite so his countenance rather gained in and he scarcely opened his lips the easy assurance of the young couple indeed was enough to him elizabeth was and even miss bennet was shocked lydia was lydia still wild and she turned from sister to sister their congratulations and when at length they all sat down looked eagerly round the room took notice of some little alteration in it and observed with a laugh that it was a great while since she had been there wickham was not at all more distressed than herself but his manners were always so pleasing that had his character and his marriage been exactly what they ought his smiles and his easy address while he their relationship would have delighted them all elizabeth had not before believed him quite equal to such assurance but she sat down resolving within herself to draw no in future to the of an man she blushed and jane blushed but the of the two who their confusion suffered no of colour there was no want of discourse the and her mother could neither of them talk fast enough and wickham who happened to sit near elizabeth began after his acquaintance in that neighbourhood with a good humoured ease which she felt very unable to equal in her they seemed each of them to have the happiest in the world nothing of the past was recollected with pain and lydia led voluntarily to subjects which her sisters would not have alluded to for the world only think of its being three months she cried since i went away it seems but a fortnight i declare and yet there have been things enough happened in the time good gracious when i went away i am sure i had no more idea of being married till i came back again though i thought it would be very good fun if i was her father up his eyes jane was distressed elizabeth looked at lydia but she who never heard nor saw anything of which she chose to be continued oh mamma do the people know i am married to day i was afraid they might not and we william in his so i was determined he should know it and so i let down the side next to him and took off my and let my hand just rest upon the window so that he might see the and then i and smiled like anything elizabeth could bear it no longer she got up and ran out of the room and returned no more till she heard them passing through the hall to the dining parlour she then joined them soon enough to see lydia with anxious walk up to her mother s right hand and hear her say to her eldest sister jane i take your place now and you must go because i am a married woman it was not to be supposed that time would give lydia that embarrassment from which she had been so wholly free at first her ease and good spirits increased she longed to see mrs philips the lucases and all their other neighbours and to hear herself called mrs wickham by each of them and in the she went after dinner to show her and boast of being married to mrs hill and the two well mamma said she when they were all returned to the breakfast room and what do you think of my husband is not he a charming man i am sure my sisters must all me i only hope they may have half my good they must all go to brighton that is the place to get what a pity it is mamma we did not all go very true and if i had my will we should but my dear lydia i don t at all like your going such a way off must it be so oh lord yes there is nothing in that i shall like it of all things you and and my sisters must come down and see us we shall be at all the winter and i dare say there will be some balls and i will take care to get good for them all i should like it beyond anything said her mother and then when you go away you may leave one or two of my sisters behind you and i dare say i shall get for them before the winter is over i thank you for my share of the favour said elizabeth but i do not particularly like your way of getting their visitors were not to remain above ten days with them mr wickham had received his commission before he left london and he was to join his regiment at the end of a fortnight no one but mrs bennet that their stay would be so short and she made the most of the time by about with her daughter and having very frequent parties at home these parties were acceptable to all to avoid a family circle was even more desirable to such as did think than such as did not wickham s affection for lydia was just what elizabeth had expected to find it not equal to lydia s for him she had scarcely her present observation to be satisfied from the reason of things that their elopement had been brought on by the strength of her love rather than by his and she would have wondered why without violently for her he chose to with her at all had she not felt certain that his was rendered necessary by distress of circumstances and if that were the case he was not the young man to an opportunity of having a companion lydia was exceedingly fond of him he was her dear wickham on every occasion no one was to be put in with him he did everything best in the world and she was sure he would more on the first of than anybody else in the country one morning soon after their arrival as she was sitting with her two elder sisters she said to elizabeth lizzy i never gave you an account of my wedding i believe you were not by when i told mamma and the others all about it are not you to hear how it was no really replied elizabeth i think there cannot be too little said on the subject you are so strange but i must tell you how it went off we were married you know at st s because wickham s were in that parish and it was settled that we should all be there by o clock my uncle and aunt and i were to go together and the others were to meet us at the church well monday morning came and i was in such a i was so afraid you know that something would happen to put it off and then i should have gone quite and there was my aunt all the time i was dressing and talking away just as if she was reading a however i did not hear above one word in ten for i was thinking you may suppose of my dear wickham i longed to know whether he would be married in his well and so we at ten as usual i thought it would never be over for by the you are to understand that my uncle and aunt were unpleasant all the time i was with them if you believe me i did not once put my out of doors though i was there a fortnight not one party or scheme or anything to be sure london was rather but however the little was open well and so just as the carriage came to the door my uncle was called away upon business to that man mr and then you know when once they get together there is no end of it well i was so frightened i did not know what to do for my uncle was to give me away and if we were beyond the hour we could not be married all day but he came back again in ten minutes time and then we all set out however i recollected afterwards that if he had been prevented going the wedding need not be put off for mr darcy might have done as well mr darcy repeated elizabeth in utter amazement oh yes he was to come there with wickham you know but gracious me i quite i ought not to have said a word about it i promised them so what will wickham say it was to be such a secret if it was to be a secret said jane say not another word on the subject you may depend upon my seeking no further oh certainly said elizabeth though with curiosity we will ask you no questions thank you said lydia for if you did i should certainly tell you all and then wickham would be so angry on such encouragement to ask elizabeth was forced to put it out of her power by running away but to live in ignorance on such a point was impossible or at least it was impossible not to try for information mr darcy had been at her sister s wedding it was exactly a scene and exactly among people where he had least to do and least temptation to go as to the meaning of it and wild hurried into her but she was satisfied with none those that best pleased her as his conduct in the light seemed most improbable she could not bear such suspense and hastily a of paper wrote a short letter to her aunt to request an explanation of what lydia had dropped if it were with the secrecy which had been intended you may readily comprehend she added what my curiosity must be to know how a person with any of us and speaking a stranger to our family should have been amongst you at such a time pray write instantly and let me understand it unless it is for very to remain in the secrecy which lydia seems to think necessary and then i must endeavour to be satisfied with ignorance not that i shall though she added to herself and she finished the letter and my dear aunt if you do not tell me in an honourable manner i shall certainly be to and to find it out jane s delicate sense of honour would not allow her to speak to elizabeth of what lydia had let fall elizabeth was glad of it till it appeared whether her inquiries would receive any satisfaction she had rather be without a illustration i am sure she did not listen chapter illustration elizabeth had the satisfaction of receiving an answer to her letter as soon as she possibly could she was no sooner in possession of it than into the little where she was least likely to be interrupted she sat down on one of the and prepared to be happy for the length of the letter convinced her that it did not contain a denial right gracechurch street my dear niece i have just received your letter and shall this whole morning to it as i that a little writing will not what i have to tell you i must confess myself surprised by your application i did not expect it from you don t think me angry however for i only mean to let you know that i had not such inquiries to be necessary on your side if you do not choose to understand me forgive my impertinence your uncle is as much surprised as i am and nothing but the belief of your being a party concerned would have allowed him to act as he has done but if you are really and ignorant i must be more on the very day of my coming home from longbourn your uncle had a most unexpected visitor mr darcy called and was up with him several hours it was all over before i arrived so my curiosity was not so as yours seems to have been he came to tell mr gardiner that he had found out where your sister and mr wickham were and that he had seen and talked with them both wickham repeatedly lydia once from what i can he left derbyshire only one day after ourselves and came to town with the resolution of for them the motive was his conviction of its being to himself that wickham s had not been so well known as to make it impossible for any young woman of character to love or in him he the whole to his mistaken pride and that he had before thought it him to lay his private actions open to the world his character was to speak for itself he called it therefore his duty to step forward and endeavour to an evil which had been brought on by himself if he had another motive i am sure it would never disgrace him he had been some days in town before he was able to discover them but he had something to direct his which was more than we had and the of this was another reason for his resolving to follow us there is a lady it seems a mrs who was some time ago governess to miss darcy and was from her charge on some cause of disapprobation though he did not say what she then took a large house in street and has since herself by this mrs was he knew acquainted with wickham and he went to her for intelligence of him as soon as he got to town but it was two or three days before he could get from her what he wanted she would not her trust i suppose without and for she really did know where her friend was to be found wickham indeed had gone to her on their first arrival in london and had she been able to receive them into her house they would have taken up their abode with her at length however our kind friend the wished for direction they were in street he saw wickham and afterwards on seeing lydia his first object with her he acknowledged had been to persuade her to quit her present situation and return to her friends as soon as they could be prevailed on to receive her his assistance as far as it would go but he found lydia absolutely resolved on remaining where she was she cared for none of her friends she wanted no help of his she would not hear of leaving wickham she was sure they should be married some time or other and it did not much when since such were her feelings it only remained he thought to secure and a marriage which in his very first conversation with wickham he easily learnt had never been his design he himself obliged to leave the regiment on account of some debts of honour which were very and not to lay all the ill of lydia s on her own folly alone he meant to his commission immediately and as to his future situation he could conjecture very little about it he must go but he did not know where and he knew he should have nothing to live on mr darcy asked why he did not marry your sister at once though mr bennet was not to be very rich he would have been able to do something for him and his situation must have been by marriage but he found in reply to this question that wickham still the hope of more making his fortune by marriage in some other country under such circumstances however he was not likely to be proof against the temptation of immediate relief they met several times for there was much to be wickham of course wanted more than he could get but at length was to be reasonable everything being settled between them mr darcy s next step was to make your uncle acquainted with it and he first called in gracechurch street the evening before i came home but mr gardiner could not be seen and mr darcy found on further inquiry that your father was still with him but would quit town the next morning he did not judge your father to be a person whom he could so properly as your uncle and therefore readily seeing him till after the departure of the former he did not leave his name and till the next day it was only known that a gentleman had called on business on saturday he came again your father was gone your uncle at home and as i said before they had a great deal of talk together they met again on sunday and then i saw him too it was not all settled before monday as soon as it was the express was sent off to longbourn but our visitor was very i fancy lizzy that is the real of his character after all he has been of many at different times but this is the true one nothing was to be done that he did not do himself though i am sure and i do not speak it to be thanked therefore say nothing about it your uncle would most readily have settled the whole they it together for a long time which was more than either the gentleman or lady concerned in it deserved but at last your uncle was forced to and instead of being allowed to be of use to his niece was forced to put up with only having the probable credit of it which went against the and i really believe your letter this morning gave him great pleasure because it required an explanation that would him of his and give the praise where it was due but lizzy this must go no further than yourself or jane at most you know pretty well i suppose what has been done for the young people his debts are to be paid i believe to more than a thousand pounds another thousand in addition to her own settled upon her and his commission the reason why all this was to be done by him alone was such as i have given above it was to him to his reserve and want of proper consideration that wickham s character had been so and consequently that he had been received and noticed as he was perhaps there was some truth in this though i doubt whether his reserve or anybody s reserve can be for the event but in spite of all this fine talking my dear lizzy you may rest perfectly assured that your uncle would never have if we had not given him credit for another interest in the affair when all this was resolved on he returned again to his friends who were still staying at pemberley but it was agreed that he should be in london once more when the wedding took place and all money matters were then to receive the last i believe i have now told you everything it is a relation which you tell me is to give you great surprise i hope at least it will not afford you any displeasure lydia came to us and wickham had constant to the house he was exactly what he had been when i knew him in hertfordshire but i would not tell you how little i was satisfied with her behaviour while she stayed with us if i had not perceived by jane s letter last wednesday that her conduct on coming home was exactly of a piece with it and therefore what i now tell you can give you no fresh pain i talked to her repeatedly in the most serious manner to her the of what she had done and all the she had brought on her family if she heard me it was by good for i am sure she did not listen i was sometimes quite but then i recollected my dear elizabeth and jane and for their had patience with her mr darcy was in his return and as lydia informed you attended the wedding he dined with us the next day and was to leave town again on wednesday or will you be very angry with me my dear lizzy if i take this opportunity of saying what i was never enough to say before how much i like him his behaviour to us has in every respect been as pleasing as when we were in derbyshire his understanding and opinions all please me he wants nothing but a little more and that if he marry his wife may him i thought him very he hardly ever mentioned your name but seems the fashion pray forgive me if i have been very or at least do not me so far as to me from i shall never be quite happy till i have been all round the park a low with a little of would be the very thing but i must write no more the children have been wanting me this half hour yours very sincerely m gardiner the contents of this letter threw elizabeth into a of spirits in which it was difficult to determine whether pleasure or pain bore the greatest share the and which had produced of what mr darcy might have been doing to forward her sister s match which she had feared to encourage as an exertion of goodness too great to be probable and at the same time dreaded to be just from the pain of obligation were proved beyond their greatest extent to be true he had followed them purposely to town he had taken on himself all the trouble and mortification on such a in which had been necessary to a woman whom he must and and where he was to meet frequently meet reason with persuade and finally the man whom he always most wished to avoid and whose very name it was to him to he had done all this for a girl whom he could neither regard nor esteem her heart did whisper that he had done it for her but it was a hope shortly by other and she soon felt that even her vanity was insufficient when required to depend on his affection for her for a woman who had already refused him as able to overcome a sentiment so natural as abhorrence against relationship with wickham brother in law of wickham every kind of pride must from the connection he had to be sure done much she was ashamed to think how much but he had given a reason for his interference which asked no extraordinary of belief it was reasonable that he should feel he had been wrong he had and he had the means of it and though she would not place herself as his principal she could perhaps believe that remaining partiality for her might assist his endeavours in a cause where her peace of mind must be concerned it was painful exceedingly painful to know that they were under to a person who could never receive a return they owed the of lydia her character everything to him oh how heartily did she over every she had ever encouraged every speech she had ever directed towards him for herself she was but she was proud of him proud that in a cause of compassion and honour he had been able to get the better of himself she read over her aunt s commendation of him again and again it was hardly enough but it pleased her she was even sensible of some pleasure though with regret on finding how both she and her uncle had been persuaded that affection and confidence between mr darcy and herself she was roused from her seat and her reflections by s approach and before she could into another she was by wickham i am afraid i your my dear sister said he as he joined her you certainly do she replied with a smile but it does not follow that the interruption must be i should be sorry indeed if it were we were always good friends and now we are better true are the others coming out i do not know mrs bennet and lydia are going in the carriage to meryton and so my dear sister i find from our uncle and aunt that you have actually seen pemberley she replied in the i almost you the pleasure and yet i believe it would be too much for me or else i could take it in my way to and you saw the old housekeeper i suppose poor reynolds she was always very fond of me but of course she did not mention my name to you yes she did and what did she say that you were gone into the and she was afraid had not turned out well at such a distance as that you know things are certainly he replied his lips elizabeth hoped she had him but he soon afterwards said i was surprised to see darcy in town last month we passed each other several times i wonder what he can be doing there perhaps preparing for his marriage with miss de bourgh said elizabeth it must be something particular to take him there at this time of year undoubtedly did you see him while you were at lambton i thought i understood from the gardiners that you had yes he introduced us to his sister and do you like her very much i have heard indeed that she is uncommonly improved within this year or two when i last saw her she was not very i am very glad you liked her i hope she will turn out well i dare say she will she has got over the most trying age did you go by the village of i do not recollect that we did i mention it because it is the living which i ought to have had a most delightful place excellent parsonage house it would have me in every respect how should you have liked making exceedingly well i should have considered it as part of my duty and the exertion would soon have been nothing one ought not to but to be sure it would have been such a thing for me the quiet the of such a life would have answered all my ideas of happiness but it was not to be did you ever hear darcy mention the circumstance when you were in kent i have heard from authority which i thought as good that it was left you only and at the will of the present you have yes there was something in that i told you so from the first you may remember i did hear too that there was a time when making was not so to you as it seems to be at present that you actually declared your resolution of never taking orders and that the business had been accordingly you did and it was not wholly without you may remember what i told you on that point when first we talked of it they were now almost at the door of the house for she had walked fast to get of him and unwilling for her sister s sake to him she only said in reply with a good humoured smile come mr wickham we are brother and sister you know do not let us about the past in future i hope we shall be always of one mind she out her hand he it with affectionate gallantry though he hardly knew how to look and they entered the house illustration mr darcy with him chapter illustration mr wickham was so perfectly satisfied with this conversation that he never again distressed himself or his dear sister elizabeth by the subject of it and she was pleased to find that she had said enough to keep him quiet the day of his and lydia s departure soon came and mrs bennet was forced to to a separation which as her husband by no means entered into her scheme of their all going to was likely to continue at least a twelvemonth oh my dear lydia she cried when shall we meet again oh lord i don t know not these two or three years perhaps write to me very often my dear as often as i can but you know married women have never much time for writing my sisters may write to me they will have nothing else to do mr wickham s were much more affectionate than his wife s he smiled looked handsome and said many pretty things he is as fine a fellow said mr bennet as soon as they were out of the house as ever i saw he and and makes love to us all i am proud of him i even sir william lucas himself to a more valuable son in law the loss of her daughter made mrs bennet very for several days i often think said she that there is nothing so bad as parting with one s friends one seems so without them this is the consequence you see madam of marrying a daughter said elizabeth it must make you better satisfied that your other four are single it is no such thing lydia does not leave me because she is married but only because her husband s regiment to be so far off if that had been she would not have gone so soon but the which this event threw her into was shortly relieved and her mind opened again to the agitation of hope by an of news which then began to be in the housekeeper at netherfield had received orders to prepare for the arrival of her master who was coming down in a day or two to there for several weeks mrs bennet was quite in the she looked at jane and smiled and shook her head by well well and so mr bingley is coming down sister for mrs philips first brought her the news well so much the better not that i care about it though he is nothing to us you know and i am sure i never want to see him again but however he is very welcome to come to netherfield if he likes it and who knows what may happen but that is nothing to us you know sister we agreed long ago never to mention a word about it and so it is quite certain he is coming you may depend on it replied the other for mrs was in meryton last night i saw her passing by and went out myself on purpose to know the truth of it and she told me that it was certainly true he comes down on at the very likely on wednesday she was going to the s she told me on purpose to order in some on wednesday and she has got three couple of just to be miss bennet had not been able to hear of his coming without colour it was many months since she had mentioned his name to elizabeth but now as soon as they were alone together she said i saw you look at me to day lizzy when my aunt told us of the present report and i know i appeared distressed but don t imagine it was from any silly cause i was only for the moment because i felt that i should be looked at i do assure you that the news does not me either with pleasure or pain i am glad of one thing that he comes alone because we shall see the less of him not that i am afraid of myself but i other people s remarks elizabeth did not know what to make of it had she not seen him in derbyshire she might have supposed him capable of coming there with no other view than what was acknowledged but she still thought him partial to jane and she as to the greater probability of his coming there with his friend s permission or being enough to come without it yet it is hard she sometimes thought that this poor man cannot come to a house which he has without all this i will leave him to himself in spite of what her sister declared and really believed to be her feelings in the expectation of his arrival elizabeth could easily perceive that her spirits were affected by it they were more more than she had often seen them the subject which had been so warmly between their parents about a twelvemonth ago was now brought forward again as soon as ever mr bingley comes my dear said mrs bennet you will wait on him of course no no you forced me into him last year and promised if i went to see him he should marry one of my daughters but it in nothing and i will not be sent on a s again his wife represented to him how absolutely necessary such an attention would be from all the gentlemen on his returning to netherfield an i said he if he wants our society let him seek it he knows where we live i will not spend my hours in running after my neighbours every time they go away and come back again well all i know is that it will be if you do not wait on him but however that t prevent my asking him to dine here i am determined we must have mrs long and the soon that will make with ourselves so there will be just room at table for him by this resolution she was the better able to bear her husband s though it was very mortifying to know that her neighbours might all see mr bingley in consequence of it before they did as the day of his arrival drew near i begin to be sorry that he comes at all said jane to her sister it would be nothing i could see him with perfect indifference but i can hardly bear to hear it thus talked of my mother means well but she does not know no one can know how much i suffer from what she says happy shall i be when his stay at netherfield is over i wish i could say anything to comfort you replied elizabeth but it is wholly out of my power you must feel it and the usual satisfaction of patience to a is me because you have always so much mr bingley arrived mrs bennet through the assistance of servants to have the earliest of it that the period of anxiety and on her side be as long as it could she the days that must before their invitation could be sent hopeless of seeing him before but on the third morning after his arrival in hertfordshire she saw him from her dressing room window enter the and towards the house her daughters were eagerly called to of her joy jane kept her place at the table but elizabeth to satisfy her mother went to the window she looked she saw mr darcy with him and sat down again by her sister there is a gentleman with him mamma said kitty who can it be some acquaintance or other my dear i suppose i am sure i do not know replied kitty it looks just like that man that used to be with him before mr what s his name that tall proud man good gracious mr darcy and so it does i well any friend of mr bingley s will always be welcome here to be sure but else i must say that i hate the very sight of him jane looked at elizabeth with surprise and concern she knew but little of their meeting in derbyshire and therefore felt for the which must her sister in seeing him almost for the first time after receiving his letter both sisters were uncomfortable enough each felt for the other and of course for themselves and their mother talked on of her dislike of mr darcy and her resolution to be civil to him only as mr bingley s friend without being heard by either of them but elizabeth had of uneasiness which could not yet be suspected by jane to whom she had never yet had courage to show mrs gardiner s letter or to relate her own change of sentiment towards him to jane he could be only a man whose proposals she had refused and whose she had but to her own more information he was the person to whom the whole family were indebted for the first of and whom she herself with an interest if not quite so at least as reasonable and just as what jane felt for bingley her astonishment at his coming at his coming to netherfield to longbourn and voluntarily seeking her again was almost equal to what she had known on first his altered behaviour in derbyshire the colour which had been from her face returned for half a minute with an and a smile of delight added to her eyes as she thought for that of time that his affection and wishes must still be but she would not be secure let me first see how he said she it will then be early enough for expectation she sat at work to be and without to up her eyes till anxious curiosity carried them to the face of her sister as the servant was approaching the door jane looked a little than usual but more than elizabeth had expected on the gentlemen s appearing her colour increased yet she received them with tolerable ease and with a propriety of behaviour equally free from any of resentment or any elizabeth said as little to either as civility would allow and sat down again to her work with an eagerness which it did not often command she had ventured only one glance at darcy he looked serious as usual and she thought more as he had been used to look in hertfordshire than as she had seen him at pemberley but perhaps he could not in her mother s presence be what he was before her uncle and aunt it was a painful but not an improbable conjecture bingley she had likewise seen for an instant and in that short period saw him looking both pleased and embarrassed he was received by mrs bennet with a degree of civility which made her two daughters ashamed especially when with the cold and politeness of her and address of his friend elizabeth particularly who knew that her mother owed to the latter the of her favourite daughter from was hurt and distressed to a most painful degree by a so ill applied darcy after of her how mr and mrs gardiner did a question which she could not answer without confusion said scarcely anything he was not seated by her perhaps that was the reason of his silence but it had not been so in derbyshire there he had talked to her friends when he could not to herself but now several minutes without bringing the sound of his voice and when occasionally unable to the of curiosity she raised her eyes to his face she as often found him looking at jane as at herself and frequently on no object but the ground more and less anxiety to please than when they last met were plainly expressed she was disappointed and angry with herself for being so could i expect it to be otherwise said she yet why did he come she was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself and to him she had hardly courage to speak she inquired after his sister but could do no more it is a long time mr bingley since you went away said mrs bennet he readily agreed to it i began to be afraid you would never come back again people did say you meant to quit the place entirely at but however i hope it is not true a great many have happened in the neighbourhood since you went away miss lucas is married and settled and one of my own daughters i suppose you have heard of it indeed you must have seen it in the it was in the times and the i know though it was not put in as it ought to be it was only said lately george wickham to miss lydia bennet without there being a syllable said of her father or the place where she lived or anything it was my brother gardiner s drawing up too and i wonder how he came to make such an awkward business of it did you see it bingley replied that he did and made his congratulations elizabeth dared not up her eyes how mr darcy looked therefore she could not tell it is a delightful thing to be sure to have a daughter well married continued her mother but at the same time mr bingley it is very hard to have her taken away from me they are gone down to a place quite it seems and there they are to stay i do not know how long his regiment is there for i suppose you have heard of his leaving the shire and of his being gone into the thank heaven he has some friends though perhaps not so many as he elizabeth who knew this to be at mr darcy was in such misery of shame that she could hardly keep her seat it drew from her however the exertion of speaking which nothing else had so done before and she asked bingley whether he meant to make any stay in the country at present a few weeks he believed when you have all your own mr bingley said her mother i beg you will come here and as many as you please on mr bennet s i am sure he will be happy to oblige you and will all the best of the for you elizabeth s misery increased at such such attention were the same fair prospect to arise at present as had flattered them a year ago everything she was persuaded would be to the same conclusion at that instant she felt that years of happiness could not make jane or herself for moments of such painful confusion the first wish of my heart said she to herself is never more to be in company with either of them their society can afford no pleasure that will for such as this let me never see either one or the other again yet the misery for which years of happiness were to offer no received soon afterwards material relief from observing how much the beauty of her sister the admiration of her former when first he came in he had spoken to her but little but every five minutes seemed to be giving her more of his attention he found her as handsome as she had been last year as good natured and as though not quite so jane was anxious that no difference should be perceived in her at all and was really persuaded that she talked as much as ever but her mind was so engaged that she did not always know when she was silent when the gentlemen rose to go away mrs bennet was of her intended civility and they were invited and engaged to dine at longbourn in a few days time you are quite a visit in my mr bingley she added for when you went to town last winter you promised to take a family dinner with us as soon as you returned i have not you see and i assure you i was very much disappointed that you did not come back and keep your engagement bingley looked a little silly at this reflection and said something of his concern at having been prevented by business they then went away mrs bennet had been strongly inclined to ask them to stay and dine there that day but though she always kept a very good table she did not think anything less than two could be good enough for a man on whom she had such anxious or satisfy the and pride of one who had ten thousand a year illustration jane happened to look round chapter illustration as soon as they were gone elizabeth walked out to recover her spirits or in other words to without interruption on those subjects which must them more mr darcy s behaviour astonished and vexed her why if he came only to be silent grave and indifferent said she did he come at all she could settle it in no way that gave her pleasure he could be still amiable still pleasing to my uncle and aunt when he was in town and why not to me if he fears me why come if he no longer for me why silent teasing teasing man i will think no more about him her resolution was for a short time kept by the approach of her sister who joined her with a cheerful look which showed her better satisfied with their visitors than elizabeth now said she that this first meeting is over i feel perfectly easy i know my own strength and i shall never be embarrassed again by his coming i am glad he here on tuesday it will then be seen that on both we meet only as common and indifferent acquaintance yes very indifferent indeed said elizabeth oh jane take care my dear lizzy you cannot think me so weak as to be in danger now i think you are in very great danger of making him as much in love with you as ever they did not see the gentlemen again till tuesday and mrs bennet in the was giving way to all the happy schemes which the good humour and common politeness of bingley in half an hour s visit had on tuesday there was a large party assembled at longbourn and the two who were most expected to the credit of their as were in very good time when they to the dining room elizabeth eagerly watched to see whether bingley would take the place which in all their former parties had to him by her sister her mother occupied by the same ideas to invite him to sit by herself on entering the room he seemed to but jane happened to look round and happened to smile it was decided he placed himself by her elizabeth with a looked towards his friend he bore it with noble indifference and she would have that bingley had received his to be happy had she not seen his eyes likewise turned towards mr darcy with an expression of half laughing alarm his behaviour to her sister was such during as showed an admiration of her which though more guarded than formerly persuaded elizabeth that if left wholly to himself jane s happiness and his own would be speedily though she dared not depend upon the consequence she yet received pleasure from observing his behaviour it gave her all the that her spirits could boast for she was in no cheerful humour mr darcy was almost as far from her as the table could them he was on one side of her mother she knew how little such a situation would give pleasure to either or make either appear to advantage she was not near enough to hear any of their discourse but she could see how seldom they spoke to each other and how formal and cold was their manner whenever they did her mother s made the sense of what they owed him more painful to elizabeth s mind and she would at times have given anything to be to tell him that his kindness was neither unknown nor by the whole of the family she was in hopes that the evening would afford some opportunity of bringing them together that the whole of the visit would not pass away without them to enter into something more of conversation than the attending his entrance anxious and uneasy the period which passed in the drawing room before the gentlemen came was and to a degree that almost made her she looked forward to their entrance as the point on which all her chance of pleasure for the evening must depend if he does not come to me then said she i shall give him up for ever the gentlemen came and she thought he looked as if he would have answered her hopes but the ladies had round the table where miss bennet was making tea and elizabeth out the coffee in so close a that there was not a single near her which would admit of a chair and on the gentlemen s approaching one of the girls moved to her than ever and said in a whisper the men t come and part us i am determined we want none of them do we darcy had walked away to another part of the room she followed him with her eyes everyone to whom he spoke had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee and then was against herself for being so silly a man who has once been refused how could i ever be foolish enough to expect a renewal of his love is there one among the sex who would not against such a as a second proposal to the same woman there is no so to their feelings she was a little however by his bringing back his coffee himself and she the opportunity of saying is your sister at pemberley still yes she will remain there till christmas and quite alone have all her friends left her mrs is with her the others have been gone on to these three weeks she could think of nothing more to say but if he wished to with her he might have better success he stood by her however for some minutes in silence and at last on the young lady s to elizabeth again he walked away when the tea things were removed and the card tables placed the ladies all rose and elizabeth was then to be soon joined by him when all her views were by seeing him fall a to her mother s for and in a few moments after seated with the rest of the party she now lost every expectation of pleasure they were for the evening at different tables and she had nothing to hope but that his eyes were so often turned towards her side of the room as to make him play as as herself mrs bennet had to keep the two netherfield gentlemen to supper but their carriage was ordered before any of the others and she had no opportunity of them well girls said she as soon as they were left to themselves what say you to the day i think everything has passed off uncommonly well i assure you the dinner was as well dressed as any i ever saw the was to a turn and everybody said they never saw so a the was fifty times better than what we had at the lucases last week and even mr darcy acknowledged that the were remarkably well done and i suppose he has two or three at least and my dear jane i never saw you look in greater beauty mrs long said so too for i asked her whether you did not and what do you think she said besides mrs bennet we shall have her at netherfield at last she did indeed i do think mrs long is as good a creature as ever lived and her nieces are very pretty behaved girls and not at all handsome i like them illustration m long and her nieces mrs bennet in short was in very great spirits she had seen enough of bingley s behaviour to jane to be convinced that she would get him at last and her expectations of advantage to her family when in a happy humour were so far beyond reason that she was quite disappointed at not seeing him there again the next day to make his proposals it has been a very agreeable day said miss bennet to elizabeth the party seemed so well so one with the other i hope we may often meet again elizabeth smiled lizzy you must not do so you must not me it me i assure you that i have now learnt to enjoy his conversation as an agreeable and sensible young man without having a wish beyond it i am perfectly satisfied from what his manners now are that he never had any design of engaging my affection it is only that he is with greater of address and a stronger desire of generally pleasing than any other man you are very said her sister you will not let me smile and are me to it every moment how hard it is in some cases to be believed and how impossible in others but why should you wish to persuade me that i feel more than i acknowledge that is a question which i hardly know how to answer we all love to though we can only what is not worth knowing forgive me and if you in indifference do not make me your illustration lizzy my dear i want to speak to you chapter illustration a few days after this visit mr bingley called again and alone his friend had left him that morning for london but was to return home in ten days time he sat with them above an hour and was in remarkably good spirits mrs bennet invited him to dine with them but with many expressions of concern he himself engaged next time you call said she i hope we shall be more lucky he should be particularly happy at any time etc etc and if she would give him leave would take an early opportunity of waiting on them can you come to morrow yes he had no engagement at all for to morrow and her invitation was accepted with he came and in such very good time that the ladies were none of them dressed in ran mrs bennet to her daughters room in her dressing gown and with her half finished out my dear jane make haste and hurry down he is come mr bingley is come he is indeed make haste make haste here come to miss bennet this moment and help her on with her gown never mind miss lizzy s we will be down as soon as we can said jane but i dare say kitty is than either of us for she went upstairs half an hour ago oh kitty what has she to do with it come be quick be quick where is your my dear but when her mother was gone jane would not be prevailed on to go down without one of her sisters the same anxiety to get them by themselves was again in the evening after tea mr bennet to the library as was his and mary went upstairs to her instrument two of the five being thus removed mrs bennet sat looking and at elizabeth and catherine for a considerable time without making any impression on them elizabeth would not observe her and when at last kitty did she very said what is the matter mamma what do you keep at me for what am i to do nothing child nothing i did not at you she then sat still five minutes longer but unable to such a occasion she suddenly got up and saying to kitty come here my love i want to speak to you took her out of the room jane instantly gave a look at elizabeth which spoke her distress at such and her entreaty that she would not give in to it in a few minutes mrs bennet half opened the door and called out lizzy my dear i want to speak with you elizabeth was forced to go we may as well leave them by themselves you know said her mother as soon as she was in the hall kitty and i are going upstairs to sit in my dressing room elizabeth made no attempt to reason with her mother but remained quietly in the hall till she and kitty were out of sight then returned into the drawing room mrs bennet s schemes for this day were bingley was everything that was charming except the of her daughter his ease and cheerfulness rendered him a most agreeable addition to their evening party and he bore with the ill judged of the mother and heard all her silly remarks with a forbearance and command of countenance particularly grateful to the daughter he scarcely an invitation to stay supper and before he went away an engagement was formed chiefly through his own and mrs bennet s means for his coming next morning to with her husband after this day jane said no more of her indifference not a word passed between the sisters bingley but elizabeth went to bed in the happy belief that all must speedily be concluded unless mr darcy returned within the time seriously however she felt tolerably persuaded that all this must have taken place with that gentleman s bingley was to his and he and mr bennet spent the morning together as had been agreed on the latter was much more agreeable than his companion expected there was nothing of or folly in bingley that could his or him into silence and he was more and less than the other had ever seen him bingley of course returned with him to dinner and in the evening mrs bennet s was again at work to get everybody away from him and her daughter elizabeth who had a letter to write went into the breakfast room for that purpose soon after tea for as the others were all going to sit down to cards she could not be wanted to her mother s schemes but on her returning to the drawing room when her letter was finished she saw to her surprise there was reason to fear that her mother had been too for her on opening the door she perceived her sister and bingley standing together over the as if engaged in earnest conversation and had this led to no suspicion the of both as they hastily turned round and moved away from each other would have told it all their situation was awkward enough but hers she thought was still worse not a syllable was by either and elizabeth was on the point of going away again when bingley who as well as the other had sat down suddenly rose and a few words to her sister ran out of the room jane could have no from elizabeth where confidence would give pleasure and instantly her acknowledged with the that she was the happiest creature in the world too much she added by far too much i do not deserve it oh why is not everybody as happy elizabeth s congratulations were given with a a warmth a delight which words could but express every sentence of kindness was a fresh source of happiness to jane but she would not allow herself to stay with her sister or say half that remained to be said for the present i must go instantly to my mother she cried i would not on any account with her affectionate solicitude or allow her to hear it from anyone but myself he is gone to my father already oh lizzy to know that what i have to relate will give such pleasure to all my dear family how shall i bear so much happiness she then away to her mother who had purposely broken up the card party and was sitting upstairs with kitty elizabeth who was left by herself now smiled at the and ease with which an affair was finally settled that had given them so many months of suspense and vexation and this said she is the end of all his friend s anxious of all his sister s falsehood and the happiest wisest and most reasonable end in a few minutes she was joined by bingley whose with her father had been short and to the purpose where is your sister said he hastily as he opened the door with my mother upstairs she will be down in a moment i dare say he then the door and coming up to her the good wishes and affection of a sister elizabeth and heartily expressed her delight in the prospect of their relationship they shook hands with great and then till her sister came down she had to listen to all he had to say of his own happiness and of jane s and in spite of his being a elizabeth really believed all his expectations of felicity to be because they had for the excellent understanding and excellent disposition of jane and a general of feeling and taste between her and himself it was an evening of no common delight to them all the satisfaction of miss bennet s mind gave such a of sweet to her face as made her look than ever kitty and smiled and hoped her turn was coming soon mrs bennet could not give her consent or speak her approbation in terms warm enough to satisfy her feelings though she talked to bingley of nothing else for half an hour and when mr bennet joined them at supper his voice and manner plainly showed how really happy he was not a word however passed his lips in to it till their visitor took his leave for the night but as soon as he was gone he turned to his daughter and said jane i congratulate you you will be a very happy woman jane went to him instantly him and thanked him for his goodness you are a good girl he replied and i have great pleasure in thinking you will be so settled i have not a doubt of your doing very well together your are by no means you are each of you so that nothing will ever be resolved on so easy that every servant will you and so generous that you will always your income i hope not so imprudence or in money matters would be in me their income my dear mr bennet cried his wife what are you talking of why he has four or five thousand a year and very likely more then her daughter oh my dear dear jane i am so happy i am sure i t get a of all night i knew how it would be i always said it must be so at last i was sure you could not be so beautiful for nothing i remember as soon as ever i saw him when he first came into hertfordshire last year i thought how likely it was that you should come together oh he is the young man that ever was seen wickham lydia were all forgotten jane was beyond her favourite child at that moment she cared for no other her younger sisters soon began to make interest with her for objects of happiness which she might in future be able to mary for the use of the library at netherfield and kitty begged very hard for a few balls there every winter bingley from this time was of course a visitor at longbourn coming frequently before breakfast and always remaining till after supper unless when some neighbour who could not be enough had given him an invitation to dinner which he thought himself obliged to accept elizabeth had now but little time for conversation with her sister for while he was present jane had no attention to bestow on anyone else but she found herself useful to both of them in those hours of separation that must sometimes in the absence of jane he always attached himself to elizabeth for the pleasure of talking of her and when bingley was gone jane the same means of relief he has made me so happy said she one evening by telling me that he was totally ignorant of my being in town last i had not believed it possible i suspected as much replied elizabeth but how did he account for it it must have been his sisters doing they were certainly no friends to his acquaintance with me which i cannot wonder at since he might have chosen so much more in many respects but when they see as i trust they will that their brother is happy with me they will learn to be and we shall be on good terms again though we can never be what we once were to each other that is the most speech said elizabeth that i ever heard you utter good girl it would me indeed to see you again the of miss bingley s regard would you believe it lizzy that when he went to town last he really loved me and nothing but a persuasion of my being indifferent would have prevented his coming down again he made a little mistake to be sure but it is to the credit of his modesty this naturally introduced a from jane on his and the little value he put on his own good qualities elizabeth was pleased to find that he had not the interference of his friend for though jane had the most generous and heart in the world she knew it was a circumstance which must her against him i am certainly the most fortunate creature that ever cried jane oh lizzy why am i thus from my family and above them all if i could but see you as happy if there were but such another man for you if you were to give me such men i never could be so happy as you till i have your disposition your goodness i never can have your happiness no no let me for myself and perhaps if i have very good i may meet with another mr collins in time the situation of affairs in the longbourn family could not be long a secret mrs bennet was to whisper it to mrs philips and she ventured without any permission to do the same by all her neighbours in meryton the bennets were speedily pronounced to be the family in the world though only a few weeks before when lydia had first run away they had been generally proved to be marked out for misfortune illustration chapter illustration one morning about a week after bingley s engagement with jane had been formed as he and the of the family were sitting together in the dining room their attention was suddenly drawn to the window by the sound of a carriage and they perceived a chaise and four up the lawn it was too early in the morning for visitors and besides the did not answer to that of any of their neighbours the horses were post and neither the carriage nor the of the servant who it were to them as it was certain however that somebody was coming bingley instantly prevailed on miss bennet to avoid the of such an and walk away with him into the they both set off and the of the remaining three continued though with little satisfaction till the door was thrown open and their visitor entered it was lady catherine de bourgh they were of course all intending to be surprised but their astonishment was beyond their expectation and on the part of mrs bennet and kitty though she was perfectly unknown to them even to what elizabeth felt she entered the room with an air more than usually made no other reply to elizabeth s than a slight inclination of the head and sat down without saying a word elizabeth had mentioned her name to her mother on her ladyship s entrance though no request of introduction had been made mrs bennet all amazement though flattered by having a of such high importance received her with the utmost politeness after sitting for a moment in silence she said very to elizabeth i hope you are well miss bennet that lady i suppose is your mother elizabeth replied very that she was and that i suppose is one of your sisters yes madam said mrs bennet delighted to speak to a lady catherine she is my youngest girl but one my youngest of all is lately married and my eldest is about the ground walking with a young man who i believe will soon become a part of the family you have a very small park here returned lady catherine after a short silence it is nothing in comparison of rosings my lady i dare say but i assure you it is much larger than sir william lucas s this must be a most sitting room for the evening in summer the windows are full mrs bennet assured her that they never sat there after dinner and then added may i take the liberty of asking your ladyship whether you left mr and mrs collins well yes very well i saw them the night before last elizabeth now expected that she would a letter for her from charlotte as it seemed the only probable motive for her calling but no letter appeared and she was completely mrs bennet with great civility begged her ladyship to take some but lady catherine very and not very declined anything and then rising up said to elizabeth miss bennet there seemed to be a kind of a little on one side of your lawn i should be glad to take a turn in it if you will favour me with your company go my dear cried her mother and show her ladyship about the different i think she will be pleased with the elizabeth and running into her own room for her attended her noble as they passed through the hall lady catherine opened the doors into the dining parlour and drawing room and them after a short to be looking rooms walked on her carriage remained at the door and elizabeth saw that her waiting woman was in it they proceeded in silence along the walk that led to the elizabeth was determined to make no for conversation with a woman who was now more than usually and disagreeable illustration after a short copyright by george allen how could i ever think her like her nephew said she as she looked in her face as soon as they entered the lady catherine began in the following manner you can be at no loss miss bennet to understand the reason of my journey your own heart your own must tell you why i come elizabeth looked with astonishment indeed you are mistaken madam i have not been at all able to account for the honour of seeing you here miss bennet replied her ladyship in an angry tone you ought to know that i am not to be with but however you may choose to be you shall not find me so my character has ever been for its and and in a cause of such moment as this i shall certainly not from it a report of a most nature reached me two days ago i was told that not only your sister was on the point of being most married but that you that miss elizabeth bennet would in all be soon afterwards united to my nephew my own nephew mr darcy though i know it must be a falsehood though i would not him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible i instantly resolved on off for this place that i might make my sentiments known to you if you believed it impossible to be true said elizabeth with astonishment and disdain i wonder you took the trouble of coming so far what could your ladyship by it at once to insist upon having such a report your coming to longbourn to see me and my family said elizabeth will be rather a of it if indeed such a report is in if do you then pretend to be ignorant of it has it not been by do you not know that such a report is i never heard that it was and can you likewise declare that there is no for it i do not pretend to equal with your ladyship you may ask questions which i shall not choose to answer this is not to be miss bennet i insist on being satisfied has he has my nephew made you an offer of marriage your ladyship has declared it to be impossible it ought to be so it must be so while he the use of his reason but your and may in a moment of have made him forget what he to himself and to all his family you may have drawn him in if i have i shall be the last person to confess it miss bennet do you know who i am i have not been to such language as this i am almost the relation he has in the world and am to know all his dearest concerns but you are not to know mine nor will such behaviour as this ever me to be let me be understood this match to which you have the to can never take place no never mr darcy is engaged to my daughter now what have you to say only this that if he is so you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me lady catherine for a moment and then replied the engagement between them is of a peculiar kind from their they have been intended for each other it was the favourite wish of his mother as well as of hers while in their we the and now at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished is their marriage to be prevented by a young woman of of no importance in the world and wholly to the family do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends to his engagement with miss de bourgh are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was for his cousin yes and i had heard it before but what is that to me if there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew i shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry miss de bourgh you both did as much as you could in the marriage its on others if mr darcy is neither by honour nor inclination to his cousin why is not he to make another choice and if i am that choice why may not i accept him because honour nay interest it yes miss bennet interest for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends if you act against the of all you will be and by everyone connected with him your will be a disgrace your name will never even be mentioned by any of us these are replied elizabeth but the wife of mr darcy must have such extraordinary of happiness attached to her situation that she could upon the whole have no cause to girl i am ashamed of you is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last is nothing due to me on that let us sit down you are to understand miss bennet that i came here with the determined resolution of my purpose nor will i be from it i have not been used to to any person s i have not been in the habit of disappointment that will make your ladyship s situation at present more but it will have no effect on me i will not be interrupted hear me in silence my daughter and my nephew are formed for each other they are on the side from the same noble line and on the father s from respectable honourable and though families their fortune on both is they are for each other by the voice of every of their and what is to them the of a young woman without family connections or fortune is this to be but it must not shall not be if you were sensible of your own good you would not wish to quit the in which you have been brought up in marrying your nephew i should not consider myself as quitting that he is a gentleman i am a gentleman s daughter so far we are equal true you are a gentleman s daughter but what was your mother who are your and do not imagine me ignorant of their whatever my connections may be said elizabeth if your nephew does not object to them they can be nothing to you tell me once for all are you engaged to him though elizabeth would not for the purpose of lady catherine have answered this question she could not but say after a moment s i am not lady catherine seemed pleased and will you promise me never to enter into such an engagement i will make no promise of the kind miss bennet i am shocked and astonished i expected to find a more reasonable young woman but do not yourself into a belief that i will ever i shall not go away till you have given me the assurance i and i certainly never shall give it i am not to be into anything so wholly unreasonable your ladyship wants mr darcy to marry your daughter but would my giving you the wished for promise make their marriage at all more probable supposing him to be attached to me would my refusing to accept his hand make him wish to bestow it on his cousin allow me to say lady catherine that the with which you have this extraordinary application have been as as the application was ill judged you have mistaken my character if you think i can be on by such as these how far your nephew might of your interference in his affairs i cannot tell but you have certainly no right to concern yourself in mine i must beg therefore to be no further on the subject not so if you please i have by no means done to all the objections i have already urged i have still another to add i am no stranger to the particulars of your youngest sister s elopement i know it all that the young man s marrying her was a up business at the expense of your father and uncle and is such a girl to be my nephew s sister is her husband who is the son of his late father s to be his brother heaven and of what are you thinking are the of pemberley to be thus you can now have nothing further to say she answered you have me in every possible i must beg to return to the house and she rose as she spoke lady catherine rose also and they turned back her ladyship was highly you have no regard then for the honour and credit of my nephew selfish girl do you not consider that a connection with you must disgrace him in the eyes of everybody lady catherine i have nothing further to say you know my sentiments you are then resolved to have him i have said no such thing i am only resolved to act in that manner which will in my own opinion my happiness without to you or to any person so wholly with me it is well you refuse then to oblige me you refuse to the claims of duty honour and gratitude you are determined to him in the opinion of all his friends and make him the contempt of the world neither duty nor honour nor gratitude replied elizabeth has any possible on me in the present instance no of either would be by my marriage with mr darcy and with regard to the resentment of his family or the indignation of the world if the former were excited by his marrying me it would not give me one moment s concern and the world in general would have too much sense to join in the and this is your real opinion this is your very well i shall now know how to act do not imagine miss bennet that your will ever be gratified i came to try you i hoped to find you reasonable but depend upon it i will my point in this manner lady catherine talked on till they were at the door of the carriage when turning hastily round she added i take no leave of you miss bennet i send no compliments to your mother you deserve no such attention i am most seriously elizabeth made no answer and without to persuade her ladyship to return into the house walked quietly into it herself she heard the carriage away as she proceeded upstairs her mother met her at the door of her dressing room to ask why lady catherine would not come in again and rest herself she did not choose it said her daughter she would go she is a very fine looking woman and her calling here was civil for she only came i suppose to tell us the collinses were well she is on her road i dare say and so passing through meryton thought she might as well call on you i suppose she had nothing particular to say to you lizzy elizabeth was forced to give in to a little falsehood here for to acknowledge the of their conversation was impossible illustration but now it comes out chapter illustration the of spirits which this extraordinary visit threw elizabeth into could not be easily overcome nor could she for many hours learn to think of it less than lady catherine it appeared had actually taken the trouble of this journey from rosings for the purpose of off her supposed engagement with mr darcy it was a rational scheme to be sure but from what the report of their engagement could elizabeth was at a loss to imagine till she recollected that his being the intimate friend of bingley and her being the sister of jane was enough at a time when the expectation of one wedding made everybody eager for another to supply the idea she had not herself forgotten to feel that the marriage of her sister must bring them more frequently together and her neighbours at lucas lodge therefore for through their communication with the collinses the report she concluded had reached lady catherine had only set that down as almost certain and immediate which she had looked forward to as possible at some future time in lady catherine s expressions however she could not help feeling some uneasiness as to the possible consequence of her in this interference from what she had said of her resolution to prevent the marriage it occurred to elizabeth that she must an application to her nephew and how he might take a of the evils attached to a connection with her she dared not she knew not the degree of his affection for his aunt or his dependence on her judgment but it was natural to suppose that he thought much of her ladyship than she could do and it was certain that in the of a marriage with one whose immediate connections were so to his own his aunt would address him on his side with his of he would probably feel that the which to elizabeth had appeared weak and contained much good sense and if he had been before as to what he should do which had often seemed likely the advice and entreaty of so near a relation might settle every doubt and determine him at once to be as happy as could make him in that case he would return no more lady catherine might see him in her way through town and his engagement to bingley of coming again to netherfield must give way if therefore an excuse for not his promise should come to his friend within a few days she added i shall know how to understand it i shall then give over every expectation every wish of his if he is satisfied with only me when he might have my and hand i shall soon to regret him at all the surprise of the rest of the family on hearing who their visitor had been was very great but they satisfied it with the same kind of which had mrs bennet s curiosity and elizabeth was spared from much teasing on the subject the next morning as she was going down stairs she was met by her father who came out of his library with a letter in his hand lizzy said he i was going to look for you come into my room she followed him thither and her curiosity to know what he had to tell her was heightened by the of its being in some manner connected with the letter he it suddenly struck her that it might be from lady catherine and she with all the she followed her father to the and they both sat down he then said i have received a letter this morning that has astonished me exceedingly as it concerns yourself you ought to know its contents i did not know before that i had two daughters on the of matrimony let me congratulate you on a very important the colour now into elizabeth s in the conviction of its being a letter from the nephew instead of the aunt and she was whether most to be pleased that he explained himself at all or offended that his letter was not rather addressed to herself when her father continued you look young ladies have great in such matters as these but i think i may even your to discover the name of your this letter is from mr collins from mr collins and what can he have to say something very much to the purpose of course he with congratulations on the approaching of my eldest daughter of which it seems he has been told by some of the good natured lucases i shall not with your impatience by reading what he says on that point what to yourself is as follows having thus offered you the sincere congratulations of mrs collins and myself on this happy event let me now add a short hint on the subject of another of which we have been by the same authority your daughter elizabeth it is will not long bear the name of bennet after her eldest sister has resigned it and the chosen partner of her may be looked up to as one of the most in this can you possibly lizzy who is meant by this this young gentleman is in a peculiar way with everything the heart of can most desire property noble and yet in spite of all these let me my cousin elizabeth and yourself of what evils you may by a with this gentleman s proposals which of course you will be inclined to take immediate advantage of have you any idea lizzy who this gentleman is but now it comes out my motive for you is as follows we have reason to imagine that his aunt lady catherine de bourgh does not look on the match with a friendly eye mr darcy you see is the man now lizzy i think i have surprised you could he or the lucases have on any man within the circle of our acquaintance whose name would have given the more to what they related mr darcy who never looks at any woman but to see a and who probably never looked at you in his life it is elizabeth tried to join in her father s but could only force one most smile never had his wit been directed in a manner so little agreeable to her are you not oh yes pray read on after mentioning the of this marriage to her ladyship last night she immediately with her usual condescension expressed what she felt on the occasion when it became that on the of some family objections on the part of my cousin she would never give her consent to what she so a match i thought it my duty to give the intelligence of this to my cousin that she and her noble may be aware of what they are about and not run hastily into a marriage which has not been properly mr collins moreover i am truly rejoiced that my cousin lydia s business has been so well up and am only concerned that their living together before the marriage took place should be so generally known i must not however neglect the of my or from my amazement at hearing that you received the young couple into your house as soon as they were married it was an encouragement of and had i been the of longbourn i should very have it you ought certainly to forgive them as a but never to admit them in your sight or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing that is his notion of the rest of his letter is only about his dear charlotte s situation and his expectation of a young but lizzy you look as if you did not enjoy it you are not going to be i hope and pretend to be at an idle report for what do we live but to make for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn oh cried elizabeth i am exceedingly but it is so strange yes that is what makes it had they fixed on any other man it would have been nothing but his perfect indifference and your dislike make it so much as i writing i would not give up mr collins s for any consideration nay when i read a letter of his i cannot help giving him the preference even over wickham much as i value the and of my son in law and pray lizzy what said lady catherine about this report did she call to refuse her consent to this question his daughter replied only with a laugh and as it had been asked without the least suspicion she was not distressed by his repeating it elizabeth had never been more at a loss to make her feelings appear what they were not it was necessary to laugh when she would rather have cried her father had most her by what he said of mr darcy s indifference and she could do nothing but wonder at such a want of or fear that perhaps instead of his seeing too little she might have fancied too much illustration the of his aunt copyright by george allen chapter illustration instead of receiving any such letter of excuse from his friend as elizabeth half expected mr bingley to do he was able to bring darcy with him to longbourn before many days had passed after lady catherine s visit the gentlemen arrived early and before mrs bennet had time to tell him of their having seen his aunt of which her daughter sat in bingley who wanted to be alone with jane their all walking out it was agreed to mrs bennet was not in the habit of walking mary could never spare time but the remaining five set off together bingley and jane however soon allowed the others to them they behind while elizabeth kitty and darcy were to each other very little was said by either kitty was too much afraid of him to talk elizabeth was a resolution and perhaps he might be doing the same they walked towards the lucases because kitty wished to call upon maria and as elizabeth saw no occasion for making it a general concern when kitty left them she went on with him alone now was the moment for her resolution to be and while her courage was high she immediately said mr darcy i am a very selfish creature and for the sake of giving relief to my own feelings care not how much i may be yours i can no longer help you for your kindness to my poor sister ever since i have known it i have been most anxious to acknowledge to you how i feel it were it known to the rest of my family i should not have merely my own gratitude to express i am sorry exceedingly sorry replied darcy in a tone of surprise and that you have ever been informed of what may in a mistaken light have given you uneasiness i did not think mrs gardiner was so little to be trusted you must not blame my aunt lydia s first to me that you had been concerned in the matter and of course i could not rest till i knew the particulars let me thank you again and again in the name of all my family for that generous compassion which you to take so much trouble and bear so many for the sake of them if you will thank me he replied let it be for yourself alone that the wish of giving happiness to you might add force to the other which led me on i shall not attempt to deny but your family me nothing much as i respect them i believe i thought only of you elizabeth was too much embarrassed to say a word after a short pause her companion added you are too generous to with me if your feelings are still what they were last tell me so at once my and wishes are but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever elizabeth feeling all the more than common and anxiety of his situation now forced herself to speak and immediately though not very gave him to understand that her sentiments had so material a change since the period to which he alluded as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances the happiness which this reply produced was such as he had probably never felt before and he expressed himself on the occasion as and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do had elizabeth been able to his eyes she might have seen how well the expression of delight over his face became him but though she could not look she could listen and he told her of feelings which in of what importance she was to him made his affection every moment more valuable they walked on without knowing in what direction there was too much to be thought and felt and said for attention to any other objects she soon learnt that they were indebted for their present good understanding to the of his aunt who did call on him in her return through london and there relate her journey to longbourn its motive and the of her conversation with elizabeth dwelling on every expression of the latter which in her ladyship s apprehension her perverseness and assurance in the belief that such a relation must assist her endeavours to that promise from her nephew which she had refused to give but for her ladyship its effect had been exactly it taught me to hope said he as i had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before i knew enough of your disposition to be certain that had you been absolutely decided against me you would have acknowledged it to lady catherine and openly elizabeth coloured and laughed as she replied yes you know enough of my to believe me capable of that after you so to your face i could have no in you to all your relations what did you say of me that i did not deserve for though your were ill formed on mistaken my behaviour to you at the time had the it was i cannot think of it without abhorrence we will not for the greater share of blame to that evening said elizabeth the conduct of neither if will be but since then we have both i hope improved in civility i cannot be so easily to myself the recollection of what i then said of my conduct my manners my expressions during the whole of it is now and has been many months painful to me your so well applied i shall never forget had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner those were your words you know not you can scarcely how they have me though it was some time i confess before i was reasonable enough to allow their justice i was certainly very far from them to make so strong an impression i had not the smallest idea of their being ever felt in such a way i can easily believe it you thought me then of every proper feeling i am sure you did the turn of your countenance i shall never forget as you said that i could not have addressed you in any possible way that would you to accept me oh do not what i then said these recollections will not do at all i assure you that i have long been most heartily ashamed of it darcy mentioned his letter did it said he did it soon make you think better of me did you on reading it give any credit to its contents she explained what its on her had been and how gradually all her former had been removed i knew said he that what i wrote must give you pain but it was necessary i hope you have the letter there was one part especially the opening of it which i should your having the power of reading again i can remember some expressions which might make you hate me the letter shall certainly be if you believe it to the of my regard but though we have both reason to think my opinions not entirely they are not i hope quite so easily changed as that when i wrote that letter replied darcy i believed myself perfectly and but i am since convinced that it was written in a dreadful of spirit the letter perhaps began in but it did not end so the is itself but think no more of the letter the feelings of the person who wrote and the person who received it are now so different from what they were then that every unpleasant circumstance attending it ought to be forgotten you must learn some of my think only of the past as its gives you pleasure i cannot give you credit for any of the kind your must be so totally of reproach that the from them is not of but what is much better of ignorance but with me it is not so painful recollections will which cannot which ought not to be i have been a selfish being all my life in though not in as a child i was taught what was right but i was not taught to my temper i was given good but left to follow them in pride and an only son for many years an only child i was by my parents who though good themselves my father particularly all that was and amiable allowed encouraged almost taught me to be selfish and to care for none beyond my own family circle to think of all the rest of the world to wish at least to think of their sense and worth with my own such i was from eight to eight and twenty and such i might still have been but for you dearest elizabeth what do i not you you taught me a hard indeed at first but most by you i was properly i came to you without a doubt of my reception you showed me how insufficient were all my to please a woman of being pleased had you then persuaded yourself that i should indeed i had what will you think of my vanity i believed you to be wishing my addresses my manners must have been in fault but not i assure you i never meant to you but my spirits might often lead me wrong how you must have me after that evening hate you i was angry perhaps at first but my anger soon began to take a proper direction i am almost afraid of asking what you thought of me when we met at pemberley you me for coming no indeed i felt nothing but surprise your surprise could not be greater than mine in being noticed by you my told me that i deserved no extraordinary politeness and i confess that i did not expect to receive more than my due my object then replied darcy was to show you by every civility in my power that i was not so mean as to the past and i hoped to your to your ill opinion by you see that your had been attended to how soon any other wishes introduced themselves i can hardly tell but i believe in about half an hour after i had seen you he then told her of georgiana s delight in her acquaintance and of her disappointment at its sudden interruption which naturally to the cause of that interruption she soon learnt that his resolution of following her from derbyshire in quest of her sister had been formed before he quitted the inn and that his and there had from no other than what such a purpose must comprehend she expressed her gratitude again but it was too painful a subject to each to be on farther after walking several miles in a manner and too to know anything about it they found at last on their that it was time to be at home what could have become of mr bingley and jane was a wonder which introduced the of their affairs darcy was delighted with their engagement his friend had given him the earliest information of it i must ask whether you were surprised said elizabeth not at all when i went away i felt that it would soon happen that is to say you had given your permission i as much and though he exclaimed at the she found that it had been pretty much the case on the evening before my going to london said he i made a to him which i believe i ought to have made long ago i told him of all that had occurred to make my former interference in his affairs and impertinent his surprise was great he had never had the suspicion i told him moreover that i believed myself mistaken in supposing as i had done that your sister was indifferent to him and as i could easily perceive that his attachment to her was i felt no doubt of their happiness together elizabeth could not help smiling at his easy manner of his friend did you speak from your own observation said she when you told him that my sister loved him or merely from my information last from the former i had observed her during the two which i had lately made her here and i was convinced of her affection and your assurance of it i suppose carried immediate conviction to him it did bingley is most his had prevented his on his own judgment in so anxious a case but his on mine made everything easy i was obliged to confess one thing which for a time and not offended him i could not allow myself to conceal that your sister had been in town three months last winter that i had known it and purposely kept it from him he was angry but his anger i am persuaded no longer than he remained in any doubt of your sister s sentiments he has heartily me now elizabeth longed to observe that mr bingley had been a most delightful friend so easily that his worth was but she herself she remembered that he had yet to learn to be laughed at and it was rather too early to begin in the happiness of bingley which of course was to be only to his own he continued the conversation till they reached the house in the hall they parted illustration unable to utter a syllable copyright by george allen chapter illustration my dear lizzy where can you have been walking to was a question which elizabeth received from jane as soon as she entered the room and from all the others when they sat down to table she had only to say in reply that they had about till she was beyond her own knowledge she coloured as she spoke but neither that nor anything else a suspicion of the truth the evening passed quietly by anything extraordinary the acknowledged talked and laughed the were silent darcy was not of a disposition in which happiness in and elizabeth and rather knew that she was happy than felt herself to be so for besides the immediate embarrassment there were other evils before her she what would be felt in the family when her situation became known she was aware that no one liked him but jane and even feared that with the others it was a dislike which not all his fortune and consequence might do away at night she opened her heart to jane though suspicion was very far from miss bennet s general she was absolutely here you are lizzy this cannot be engaged to mr darcy no no you shall not me i know it to be impossible this is a wretched beginning indeed my dependence was on you and i am sure nobody else will believe me if you do not yet indeed i am in earnest i speak nothing but the truth he still me and we are engaged jane looked at her oh lizzy it cannot be i know how much you dislike him you know nothing of the matter that is all to be perhaps i did not always love him so well as i do now but in such cases as these a good memory is this is the last time i shall ever remember it myself miss bennet still looked all amazement elizabeth again and more seriously assured her of its truth good heaven can it be really so yet now i must believe you cried jane my dear dear lizzy i would i do congratulate you but are you certain forgive the question are you quite certain that you can be happy with him there can be no doubt of that it is settled between us already that we are to be the happiest couple in the world but are you pleased jane shall you like to have such a brother very very much nothing could give either bingley or myself more delight but we considered it we talked of it as impossible and do you really love him quite well enough oh lizzy do anything rather than marry without affection are you quite sure that you feel what you ought to do oh yes you will only think i feel more than i ought to do when i tell you all what do you mean why i must confess that i love him better than i do bingley i am afraid you will be angry my dearest sister now be be serious i want to talk very seriously let me know everything that i am to know without delay will you tell me how long you have loved him it has been coming on so gradually that i hardly know when it began but i believe i must it from my first seeing his beautiful at pemberley another entreaty that she would be serious however produced the desired effect and she soon satisfied jane by her assurances of attachment when convinced on that miss bennet had nothing further to wish now i am quite happy said she for you will be as happy as myself i always had a value for him were it for nothing but his love of you i must always have esteemed him but now as bingley s friend and your husband there can be only bingley and yourself more dear to me but lizzy you have been very very reserved with me how little did you tell me of what passed at pemberley and lambton i all that i know of it to another not to you elizabeth told her the motives of her secrecy she had been unwilling to mention bingley and the state of her own feelings had made her equally avoid the name of his friend but now she would no longer conceal from her his share in lydia s marriage all was acknowledged and half the night spent in conversation good gracious cried mrs bennet as she stood at a window the next morning if that disagreeable mr darcy is not coming here again with our dear bingley what can he mean by being so as to be always coming here i had no notion but he would go a or something or other and not us with his company what shall we do with him lizzy you must walk out with him again that he may not be in bingley s way elizabeth could hardly help laughing at so a proposal yet was really vexed that her mother should be always giving him such an as soon as they entered bingley looked at her so and shook hands with such warmth as left no doubt of his good information and he soon afterwards said aloud mrs bennet have you no more in which lizzy may lose her way again to day i advise mr darcy and lizzy and kitty said mrs bennet to walk to this morning it is a long walk and mr darcy has never seen the view it may do very well for the others replied mr bingley but i am sure it will be too much for kitty t it kitty kitty that she had rather stay at home darcy a great curiosity to see the view from the and elizabeth as she went upstairs to get ready mrs bennet followed her saying i am quite sorry lizzy that you should be forced to have that disagreeable man all to yourself but i hope you will not mind it it is all for jane s sake you know and there is no occasion for talking to him except just now and then so do not put yourself to inconvenience during their walk it was resolved that mr bennet s consent should be asked in the course of the evening elizabeth reserved to herself the application for her mother s she could not determine how her mother would take it sometimes whether all his and would be enough to overcome her abhorrence of the man but whether she were violently set against the match or violently delighted with it it was certain that her manner would be equally ill to do credit to her sense and she could no more bear that mr darcy should hear the first raptures of her joy than the first of her disapprobation in the evening soon after mr bennet to the library she saw mr darcy also and follow him and her agitation on seeing it was she did not fear her father s but he was going to be made unhappy and that it should be through her means that she his favourite child should be distressing him by her choice should be him with fears and in of her was a wretched reflection and she sat in misery till mr darcy appeared again when looking at him she was a little relieved by his smile in a few minutes he approached the table where she was sitting with kitty and while to admire her work said in a whisper go to your father he wants you in the library she was gone directly her father was walking about the room looking grave and anxious lizzy said he what are you doing are you out of your to be this man have not you always him how earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable her expressions more it would have spared her from and professions which it was exceedingly awkward to give but they were now necessary and she assured him with some confusion of her attachment to mr darcy or in other words you are determined to have him he is rich to be sure and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than jane but will they make you happy have you any other objection said elizabeth than your belief of my indifference none at all we all know him to be a proud unpleasant sort of man but this would be nothing if you really liked him i do i do like him she replied with tears in her eyes i love him indeed he has no pride he is perfectly amiable you do not know what he really is then pray do not pain me by speaking of him in such terms lizzy said her father i have given him my consent he is the kind of man indeed to whom i should never dare refuse anything which he to ask i now give it to you if you are resolved on having him but let me advise you to think better of it i know your disposition lizzy i know that you could be neither happy nor respectable unless you truly esteemed your husband unless you looked up to him as a superior your lively would place you in the greatest danger in an marriage you could scarcely escape and misery my child let me not have the of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life you know not what you are about elizabeth still more affected was earnest and in her reply and at length by repeated assurances that mr darcy was really the object of her choice by the change which her of him had her certainty that his affection was not the work of a day but had stood the of many months suspense and with all his good qualities she did her father s and him to the match well my dear said he when she ceased speaking i have no more to say if this be the case he you i could not have parted with you my lizzy to anyone less to complete the favourable impression she then told him what mr darcy had voluntarily done for lydia he heard her with astonishment this is an evening of indeed and so darcy did everything made up the match gave the money paid the fellow s debts and got him his commission so much the better it will me a world of trouble and had it been your uncle s doing i must and would have paid him but these violent young everything their own way i shall offer to pay him to morrow he will and about his love for you and there will be an end of the matter he then recollected her embarrassment a few days before on his reading mr collins s letter and after laughing at her some time allowed her at last to go saying as she quitted the room if any young men come for mary or kitty send them in for i am quite at leisure elizabeth s mind was now relieved from a very weight and after half an hour s quiet reflection in her own room she was able to join the others with tolerable composure everything was too for but the evening passed away there was no longer anything material to be dreaded and the comfort of ease and would come in time when her mother went up to her dressing room at night she followed her and made the important communication its effect was most extraordinary for on first hearing it mrs bennet sat quite still and unable to utter a syllable nor was it under many many minutes that she could comprehend what she heard though not in general to credit what was for the advantage of her family or that came in the of a to any of them she began at length to recover to about in her chair get up sit down again wonder and herself good gracious lord me only think dear me mr darcy who would have thought it and is it really true oh my lizzy how rich and how great you will be what money what what carriages you will have jane s is nothing to it nothing at all i am so pleased so happy such a charming man so handsome so tall oh my dear lizzy pray for my having him so much before i hope he will it dear dear lizzy a house in town everything that is charming three daughters married ten thousand a year oh lord what will become of me i shall go this was enough to prove that her approbation need not be doubted and elizabeth that such an was heard only by herself soon went away but before she had been three minutes in her own room her mother followed her my dearest child she cried i can think of nothing else ten thousand a year and very likely more as good as a lord and a you must and shall be married by a but my dearest love tell me what mr darcy is particularly fond of that i may have it to morrow this was a of what her mother s behaviour to the gentleman himself might be and elizabeth found that though in the certain possession of his affection and secure of her relations consent there was still something to be wished for but the morrow passed off much better than she expected for mrs bennet stood in such of her intended son in law that she ventured not to speak to him unless it was in her power to offer him any attention or her deference for his opinion elizabeth had the satisfaction of seeing her father taking to get acquainted with him and mr bennet soon assured her that he was rising every hour in his esteem i admire all my three in law highly said he wickham perhaps is my favourite but i think i shall like your husband quite as well as jane s illustration the civility copyright by george allen chapter illustration elizabeth s spirits soon rising to again she wanted mr darcy to account for his having ever in love with her how could you begin said she i can comprehend your going on when you had once made a beginning but what could set you off in the first place i cannot on the hour or the spot or the look or the words which laid the it is too long ago i was in the before i knew that i had my beauty you had early and as for my manners my behaviour to you was at least always on the and i never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not now be sincere did you admire me for my impertinence for the of your mind i did you may as well call it impertinence at once it was very little less the fact is that you were sick of civility of deference of attention you were with the women who were always speaking and looking and thinking for your approbation alone i roused and interested you because i was so them had you not been really amiable you would have me for it but in spite of the you took to yourself your feelings were always noble and just and in your heart you the persons who so you there i have you the trouble of for it and really all things considered i begin to think it perfectly reasonable to be sure you know no good of me but nobody of that when they fall in love was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to jane while she was ill at netherfield dearest jane who could have done less for her but make a virtue of it by all means my good qualities are under your and you are to them as much as possible and in return it to me to find occasions for teasing and with you as often as may be and i shall begin directly by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point at last what made you so of me when you first called and afterwards dined here why especially when you called did you look as if you did not care about me because you were grave and silent and gave me no encouragement but i was embarrassed and so was i you might have talked to me more when you came to dinner a man who had felt less might how unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer to give and that i should be so reasonable as to admit it but i wonder how long you would have gone on if you had been left to yourself i wonder when you would have spoken if i had not asked you my resolution of you for your kindness to lydia had certainly great effect too much i am afraid for what of the if our comfort from a of promise for i ought not to have mentioned the subject this will never do you need not distress yourself the will be perfectly fair lady catherine s endeavours to separate us were the means of all my i am not indebted for my present happiness to your eager desire of expressing your gratitude i was not in a humour to wait for an opening of yours my aunt s intelligence had given me hope and i was determined at once to know everything lady catherine has been of use which ought to make her happy for she to be of use but tell me what did you come down to netherfield for was it merely to to longbourn and be embarrassed or had you intended any more serious my real purpose was to see you and to judge if i could whether i might ever hope to make you love me my one or what i to myself was to see whether your sister was still partial to bingley and if she were to make the to him which i have since made shall you ever have courage to to lady catherine what is to her i am more likely to want time than courage elizabeth but it ought to be done and if you will give me a of paper it shall be done directly and if i had not a letter to write myself i might sit by you and admire the of your writing as another young lady once did but i have an aunt too who must not be longer from an to confess how much her intimacy with mr darcy had been elizabeth had never yet answered mrs gardiner s long letter but now having that to which she knew would be most welcome she was almost ashamed to find that her uncle and aunt had already lost three days of happiness and immediately wrote as follows i would have thanked you before my dear aunt as i ought to have done for your long kind satisfactory of particulars but to say the truth i was too to write you supposed more than really but now suppose as much as you choose give a to your fancy your in every possible which the subject will afford and unless you believe me actually married you cannot greatly you must write again very soon and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last i thank you again and again for not going to the lakes how could i be so silly as to wish it your idea of the is delightful we will go round the park every day i am the happiest creature in the world perhaps other people have said so before but no one with such justice i am even than jane she only smiles i laugh mr darcy you all the love in the world that can be spared from me you are all to come to pemberley at christmas yours etc mr darcy s letter to lady catherine was in a different style and still different from either was what mr bennet sent to mr collins in return for his last dear sir i must trouble you once more for congratulations elizabeth will soon be the wife of mr darcy console lady catherine as well as you can but if i were you i would stand by the nephew he has more to give yours sincerely etc miss bingley s congratulations to her brother on his approaching marriage were all that was affectionate and she wrote even to jane on the occasion to express her delight and all her former professions of regard jane was not deceived but she was affected and though feeling no on her could not help writing her a much answer than she knew was deserved the joy which miss darcy expressed on receiving information was as sincere as her brother s in it four of paper were insufficient to contain all her delight and all her earnest desire of being loved by her sister before any answer could from mr collins or any congratulations to elizabeth from his wife the longbourn family heard that the collinses were come themselves to lucas lodge the reason of this sudden removal was soon evident lady catherine had been rendered so exceedingly angry by the contents of her nephew s letter that charlotte really in the match was anxious to get away till the was over at such a moment the arrival of her friend was a sincere pleasure to elizabeth though in the course of their she must sometimes think the pleasure when she saw mr darcy to all the and civility of her husband he bore it however with he could even listen to sir william lucas when he him on away the of the country and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at st james s with very composure if he did his it was not till sir william was out of sight mrs philips s was another and perhaps a greater on his forbearance and though mrs philips as well as her sister stood in too much of him to speak with the which bingley s good humour encouraged yet whenever she did speak she must be nor was her respect for him though it made her more quiet at all likely to make her more elegant elizabeth did all she could to him from the frequent notice of either and was ever anxious to keep him to herself and to those of her family with whom he might without mortification and though the uncomfortable feelings from all this took from the of much of its pleasure it added to the hope of the future and she looked forward with delight to the time when they should be removed from society so little pleasing to either to all the comfort and elegance of their family party at pemberley illustration chapter illustration happy for all her feelings was the day on which mrs bennet got of her two most daughters with what delighted pride she afterwards mrs bingley and talked of mrs darcy may be i wish i could say for the sake of her family that the of her earnest desire in the establishment of so many of her children produced so happy an effect as to make her a sensible amiable well informed woman for the rest of her life though perhaps it was lucky for her husband who might not have domestic felicity in so a form that she still was occasionally and silly mr bennet his second daughter exceedingly his affection for her drew him from home than anything else could do he delighted in going to pemberley especially when he was least expected mr bingley and jane remained at netherfield only a twelvemonth so near a to her mother and meryton relations was not desirable even to his easy temper or her affectionate heart the wish of his sisters was then gratified he an estate in a county to derbyshire and jane and elizabeth in addition to every other source of happiness were within miles of each other kitty to her very material advantage spent the chief of her time with her two elder sisters in society so superior to what she had generally known her improvement was great she was not of so a temper as lydia and removed from the influence of lydia s she became by proper attention and less less ignorant and less from the further of lydia s society she was of course kept and though mrs wickham frequently invited her to come and stay with her with the promise of balls and young men her father would never consent to her going mary was the only daughter who remained at home and she was drawn from the pursuit of by mrs bennet s being quite unable to sit alone mary was obliged to more with the world but she could still over every morning visit and as she was no longer by between her sisters beauty and her own it was suspected by her father that she to the change without much as for wickham and lydia their suffered no from the marriage of her sisters he bore with the conviction that elizabeth must now become acquainted with whatever of his and falsehood had before been unknown to her and in spite of everything was not wholly without hope that darcy might yet be prevailed on to make his fortune the letter which elizabeth received from lydia on her marriage explained to her that by his wife at least if not by himself such a hope was the letter was to this effect my dear lizzy i wish you joy if you love mr darcy half so well as i do my dear wickham you must be very happy it is a great comfort to have you so rich and when you have nothing else to do i hope you will think of us i am sure wickham would like a place at very much and i do not think we shall have quite money enough to live upon without some help any place would do of about three or four hundred a year but however do not speak to mr darcy about it if you had rather not yours etc as it happened that elizabeth had much rather not she endeavoured in her answer to put an end to every entreaty and expectation of the kind such relief however as it was in her power to afford by the of what might be called in her own private she frequently sent them it had always been evident to her that such an income as under the direction of two persons so in their wants and of the future must be very insufficient to their support and whenever they changed their either jane or herself were sure of being applied to for some little assistance towards their their manner of living even when the of peace them to a home was in the they were always moving from place to place in quest of a situation and always more than they ought his affection for her soon into indifference hers a little longer and in spite of her youth and her manners she all the claims to which her marriage had given her though darcy could never receive him at pemberley yet for elizabeth s sake he him further in his profession lydia was occasionally a visitor there when her husband was gone to enjoy himself in london or and with the they both of them frequently stayed so long that even bingley s good humour was overcome and he proceeded so far as to talk of giving them a hint to be gone miss bingley was very by darcy s marriage but as she thought it advisable to the right of at pemberley she dropped all her resentment was than ever of georgiana almost as attentive to darcy as and paid off every of civility to elizabeth pemberley was now georgiana s home and the attachment of the sisters was exactly what darcy had hoped to see they were able to love each other even as well as they intended georgiana had the highest opinion in the world of elizabeth though at first she often listened with an astonishment on alarm at her lively manner of talking to her brother he who had always in herself a respect which almost her affection she now saw the object of open her mind received knowledge which had never before in her way by elizabeth s she began to comprehend that a woman may take with her husband which a brother will not always allow in a sister more than ten years younger than himself lady catherine was extremely on the marriage of her nephew and as she gave way to all the of her character in her reply to the letter which its arrangement she sent him language so very especially of elizabeth that for some time all intercourse was at an end but at length by elizabeth s persuasion he was prevailed on to the and seek a and after a little further on the part of his aunt her resentment gave way either to her affection for him or her curiosity to see how his wife herself and she to wait on them at pemberley in spite of that which its woods had received not merely from the presence of such a mistress but the of her uncle and aunt from the with the gardiners they were always on the most intimate terms darcy as well as elizabeth really loved them and they were both ever sensible of the gratitude towards the persons who by bringing her into derbyshire had been the means of them illustration the end charles and lane london