Chapter53

Chapter 53

MR. Wickham was so perfectly satisfied with this conversation that he never again distressed himself, or provoked his dear sister Elizabeth, by introducing 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 submit to a separation, which, as her husband by no means entered into her scheme of their all going to Newcastle, 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 adieus 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 simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all. I am prodigiously proud of him. I defy even Sir William Lucas himself to produce a more valuable son-in-law." 

The loss of her daughter made Mrs. Bennet very dull for several days. 

"I often think," said she, "that there is nothing so bad as parting with one's friends. One seems so forlorn 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 happens to be so far off. If that had been nearer, she would not have gone so soon." 

But the spiritless condition which this event threw her into was shortly relieved, and her mind opened again to the agitation of hope, by an article of news which then began to be in circulation. 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 shoot there for several weeks. Mrs. Bennet was quite in the fidgets. She looked at Jane, and smiled and shook her head by turns. 

"Well, well, and so Mr. Bingley is coming down, sister," (for Mrs. Phillips 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, is it quite certain he is coming?" 

"You may depend on it," replied the other, "for Mrs. Nicholls 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 certain true. He comes down on Thursday at the latest, very likely on Wednesday. She was going to the butcher's, she told me, on purpose to order in some meat on Wednesday, and she has got three couple of ducks just fit to be killed." 

Miss Bennet had not been able to hear of his coming without changing 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 confused for the moment, because I felt that I should be looked at. I do assure you that the news does not affect 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 dread 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 wavered as to the greater probability of his coming there with his friend's permission, or being bold enough to come without it. 

"Yet it is hard," she sometimes thought, "that this poor man cannot come to a house which he has legally hired, without raising all this speculation! 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 disturbed, more unequal, than she had often seen them. 

The subject which had been so warmly canvassed 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 visiting him last year, and promised, if I went to see him, he should marry one of my daughters. But it ended in nothing, and I will not be sent on a fool's errand again." 

His wife represented to him how absolutely necessary such an attention would be from all the neighbouring gentlemen, on his returning to Netherfield. 

"'Tis an etiquette I despise," 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 abominably rude if you do not wait on him. But, however, that shan't prevent my asking him to dine here, I am determined. We must have Mrs. Long and the Gouldings soon. That will make thirteen with ourselves, so there will be just room at table for him." 

Consoled by this resolution, she was the better able to bear her husband's incivility; 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 perpetually 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 any thing to comfort you," replied Elizabeth; "but it is wholly out of my power. You must feel it; and the usual satisfaction of preaching patience to a sufferer is denied me, because you have always so much." 

Mr. Bingley arrived. Mrs. Bennet, through the assistance of servants, contrived to have the earliest tidings of it, that the period of anxiety and fretfulness on her side might be as long as it could. She counted the days that must intervene 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 paddock and ride towards the house. 

Her daughters were eagerly called to partake of her joy. Jane resolutely 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." 

"La!" 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 vow. 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 awkwardness which must attend her sister, in seeing him almost for the first time after receiving his explanatory 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 sources of uneasiness which could not be suspected by Jane, to whom she had never yet had courage to shew 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 merit she had undervalued; but to her own more extensive information, he was the person to whom the whole family were indebted for the first of benefits, and whom she regarded herself with an interest, if not quite so tender, 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 witnessing his altered behaviour in Derbyshire. 

The colour which had been driven from her face, returned for half a minute with an additional glow, and a smile of delight added lustre to her eyes, as she thought for that space of time that his affection and wishes must still be unshaken. But she would not be secure. 

"Let me first see how he behaves," said she; "it will then be early enough for expectation." 

She sat intently at work, striving to be composed, and without daring to lift 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 paler than usual, but more sedate 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 symptom of resentment or any unnecessary complaisance. 

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 contrasted with the cold and ceremonious politeness of her curtsey and address to his friend. 

Elizabeth, particularly, who knew that her mother owed to the latter the preservation of her favourite daughter from irremediable infamy, was hurt and distressed to a most painful degree by a distinction so ill applied. 

Darcy, after enquiring of her how Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner did, a question which she could not answer without confusion, said scarcely any thing. 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 elapsed without bringing the sound of his voice; and when occasionally, unable to resist the impulse of curiosity, she raised he eyes to his face, she as often found him looking at Jane as at herself, and frequently on no object but the ground. More thoughtfulness 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 any one but himself; and to him she had hardly courage to speak. 

She enquired 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 Michaelmas; but, however, I hope it is not true. A great many changes 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 papers. It was in the Times and the Courier, I know; though it was not put in as it ought to be. It was only said, "Lately, George Wickham, Esq. to Miss Lydia Bennet," without there being a syllable said of her father, or the place where she lived, or any thing. 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 lift 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 such a way from me. They are gone down to Newcastle, a place quite northward, 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 regulars. Thank Heaven! he has some friends, though perhaps not so many as he deserves." 

Elizabeth, who knew this to be levelled 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 effectually 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 killed all your own birds, Mr. Bingley," said her mother, "I beg you will come here, and shoot as many as you please on Mr. Bennet's manor. I am sure he will be vastly happy to oblige you, and will save all the best of the covies for you." 

Elizabeth's misery increased, at such unnecessary, such officious attention! Were the same fair prospect to arise at present as had flattered them a year ago, every thing, she was persuaded, would be hastening to the same vexatious conclusion. At that instant, she felt that years of happiness could not make Jane or herself amends 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 atone for such wretchedness as this! Let me never see either one or the other again!" 

Yet the misery, for which years of happiness were to offer no compensation, received soon afterwards material relief, from observing how much the beauty of her sister re-kindled the admiration of her former lover. 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 unaffected, though not quite so chatty. 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 busily engaged, that she did not always know when she was silent. 

When the gentlemen rose to go away, Mrs. Bennet was mindful 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 debt, 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 forgot, 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 any thing less than two courses could be good enough for a man on whom she had such anxious designs, or satisfy the appetite and pride of one who had ten thousand a year. 

韦翰先生对于这场谈话完全感到满意，从此他便不再提起这件事，免得自寻苦恼，也免得惹他亲爱的大姨伊丽莎白生气；伊丽莎白见他居然给说得不再开口，也觉得很高兴。

转眼之间，他和丽迪雅的行期来到了，班纳特太太不得不和他们分离，而且至少要分别一年，因为班纳特先生坚决不赞同她的计划，不肯让全家都搬到纽卡斯去。

她哭了：“哦，我的丽迪雅宝贝，我们到哪一天才能见面呢？”

“天哪！我也不知道。也可能两年三年见不着面。”

“常常写信给我吧，好孩子。”

“我一定常常写信来。可是你知道，结了婚的女人是没有什么工夫写信的。姐妹们倒可以常常写信给我，反正她们无事可做。”

韦翰先生一声声的再见比他太太叫得亲切得多。他笑容满面，仪态万方，又说了多少漂亮话。

他们一走出门，班纳特先生就说：“他是我生平所看到的最漂亮的一个人。他既会假笑，又会痴笑，又会跟大家调笑。我真为他感到莫大的骄傲。我敢说，连卢卡斯爵士也未必拿得出一个更名贵的女婿。”

女儿走了以后，班纳特太太郁闷了好多天。

她说：“我常常想，同自己的亲人离别，真是再难受不过的事；他们走了，我好象失去了归宿。”

伊丽莎白说：“妈妈，你要明白，这就是嫁女儿的下场，好在你另外四个女儿还没有人要，一定会叫你好受些。”

“完全不是那么回事。丽迪雅并不是因为结了婚而要离开我，而是因为她丈夫的部队凑巧驻扎提那么远。要是近一点，她就用不到走得这样快了。”

且说这事虽然使班纳特太太精神颓丧，不过没有过多久也就好了，因为这时候外界正流传着一件新闻，使她的精神又振作起来。原来风闻尼日斐花园的主人一两天内就要回到乡下来，打几个星期的猎，他的管家奶奶正在奉命收拾一切。班纳特太太听到这消息，简直坐立不安。她一会儿望望吉英，一会儿笑笑，一会儿摇摇头。

“好极了，彬格莱先生居然要来了，妹妹”（因为第一个告诉她这消息的正是腓力普太太。）“好极了，实在太好了。不过我倒并不在乎。你知道，我们一点也不把他放在心上，我的确再也不想见到他了。不过，他既然愿意回到尼日斐花园来，我们自然还是欢迎他。谁知道会怎么样呢？反正与我们无关。你知道，妹妹，我们早就讲好，再也不提这件事。他真的会来吗？”

她的妹妹说：“你放心好了，尼可斯奶奶昨儿晚上去过麦里屯。我亲眼看见她走过，便特地跑出去向她打听，是不是真有这回事；她告诉我说，的确真有这回事。他最迟星期四就会来，很可能星期三就来。她又说，她正要上肉铺子去定点儿肉，准备星期三做菜，她还有六只鸭子，已经可以宰了吃。”

班纳特小姐听到他要来，不禁变了脸色。她已经有好几个月没有在伊丽莎白面前提起过他的名字；可是这一次等到只有她们姐妹两人在一起的时候，她就说道：

“丽萃，今天姨母告诉我这个消息的时候，我看到你直望着我，我知道我当时神色很难看；可是人千万别以为是为了这一类的傻事，只不过当时我觉得大家都在盯着我看所以一时之间有些心乱。老实告诉你，这个消息既不使我感到愉快，也不使我感到痛苦。只有一点使我感到高兴──这次他是一个人来的，因此我们看到他的机会就会比较少。我本身并没有什么顾虑，而是怕别人闲言闲语。”

伊丽莎白对这件事不知道怎么想才好。如果她上次没有在德比郡见到他，她也许会以为他此来并非别有用心。可是她依旧认为他对吉英未能忘情。这次他究竟是得到了他朋友的允许才来的呢，还是他自己大胆跑来的？这实在叫她无从断定。

她有时候不由得这么想：“这可怜的人，回到自己租定的房子里来，却引起人家这样的纷纷猜测，想起来着实令人难受。我也别去管他吧。”

不管她姐姐嘴上怎么说，心里怎么想，是否盼望他来，伊丽莎白却很容易看出了她姐姐精神上受到了影响，比从前更加心魂不定，神色不安。

大约在一年以前，父母曾经热烈地争论过这个问题，如今又要旧事重提了。

班纳特太太又对她丈夫说：“我的好老爷，彬格莱先生一一，你一定要去拜访他呀。”

“不去，不去，去年你硬逼着我去看他，说什么只要我去看了他，他就会挑中我们的某一个女儿做太太，可是结果只落得一场空，我再也不干这种傻事了。”

他太太又说，那位贵人一回到尼日斐花园，邻居们都少不了要去拜候他。

他说：“我恨透了这一类的礼节，要是他想跟我们来往，让他自己找上门来好了。他又不是不知道我们的住址。邻居们每次来来去去，都得要我来迎送，我可没有这种功夫。”

“唔，你不去拜访他，那就是太不知礼。不过，我还是可以请他到这儿来吃饭，我已经决定要请他来。我们本当早些请郎格太太和戈丁一家人来，加上我们自己家里的人，一共是十三个，所以正好留个位子给他。”

她决定了这么做，心里就觉得快慰了些，因此丈夫的无理也就叫她好受了些；然而，这样一来，结果就会使邻居们比他们先看到彬格莱先生。他来的日子迫近了。

吉英对她妹妹说：“我现在反而觉得他还是不要来的好，其实也无所谓；我见到他也可以装得若无其事；只是听到人家老是谈起这件事，我实在有些受不了。妈妈是一片好心，可是她不知道（谁也不知道）她那些话使我多么难受。但愿他不要在尼日斐花园再住下去，我就满意了！”

伊丽莎白说：“我真想说几句话安慰安慰你，可惜一句也说不出。你一定明白我的意思。我不愿意象一般人那样，看到人家难受，偏偏劝人家有耐性───因为你一向就有极大的耐性。”

彬格莱先生终于来了。班纳特太太多亏了佣人们加以协助，获得消息最早，因此烦神也烦得最久。既然及早去拜望他的计划已告失望，她便屈指计算着日子，看看还得再隔多少天才能送请贴。幸亏他来到哈福德郡的第三天，班纳特太太便从化妆室的窗口看见他骑着马走进围场，朝她家里走来。

她喜出望外，急急忙忙唤女儿们来分享她这种愉快。吉英毅然决然地坐在桌位上不动。伊丽莎白为了叫她母亲满意，便走到窗口望了一望，只见达西先生跟他一同来了，于是她便走回去坐在姐姐身旁。

吉蒂说：“妈妈，另外还有位先生跟他一起来了呢，那是谁呀？”

“我想总不外乎是他朋友什么的，宝贝，我的确不知道。”