Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 12

This day was passed almost the same as the previous day.Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley spent several hours in the morning with the patient, whose recovery, though slow, continued to improve; and in the evening Elizabeth appeared in the drawing-room where they were all present.However, this time no one is playing loo (loo is a French card game for gambling.).Darcy was writing a letter, and Miss Bingley, sitting next to him, was watching him writing, and constantly distracted his attention by asking him to write something for his sister.Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley were playing puck, and Mrs. Hurst watched them play.

Elizabeth, at her needlework, could not help amused and amused by the conversation which took place between Darcy and Miss Bingley.Miss Bingley was constantly admiring his handwriting, or the orderliness of the lines, or the length of the letter, but the other party was completely indifferent to this praise, and this wonderful dialogue formed on the basis of this, It fit Elizabeth's opinion of the two of them.

"How glad Miss Darcy will be when she receives this letter!"

Darcy said nothing.

"You write letters so fast."

"You're wrong. I write rather slowly."

"How many letters do you have to write in a year! And business letters! How tedious it must be, I imagine!"

"Well, since I'll write them instead of you, you won't have to worry about such tedium."

"Please tell your little sister, I miss her so much."

"As you wish, I have already told her in this letter."

"I'm afraid your pen is not very easy to use. Let me repair it for you. I am very good at repairing pens."

"Thank you—only, I always fix my pens myself."

"How did you manage to write so neatly?"

He has no words.

"Please tell my sister how pleased I am to hear that her harp has improved again, and tell her how pleasantly surprised I was at the beautiful tablecloth she designed, which I think is better than Miss Granley's. I don't know how many times stronger that one is."

"Can you allow me to tell you about your surprise when I have written a letter? In this letter, I really can't arrange them."

"Oh! that's all right. I shall see her in January. Do you always write such long, touching letters to your sister, Mr. Darcy?"

"They are generally long; but whether they are always moving or not is not for me to judge."

"It seems to me that it is a rule that whoever writes a long letter with ease and smoothness must be able to write it well."

"That compliment doesn't apply to Darcy, Caroline," cried her brother, "for he is not an easy writer. He makes a point of using long words with four syllables. Isn't it, Darcy? "

"My writing style is completely different from yours."

"Oh!" cried Miss Bingley, "Chalice writes too hastily. In a letter he can drop half the words, and cross out the rest."

"My thoughts move so fast that I hardly have time to express them—that is why my letters are sometimes baffled by the recipient."

"Your courteous manner, Mr. Bingley," said Elizabeth, "must offset the reproach against you."

"There is nothing more gullible than this apparent humility," said Darcy, "often simply an indiscriminate indiscretion, and sometimes an indirect boast."

"And what will you call my little modesty this time?"

"Indirect boasting; for you are actually rather proud of your writing defects, which you attribute to quickness of mind and carelessness in expression, and these latter two, if not very valuable, You at least thought they were very interesting. The quickness of things is always praised by its possessors, and the perfunctory carelessness in its execution is often dismissed. When you said to Mrs. Bennet this morning , if you decide to leave you will move away from Neesefeld in five minutes, you take it in your heart as a compliment to yourself, or a compliment-but such a What's there to praise in such haste? It cuts by the wayside everything that ought to be done, and does neither man nor self the slightest good."

"Ah," exclaimed Bingley, "isn't it a little too much to recall in the evening all the insignificant things that have been said in the morning? But then again, I believe I The sincerity of what I said about myself, and I still think so at this moment. So, at least, my morning expression of my edgy character was not just for bragging rights in front of the ladies."

"I dare say you think so; but I would never believe that you left Neesefeld so quickly. Your conduct, like that of any man I have ever known, is as Influenced by chance; if, just as you were mounting to go, a friend said, 'Bingley, you'd better not go until next week.' You would probably do as he said— —if your friend said another word, you might stay another month."

"What you have said proves," cried Elizabeth, "that Mr. Bingley is not in the midst of his own temper in considering other people's opinions. You praise him far more than he praises himself. .”

"I am very obliged," said Bingley, "that my friend's remarks have become a compliment to my meekness by your smoothing out. I fear, however, that your smoothing is not To please this gentleman; for he would think more highly of me if I had, on the occasion, given a flat refusal, and rode off at a gallop."

"Does Mr. Darcy think, then, that your rashness in your original plan is redeemed by your obstinate adherence to it?"

"To tell you the truth, I can't explain the matter very well. It must be left to Mr. Darcy himself."

"You want me to explain what you insist on being my own opinions, but I have never admitted them to be mine. However, if the situation is what you say, you must also remember Come, Miss Bennet, the friend who wished Mr. Bingley to stay and delay his removal was merely such a wish, and he uttered this request without giving a proper reason for his doing so. reason."

"It doesn't seem to you to be a good thing at all to be willing--easy--to follow a friend's advice."

"It's not a compliment to the understanding of two people to listen without their own opinions."

"It seems to me, Mr. Darcy, that you seem to deny at all the influence of friendship and affection. Respect for the person who makes the supplicant often makes a man willing to obey a request rather than wait to be able to do so." The grounds for convincing him sufficiently. What I am talking about here is not the specific occasion you imagined for Mr. Bingley. Or we might as well wait until such a thing happens, and then we will discuss his relevant Properness of conduct. But, on ordinary and ordinary occasions, between friends, one person wants to make the other change an insignificant decision, and you should not wait for the other party to give sufficient advice because he obeyed the friend's wishes. Why, do you think this person is not good?"

"Before we get down to it, shouldn't we be more precise about the magnitude of the request and the level of intimacy between the two people?"

"Besides," interposed Bingley in a loud voice, "we shall hear all the pertinent details, down to their mutual height and physical strength; There is a greater importance in it than you can imagine, Miss Bennet. I assure you that I would not have half the respect I have for Darcy if he had not been so much older than I am. I dare say, On certain occasions, in certain places, I have yet to see anyone else as hard-pressed as he is; especially in his own home, on Sunday evenings when he has nothing to do. when."

Mr. Darcy laughed; but Elizabeth felt that she could see that he was growing a little angry, and suppressed her laughter.Miss Bingley expressed great dissatisfaction at Darcy's humiliation, and blamed her brother for having to speak such nonsense.

"I understand what you mean, Bingley," said his friend (pointing to Darcy.) "You don't like debate, and you want to calm it down."

"You may be right. Debates are often like arguments. I would be very grateful if you and Miss Bennet could wait until I leave this room to do the debate; by then I can say whatever you want I'm ready."

"Your request," said Elizabeth, "has lost nothing to me; and Mr. Darcy had better finish his letter."

Mr. Darcy did heed her advice, and went to finish his letter.

When the letter was finished, he asked Miss Bingley and Elizabeth to play a little music.Miss Bingley went quickly to the piano, first politely invited Elizabeth to take the lead, and after a polite rather sincere refusal, she herself sat down at the piano.

Mrs. Hurst sang for her sister. While the two sisters were singing in this way, Elizabeth looked at some music books on the piano, and she couldn't help noticing how often Mr. Darcy's eyes fell on her. Come.She hardly had the luxury of expecting her to be the object of the great man's affections; but it would be even more incomprehensible to think that he looked at her as he did because he did not like her.So, in the end, she could only imagine that the reason why she attracted his attention was because according to his standards of right and wrong, she might be more heinous and unpleasant than all the other people present. .This behavior did not cause her pain.She hardly liked him at all, so she did not appreciate his attention.

After several Italian songs, Miss Bingley, in a change of mood, played a lively Scottish tune; and after a while Mr. Darcy approached Elizabeth, and said to her:

"Miss Bennet, don't you want to take this opportunity to dance a light dance?"

She smiled and didn't answer.He repeated the words, slightly surprised by her silence.

"Well!" she said, "I've heard it before; it's just that I can't make up my mind how to answer you. I know you want to ask me to say 'I do,' and then you can have fun contemptuously. but I'm always happy to pierce such little tricks and play tricks on people who want to belittle others. So I've decided to tell you that I don't want to dance at all--come now if you dare Just taunt me."

"I really dare not."

Elizabeth, who expected to offend him, was a little surprised at his generosity.In fact, Elizabeth's demeanor was so tender and endearingly mischievous that it was difficult to offend anyone; never had Darcy been so captivated by a woman.He really believed that he would have been in danger of falling in love with her if her family had not been of humble origins.

Miss Bingley saw or guessed enough of these to make her jealous; and her eagerness for the recovery of her good friend Jane was intensified by her desire to get rid of Elizabeth.

In order to arouse Darcy's resentment towards this guest, she often gossips in front of Darcy, saying that he and Elizabeth will eventually form a happy relationship, and imagines the happiness he can get in this happy relationship.

"I hope," said she, when I walked next day in the bushes with Darcy, "that when this joyful day comes, you'd better give your lord mother-in-law some hint that she should keep her mouth shut. , besides, if you can do it, her sisters must be cured of their flirting with officers, and, if I may touch on this delicate subject, you must give your wife There are some small problems that border between egotism and indecentness, restraint."

"Do you have any other suggestions for my domestic happiness?"

"Oh! Of course there are.--do hang up pictures of your uncles and uncles in the Pemberley gallery. Hang them next to your grand-uncle the judge. You know, they do It's the same trade; it's just a different branch. As for your Elizabeth, you mustn't try to paint her, for what painter could paint her beautiful eyes?"

"It's not easy to capture the expression of those eyes, but their color and shape, and those eyelashes that are so charming and charming, can be drawn."

Just at this moment Mrs. Hurst and Elizabeth herself came up from another sidewalk, and happened to meet them.

"I didn't know you meant to go for a walk, too," said Miss Bingley, becoming a little uneasy that they had heard what she had just said.

"You two have been very kind to us," said Mrs. Hurst, "without telling us; you two slipped out."

With that, she took Darcy's other arm, leaving Elizabeth to follow.Only three people can walk down that path abreast.Mr. Darcy thought this very impolite, and said:
"This road is not wide enough for all of us. Let us go to the main road."

Elizabeth, however, was not at all thinking of staying with them any longer, and replied, laughing loudly:
"No, no; you just walk on this road.—You three are well combined, and it looks like a charming scene. Add a fourth, and the picture will give Destroyed (William Gilpin, in his Interpretation of Engravings, published in 1786, said of the combination principle of the pattern: "Four bring new difficulties in combination. Separate them completely, the effect No. Combining them two by two doesn't work well either. The only way to combine them well is to combine three and get rid of the fourth."). Goodbye."

She ran away merrily after saying this, thinking happily as she walked back that she might be able to go home in a day or two.Jane was so much better that she was thinking of leaving her room for a few hours just this evening.

(End of this chapter)