Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 24

A new scene was performed at Longbourne the next day.Mr. Collins made his proposal formally.As his vacation was ending next Saturday, he resolved to do it at once, and he proceeded methodically and with all the decency that he believed to be the norm in such matters, and he was so confident that he had no intention of doing so. To think about the embarrassment it might cause him.Soon after breakfast, when he found Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth, and his other little cousin alone, he began to address their mother:
"May I wish, madam, that for your sake and that of your pretty daughter Elizabeth, I would beg her to do me the favor of speaking privately with me this morning?"

Elizabeth blushed with surprise, and before she could react, Mrs. Bennet quickly replied:

"Oh, dear! Yes—of course—I'm sure Lizzy will be delighted—she will have no objection—come, Kitty, come upstairs with me." Before she had gathered up her needlework Just as the work was about to leave in a hurry, Elizabeth called to her.

"Dear mother, don't go away—I beg you don't go away—Mr. Collins will forgive me—he has nothing to say to me that no one else can hear. I'm leaving here."

"No, no, Lizzy, this is nonsense. I hope you'll stay where you are." Seeing that Elizabeth, annoyed and embarrassed, seemed really ready to slip away, she added, "Lizzy, I I must ask you to stay and listen to what Mr Collins has to say."

Elizabeth did not want to get too stiff with her mother, and after a little consideration she felt that it would be best to settle the matter as quickly as possible, as quietly and as quietly as possible, so she sat down again and tried to restrain herself. Trying not to let his ridiculous emotions show.Mrs. Bennet and Kitty went away, and as soon as they were out Mr. Collins said:

"Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, your modesty, far from injuring you in the slightest, adds to your virtue. If you hadn't shown this little reluctance just now, you would have been in my eyes It would not be so lovely now; let me tell you that I have asked your venerable mother's permission beforehand. I think you may have guessed the purpose of this conversation with you, in spite of your natural timidity. Pretend to be ignorant; my attention and attention to you are so obvious that you cannot fail to see it. I have singled you out for my future life partner when I first entered this home. However, Before I get too intoxicated with this feeling of my own, let me tell you why I got married, and what I meant when I came to Hertfordshire to find a wife—which I certainly did. The—maybe it won't be unhelpful."

Thinking of Mr. Collins's calm and solemn appearance now, he would actually say something that he was afraid of being unable to control his emotions, and Elizabeth could hardly help laughing, so that she could not take advantage of his pause to stop him. So he went on, "The first reason why I want to get married is that I think every priest (like myself) who is well off should set an example in his parish in terms of married life. The second reason is that I am convinced that a good married life will greatly increase the happiness I have now; Special advice and encouragement from the lady who may be called my patron. Twice she has given me her opinion (of her own accord) on the subject of marriage! It was on last Saturday that I The evening before we left Hansford—we were playing cards, and Mrs Jenkinson was arranging a footstool for Miss de Bourgh, when the old lady said to me, 'Mr Collins, you must be married.

A pastor like you must have a family - choose carefully, for me, you have to choose a woman who is educated and reasonable, for yourself, she should be the kind of woman who is diligent and able to do housework, and her birth does not necessarily have to be noble , but you must be good at managing your finances.This is my advice to you.Find such a woman as soon as you can, and bring her back to Hansford, and I will go and see her. ' Allow me to add by the way, my dear cousin, that I consider the attention and attention of Madame Catherine de Bourgh to be a considerable advantage to me.You will find her manners and personality beyond description; I think she will accept you with your intelligence and vivacity, especially when her superior position will inevitably add to your demeanor. When you have a sense of solemnity and respect, she will like you more.These are the general reasons why I intend to marry and have a family; and next, why should I go to Lang Poon and not be in my neighbourhood--I can assure you that we have a lot of lovely girls--to Make a choice.

The thing is, though I shall be the rightful heir to the estate after your father dies (who will of course live for many years), I would be a little uneasy if I hadn't intended to come from among his daughters Choose a wife, choose among them, and when this unfortunate event (which, as I have just said, probably will not happen in the next few years) happens, the loss to them will be as little as possible. Some.That was the motive of this, my pretty cousin, and I thought I would not lower my standing in your eyes by doing so.Now, my cousin, all I have left to do is to express to you my warmest feelings in the most passionate words.Dowry and money do not matter to me at all, and I will not make any demands on your father in this regard, because I know full well that this demand cannot be satisfied; I know that the property due to your name is only a sum. A deposit of £[-] at four per cent a year will not come to you until your mother dies.In this respect, therefore, I will keep silent; and you may rest assured that I shall not say a petty word after we are married. "

Now was the time when it was absolutely necessary to interrupt him.

"You're a little too hasty, sir," she said excitedly, "and you forget that I haven't given you any answer yet. Let me do it now before we waste each other's time. For your compliment , please accept my thanks. I am well aware of the great honor your proposal affords me, but I have no choice but to refuse it."

"I don't know now," replied Mr. Collins, with a solemn wave of his hand, "that young ladies usually refuse when men propose to them for the first time, when in fact they have in mind acceptance." Yes; sometimes such refusals arise twice or even thrice. So what you have just said does not discourage me in the least, and I look forward to leading you to church before long."

"Honestly, sir," cried Elizabeth, "it is very strange that you should still wish so after I had formally refused. I tell you for the record that I am not what you call a woman (if If there are such girls in the world), dare to risk their happiness and wait for someone to ask for a second time. My refusal is very serious.—You can’t make me happy, and I’m sure I can’t The worst woman in the world to give you happiness.—Well, if your friend Lady Catherine had known me, I am sure she would have found me in no way suitable for the role."

"Even if Lady Catherine thought so," said Mr. Collins gravely, "I don't think she would approve of you. You may rest assured that, when I have the honor to see her again, I shall commend your modesty, thrift and all the other lovely virtues."

"No, Mr. Collins, all my praise will be unnecessary. You must give me the right to make my own opinion, and give due respect to what I have to say. I wish you a very happy future. Rich, I refused your request, just trying my best to prevent you from going in the opposite direction. By proposing to me this time, you don't have to feel any embarrassment about the matter in my house anymore. When it's your turn to be the master of Longbourne in the future, you don't have to feel any guilt. Therefore, let's conclude this matter like this." She stood up as she spoke, and was about to leave the room Mr. Collins said to her when she was in the following words:
"The next time I speak to you seriously about this matter, I hope your answer will be more satisfactory than the present one; but I don't blame you for your present indifference, because I know that rejecting men Your first marriage proposal is a common practice of your women, perhaps, what you said just now is a kind of encouragement for me without violating the delicate psychology of your women."

"Ah, Mr. Collins," Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly, "you really confuse me. If what I just said seems to you another form of encouragement, I really don't know how to refuse it." , to make you believe it."

"My dear cousin, I have my own reasons, of course, for thinking that your refusal of my marriage proposal is merely lip service. These are chief among them:--It does not seem to me that my proposal is It is not worthy of your acceptance, and my wealth is not unenviable to you. My social position, my relationship with the de Bourgh family and your relationship are all very advantageous conditions; you should Consider the trade-off: Although you are attractive everywhere, this does not guarantee that you will get another marriage proposal. Your own fortune is a little too pitifully small to combine your cuteness with many. All other good conditions may cancel out. Since I should conclude from this that your refusal to me was not intentional, I shall prefer to think that you did it only as many elegant ladies are accustomed to do, I hope to increase my admiration for you by creating suspense."

"I can tell you with certainty, sir, that I don't intend to pretend to be elegant in order to deliberately torture a decent man. I would rather you give me face and believe that what I say is true. Thank you for asking me to marry you, I shall be grateful, but it is impossible for me to say yes. All the emotions in me are against it. Can I put it more plainly than that? Don't think of me as someone out to torture you instead of a refined woman, see me as a sensible woman who speaks the truth from the bottom of my heart."

"You are so charming!" he said loudly, with a look of gallantry mixed with embarrassment, "I believe that as long as your father-in-law agrees, my marriage proposal will not be rejected. .”

With this repeated deliberate deception to him, Elizabeth fell silent, and then quietly withdrew; she made up her mind that if he insisted that her repeated refusal was a Then she had no choice but to turn to her father for help, and let her father categorically refuse him. At least his father's behavior would not be considered by him to be the coquettish and sentimental of that elegant woman. Bar.

(End of this chapter)