Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 25

Mr. Collins was not able to reflect on the success or failure of his courtship personally; for Mrs. Bennet had been in the corridor wanting to know the result of their conversation? ?Now, seeing Elizabeth open the door, she walked quickly past her to the stairs.She hastened into the breakfast-room, and congratulated him and herself with warm words on their soon-to-be-closed kiss.Mr. Collins accepted her congratulations with equal joy, and after repeating his congratulations, went on to relate the details of their interview, concluding by saying that he had every reason to believe that the outcome of the interview Satisfactory, because his cousin's repeated refusals were so natural to her self-ashamed humility and natural shyness.

This remark, however, startled Mrs. Bennet;—she would, of course, have thought with equal joy and satisfaction that her daughter was trying to encourage him by refusing his proposal, but she dared not Wishing, she could not help saying:

"You can trust me, Mr. Collins, and I'll make Lizzy do it. I'll go and talk to her about it right away. She's a stupid and stubborn kid, and she doesn't know what her name is; I'll make her understand. came."

"Excuse me for interrupting you, ma'am," cried Mr. Collins, "if she is really paranoid and not clear-headed, I am more afraid that she will make an ideal wife for a man of my position. , because my marriage is naturally to seek happiness. If she really insists on rejecting me, it may be more appropriate not to force her to accept, because if she has such a character defect, she will have no effect on my future happiness. What a help."

"You have completely misunderstood me, sir," said Mrs. Bennet, with a little surprise. "Lizzy is only stubborn in matters like this. In everything else she is a very Good girl. I'll go to Mr. Bennet right away, and I'm sure we can settle the matter with her very soon."

Without waiting for an answer, she hurried off to find her husband, and as she entered his study she cried out:
"Oh, my Mr. Bennet, there is a matter to be settled by you at once; we are already at the height of our quarrel. You must go and get Lizzy to marry Mr. Collins, because she swore she would not marry him, and if you Be quick, and he'll change his mind about not wanting her."

Mr. Bennet raised his eyes from his book when she came in, and gazed at her face calmly and unmoved, and his expression was not altered in the slightest by her words.

"I don't understand what you mean," he said when she had finished shouting, "what on earth are you trying to say?"

"Mr. Collins and Lizzy. Lizzy said she didn't want to marry Mr. Collins, and Mr. Collins began to say that he didn't want to marry Lizzy."

"What can I do about it?—it seems like a hopeless thing."

"Go and talk to Lizzy yourself. Tell her you must make her marry him."

"Tell her to come downstairs. I'll tell her my opinion."

Mrs. Bennet went to ring the bell, and Elizabeth was soon summoned to the study.

"Come here, child," cried her father as she entered, "I have called you on an important matter. I know Mr. Collins has proposed to you, has he not?" Elizabeth Answer yes. "Very well—and you have refused his proposal?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Very well. Now we come to business. Your mother insists on your acceptance of the marriage. Is that so, ma'am?"

"That's right, otherwise, I would never want to see her again."

"An unpleasant choice is now before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be strangers to one of your parents.—your mother will never want to see you again, if you do not marry Collins sir; but if you marry him, I shall never wish to see you again."

Elizabeth could not help laughing at the way the matter had begun and ended; but it was a great disappointment to Mrs Bennet, who thought she had persuaded her husband to her own point of view.

"What do you mean by that, the child's father? You promised me to persuade her to marry him."

"My dear," replied her husband, "I have two little things to ask you to do. First, grant me the right to use my own understanding in this one matter; second, let me be free. use my study as much as possible. I am glad to make my study as quiet as possible."

However, although Mrs. Bennet was disappointed with her husband, she did not give up her idea.She talked to Elizabeth over and over;She tried her best to ask Rajiying to help her, but Jane always refused to intervene;—Elizabeth dealt with her mother's attack sometimes solemnly and sometimes with a playful face.Although the way she uses it has changed, her determination will not change.

Meanwhile Mr. Collins was thinking to himself of all that had just passed.He thought so much of himself that he could not comprehend what his cousin's motives might be in rejecting him; and although his pride had been slightly bruised, in all other respects he felt good.His affection for her was probably all his own imagination; and she probably deserved her mother's censure, and he felt no regret when he thought of it.

Just when the Bennet family was in such a turmoil, Miss Carlotie Lucas came to visit their house.She met Lydia on the porch, and when Lydia saw her, she ran to her, and said to her with some mystery: "You have come just in time, we have a lot of fun in our house!—you can imagine , did something happen to our family this morning?—Mr. Collins proposed to Lizzy, and Lizzy refused him."

Before Carlotti had time to say anything, Kitty came running up and told the news again. As soon as the three of them entered the breakfast room where Mrs. Bennet was alone, Mrs. Bennet immediately talked about it. and begged Miss Lucas to sympathize with her difficulty, and to help her friend Lizzy not to go against the wishes of the whole family. "Oh! my dear Miss Lucas," she said softly, "please do me a favor, for none of my family took my side, none of them spoke for me, and they all Treat me with no one who understands my poor nerves."

At this moment Jane and Elizabeth came in and relieved Carlotta.

"Ah, here she is," continued Mrs. Bennet, "look at her indifference, she doesn't think of us at all, even if we are far away, she won't think of us at all, as long as She will do as she pleases herself.—But I tell you, Miss Lizzy, if you make up your mind to turn down every suitor in this way, you will never find a husband— I don't know who will support you when your father is dead.--I can't afford to support you--I warn you solemnly.--From this day on I will have nothing to do with you.--I I told you when I was in the study, I will never talk to you again. I'm not in the mood to talk. One who suffers nervously like me has no pleasure in talking. No one knows how much I'm suffering! It's always like this. Those who don't complain A person who has never been pitied and sympathized with.”

Her daughters listened to this in silence, knowing that any attempt to reason with her and appease her emotions would only add to the annoyance.So she went on talking in this unrestrained way until Mr. Collins came in; Mr. Collins looked more dignified than usual, and Mrs. Bennet said to the girls when he came in:
"Now, I tell you all to shut your mouths, and I'm going to have a few words with Mr. Collins."

Elizabeth quietly left the house, followed by Jane and Kitty, with Lydia standing still, determined to hear their conversation, Carlotta, first deterred by Mr. Collins's courteous greetings, who She questioned herself and her whole family very carefully. Later, to satisfy her little curiosity, she walked to the window and listened secretly, pretending to be looking at the scenery outside.Thus Mrs. Bennet began her prepared remarks in a grumbling voice. — "Oh! Mr. Collins!"

"My dear lady," he replied, "let us never bring up the subject again. Go and complain about your daughter's conduct," he continued, in a voice that showed displeasure, "that is far from my We should all be resigned to our fate; especially to a young man like myself, who had the good fortune to be favored at an early age; My cousin agreed to my marriage proposal, and I might have given it up when I suspected that my real happiness might be affected; for I have often noticed that when the happiness rejected by others begins to lose its meaning When there are certain values, giving up in time is the best way out for us. I hope, my esteemed lady, that I withdraw my marriage proposal to your daughter in this way, without bothering you and Mr. Bennet, to pay for I use your power, you don't think it is disrespectful to your family if I do this. I am afraid that my behavior may be criticized, because I come from your daughter's mouth, not from your parents mouth, accepting my rejected fate. But all of us may err. In this matter, my intentions have been good throughout. All I have in mind is to I have found a lovely partner myself, and at the same time, I have taken care of the interests of your family as much as possible, and I hereby apologize to you if I should be blamed for my actions in the meantime."

(End of this chapter)