Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 29

Another letter from Miss Bingley reassured the doubts.The letter, which began with the statement that it was certain that all of them would spend the winter in London this winter, ended with an apology for his brother for not having had time to see him before he left the country. My friends in Hertfordshire, sorry.

Hope was gone, utterly gone; and Jane, while she was reluctant to read on, could find no comfort in the letter but the pretended kindness of the writer.Compliments to Miss Darcy occupy the bulk of the letter.The many charms of Miss Darcy were again bombarded.Caroline boasted proudly of their growing close friendship, and boldly predicted that the hopes of which she had spoken in her last letter would all come true.She also mentioned with great pleasure that her brother was now a frequent visitor to Mr. Darcy's house, and of Darcy's plans for new furniture.

Jane quickly related the greater part of this letter to Elizabeth, who listened in silence, and was very angry.Worried about her sister, she was filled with resentment toward everyone else.Elizabeth did not believe Caroline's story of her brother's admiration for Miss Darcy.Mr. Bingley's real favorite was Jane, and she was as sure as ever of that; but though she had always liked him before, she could not but think with indignation, even with contempt, that It was his easy-going temper and lack of opinion that made him the slave of his scheming friends, and made him sacrifice his happiness to their capricious whims.If it was only his own happiness that was sacrificed, he would be free to play with his own happiness; but here her sister was involved, and she thought he must know it himself.In short, this is a riddle that cannot be solved.Though that was all she had in her mind, she could not decide whether Bingley's love for his sister had really died away, or had been subdued by the resistance of his friends; Whether she sensed it, or not at all; and though her opinion of him would vary greatly depending on the answer, it was the same with her sister: her sister's peace of mind, after all, is hurt.

For a day or two Jane did not have the courage to express her feelings to Elizabeth; only afterwards, when Mrs. Bennet, after her usual loud complaint at Netherfield and its master, departed. When only the two sisters were left behind, Jiying couldn't help saying:
"Ah! I wish my mother could control herself a little. She can't imagine how much it hurts me when she keeps talking about him. But I won't complain. The pain is not Probably for a long time. He will be forgotten and we will be the same as before."

Elizabeth dubiously looked at her sister anxiously, but said nothing.

"You don't believe me," cried Jane, flushing a little, "oh, you have no reason not to believe me. He may remain in my memory as one of my kindest friends, but that's all. I There's nothing to hope for or worry about, and nothing to blame him for. Thank God! I haven't had that pain yet. So it'll just take a little time—I'm sure I'll get better."

After a moment, she said in a more assured voice: "I can tell myself now that this is all just wishful thinking on my part, and it won't hurt anyone but myself."

"Dear Jane!" said Elizabeth passionately, "you are very kind. You are so kind and unselfish, like an angel; I don't know what I should say to you. I feel that I have been very kind to you before." The praise, the love for you, is far from what you deserve."

Miss Bennet denied the affectionate compliment, and then praised her sister's affection in return.

"No," Elizabeth said excitedly, "it's not fair. You want to think that all people in the world are worthy of respect, and you feel bad when I say something bad about someone. I just want to see you as A perfect person, you have to rise up against it. Don't worry that I will praise you too much, don't worry that I will violate your belief that all things are good. You don't have to. In this world, what I really love There are few people, and the good ones in my mind are even fewer. The more I have seen the world, the more dissatisfied I am with it; every day that passes has strengthened my human nature is not what it is. The belief in one has strengthened my belief in the appearance of virtue or understanding. Recently, two things have happened to me, one of which I don't want to mention; the other is Carlotti's marriage. What a marvelous marriage! No matter how you look at it, it's incredible!"

"My dear Lizzy, don't allow such emotions to haunt you. They will ruin your happiness. You do not give enough thought to the different situations and characters of each individual. You want to Consider Mr. Collins's respectable position and occupation, and Carlotti's considerate sobriety. She was a lady, you remember; For the sake of everyone, we may as well believe that she may really have some love and respect for our cousin."

"I am willing to believe almost anything to please you, but such a belief can do no one any good; for if I believe you, Carlotta is really in love with him." , then I would only think her intellect awry, and that would be worse than my present opinion of her insincere love. My dear Jane, Mr. Collins is a pompous, vain, narrow-minded and Foolish man; you know as well as I do that he is such a man; and you must feel as much as I do that the woman who married him had some wrong consideration. You need not excuse her, though this A woman is Carlotti Lucas. You don't change the meaning of principle and sincerity for one person's sake, you try to convince yourself and me that selfishness is prudence, and foolishness is the guarantee of happiness."

"I have to think that you have gone a little too far in speaking of them both," replied Jane; "and I hope that when you see their future happiness you will believe that you have gone a little too far. But this We have talked enough of the matter. You have just hinted at one other matter. You have said that you have encountered two things. I will not misunderstand you, my dear Lizzy, but I also beg you , don't think that man is to blame, don't hurt me by saying that your opinion of him has turned bad. We must not be so quick to think that we have been deliberately hurt by others. We cannot expect, A lovely young man is always so careful and considerate in everything. It is nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women always think that there is something more in the praise of them. many meanings."

"That way men should feel all the more justified in cheating."

"If they do it on purpose, they are certainly wrong; but I do not think that the world is really as full of schemes as some people think."

"I do not think that there was anything premeditated in Mr. Bingley's behaviour," said Elizabeth, "but there may be faults in the world, and there may be Unfortunately. Impulsivity, lack of concern for other people's feelings, and lack of assertiveness all contribute to this outcome."

"Then you put this matter under such causes?"

"Yes; I put it in the last cause. If I go any further, I should displease you by saying what I think of those you respect. So before it's too late , let me shut up."

"You insist, then, that his sisters influenced his conduct."

"Yes, and his friend Mr. Darcy among them."

"I don't believe it. Why are they trying to influence him? They just want him to be happy. If he falls in love with me, no other woman can give him happiness."

"Your first assertion is wrong. They would have wished for many other things besides his happiness; perhaps they would have hoped that he would be richer and more powerful; they might have hoped that he would marry a rich and Glorious and rich girl."

"They all wished, no doubt, that he would choose Miss Darcy," replied Jane; "but perhaps from better motives than those you have just imagined. They knew Miss Darcy." have known me much longer than I have; it would not be surprising if they liked her a little more. However, however good their own wishes may be, they are unlikely to oppose their brothers' wishes Yes. If it hadn't been for something particularly heinous. What sister would think she could go against her brother's will with impunity? They wouldn't try to separate us if they believed he loved me. , if he really loves me, they will not succeed in doing this. By imagining such a relationship, you make everyone's behavior look very unnatural and wrong, and you make me feel unreasonable pain Don't bother me with that idea. I'm not ashamed to think we're having an affair—or, at least, it's a slight shame that I think it's him or It is much better to be felt by his sisters' misfortune. Let me look at it from the best side of the matter, from the point of view of reason."

Elizabeth could not have objected to such a wish; and Mr. Bingley's name was seldom mentioned between them after that.

Mrs. Bennet continued to express surprise and complaints about Mr. Bingley's disappearance, and although there was hardly a day when Elizabeth did not explain the reasons clearly to her, she seemed unable to get over it. Troubled by the matter, Elizabeth tried to persuade her with reasons she herself did not believe, and told her that Mr. Bingley's affection for Jane was only one of those ordinary affections which are fleeting and lost when he is no longer When she saw her, the feeling was gone; but, though Mrs. Bennet, when she was persuaded, admitted that this might be the case, she would make the complaint every day.Her greatest consolation now was that Mr. Bingley would be back in the summer.

Mr. Bennet had a different view on the matter. "Well, Lizzy," he said one day, "I found out your sister was a lovelorn. I congratulated her. A girl likes a little lovelorn now and then when she's approaching marriageable age. Give her something to think about, and make her different from her fellows. How long will it take for you to have such an opportunity? Of course you don't want to keep falling behind Jane. Now is your chance Come on. There's enough officers here at Meryton to give any country girl a chance of falling out. Let Wickham be your lover. He's a nice-looking lad, and he'll be very good. It's fair to call you lovelorn."

"Thank you, papa, but I'll be satisfied with a man who isn't very agreeable. We can't all count on Jane's luck."

"That's true," said Mr. Bennet, "but the consolation is that, whatever your luck may be, you have a mother who loves you, and she will make you all hot."

Mr. Wickham's visits from time to time were all too practical to dissipate the melancholy atmosphere which had settled over the Longbourn house on account of recent unpleasant events.They had seen him often, and now they began to praise his openness and directness, among other qualities.What Elizabeth had heard him say before, all Mr. Darcy's guilt towards him, all the pain he had suffered from him, was now publicly recognized and openly talked about; They were all flattered that they had disliked Mr. Darcy so much before they learned about Mr. Wickham.

Only Miss Bennet thought that there might be something strange about it, which was not known here in Hertfordshire; Possibility of misunderstanding—but everyone else thought Mr. Darcy the worst of men.

(End of this chapter)