Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 31

Mrs. Gardiner's reminders and advice to Elizabeth were duly and kindly given to her, as soon as she had an opportune opportunity of speaking to her alone; said:
"You are a very sensible girl, Lizzy, and you will not fall in love merely because you have been warned; so I am not afraid to speak out. I warn you solemnly, Be careful. Don't involve yourself, or try to get him, into rash loves that have no foundation of property. I have nothing against him; he is a very interesting young man. man; if he had got his share of the property, I should think he was the most suitable man for you. But, as the case is, you must not let your feelings lead you by the nose. You Very intelligent, and we expect you to use it well. Your father, I believe, had high hopes for your judgment and good conduct. You must not disappoint your father."

"My dear aunt, you are very solemn."

"That's right, and I hope you'll be equally serious about it."

"Oh, take it easy. I will take care of myself, and of Mr. Wickham. I shall never make him fall in love with me, if I can avoid it."

"Elizabeth, you are not serious now."

"Excuse me. Let me repeat it. I am not in love with Mr. Wickham as yet; no, I am sure I am not. But he is, indeed, the loveliest man I have ever seen, and no one could Compared with him--if he was really in love with me--I believe he had better not be in love with me. I also see the recklessness of the love.--Oh! that dreadful Mr. Darcy!-- —I am greatly honored by my father's regard for me; and I shall suffer to lose it. My father is, however, very partial to Mr. Wickham. In short, my dear aunt, let me I would be sorry if any one of us was not happy. But, as we all see every day, young people are seldom prevented from loving and betrothed to each other because they have no property at hand, so long as there is love involved. Yes, so once I have fallen in love, how can I be sure that I am wiser than so many of my companions? Or, how can I know that it is wise to resist this kind of love? Therefore, all I can promise you is Just don't be hasty. I'm in no rush to think I'm his first woo. When I'm with him, I'm not going to make such a wish. All in all, I'm willing to give my best Try to avoid it."

"Perhaps it would be better if you didn't make him come so often. At least you shouldn't remind your mother to invite him."

"As I did that day," said Elizabeth, with a sheepish smile, "yes, I should have been wiser not to do that. But don't think he's always here so often." Yes. It is because of you that he is often invited this week. You know my mother's temper. As long as there are friends, she thinks that they must always be with them. Aunt, on my honor I promise, I will do what I think is the best course; and now, I hope you will be satisfied."

The aunt told Elizabeth that she was satisfied with it; and after Elizabeth had thanked her for her kind reminder, they parted; a fine example of advice in such matters without complaint.

Mr. Collins was again in Hertfordshire shortly after Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner's and Jane's departure; as he was now staying with the Lucass, Mrs. Bennet was not greatly inconvenienced by his presence. .The day of his marriage was coming soon, and she finally had to give up, thinking that it was irreparable, and she often even used a gloating tone to "hope they will be happy in the future".Thursday was their wedding day, and on Wednesday Miss Lucas came to say good-bye at the Ben's; and when she rose to take leave, Elizabeth was ashamed of her mother's ill wishes, and because of her I was really not indifferent, and accompanied Miss Lucas out of the house.As they descended the stairs Carlotta said:

"I hope and believe that you will write to me often, Eliza."

"Your hopes will not be in vain."

"I have one more thing to ask of you. Would you like to come and see me?"

"I hope we will see each other here in Hertfordshire more often."

"It is unlikely that I will leave Kent any time soon. So, I beg you, promise me to come to Hansford."

Elizabeth could not bear to refuse, though she also foresaw that the visit would not be much fun.

"My father and Maria are coming to see me in March," continued Carlotti, "and I hope you will agree to come with them. Really, Eliza, you will suffer as much as they do for me." welcome."

The wedding was held; and the bride and groom set off from the church door for Kent, with the customary exchange of congratulations before their departure.Elizabeth soon had letters from her friend; their correspondence was as punctual and frequent as ever; but it was impossible to talk of everything as before.Whenever Elizabeth wrote to her, she could not help feeling that the comfortable intimacy between them had ceased to exist; and though she made up her mind not to neglect the correspondence, she did it rather for the sake of the old friendship. , not for now.Elizabeth looked forward to Carlotte's first letters with eagerness; she could not help wondering how Carlotte would describe her new home, and what Lady Catherine would say. and how much she dared to show off her own married happiness; though, as she read the letters afterwards, Elizabeth felt that Carlotta expressed herself in every respect exactly as As she expected, Carlotti appeared very happy in the letter, as if she was surrounded by comfort everywhere, and there was nothing she mentioned that did not deserve her praise.The house, the furniture, the neighbours, the roads, were all so to her liking, and Lady Catherine's manners were so friendly and kind.This seemed to be Mr. Collins's picture of Hansford and Rosings, but in a mild way; and Elizabeth felt that she could only know what it was like when she was there.

Jane had written back a note to her sister, saying that they had arrived safely in London; and when Jane wrote again, Elizabeth wished that she might have a little talk about the Bingleys.

Her hope for the second letter will soon be fruitful, and her sincerity will be rewarded.Jane had been in the town for a week, and she had neither seen nor heard from Caroline.However, good-natured Jane explained to this that she thought that perhaps the letter she had sent to her friend from Longbourn had been lost by chance on the way.

"Our aunt," she went on, "is going to be in that part of the country tomorrow, and I shall take this opportunity to call on Grosvenor Street."

After this visit Jane wrote again, saying that she had seen Miss Bingley. "I don't think Caroline is in very good spirits," she wrote, "but she was glad to see me, and complained that I didn't tell her about my coming to London. So I guessed right, I The last letter was sent to her. Of course, I also asked about her brother. She said that he is very good, but he always stays with Mr. Darcy, and they seldom see him. He. I heard Miss Darcy was coming to lunch, and I was very much looking forward to seeing her. I didn't stay long, as Caroline and Mrs. Hurst were going out. I dare say I'd be there soon. See them here."

Elizabeth shook her head as she read the letter.This letter convinced her that the loss of the previous letter could only mean that Mr. Bingley knew that her sister was in town.

Four weeks passed, and Jane did not see even a shadow of Mr. Bingley.She tried to assure herself that she was not sorry about it; but she could no longer turn a deaf ear to Miss Bingley's indifference.She waited at home every morning, and every evening she invented a new excuse to excuse her friend. After two weeks of this, the visitor she was waiting for finally appeared; but the visitor's stay was so short, What's more, the sudden coldness of her attitude did not allow Jiying to continue to deceive herself.In this case, her letter to Elizabeth begins to express her true feelings. ?
"I believe it was impossible for my dearest Lizzy to ignore my pain because she was right when I confessed that I was completely deceived in Miss Bingley's friendship to me. and I am proud of it. My dearest sister, though things have turned out to prove you right, you must not think that I am simply obstinate, if I still insist that, in the light of Miss Bingley's past conduct, I have had feelings for her. Your confidence is as natural as your suspicion of her. I don't understand at all why she wants to be with me, but if the same thing happens again, I believe I will be deceived again. Card Rowling didn't come to see me until yesterday; she hadn't given me a word before that that she was coming. After she came, it was clear that she wasn't happy to be making the trip at all; , she expressed a little polite apology, and didn't even say a word that she hoped to see me again. She seemed to be a new person inside and out. After she left, I made up my mind to be with you. She cut off all communication. I pity her, though I can't help blaming her. It was her fault in choosing me as her friend; and I can say with a clear conscience that she has gone first in every step of our relationship. Yes. But I don't pity her, because she must have realized that she is wrong, because I am sure that her brother's concern is the reason for her to do it.

I don't need to explain further to myself; although we all know that her worry is completely unnecessary, if she is really worried about her brother, it is easy to understand why she treats me like this; He is so precious in his sister's heart, no matter how much she worries about him, it is very natural and amiable.It's just that she still has such worries now, which makes me feel strange, because as long as he still has feelings for me, we must have met each other long ago.From some of her own remarks, I judged that he knew that I was in town; but, from the manner in which she talked, she seemed not to be sure that he really had a heart for Miss Darcy, which may be true. I can't figure it out.If I do not venture to judge a little harshly, I refrain from saying that there is a clear inconsistency in all this.But I will try my best to get rid of all unpleasant thoughts, and only think about those things that can make me happy, thinking about our sisterhood, and thinking about the love of my dear uncle and aunt for us.Hope to hear from you soon.Miss Bingley said that her brother would never come back to Netherfield again, and said he was going to quit the house, but in a less certain tone.We'd better not bring this up again.I am so glad you have heard so many delightful things from our friends at Hansford.Go and see them with Sir William and Maria.I believe you will have a very comfortable time there.

- your sister"

The letter gave Elizabeth some pain; but she rejoiced when she thought that Jane, at least, would no longer be deceived by Miss Bingley.She did not even now wish Mr. Bingley's love to be revived again.His personality is not so good in any respect; in order to punish him, and for Jane's future interests, she really hoped that he would marry Mr. Darcy's sister as soon as possible, because according to Mr. Wickham's description, Miss Darcy, would make him regret all his life for the love he had thrown away.

Mrs. Gardiner also wrote to remind Elizabeth at this time, asking her to keep her promise to Wickham and asked about her recent situation; Her aunt would probably be satisfied.Wickham's apparent affection for her had diminished and ended, and he was now pursuing other girls.Elizabeth saw all this with concern, but she saw and wrote it all without pain.She just felt a little touched in her heart, and her vanity was satisfied by her belief that if she had property, he would choose her.Ten thousand pounds at once was the most charming aspect of the woman he was now in love with; and in his case Elizabeth lacked her penetrating vision of Carlotta's love. , so did not argue with him because he wanted money.On the contrary, she thought it was the most natural thing to do, flattered that he must have had a lot of mental struggles in abandoning her, and she was happy to admit that it would be a wise and ideal way for both of them, And she could wish him happiness with great sincerity.

She told all this to Madame de Cassina, and after having narrated the circumstances, she went on to write:-- "I now believe, dear aunt, that I have never been in love at all; because If I had really experienced that pure and noble emotion, I would hate to mention his name now, and would wish him bad luck. But I can not only be frank with him emotionally, but also treat Miss Jin without prejudice. I found that I didn't hate her at all, and would like to think she was a very nice girl. Love was impossible in the midst of all this. My precautions were fruitful; though if I fell obsessively in love with He, I've become an interesting object of attention for acquaintances now, but I don't regret my inconspicuousness. Sometimes fame comes at a great price Yes. Kitty and Lydia cared much more about his behavior this time than I did. They were still young in their worldly ways, and were not willing to believe such an unsatisfactory reason: handsome young man, and good-looking Just like ordinary young people, they also have to rely on money and goods to maintain their lives.

(End of this chapter)