Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 113 Marianne is seriously ill (2)
At this time, no matter what his psychological feelings were, the colonel acted in a down-to-earth and orderly manner.He made every necessary preparation swiftly, and calculated exactly when Eleanor could count on his return.Back and forth, without delaying a minute or a second.The stage horses arrived, even faster than expected. Colonel Bland just shook Eleanor's hand with a serious expression, muttered a few words, and hurried into the carriage.As for what the colonel muttered, Eleanor didn't hear clearly either.It was now about twelve o'clock, and Elinor returned to her sister's room, and awaited the doctor's arrival, while continuing to attend to the patient.The night was almost as miserable for both of them.Marianne was so miserable that she couldn't sleep, and often talked nonsense; Elinor was worried, and hour after hour passed, and Mr. Harris was still missing.Eleanor had not been apprehensive before, but now she felt terribly apprehensive when she did.As she would not wake Mrs. Jennings, she kept the servant up with her through the night, but she could only make Eleanor more tormented, for she hinted to her the general thoughts of her mistress.

Marianne still talked about her mother incoherently from time to time.Poor Eleanor's heart was like a knife whenever she mentioned her mother.She blamed herself for not taking her sister's illness seriously for so many days, full of delusions that she would get well soon.But now it seems that the possibility of such expectations has become very small, and everything has been delayed for too long.She pictured her suffering mother coming too late to see the precious child, or not in time to see her while she was still awake.

Elinor was about to send again for Mr. Harris, or, if he could not come, to send for someone else, when Mr. Harris arrived—but it was after five o'clock.However, his delay was somewhat compensated by his opinion, for although he admitted that the patient had undergone an unexpected and unpleasant change, he did not consider it to be very dangerous.He talked with confidence that a different treatment would make the patient better, and this confidence somewhat comforted Eleanor.Mr. Harris promised to come back in three or four hours.When he left, both the patient and her anxious caregiver were much calmer than when he first met them.

When Mrs. Jennings heard of the night next morning, she was greatly concerned, and complained repeatedly that they should not have awakened her to help.Her earlier apprehension was now more justifiably aggravated, so that the events of last night were evident.Although she tried to comfort Eleanor with words, she was convinced that Marianne's condition was critical, and there was no hope in her comfort.She was indeed very sad.Even an unrelated person would be sorry to see such a young and lovely girl as Marianne die so early.Marianne had other reasons to be worthy of Mrs. Jennings' pity.She was her companion for three months and is still under her care.We all know that she has suffered a great deal of injustice and has been unhappy.In addition, she also saw her sister, who she loved very much, also suffering from pain.As for their mother, Mrs. Jennings's sympathy for her sufferings became very sincere when she considered that Marianne was probably to her what Charlotte was to herself.

Mr. Harris was punctual the second time, but his previous prescriptions failed to produce any effect, and his hopes were dashed.His medicine didn't help, the fever persisted, and Marianne grew quieter—somewhat uncharacteristically, since she had been unconscious.Seeing that Mr. Harris was frightened, Eleanor became frightened immediately, and she was even more frightened than Mr. Harris, so she suggested another doctor.But Harris didn't think it was necessary, and he still had some medicine to try.It was a new drug, and he was sure it would work, almost as much as he believed it would work the last time.At last he gave some encouraging assurances, which Miss Dashwood heard but could not let go of.She was calm, except when thinking of her mother, but she was almost desperate.Until noon, she was always in this state of mind, standing next to her sister's bed, almost motionless, with sad images and sad friends appearing in her mind.Mrs. Jennings' conversation had brought her into the deepest depression.The lady had no doubts attributing this severe and dangerous attack to Marianne's several weeks of mental depression caused by her loss of love.Eleanor felt that what she said was very reasonable, and thus added new pains to her spirit.

About noon, Eleanor began to imagine and hope that her sister's pulse would improve a little.But she was very careful not to tell her friends, for fear of failing her hopes.She waited, observed, checked the pulse again and again, and finally, the external calm could not conceal the excitement in her heart, which was even more difficult to conceal than the previous pain, so she boldly expressed her expectation.Mrs. Jennings, though compelled to take her pulse, admitted that there had been an improvement for the time being, but she did her best to reassure her young friend of the undue expectation that it would continue.Eleanor carefully considered all suspicious phenomena, and warned herself not to have hope.However, it was too late, hope had already appeared in her heart.Feeling anxious only in hope, she leaned over to watch her sister - she didn't know what she was watching.Half an hour passed, but she had the good fortune to see that the gratifying sign persisted, and even other signs appeared to further confirm it.She was delighted to see signs of improvement in her breath, skin, and lips.Marianne gazed at her with a sober and weary air.Worry and hope still weighed on Elinor now, and she could not rest for a minute till Mr. Harris came at four o'clock.At this time, Harris told her that her sister's condition improved so quickly, which was beyond his expectation, and he congratulated her repeatedly, which brought her confidence and comfort, and joy burst into her eyes tears.

Marianne was in every respect much better, and Mr. Harris declared that she was quite out of danger.Mrs. Jennings was probably a little flattered that her premonition had been partly confirmed during her last critical illness, and she was willing to believe him.With genuine emotion, she made no secret of her joy, which was visibly brighter after a while.

But Eleanor was not cheerful.Her joy was of a different kind, and it wasn't euphoria.The thought of Marianne regaining her life and her health, returning to her friends, to her doting mother, filled her with immense relief and burning gratitude.However, she did not show joy on the surface, she neither spoke nor smiled.Her joy was all hidden in her heart, and although she didn't express it, the feeling was very strong.

All afternoon she continued to be by her sister's side uninterruptedly, never leaving her, and she comforted her weak spirits and fears, answered every inquiry of her frail soul, and provided for all her needs. Everything in her life, even her every look, every breath.Sometimes, of course, the possibility of a relapse prompted her to recall the feeling of anxiety—but, on repeated and careful examination, she found that all symptoms of reversion continued.By six o'clock she saw that Mary had calmed down and settled down, and then fell asleep comfortably, and all doubts were reassured.

The time for Colonel Bland's return was approaching.Elinor believed that her mother, who must have been terribly anxious and apprehensive all the way, would be relieved by ten o'clock, or at most a little later.And the Colonel!Perhaps suffering from the same torment!oh!Time flies too slowly, and they don't know what's going on here at this moment.

At seven o'clock Elinor, finding Marianne still fast asleep, came into the drawing-room to have tea with Mrs. Jennings.She hardly ate anything for breakfast because of her fear, and she didn't eat much for lunch because her worry suddenly turned into joy.Now that she came here with a relaxed mood, this refreshment was particularly delicious.When the tea was exhausted, Mrs. Jennings tried to persuade her to rest before her mother's arrival, and to wait on Marianne in her stead.Who would have thought that Eleanor didn't feel tired, and she didn't feel sleepy at the moment. She couldn't fall asleep at this time, and she didn't want to leave her sister for a minute.Mrs. Jennings, therefore, accompanied her upstairs, into the sick-room, and was satisfied that all was well, reassured her to remain there to tend her sister, and to think of her thoughts, and then she returned to her own room. room, write letters, sleep.

That night, the temperature dropped sharply and there was a strong storm.The wind howled around the house, and the rain beat on the windows.But Elinor was so happy that she didn't care about it.In spite of the gusts of wind, Marianne slept soundly, and those who were on their way—with all the inconveniences and worries they encountered on the road, had rich rewards awaiting them.

The clock struck eight.Had it been ten knocks, Elinor would have been sure that she had heard the carriage approaching the house.At this moment, although it was almost impossible for the travelers to arrive, she was sure to hear the sound of a carriage.So she went into the small adjacent dressing room and opened a shutter to make sure she had heard correctly.She immediately realized that her ears had heard correctly.Then the flickering lights of a carriage came into view.In the flickering lights she saw that it was a carriage drawn by four horses.This, besides showing her poor mother's great dismay, might explain their arrival so quickly.

Eleanor's mood had never been so difficult to calm down as it was then.As soon as she saw the carriage pull up at the door, she knew what her mother was going to feel, doubt--fear--perhaps despair!And she knew what she was going to say!When she thought of this, she couldn't calm down: the most important thing now is to be fast.So, no sooner had she called Mrs. Jennings's servant to take care of her sister than she herself hurried downstairs.

Knowing that they had entered the house from a noise in the porch as she passed an inner corridor, she ran for the drawing-room--unexpectedly seeing Willoughby.

(End of this chapter)