Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 20 The Netherfield Ball (2)
So she changed the subject so they could both talk easily.The two of them were in complete agreement on this point.Elizabeth listened with pleasure to Jane's talk of how, though she dared not expect much from Mr. Bingley, she placed many hopes of happiness in Mr. Bingley; and she did her best to say a lot to increase her sister's confidence.Presently Mr. Bingley came up to them, and Elizabeth withdrew to Miss Lucas.Miss Lucas asked her if she had enjoyed the dance with her partner, and before she could answer, Mr. Collins stepped forward and told them, ecstatically, how lucky he had been to find something of great importance. thing.

He said: "It was really beyond my expectation that I found a relative of my benefactor in this house. I happened to overhear a gentleman talking to the lady of the owner's house about his own cousin de Bauer. Miss Catherine de Bourgh and his aunt, Lady Catherine. What a coincidence! I never expected to meet Lady Catherine de Bourgh's nephew at this ball! Thank goodness I found this in time, and I didn't have time to greet him. I didn't even know there was such a relationship, so there is room for an apology."

"Are you going to introduce yourself to Mr. Darcy?"

"Of course I intend to go. I must go and ask his pardon, and ask him not to blame me for not calling him sooner. I believe he is Lady Catherine's nephew. I can tell him that I saw her old man last week, and that she is in good health." very healthy."

Elizabeth tried to dissuade him from doing that.She said that if he went to greet Mr. Darcy without being introduced, Mr. Darcy would think him intrusive and not flattering his aunt; Mr. Darcy, who was of higher status, came to greet him.When Mr. Collins heard her say this, he showed a determined air, and expressed that he must do what he wanted.

When she had finished speaking, he replied: "My dear Miss Elizabeth, you have excellent opinions on all subjects. I am very impressed, but please listen to me: the etiquette of the layman is very different from the etiquette of the priests. Please Listen to me, I think a priesthood can be compared to a prince in respect of dignity, provided you can be quite modest at the same time. So, this time you should let me do as my own conscience dictates. Well, what I think should be done. Please forgive me for not taking your advice. On any other issue, I must take your advice as my motto, but I think I have a reasonable understanding of the current issue. I have studied it a little, and it is better for me to decide than for a young lady like you."

With a low bow, he left her and went up to Mr. Darcy.She could not wait, therefore, to see how Mr. Darcy would react to his impertinence, and Mr. Darcy was to be expected to be greatly surprised at this manner of greeting.Her cousin bowed respectfully to Darcy first, and then spoke to him.Elizabeth did not hear a word he said, but seemed to hear all he had to say, for from the movement of his lips it seemed that he was saying nothing more than "Apologize," "Hansford," "Catherine Madame de Bourgh" or something like that.She was very annoyed when she saw her cousin make a fool of herself in front of such a person.

Mr. Darcy squinted at him with undisguised amazement, and when Mr. Collins had had enough of his nagging, Darcy parried him with a respectful air.Mr. Collins was not discouraged by this, and he spoke again and again.Mr. Darcy's contempt became more pronounced when he began to babble a second time.When he had finished, Mr. Darcy stooped casually and walked away.Then Mr. Collins returned to Elizabeth, and said to Elizabeth: "I tell you, I have no reason to be dissatisfied with the way he received me. Darcy seemed very happy to hear my warm greeting. He answered me politely and thoughtfully." He even complimented me by saying that he admired Lady Catherine's vision very much, and he did not promote the wrong person. This is indeed a smart idea. Generally speaking, I am very satisfied with him."

Elizabeth, seeing that the ball was no longer interested, turned all her attention to her sister and Mr. Bingley.She saw all the scene in her eyes, imagined many gratifying things, and felt almost as happy as Jane herself.She imagined that her sister was the housewife in this house, and the couple was very loving and happy.She felt that if such a day came, then even Bingley's two sisters, she could try to be kind to them.She saw her mother thinking the same thing, and she decided not to risk going up to her mother, lest she have to listen to her nagging again.

When everyone sat down to eat, she felt a little guilty when she saw that her mother was seated so close to her.Elizabeth was all the more irritated by seeing her mother and Mrs. Lucas talking freely and freely, and talking so much about how she expected Jane to marry Mr. Bingley at once.

They talked more and more about the matter, and Mrs. Bennet continued to tell of the many advantages of the marriage.In the first place, Mr. Bingley was such a handsome young man, so rich, and lived only three miles from them, that these conditions were satisfactory.Second, it is comforting that his two sisters are very fond of Jane and must have wanted the marriage as much as she did.Again, since Jane's marriage is so satisfactory, the younger daughters also hope to meet other rich men.Finally, let's talk about her unmarried daughters. From now on, they can also entrust the eldest daughter with regard to their lifelong affairs, and there is no need for her to socialize for them. happy thing.She also wished that Mrs. Lucas would have the same luck soon, but in fact, she was obviously presuming that she would not have this blessing.

Elizabeth, intent on discouraging her mother's eloquence, persuaded her to keep her voice low when she spoke of her pride, for Mr. Darcy, who sat opposite them, presumably overheard most of what was said.But it was useless to persuade her, her mother just scolded her nonsense, and she was even more annoyed.

"I ask you, what has Mr. Darcy to do with me, and why should I be afraid of him? I have no reason to be especially polite in front of him. Can I not say what he doesn't like to hear?"

"For heaven's sake, mother, speak in a low voice. What good does it do you to offend Mr. Darcy? His friends will think less of you if you do."

However, no matter what she said, it was useless.Her mother just wanted to speak out.Elizabeth was flushed with shame and irritation.She could not help looking constantly at Mr. Darcy, and each glance confirmed her suspicions more, for, though Darcy did not go to see her mother, he was not taking his eyes off Elizabeth.His face showed an expression of anger and disgust at first, and then gradually became calm, solemn and serious.

Later, when Mrs. Bennet finished speaking, Mrs. Lucas was so satisfied with her talk, and she had no part in it. She had already yawned a lot, and now she could finally enjoy a little cold meat with peace of mind.Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief now.It's a pity that her ears were not clear for long, because as soon as dinner was over, everyone talked about singing.

Elizabeth felt uncomfortable seeing Mary agree to everyone's request because she could not stand the instigation of others.She used to wink at Mary frequently, and silently advised her again and again, trying her best to tell her not to please others like this, but it was a pity that all her efforts were in vain.Mary paid no attention to her intentions.This chance of showing off was something she couldn't wait for, so she began to sing.Elizabeth, staring at her in agony, listened with some anxiety to her singing a few verses.When the song was over, her anxiety was not lessened, for as soon as Mary heard people thank her, there were also vague hints that she would do them a favor again.So, after a half-minute break, she sang another song.Mary's talent was unsuited for this kind of performance, with her weak voice and unnatural manner; Elizabeth was in a terrible hurry.She looked at Jane, to see if she could bear it, and saw Jane talking quietly with Mr. Bingley.She saw again the two Bingley sisters winking at each other, and still gesturing to Darcy, who remained grave.She looked at her father one last time, and wanted to beg his old man to stop Mary from singing all night.Father understood her, and when Mary had finished the second song, he said aloud, "That's enough for you, boy. You've kept us entertained long enough. Leave time for the other ladies to perform."

Although Mary pretended not to hear, she felt somewhat uncomfortable.Elizabeth felt bad both for her and for what her father had said, and feared that all her efforts would be in vain.Fortunately, everyone invited others to sing at this moment.

I only heard Mr. Collins say: "If I am lucky enough to sing, I will be happy to sing for everyone; I think music is a noble entertainment, which has nothing to do with the pastor's profession. But I am not saying that we should be in music. We spend too much time on it, because we do have many other things to do. What a priest in charge of a parish has to do, first of all he has to make tithes: by the European Church of Christ to the inhabitants A religious tax collected mainly for clergy salaries, church daily expenses, and relief. This tax requires believers to contribute one-tenth of their income for religious purposes in accordance with the regulations of the church authorities or the requirements of the law. The system established by collecting tithes is also called the tithe system, or tithes for short. There was not much time left. He had to use it to arrange his parish affairs, and to look after and make up his own house--it was necessary to make it as comfortable as possible. And, I think, It is also very important. He has to be courteous and kind to everyone, especially those who promote him. You have to show respect, otherwise it's disgraceful."

Here he concluded his speech with a bow to Mr. Darcy.He spoke so loudly that half the room could hear him.Some were dumbfounded, some laughed, but none were as amusing as Mr. Bennet, whose lady, who spoke gravely of Mr. Collins, was very reasonable, and leaning over Mrs. Lucas, said he was evidently a very Smart, very good young man.

It seemed to Elizabeth that her family had agreed to come here to make a fool of themselves to-night, and never with such vigor, never with such success.She felt that her sister and Mr. Bingley were so lucky that they did not see some embarrassing scenes, so Mr. Bingley would not easily feel bad even if he saw some ridiculous scenes.

But it was embarrassing enough that his two sisters and Mr. Darcy should seize the opportunity to laugh at her family, and which was more serious, the silent contempt of the gentleman, or the impertinent jeers of the two women? Embarrassingly, she couldn't decide yet.

The second half of the party didn't bring her much fun either.Mr. Collins still refused to leave her side, and kept teasing her.Although he couldn't ask her to dance with him again, it also made it impossible for her to dance with anyone else.She asked him to dance with someone else, and promised to introduce him to a young lady, but he refused.He told her that, when it came to dancing, he was not at all interested.His main intention was to please her by serving her carefully, so he made up his mind to stay with her all evening, no matter how much he could explain it to him.She felt better, thanks to her friend, Miss Lucas, who often came to them, and chatted kindly with Mr. Collins.

At least Mr. Darcy could stop pissing her off.Although he often stood very close to her and there was no one around, he never came over to talk to her.She thought it might be because she had mentioned Mr. Wickham, and she could not help smiling to herself.

Among all the guests, the Longbourne family was the last to go, and Mrs. Bennet used her wrists to wait for the carriage on the pretext of waiting until everyone had left, and the family stayed a quarter of an hour longer.During this period of time, they saw that some people in the host's family were very expecting them to leave quickly.Mrs. Hurst and the sisters hardly spoke, but complained of fatigue, apparently giving orders to evict.Mrs. Bennet wanted to talk to them, but they refused, which made everyone listless.Mr. Collins, in spite of his tirade, complimenting Mr. Bingley and his sisters on how fine their dinners were, and how courteous and courteous they were to their guests, did not do much to animate them all.Darcy said not a word.Mr. Bennet was also silent, standing there watching the scene.Bingley and Jane stood together, at a distance from the crowd, and talked only to each other.Elizabeth, like Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley, remained silent throughout.Even Lydia was too sleepy to speak, except to exclaim once in a while, "My God, I'm exhausted!" and then yawn.

At last they rose to take their leave, and Mrs. Bennet said, with the utmost civility and earnestness, that she hoped to see the Bingleys at Longbourne soon, and addressed Mr. They would be honored to be invited to their home for a light meal.Mr. Bingley was very grateful and very happy, and said that he would go to London tomorrow on business for a few days, and when he got back from his business, he would call on her as soon as he could.

Mrs. Bennet was very satisfied with Mr. Bingley's answer. When she left the guest's house, she had a wishful thinking in her heart: as long as a considerable dowry, new carriage and wedding dress were prepared, her daughter Finding a home at Netherfield was unquestionable.She also had a daughter who was to marry Mr. Collins, of which she was equally sure, and quite happy, though not equally happy.Of all the daughters, Elizabeth was the least fond of her.Though it was very good for Elizabeth to be able to find such a man and enter into such a marriage, it paled in comparison with Mr. Bingley and Netherfield.

(End of this chapter)