Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 25 Sad Mrs. Bennett
Elizabeth was sitting with her mother and sisters, thinking of what she had just heard, and considering whether it might be possible to tell it to everyone.Just then Sir William Lucas arrived.He was entrusted by his daughter to come to Bennett's house to announce her engagement.As he narrated the matter, he also complimented the wives and ladies greatly, saying that he was really honored that the two families could get married.When the Bennet family heard this, they were not only surprised, but also did not believe it.Mrs. Bennet could no longer be bothered with politeness, and insisted that he was mistaken.

Lydia, always capricious and insolent, could not help exclaiming: "My God! Sir William, how can you say such things? Don't you know that Mr. Collins is going to marry Lizzy?"

When encountering such a situation, only those who can accept it like a court minister will not be angry.Fortunately, Sir William was quite educated, and he didn't take it seriously.Although he wanted them to believe that he was telling the truth, he showed great patience and listened very politely to their unreasonable remarks.

Elizabeth, feeling it was her duty to help him break the deadlock, stepped forward to prove that he was telling the truth, saying that she had just heard Charlotte herself speak of it.In an effort to reassure her mother and sisters, she congratulated Sir William cordially.Jane joined her at once, and described in various terms what a happy marriage this was, and how good Mr Collins was, and how close Hunsford and London were to commuting.

In the presence of Sir William, Mrs. Bennet was too angry to speak.But as soon as he left, her discontent immediately vented.In the first place, she firmly disbelieved it; in the second, she concluded that Mr. Collins had been deceived; in the third, she believed that the couple could never be happy; and in the fourth, that the marriage might be broken.However, she also simply drew two conclusions from the whole incident - one is that this joke was all caused by Elizabeth; the other is that she herself has been bullied and abused by everyone.During that whole day, she talked mostly about these two points.No one can comfort her, and no matter what, they can't calm her down.Until the evening, her resentment still did not dissipate.She scolded Elizabeth when she saw her, and kept on scolding for a week.Her voice was always rough when she spoke to Sir William or Lady Lucas, and it took a month for her to recover.As for Charlotte, it was months before she forgave her.

For Mr. Bennet, the incident made him feel more comfortable.According to him, everything he experienced this time really made him extremely comfortable mentally.He said that he thought Charlotte Lucas was quite sensible, but she was as stupid as his wife, and even more stupid than his daughter, and he was really happy!

Jane also admitted that this marriage was a bit strange, but she didn't say anything, but sincerely wished them both happiness.Although Elizabeth repeatedly confessed to her, she always thought that this marriage might not necessarily be a happy one.Kitty and Lydia were not at all envious of Miss Lucas, for Mr. Collins was only a missionary; and the incident had no influence on them, unless it should be taken to Meryton as news.

As for Mrs. Lucas, she was naturally very pleased with the happy marriage of a daughter, so she did not think of taking advantage of this to retort Mrs. Bennet.So she called on Longburn more often than usual, and said how happy she was now.However, Mrs. Bennet's bad looks and bad words were enough to put her off.

Since then, there has been a barrier between Elizabeth and Charlotte, and they no longer mention this matter to each other.Elizabeth decided that they would never again confided as before.Since she was disappointed in Charlotte, she paid more and more attention to her sister.She was convinced that her sister was a man of integrity and good manners, and she could not be shaken in this opinion.Her concern for her sister's happiness became more urgent every day, for Mr. Bingley had been gone for a week without hearing a word of his return.

Jane had written Caroline back early, and was counting the days to see how many days it would be before she heard from her again.

The letter of thanks, which Mr. Collins had promised to write, arrived on Tuesday, and was addressed to their father.There were a lot of grateful words in the letter. Judging by his exaggerated words, it seemed that he had been bothering their family for a year.After apologizing in this respect, he told them, in many cheerful terms, that he had had the good fortune of winning the favor of their neighbour, Miss Lucas; He would take the opportunity to see them, so as not to disappoint their good-natured expectations, he hoped to be at Longburn on the Monday after fortnight; He believed that his sweetheart, Charlotte, would never object to an early wedding date, which would make him the happiest man in the world.

Mrs. Bennet's return to Longbourn now was not a pleasant event.Instead she complained as much as her husband.It was strange that Collins should come to Longburn instead of Lou's, which was both inconvenient and troublesome.She is currently suffering from a health disorder, so she hates guests coming to her house very much, not to mention that these infatuated seeds are very annoying people.Mrs. Bennet murmured these things all day long, except when she thought of the greater pain she would be caused by Bingley's non-return.

Both Jane and Elizabeth are very disturbed by this question.The days passed without hearing a word of him, except that rumors were circulating in Meryton that he would never return to Netherfield this winter.Mrs. Bennet was very offended by this, and always refuted it as a slanderous rumour.

Now Elizabeth too was beginning to panic.She was not afraid of Bingley's fickleness, but that his sisters really stumbled him.Though she did not like to think of it, for it was both detrimental to Jane's happiness and, so to speak, an affront to the fidelity of her sweetheart, she could not help thinking of it often.His two ruthless sisters, and the friend who was enough to subdue him, combined with Miss Darcy's slender charm, and London's sensual entertainment, even if he really thought about her, he might not be able to break free from the trap. .

As for Jane, she is naturally more anxious than Elizabeth in this turbulent situation, but she has been reluctant to reveal her thoughts, so she and Elizabeth have never mentioned this matter.But her mother could not understand her plight, and in less than an hour she would mention Bingley, and say that it was so anxious to wait for his return, that Jane was even obliged to admit that if Bingley did not come back, she would certainly I feel that I have been treated unkindly.Fortunately, Jian Lin was calm, gentle and calm, so she finally endured her slander.

Mr. Collins arrived punctually on the Monday, fortnight later, but Longburn did not welcome him with the same enthusiasm as he had first arrived.He was really happy, but he didn't need the attention of others.This is the master's luck, thanks to his success in love, this allows others to relax and not have to deal with him anymore.He spent most of his time at Lou's Village every day, and didn't come back to Longburn until the Lucas family was about to go to bed. He apologized to everyone and asked everyone to forgive him for not coming back all day.

Poor Mrs. Bennet.The mere mention of the marriage displeased her, and wherever she went she heard people talking about it.She was disgusted at the sight of Miss Lucas.The thought that Miss Lucas would one day succeed her as mistress of the house made her even more envious and disgusted.Whenever Charlotte came to see them, she always thought that they were coming to see the situation and see how long it would be before they could move in; when Charlotte and Mr. Collins talked in low voice, she thought they were In talking of the Longburn estate, there was a plan to throw her and her daughters out as soon as Mr. Bennet had died.She told her husband all these sad things.

She said: "My dear, Charlotte Lucas is going to be the mistress of the house sooner or later, and I must let her, and I can't bear to see her take my place!"

"My dear lady, don't think about these sad things. We might as well think about it in a good way. Maybe I will outlive you, so let's comfort ourselves like this."

But Mrs. Bennet was not comforted by these words, and instead of answering, she continued her complaints as before.

"I can't stand the thought of all the estate going to them. If it weren't for the question of inheritance, I wouldn't care."

"What don't you care about?"

"I don't care about anything."

"Let us be thankful that you haven't gotten this far out of your head."

"My dear, I shall never be thankful in any matter of succession. How can any man have the conscience not to pass on property to his daughters? I do not understand, and it is all because of Mr. Collins's Why! Why should he have this inheritance at all?"

"I'll leave you to think for yourself," said Mr. Bennet.

(End of this chapter)