Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 28 Jane's Decision

Mrs. Gardiner, whenever she had a proper opportunity of speaking alone with Elizabeth, gave her niece kindly advice, speaking honestly from her heart, and then went on: "You are a very sensible child, Lizzy. , you don’t just want to talk about it just because people advise you to be careful when you fall in love, so I dare to make it clear to you. To be serious, you must be careful. Falling in love with this kind of person who has no property as a basis , very reckless indeed, you mustn't let yourself fall in love, and don't try to make him fall in love. I don't speak ill of him--he's a very interesting young man; if he gets He deserves his share of the property, and I'll think you're the best match. If that's the case, you don't have to think about him any more. You're smart, and we all hope you don't let your smarts down. .I know your father trusts in your good character and determination, and you must not disappoint him."

"My dear aunt, you are very serious."

"Yes, I hope you can also be serious about it."

"Oh, you needn't worry. I'll take care of myself, and of Mr. Wickham. I'll never let him love me, if I can avoid it."

"Elizabeth, your words are not serious."

"Excuse me. Let me tell you again. I am not in love with Mr. Wickham at present, I am not. But he is, indeed, the loveliest man I have ever seen, and no one could have loved him more. Not him. If he's going to love me... I'm sure he'd better not fall in love with me. I see the recklessness of it. Oh, Mr. Darcy is so damned! My father thinks so much of me. I should be sorry if I should have failed him. But my father was against Wickham, too. All in all, my dear aunt, I would never let any of you be unhappy for me. But once a young man If I fall in love with someone, I will never let go just because I have no money for a while. If I am also moved by someone, how can I avoid it? How can I even know whether it is the best policy to reject him? Therefore, I can only promise you Just don't make a hasty decision. I will never think that I am his favorite person all at once. Although I am in contact with him, I will never have such an idea. In short, I will try my best."

"Perhaps it would be better if you didn't make him come so often, at least you don't have to remind your mother to invite him."

Elizabeth smiled shyly and said: "Just like what I did that day, indeed, it's better not to do that. But don't think that he has been coming so often. This week, he is often invited to come mainly for you. You Knowing that it was my mother's idea, she always thought it was the smartest way to deal with it. I hope you will be satisfied with this."

The aunt told her that she was satisfied now.Elizabeth thanked her for her kind instruction, and they parted--a rare case of giving advice on such matters without complaint.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner and Jane had just left Hertfordshire when Mr. Collins returned to Hertfordshire.He lived in Lucas's house, so Mrs. Bennet finally gave up her mind and decided that the marriage was inevitable, and even said maliciously several times: "I hope they will be happy."

Thursday was a good day, and Miss Lucas came to the Bennets on Wednesday to say good-bye.When Charlotte got up to say goodbye, on the one hand, Elizabeth was embarrassed by her mother's eccentric auspicious words, and on the other hand, she was really insincere, so she couldn't help sending her out of the room."I'm sure you will write to me often, Elizabeth," said Charlotte, as they descended the stairs.

"You can rest assured."

"I want you to do me a favor. Would you like to come and see me?"

"I hope we can see each other often in Hertfordshire."

"I may not leave Kent for a while. Promise me to come to Hunsford."

Elizabeth, though anticipating that such a visit would be of no interest, could not refuse it.

Charlotte continued: "My parents are coming to me in March, and I wish you would come with them. Indeed, Elizabeth, I shall welcome you as well as they."

After the wedding, the bride and groom set off for Kent directly from the church door, and everyone always had to say a lot of words to each other as usual.

Soon, Elizabeth received a letter from her friend, and since then the correspondence between the two of them has been very normal and frequent!However, it is impossible to speak freely and without scruples as before.When Elizabeth wrote to her, she could not help thinking that the old confiding comforts were a thing of the past; and though she had made up her mind not to neglect the correspondence, it was not so much for the present friendship as for the past. friendship.Her first few letters with Charlotte were eagerly awaited, and it was entirely out of curiosity that Elizabeth wanted to know what Charlotte said, and everything was exactly as she expected.Charlotte's letters are full of pleasant sentiments, and she always praises something when she talks about it. So friendly, so kind.She was only speaking in a more euphemistic way of the features of Hunsford and Rosings which Mr. Collins boasted about.Elizabeth felt that she must wait until she visited there herself to know the real situation.

Jane had already sent a note to Elizabeth, saying that she had arrived safely in London.Elizabeth hoped that her next letter would tell something about the Bingleys.

The second letter made her wait extremely anxiously, but it was not in vain.The letter stated that she had been in town for a week and had neither seen nor heard from Caroline.She could only think that her last letter to Caroline from Longburn must have been lost on the way.

She went on to write:
Tomorrow my aunt is going to that area, and I would like to take this opportunity to pay a visit to Grosvenor Street.

After Jane's visit and meeting with Miss Bingley, she wrote another letter.She wrote:

I don't think Caroline is in very good spirits, but she was glad to see me, and blamed me for not giving her notice of my visit to London.Sure enough, I guessed right. She really didn't receive the letter I wrote to her last time.Of course I asked about their brother, and it was said that he was doing well, but he was too close to Mr. Darcy, so that the sisters and brothers seldom had the opportunity to see each other.My visit was not very long this time, for both Caroline and Mrs. Hurst were away.Maybe they'll come to see me right away.

Elizabeth read the letter and shook her head involuntarily.She believed that Mr. Bingley would never know that Jane was in London, except by some accident.

Four weeks passed, and Jane saw no sign of Mr. Bingley.She tried to console herself by saying that she was not hurt by it; but Miss Bingley's indifference, she saw at last.She waited for Miss Bingley at home every morning, for a fortnight in vain, and made up an excuse for Miss Bingley every evening, until at last the distinguished guest came, but stayed only a moment before taking her leave. , and her attitude is different from before, Jane feels that she can no longer lie to herself.She wrote a letter to her sister about the situation this time, and from this letter, it can be seen how she felt at that time...

My dearest and dearest sister Lizzy:
I must confess now that Miss Bingley's attention to me was entirely deceitful.I am sure you have a better opinion than I do, and that you take pleasure in seeing me sad.

Dear sister, although the facts have proved that your view is correct, but if I look at her past attitude, I still think that my trust in her and your suspicion of her are equally reasonable, please Don't think I'm stubborn.I still don't understand why she wanted to be nice to me in the past.If the same situation happens again, I believe I will be deceived again.

Caroline didn't come to see me until yesterday. She didn't give me a word of information before, and she showed a very unhappy look when she came.She just perfunctory me as usual, saying that she didn't come to see me sooner, and she was very sorry, and she didn't mention that she wanted to see me again. She was completely different in various aspects.Therefore, when she was about to leave, I made up my mind to cut off contact with her. Although I couldn't help blaming her, I felt sorry for her.It's just that she shouldn't have treated me differently in the first place.I can say with a clear conscience that my friendship with her was developed step by step on her own initiative.But I pity her, for she must feel that she has done wrong, and I conclude that her attitude is entirely due to her concern for her brother.I don't need to explain any more for myself.Although we know that this kind of worry is completely unnecessary, if she is really worried, it is enough to explain why she treats me like this.Since he is indeed worthy of his sister's cherishment, it is reasonable for her to worry about him.However, I really don't understand what worries she has now. If he really wanted me, we would have met a long time ago.

From the tone of her voice, I was sure he knew I was in London.Yet, from the manner in which she talked, it seemed as if she were sure that he was really attached to Miss Darcy.This really confuses me!If I venture to make a harsh assertion, I cannot help but say that there must be something in it.But I will try my best to dispel all painful thoughts, and only think about some things that can make me happy-such as thinking about your kindness and the constant love for me from my dear uncle and aunt.Hope to hear from you soon.

Miss Bingley spoke of his never coming back to Netherfield, and of his intention of giving up the house, but not with certainty.We better not have to bring this up again.I am glad that you have heard many pleasant things from our friends at Hunsford.Please go and see them with Sir William and Maria.I'm sure you'll have a great time there.

your sister
The letter made Elizabeth a little uncomfortable.However, she cheered up when she thought that Jane would never again be deceived by them, at least by that sister.She had now given up all hope of her brother, and she did not even wish to reconnect with him at all.The more she thought about it, the more she looked down on him. She really hoped that he would marry Mr. Darcy's sister as soon as possible, because according to Wickham, that lady would definitely make him regret in the future, regretting that he should not marry the person he was interested in. Losing it, on the one hand, it is a kind of punishment for him, on the other hand, it may also benefit Jane.

About this time Mrs. Gardner reminded Elizabeth of what she had promised to do with Wickham, and asked how things were going.Although she was quite dissatisfied with what Elizabeth said in her reply, her aunt was very satisfied after hearing it.

It turned out that Wickham's marked affection for her was gone, his attentions to her were over--he was in love with someone else.Elizabeth saw all this carefully, and though she saw it all, and wrote about it in her letter, she felt no pain, only a little emotion.She thought that if she had some property, she would have already become his only favorite person--thinking of this, her vanity was also satisfied.In the case of the girl he was now attracted to, her most conspicuous charm was the windfall of ten thousand pounds for him.However, Elizabeth may not be as clear about herself as she was about Charlotte last time, so she didn't blame Wickham for his pursuit of material comforts. Instead, she thought it was a very natural thing.She also imagined the hesitation he must have had in abandoning her, but she also felt that this was a wise and ideal solution for both parties, and sincerely wished him happiness.She told Mrs. Gardiner all this.

Having narrated these events, she went on to write:
Dear aunt, I am now deeply convinced that I did not love him so much, that if I had had such a pure and sublime feeling, I would now hate to hear his name, and wish him bad luck.However, not only did I not have any grudges against him emotionally, I even had no prejudice against Miss Jin.I don't feel like hating her at all, and would very much like to think of her as a nice girl.This is not love at all.My caution was not in vain, for if I had been madly in love with him, my relatives and friends would surely have made me a more interesting subject.I never regret that I am not thought highly of.Too much attention sometimes comes at a high price.Katie and Lydia were more concerned about his faults than I was.They are still very naive in the world, and do not understand the unseemly creed that a beautiful boy must be fed and clothed as much as an ordinary person.

(End of this chapter)