Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 32 Meeting Darcy Again
Sir William remained only a week at Hunsford.After this short visit, he can roughly understand that his daughter married very well, and has such a rare husband and rare neighbors.When Sir William was here, Mr. Collins used to drive with him every morning in his hansom, and take him for country rambles;

Thank goodness Elizabeth.Because of being a guest this time, she and her cousin Collins did not meet many times day and night.It turned out that during the period from breakfast to lunch, he was either tidying the garden, or reading and writing in his study facing the road, overlooking the distance from the window, and the sitting room for the ladies was in the back room. .Elizabeth was very strange at first: the dining room here is larger and the light is better. Why is Charlotte unwilling to use the dining room as a living room?But she saw at once why her friend did it.Very well indeed, for Mr. Collins would spend less time in his own room if the lady guest were in an equally comfortable sitting-room.She appreciated Charlotte's arrangement very much.

From the parlour, they could not see the main road at all, and it was fortunate that Mr. Collins always told them of any passing traffic, and that Miss de Bourgh, in particular, used to drive by in her pony almost every day. I have never failed to tell them once.The young lady would stop at the Vicar's door, and chat with Charlotte for a few minutes, but the master never asked her to get out.

Mr. Collins went to Rosings almost every day, and his wife every few days.Elizabeth always thought they had some other entitlement to attend to, or she could not understand why so much time was sacrificed.Sometimes the old lady would visit their house, and when she came, she would see everything in the house.She inquired about their daily life, inspected their household, advised them to do it differently; and found fault with their furniture, or their servants being lazy; if she would eat here, it seemed to be just In order to see whether Mrs. Collins is thrifty in her household and does not eat and abuse.

Elizabeth at once saw that this lady, though she had no county judicial office, was the most active judge in the parish, and that Mr. Collins reported to her every little thing; , angry, or too poor to survive, she would personally go to the village to mediate, suppress and subdue them, and scold them all to live in peace, no longer complaining about poverty.

Rosings took them to dinner about once or twice a week.Although there was no Sir William, and there was only one table of cards, every such feast was followed in the same manner as the first.They had few other parties, for Collins was beyond his reach in the manner of life in the neighborhood.Elizabeth, however, was not sorry, for she was generally comfortable enough here: she had frequent half-hour conversations with Charlotte, and the weather was so fine this season that she could often go outside for a little refreshment. .When others visit Lady Catherine, she always likes to take a walk in the little wood next to the manor. There is a beautiful green path there. Avoid arousing Lady Catherine's curiosity.

The first two weeks of her guest career passed quietly in this way.Easter was approaching, and a week before it, Rosings had a new guest in his house.In such a small circle, it was certainly a big deal.Elizabeth had heard, on her arrival, that Mr. Darcy was to be here in the next few weeks, and though she felt that almost no one she knew was so annoying as Darcy, his presence would be of great interest to Roosevelt. It would be amusing to add a fresher-looking person to Singh's party, and at the same time it be seen from his manner to his cousin that Miss Bingley's plans for him were to be utterly thwarted.

Lady Catherine, who had evidently arranged for him with his cousin, spoke of his coming with great pride and admiration, but when she heard that Miss Lucas and Elizabeth had known him long ago and had seen him often, she seemed Angry again.

Soon, the Collins family knew that Darcy was coming.For the vicar had been walking about the porterhouse by Hansford all that morning, in order to obtain the sure news as early as possible;

The next morning, he hurried to Rosings to call on him.He was going to call on two of Lady Catherine's nephews, for Mr. Darcy had brought along a Colonel Fitzwilliam, the youngest son of Uncle Darcy (Sir So-and-so).When Mr. Collins came home, he brought the two distinguished guests with him, to the astonishment of all.From her husband's room Charlotte saw the three of them coming across the road, and at once ran into the other room, and told the ladies that they would have a visitor shortly, adding: "Elly I must thank you, Sha, for this distinguished guest. Otherwise, Mr. Darcy would not have called on me at once."

Elizabeth heard this compliment, and before she could reply, the bell rang, announcing the presence of the distinguished guest.After a while, the three guests and the host came into the room together.The leader was Colonel Fitzwilliam, about 30 years old, not handsome, but judging from his appearance and conversation, he was a real gentleman.Mr. Darcy, in his usual Hertfordshire self, greeted Mrs. Collins with his usual reserve.Though he might have had other feelings for her friend Elizabeth, he saw her with the utmost poise.Elizabeth only curtseyed to him, but said nothing.

Colonel Fitzwilliam immediately struck up conversation with everyone, articulate and educated, and with a good deal of humor.But his cousin, after a few remarks of the house and garden to Mrs. Collins, sat there talking to no one.After a while, returning to the question of manners, he greeted Elizabeth with regard to her well-being and that of all her family.

Elizabeth, as usual, perfunctory him a few words, paused for a moment, and then said: "My sister has been in the city for the last three months. Have you never met her?"

In fact, she clearly knew that he had never met Jane, but she just wanted to sound out his tone and see if he knew about the relationship between the Bingleys and Jane.He replied that, unfortunately, he had never met Miss Bennet, and she thought he looked a little flustered in reply.The matter was not discussed further.The two dignitaries took their leave quickly.

(End of this chapter)