Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 34
The next morning, Mrs. Collins and Maria went to the village to run errands, and Elizabeth sat alone at home writing letters to Jane.At this time, she was suddenly startled, because the doorbell rang, and there must be a visitor.She did not hear the carriage, and thought it might be Lady Catherine, so she put the half-written letter aside with some doubts, lest she ask some rash words.At that moment the door opened, and she was startled, never expecting that it was Mr. Darcy, and Darcy alone, who entered.

Darcy, too, was surprised to see her alone, and made a quick apology that he had taken the liberty of intruding in, as he thought none of the ladies had gone out.

They sat down, and after she asked him a few words about Rosings, both sides seemed to have nothing to say, and there was a feeling of being at an impasse.Therefore, it was necessary to think of something to talk about.Just at this tense moment, she recalled the last time she met him in Hertfordshire, and she was suddenly curious to hear his opinion on that hasty parting, so she said "How abruptly you left Netherfield last November, Mr. Darcy! Mr. Bingley must have been surprised to see you all following him at once. I seem to recall that he left only a day before you. I suppose he and his sisters were in good health when you left London?"

"Excellent, thank you."

She realized that the other party had nothing else to answer her, so she asked again after a while: "I don't think Mr. Bingley intends to return to Netherfield anymore?"

"I've never heard him say that. Probably, though, he doesn't intend to live there long. He's got a lot of friends, and at his age, of course, there's more and more company every day."

"If he does not intend to live long at Netherfield, it is for the sake of the neighbors that he should give up the lease altogether, so that we can have a regular neighbor, but Mr. Bingley may only be renting the house for himself. Convenience, and no consideration for the neighbors, I think his principle is the same whether he keeps the house or cancels the rent.”

"I think he's going to get out of the lease as soon as he gets the right property," Mr Darcy said.

Elizabeth made no answer, lest she should speak of his friend again.Since she had nothing else to say, she decided to let him use his brains and find another topic to talk about.

He understood her purpose, and said after a while: "Mr. Collins seems to have a very comfortable house. I believe Lady Catherine must have put a lot of thought into it when he first came to Hunsford. "

"I also believe that she has spent a lot of thought, and I dare say that her kindness was not in vain, because there is no one in the world who knows how to be grateful than him."

"Mr. Collins is very blessed to have such a lady."

"Yes, blessed indeed. His friends should be happy for him. It is rare that such a clear-headed woman will marry him and make him happy if married to him. My girlfriend is a very clever person. But I don't think it would be the best thing for her to marry Mr. Collins. She seems to be extremely happy, and, in ordinary eyes, her marriage is certainly a very good one."

"It must please her to be so close to her family and her friends."

"Near, you say? Nearly fifty miles."

"As long as the road is convenient, can fifty miles be considered a distance? It only takes half a day to get there. I think it is very close."

Elizabeth cried: "I never thought that the distance of the road was one of the advantages of this marriage. I never said that Mrs. Collins lived very close to home."

"It shows that you yourself are too attached to Hertfordshire. I think you will be too far away if you take a step out of Longbourne."

He could not help smiling as he said this, and Elizabeth thought she understood his meaning: he must have thought she was thinking of Jane and Netherfield.

So, she blushed and replied: "I'm not saying that a woman's family should not marry too close to her natal family. Distance is relative, and it depends on various situations. As long as you can afford to spend money, It doesn't matter if it's farther away? It's not the case here. Although the Collinses have a good income, they can't afford to travel often. Even if the current distance is reduced to a half, I don't think my friends will think that they are close to their natal home. .”

Mr. Darcy moved his chair closer to her, and said: "You mustn't have such a country sense. You can't live in Longbourn all your life."

Elizabeth looked a little surprised.Darcy also felt a little strange, so he dragged his chair back a bit, picked up a newspaper from the table, glanced at it, and said in a calmer voice: "Do you like Kent?"

So the two of them talked briefly about the village, calmly and succinctly.Presently Charlotte and her sister returned from their walk, and the conversation was terminated.

The Charlotte sisters were amazed to see them talking together.Mr. Darcy explained the reason why he had just entered by mistake and met Miss Bennet, and then sat down for a few minutes and went away without further talking to the others.

When he was gone, Charlotte said: "What does that mean? My dear Elizabeth, he must be in love with you, or he would never have come to see us so casually."

Elizabeth told her of his speechless state, and Charlotte felt that, in spite of her good intentions, it did not appear to be the case.They guessed and guessed, and the result was that he came out to visit relatives and friends because he was bored this time, which is still plausible.Because in this season, all outdoor activities are outdated. Although staying at home can talk to Mrs. Catherine, read a book, and play billiards, but men can't stay out of the house all the time, since it is separated from the priest's house. It's very close, and it's also very pleasant to take a walk there to have fun; besides, the family is very interesting.So the two cousins ​​couldn't help but go there almost every day during their visit.They always go in the morning, there is no fixed time sooner or later, sometimes they go separately, sometimes they go together, and sometimes their aunt goes with them.

The women saw perfectly well that Fitzwilliam came because he liked their company--which of course made him all the more liked, and Elizabeth was content with him.He was also clearly in love with Elizabeth, and both circumstances reminded Elizabeth of her former sweetheart, George Wickham.Although comparing the two she found Fitzwilliam's manner less gentle and charming than Wickham's, she believed he had more tricks in his head.

But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the parsonage was still not easy to understand.He couldn't have been trying to join in the fun, because he'd sit there for 10 minutes without saying a word, and he would talk as if he had to rather than really have something to say - as if he was compromising politeness , not out of inner joy.He was seldom really in high spirits.Mrs. Collins simply could not understand him.Fitzwilliam sometimes laughed at him for being stupid, but he was not usually like that, and of course Mrs Collins couldn't understand the details.She hoped that this change in him was the result of a love, and that the object of that love was her friend Elizabeth, and she set to work solemnly to make the matter clear.Whenever they went to Rosings, and whenever he came to Hunsford, she kept watching him, but to no avail.He did often look at her friend, but what was the deep meaning in his eyes was still debatable.He looked at her dully, sincerely indeed, but Mrs. Collins could not tell how much adoration was in his gaze, and sometimes it was quite absent-minded.

Once or twice she had suggested to Elizabeth that he might have a heart for her, but Elizabeth always laughed it off.Mrs. Collins felt that it was not right to go on and on about the subject so that people would be tempted, only to end up with endless disappointment.In her opinion, as long as Elizabeth felt that she had him in her hands, there was no problem, and all feelings of dislike for him would naturally disappear.She has good intentions for Elizabeth everywhere, and sometimes plans to marry her to Fitzwilliam. He is indeed a very funny person, and no one can compare with him. Of course, he also loves Elizabeth. His social status is no matter how appropriate But no more.However, Mr. Darcy possessed a great deal of influence in the Church, which his cousin had not at all, so that these advantages were of relatively insignificant importance.

(End of this chapter)