Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 48 Returning to Miss Darcy
Elizabeth now believed that Miss Bingley's constant dislike for her was due to her jealousy.Now that she had this idea, she felt that Miss Bingley would not welcome her on this visit to Pemberley.Even so, she still wanted to see if that young lady would take care of the overall situation in this reunion after a long absence.

When they arrived at the Pemberley mansion, the family led them through the hall and into the living room. The view to the north of the living room was very moving. Spanish chestnut trees are such a delightful summer sight.

Miss Darcy received them in this room, with Mrs Hurst, Miss Bingley, and the lady who lived with Miss Darcy in London.

Georgiana was very polite to them, but her attitude was rather unnatural. This was certainly because she was a bit shy, and she was afraid of being rude, but in the eyes of those who thought they were inferior to her, it was easy to misunderstand her as arrogant. Reserved, fortunately Mrs. Gardner and her niece would never blame her but would sympathize with her.

Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley only curtsied to them.After they sat down, there was no conversation between the host and guest for a long time, which was really awkward.Afterwards, it was Mrs. Agnesley who spoke first.The lady was an affable lady, and you could tell she was far better educated than the other two, just by seeing her trying to find words for conversation.It was only because she and Mrs. Gardiner struck up a conversation first, and Elizabeth interjected now and then to add to the fun, that the conversation was not cold.Miss Darcy seemed to want to speak but lacked courage, and it was rare to whisper a word or two out of hearing.

Elizabeth found that Miss Bingley had been watching her carefully, paying attention to her words, and especially to her conversation with Miss Darcy.Had Elizabeth and Miss Darcy been seated so close together that conversation would have been convenient, she would not have been afraid of Miss Bingley to refrain from conversation with Miss Darcy; So I don't feel sorry.She was looking forward to the men coming in together all the time, but although she was looking forward to, she was afraid.Whether she was eagerly looking forward to it or was terribly afraid, she couldn't tell herself.Elizabeth sat thus for a quarter of an hour, without hearing a word from Miss Bingley, when she was suddenly startled by Miss Bingley's icy greeting of her family's well-being.She also said a few perfunctory words to her indifferently and simply, and stopped talking to the convenience.

Not long after they arrived, the servants brought cold meat, snacks and various seasonal fruits.Miss Darcy had been forgetting to ask for it, but Mrs. Agnesley's frequent winks and smiles reminded her of her responsibilities as a host.Now everyone has something to do.Although not everyone is talkative, everyone can eat.As soon as they saw the beautiful piles of grapes, nectarines, and peaches, everyone gathered around the table and sat down.

Mr. Darcy came in while they were eating, and Elizabeth took advantage of this opportunity to judge whether she wished for his presence, or dreaded his presence.The result of the discrimination was that although she thought she was more hopeful than fearful, but within less than a minute after he came in, she thought it was better for him not to come in.

Darcy, who was fishing with Mr. Gardiner on the river with several members of his own family, left them and went home as soon as he heard that Mrs. Gardner and her niece were coming to visit Georgiana that morning.When Elizabeth saw him coming in, she acted accordingly and made up her mind that she must behave calmly and gracefully.The determination she made was indeed necessary, but it was a pity that it was difficult to achieve, because she saw that everyone in the audience was suspicious of the two of them.

When Darcy came in, there was scarcely an eye that was not watching his manner.Curiosity is common to all, but no one is so open as Miss Bingley, who smiles when she speaks to either of them, because she is not jealous to the point of unscrupulousness, nor Completely give up on Mr. Darcy.Miss Darcy, seeing her brother approaching, did as much as she could; and Elizabeth saw that Darcy was desperate for her to become acquainted with his sister, and he did what he could to promote more conversation between them.

Miss Bingley was indignant at seeing these circumstances, and without being abrupt or polite, said sarcastically at every opportunity: "Excuse me, Miss Elizabeth, did the Meryton militia go away?" Is it? The family must feel that this is a great loss."

She only dared not mention Wickham's name openly in Darcy's presence, but Elizabeth at once understood that she meant that man, and could not help thinking of some of her past dealings with him, and felt a little sad.It was a malicious attack, and Elizabeth was obliged to give her a severe blow, and she immediately answered her words in a tone of indifference.As she spoke, she involuntarily glanced at Darcy, who blushed and looked at her earnestly; Darcy's sister was even more flustered and bowed her head speechless.

If Miss Bingley had known that such nonsense would cause so much pain to his lover, she would not have spoken of it.She just wanted to disturb Elizabeth's mind. She thought that Elizabeth had fallen in love with that man in the past, so she said it on purpose, making her look ugly, making Darcy look down on her, and even reminding Darcy that her sisters used to do it for him. How many absurd jokes were made by that militia.

She knew nothing of Miss Darcy's desire to elope, for Mr. Darcy had kept it a secret from anyone but Miss Elizabeth.He took special care to conceal it from Bingley's relatives and friends, because he thought that he would marry them later, which was also expected by Elizabeth.He did have this plan long ago.Perhaps it was for this reason that he was more interested in Bingley's well-being, than in doing everything possible to separate Bingley and Miss Bennet.

Darcy was relieved when he saw that Elizabeth was calm.Miss Bingley, in distress and disappointment, dared not speak of Wickham again, and Georgiana soon returned to her normal self, though for a moment she was ashamed to speak again.She was afraid to meet her brother's eyes, and in fact her brother did not notice that she was involved in this matter.Miss Bingley had arranged very ingeniously this time. The original intention was to make Darcy change his mind and no longer be attached to Elizabeth. Instead, it made him miss Elizabeth even more and deeply rooted in love.

After this question and answer, the guests took their leave not long after.While Mr. Darcy escorted them into the carriage, Miss Bingley took the opportunity to complain before her sister, and arranged Elizabeth's character, manners, and dress.Georgiana refrained, for Elizabeth was so admired by her brother, and she had taken a liking to her.My brother was never wrong, and he made Elizabeth so high that Georgiana found her only dear and lovable.When Darcy returned to the drawing-room, Miss Bingley repeated to him what she had just said to his sister.

She cried: "Mr. Darcy, Miss Elizabeth Bennet looks so ugly this morning! She has changed so much since last winter, and I have never seen anyone like her in all my life. Her skin has changed." So dark and rough, Louisa and I hardly knew her."

Darcy, though such remark was not to her liking, he put her off coldly, saying that he could not see any change in her, except that she was a little darker, which was not surprising as a result of her summer travels.

Miss Bingley replied: "To be honest, I can't see how beautiful she is at all. Her face is too thin, her skin is dull, and her eyebrows are not clear. Her nose is only ordinary. Speaking of her Eyes, how beautiful they are sometimes said to be, I don't see what it's all about. There's something sharp and sinister about her eyes, which I don't like. And, with her whole demeanor For me, it's completely pretentious, but in fact, it's completely unrecognizable, it's really uncomfortable."

Miss Bingley had already made up her mind that it would not be wise to try to win Darcy's affection by preventing Darcy from falling in love with Elizabeth.However, when people are angry for a while, it is inevitable that they will make miscalculations.Seeing that Darcy's expression finally became a little annoyed, she thought that her wishful thinking had succeeded.

Darcy gritted his teeth and remained silent.

In order to make him say something, she went on: "I remember when we first met her in Hertfordshire, we were all very surprised to hear that she was a famous beauty. Strange. I especially remember one night, after they had dinner at Netherfield, you said: 'She's a beauty! Then her mother is a genius!' But you've been impressed with her ever since. It's getting worse, and you also thought she was very good-looking for a period of time."

Darcy could bear it no longer, and replied, "That's a good thing, but that was when I first met her. For the last few months I have considered her the prettiest girl friend I have ever known." One."

Having said this, he went away, leaving Miss Bingley alone.She forced him to say these few words, thinking that she could take advantage of it, but in the end she only ended up making fun of herself.

When Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth returned to the inn, they commented on everyone they saw, and talked about the looks and behavior of everyone, but the one they paid special attention to was not mentioned. arrive.They talked about his sister, his friends, his house, the fruit he served to his guests...it was all talked about, but not about him.In fact, the niece really hoped that the aunt would talk about her impression of that person first, and the aunt desperately hoped that the niece would bring up this topic first.

(End of this chapter)