Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 74 Colonel Brand in the Eyes of the Sisters
Mrs. Jennings was a widow, and her husband left her a large estate after his death.She only has two daughters, and she has seen them marry decent families, so now she has nothing to do, so she takes it as a pleasure to say goodbye to others.As long as it is within her power, she is always full of enthusiasm and energy in brokering this kind of affairs. As long as it is a young person she knows, she never misses an opportunity to help others.Her eyes were exceptionally sharp, and she was good at discovering the infidelity of children, and she would give hints to the girls every now and then, saying that so-and-so among them had charmed such-and-such young man, making him blush and feel happy.With a pair of discerning eyes, soon after she arrived in Barton, she declared categorically that Colonel Bland was in love with Miss Marianne Dashwood with all his heart.Mrs. Jennings was a little suspicious of that the first night they were together, for the Colonel was so attentive when Marianne sang to them; Listening to her sing carefully, that must be the case.That must be the case, she was [-]% sure.It will be a match made in heaven: the man is rich and the woman is beautiful.Mrs. Jennings had been anxious to find a good wife for him since the first acquaintance of Colonel Bland at Sir John's.And as with every pretty girl, she is always anxious to find a good husband for her.

Of course, she herself could take advantage of this kind of thing, because she could make endless jokes about these two people.She mocked Colonel Bland at Barton Manor and Marianne at Barton Cottage.In the case of the former, her teasing concerned him alone, and he did not care.But as for the latter, her teasing was at first inexplicable to the other party, and when she realized who was being teased, Marianne really didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of the matter, or to reprimand him for being rude, because she thought it was To the aging colonel, it was a merciless tease of the lonely situation of his old bachelor.

Mrs. Dashwood, having difficulty imagining how old a man five years her junior would appear to her daughter's youthful mind, tried to excuse Mrs. Jennings by saying that she could not have done it on purpose. Make fun of his age.

"But, mother, if it is not from malice, at least you cannot deny the absurdity of the accusation. Colonel Bland is indeed younger than Mrs. Jennings, but he is old enough to be my father. Even if he If you have had passion and love, then you must have no such impulse now. It is ridiculous! If a person is old and weak, he must be ridiculed, when will he not be ridiculed?"

"Weakness!" said Eleanor. "You say Colonel Bland is weaker? Though he looks much older to you than to mother, you can't fool yourself into saying that he's weak. ?”

"Didn't you hear him say he had rheumatism? Isn't that the most common disease among old people?"

"My dearest child," said her mother, laughing, "you must be terrified every day by the fear that I shall grow old. It must seem to you a miracle that I should have lived to the advanced age of forty. "

"Mom, you've misinterpreted me. I know Colonel Bland isn't old enough to worry his friends about saying goodbye to him forever. He may live another twenty years, but at thirty-five he shouldn't Consider the age of marriage."

"Perhaps," said Eleanor, "it would be better for a thirty-five-year-old to marry a seventeen-year-old. But if a single woman of twenty-seven turns up, and I think, if Colonel Bland wants If you marry her, then the age of 35 should not be an obstacle."

After a while, Marianne said: "A 27-year-old woman should never expect her to be rejuvenated or to be emotional again. If her family is not good, or her property is not much, and she wants to live more securely, I think she might concede a bit and become a supportive wife, or a nanny. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with him marrying such a woman. It is a very affordable The agreement was agreed upon, and everyone was satisfied. Although it did not seem to me to be a marriage at all, it did not matter. It seemed to me to be a mere exchange of goods, in which each party wanted to take advantage of the other."

"I know," replied Eleanor, "that it is by no means possible for you to believe that a woman of twenty-seven can have any love for a man of thirty-five that would make him the ideal mate for her. But I do not approve of you putting cloth Colonel Land looked as if he was going to die, and just because he made an occasional complaint yesterday (yesterday was cold and wet), about a slight rheumatic pain in one shoulder, decided that he and his wife should be locked up in the sick room forever. inside."

"But he spoke of a flannel waistcoat," said Marianne, "which always seems to me to be associated with aches, cramps, rheumatism, and all the ailments of the old and infirm. "

"If he had a high fever, you wouldn't look down on him so much. Frankly, Marianne, don't you think it's funny if he has red cheeks and bright eyes and fast pulse when he has a fever?" ?”

After saying this, Eleanor walked out of the room. "Mother," said Marianne, "I will tell you quite frankly that I have a fear of sickness. I dare say Edward Ferrars is not in very good health. We have been here nearly two weeks." But he still hasn't come. He must be sick and delay for so long, otherwise he wouldn't be so strange and delay in coming. What else can make him stay in Norland Manor?"

"You think he'll come so soon?" said Mrs. Dashwood. "I don't think so. On the contrary, if I worry a little about the matter, it's that I remember when I invited him to Barton, he Always promises so unpleasantly. Is Eleanor already looking forward to his coming?"

"I never mentioned it to her. But of course she was looking forward to it."

"I think you must be wrong. Yesterday I told her that I wanted to install a stove in the empty bedroom, and she said that there is no rush now, and there may be a lot of people living in that room for a while."

"That's strange! What does it mean? But the attitude between the two of them is always inaccurate! How cold and calm they were at the last farewell! On the evening of the last meeting, they talked about How flat the words were! Edward said good-bye to Eleanor as he did to me, and wished them both brotherly. Twice on the last morning I deliberately left them both in the room. But somehow, he followed me out twice. Eleanor didn't cry as much as I did when we parted from Norland Manor and Edward. She has been calm until now. What? When did you see her depressed? When did you see her sad? When did she want to avoid interacting with others? When did she appear restless in the relationship? "

(End of this chapter)