Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 77 The Colonel's Voice

When they first came to Devon, the Dashwood mother and daughter never imagined that there would be so many appointments at once. They were invited one after another, either constantly visiting or entertaining a continuous stream of guests at home. No time to do serious business.However, this is the case.Marianne's foot was completely healed, and the plans of indoor and outdoor recreation that Sir John had made in advance were put into practice one by one.

At this time, the private ball in the manor began to be held.There are more showers in October, but as soon as the rain stops, people often take advantage of this intermittent opportunity to hold water entertainment.Willoughby was invariably present at such gatherings.He knew, of course, that the leisurely nature of these gatherings would certainly bring him closer to the Dashwoods, and would give him an opportunity to witness Marianne's charms, to express his admiration for her, and at the same time I wanted to see in her words and demeanor the sure assurance that she had the same heart for me.

They both fell in love with each other, and Eleanor was not surprised.She just wished they weren't so explicit.Once or twice she ventured to suggest to Marianne that it was better to restrain herself.Marianne hated concealment, for she found it unadmirable to refrain from feeling, and to indulge capriciousness without loss of real decency.In her view, emotion itself is justifiable, and it is the shameful submission of reason to wrong stereotypes.Willoughby felt the same way, and their actions made their point every time.

As long as Willoughby was present, Marianne could see no one else.Everything he did was very correct, and every sentence he said was very clever.If the party at the manor ended with a game of cards, he would cheat as much as he could, sacrificing himself and deceiving others to give her a good hand.If dancing was the main activity of the evening, they would dance together half the time, and if they had to be separated from time to time, they would try to stay next to each other without speaking a word to each other.Naturally, this behavior provoked a lot of teasing, but the teasing neither embarrassed them nor seemed to annoy them.

Mrs. Dashwood was fully in touch with their feelings, and she was so full of understanding that she could not have cared to check this excessive display of their feelings?In her view, this is only the inevitable result of passionate young people's love.

It was Marianne's moment of happiness.She gave Willoughby her whole heart.When she came here from Sussex, she still had a deep affection for Norland Park, and she didn't think this affection would ever fade away.But now, this kind of feeling is likely to become weak, because Willoughby's arrival makes her feel that her current home is more attractive.

Eleanor didn't feel so happy.Her mind was not so at ease, and she did not enjoy so much the amusements here, for they could not provide her with a kindred spirit to relieve her memory of the man who had been left at Norland Park. People, but can't enlighten her to reduce her nostalgia and pity for Nolan Manor.

Neither Mrs. Middleton nor Mrs. Jennings could afford her the taste of conversation she lingered, though the latter was a talkative person and treated her favorably from the first, enabling her to listen more to her. endless chatter.Mrs. Jennings had already told Eleanor three or four times about her own story.If Eleanor hadn't been as old as Bai Chang, and her memory could still remember the other party's embellished remarks, she might have learned about the last detailed illness of Mr. Jennings and the few minutes before his death when they first met each other. What he said to his wife.

If Lady Middleton was more agreeable than her mother, it was only because she talked less.Eleanor did not need to look carefully to see that her reticence was due to indifference and had nothing to do with reason.Her attitude towards her husband and mother is as indifferent as her attitude towards others, so you can't expect her to be more intimate with you.She had nothing else to say but to repeat what she had said the day before.Her indifference was irreversible, because her moods were so fixed.Although she had no objection to any gathering her husband arranged, as long as it was held in style and her two older children were by her side; She is happier when she sits at home; and she never takes part in the conversations of the guests, and her presence adds nothing to the pleasure of others, so that it is often only when she nurses her naughty children that people realize her presence.

Of all her new acquaintances, Elinor felt that only Colonel Bland possessed that quality which aroused her desire for friendly intercourse, and gave her pleasure in it.Not to mention Willoughby.Although she liked him, respected him, and even cared for him like a sister, he was still in love and only knew how to court Marianne.Perhaps, if he was less courteous, he would be more pleasing to everyone.Colonel Bland is very unfortunate. He wanted to fall in love with Marianne, but Marianne was ruthless and cold to him.However, fortunately, he can get compensation and get a lot of comfort through talking with Eleanor.

Eleanor grew more and more sympathetic to the Colonel, for she had reason to suspect that he had felt the pangs of a broken love.This conjecture was known one night at the manor.At that time, other people were dancing, and when they met to sit together, he inadvertently dropped a few words.The colonel fixed his eyes on Marianne, and after a few minutes' silence, said with a flat smile: "As far as I understand, your sister does not approve of second loves."

"Yes," replied Eleanor, "her thoughts are very romantic."

"In my opinion, or rather, she thinks that there can be no second love."

"I think she thinks so. However, I really don't understand why she has such an idea, why didn't she think of her father, who is a remarried person. Wouldn't it be detrimental to her father if she thought so Personality. However, in a few years, when she has a certain amount of experience and experience, she will become reasonable and her views will mature. At that time, her views may be understood and accepted by people. It's easier, unlike now, no one can tell except herself."

"That may be the case," replied the colonel, "but there is something so lovely about the prejudices of youth that who would have the heart to abandon them in favor of commonplace views?"

"I disagree with you," said Elinor. "Marianne's views are in many ways out of place, and, however charming the world's fanaticism and ignorance may be, it is not advisable. Unfortunately, her ideas have A very bad tendency, and she has no regard for manners. I hope that she will learn more about the world, which will do her a lot of good."

The colonel paused for a moment, then continued:
"Is your sister indiscriminately opposed to the second love? Is it a crime for anyone to fall in love for the second time? If someone suffers setbacks in the first love, maybe the other party has changed his mind, maybe The environment he faced has played tricks on him, can he never be emotional again for the rest of his life?"

"Honestly, I don't know the details of her claims. All I know is that I've never heard her say that anyone's second love is understandable and forgivable."

"Her opinion," said the colonel, "is not long-lasting. Once there is a change in feeling, once it is completely changed--no, no, don't be delusional, because young people are full of romantic fantasies about feeling, once Forced to change your mind, often followed by mediocre and dangerous opinions! I say this from experience. I once knew a girl who had a personality and a heart like your sister's, and their thinking The way of judging right from wrong is very similar, but due to the forced change—forced by a series of unfortunate events—she..." At this point, he stopped suddenly, as if he felt that he had spoken too much. There were too many, and his look made Eleanor suspicious.She could see that the colonel didn't want to continue talking about the woman, otherwise, the story wouldn't have aroused her suspicions.In fact, it is not difficult to imagine that the reason why he is so emotional must have something to do with remembering the old secrets.Eleanor didn't think much of it.However, if it were Marianne, she would not stop there and stop imagining.With her active imagination, she will quickly conceive the whole story in a meaningful way. According to her framework, she will arrange all the plots in a reasonable and vivid way, but the result is that the tragedy of the story makes people feel extremely sad.

(End of this chapter)