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Гордость и предубеждение
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Глава 53
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Pride and Prejudice
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Darcy,
2
after inquiring of her how Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner did,
3
a question which she could not answer without confusion,
4
said scarcely anything.
5
He was not seated by her;
6
perhaps that was the reason of his silence;
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but it had not been so in Derbyshire.
8
There he had talked to her friends,
9
when he could not to herself.
10
But now several minutes elapsed without bringing the sound of his voice;
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and when occasionally,
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unable to resist the impulse of curiosity,
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she raised her eyes to his face,
14
she as often found him looking at Jane as at herself,
15
and frequently on no object but the ground.
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More thoughtfulness and less anxiety to please,
17
than when they last met,
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were plainly expressed.
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She was disappointed,
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and angry with herself for being so.
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“Could I expect it to be otherwise!”
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said she.
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“Yet why did he come?”
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She was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself;
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and to him she had hardly courage to speak.
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She inquired after his sister,
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but could do no more.
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“It is a long time,
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Mr. Bingley,
30
since you went away,”
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said Mrs. Bennet.
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He readily agreed to it.
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“I began to be afraid you would never come back again.
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People did say you meant to quit the place entirely at Michaelmas;
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but,
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however,
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I hope it is not true.
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A great many changes have happened in the neighbourhood,
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since you went away.
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Miss Lucas is married and settled.
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And one of my own daughters.
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I suppose you have heard of it;
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indeed,
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you must have seen it in the papers.
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It was in The Times and The Courier,
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I know;
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though it was not put in as it ought to be.
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It was only said,
49
‘Lately,
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George Wickham,
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Esq.
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to Miss Lydia Bennet,’
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without there being a syllable said of her father,
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or the place where she lived,
55
or anything.
56
It was my brother Gardiner’s drawing up too,
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and I wonder how he came to make such an awkward business of it.
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Did you see it?”
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Bingley replied that he did,
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and made his congratulations.
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Elizabeth dared not lift up her eyes.
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How Mr. Darcy looked,
63
therefore,
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she could not tell.
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“It is a delightful thing,
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to be sure,
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to have a daughter well married,”
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continued her mother,
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“but at the same time,
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Mr. Bingley,
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it is very hard to have her taken such a way from me.
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They are gone down to Newcastle,
73
a place quite northward,
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it seems,
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and there they are to stay I do not know how long.
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His regiment is there;
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for I suppose you have heard of his leaving the ——shire,
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and of his being gone into the regulars.
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Thank Heaven!
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he has some friends,
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though perhaps not so many as he deserves.”
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Elizabeth,
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who knew this to be levelled at Mr. Darcy,
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was in such misery of shame,
85
that she could hardly keep her seat.
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It drew from her,
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however,
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the exertion of speaking,
89
which nothing else had so effectually done before;
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and she asked Bingley whether he meant to make any stay in the country at present.
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A few weeks,
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he believed.
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“When you have killed all your own birds,
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Mr. Bingley,”
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said her mother,
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“I beg you will come here,
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and shoot as many as you please on Mr. Bennet’s manor.
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I am sure he will be vastly happy to oblige you,
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and will save all the best of the covies for you.”
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Elizabeth’s misery increased,
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at such unnecessary,
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such officious attention!
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Were the same fair prospect to arise at present as had flattered them a year ago,
104
every thing,
105
she was persuaded,
106
would be hastening to the same vexatious conclusion.
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At that instant,
108
she felt that years of happiness could not make Jane or herself amends for moments of such painful confusion.
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“The first wish of my heart,”
110
said she to herself,
111
“is never more to be in company with either of them.
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Their society can afford no pleasure that will atone for such wretchedness as this!
113
Let me never see either one or the other again!”
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Yet the misery,
115
for which years of happiness were to offer no compensation,
116
received soon afterwards material relief,
117
from observing how much the beauty of her sister re-kindled the admiration of her former lover.
118
When first he came in,
119
he had spoken to her but little;
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but every five minutes seemed to be giving her more of his attention.
121
He found her as handsome as she had been last year;
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as good natured,
123
and as unaffected,
124
though not quite so chatty.
125
Jane was anxious that no difference should be perceived in her at all,
126
and was really persuaded that she talked as much as ever.
127
But her mind was so busily engaged,
128
that she did not always know when she was silent.
129
When the gentlemen rose to go away,
130
Mrs. Bennet was mindful of her intended civility,
131
and they were invited and engaged to dine at Longbourn in a few days time.
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“You are quite a visit in my debt,
133
Mr. Bingley,”
134
she added,
135
“for when you went to town last winter,
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you promised to take a family dinner with us,
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as soon as you returned.
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I have not forgot,
139
you see;
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and I assure you,
141
I was very much disappointed that you did not come back and keep your engagement.”
142
Bingley looked a little silly at this reflection,
143
and said something of his concern at having been prevented by business.
144
They then went away.
145
Mrs. Bennet had been strongly inclined to ask them to stay and dine there that day;
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but,
147
though she always kept a very good table,
148
she did not think anything less than two courses could be good enough for a man on whom she had such anxious designs,
149
or satisfy the appetite and pride of one who had ten thousand a year.
150
End of chapter 53.
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