Chapter 8 Chapter VII

Nearly the whole of Mr. Bennet's fortune is in one estate, from which he earns £2,000 a year.As for the estate, it was his daughters' misfortune.Since he had no son, a distant relative had to inherit the property. As for their mother's furniture, it was considered a large sum in such a family, but in fact it was not enough to make up for his loss. Mrs. Bennet's father had been a lawyer in Meryton, and had left her an inheritance of four thousand pounds.She had a sister, who married Philip, her father's clerk, who succeeded her father's trade; and a brother, who lived in London, and who carried on well.The village of Longbourne was but a mile from Meryton, a distance which was very convenient for the young ladies, who used to go there three or four times a week, to see their aunt, You can also drop by a shop over there that sells women's hats.

The two youngest sisters, Catelyn and Lydia, were especially fond of it, and they were much less concerned than their sisters, and when there was no better way of diversion, they made sure to go to Meryton for a good diversion. The morning light, and the evening also has the help of conversation.Although there was usually not much news to ask in the village, they always managed to get some from their aunt.A regiment of militiamen had recently arrived in the vicinity, and of course their sources of news had been enriched since then, which made them very happy.Here the regiment was to be stationed all winter, and Meryton was the headquarters.

Since then, every time they called on Mrs. Phillips, they had the most interesting news.They would inquire about the names of several officers and their social relations every day.The residences of the officers were soon made known, and afterwards the ladies became acquainted directly with them, and Mr. Philip visited them one by one, which opened up an unexpected source of happiness for her nieces and aunts. .They can't do without those officers now.The mention of Mr. Bingley's vast fortune, which had previously delighted their mothers, seemed to them to be worthless in comparison with the uniforms of the officers.

Mr. Bennet heard them eloquently on the subject one morning, and he could not help saying sarcastically: Judging by the way you talk, I think you are really stupid girls.Before, I was only half-believing, but now I completely believe it. Caitlin was quite disturbed when she heard this, but she didn't answer.Lydia, however, paid little attention to what her father said, and went on to tell how much she adored Captain Carter, and hoped to see him that day, for he was leaving for London to-morrow morning. Mrs. Bennet said to her husband: I am surprised, my dear, that you always like to say that your own children are stupid.If it were me, I could look down on anyone's children, but I would never look down on my own.

If my own children were really stupid, I would never want to be unaware. You are right, but in fact, they are all very smart. At last the two of us disagreed only on this point.I would have liked you and me to agree on everything, but it is very stupid indeed when it comes to our two little girls; and on this I have so far been obliged to disagree with you. My good lord, you can't expect these girls to be as well-informed as their parents.When they get to our age, they'll probably stop thinking about officers like we do.There was a time when I was fond of red uniforms--of course, I still love red uniforms in my heart; and if there was a handsome young colonel with an income of five or six thousand pounds a year, he would send it to any of my daughters Marriage, I would never refuse him; and seeing Colonel Forster in full uniform one night at Sir William's, what a man!

"Mother," cried Lydia, and her aunt said, Colonel Forster and Captain Cuttle were not going to Miss Ginger's as often as they were when they first came; people. Mrs. Bennet was about to answer, when a servant came in with a letter for Miss Bennet.It was a letter from Nefert Gardens, and the boy was waiting for it.Mrs. Bennet's eyes twinkled with joy.As Jane read the letter, she cried anxiously: "Hey, Jane, who's the letter from?"What does the letter say?How do you say it?Now, Jane, hurry up and tell me; hurry up, baby! It's from Miss Bingley, said Jane, reading it aloud:

My dear friend, if you will not be merciful and come and dine with Louisa and me to-day, there will be a lifelong enmity between us.The two women talked together all day long, and in the end they never stopped quarreling.After receiving the letter, I hope to come as soon as possible.My brother and some of his friends were going to eat with the officers. Your forever friend Caroline.Bingley Go to dinner with the officers!How come my aunt didn't tell us about it, cried Lydia. Going to someone else's house for dinner, Mrs. Bennet said: This is really bad luck. Can I go by car?Ministry of Jane.

No, dear, you'd better go on horseback.It looks like it's going to rain, and if it rains you can spend the night there. That's a good idea, Elizabeth said.As long as you're sure they won't send her back. Oh, Mr. Bingley's carriage was to take his friend to Meryton, and Mr. and Mrs. Hurst had none. I'd rather go in a carriage. But, good boy, I guarantee your father won't be able to afford the horses towing the cart.Horses are on the farm, my good lord, aren't we? Horses are often needed on the farm, but unfortunately not many come into my hands. Elizabeth said: But, if it is in your hands today, it will be my mother's wish.

She finally forced her father to admit that the horses that pulled the cart had other uses.Jane was obliged to ride on another horse, and her mother saw her to the door, and said many cheery words in anticipation of bad weather.She got what she wanted; and Jane had not been long before it began to rain heavily.The younger sisters were all worried about her, but only her old man was happy.The heavy rain did not stop throughout the evening.Jane, of course, could not come back. Mrs. Bennet said over and over again: Thank goodness I came up with such a good idea!It was as if she was responsible for the rain.

How much happiness her ingenuity had produced, however, she did not know until the next morning.Before breakfast was finished, Netherfield sent a letter to Elizabeth: My dear Liz, I feel very ill this morning, and I think it may be because of the rain yesterday.Thanks to the concern of my good friends here, I was asked to wait until I feel better before going home.My friends keep asking Dr. Jones to see me, so don't be surprised if you hear he's been to me.I just had a sore throat and a headache, nothing serious. ｜Sister character. When Elizabeth read the letter, Mr. Bennet said to his wife: Well, good lady, if your daughter is seriously ill, it will be comforting in case she gets sick, because she is under your order to pursue Binger. Mr Lay's.

oh!Could it be that she will die in such a sudden!There is no reason why a small cold will kill you.People will wait for her well.As long as she stays there, nothing will happen.If I had a car, I'd like to see her too. It was Elizabeth who was really in a hurry, she decided to go there no matter whether she had a car or not.Since she can't ride a horse, the only way is to walk.She spoke out her plan. Her mother exclaimed: How stupid are you!The road is so muddy, thank you for thinking it out!When you get there, how can you look like someone. All I have to do is see Jane. Liz, said her father, do you mean I'll get you some horses for your carriage? Of course not.I am not afraid of walking, as long as I go with my heart, this little road is nothing.It's only three miles.I can rush back for dinner. At this time, Manli said: You are completely out of brotherhood, I admire you very much, but you must not be emotional, you have to be rational, and I think you should try your best not to go too far. Catelyn and Lydia said together: We will accompany you to Meryton. Eliza assented, and the three young ladies set off together. If we had been quicker, Lydia said as they walked, we might have had time to see Captain Carter before he left. The three sisters parted at Meryton; the two sisters went to the house of an officer's wife, leaving Elizabeth alone to go on, striding hurriedly across fields and fences. Fence, jumped over puddles, and finally saw the house.At this time, her feet were weak, her socks were covered with mud, and her face was flushed with exhaustion. She was ushered into the dining-room, where the whole family was there except Jane.As soon as she walked through the door, the whole audience was amazed.It was inconceivable, thought Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley, that she should have come three miles away, and alone, at such an early morning and in such mud. .Elizabeth expected them to despise her behavior.In fact, however, they received her with great civility, especially their brothers, who received her not only with civility, but with great courtesy.Mr. Darcy said little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all.Mr. Darcy's mind was agitated by two emotions: admiration for the freshness of her face after walking, and doubts whether she was worth traveling so far alone for so little.As for Mr. Hurst, all he wanted was breakfast. She asked how her sister was doing, but did not get a satisfactory answer.It is said that Miss Bennet did not sleep well at night. Although she is up now, she is very hot and cannot leave the room.To Elizabeth's delight, they led her right away to her sister.Jiying was very happy to see her coming. It turned out that she didn't want to make her family anxious and troublesome, so the letter didn't say that she was extremely looking forward to having a relative come to see her.But she had not the strength to speak much, and so, when Miss Bingley went away, and the sisters were left with her, she only said that they had treated her so well, and that she was very grateful—and besides these words , I didn't say anything more.Elizabeth quietly waited for her. The Bingley sisters came to accompany them after breakfast, and Elizabeth could not help feeling fond of them, seeing their kindness and amiability to Jane.The doctor came to examine the patient's symptoms, and said she had a severe cold (in fact, this is conceivable), and he told them to be careful as much as possible, and advised Jane to go to bed, and prescribed some medicines for her.The doctor's order was followed immediately, because the patient's fever was higher again, and he had a severe headache.Elizabeth did not leave her room for a moment, nor did the other two ladies very much; the gentlemen were absent, and indeed they could not be of much help there. At exactly three o'clock, Elizabeth felt that she should go, so she reluctantly bid farewell to the master's house.Miss Bingley wanted her to go back in a carriage, and she was about to accept the host's kindness with a little refusal, but Jane said that she was reluctant to let her go, so Miss Bingley had to change her mind about asking her to go back in a carriage, Invite her to stay at Netherfield for a while.Elizabeth gratefully agreed.The next thing was to send someone to Longbourne, to tell her family about her temporary stay here, and at the same time ask her family to bring her some clothes.