Chapter 22 Chapter 21

The discussion of Mr. Collins's proposal was nearly at an end, and Elizabeth now felt only the usual unhappiness, and occasionally heard a murmur or two from her mother.As for the gentleman himself, he did not appear despondent, nor did he appear to avoid her, but was silent with a furious face.He hardly spoke to her, and his original enthusiasm was transferred to Miss Lucas for the rest of the day.Miss Lou listened to him politely, which was a relief to everyone, especially her friend. Mrs. Bennet remained equally unhappy until the next day, and did not recover.Mr. Collins was as angry and haughty as ever.Elizabeth thought that he would leave here as soon as he was so angry, but he would never change his original plan because of this. He said he would not leave until Saturday, so he decided to stay until Saturday.

After breakfast the ladies went up to Meryton to inquire if Mr. Wickham had returned, and to express their regret at his absence from the Netherfield ball.They met him as soon as they were in town, and he accompanied the ladies to their aunt's house, where he had a good talk of his apologies, his troubles, and his concern for everyone.However, he automatically explained in front of Elizabeth that he himself did not want to attend the ball. He said: "As the date was approaching, I thought to myself that it would be better not to meet Mr. Darcy; I felt that it would hurt me to be in the same room with him, at the same ball, for several hours." No, and there might be some jokes that make each other unhappy.

She admired his self-cultivation very much.When Wickham and another officer came back with them to Longbourn, he took special care of her, so that they had ample leisure for discussing the subject, and exchanging civil compliments for a while.The reason why he accompanied them was for two benefits; one was to make her happy, and the other was to take advantage of this great opportunity to get to know her parents. They had hardly reached home when Miss Bennet received a letter from Netherfield.The letter was torn apart immediately, and inside was a small, exquisite, and smooth-ironed letterhead, written in a lady's graceful and fluent handwriting.Elizabeth saw her sister's face change as she read, and her attention paid to certain passages.Jane regained her composure in a moment, laid the letter aside, and joined in the chat, as usual, cheerfully; but Elizabeth, still anxious about the matter, was distracted from Wickham.As soon as Wickham and his companion had gone, Jane gave her a look, and told her to follow her upstairs.As soon as they were in their own room, Jane took out her letter, and said: "This is Caroline.From Bingley, the words of which astonished me.The family had now left Netherfield for the city, and had no intention of returning.You see what she said.

So she read the first sentence first, which said that they had resolved to follow their brother to the city at once, and to eat in Grosvenor Street that day. It turned out that Mr. Hurst Live on that street.It went on: Dear friend, I leave Hertfordshire with nothing to miss but your friendship, though I hope some day to be able to see each other as happily as I have been, and hope to be able to do so now. Frequent correspondence, talk about everything, to express separation.Im looking forward to writing. Elizabeth did not listen to these extravagances; and though she was surprised at their sudden removal, she felt no real cause for regret.They left Netherfield, so that Mr. Bingley would not cease to live there any longer; and as for having nothing to do with them, she believed that Jane and Mr. Bingley would be all right if she saw him often.

After a short rest, Elizabeth said: "Unfortunately, you didn't have time to see your friends before they left.But, since Miss Bingley thinks there will be joys of reunion, may we not hope that this day will come sooner than she expects?Wouldn't it be more satisfying to be a sister-in-law in the future than to be friends today?Mr. Bingley would not be long kept in London by them. Caroline was sure that none of the family would be returning to Hertfordshire this winter.Let me read it to you! My brother, when he took leave of us yesterday, thought he could get things done in three or four days by going to London; So we decided to go after him, so that he wouldn't have to live alone in a hotel and suffer.Many of my friends have gone to London for the winter; my dear friend, I hoped to hear that you were going to town, but I was disappointed.I sincerely hope you have a very merry Christmas in Hertfordshire as usual.I hope you have lots of beautiful boyfriends before we go and you don't feel bad about losing three friends.

This obviously meant, Jane added, that he would not be coming back this winter. This merely meant that Miss Bingley did not want him back. why do you think this wayThat must be his own meaning.He can make his own decisions.But you don't know it all yet.I must read to you the passage which particularly grieved me.I don't have to shy away from you at all.Mr. Darcy was anxious to see his sister; and, indeed, we were almost equally eager to see her again.I thought Georgiana.In terms of appearance, manners and talents, Darcy is indeed no one can match.Louisa and I both ventured to hope that she would become our sister-in-law, and our concern for her increased.I don't know if I have told you before about my feelings about this matter, but when I leave the country I don't like not to say them, and I trust you will not find it unreasonable.My brother was deeply in love with her, and now that he could see her now and then, they would grow closer; and there was an equal desire on the part of the family for the success of the marriage.I think it can't be out of sisterly preference if I say that Charles is the best at wooing any woman.Since all parties are in favor of the marriage, and there is no hindrance, then, dearest Jane, can you tell me I am wrong in my sincere hope that this agreeable affair will come to pass?What do you think of that sentence, dear Liz?said Jane after she finished reading.Isn't that clear enough?Doesn't this clearly show that they don't want and don't want me to be their sister-in-law?Doesn't it mean that she completely believes that his brother doesn't care about me?And doesn't it also explain: If she suspects that I have feelings for him, is she going to persuade me (thanks to her kindness!) to be more careful?Can these words be explained otherwise?

Of course there are other explanations; mine is quite different from yours.Would you like to hear it? Very willing to. This can be explained in a few words.Miss Bingley sees that his brother is in love with you, but she wishes him to marry Miss Darcy.She followed him to town just to catch him there and try to convince you that he didn't like you. Jane shook her head. Jane, you should really believe me.Anyone who has seen the two of you together will not doubt his feelings.I am sure Miss Bingley will not doubt that she is not such a fool.If she saw such half of Mr. Darcy's love for her, she would have a dowry.But the problem is this: in the eyes of their family, we are not rich enough, nor powerful enough, so she was eager to marry Miss Darcy to her brother, because she had another plan, that is, after the marriage , It will be even easier to kiss and kiss again.Of course it took a lot of work, I dare say, if it hadn't been for De.Miss Bauer got in the way, and things would work out.But, dearest Jane, you must not think that Mr. Bingley has loved you since Miss Bingley told you that her brother was deeply in love with Miss Darcy. If there is even the slightest change of mind, don't think that she really has the ability to tell her brother not to love you, but to fall in love with her girlfriend.

If I were of one mind with Miss Bingley, answered Jane, I would be greatly relieved by all your ideas.But I know what you say is biased.Caroline is not going to deliberately deceive anyone, and I have only one hope in the matter, and that is that she must be mistaken. That's right.Since my thoughts can't comfort you, it's the best thing that you can come up with such a good idea by yourself, so you should believe that her own thinking is wrong.Now you have done your duty to her, and you don't need to worry anymore. But, my dear sister, even with the best in mind, shall I be happy with what I can give to a man whose sisters and friends wish him to marry someone else?

That depends on your own opinion, Elizabeth said.If you think that the pain of offending his sisters is greater than the happiness of being his wife after you have matured, then I advise you to reject him. How can you say that?Jane smiled.You know, even if their disapproval made me miserable, I wouldn't hesitate. I didn't say you would hesitate; that being the case, I don't have to worry about you any more. If he doesn't come back this winter, I don't have to think about it.What a change in six months. The idea that he would not come back disapproved of Elizabeth.She thought it was just Caroline's wishful thinking.She thinks that whether Caroline expresses this desire openly or euphemistically, it will never have the slightest effect on a young man who wants nothing from others.

She explained her feelings on this question to her sister, and sure enough, it had good results all at once, and she felt very happy.Jane, who had a disposition not so easily despondent, grew gradually to hope that Mr. Bingley would return to Netherfield to make her all the best, though sometimes her doubts outweighed her hopes. In the end, the two sisters agreed that it is not appropriate to say more about this matter in front of Mrs. Bennet. They just need to tell her that the family has left this place, and there is no need to explain to her why he left; but Mrs. Bennet only heard this episode After hearing the news, she was already very disturbed, and even started to cry, complaining about her bad luck, the two ladies had just gotten acquainted with her and left.But after a while of grief, she comforted herself with the thought that Mr. Bingley would soon be back, and dine at Longbourn; With some thought, treat him to two big dishes.