Chapter 40 Chapter Thirty-Nine

In the second week of May, three young ladies set out together from Tennessee Street to such-and-such a town in Hertfordshire. The coach was there to meet them, and as soon as they got there they saw Kitty and Lydia watching them from the upstairs dining-room, which showed that the coachman had arrived punctually.The two girls had been there for more than an hour, happily visiting a hatter's opposite, watching the sentinels, and making some courgette salad. After they had welcomed the two sisters, they triumphantly laid out some dishes (they were cold dishes that are always available in small inns), and shouted: How good is this?You didn't even think about it, did you?

Lydia added: We mean to be hosts, but we want you to lend us money, and all our own money is spent in the shop over there.Having said that, she showed them the things she had bought.Look, I bought this hat.I don't think it's too pretty; but I think it would be nice to buy one.Once I get home I'm going to take it apart and redo it, and see if I can tidy it up a bit better. Her sisters said her hat was ugly, but she said indifferently, "Oh, there are two or three more ugly hats in that shop, and they are much uglier than this one; I'll go and buy some satin in a beautiful color." , redecorate it and it will get by.And besides, the militia in County ---- are leaving in a fortnight, and as soon as they're out of Meryton, it doesn't matter what you wear in summer.

They're leaving, really?cried Elizabeth with great satisfaction. They're going to be quartered at Brighton; I wish papa would take us all there for the summer!It was a brilliant idea, and probably cost nothing.Mom must go too!Think about it, otherwise, how miserable we will be this summer! Well said, Elizabeth thought: it is a very good idea, and it will make us very busy in a moment.God!A poor regiment of militia at Meryton and a couple of balls a month drive us crazy, not worthy of Brighton and the whole battalion! After everyone sat down, Lydia said: Now I have some news to tell you, guess what it is?It was good news, top news, about someone we all liked.

Jane and Elizabeth looked at each other, and sent the waiter away.Then Lydia smiled and said: Hey, you guys are so disciplined.You think that the waiter must not hear it, as if he wants to hear it!I believe he has heard many things that are more unpleasant than what I am about to say.But he's ugly!I'm glad he went away.I've never seen a chin as long as his in all my life.Well, now I come to the news. It's about the lovely Wickham; waiters don't deserve to hear it, do they?Wickham will never be with Mary again.What a marvelous news that Kim is in danger of getting married!That girl went to her uncle's in Liverpool and never came back.Wickham is safe.

It should be Mary.Gold is safe!Elizabeth went on to say that she had managed to escape a rash marriage. She would be a fool if she liked him and went away. I hope they are not very affectionate on either side.Jane said. I believe that his feelings in this regard will not be deep. I can guarantee that he didn't take her to heart at all.Who could look at such a freckled, nasty little thing? Elizabeth thought that, though she would never have spoken so crudely herself, she was astonished to think that this crude opinion was the same as her formerly obsessed prejudices. After dinner, the sisters paid their bills, and ordered the carriages to be prepared; The popular things are finally put on the carriage.

How strong we are squeezed together like this!cried Lydia.I'm so glad I bought a hat, and it's fun to add a hat box!Well, let's snuggle up again to be comfortable, talking and laughing and going back home.First of all, please tell me what happened to you after you left home.Have you ever met some attractive men?Have you ever hooked up with someone?I wish one of you had brought a husband back.Jane, I said, was going to be an old maid soon.She is almost twenty-three!God!How shameful it would be if I couldn't marry before I was twenty-three!Aunt Philip wants you to find a husband quickly, you don't think of it.She said if Liz married Mr Collins, I don't think it would be much fun.God!I wish I could get married before any of you!I can lead you to all kinds of dances.My goodness!What a big joke we had that day at Colonel Forster's!Kitty and I were going to be there all day that day (what a friend Mrs. Foster and I were!) and she invited both of the Harringtons to come.But Hayley was ill, so Ping had to come alone; now, what do you think we will do?We dressed Chamberlain in women's clothes to make people think he was a woman.Just think about it, how interesting it is!No one knew, except the Colonel, Mrs. Forster, Kitty and I, and my aunt, who only knew about it because we had borrowed a long coat from her.You can't imagine how much he looks like!When Danny, Wickham, Pratt, and two or three others came in, they didn't recognize him at all.God!I laughed hard, and Mrs. Foster laughed hard, too.I almost died laughing.This made the men suspicious, and they soon figured it out.

So Lydia told the story of the ball, and told the jokes, and Kitty cheered her on, and made the whole trip very pleasant.Elizabeth tried not to listen to it, but Wickham's name could not be avoided being mentioned.The family received them with the utmost kindness.Mrs. Bennet was very happy to see Jane's beauty undiminished; while eating, Mr. Bennet could not help saying to Elizabeth again and again: I'm so glad you're back, Liz. There were a lot of people in their dining room, and almost the whole family from Lucas's house came to pick Maria up, listen to the news by the way, and asked various questions.Mrs. Lucas asked Maria across the table how her eldest daughter was doing well, and how many chickens and ducks were being raised; and then pass it on to the young ladies of the Lucas family; Lydia, who had the highest voice of all, was telling all the pleasures of the morning to anyone who would listen.

Oh, Mary, she said, what fun it would be if you went with us!As we went along, Kitty and I lowered the curtains and it looked like an empty car, as it would have done if Kitty hadn't been motion sick.We did pretty well at George's, and we treated them three with the most beautiful cold cuts in the world; and if you went, we would treat you too.When we were leaving, it was so much fun again!I thought such a car would not be able to accommodate us anyway.I'm dying laughing.It was so much fun on the way home!We talked and laughed so loudly we could hear it ten miles away! When Manli heard these words, she replied solemnly: My good sister, I didn't mean to kill you on purpose. To be honest, these funs of yours will certainly cater to the interests of ordinary women, but they can't move my heart. I think reading Reading is much more fun.

But Lydia took her words on deaf ears.She didn't like to listen to what anyone said, let alone Man Li, she simply ignored her. In the afternoon, Lydia insisted on her sisters going up to Meryton with her, to see how her friends were doing there, but Elizabeth resolutely objected, so as not to let gossip about the Bennet ladies If she could not stay at home for half a day, she would go after the officers. There was another reason for her objection.She was afraid to see Wickham again.She has made up her mind to avoid him as much as possible if she can.The militia was about to be transferred away, and she really felt indescribably comforted.They were going to be gone in four weeks, and she hoped that when they were gone, nothing would happen to her, and she would not be tortured again for Wickham's sake.

Within hours of her arrival she found her parents going over and over the plan of going to Brighton which Lydia had mentioned to them at the inn.Elizabeth saw that her father had no intention of giving in at all, but his answer was ambiguous. Therefore, although her mother used to hit a wall, she did not give up this time, and hoped that her wish would finally be granted.