Chapter 54 Chapter Fifty-Three

Mr. Wickham was so satisfied with the conversation that he never mentioned it again, lest he should trouble himself, or offend his dear aunt Elizabeth, who, too, was very sorry that he should stop talking. Happy. In an instant, the date of his and Lydia's trip came, and Mrs. Bennet had to part with them, at least for a year, because Mr. Bennet firmly disapproved of her plan, and refused to let the whole family move. to Newcastle. She cried: Oh, my dear Lydia, when shall we meet again? God!I don't know either.Maybe we won't see each other for two or three years. Write to me often, my dear boy.

I must write often.But you know, married women don't have much time to write letters.The sisters could often write to me, since they have nothing to do anyway. Mr. Wickham's good-byes were far more cordial than his wife's.He was full of smiles, well-mannered, and said so many beautiful words. As soon as they went out, Mr. Bennet said: He is the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life.He can smirk, giggle, and make fun of everyone.I'm so proud of him.Not even Sir Lucas, I daresay, could have produced a more distinguished son-in-law. After her daughter left, Mrs. Bennet was depressed for many days.

She said: I often think that parting from my relatives is really the most uncomfortable thing; when they leave, I seem to have lost my home. Elizabeth said: Mom, you have to understand that this is the end of marrying a daughter. Fortunately, your other four daughters are not wanted, so it will definitely make you feel better. Not at all.Lydia was leaving me not because she was married, but because her husband's troops happened to be so far away.If it was closer, she wouldn't have to go so fast. And, though Mrs. Bennet was demoralized by this incident, it was soon cured, for at this time a piece of news was circulating which revived her spirits.It had been rumored that the master of Netherfield was going back to the country in a day or two to hunt for a few weeks, and his housekeeper, his grandmother, was being ordered to get everything in order.Mrs. Bennet was quite restless when she heard the news.She looked at Jane for a while, smiled, and shook her head.

Well, Mr. Bingley is coming, sister (for it was Mrs. Phillips who first told her the news.) Well, it is very good.But I don't care.You know, we don't think much of him at all, and I really don't want to see him again.However, since he wishes to come back to Netherfield, we naturally welcome him.Who knows what will happen?It has nothing to do with us anyway.You know, sister, we have already agreed not to mention this matter again.Will he really come? Her sister said: Don't worry, Grandma Nichols was in Meryton last night.I saw her go by with my own eyes, so I ran out and asked her if it was true; she told me that it was true.He would come by Thursday at the latest, probably Wednesday.She also said that she was going to the butcher's shop to order some meat for cooking on Wednesday, and she still had six ducks, which were ready to be slaughtered.

Miss Bennet's countenance changed when she heard that he was coming.She had not mentioned his name to Elizabeth for some months; but this time, when the two sisters were alone, she said: Liz, when my aunt told me the news today, I saw you looking straight at me, and I know I looked ugly; but don't think it's because of something stupid like that, but I thought everyone was Staring at me so I was a little distracted for a while.To tell you the truth, this news neither pleases nor pains me.The only thing that pleases me is that he's here alone this time, so we'll have less chance of seeing him.I don't have any worries, but I'm afraid of other people's gossip.

Elizabeth did not know what to think of the matter.If she hadn't seen him last time in Derbyshire, she might have thought he had no ulterior motives in his visit.But she still thinks that he has not forgotten his love for Jane.Did he get his friend's permission to come this time, or did he come here on his own?This really made it impossible for her to decide. Sometimes she couldn't help thinking that it was hard to think of the poor man's return to the house she had rented, causing such speculation.Let me leave him alone. No matter what her sister said, what she thought, whether she expected him to come or not, Elizabeth could easily see that her sister was affected mentally, and was more restless and restless than before.

About a year ago, the parents had vehemently argued about this issue, and now it is time to bring it up again. Mrs. Bennet said to her husband again: My good sir, you must pay a visit to Mr. Bingley when he comes. No, no, you forced me to visit him last year, saying that as long as I went to see him, he would pick one of our daughters to be his wife, but it all ended in vain, and I will never do it again Kind of silly. His wife added that when the nobleman returned to Netherfield, the neighbors were obliged to pay him a visit. He said: I hate this kind of etiquette, if he wants to associate with us, let him come to the door himself.It's not that he doesn't know our address.Every time the neighbors come and go, I have to come and see them off. I don't have the skills.

Well, it would be rude of you not to call on him.However, I can still invite him to dinner here, and I have decided to invite him.We should have invited Mrs. Lange and the Goldings earlier, and with our own family there would be thirteen, so there was a place for him. Her resolution to do so gave her some relief, and her husband's unreasonableness made her feel better; however, the result was that the neighbors would see Mr. Bingley before they did.His coming is drawing near. Jiying said to her sister: "Now I think it's better for him not to come, but it doesn't matter; I can pretend nothing happened when I see him; it's just that I can't bear to hear people talk about it all the time."Mother meant well, but she didn't know (nobody knew) how much her words hurt me.If only he doesn't live any longer at Netherfield, I'll be content!

Elizabeth said: I really want to say a few words to comfort you, but unfortunately I can't say a word.You must know what I mean.I don't want to be like ordinary people, seeing people feel uncomfortable, but I just advise them to be patient because you have always had great patience. Mr. Bingley came at last.Mrs. Bennet, thanks to the assistance of her servants, was the first to receive the news, and therefore the longest to be vexed.Now that her plan to visit him early had come to nothing, she counted the days on her fingers to see how many more days it would be before the invitation was sent.Fortunately Mrs. Bennet saw him from the dressing-room window on his third day in Hertfordshire, riding into the paddock, towards her house.

She was overjoyed, and hastily called her daughters to share her joy.Ji Ying resolutely sat on the table without moving.Elizabeth, to please her mother, went to the window, looked in, and seeing Mr. Darcy coming with him, went back and sat down by her sister. Kitty said: Mother, there is another gentleman with him, who is that? I figured it was his friend or something, baby, I really didn't know. look!said Kitty again.Just like the guy he was with before.Can't remember his name, but that tall, very arrogant guy. Goodness, it was Mr. Darcy!Surely yes.To tell the truth, any friend of Mr. Bingley's is always welcome here; otherwise, I hate him when I see him.

Jane looked at Elizabeth with the utmost wonder and interest.She was quite ignorant of her sister's meeting with Darcy in Derbyshire, and she felt that her sister must be embarrassed to see him for the first time since his explanatory letter.The sisters were not very happy.They are considerate of each other and have their own secrets.The mother was still going on, saying that she did not like Mr. Darcy very much, and only received him with civility because he was, after all, a friend of Mr. Bingley's.Neither sister heard these words.Elizabeth's uneasiness, indeed, had other causes, unknown to Jane.Elizabeth never had the courage to show Jane Mrs. Gardiner's letter, or to relate to Jane the change in her affection for him.Jane only knew that he had proposed to her and was rejected by her, and that she had underestimated his strengths, but she didn't know that Elizabeth's secrets were far more than that. She thought he had shown great kindness to their family, so she treated him differently.Even if her affection for him was not as deep as Jane's for Bingley, at least it was as reasonable and just as Jane's for Bingley.Darcy's return to Netherfield, and his voluntary search for her again at Longbourn, did indeed astonish her, almost as much as she had at Derbyshire when he had seen his change of style. It has been such a long time, but his affection, his wish, is still unswerving; at the thought of this, her pale face regained its color and became more vivid, and she couldn't help smiling with joy, her eyes widening. Light.But she was still worried after all. She thought: Let me see how he behaves first, and then it's not too late to hope. She sat there absorbed in her needlework, trying to pretend to be calm, and did not even lift her eyes. When the servant approached the door, she became impatient. Looking up at her sister, she saw that Jane was a little paler than usual. , but she was dignified and dignified, quite beyond Elizabeth's expectations.She blushed when the two distinguished guests arrived; but she received them with ease and grace, without showing the slightest trace of resentment, or being overly courteous. Elizabeth made no conversation with either of them, but after a few perfunctory remarks, out of courtesy, she sat down again to her sewing, and did it with great vigor.She only glanced boldly into Darcy's eyes, and saw that he looked as grave as ever, not as he had been at Pemberley, but as he had been in Hertfordshire.This may be because he cannot be as informal in front of her mother as he is in front of her aunt and uncle.Although her speculation is painstaking, it is not necessarily unreasonable. She also glanced at Bingley, and saw at once that he was mixed with pleasure and self-consciousness.Mrs. Bennet treated him so politely and thoughtfully, but her friend was so perfunctory and so indifferent, that the comparison made his two daughters feel very sorry. Her mother, in fact, treated these two distinguished guests with complete indifference, for one of her beloved daughters was saved from disgrace by Mr. Darcy's rescue, and Elizabeth knew the details of the incident, and it was especially painful for Elizabeth. Darcy asked Elizabeth about the Gardiners, and Elizabeth was a little flustered when she answered.Darcy didn't say anything after that.His reticence may have been due to the fact that he was not sitting with her, but he had not been in Derbyshire last time.I remember the last time he talked to her aunt and aunt whenever it was inconvenient for her to talk to herself, but this time, he didn't hear him speak for several minutes.Curiosity could not be suppressed any longer, and she looked up into his face, and saw him looking at Jane and herself now and then, and most of the time staring blankly at the ground.It can be seen that this time compared to the last time the two of them met, he was more thoughtful, but he was not as eager to win others' favor as last time.She was disappointed and at the same time blamed herself for being disappointed. She thought: How did you expect him to be like this?Then why should he come? She had no interest in talking to anyone but him, and she hadn't the courage to speak to him. She asked him about his sister, but after asking, she had nothing to say. I only heard Mrs. Bennet say: Mr. Bingley, you have been away for a long time. Mr. Bingley hastily said that it had been a long time indeed. I was worried at first that you would never come back.People say you're going to quit the house as soon as Michaelmas comes, and I hope you don't.A lot has happened in this area since you left.Miss Lucas is married and settled, and I have a daughter married too.I think you've heard about it, you must have seen it in the papers.I know it's in the Times and the Express, but it's in a bad way.It just said: George.Mr. Wickham was to be recently married to Miss Bennet, and nothing was mentioned about her father, or where she lived, or anything of the kind.It was drafted by my brother Gardiner, and I don't understand how he could do it so badly.Did you see it? Bingley said he had seen it, and congratulated her again.Elizabeth did not even dare to lift her eyes, so she did not know what Mr. Darcy's expression was at the moment. Mrs. Bennet went on to say: Indeed, it is a happy thing to have a daughter successfully married, but, Mr. Bingley, I feel uncomfortable when she leaves my side.They went to Newcastle, far to the north, and they didn't know how late they would be before returning.His troops are there.He has left the so-and-so militia and joined the regular army, as you probably know.Thank goodness!He had some friends at last, but he needed more. Elizabeth knew that she had said this on purpose for Mr. Darcy, and was so terribly embarrassed that she could scarcely sit still.But these words were more effective than anything else, and enabled her to chat with the guests reluctantly.She began to ask Bingley if he intended to stay in the country for a while, and he said a few weeks. Her mother said: Mr. Bingley, when you have finished hunting the birds on your own estate, please come to Mr. Bennet's estate and shoot as many as you like.I'm sure he'd be more than happy to have you come, and save you the best partridges. Elizabeth was all the more sick at hearing her mother talk so much nonsense, so flattering.Thinking of a year ago, they used to be full of hope and complacent, and now although they can see that good things are coming, but in just a blink of an eye, everything will come to naught, and they feel frustrated.She only felt that whether it was Jiying or herself, even if she could live happily ever after, she could not make up for the pain and embarrassment of these few minutes. She thought to herself: I only hope that I will never associate with them in the future.Although being friends with them can be enjoyable, it really can't make up for this embarrassing situation.May I never see them again! However, although a lifetime of happiness could not compensate for the present pain, it was much less painful when, in a few minutes, the sight of her sister's beauty touched the heart of her former lover again.Bingley hardly spoke to Jane when he first came in, but he soon became more and more attentive.He found that Jiying was still as beautiful as last year, with a docile personality and a natural attitude, but she was not as talkative as last year.Jane only hoped that no one would see that she was any different from what she had been, and she fancied she was still as talkative as ever.In fact, she was too preoccupied, so sometimes she fell silent, even she didn't realize it. Mrs. Bennet had long intended to make some courtesies to her distinguished guests, and when they took their leave she remembered this, and at once invited them to dine at Longbourn in a few days. Then she said: "Mr. Bingley, you still owe me a return call, when you went up to town last winter, you promised to come and dine with us as soon as you got back."You know, I've been keeping this on my mind, and I'm very disappointed that you haven't come back for your appointment. Bingley couldn't help but paused for a long time at the mention of this matter, and then he said that he was extremely sorry for the delay due to some business.Then the two took their leave. Mrs. Bennet originally planned to invite them to dinner that day, but she thought that although the usual meals at home were very good, but he was a man of status, with an annual income of more than ten thousand pounds. With such a deep hope, then, how dare you not add two main dishes?