‘And if I had not a letter to write myself,I might sit by you and admire the evenness of your writing,as another young lady once did.But I have an aunt,too,who must not be longer neglected.’
From an unwillingness to confess how much her intimacy with Mr Darcy had been over rated,Elizabeth had never yet answered Mrs Gardiner's long letter;but now,having that to communicate which she knew would be most welcome,she was almost ashamed to find that her uncle and aunt had already lost three days of happiness,and immediately wrote as follows:
I would have thanked you before,my dear aunt,as I ought to have done,for your long,kind,satisfactory detail of particulars;but to say the truth,I was too cross to write.You supposed more than really existed.But now suppose as much as you chuse;give a loose to your fancy,indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford,and unless you believe me actually married,you cannot greatly err.You must write again very soon,and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last.I thank you,again and again,for not going to the Lakes.How could I be so silly as to wish it!
Your idea of the ponies is delightful.We will go round the park every day.I am the happiest creature in the world.Perhaps other people have said so before,but not one with such justice.I am happier even than Jane;she only smiles,I laugh.Mr Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me.You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas.Yours,&c.
Mr Darcy's letter to Lady Catherine was in a different style;and still different from either was what Mr Bennet sent to Mr Collins,in reply to his last.
Dear Sir,
I must trouble you once more for congratulations.
Elizabeth will soon be the wife of Mr Darcy.Console Lady Catherine as well as you can.But,if I were you,Iwould stand by the nephew.He has more to give.
Yours sincerely,&c.
Miss Bingley's congratulations to her brother,on his approaching marriage,were all that was affectionate and insincere.She wrote even to Jane on the occasion,to express her delight,and repeat all her former professions of regard.Jane was not deceived,but she was affected;and though feeling no reliance on her,could not help writing her a much kinder answer than she knew was deserved.
The joy which Miss Darcy expressed on receiving similar information,was as sincere as her brother's in sending it.Four sides of paper were insufficient to contain all her delight,and all her earnest desire of being loved by her sister.
Before any answer could arrive from Mr Collins,or any congratulations to Elizabeth from his wife,the Longbourn family heard that the Collinses were come themselves to Lucas Lodge.The reason of this sudden removal was soon evident.Lady Catherine had been rendered so exceedingly angry by the contents of her nephew's letter,that Charlotte,really rejoicing in the match,was anxious to get away till the storm was blown over.At such a moment,the arrival of her friend was a sincere pleasure to Elizabeth,though in the course of their meetings she must sometimes think the pleasure dearly bought,when she saw Mr Darcy exposed to all the parading and obsequious civility of her husband.He bore it,however,with admirable calmness.He could even listen to Sir William Lucas,when he complimented him on carrying away the brightest jewel of the country,and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at St.James's,with very decent composure.If he did shrug his shoulders,it was not till Sir William was out of
sight.
Mrs Philips's vulgarity was another,and perhaps a greater,tax on his forbearance;and though Mrs Philips,as well as her sister,stood in too much awe of him to speak with the familiarity which Bingley's good humour encouraged,yet,whenever she did speak,she must be vulgar.Nor was her respect for him,though it made her more quiet,at all likely to make her more elegant.Elizabeth did all she could to shield him from the frequent notice of either,and was ever anxious to keep him to herself,and to those of her family with whom he might converse without mortification;and though the uncomfortable feelings arising from all this took from the season of courtship much of its pleasure,it added to the hope of the future;and she looked forward with delight to the time when they should be removed from society so little pleasing to either,to all the comfort and elegance of their family party at Pemberley.
Chapter 61
Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters.With what delighted pride she afterwards visited Mrs Bingley,and talked of Mrs Darcy,may be guessed.I wish I could say,for the sake of her family,that the accomplishment of her earnest desire in the establishment of so many of her children produced so happy an effect as to make her a sensible,amiable,well informed woman for the rest of her life;though perhaps it was lucky for her husband,who might not have relished domestic felicity in so unusual a form,that she still was occasionally nervous and invariably silly.
Mr Bennet missed his second daughter exceedingly;his affection for her drew him oftener from home than any thing else could do.He delighted in going to Pemberley,especially when he was least expected.
