PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 41

Description

THE first week of
their return was soon gone. The second began. It was the last of the regiment's
stay in Meryton, and all the young ladies in the neighbourhood were drooping
apace. The dejection was almost universal. The elder Miss Bennets alone
were still able to eat, drink, and sleep, and pursue the usual course
of their employments. Very frequently were they reproached for this insensibility
by Kitty and Lydia, whose own misery was extreme, and who could not comprehend
such hard-heartedness in any of the family.

"Good Heaven! What is to become of us! What are we to do!" would they
often exclaim in the bitterness of woe. "How can you be smiling so, Lizzy?"

Their affectionate mother shared all their grief; she remembered what
  she had herself endured on a similar occasion, five and twenty years
  ago.

"I am sure," said she, "I cried for two days together when Colonel
  Millar's regiment went away. I thought I should have broke my heart."

"I am sure I shall break mine," said Lydia.

"If one could but go to Brighton!" observed Mrs. Bennet.

"Oh, yes! -- if one could but go to Brighton! But papa is so disagreeable."

"A little sea-bathing would set me up for ever."

"And my aunt Philips is sure it would do me a great deal of good,"
  added Kitty.

Such were the kind of lamentations resounding perpetually through
  Longbourn-house. Elizabeth tried to be diverted by them; but all sense
  of pleasure was lost in shame. She felt anew the justice of Mr. Darcy's
  objections; and never had she before been so much disposed to pardon
  his interference in the views of his friend.

But the gloom of Lydia's prospect was shortly cleared away; for she
  received an invitation from Mrs. Forster, the wife of the Colonel of
  the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton. This invaluable friend was
  a very young woman, and very lately married. A resemblance in good humour
  and good spirits had recommended her and Lydia to each other, and out
  of their three months' acquaintance they had been intimate two.

The rapture of Lydia on this occasion, her adoration of Mrs. Forster,
  the delight of Mrs. Bennet, and the mortification of Kitty, are scarcely
  to be described. Wholly inattentive to her sister's feelings, Lydia
  flew about the house in restless ecstacy, calling for everyone's congratulations,
  and laughing and talking with more violence than ever; whilst the luckless
  Kitty continued in the parlour repining at her fate in terms as unreasonable
  as her accent was peevish.

"I cannot see why Mrs. Forster should not ask me as well as Lydia,"
  said she, "though I am not her particular friend. I have just as much
  right to be asked as she has, and more too, for I am two years older."

In vain did Elizabeth attempt to reasonable, and Jane to make her
  resigned. As for Elizabeth herself, this invitation was so far from
  exciting in her the same feelings as in her mother and Lydia, that she
  considered it as the death-warrant of all possibility of common sense
  for the latter; and detestable as such a step must make her were it
  known, she could not help secretly advising her father not to let her
  go. She represented to him all the improprieties of Lydia's general
  behaviour, the little advantage she could derive from the friendship
  of such a woman as Mrs. Forster, and the probability of her being yet
  more imprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where the temptations
  must be greater than at home. He heard her attentively, and then said,

"Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public
  place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little
  expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."

"If you were aware," said Elizabeth, "of the very great disadvantage
  to us all, which must arise from the public notice of Lydia's unguarded
  and imprudent manner; nay, which has already arisen from it, I am sure
  you would judge differently in the affair."

"Already arisen!" repeated Mr. Bennet. "What, has she frightened
  away some of your lovers? Poor little Lizzy! But do not be cast down.
  Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity
  are not worth a regret. Come, let me see the list of the pitiful fellows
  who have been kept aloof by Lydia's folly."

"Indeed you are mistaken. I have no such injuries to resent, It is
  not of peculiar, but of general evils, which I am now complaining. Our
  importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the
  wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark
  Lydia's character. Excuse me -- for I must speak plainly. If you, my
  dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits,
  and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business
  of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character
  will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt
  that ever made herself and her family ridiculous. A flirt, too, in the
  worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attraction beyond
  youth and a tolerable person; and from the ignorance and emptiness of
  her mind, wholly unable to ward off any portion of that universal contempt
  which her rage for admiration will excite. In this danger Kitty is also
  comprehended. She will follow wherever Lydia leads. -- Vain, ignorant,
  idle, and absolutely uncontrolled! Oh! my dear father, can you suppose
  it possible that they will not be censured and despised wherever they
  are known, and that their sisters will not be often involved in the
  disgrace?"

Mr. Bennet saw that her whole heart was in the subject; and affectionately
  taking her hand, said in reply,

"Do not make yourself uneasy, my love. Wherever you and Jane are
  known, you must be respected and valued; and you will not appear to
  less advantage for having a couple of -- or I may say, three -- very
  silly sisters. We shall have no peace at Longbourn if Lydia does not
  go to Brighton. Let her go then. Colonel Forster is a sensible man,
  and will keep her out of any real mischief; and she is luckily too poor
  to be an object of prey to any body. At Brighton she will be of less
  importance, even as a common flirt, than she has been here. The officers
  will find women better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that
  her being there may teach her her own insignificance. At any rate, she
  cannot grow many degrees worse without authorizing us to lock her up
  for the rest of her life."

With this answer Elizabeth was forced to be content; but her own opinion
  continued the same, and she left him disappointed and sorry. It was
  not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on
  them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over
  unavoidable evils, or augment them by anxiety, was no part of her disposition.

Had Lydia and her mother known the substance of her conference with
  her father, their indignation would hardly have found expression in
  their united volubility. In Lydia's imagination, a visit to Brighton
  comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw, with the
  creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing place covered
  with officers. She saw herself the object of attention to tens and to
  scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp;
  its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded
  with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and to complete
  the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with
  at least six officers at once.

Had she known that her sister sought to tear her from such prospects
  and such realities as these, what would have been her sensations? They
  could have been understood only by her mother, who might have felt nearly
  the same. Lydia's going to Brighton was all that consoled her for the
  melancholy conviction of her husband's never intending to go there himself.

But they were entirely ignorant of what had passed; and their raptures
  continued, with little intermission, to the very day of Lydia's leaving
  home.

Elizabeth was now to see Mr. Wickham for the last time. Having been
  frequently in company with him since her return, agitation was pretty
  well over; the agitations of former partiality entirely so. She had
  even learnt to detect, in the very gentleness which had first delighted
  her, an affectation and a sameness to disgust and weary. In his present
  behaviour to herself, moreover, she had a fresh source of displeasure,
  for the inclination he soon testified of renewing those attentions which
  had marked the early part of their acquaintance could only serve, after
  what had since passed, to provoke her. She lost all concern for him
  in finding herself thus selected as the object of such idle and frivolous
  gallantry; and while she steadily repressed it, could not but feel the
  reproof contained in his believing that, however long, and for whatever
  cause, his attentions had been withdrawn, her vanity would be gratified
  and her preference secured at any time by their renewal.

On the very last day of the regiment's remaining in Meryton, he dined
  with others of the officers at Longbourn; and so little was Elizabeth
  disposed to part from him in good humour, that on his making some enquiry
  as to the manner in which her time had passed at Hunsford, she mentioned
  Colonel Fitzwilliam's and Mr. Darcy's having both spent three weeks
  at Rosings, and asked him if he were acquainted with the former.

He looked surprised, displeased, alarmed; but with a moment's recollection
  and a returning smile, replied that he had formerly seen him often;
  and after observing that he was a very gentlemanlike man, asked her
  how she had liked him. Her answer was warmly in his favour. With an
  air of indifference he soon afterwards added, "How long did you say
  that he was at Rosings?"

"Nearly three weeks."

"And you saw him frequently?"

"Yes, almost every day."

"His manners are very different from his cousin's."

"Yes, very different. But I think Mr. Darcy improves on acquaintance."

"Indeed!" cried Wickham with a look which did not escape her. "And
  pray may I ask -- ?" but checking himself, he added in a gayer tone,
  "Is it in address that he improves? Has he deigned to add ought of
  civility to his ordinary style? for I dare not hope," he continued
  in a lower and more serious tone, "that he is improved in essentials."

"Oh, no!" said Elizabeth. "In essentials, I believe, he is very
  much what he ever was."

While she spoke, Wickham looked as if scarcely knowing whether to
  rejoice over her words, or to distrust their meaning. There was a something
  in her countenance which made him listen with an apprehensive and anxious
  attention, while she added,

"When I said that he improved on acquaintance, I did not mean that
  either his mind or manners were in a state of improvement, but that
  from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood."

Wickham's alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion and agitated
  look; for a few minutes he was silent; till, shaking off his embarrassment,
  he turned to her again, and said in the gentlest of accents,

"You, who so well know my feelings towards Mr. Darcy, will readily
  comprehend how sincerely I must rejoice that he is wise enough to assume
  even the appearance of what is right. His pride, in that direction,
  may be of service, if not to himself, to many others, for it must deter
  him from such foul misconduct as I have suffered by. I only fear that
  the sort of cautiousness, to which you, I imagine, have been alluding,
  is merely adopted on his visits to his aunt, of whose good opinion and
  judgment he stands much in awe. His fear of her has always operated,
  I know, when they were together; and a good deal is to be imputed to
  his wish of forwarding the match with Miss De Bourgh, which I am certain
  he has very much at heart."

Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered only
  by a slight inclination of the head. She saw that he wanted to engage
  her on the old subject of his grievances, and she was in no humour to
  indulge him. The rest of the evening passed with the appearance, on
  his side, of usual cheerfulness, but with no farther attempt to distinguish
  Elizabeth; and they parted at last with mutual civility, and possibly
  a mutual desire of never meeting again.

When the party broke up, Lydia returned with Mrs. Forster to Meryton,
  from whence they were to set out early the next morning. The separation
  between her and her family was rather noisy than pathetic. Kitty was
  the only one who shed tears; but she did weep from vexation and envy.
  Mrs. Bennet was diffuse in her good wishes for the felicity of her daughter,
  and impressive in her injunctions that she would not miss the opportunity
  of enjoying herself as much as possible; advice, which there was every
  reason to believe would be attended to; and in the clamorous happiness
  of Lydia herself in bidding farewell, the more gentle adieus of her
  sisters were uttered without being heard.

$$ Buy "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 41" on Amazon $$

Please check the description for download links if any or do a search to find alternative books.

Can't Download?
Please search mirrors if you can't find download links for "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 41" in "Description" and someone else may update the links. Check the comments when back to find any updates.

Search Mirrors
Maybe some mirror pages will be helpful, search this book at top of this page or click here to find more info.

1. Ebooks list page : 81
2. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 58
3. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 44
4. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 42
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 40
6. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 39
7. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 38
8. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 11
9. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 12
10. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 45
11. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 46
12. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 49
13. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 57
14. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 56
15. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 55
16. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 54