Jane Austen

“ Elizabeth.
[Astonished.] Oh, Jane, no. When did he come? Have you seen him?
Jane.
No; I hardly expect to see him.
Elizabeth.
[Brightly.] Yes, you will, if he has returned. [Suddenly clapping her hands.] Oh, I understand. [Kissing her.] My darling Jane, you are going to be very happy!
Jane.
Lizzy dear—don't, don't. That is all over now, and besides I don't want to be happy unless you can be, too.
Elizabeth.
Oh, forty Mr. Bingleys wouldn't make me happy. Till I have your disposition, I never can have happiness. No, no, let me shift for myself. ”

“ My father has gone to London. He will beg my uncle Gardiner's assistance. But nothing can be done! I know very well that nothing can be done. How is such a man to be worked on? How are they ever to be discovered? I have not the smallest hope. It is all horrible!
Darcy.
Miss Bennet, I have made a wretched mistake in all this. Would to Heaven that anything could be said or done on my part that might make you reparation, or offer consolation to such distress!
[Elizabeth sinks sobbing into a chair while Darcy walks up and down in deep thought. In a moment a carriage is heard outside—then voices.] ”

“ I have just had a letter from Jane with such dreadful news! It cannot be concealed from anyone.
Darcy.
I am grieved, Miss Bennet. Grieved indeed!
Elizabeth.
Oh, Mr. Darcy, you were right. If I had only believed you! You, and others! But I could not believe it. [She sobs.]
Darcy.
[Greatly moved.] What is it, my dear Miss Bennet? What has happened?
Elizabeth.
[Wildly.] Oh, I cannot tell it, and yet everyone must know! My sister Lydia—has—has eloped—has thrown herself into the power of—of Mr. Wickham! She has no money, nothing that can tempt him to—she is lost forever! [She sobs again.] ”

“ Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness. [Darcy hastily leaves the room.]
Elizabeth.
[Sinking into a chair, then getting up and walking excitedly about the room.] To insult my family! To think I was ready to fall on my knees, in gratitude for his condescension! To calmly dispose of Jane's happiness! [Stopping in her walk and with a half-amused smile.] And yet really to be in love with me in spite of every obstacle. [Throwing herself again into the chair, half laughing, half crying.] Oh, Jane, Jane! I wish you were here! ”

“ I consider the work I do in my garden to be one of my most respectable pleasures. Lady Catherine is always ready to encourage me in it, and my dear Charlotte is ever willing that I should leave her side for the sake of this healthful exercise. [Looking at the radishes again.] It is, indeed, a pity that Miss de Bourg is not well enough to enjoy them. My dear Charlotte has doubtless told you, Miss Elizabeth, of the alliance which is in prospect between Miss de Bourg and Mr. Darcy. This extreme delicacy of constitution would seem to be the only bar to their happiness. ”

“ Bennet, Bingley, and Jane go out upon the terrace.]
Elizabeth.
[Smiling mischievously.] Would not you also like to see the chimneys, Mr. Darcy?
Darcy.
Thank you. Like yourself, I prefer people to places.
Elizabeth.
Did I say that?
Darcy.
Not precisely. But I have drawn that conclusion.
Elizabeth.
[Gathering her sewing materials, begins to embroider.] Well, I can laugh at people better than places, and I dearly love a laugh.
Darcy.
Isn't that rather a dangerous trait, Miss Bennet? The wisest and the best of men may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke. ”

“ Miss Bingley.
Ah! Here you are! [To Darcy.] Will you be so kind? [She holds out her arm for him to clasp her bracelet.] Your sister Georgiana should be here, Mr. Darcy. [To her brother.] Charles, you should have insisted on her coming.
Bingley.
I am not in the habit of insisting with Darcy.
Miss Bingley.
[Laughingly.] Very true. [To Darcy, who has at length succeeded in fastening the bracelet.] Thank you. [Looking about her.] It is vastly pretty, Charles, but I am much mistaken if there are not some among us to whom a ball will be rather a punishment than a pleasure. ”

“ Why, my dear, you must know Lady Lucas says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the North of England. His name is Bingley, and he is single, my dear. Think of that, Mr. Bennet! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand pounds a year. What a fine thing for our girls! ”

“ Elizabeth.
[Tossing her head.] Oh, Colonel Fitzwilliam!
Charlotte.
[Looking at Elizabeth sharply, and after a short silence.] And so Jane is once more at home after her visit in London, and Lydia has gone to Brighton after all. How did she ever manage to persuade your father?
Elizabeth.
Oh, Lydia was so determined upon it that she and mamma gave my father no peace till they had teased him to consent. But I am very sorry. Lydia is too foolish, too ignorant and wilful to be trusted away from home. I only hope that no harm will come of it.
Charlotte.
And is Mr. Wickham still with the regiment? ”

“ Lady Catherine.
[In a fury, but trying to speak calmly.] Not so hasty, if you please. I had hoped to spare you this last humiliation—but your insolence forbids it. I am no stranger to the particulars of your sister's infamous elopement. I know all! The young man's marrying her was a patched-up business at the expense of my nephew. [Elizabeth starts violently.] Oh, you needn't start, Miss! Nobody knows about the whole affair better than you. But I don't wonder you blush to find yourself discovered. You used your arts well. ”

“ It is all your uncle's doing. He has managed to buy Wickham for us.
Jane.
Oh, dear good uncle!
Mr. Bennet.
[Looks at Jane quizzically.] But there are two things that I want very much to know—one is how much money your uncle has laid down to bring it about, and the other, how I am ever to pay him.
Jane.
But my uncle did not do it all?
Elizabeth.
No, papa. My Aunt Gardiner has written me that you are to give Lydia an allowance.
Mr. Bennet.
Yes, one hundred a year. Do you think that any man in his proper senses would marry Lydia on so slight a temptation as one hundred a year? ”

“ Why can you see no good in Mr. Darcy, Lizzy? You were always so full of excuses for Wickham, though it is true his open and delightful manners deceived us all.
Elizabeth.
Yes, there certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has all the goodness and the other all the appearance of it.
Jane.
I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the appearance of it as you did, and he certainly could hardly have had the friends he has if he did not possess some good qualities. [Shyly.] Lizzy, have you heard that Mr. Bingley is back in Netherfield? ”

“ Oh, well, since he had to be your cousin, and since you will not do anything about the entail, I suppose it will be a mercy if he does marry Jane. [Half crying.] But I do think, Mr. Bennet, it is the hardest thing in the world that we have no son of our own, so that your property has to be entailed away from your own wife and children, so if you should die, we may all be turned out of the house whenever this Mr. Collins pleases. [In bewailing tone.] He certainly does seem to have all the luck in the world. Here he has just got this good living from that grand Lady Catherine de Bourg. ”

“ If it was not for the entail I should not mind it.
Mr. Bennet.
What should not you mind?
Mrs. Bennet.
I should not mind anything at all.
Mr. Bennet.
Let us be thankful that you are preserved from a state of such insensibility. ”

“ I do not blame Jane, for she would have got Mr. Bingley if she could. But Lizzy! Oh, Lydia, it is very hard to think she might now have been Mrs. Collins! But how about your clothes?
Lydia.
Oh, I have a lot already. You may be sure I would not forget them.
Mrs. Bennet.
[Alarmed.] But you didn't know the best warehouses! Well, never mind, we will see to that later. Now you must all come in and have dinner. You must be famished. Come, girls. Come, my dear Wickham.
[They all go toward the house. At the door Lydia pushes Jane back.] ”

“ Miss Bingley.
[To Elizabeth, after a moment's silence.] So, Miss Bennet, I hear that you are quite delighted with George Wickham. He must have told you all a pretty tale. As to Mr. Darcy's using him ill, it is perfectly false. I do not know the particulars, but I do know that George Wickham has treated Mr. Darcy in a most infamous manner. His coming into the county at all is a most insolent thing. I feel very strongly on this point, Miss Bennet, as Mr. Darcy's interests are so intimately associated with our own. [She watches Elizabeth.] We hope Miss Georgiana Darcy may some day be my sister. ”

“ Lady Catherine.
It is quite useless to protest. I have my facts from the best authority. Heaven knows Darcy has reason enough to keep away from Wickham's flirtations and entanglements, but [stopping herself.] that is a family affair. However, you have managed to get him mixed up in them again to the extent of five thousand pounds. But that is not enough,—you want to make this shameless girl my nephew's sister, and the son of his father's steward his brother. Heaven and Earth! Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?
Elizabeth. ”

“ Jane and Bingley!
Lady Lucas.
Ah! Indeed!
Mrs. Bennet.
[With importance and in a still louder tone.] Oh, yes! It's quite settled. Such a charming young man—and Netherfield only three miles from Longbourn! And Jane's marrying will be a fine thing for my other girls. They will be sure to meet other rich men who will fall in love with them.
Elizabeth.
[Who has heard the beginning of this conversation, makes a pretext to go to arrange her mother's scarf and says in low tones.] Oh, mamma! Be careful, I beg. Mr. Darcy can hear you! ”

“ Denny.
[Aside to Elizabeth significantly.] I do not imagine his business would have called him away just now if he had not wished to avoid a certain gentleman.
Lydia.
[Suddenly.] Why, Mr. Denny—I do believe the reel is half over—I dearly love a reel! We shall miss it, altogether. Come! [She drags Denny off.]
Elizabeth.
[Alone.] Well! Well! The world is surely upside down. Charlotte and—Collins! What a match!
Darcy.
[Approaching from the ball-room.] Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel? ”

“ Bennet.
[Who has risen during this last speech and now stands with his back to the fire, facing Mrs. Bennet.] You are overscrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you, and I will send a few lines to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls—though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.
Mrs. Bennet.
[Sharply.] I desire you will do no such thing! Lizzy is not a bit better than the others. She is not half as handsome as Jane, nor as good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference. ”

“ Elizabeth.
[Looking quizzically, but affectionately, at her sister.] No one can be anything but agreeable in the mind of our dear Jane. This time, however, I quite agree with you, I am as delighted as papa with Mr. Collins. I can see that his mixture of servility and importance promises well.
Jane.
And I think Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy promise well. If the half of what our neighbours say is true, Mr. Bingley will give us all sorts of gaieties. [Slyly.] Who knows? We may find him as entertaining as Mr. Wickham.
Elizabeth.
As Mr. Wickham? Then, dear Jane, we shall be rich indeed. ”

“ No tremors, Elizabeth! Now is the time for all your courage. [She runs laughing out of the room.]
[Sounds of voices are heard, and Lady Catherine appears escorted up the path by Charlotte and Collins.]
Lady Catherine.
[As she reaches the door.] You keep too many hens, Mrs. Collins. There is just a certain number which are profitable—beyond that there is waste. [Lady Catherine sits on the sofa.] A clergyman's wife should set an example of thrift. ”

“ Collins, you puzzle me exceedingly. I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as may convince you of its being one.
Mr. Collins.
You must give me leave to flatter myself, my dear cousin, that your refusals of my address are merely words, of course. I shall choose to attribute them to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females.
Elizabeth.
[Very decidedly.] Please do not consider me now as an 'elegant female'; I would rather be paid the compliment of being believed sincere. To accept your proposal is absolutely impossible. ”

“ Bennet.
Nonsense! You are jealous.
Jane.
Jealous! Of Lydia?
Mrs. Bennet.
Well, she is no more forward than any of you. All you girls are crazy about Mr. Wickham. [Indulgently.] But I can't wonder at it. He certainly is a most engaging young man. What were those French words he said to me as he went out, Lizzy?
Elizabeth.
They were Latin, dear. He paid a very charming compliment to our pretty mamma. He said—The daughters are lovely, but the mother is lovelier. You know papa always says that you are handsomer than any of us.
Mrs. Bennet. ”