Elizabeth was sitting by herself the next morning, and writing to Jane
while Mrs. Collins and Maria were gone on business into the village, when
she was startled by a ring at the door, the certain signal of a visitor.
As she had heard no carriage, she thought it not unlikely to be Lady
Catherine, and under that apprehension was putting away her half-finished
letter that she might escape all impertinent questions, when the door
opened, and, to her very great surprise, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy only,
entered the room.🔗
He seemed astonished too on finding her alone, and apologised for his
intrusion by letting her know that he had understood all the ladies were
to be within.🔗
They then sat down, and when her enquiries after Rosings were made, seemed
in danger of sinking into total silence. It was absolutely necessary,
therefore, to think of something, and in this emergence recollecting when
she had seen him last in Hertfordshire, and feeling curious to know what
he would say on the subject of their hasty departure, she observed:🔗
“How very suddenly you all quitted Netherfield last November, Mr. Darcy!
It must have been a most agreeable surprise to Mr. Bingley to see you all
after him so soon; for, if I recollect right, he went but the day before.
He and his sisters were well, I hope, when you left London?”🔗
“Perfectly so, I thank you.”🔗
She found that she was to receive no other answer, and, after a short
pause added:🔗
“I think I have understood that Mr. Bingley has not much idea of ever
returning to Netherfield again?”🔗
“I have never heard him say so; but it is probable that he may spend very
little of his time there in the future. He has many friends, and is at a
time of life when friends and engagements are continually increasing.”🔗
“If he means to be but little at Netherfield, it would be better for the
neighbourhood that he should give up the place entirely, for then we might
possibly get a settled family there. But, perhaps, Mr. Bingley did not
take the house so much for the convenience of the neighbourhood as for his
own, and we must expect him to keep it or quit it on the same principle.”🔗
“I should not be surprised,” said Darcy, “if he were to give it up as soon
as any eligible purchase offers.”🔗
Elizabeth made no answer. She was afraid of talking longer of his friend;
and, having nothing else to say, was now determined to leave the trouble
of finding a subject to him.🔗
He took the hint, and soon began with, “This seems a very comfortable
house. Lady Catherine, I believe, did a great deal to it when Mr. Collins
first came to Hunsford.”🔗
“I believe she did—and I am sure she could not have bestowed her
kindness on a more grateful object.”🔗
“Mr. Collins appears to be very fortunate in his choice of a wife.”🔗
“Yes, indeed, his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of
the very few sensible women who would have accepted him, or have made him
happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding—though I
am not certain that I consider her marrying Mr. Collins as the wisest
thing she ever did. She seems perfectly happy, however, and in a
prudential light it is certainly a very good match for her.”🔗
“It must be very agreeable for her to be settled within so easy a distance
of her own family and friends.”🔗
“An easy distance, do you call it? It is nearly fifty miles.”🔗
“And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day’s
journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance.”🔗
“I should never have considered the distance as one of the advantages
of the match,” cried Elizabeth. “I should never have said Mrs. Collins was
settled near her family.”🔗
“It is a proof of your own attachment to Hertfordshire. Anything beyond
the very neighbourhood of Longbourn, I suppose, would appear far.”🔗
As he spoke there was a sort of smile which Elizabeth fancied she
understood; he must be supposing her to be thinking of Jane and
Netherfield, and she blushed as she answered:🔗
“I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too near her family.
The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many varying
circumstances. Where there is fortune to make the expenses of travelling
unimportant, distance becomes no evil. But that is not the case here.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins have a comfortable income, but not such a one as will
allow of frequent journeys—and I am persuaded my friend would not
call herself near her family under less than half the
present distance.”🔗
Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, “You
cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You
cannot have been always at Longbourn.”🔗
Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some change of
feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper from the table, and
glancing over it, said, in a colder voice:🔗
“Are you pleased with Kent?”🔗
A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued, on either side
calm and concise—and soon put an end to by the entrance of
Charlotte and her sister, just returned from her walk. The
tête-à-tête surprised them. Mr. Darcy related the mistake which
had occasioned his intruding on Miss Bennet, and after sitting a few
minutes longer without saying much to anybody, went away.🔗
“What can be the meaning of this?” said Charlotte, as soon as he was gone.
“My dear, Eliza, he must be in love with you, or he would never have
called on us in this familiar way.”🔗
But when Elizabeth told of his silence, it did not seem very likely, even
to Charlotte’s wishes, to be the case; and after various conjectures, they
could at last only suppose his visit to proceed from the difficulty of
finding anything to do, which was the more probable from the time of year.
All field sports were over. Within doors there was Lady Catherine, books,
and a billiard-table, but gentlemen cannot always be within doors; and in
the nearness of the Parsonage, or the pleasantness of the walk to it, or
of the people who lived in it, the two cousins found a temptation from
this period of walking thither almost every day. They called at various
times of the morning, sometimes separately, sometimes together, and now
and then accompanied by their aunt. It was plain to them all that Colonel
Fitzwilliam came because he had pleasure in their society, a persuasion
which of course recommended him still more; and Elizabeth was reminded by
her own satisfaction in being with him, as well as by his evident
admiration of her, of her former favourite George Wickham; and though, in
comparing them, she saw there was less captivating softness in Colonel
Fitzwilliam’s manners, she believed he might have the best informed mind.🔗
But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage, it was more difficult to
understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten
minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it
seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice—a sacrifice to
propriety, not a pleasure to himself. He seldom appeared really animated.
Mrs. Collins knew not what to make of him. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s
occasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he was generally
different, which her own knowledge of him could not have told her; and as
she would liked to have believed this change the effect of love, and the
object of that love her friend Eliza, she set herself seriously to work to
find it out. She watched him whenever they were at Rosings, and whenever
he came to Hunsford; but without much success. He certainly looked at her
friend a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. It
was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but she often doubted whether there were
much admiration in it, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of
mind.🔗
She had once or twice suggested to Elizabeth the possibility of his being
partial to her, but Elizabeth always laughed at the idea; and Mrs. Collins
did not think it right to press the subject, from the danger of raising
expectations which might only end in disappointment; for in her opinion it
admitted not of a doubt, that all her friend’s dislike would vanish, if
she could suppose him to be in her power.🔗
In her kind schemes for Elizabeth, she sometimes planned her marrying
Colonel Fitzwilliam. He was beyond comparison the most pleasant man; he
certainly admired her, and his situation in life was most eligible; but,
to counterbalance these advantages, Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage
in the church, and his cousin could have none at all.🔗