Chapter 32

by Jane Austen

　　Elizabeth was sitting by herself the next morning, and writing toJane while Mrs. Collins and Maria were gone on business intothe village, when she was startled by a ring at the door, thecertain signal of a visitor. As she had heard no carriage, shethought it not unlikely to be Lady Catherine, and under thatapprehension was putting away her half-finished letter that shemight 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 apologisedfor his intrusion by letting her know that he had understood allthe ladies were to be within.They then sat down, and when her inquiries after Rosings weremade, seemed in danger of sinking into total silence. It wasabsolutely necessary, therefore, to think of something, and in thisemergence recollecting when she had seen him last inHertfordshire, and feeling curious to know what he would sayon 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 ashort pause added:"I think I have understood that Mr. Bingley has not much idea ofever returning to Netherfield again?""I have never heard him say so; but it is probable that he mayspend very little of his time there in the future. He has manyfriends, and is at a time of life when friends and engagements arecontinually increasing.""If he means to be but little at Netherfield, it would be better forthe neighbourhood that he should give up the place entirely, forthen we might possibly get a settled family there. But, perhaps,Mr. Bingley did not take the house so much for the convenienceof the neighbourhood as for his own, and we must expect him tokeep it or quit it on the same principle.""I should not be surprised," said Darcy, "if he were to give it upas soon as any eligible purchase offers."Elizabeth made no answer. She was afraid of talking longer ofhis friend; and, having nothing else to say, was now determinedto leave the trouble of finding a subject to him.He took the hint, and soon began with, "This seems a verycomfortable house. Lady Catherine, I believe, did a great deal toit when Mr. Collins first came to Hunsford.""I believe she did-- and I am sure she could not have bestowedher kindness on a more grateful object.""Mr. Collins appears to be very fortunate in his choice of awife.""Yes, indeed, his friends may well rejoice in his having met withone of the very few sensible women who would have acceptedhim, or have made him happy if they had. My friend has anexcellent understanding-- though I am not certain that I considerher marrying Mr. Collins as the wisest thing she ever did. Sheseems perfectly happy, however, and in a prudential light it iscertainly a very good match for her.""It must be very agreeable for her to be settled within so easy adistance 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 aday's journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance."I should never have considered the distance as one of theadvantages of the match," cried Elizabeth. "I should neverhave 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, Isuppose, would appear far."As he spoke there was a sort of smile which Elizabeth fanciedshe understood; he must be supposing her to be thinking of Janeand Netherfield, and she blushed as she answered:"I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too nearher family. The far and the near must be relative, and depend onmany varying circumstances. Where there is fortune to make theexpenses of travelling unimportant, distance becomes no evil.But that is not the case here. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have acomfortable income, but not such a one as will allow of frequentjourneys-- and I am persuaded my friend would not call herselfnear her family under less than half the present distance."Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, "Youcannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. Youcannot have been always at Longbourn."Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced somechange of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaperfrom the table, and glancing over it, said, in a colder voice:"Are you pleased with Kent?"A short dialogue on the subject of the county ensued, on eitherside calm and concise-- and soon put an end to by the entranceof Charlotte and her sister, just returned from her walk. Thetete-a-tete surprised them. Mr. Darcy related the mistake whichhad occasioned his intruding on Miss Bennet, and after sitting afew minutes longer without saying much to anybody, went away."What can be the meaning of this?" said Charlotte, as soon as hewas gone. "My dear, Eliza, he must be in love with you, or hewould never have called us in this familiar way."But when Elizabeth told of his silence; it did not seem verylikely, even to Charlotte's wishes, to be the case; and aftervarious conjectures, they could at last only suppose his visit toproceed from the difficulty of finding anything to do, which wasthe more probable from the time of year. All field sports wereover. Within doors there was Lady Catherine, books, and abilliard-table, but gentlemen cannot always be within doors; andin the nearness of the Parsonage, or the pleasantness of the walkto it, or of the people who lived in it, the two cousins found atemptation from this period of walking thither almost every day.They called at various times of the morning, sometimesseparately, sometimes together, and now and then accompaniedby their aunt. It was plain to them all that Colonel Fitzwilliamcame because he had pleasure in their society, a persuasionwhich of course recommended him still more; and Elizabeth wasreminded by her own satisfaction in being with him, as well as byhis evident admiration of her, of her former favourite GeorgeWickham; and though, in comparing them, she saw there wasless captivating softness in Colonel Fitzwilliam's manners, shebelieved he might have the best informed mind.But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage, it was moredifficult to understand. It could not be for society, as hefrequently sat there ten minutes together without opening hislips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessityrather than of choice-- a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure tohimself. He seldom appeared really animated. Mrs. Collinsknew not what to make of him. Colonel Fitzwilliam'soccasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he wasgenerally different, which her own knowledge of him could nothave told her; and as she would liked to have believed thischange the effect of love, and the object of that love her friendEliza, she set herself seriously to work to find it out. Shewatched him whenever they were at Rosings, and whenever hecame to Hunsford; but without much success. He certainlylooked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that lookwas disputable. It was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but she oftendoubted whether there were much admiration in it, andsometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.She had once or twice suggested to Elizabeth the possibility ofhis being partial to her, but Elizabeth always laughed at the idea;and Mrs. Collins did not think it right to press the subject, fromthe danger of raising expectations which might only end indisappointment; for in her opinion it admitted not of a doubt,that all her friend's dislike would vanish, if she could supposehim to be in her power.In her kind schemes for Elizabeth, she sometimes planned hermarrying colonel Fitzwilliam. He was beyond comparison themost pleasant man; he certainly admired her, and his situation inlife was most eligible; but, to counterbalance these advantages,Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage in the church, and hiscousin could have none at all.