Chapter 41

by Jane Austen

　　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 theyoung ladies in the neighbourhood were drooping apace. Thedejection was almost universal. The elder Miss Bennets alonewere still able to eat, drink, and sleep, and pursue the usualcourse of their employments. Very frequently were theyreproached for this insensibility by Kitty and Lydia, whose ownmisery was extreme, and who could not comprehend suchhard-heartedness in any of the family."Good Heaven! what is to become of us? What are we to do?"would they often exclaiming the bitterness of woe. "How canyou be smiling so, Lizzy?"Their affectionate mother shared all their grief; she rememberedwhat she had herself endured on a similar occasion, five-and-twentyyears ago."I am sure," said she, "I cried for two days together whenColonel Miller's regiment went away. I thought I should havebroken 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 sodisagreeable.""A little sea-bathing would set me up forever.""And my aunt Phillips is sure it would do me a great deal ofgood," added Kitty.Such were the kind of lamentations resounding perpetuallythrough Longbourn House. Elizabeth tried to be diverted bythem; but all sense of pleasure was lost in shame. She felt anewthe justice of Mr. Darcy's objections; and never had she been somuch disposed to pardon his interference in the views of hisfriend.But the gloom of Lydia's prospect was shortly cleared away; forshe received an invitation from Mrs. Forster, the wife of thecolonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton. Thisinvaluable friend was a very young woman, and very latelymarried. A resemblance in good humour and good spirits hadrecommended her and Lydia to each other, and out of theirthree 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 ofKitty, are scarcely to be described. Wholly inattentive to hersister's feelings, Lydia flew about the house in restless ecstasy,calling for every one's congratulations, and laughing and talkingwith more violence than ever; whilst the luckless Kitty continuedin the parlour repined at her fate in terms as unreasonable as heraccent was peevish."I cannot see why Mrs. Forster should not ask me as well asLydia," said she, "Though I am not her particular friend. Ihave just as much right to be asked as she has, and more too, forI am two years older."In vain did Elizabeth attempt to make her reasonable, and Janeto make her resigned. As for Elizabeth herself, this invitationwas so far from exciting in her the same feelings as in her motherand Lydia, that she considered it as the death warrant of allpossibility of common sense for the latter; and detestable as sucha step must make her were it known, she could not help secretlyadvising her father not to let her go. She represented to him allthe improprieties of Lydia's general behaviour, the littleadvantage she could derive from the friendship of such a womanas Mrs. Forster, and the probability of her being yet moreimprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where thetemptations must be greater than at home. He heard herattentively, and then said:"Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in somepublic place or other, and we can never expect her to do it withso little expense or inconvenience to her family as under thepresent circumstances.""If you were aware," said Elizabeth, "of the very greatdisadvantage to us all which must arise from the public notice ofLydia's unguarded and imprudent manner-- nay, which hasalready arisen from it, I am sure you would judge differently inthe affair.""Already arisen?" repeated Mr. Bennet. "What, has shefrightened away some of your lovers? Poor little Lizzy! But donot be cast down. Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to beconnected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret. Come,let me see the list of pitiful fellows who have been kept aloof byLydia's folly.""Indeed you are mistaken. I have no such injuries to resent. It isnot of particular, but of general evils, which I am nowcomplaining. Our importance, our respectability in the worldmust be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdainof all restraint which mark Lydia's character. Excuse me, for Imust speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take thetrouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching herthat her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, shewill soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character willbe fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirtthat ever made herself or her family ridiculous; a flirt, too, in theworst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attractionbeyond youth and a tolerable person; and, from the ignoranceand emptiness of her mind, wholly unable to ward off anyportion of that universal contempt which her rage for admirationwill excite. In this danger Kitty also is comprehended. She willfollow wherever Lydia leads. Vain, ignorant, idle, andabsolutely uncontrolled! Oh! my dear father, can you suppose itpossible that they will not be censured and despised whereverthey are known, and that their sisters will not be often involvedin the disgrace?"Mr. Bennet saw that her whole heart was in the subject, andaffectionately taking her hand said in reply:"Do not make yourself uneasy, my love. Wherever you and Janeare known you must be respected and valued; and you will notappear to less advantage for having a couple of-- or I may say,three-- very silly sisters. We shall have no peace at Longbourn ifLydia does not go to Brighton. Let her go, then. ColonelForster is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any realmischief; and she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey toanybody. At Brighton she will be of less importance even as acommon flirt than she has been here. The officers will findwomen better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, thather being there may teach her her own insignificance. At anyrate, she cannot grow many degrees worse, without authorisingus to lock her up for the rest of her life."With this answer Elizabeth was forced to be content; but herown opinion continued the same, and she left him disappointedand sorry. It was not in her nature, however, to increase hervexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of havingperformed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils, oraugment them by anxiety, was no part of her disposition.Had Lydia and her mother known the substance of herconference with her father, their indignation would hardly havefound expression in their united volubility. In Lydia'simagination, a visit to Brighton comprised ever possibility ofearthly happiness. She saw, with the creative eye of fancy, thestreets of that gay bathing-place covered with officers. She sawherself the object to tens and to scores of them at presentunknown. She saw all the glories of the camp-- its tentsstretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded withthe young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and, tocomplete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent,tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once.Had she known her sister sought to tear her from such prospectsand such realities as these, what would have been hersensations? They could have been understood only by hermother, who might have felt nearly the same. Lydia's going toBrighton was all that consoled her for her melancholy convictionof her husband's never intending to go there himself.But they were entirely ignorant of what had passed; and theirraptures continued, with little intermission, to the very day ofLydia'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 formal partialityentirely so. She had even learnt to detect, in the very gentlenesswhich had first delighted her, an affectation and a sameness todisgust and weary. In his present behaviour to herself,moreover, she had a fresh source of displeasure, for theinclination he soon testified of renewing those intentions whichhad marked the early part of their acquaintance could only serve,after what had since passed, to provoke her. She lost all concernfor him in finding herself thus selected as the object of such idleand frivolous gallantry; and while she steadily repressed it, couldnot but feel the reproof contained in his believing, that howeverlong, and for whatever cause, his attentions had been withdrawn,her vanity would be gratified, and her preference secured at anytime by their renewal.On the very last day of the regiment's remaining at Meryton, hedined, with other of the officers, at Longbourn; and so little wasElizabeth disposed to part from him in good humour, that on hismaking some inquiry as to the manner in which her time hadpassed at Hunsford, she mentioned Colonel Fitzwilliam's andMr. Darcy's having both spent three weeks at Rosings, andasked him, if he was acquainted with the former.He looked surprised displeased, alarmed; but with a moment'srecollection and a returning smile, replied, that he had formerlyseen him often; and, after observing that he was a verygentlemanlike man, asked her how she had liked him. Heranswer was warmly in his favour. With an air of indifference hesoon afterwards added:"How long did you say 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 uponacquaintance.""Indeed!" cried Mr. Wickham with a look which did not escapeher. "And pray, may I ask?-- " But checking himself, he added,in a gayer tone, "Is it in address that he improves? Has hedeigned to add aught of civility to his ordinary style?-- for I darenot hope," he continued in a lower and more serious tone, "thathe is improved in essentials.""Oh, no!" said Elizabeth. "In essentials, I believe, he is verymuch what he ever was."While she spoke, Wickham looked as if scarcely knowingwhether to rejoice over her words, or to distrust their meaning.There was a something in her countenance which made himlisten with an apprehensive and anxious attention, while sheadded:"When I said that he improved on acquaintance, I did not meanthat his mind or his manners were in a state of improvement, butthat, from knowing him better, his disposition was betterunderstood."Wickham's alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion andagitated look; for a few minuted he was silent, till, shaking offhis embarrassment, he turned to her again, and said in thegentlest of accents:"You, who so well know my feeling towards Mr. Darcy, willreadily comprehend how sincerely I must rejoice that he is wiseenough 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 only deter him from such foulmisconduct as I have suffered by. I only fear that the sort ofcautiousness to which you, I imagine, have been alluding, ismerely adopted on his visits to his aunt, of whose good opinionand judgement he stands much in awe. His fear of her hasalways operated, I know, when they were together; and a gooddeal is to be imputed to his wish of forwarding the match withMiss de Bourgh, which I am certain he has very much at heart."Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered onlyby a slight inclination of the head. She saw that he wanted toengage her on the old subject of his grievances, and she was inno humour to indulge him. The rest of the evening passed withthe appearance, on his side, of usual cheerfulness, but withno further attempt to distinguish Elizabeth; and they parted atlast with mutual civility, and possibly a mutual desire of nevermeeting again.When the party broke up, Lydia returned with Mrs. Forster toMeryton, from whence they were to set out early the nextmorning. The separation between her and her family was rathernoisy than pathetic. Kitty was the only one who shed tears; butshe did weep from vexation and envy. Mrs. Bennet was diffusein her good wishes for the felicity of her daughter, andimpressive in her injunctions that she should not miss theopportunity of enjoying herself as much as possible-- advicewhich there was every reason to believe would be well attendedto; and in the clamorous happiness of Lydia herself in biddingfarewell, the more gentle adieux of her sisters were utteredwithout being heard.