At five o'clock the two ladies retired to dress,and at half-past six Elizabeth was summoned to dinner.To the civil inquiries which then poured in,and amongst which she had the pleasure of distinguishing the much superior solicitude of Mr. Bingley's, she could not make a very favourable answer. Jane was by no means better.The sisters,on hearing this,repeated three or four times how much they were grieved,how shocking it was to have a bad cold,and how excessively they disliked being ill themselves;and then thought no more of the matter:and their indifference towards Jane when not immediately before them restored Elizabeth to the enjoyment of all her former dislike.
Their brother,indeed,was the only one of the party whom she could regard with any complacency.His anxiety for Jane was evident, and his attentions to herself most pleasing, and they prevented her feeling herself so much an intruder as she believed she was considered by the others.She had very little notice from any but him.Miss Bingley was engrossed by Mr.Darcy,her sister scarcely less so;and as for Mr.Hurst,by whom Elizabeth sat,he was an indolent man,who lived only to eat,drink,and play at cards;who,when he found her to prefer a plain dish to a ragout,had nothing to say to her.
When dinner was over,she returned directly to Jane,and Miss Bingley began abusing her as soon as she was out of the room. Her manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed,a mixture of pride and impertinence;she had no conversation,no style,no beauty.Mrs.Hurst thought the same,and added:
“She has nothing, in short, to recommend her, but being an excellent walker.I shall never forget her appearance this morning. She really looked almost wild.”
“She did,indeed,Louisa.I could hardly keep my countenance. Very nonsensical to come at all!Why must she be scampering about the country, because her sister had a cold? Her hair, so untidy,so blowsy!”
“Yes,and her petticoat;I hope you saw her petticoat,six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain; and the gown which had been let down to hide it not doing its office.”
“Your picture may be very exact,Louisa,”said Bingley;“but this was all lost upon me. I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet looked remarkably well when she came into the room this morning.Her dirty petticoat quite escaped my notice.”
“You observed it,Mr.Darcy,I am sure,”said Miss Bingley;“and I am inclined to think that you would not wish to see your sister make such an exhibition.”
“Certainly not.”
“To walk three miles,or four miles,or five miles,or whatever it is,above her ankles in dirt,and alone,quite alone!What could she mean by it?It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence,a most country-town indifference to decorum.”
“It shows an affection for her sister that is very pleasing,”said Bingley.
“I am afraid,Mr.Darcy,”observed Miss Bingley in a half whisper,“that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes.”
“Not at all,”he replied;“they were brightened by the exercise.”A short pause followed this speech,and Mrs.Hurst began again:“I have an excessive regard for Miss Jane Bennet,she is really a very sweet girl,and I wish with all my heart she were well settled.But with such a father and mother,and such low connections,I am afraid there is no chance of it.”
“I think I have heard you say that their uncle is an attorney in Meryton.”
“Yes; and they have another, who lives somewhere near Cheapside.”
“That is capital,”added her sister,and they both laughed heartily.
“If they had uncles enough to fill all Cheapside,”cried Bingley,“it would not make them one jot less agreeable.”
“But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world,”replied Darcy.
To this speech Bingley made no answer;but his sisters gave it their hearty assent,and indulged their mirth for some time at the expense of their dear friend's vulgar relations.
With a renewal of tenderness, however, they returned to her room on leaving the dining-parlour, and sat with her till summoned to coffee. She was still very poorly, and Elizabeth would not quit her at all, till late in the evening, when she had the comfort of seeing her sleep,and when it seemed to her rather right than pleasant that she should go downstairs herself. On entering the drawing-room,she found the whole party at loo,and was immediately invited to join them;but suspecting them to be playing high she declined it,and making her sister the excuse,said she would amuse herself for the short time she could stay below, with a book.Mr.Hurst looked at her with astonishment.
“Do you prefer reading to cards?”said he;“that is rather singular.”
“Miss Eliza Bennet,”said Miss Bingley,“despises cards.She is a great reader,and has no pleasure in anything else.”
“I deserve neither such praise nor such censure,”cried Elizabeth;“I am not a great reader,and I have pleasure in many things.”
“In nursing your sister I am sure you have pleasure,”said Bingley;“and I hope it will be soon increased by seeing her quite well.”
Elizabeth thanked him from her heart,and then walked towards the table where a few books were lying.He immediately offered to fetch her others—all that his library afforded.
