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Chapter IX · Pride and Prejudice | Audiobook

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  Speaker 1: Chapter 9 Elizabeth passed the chief of the night in
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  Speaker 1: her sister's room, and in the morning had the pleasure
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  Speaker 1: of being able to send a tolerable answer to the
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  Speaker 1: inquiries which she very early received from Mr. Bingley by
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  Speaker 1: a housemaid, and some time afterwards from the two elegant
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  Speaker 1: ladies who waited on his sisters. In spite of this amendment, however,
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  Speaker 1: She requested to have a note sent to Longbourn, desiring
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  Speaker 1: her mother to visit Jane and form her own judgement
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  Speaker 1: of her situation. The note was immediately dispatched and its
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  Speaker 1: contents as quickly complied with. Mrs Bennet, accompanied by her
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  Speaker 1: two youngest girls, reached Netherfield soon after the family breakfast.
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  Speaker 1: Had she found Jane in any apparent danger... Mrs Bennet
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  Speaker 1: would have been very miserable. But being satisfied on seeing
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  Speaker 1: her that her illness was not alarming, she had no
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  Speaker 1: wish of her recovering immediately, as her restoration to health
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  Speaker 1: would probably remove her from Netherfield. She would not listen, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: to her daughter's proposal of being carried home. Neither did
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  Speaker 1: the apothecary, who arrived about the same time think it
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  Speaker 1: at all advisable. After sitting a little while with Jane,
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  Speaker 1: on Miss Bingley's appearance and invitation, the mother and three
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  Speaker 1: daughters all attended her into the breakfast parlour. Bingley met
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  Speaker 1: them with hopes that Mrs Bennet had not found Miss
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  Speaker 1: Bennet worse than she expected.' Indeed I have, sir,' was
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  Speaker 1: her answer.' She is a great deal too ill to
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  Speaker 1: be moved.' Mr. Jones says we must not think of
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  Speaker 1: moving her. We must trespass a little longer on your kindness. Removed,
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  Speaker 1: cried Bingley. It must not be thought of. My sister,
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  Speaker 1: I am sure, will not hear of her removal. You
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  Speaker 1: may depend upon it, madam, said Miss Bingley, with cold civility,
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  Speaker 1: that Miss Bennet shall receive every possible attention while she
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  Speaker 1: remains with us. Mrs. Bennet was profuse in her acknowledgements.
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  Speaker 1: I am sure, she added, if it was not for
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  Speaker 1: such good friends, I do not know what would become
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  Speaker 1: of her, for she is very ill indeed, and suffers
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  Speaker 1: a vast deal, though with the greatest patience in the world,
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  Speaker 1: which is always the way with her. For she has,
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  Speaker 1: without exception, the sweetest temper I ever met with, I
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  Speaker 1: often tell my other girls they are nothing to her.
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  Speaker 1: You have a sweet room here, Mr Bingley, and a
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  Speaker 1: charming prospect over that gravel walk. I do not know
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  Speaker 1: a place in the country that is equal to Netherfield.
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  Speaker 1: You will not think of quitting it in a hurry,
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  Speaker 1: I hope, though you have but a short lease. Whatever
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  Speaker 1: I do is done in a hurry, replied he. and
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  Speaker 1: therefore if I should resolve to quit Netherfield, I should
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  Speaker 1: probably be off in five minutes. At present, however, I
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  Speaker 1: consider myself as quite fixed here. That is exactly what
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  Speaker 1: I should have supposed of you, said Elizabeth. You begin
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  Speaker 1: to comprehend me, do you? cried he, turning towards her.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yes, I understand you perfectly. I wish I might
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  Speaker 1: take this for a compliment. but to be so easily
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  Speaker 1: seen through, I am afraid, is pitiful. That is as
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  Speaker 1: it happens. It does not necessarily follow that a deep,
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  Speaker 1: intricate character is more or less estimable than such a
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  Speaker 1: one as yours. Lizzie, cried her mother, remember where you
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  Speaker 1: are and do not run on in the wild manner
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  Speaker 1: that you are suffered to do at home. I did
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  Speaker 1: not know before, continued Bingley, immediately. that you were a
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  Speaker 1: studier of character. It must be an amusing study. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at
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  Speaker 1: least that advantage. The country, said Darcy, can in general
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  Speaker 1: supply but few subjects for such a study. In a
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  Speaker 1: country neighbourhood, you move in a very confined and unvarying society.
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  Speaker 1: But people themselves alter so much. that there is something
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  Speaker 1: new to be observed in them forever. Yes, indeed, cried Mrs. Bennet,
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  Speaker 1: offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood. I
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  Speaker 1: assure you, there is quite as much of that going
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  Speaker 1: on in the country as in town. Everybody was surprised,
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  Speaker 1: and Darcy, after looking at her for a moment, turned
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  Speaker 1: silently away. Mrs. Bennet... who fancied she had gained a
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  Speaker 1: complete victory over him, continued her triumph. I cannot see
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  Speaker 1: that London has any great advantage over the country, for
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  Speaker 1: my part, except the shops and public places. The country
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  Speaker 1: is a vast deal pleasanter, is not it, Mr Bingley?
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  Speaker 1: When I am in the country, he replied, I never
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  Speaker 1: wish to leave it, and when I am in town
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  Speaker 1: it is pretty much the same. They have each their advantages,
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  Speaker 1: and I can be equally happy in either. Aye, that
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  Speaker 1: is because you have the right disposition. But that gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: looking at Darcy, seemed to think the country was nothing
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  Speaker 1: at all. Indeed, Mama, you are mistaken, said Elizabeth, blushing
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  Speaker 1: for her mother. You quite mistook Mr. Darcy. He only
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  Speaker 1: meant that there was not such a variety of people
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  Speaker 1: to be met with in the country as in town,
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  Speaker 1: which you must acknowledge to be true. Certainly, my dear,
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  Speaker 1: nobody said there were, but as to not meeting with
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  Speaker 1: many people in this neighbourhood, I believe there are few
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  Speaker 1: neighbourhoods larger. I know we dine with four-and-twenty families. Nothing
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  Speaker 1: but concern for Elizabeth could enable Bingley to keep his countenance.
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  Speaker 1: His sister was less delicate and directed her eye towards
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  Speaker 1: Mr Darcy with a very expressive smile. Elizabeth, for the
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  Speaker 1: sake of saying something that might turn her mother's thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: now asked her if Charlotte Lucas had been at Longbourn
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  Speaker 1: since her coming away. Yes, she called yesterday with her father.
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  Speaker 1: What an agreeable man Sir William is, Mr Bingley. Is
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  Speaker 1: not he? So much the man of fashion. So genteel
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  Speaker 1: and so easy. He has always something to say to everybody.
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  Speaker 1: That is my idea of good breeding. And those persons
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  Speaker 1: who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths
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  Speaker 1: quite mistake the matter. Did Charlotte dine with you? No. No.
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  Speaker 1: She would go home. I fancy she was wanted about
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  Speaker 1: the mince pies. For my part, Mr. Bingley, I always
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  Speaker 1: keep servants that can do their own work. My daughters
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  Speaker 1: are brought up differently. But everybody is to judge for themselves.
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  Speaker 1: And the Lucases are a very good sort of girls,
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  Speaker 1: I assure you. It is a pity they are not handsome.
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  Speaker 1: Not that I think Charlotte so very plain. But then...
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  Speaker 1: She is our particular friend. She seems a very pleasant
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  Speaker 1: young woman, said Bingley. Oh dear, yes, but you must
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  Speaker 1: own she is very plain. Lady Lucas herself has often
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  Speaker 1: said so, and envied me Jane's beauty. I do not
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  Speaker 1: like to boast of my own child, but to be sure, Jane,
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  Speaker 1: one does not often see anybody better looking. It is
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  Speaker 1: what everybody says. I do not trust my own partiality.
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  Speaker 1: When she was only fifteen, there was a gentleman at
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  Speaker 1: my brother Gardner's in town so much in love with
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  Speaker 1: her that my sister-in-law was sure he would make her
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  Speaker 1: an offer before we came away. But, however, he did not.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps he thought her too young. However, he wrote some
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  Speaker 1: verses on her, and very pretty they were. And so
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  Speaker 1: ended his affection, said Elizabeth impatiently. There has been many
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  Speaker 1: a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I
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  Speaker 1: wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving
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  Speaker 1: away love. I have been used to consider poetry as
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  Speaker 1: the food of love, said Darcy. Of a fine, stout,
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  Speaker 1: healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already.
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  Speaker 1: But if it be only a slight, thin sort of
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  Speaker 1: inclination— I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve
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  Speaker 1: it entirely away. Darcy only smiled, and the general pause
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  Speaker 1: which ensued made Elizabeth tremble, lest her mother should be
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  Speaker 1: exposing herself again. She longed to speak, but could think
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  Speaker 1: of nothing to say. and after a short silence, Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Bennet began repeating her thanks to Mr. Bingley for his
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  Speaker 1: kindness to Jane, with an apology for troubling him also
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  Speaker 1: with Lizzie. Mr. Bingley was unaffectedly civil in his answer,
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  Speaker 1: and forced his younger sister to be civil also, and
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  Speaker 1: say what the occasion required. She performed her part, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: without much graciousness, but Mrs. Bennet was satisfied, and soon
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  Speaker 1: afterwards ordered her carriage. Upon this signal, the youngest of
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  Speaker 1: her daughters put herself forward. The two girls had been
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  Speaker 1: whispering to each other during the whole visit, and the
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  Speaker 1: result of it was that the youngest should tax Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Bingley with having promised on his first coming into the
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  Speaker 1: country to give a ball at Netherfield. Lydia was a stout,
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  Speaker 1: well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured countenance,
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  Speaker 1: a favourite with her mother, whose affection had brought her
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  Speaker 1: into public at an early age. She had high animal spirits,
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  Speaker 1: and a sort of natural self-consequence which the attentions of
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  Speaker 1: the officers to whom her uncle's good dinners and her
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  Speaker 1: own easy manners recommended her, had increased into assurance. She
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  Speaker 1: was very equal, therefore, to address Mr Bingley on the
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  Speaker 1: subject of the ball, and abruptly reminded him of his promise,
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  Speaker 1: adding that it would be the most shameful thing in
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  Speaker 1: the world if he did not keep it. His answer
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  Speaker 1: to this sudden attack was delightful to her mother's ear.
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  Speaker 1: I am perfectly ready, I assure you, to keep my engagement.
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  Speaker 1: And when your sister is recovered, you shall, if you please,
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  Speaker 1: name the very day of the ball. But you would
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  Speaker 1: not wish to be dancing while she is ill. Lydia
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  Speaker 1: declared herself satisfied. Oh yes, it would be much better
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  Speaker 1: to wait till Jane was well, and by that time,
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  Speaker 1: most likely, Captain Carter would be at Meryton again. And
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  Speaker 1: when you have given your ball, she added, I shall
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  Speaker 1: insist on their giving one also. I shall tell Colonel
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  Speaker 1: Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not. Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Bennet and her daughters then departed, and Elizabeth returned instantly
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  Speaker 1: to Jane, leaving her own and her relations' behaviour to
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  Speaker 1: the remarks of the two ladies and Mr. Darcy, the
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  Speaker 1: latter of whom, however... could not be prevailed on to
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  Speaker 1: join in their censure of her, in spite of all
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  Speaker 1: Miss Bingley's witticisms on fine eyes.