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Chapter XXVII · Pride and Prejudice | Audiobook

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  Speaker 1: Chapter 27 With no greater events than these in the
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  Speaker 1: Longbourn family, and otherwise diversified by little beyond the walks
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  Speaker 1: to Meryton, sometimes dirty and sometimes cold, did January and
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  Speaker 1: February pass away. March was to take Elizabeth to Hunsford.
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  Speaker 1: She had not at first thought very seriously of going thither,
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  Speaker 1: but Charlotte she soon found, was depending on the plan,
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  Speaker 1: and she gradually learned to consider it herself with greater
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  Speaker 1: pleasure as well as greater certainty. Absence had increased her
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  Speaker 1: desire of seeing Charlotte again, and weakened her disgust of
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  Speaker 1: Mr Collins. There was novelty in the scheme, and as,
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  Speaker 1: with such a mother and such uncompanionable sisters, home could
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  Speaker 1: not be faultless. a little change was not unwelcome for
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  Speaker 1: its own sake. The journey would, moreover, give her a
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  Speaker 1: peep at Jane, and in short, as the time drew near,
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  Speaker 1: she would have been very sorry for any delay. Everything, however,
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  Speaker 1: went on smoothly, and was finally settled according to Charlotte's
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  Speaker 1: first sketch. She was to accompany Sir William and his
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  Speaker 1: second daughter. The improvement of spending a night in London
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  Speaker 1: was added in time, and the plan became as perfect
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  Speaker 1: as plan could be. The only pain was in leaving
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  Speaker 1: her father, who would certainly miss her, and who, when
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  Speaker 1: it came to the point, so little liked her going,
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  Speaker 1: that he told her to write to him, and almost
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  Speaker 1: promised to answer her letter. The farewell between herself and
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  Speaker 1: Mr Wickham was perfectly friendly, on his side even more.
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  Speaker 1: His present pursuit could not make him forget that Elizabeth
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  Speaker 1: had been the first to excite and to deserve his attention,
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  Speaker 1: the first to listen and to pity, the first to
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  Speaker 1: be admired. And in his manner of bidding her adieu,
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  Speaker 1: wishing her every enjoyment, reminding her of what she was
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  Speaker 1: to expect in Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and trusting their
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  Speaker 1: opinion of her. Their opinion of everybody would always coincide.
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  Speaker 1: There was a solicitude, an interest, which she felt must
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  Speaker 1: ever attach her to him with a most sincere regard.
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  Speaker 1: And she parted from him convinced that, whether married or single,
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  Speaker 1: he must always be her model of the amiable and pleasing.
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  Speaker 1: Her fellow travellers the next day were not of a
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  Speaker 1: kind to make her think him less agreeable. Sir William
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  Speaker 1: Lucas and his daughter Maria, a good-humoured girl but as
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  Speaker 1: empty-headed as himself, had nothing to say that could be
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  Speaker 1: worth hearing, and were listened to with about as much
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  Speaker 1: delight as the rattle of the chaise. Elizabeth loved absurdities,
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  Speaker 1: but she had known Sir William's too long. He could
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  Speaker 1: tell her nothing new of the wonders of his presentation
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  Speaker 1: and knighthood, and his civilities were worn out like his information.
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  Speaker 1: It was a journey of only twenty-four miles, and they
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  Speaker 1: began it so early as to be in Gracechurch Street
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  Speaker 1: by noon. As they drove to Mr Gardiner's door, Jane
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  Speaker 1: was at a drawing-room window watching their arrival. When they
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  Speaker 1: entered the passage... She was there to welcome them, and Elizabeth,
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  Speaker 1: looking earnestly in her face, was pleased to see it
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  Speaker 1: healthful and lovely as ever. On the stairs were a
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  Speaker 1: troop of little boys and girls, whose eagerness for their
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  Speaker 1: cousin's appearance would not allow them to wait in the drawing-room,
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  Speaker 1: and whose shyness, as they had not seen her for
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  Speaker 1: a twelve-month, prevented their coming lower. All was joy and kindness.
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  Speaker 1: The day passed most pleasantly away, the morning in bustle
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  Speaker 1: and shopping, and the evening at one of the theatres.
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  Speaker 1: Elizabeth then contrived to sit by her aunt. Their first
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  Speaker 1: subject was her sister, and she was more grieved than
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  Speaker 1: astonished to hear, in reply to her minute inquiries, that
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  Speaker 1: though Jane always struggled to support her spirits... there were
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  Speaker 1: periods of dejection. It was reasonable, however, to hope that
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  Speaker 1: they would not continue long. Mrs Gardner gave her the
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  Speaker 1: particulars also of Miss Bingley's visit in Gracechurch Street, and
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  Speaker 1: repeated conversations occurring at different times between Jane and herself,
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  Speaker 1: which proved that the former had, from her heart, given
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  Speaker 1: up the acquaintance. Mrs Gardner then rallied her niece on
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  Speaker 1: Wickham's desertion and complimented her on bearing it so well.
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  Speaker 1: But my dear Elizabeth, she added, what sort of girl
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  Speaker 1: is Miss King? I should be sorry to think our
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  Speaker 1: friend mercenary. Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference
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  Speaker 1: in matrimonial affairs between the mercenary and the prudent motive?
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  Speaker 1: Where does discretion end and avarice begin? Last Christmas, you
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  Speaker 1: were afraid of his marrying me, because it would be imprudent.
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  Speaker 1: And now, because he is trying to get a girl
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  Speaker 1: with only ten thousand pounds, you want to find out
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  Speaker 1: that he is mercenary. If you will only tell me
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  Speaker 1: what sort of girl Miss King is, I shall know
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  Speaker 1: what to think. She is a very good kind of girl,
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  Speaker 1: I believe. I know no harm of her. but he
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  Speaker 1: paid her not the smallest attention, till her grandfather's death
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  Speaker 1: made her mistress of this fortune? No, why should he?
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  Speaker 1: If it were not allowable for him to gain my affections,
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  Speaker 1: because I had no money, what occasion could there be
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  Speaker 1: for making love to a girl whom he did not
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  Speaker 1: care about, and who was equally poor? But there seems...
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  Speaker 1: in delicacy in directing his attentions towards her so soon
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  Speaker 1: after this event. A man in distressed circumstances has not
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  Speaker 1: time for all those elegant decorums which other people may observe.
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  Speaker 1: If she does not object to it, why should we?
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  Speaker 1: Her not objecting does not justify him. It only shows
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  Speaker 1: her being deficient in something herself, sense or feeling. Well,
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  Speaker 1: cried Elizabeth, Have it as you choose. He shall be
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  Speaker 1: mercenary and she shall be foolish. No, Lizzie, that is
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  Speaker 1: what I do not choose. I should be sorry, you know,
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  Speaker 1: to think ill of a young man who has lived
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  Speaker 1: so long in Derbyshire. Oh, if that is all, I
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  Speaker 1: have a very poor opinion of young men who live
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  Speaker 1: in Derbyshire, and their intimate friends who live in Hertfordshire
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  Speaker 1: are not much better. I am sick of them all.
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  Speaker 1: Thank heaven. I am going tomorrow where I shall find
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  Speaker 1: a man who has not one agreeable quality, who has
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  Speaker 1: neither manners nor sense to recommend him. Stupid men are
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  Speaker 1: the only ones worth knowing, after all. Take care, Lizzie.
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  Speaker 1: That speech savours strongly of disappointment. Before they were separated
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  Speaker 1: by the conclusion of the play, she had the unexpected
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  Speaker 1: happiness of of an invitation to accompany her uncle and
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  Speaker 1: aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking
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  Speaker 1: in the summer. We have not quite determined how far
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  Speaker 1: it shall carry us, said Mrs Gardner, but perhaps to
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  Speaker 1: the lakes. No scheme could have been more agreeable to Elizabeth,
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  Speaker 1: and her acceptance of the invitation was most ready and grateful.
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  Speaker 1: My dear, dear aunt, she rapturously cried, What delight! What felicity!
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  Speaker 1: You give me fresh life and vigour. Adieu to disappointment
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  Speaker 1: and spleen. What are men to rocks and mountains? Oh,
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  Speaker 1: what hours of transport we shall spend. And when we
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  Speaker 1: do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without
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  Speaker 1: being able to give one accurate idea of anything. We
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  Speaker 1: will know where we have gone. We will recollect what
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  Speaker 1: we have seen. Lakes, mountains and rivers shall not be
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  Speaker 1: jumbled together in our imaginations, nor, when we attempt to
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  Speaker 1: describe any particular scene, will we begin quarrelling about its
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  Speaker 1: relative situation. Let our first effusions be less insupportable than
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  Speaker 1: those of the generality of travellers.