Volume I - Chapter VIII

CHAPTER VIII

At five o'clock the two ladies retired to dress, and at half-past six Edward was summoned to dinner. To the civil inquiries which then poured in, and amongst which he had the pleasure of distinguishing the much superior solicitude of Mr. Bingley's, he 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 Edward to the enjoyment of all his former dislike.

Their brother, indeed, was the only one of the party whom he could regard with any complacency. Mr. Bingley's anxiety for Jane was evident, and his attentions to himself most pleasing, and they prevented his feeling himself so much an intruder as he believed he was considered by the others. He had very little notice from any but Mr. Bingley. Miss Bingley was engrossed by Mr. Darcy, her sister scarcely less so; and as for Mr. Hurst, by whom Edward sat, he was an indolent man, who lived only to eat, drink, and play at cards; who, when he found Edward to prefer a plain dish to a ragout, had nothing to say to him.

When dinner was over, he returned directly to Jane, and Miss Bingley began abusing him as soon as he was out of the room. His manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed, a mixture of pride and impertinence; he had no conversation, no style; he was not handsome. Mrs. Hurst thought the same, and added,

'He has nothing, in short, to recommend him, but being an excellent walker. I shall never forget his appearance this morning. He really looked almost wild.'

'He did, indeed, Louisa. I could hardly keep my countenance. Very nonsensical to come at all! Why must he be scampering about the country, because his sister had a cold? His hair, so untidy!'

'Yes, and his stockings; I hope you saw his stockings, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain.'

'Your picture may be very exact, Louisa,' said Bingley; 'but this was all lost upon me. I thought Mr. Edward Bennet looked remarkably well, when he came into the room this morning. His dirty stockings 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 make such an exhibition for your sister.'

'Certainly not.'

'To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above his ankles in dirt, at such an hour! what could he 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 his sister that is very pleasing,' said Bingley.

'I am afraid, Mr. Darcy,' observed Miss Bingley in a whisper, 'that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of his discerning eye.'

'Not at all,' he replied.—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 indeed such a brother, if such he can be called, I am afraid there is no chance of it. Such low connections!'

'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 the chance of the Miss Bennets of marrying men of any consideration in the world,' replied Darcy; 'and the situation of Mr. Edward Bennet is such that he will never marry to his advantage.'

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 Jane's room on leaving the dining-parlour, and sat with her till summoned to coffee. She was still very poorly, and Edward would not quit her at all, till late in the evening, when he had the comfort of seeing her sleep, and when it seemed to him rather right than pleasant that he should go downstairs himself. On entering the drawing-room he found the whole party at loo, and was immediately invited to join them; but suspecting them to be playing high he declined it, and making his sister the excuse, said he would amuse himself for the short time he could stay below with a book. Mr. Hurst looked at him with astonishment.

'Do you prefer reading to cards?' said he; 'that is rather singular.'

'Mr. Edward Bennet, I take it,' said Miss Bingley, 'despises cards. He is a great reader, and has no pleasure in anything else.'

'I deserve neither such praise nor such censure,' cried Edward; '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.'

Edward thanked him from his heart, and then walked towards the table where a few books were lying. His host immediately offered to fetch him others; all that his library afforded.

'And I wish my collection were larger for your benefit and my own credit; but I am an idle fellow, and though I have not many, I have more than I ever look into.'

Edward assured him that he could suit himself perfectly with those in the room.

'I am astonished,' said Miss Bingley, 'that my father should have left so small a collection of books.—What a delightful library you have at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy!'

'It ought to be good,' he replied, 'it has been the work of many generations.'

'And then you have added so much to it yourself, you are always buying books.'

'I cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library in such days as these.'

'Neglect! I am sure you neglect nothing that can add to the beauties of that noble place. Charles, when you build your house, I wish it may be half as delightful as Pemberley.'

'I wish it may.'

'But I would really advise you to make your purchase in that neighbourhood, and take Pemberley for a kind of model. There is not a finer county in England than Derbyshire.'

'With all my heart; I will buy Pemberley itself if Darcy will sell it.'

'I am talking of possibilities, Charles.'

'Upon my word, Caroline, I should think it more possible to get Pemberley by purchase than by imitation.'

Edward was so much caught with what passed, as to leave him very little attention for his book; and soon laying it wholly aside, he drew near the card-table, and stationed himself between Mr. Bingley and his eldest sister, to observe the game.

'Is Miss Darcy much grown since the spring?' said Miss Bingley; 'will she be as tall as I am?'

'I think she will. She is now about Miss Bennet's height, or rather taller.'

'How I long to see her again! I never met with anybody who delighted me so much.' And glancing at Edward, 'Such a countenance, such manners! and so extremely accomplished for her age! Her performance on the piano-forte is exquisite.'

'It is amazing to me,' said Bingley, 'how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished, as they all are.'

'All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?'

'Yes, all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover skreens and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.'

'Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,' said Darcy, 'has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a skreen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.'

'Nor I, I am sure,' said Miss Bingley.

'Then,' observed Edward, 'you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of accomplishment.'

Mr. Darcy's eyes were instantly fixed upon him. 'Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it.'

'Oh! certainly,' cried his faithful assistant, 'no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.'

'All this she must possess,' added Darcy, 'and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.'

'I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women,' replied Edward. 'I rather wonder now at your knowing any.'

'Are you so severe upon the fair sex, as to doubt the possibility of all this?'

'I never saw such a woman. I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance, as you describe, united.'

Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley both cried out against the injustice of his implied doubt, and were both protesting that they knew many women who answered this description, when Mr. Hurst called them to order, with bitter complaints of their inattention to what was going forward. As all conversation was thereby at an end, Edward soon afterwards left the room.

'Edward Bennet,' said Miss Bingley, when the door was closed on him, 'is one of those young men who seek to recommend themselves to their sex, by undervaluing the other; and with many men, I dare say, it succeeds. But, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art.'

'Undoubtedly,' replied Darcy, to whom this remark was chiefly addressed, 'there is a meanness in all the arts which ladies and gentlemen alike condescend to employ for approval. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.'

Miss Bingley was not so entirely satisfied with this reply as to continue the subject.

Edward joined them again only to say that his sister was worse, and that he could not leave her. Bingley urged Mr. Jones's being sent for immediately; while his sisters, convinced that no country advice could be of any service, recommended an express to town for one of the most eminent physicians. This, Edward would not hear of; but he was not so unwilling to comply with their brother's proposal; and it was settled that Mr. Jones should be sent for early in the morning, if Miss Bennet were not decidedly better. Bingley was quite uncomfortable; his sisters declared that they were miserable. They solaced their wretchedness, however, by duets after supper, while he could find no better relief to his feelings than by giving his housekeeper directions that every attention might be paid to the sick lady and her brother.