Volume II, Chapter IX

CHAPTER IX

Edward was sitting by himself the next morning, and writing to Jane, while Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and Maria were gone on business into the village, when he was startled by a ring at the door, the certain signal of a visitor. As he had heard no carriage, he thought it not unlikely to be Lady Catherine, and under that apprehension was putting away his half-finished letter that he might escape all impertinent questions, when the door opened, and to his very great surprise, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy only, entered the room.

The gentleman seemed astonished too on finding Edward alone, and apologised for his intrusion, by letting him know that he had understood all to be within.

They then sat down, and when Edward's inquiries after Rosings were made, seemed in danger of sinking into total silence. It was absolutely necessary, therefore, to think of something, and in this emergence recollecting when he had seen Mr. Darcy last in Hertfordshire, and feeling curious to know what he would say on the subject of their hasty departure, he observed,

'How very suddenly you all quitted Netherfield last November, Mr. Darcy! It must have been a most agreeable surprise to Mr. Bingley to see you all after him so soon; for, if I recollect right, he went but the day before. He and his sisters were well, I hope, when you left London?'

'Perfectly so—I thank you.'

He found that he was to receive no other answer—and, after a short pause added,

'I think I have understood that Mr. Bingley has not much idea of ever returning to Netherfield again?'

'I have never heard him say so; but it is probable that he may spend very little of his time there in future. He has many friends, and is at a time of life when friends and engagements are continually increasing.'

'If he means to be but little at Netherfield, it would be better for the neighbourhood that he should give up the place entirely, for then we might possibly get a settled family there. But, perhaps, Mr. Bingley did not take the house so much for the convenience of the neighbourhood as for his own, and we must expect him to keep or quit it on the same principle.'

'I should not be surprised,' said Darcy, 'if he were to give it up, as soon as any eligible purchase offers.'

Edward made no answer. He was afraid of talking longer of Mr. Bingley; and, having nothing else to say, was now determined to leave the trouble of finding a subject to his visitor.

Darcy took the hint, and soon began with, 'This seems a very comfortable house. Lady Catherine, I believe, did almost as much to it as she did to the Parsonage when Mr. Collins first came to Hunsford.'

'I believe she did—and I am sure she could not have bestowed her kindness on a more grateful object.'

'Mrs. Lucas appears very fortunate in the husband she has secured.'

'Yes, indeed; her friends may well rejoice in her having met with one of the very few sensible men who would have accepted her, or have made her happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding—though I am not certain that I consider his marrying my cousin as the wisest thing he ever did. He seems perfectly happy, however, and in a prudential light, it is certainly a very good match for him.'

'It must be very agreeable for him to be settled within so easy a distance of his own family and friends.'

'An easy distance, do you call it? It is nearly fifty miles.'

'And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day's journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance.'

'I should never have considered the distance as one of the advantages of the match,' cried Edward. 'I should never have said Charles was settled near his family.'

'It is a proof of your own attachment to Hertfordshire. Any thing beyond the very neighbourhood of Longbourn, I suppose, would appear far.'

As he spoke there was a sort of smile which Edward fancied he understood; Mr. Darcy must be supposing him to be thinking of Jane and Netherfield, and he blushed as he answered,

'I do not mean to say that a person may not be settled too near their family. The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many varying circumstances. Where there is fortune to make the expence of travelling unimportant, distance becomes no evil. But that is not the case here. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have a comfortable income, but until Charles completes his studies and has the title of Doctor bestowed upon him, not such a one as will allow of frequent journeys—and I am persuaded my friend would not call himself near his family under less than half the present distance.'

Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards Edward, and said, 'You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You cannot have been always at Longbourn.'

Edward looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some change of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper from the table, and, glancing over it, said, in a colder voice,

'Are you pleased with Kent?'

A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued, on either side calm and concise—and soon put an end to by the entrance of Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and Maria, just returned from their walk. The tête a tête surprised them. Mr. Darcy related the mistake which had occasioned his intruding on Mr. Bennet, and after sitting a few minutes longer without saying much to any body, went away.

'What can be the meaning of this!' said Charles, as soon as they were alone. 'My dear Edward he must be in love with you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way.'

But when Edward told of his silence, it did not seem very likely, even to Charles's wishes, to be the case; and after various conjectures, they could at last only suppose his visit to proceed from the difficulty of finding any thing to do, which was the more probable from the time of year. All field sports were over. Within doors there was Lady Catherine, books, and a billiard table, but gentlemen cannot be always within doors; and in the nearness of Hunsford, or the pleasantness of the walk to it, or of the people who lived there, the two cousins found a temptation from this period of walking thither almost every day. They called at various times of the morning, sometimes separately, sometimes together, and now and then accompanied by their aunt. It was plain to them all that Colonel Fitzwilliam came because he had pleasure in their society, a persuasion which of course recommended him still more; and Edward was reminded by his evident admiration of Maria of his former favourite George Wickham; and though, in comparing them, he saw there was less captivating softness in Colonel Fitzwilliam's manners, he believed he might have the best informed mind.

But why Mr. Darcy came so often to them, it was more difficult to understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice—a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself. He seldom appeared really animated. Mr. Lucas knew not what to make of him. Colonel Fitzwilliam's occasionally laughing at his cousin's stupidity, proved that he was generally different, which his own knowledge of him could not have told him; and as he would liked to have believed this change the effect of love, and the object of that love, his friend Edward, he set himself seriously to work to find it out.—He watched Darcy whenever they were at Rosings, and whenever he came to Hunsford; but without much success. He certainly looked at Edward a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. It was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but he often doubted whether there were much admiration in it, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.

He had once or twice suggested to Edward the possibility of the gentleman's being partial to him, but Edward always laughed at the idea; and Mr. Lucas did not think it right to press the subject, from the danger of raising expectations which might only end in disappointment; for in his opinion it admitted not of a doubt, that all his friend's dislike would vanish, if he could suppose Mr. Darcy to be in his power.

In his kind schemes for Edward, he would rather have seen his friend with Colonel Fitzwilliam. He was beyond comparison the pleasantest man; he certainly admired him, and his situation in life was most eligible; but the fact that his true admiration lay with Maria, made this impossible; and to counterbalance his advantages, Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage in the church, and his cousin could have none at all.