Читать книгу Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin, Jane Austin - Страница 5

Not all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her

five daughters, could ask on the subject, was sufficient to draw

from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley.

They attacked him in various ways—with barefaced questions,

ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the

skill of them all, and they were at last obliged to accept the

second-hand intelligence of their neighbour, Lady Lucas. Her

report was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with

him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely

agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he meant to be at the next

assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To

be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love;

and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley’s heart were entertained.

“If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at

Netherfield,” said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, “and all the

others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.”

In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet’s visit, and sat

about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained

hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose

beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies

were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of

ascertaining from an upper window that he wore a blue coat, and

rode a black horse.

An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and

already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do

credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred

it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day,

and, consequently, unable to accept the honour of their

invitation, etc. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She could

not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his

arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might be

always flying about from one place to another, and never settled

at Netherfield as he ought to be. Lady Lucas quieted her fears a

little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to

get a large party for the ball; and a report soon followed that

Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with

him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a number of

ladies, but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing,

that instead of twelve he brought only six with him from

London—his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered

the assembly room it consisted of only five altogether—Mr.

Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another

young man.

Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant

countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine

women, with an air of decided fashion. His brother-in-law, Mr.

Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon

drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome

features, noble mien, and the report which was in general

circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having

ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine

figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than

Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about

half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned

the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to

be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his

large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most

forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be

compared with his friend.

Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the

principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved,

danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and

talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable

qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him

and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and

once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other

lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the

room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His

character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man

in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there

again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet,

whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into

particular resentment by his having slighted one of her

daughters.

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen,

to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr.

Darcy had been standing near enough for her to hear a

conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance

for a few minutes, to press his friend to join it.

“Come, Darcy,” said he, “I must have you dance. I hate to see you

standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much

better dance.”

“I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am

particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as

this it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and

there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a

punishment to me to stand up with.”

“I would not be so fastidious as you are,” cried Mr. Bingley,

“for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant

girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of

them you see uncommonly pretty.”

“_You_ are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” said

Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

“Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there

is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very

pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner

to introduce you.”

“Which do you mean?” and turning round he looked for a moment at

Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly

said: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt _me_; I

am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies

who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your

partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with

me.”

Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and

Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings toward him. She

told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for

she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in

anything ridiculous.

The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family.

Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the

Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she

had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified

by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way.

Elizabeth felt Jane’s pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned

to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the

neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough

never to be without partners, which was all that they had yet

learnt to care for at a ball. They returned, therefore, in good

spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which

they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet still

up. With a book he was regardless of time; and on the present

occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an

evening which had raised such splendid expectations. He had

rather hoped that his wife’s views on the stranger would be

disappointed; but he soon found out that he had a different story

to hear.

“Oh, my dear Mr. Bennet,” as she entered the room, “we have had a

most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had

been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it.

Everybody said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her

quite beautiful, and danced with her twice! Only think of _that_,

my dear; he actually danced with her twice! and she was the only

creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all,

he asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her!

But, however, he did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody can,

you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going

down the dance. So he enquired who she was, and got introduced,

and asked her for the two next. Then the two third he danced with

Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth

with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the

_Boulanger_—”

“If he had had any compassion for _me_,” cried her husband

impatiently, “he would not have danced half so much! For God’s

sake, say no more of his partners. Oh that he had sprained his

ankle in the first dance!”

“Oh! my dear, I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively

handsome! And his sisters are charming women. I never in my life

saw anything more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace

upon Mrs. Hurst’s gown—”

Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any

description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another

branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of

spirit and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

“But I can assure you,” she added, “that Lizzy does not lose much

by not suiting _his_ fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid

man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that

there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there,

fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance

with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one

of your set-downs. I quite detest the man.”