Chapter 21

By this time, the story of Mr. Collins's proposal was almost over. All that was left for Elizabeth was the uncomfortable feeling it had caused, and the need to bear her mother's occasional sharp words. As for Mr. Collins himself, he was not embarrassed, nor low in spirits, nor did he avoid her. He showed his feelings only through a stiff manner and a resentful silence. He hardly spoke to Elizabeth at all. The attention he believed he had shown her so carefully was now turned, for the rest of the day, toward Miss Lucas. Her polite willingness to listen to him was a comfort to everyone — especially to her friend Elizabeth.

The next day brought no improvement to Mrs. Bennet's bad temper or poor health. Mr. Collins still nursed his wounded pride. Elizabeth had hoped his anger might shorten his visit, but his original plan did not seem to change at all. He had meant to leave on Saturday, and he still meant to stay until Saturday.

After breakfast, the sisters walked to Meryton. They wanted to find out whether Mr. Wickham had returned, and to share their disappointment that he had missed the Netherfield ball. As soon as they entered the town, Mr. Wickham joined them. He walked with them all the way to their aunt's house. There he spoke of his own disappointment and displeasure, and heard enough concern from everyone in return. But to Elizabeth, Wickham admitted that staying away from the ball had really been his own choice.

He said, "As the time drew closer, I decided it would be better not to meet Mr. Darcy. Being in the same room, at the same party, for so many hours might have been more than I could bear. And it might have caused an awkward scene, not only for me but for others too."

Elizabeth praised his self-control warmly. As Wickham and another officer walked with them all the way to Longbourn, the two of them talked about it at length. They also found time to pay each other a good many polite compliments. Wickham paid close attention to Elizabeth the whole way. His company pleased her for two reasons. She was very glad of the kindness he showed her. And she was just as glad of the chance it gave her to introduce him to her parents.

Not long after they returned, a letter arrived for Miss Bennet. It came from Netherfield. Jane opened it at once. Inside was a small sheet of fine, pressed paper, covered edge to edge with a lady's neat and elegant handwriting. Elizabeth watched her sister's face change as she read. At a few places, her eyes lingered a long time. Jane soon collected herself. She put the letter away and tried, as usual, to join the conversation with a cheerful face. But Elizabeth was too worried about the letter to give even Wickham her full attention. When he and his friend said goodbye, Jane signaled with her eyes for Elizabeth to follow her upstairs. Once they were alone in their room, Jane took out the letter and said, "It is from Caroline Bingley. What it says is very surprising. By now, the whole party has probably left Netherfield and is on the way to London. They do not mean to come back at all. Listen to what she says."

Jane read the first sentence aloud. It said that they had just decided to follow their brother straight to London, and that they meant to dine that evening at Mr. Hurst's house on Grosvenor Street. The next sentence went like this. "My dear friend, I will not even pretend that among all I leave behind in Hertfordshire, I will miss anything but your company. But I do hope that someday we may enjoy again, many times over, the pleasant hours we have shared. Until then, we can ease the pain of parting by writing to each other very often, and by holding nothing back. I trust you will do just that." Elizabeth could not believe such fine words, and listened to them without much feeling. She was surprised that they were leaving so suddenly. But it was nothing to be truly sad about. Just because the party was gone from Netherfield did not mean Mr. Bingley could not come there too. Elizabeth felt sure that Jane's disappointment at losing their company would soon be forgotten in the pleasure of Mr. Bingley's company.

After a moment, Elizabeth said, "It is a pity we could not see your friends before they left the area. But the happiness Miss Bingley hopes for later might come sooner than she thinks. Then the pleasant friendship you enjoyed with her could continue, even more happily, as sisters. They cannot keep Mr. Bingley in London forever."

"Caroline says clearly that none of them will come back to Hertfordshire this winter. I will read it to you.

"When my brother left us yesterday, he thought his business in London could be finished in three or four days. But we are sure it cannot. We are also sure that once Charles reaches London, he will not be in any hurry to leave again. So we have decided to follow him there, so that he will not have to spend his free time alone at a dreary hotel. Many of my acquaintances are already in London for the winter. I wish I could hear that my dear friend meant to join them too, but I have given up that hope. I sincerely hope that Christmas in Hertfordshire brings you all the pleasures of the season, and that you have so many gentlemen admirers that you will not miss the three of us at all.

"You can see from this," Jane added, "that he is not coming back this winter."

"All it shows is that Miss Bingley does not want him to come back."

"Why do you say that? Her brother must have decided it for himself. He is free to make up his own mind. But you do not know everything yet. I will read you the part that hurts me most. I will not hide anything from you." Then Jane read on. "Mr. Darcy is longing to see his sister, and to tell the truth, we are just as eager to see her again ourselves. I truly do not think anyone can compare with Georgiana Darcy in beauty, grace, and accomplishment. The affection Louisa and I feel for her is made all the warmer by our hope that she may one day be our sister. I am not sure I have ever told you my feelings on this subject before, but I cannot leave the area without confessing them to you. I trust you will not think the hope unreasonable. My brother already admires her very much. Now he will have every chance to see her often and to grow easy and comfortable in her company. Her family wants the match as much as we do. And I do not think I am blinded by a sister's fondness when I say that Charles could win the heart of any woman. With every circumstance in favor of this attachment, and nothing standing in its way, am I wrong, my dear Jane, to hope for something that will make so many people happy?" "What do you think of that, Lizzy?" Jane asked when she had finished reading. "Could anything be clearer? Caroline plainly says she does not expect me, and does not wish me, to become her sister. She is completely convinced that her brother feels nothing for me. And if she suspects what I feel for him, she means, very kindly, to warn me to be careful. Can it be read any other way?"

"Yes, it can be read another way. My opinion is completely different. Would you like to hear it?"

"Gladly."

"It only takes a few words. Miss Bingley knows that her brother loves you. And she wants to see her brother marry Miss Darcy instead. She is following him to London to keep him there, and she wants you to believe he cares nothing for you."

Jane shook her head.

"It is true, Jane. You must believe me. No one who has seen the two of you together could doubt his feelings. And Miss Bingley cannot doubt them either — she is not so foolish. If Mr. Darcy showed her half as much love, she would have already ordered her wedding clothes. Here is what is really happening. In their eyes, we are not rich enough, and not important enough. And more than that, Miss Bingley would rather see her brother win Miss Darcy. She thinks that once one marriage is made between the two families, a second would be easy to arrange. It is a clever enough plan. It might even succeed, if Miss de Bourgh were not in the way. But dear Jane, just because Miss Bingley says her brother admires Miss Darcy greatly, you cannot really believe he thinks any less of your good qualities now than he did when he said goodbye to you on Tuesday. Nor can you believe that Miss Bingley could ever persuade him that he is not in love with you, but deeply in love with his friend."

Jane answered, "If I thought of Miss Bingley the way you do, what you say would set my mind completely at ease. But I know that is not a fair way to think of her. Caroline is not someone who would deceive anyone on purpose. All I can hope for, in this case, is that she herself is simply mistaken."

"Good. If you will not take comfort in what I say, there is no better thought I could offer you. Please believe that she is mistaken. You have done your duty as a friend now, so do not trouble yourself any further."

"But my dear sister, even thinking of it in the best light, how could I be happy marrying a man whose sisters and friends all wish him to marry someone else?"

"That is for you to decide," said Elizabeth. "Think it over carefully. If you decide that going against the wishes of his two sisters would make you more unhappy than being his wife would make you happy, then I say you should refuse him, without question."

"How can you say such a thing?" said Jane, smiling faintly. "You know that if they were against it, it would make me very sad — but I could not hesitate."

"I did not think you would. And since that is so, I cannot feel very sorry for you."

"But if he does not come back this winter, I will never have to choose at all. So many things can happen in six months."

Elizabeth found the idea that Bingley would never come back quite ridiculous. It seemed to her nothing more than Caroline's own wish, slipped into the letter for her own purposes. She did not believe for a moment that such a wish, however openly or however slyly it was expressed, could have any real power over a young man who was free to do as he pleased.

Elizabeth spoke her thoughts on the matter to her sister with real feeling, and she was soon glad to see them take effect. Jane was not a person who gave up hope easily. Her worry over the man she loved sometimes weighed down her spirits. But little by little, she began to hope again that Bingley would return to Netherfield and answer every wish of her heart.

The two sisters agreed to tell Mrs. Bennet only that the party had left, so that she would not worry over Mr. Bingley's behavior. But even hearing only part of it, their mother was greatly troubled. She lamented that it was terribly bad luck for the ladies to leave just when everyone was becoming such good friends. After grieving over it for a while, she comforted herself with the thought that Mr. Bingley would soon come back down and dine at Longbourn. She finished by happily declaring that although he would only be invited to a plain family dinner, she would certainly serve two full courses.