Chapter 24

Miss Bingley's letter arrived, and it ended all doubt. From the very first sentence, it made clear that they had all settled in London for the winter. The letter ended by saying her brother was sorry he had not had time to visit his friends in Hertfordshire before leaving the area.

Hope was gone. Completely gone. When Jane finally found the courage to read the rest of the letter, there was little comfort in it except the writer's own words of affection. Most of the letter praised Miss Darcy. It listed her many charms all over again, at great length. Caroline happily boasted that she and Miss Darcy were growing closer every day. She even dared to predict that the wish she had mentioned in her last letter would come true. She wrote with great delight that her brother was now staying at Mr. Darcy's house. She also mentioned, in a tone full of excitement, some of Mr. Darcy's plans for new furniture.

Jane soon told Elizabeth the main point of all this. Elizabeth listened in silence, holding back her anger. She worried about her sister, and at the same time she felt angry at everyone else. She did not believe Caroline's claim that her brother had feelings for Miss Darcy. She still did not doubt, even a little, that he had truly liked Jane. Elizabeth always wanted to like Bingley. But she felt angry when she thought of his easygoing nature and his lack of resolve — how it let his sly friends turn him into their puppet, and left his happiness at the mercy of their whims. In fact, she could hardly help feeling something close to contempt. If only Bingley's own happiness had been at stake, she might have let them play with him as they liked. But her sister's happiness was at stake too. Bingley himself must surely have known this. It was a problem that would give her much to think about, though thinking about it would do no good at all. Elizabeth could think of nothing else. Had Bingley's affection truly cooled? Had it been crushed by his friends' interference? Had he known Jane's feelings, or had he never noticed them at all? Her opinion of him would change greatly depending on the answer. But either way, her sister's situation was the same, and her peace of mind was just as badly hurt.

It took Jane a day or two to find the courage to speak her mind to Elizabeth. Finally, one day, Mrs. Bennet went on longer than usual, complaining about Netherfield and its owner. When she left the two sisters alone, Jane could not hold back any longer and spoke.

"Oh, if only Mother could hold back a little more! She talks about him without stopping and does not seem to know how much it hurts me. Still, I will not complain. It will not last long. I will forget him, and we will all go back to how things were before."

Elizabeth looked at her sister with worried, disbelieving eyes. But she said nothing.

"You don't believe me," said Jane, blushing slightly. "There really is no reason not to. I may remember him as the kindest man I have ever known, but that is all. Now I have nothing to hope for and nothing to fear. I have no reason to blame him either. I thank God I am at least spared that pain. So after a little more time, I am sure I will try hard to get over…"

Jane soon added, in a stronger voice, "There is something that comforts me right away. This was only a mistake in my own imagination, and it has harmed no one but me."

"My dear Jane," Elizabeth cried. "You are too good. Your kindness and your selfless heart are truly like an angel's. I don't know what to say. I don't think I have ever truly appreciated you until now. I don't think I have loved you as much as you deserve."

Miss Bennet quickly denied that she had any special virtue. Instead, she said the praise came only from her sister's warm affection.

"No," said Elizabeth. "That is not fair. You want to think well of everyone in the world. It upsets you when I speak badly of someone. I only want to think well of you, and yet you try to stop even that. Don't worry that I will go too far. And don't worry that I will take away your gift for thinking kindly of everyone. There is no danger of that. There are very few people I truly love. There are even fewer I think well of. The more I see of the world, the less I like it. Every day I become more certain how contradictory people's characters are, and how little you can trust the virtue or good sense they show on the outside. I have seen two examples of this quite recently. I won't speak of one of them. The other is Charlotte's marriage. I simply cannot explain it! No matter how I look at it, it makes no sense!"

"My dear Lizzy, don't fall into thoughts like that. It will ruin your own happiness. You are not thinking enough about how different people's situations and characters can be. Think of how respected Mr. Collins is, and how sensible and calm Charlotte's nature is. Remember too that Charlotte has many brothers and sisters. And in terms of money, there could hardly be a better match for her. For all our sakes, please be willing to believe that Charlotte might feel some real liking and respect for her cousin."

"For your sake, I will try to believe almost anything. But believing this would not do anyone else any good. If I let myself believe that Charlotte has any real liking for that man, right now I would only think worse of her feelings. But then I would also think much worse of her judgment. My dear Jane, Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous man. He is narrow-minded and foolish. You know that as well as I do. And you must feel, just as I do, that a woman who marries a man like that cannot be thinking clearly. Don't defend her just because she is Charlotte Lucas. Don't change the meaning of words like principle and honesty for the sake of one person. And don't try to make yourself or me believe that selfishness is prudence, or that being blind to danger is the same as being sure of happiness."

Jane answered, "That is far too harsh a way to speak of them both. I hope that once you see them living happily together, you will understand. But let's not talk about this anymore. You hinted at something else too — you said there were two things. I can hardly not know what you mean. But my dear Lizzy, please don't hurt me by saying he did something wrong, or by thinking less of him. We shouldn't so easily believe that someone meant to hurt us on purpose. We shouldn't expect a lively young man to always be careful and prudent. It is often only our own vanity that deceives us. Women tend to think there is more meaning in a man's attentions than there really is."

"And men make sure women think that way."

"If it's done on purpose, there is no excuse for it. But I don't believe there is as much deliberate scheming in the world as people think."

"I am not saying that Mr. Bingley's behavior was scheming in any way," said Elizabeth. "But wrong can be done, and unhappiness can be caused, without anyone trying to do wrong or plotting to make someone unhappy. Thoughtlessness, a lack of consideration for others' feelings, and a lack of resolve are enough by themselves."

"And do you think he has one of those faults?"

"Yes, the last one. But if I go on, my opinion of people you respect will upset you. Let me stop while I still can."

"So you still think he is influenced by his sisters?"

"Yes. Along with his friend as well."

"I can't believe that. Why would they want to influence him? They must only wish him to be happy. And if he loves me, he could not be happy with any other woman."

"Your first idea is already wrong. They can wish for many things besides their brother's happiness. They might wish for greater wealth and standing. They might wish for him to marry a young lady with money, a fine family, and all the position that pride can bring."

Jane answered, "It is true that they want him to choose Miss Darcy. But perhaps their reasons are kinder than you think. They have known her much longer than they've known me, so it's no wonder they love her more. But whatever they wish for, it is very unlikely that they would go against their brother's own wishes. Unless there were some really serious fault, what sister would think she had the right to do that? If they believed he loved me, they would not try to separate us. And if they did try, they could not have succeeded. If I believe he loved me like that, then it means everyone acted in an unnatural and wrong way, and I would be more unhappy than ever. Please don't torment me with such thoughts. I am not ashamed of having been mistaken — or if I am, that shame is light and means nothing compared to what I would feel if I thought badly of him or his sisters. Let me think of it in the best possible way — in the way that can still be understood kindly."

Elizabeth could not go against such a wish. From then on, Mr. Bingley's name was hardly ever mentioned between the two sisters.

Mrs. Bennet still found it strange that he did not come back, and she complained about it. Hardly a day went by when Elizabeth did not explain the reason to her clearly. Still, it did not seem likely that Mrs. Bennet would ever find it less strange. Her daughter tried to convince her with a story she did not believe herself — that Mr. Bingley's attention to Jane had only been an ordinary, passing liking, and that it had faded once they stopped seeing each other. When Mrs. Bennet heard this, she thought it seemed reasonable enough at the time. But she needed to be told the same story again every day. Mrs. Bennet's greatest comfort was the thought that Mr. Bingley would surely come back again in the summer.

Mr. Bennet handled the matter differently. One day he said, "So, Lizzy, it seems your sister has been disappointed in love. Congratulate her for me. Next to getting married, a young lady's favorite thing is to be disappointed in love now and then. It gives her something to think about, and it makes her feel rather special among her friends. When will it be your turn? You can hardly bear to be left so far behind Jane. Now is your chance. There are enough officers in Meryton to disappoint every young lady in the neighborhood. Take Wickham as your man. He's a pleasant fellow, and he would abandon you handsomely enough to save your pride."

"Thank you, Father. But I would be satisfied with a less pleasant man than that. We cannot all expect to be as lucky as Jane."

"True," said Mr. Bennet. "But however such a thing happens to you, it is a comfort to know you have a loving mother who will make the very most of it."

Spending time with Mr. Wickham did a good deal to lift the gloom that recent troubles had cast over several members of the Longbourn family. They saw him often. In addition to his earlier good qualities, he now had the added merit of hiding nothing at all. Everything Elizabeth had already heard — his claim against Mr. Darcy, and the suffering it had caused him — was now openly admitted and talked about freely among people. Everyone was pleased to find that they had disliked Mr. Darcy so much even before they knew the full story.

Miss Bennet was the only one who thought that there might be circumstances unknown to the people of Hertfordshire that could make Mr. Darcy's fault somewhat less serious. With her gentle and unfailingly fair nature, she always argued that there might be room for excuse. She suggested that some misunderstanding might be involved. But everyone else condemned Mr. Darcy as the worst of men.