Chapter 45

Elizabeth was now certain that Miss Bingley's dislike of her came from jealousy, and she could not help thinking of it. How unwelcome her own appearance at Pemberley must have been to that lady. She wondered too how much politeness Miss Bingley would show in taking up the acquaintance again.

When the party reached the house, they were led through the entrance hall into the large drawing room. The room faced north, and so it was a most refreshing place in summer. Through its windows, which reached down to the floor, they saw the high wooded hills behind the house. On the lawn between, beautiful oaks and Spanish chestnut trees stood here and there. The sight alone was enough to lift the heart.

In the room sat Miss Darcy, Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley, and the lady who lived with Georgiana in London. They received the party. Georgiana was very polite, but she looked greatly embarrassed. This came from her shyness and from her fear of doing something wrong. Yet anyone who felt inferior could easily have thought her proud and cold. Mrs. Gardiner and her niece saw her as she truly was. And so they pitied her.

Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley only made a slight greeting. When the party had taken their seats, there followed for a short while the awkward silence that such visits usually bring. The first to speak was Mrs. Annesley, a graceful and pleasing woman. Her very effort to find some subject to begin on showed that she was better bred than either of the other two. The talk was carried on chiefly by Mrs. Annesley and Mrs. Gardiner. Elizabeth added a word now and then. Miss Darcy seemed to wish for courage enough to join the conversation. Sometimes, when there was least danger of being overheard, she ventured a short sentence.

Elizabeth soon noticed something. Miss Bingley was watching her closely. Whenever Elizabeth spoke to Miss Darcy in particular, she seemed unwilling to miss a single word. If Elizabeth had not been seated at an uncomfortable distance from Miss Darcy, that watching would not have stopped her from trying to talk with her. But she was not sorry to be spared the need to say much. Her own thoughts kept her mind busy enough. Elizabeth expected that some of the gentlemen would come into the room before long. She hoped, and she also feared, that the master of the house would be among them. Which of the two feelings was the stronger she could hardly tell herself. She sat in that way for about fifteen minutes without once hearing Miss Bingley's voice. Then she was roused by a cold question from that lady about the health of her family. Elizabeth answered just as briefly and just as coldly, and Miss Bingley said no more.

The next change came when the servants entered with cold meat, cake, and a fine variety of the best fruits of the season. But the food did not appear until Mrs. Annesley had given Miss Darcy many looks and smiles, as if to remind her to play the hostess. Now everyone had something to do. They could not all talk together, but they could all eat. The dishes, with grapes, nectarines, and peaches piled up in beautiful pyramids, soon drew the whole party around the table.

While they ate in this way, Elizabeth had a good chance to learn which way her own feelings leaned about Mr. Darcy's coming in. She would know whether she dreaded his appearance more, or wished for it more. Until a moment before, she had thought the wish was the stronger. But when he came in, she began to be sorry that she had come at all.

Darcy had been with Mr. Gardiner for some time. Mr. Gardiner was fishing at the river with two or three gentlemen from the house. Darcy left him only when he heard that the ladies of the family meant to call on Georgiana that morning. As soon as Darcy appeared, Elizabeth made a very wise decision. She would be as easy and as calm as she possibly could. It was not a decision that was easy to keep. Still, it was a necessary one. The moment he entered the room, almost every eye followed what he did. She could see that the whole party suspected the two of them. A smile rose to the faces even when Darcy spoke to one of the two. But no one showed so sharp a curiosity as Miss Bingley. Jealousy had not yet driven her to despair. Her interest in Mr. Darcy had not cooled in the least. Miss Darcy tried harder to talk once her brother came in. He seemed to wish very much that his sister and Elizabeth should grow closer. Whenever the two of them tried to speak, he helped them as much as he could. Elizabeth saw it. Miss Bingley saw it all as well. Too angry to be careful, she took the first chance to speak in a tone of mocking politeness.

"By the way, Miss Eliza, has the militia not left Meryton? They must be a great loss to your family."

In front of Darcy, Miss Bingley did not dare to say Wickham's name. But Elizabeth soon understood who filled Miss Bingley's mind most. Many memories bound up with Wickham gave her a moment of pain. Still, she used all her strength to beat back the spiteful attack. She soon answered the question in a fairly calm voice. As she spoke, she glanced at Darcy without meaning to. He was looking at her earnestly, and his face was more deeply flushed. His sister was too confused to lift her eyes. If Miss Bingley had known what great pain she was giving her beloved friend at that very moment, she would surely not have spoken so. But all she wished was to unsettle Elizabeth by bringing to her mind a man she believed Elizabeth cared for. She wanted to make Elizabeth betray some tender feeling, and so lower her in Darcy's opinion. Perhaps she also meant to remind Darcy of all the foolish and laughable things that some of Elizabeth's family had done in connection with that regiment. Miss Bingley had never heard one word of the story that Miss Darcy had tried to run away and marry. Among the people who could be trusted with a secret, that matter was known to no one but Elizabeth. Darcy had especially wished to hide it from those close to Bingley. The reason was a wish that Elizabeth had long ago supposed him to hold. It was the wish that Bingley and Georgiana might one day become one family. That Darcy had held such a thought was certain. This does not mean that the plan led him to try to part Bingley from Miss Bennet. It only means that his warm care for his friend's happiness may have been a little increased by it.

But Elizabeth's calm soon quieted Darcy's own agitation as well. Angry and disappointed, Miss Bingley did not dare to come any nearer to the subject of Wickham. Georgiana too recovered herself as time went on. But she was not able to speak again. Her brother, who was afraid to meet his sister's eyes, hardly thought of the fact that Georgiana had a part in this matter. Miss Bingley had tried to turn Darcy's thoughts away from Elizabeth. But that very thing seemed instead to make him think of Elizabeth alone, and with more pleasure than before.

After that question and answer, the visit did not last much longer. While Mr. Darcy led the party out to their carriage, Miss Bingley poured out her feelings by speaking ill of Elizabeth's looks, her behavior, and her dress. Georgiana did not join her. Her brother's good word was enough by itself to give her a liking for Elizabeth. His judgment could not be wrong. More than that, Georgiana had heard the way he described Elizabeth, and she could not see her as anything but a lovely and gentle person. When Darcy came back into the large drawing room, Miss Bingley could not help repeating to him part of what she had said to his sister.

"Mr. Darcy, how ill Eliza Bennet looked this morning," Miss Bingley cried. "I have never in my life seen anyone so much altered since the winter. Her skin has grown so brown and rough! Louisa and I were saying to each other that we would not have known her again."

Mr. Darcy did not like such talk at all. He only answered coldly that he saw no change in her beyond a little brown from the sun, which was nothing strange in a person who had traveled in the summer.

"As for me," Miss Bingley said again. "I must confess that I never in my life thought her beautiful. Her face is too thin, her skin has no glow, and her features are not handsome at all. Her nose has no character of its own, and its line is not clearly drawn. Her teeth are tolerable, but they are only common. The eyes, which are sometimes called so fine, seem to me to have nothing special about them. I really do not like that sharp, fierce look in them. And in her whole manner there is no elegance, only a self-satisfied air that I cannot bear."

Miss Bingley was sure that Darcy cared for Elizabeth, and for her this was no good way to show her own charms. But an angry person is not always a wise one. When she saw him look a little annoyed at last, she believed she had won all the success she wished for. Even so, Darcy kept a firm silence. Determined to make him speak somehow, Miss Bingley went on.

"I remember how surprised we all were when we first knew her in Hertfordshire and heard that she had a name for beauty. I remember one night in particular, after they had dined at Netherfield. I remember your saying, 'She a beauty! I would sooner call her mother a witty woman.' But afterwards you seem to have thought better of her. I believe you once thought her rather pretty."

"Yes," Darcy answered, unable to hold back any longer. "But that was only when I first knew her. For many months since then I have thought her one of the most beautiful women I know."

He went away soon afterwards. Miss Bingley was left with the satisfaction of having forced from him words that hurt no one but herself.

On the way back, Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth talked over everything that had happened during the visit. Everything, that is, except the one thing that each of them cared about most. They spoke of the look and the behavior of every person they had met, and left out the one person who had drawn their eyes most of all. They talked of his sister, of his friends, of his house, and of his fruit. They spoke of everything but himself. And yet Elizabeth wished very much to know what Mrs. Gardiner thought of him. Mrs. Gardiner, for her part, would have been more than glad if her niece had begun the subject.