Chapter 61

The day on which Mrs. Bennet married off her two finest daughters at once was the happiest day her mother's heart had ever known. One may imagine with what joy and what pride she went afterward to call on Mrs. Bingley and to talk of Mrs. Darcy. Her deep wish to see several of her daughters settled had been granted, and so it would have been a happy thing for her family if she could be said to have become, for the rest of her life, a woman of good sense, kind manners, and wide knowledge. But she still suffered from her nerves now and then, and she was foolish always. Perhaps that was lucky for her husband, who might not have enjoyed such a rare form of family happiness.

Mr. Bennet missed his second daughter very much. Because of his love for her, he left home more often than he ever had before. He enjoyed going to Pemberley. He liked best of all to arrive without warning, when nobody expected him.

Mr. Bingley and Jane stayed at Netherfield only a year. To live so near her mother and her Meryton relations was not a thing that Bingley's mild nature or Jane's affectionate heart could wish for. Then the dearest wish of his two sisters was granted as well. Bingley bought an estate in a county next to Derbyshire. Jane and Elizabeth, on top of every other happiness, now lived within thirty miles of each other.

Kitty spent much the greater part of her time with her two elder sisters, and it did her a great deal of good. Among people far better than any she had known before, she became a very different girl. She was not, as Lydia was, a girl who could not manage her own temper at all. Once she was taken away from Lydia's example, and was given proper care and guidance, she grew less easily annoyed, less ignorant, and less dull. She was of course carefully kept from the other harm that Lydia's company would have done her. Mrs. Wickham often asked her to come and stay, dangling balls and young men before her. But her father would never allow it.

Mary was the only daughter who remained at home. Mrs. Bennet could not bear at all to sit by herself. So Mary was pulled away, whether she wished it or not, from the work of improving her mind and her talents. She was obliged to spend more time among other people. Still, she could go on drawing moral lessons for the visitors who came each morning. And she no longer had to feel ashamed at comparing her own looks with her sisters' beauty. So her father suspected that she took to this change without much unwillingness.

Wickham and Lydia were not changed in the least by the marriages of her sisters. Wickham endured, like a philosopher, the knowledge that Elizabeth must now learn every part of his ingratitude and his lies, even what had not been known before. Even so, he did not wholly give up the hope that Darcy might yet be talked into setting him up with a fortune of his own. If Wickham himself did not hold such a hope, his wife did, at the least. The letter that Lydia sent to congratulate Elizabeth on her marriage showed what was in their minds. The letter was as follows.

"My dear Lizzy,

"Congratulations on your marriage. Even if you only love Mr. Darcy half as much as I love my dear Wickham, you will be very happy. It is a great relief to me that you are going to be so rich. I hope you will think of us when you have nothing else to do. Wickham would be delighted to get a post at court. I do not think we will have enough money to live on by ourselves unless somebody helps us. Any post would be fine, as long as it pays about three or four hundred pounds a year. Still, if you would rather not, you do not have to say anything to Mr. Darcy about it.

"With love."

Elizabeth was far more inclined not to bring the matter up at all. So in her answer she tried to put an end to every such request and every such expectation. But she often sent them whatever she could manage by saving out of her own spending money. It was plain enough that money spent by two people who loved luxury and gave no thought to the future would leave their income always far too small to live on. Every time they moved to new quarters, a request for a little help in paying their bills was sure to come to Jane or to Elizabeth. Even after peace came and they were able to leave the army and set up a home of their own, their way of living was very unsettled. They kept moving from one place to another in search of somewhere cheap, and they always spent more than they should. The love that Wickham had felt for his wife soon cooled into indifference. Lydia's love held out a little longer. Young as she was, and behaving as she did, she still kept the good name that her marriage had given her. Darcy would never receive Wickham at Pemberley. But for Elizabeth's sake he continued to help him in his work. When Wickham went off to London or Bath to amuse himself, Lydia came to Pemberley now and then. The two of them stayed at the Bingleys' house both often and too long. Even Bingley's good nature reached its limit at last. He went so far as to speak of the idea of dropping a word to suggest that it was time for them to leave.

Miss Bingley felt great shame at Darcy's marriage. But she thought it wise to keep her right of visiting Pemberley. So she put away all her anger. She was fonder of Georgiana than before, and she showed Darcy nearly as much care as she had shown him in the past. She also paid Elizabeth every civility that she had failed to pay her before.

Pemberley was now Georgiana's home. The affection between the two sisters was exactly what Darcy had hoped for. They were able to love each other as much as they wished. Georgiana thought more highly of Elizabeth than of anyone else in the world. But at first, hearing Elizabeth speak to her brother in a lively, teasing way, she felt a surprise that was almost fear. Her brother had always been a person who filled her with awe. Even her love for him could not put that feeling down. And now this same brother was openly made the subject of a joke. Georgiana learned what she had never known before. From Elizabeth she learned that a wife may behave toward her husband with complete freedom. It was a freedom that a brother would never allow to a sister more than ten years younger than himself.

Lady Catherine was deeply offended by her nephew's marriage. In answering the letter that told her of the engagement, she showed her natural frankness to the full. Above all, she sent words that insulted Elizabeth very severely. For a time this put an end to all dealings between them. But at last, at Elizabeth's persuasion, Darcy overlooked the insult and tried to make peace. His aunt held out a little longer, and then she laid her anger down. Whether it was from love of her nephew, or from a wish to see how his wife carried herself, no one could tell. In spite of such a mistress who now lived there, and in spite of the uncle and aunt in trade from London who came and made the woods of Pemberley dirty, Lady Catherine graciously came to Pemberley in person.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy were always on the very closest terms with the Gardiners. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, truly loved them. Toward the two who had brought Elizabeth into Derbyshire and so had joined them together, they both always felt the most heartfelt thanks.