Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange (bts books to read .txt) 📗

sex, when a pair of fine eyes was

all that was needed to bestow true happiness. It is a happiness I have never felt when listening to a woman sing

or play the piano, and I doubt if I ever will.

‘Are you so severe upon your own sex, as to doubt the

possibility of all this?’ asked Caroline.

‘I never saw such a woman,’ Miss Bennet replied. ‘I

never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and

elegance, as you describe, united.’

I began to wonder if I had ever seen it myself.

Caroline and Louisa rose to the challenge, declaring

they knew many women who answered this description.

Miss Bennet bent her head, but not in acknowledgement

of defeat. She did it so that they would not see the smile

that was widening about her mouth.

It was only when I saw her smile that I realized they

were contradicting their own earlier professions, when they

had said that few such women existed.They were now saying that such women were commonplace. As I watched

Miss Bennet’s smile spread to her eyes, I thought I had

never liked her better, nor enjoyed a discussion more.

Mr Hurst called his wife and her sister to order, drawing their attention back to the game, and Miss Bennet

returned to her sister’s sick room.

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I realized that there is a strong bond of affection

between her and her sister. I could not help thinking that

Caroline and Louisa would not have been so eager to

wait upon each other, if one of them had been ill; though

they, too, are sisters, there seems to be very little affection

between them. It is a pity. The affection of my sister is

one of the greatest joys of my life.

‘Eliza Bennet,’ said Caroline, when Miss Bennet had

left the room, ‘is one of those young ladies who seek to

recommend themselves to the other sex, by undervaluing their own; and with many men, I dare say, it succeeds.

But, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art.’

‘Undoubtedly, there is a meanness in all the arts which

ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation.

Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.’

She retired from the lists, and retreated into her game.

I returned to my room at last, feeling dissatisfied with

the day. My usual peace of mind had deserted me. I

found myself thinking, not of what I was going to do

tomorrow, but of Elizabeth Bennet.

Thursday 14th November

I have had a timely reminder of the folly of being carried

away by a pair of fine eyes. Elizabeth sent a note to her

mother this morning, requesting her to come and make

her own judgement on Miss Bennet’s state of health.

After sitting a little while with her sick daughter, Mrs

Bennet and her two younger daughters, who had accompanied her, accepted an invitation to join the rest of the

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party in the breakfast parlour.

‘I hope Miss Bennet is not worse than you expected,’

said Bingley.

He has been upset by the whole business, and nothing would comfort him but a constant string of instructions to the housekeeper, with the intention of increasing

Miss Bennet’s comfort.

‘Indeed I have, sir,’ said Mrs Bennet.‘She is a great deal

too ill to be moved. Mr Jones says we must not think of

moving her. We must trespass a little longer on your

kindness.’

‘Removed!’ cried Bingley.‘It must not be thought of.’

Caroline did not seem pleased with his remark. I think

the presence of an invalid in the house is beginning to

irk her. She has spent very little time with her guest, and

if Elizabeth had not come, her sister would have spent a

very lonely time in a house of strangers.

Caroline replied civilly enough, however, saying that

Miss Bennet would receive every attention.

Mrs Bennet impressed upon us all how ill her daughter was, and then, looking about her, remarked that Bingley had chosen well in renting Netherfield.

‘You will not think of quitting it in a hurry, I hope,

though you have but a short lease,’ she said.

‘Whatever I do is done in a hurry,’ he said.

This led to a discussion of character, whereupon Elizabeth confessed herself to be a student of it.

‘The country can in general supply but few subjects

for such a study,’ I said.

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‘But people themselves alter so much that there is

something new to be observed in them for ever,’ she

returned.

Talking to Elizabeth is like talking to no one else. It is

not a commonplace activity; rather it is a stimulating

exercise for the mind.

‘Yes, indeed,’ said Mrs Bennet, startling us all. ‘I assure

you there is quite as much of that going on in the country as in the town. I cannot see that London has any great

advantage over the country for my part, except the shops

and public places.The country is a vast deal pleasanter, is

it not, Mr Bingley?’

Bingley, as easy-going as ever, said that he was equally

happy in either.

‘That is because you have the right disposition. But

that gentleman,’ she said, looking at me,‘seemed to think

the country was nothing at all.’

Elizabeth had the goodness to blush, and tell her

mother she was quite mistaken, but I was forcibly

reminded of the fact that no amount of blushes, however

pleasing, can overcome the disadvantage of such a

mother.

Mrs Bennet grew worse and worse, praising Sir

William Lucas’s manners, and making veiled references to

‘persons who find themselves very important and never

open their mouths’ by which, I suppose, she meant me.

Worse was to come. The youngest girl stepped forward and begged Bingley for a ball. He is so goodhumoured that he readily agreed, after which Mrs

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Bennet and her two youngest daughters departed. Elizabeth returned to her sister’s sick room.

Caroline was merciless once she had left.

‘They dine with four-and-twenty families!’ she said.‘I

don’t know how I stopped myself from laughing! And

the poor woman thinks that is a varied society.’

‘I