The Annotated Pride and Prejudice
Page 11
“Yes, indeed” cried Mrs. Bennet, offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood. “I assure you there is quite as much oithat14 going on in the country as in town.”
Every body was surprised; and Darcy, after looking at her for a moment, turned silently away. Mrs. Bennet, who fancied she had gained a complete victory over him, continued her triumph.15
“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 not it, Mr. Bingley?”
“When I am in the country,” he replied, “I never wish to leave it; and when I am in town it is pretty much the same. They have each their advantages, and I can be equally happy in either.”
“Aye—that is because you have the right disposition. But that gentleman,” looking at Darcy, “seemed to think the country was nothing at all.”
“Indeed, Mama, you are mistaken,” said Elizabeth, blushing for her mother. “You quite mistook Mr. Darcy. He only meant that there were not such a variety of people to be met with in the country as in town, which you must acknowledge to be true.”16
“Certainly, my dear, nobody said there were; but as to not meeting with many people in this neighbourhood, I believe there are few neighbourhoods larger. I know we dine with four and twenty families.”17
Nothing but concern for Elizabeth could enable Bingley to keep his countenance. His sister was less delicate, and directed her eye towards Mr. Darcy with a very expressive smile. Elizabeth, for the sake of saying something that might turn18 her mother's thoughts, now asked her if Charlotte Lucas had been at Longbourn since her coming away.
“Yes, she called yesterday with her father. What an agreeable man Sir William is, Mr. Bingley —is not he? so much the man of fashion! so genteel and so easy!19 —He has always something to say to every body.—That is my idea of good breeding;20 and those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths, quite mistake the matter.”
“Did Charlotte dine with you?”
“No, she would go home. I fancy she was wanted about the mince pies. For my part, Mr. Bingley, I always keep servants that can do their own work; my daughters are brought up differently.21 But every body is to judge for themselves, and the Lucases are very good sort of girls, I assure you. It is a pity they are not handsome! Not that I think Charlotte so very plain —but then she is our particular friend.”
“She seems a very pleasant young woman,” said Bingley.
“Oh! dear, yes; —but you must own22 she is very plain. Lady Lucas herself has often said so, and envied me Jane's beauty. I do not like to boast of my own child, but to be sure, Jane —one does not often see any body better looking. It is what every body says.23 I do not trust my own partiality. When she was only fifteen, there was a gentleman at my brother Gardiner's in town, so much in love with her, that my sister-in-law was sure he would make her an offer before we came away.24 But however he did not. Perhaps he thought her too young. However, he wrote some verses on her, and very pretty they were.”25
“And so ended his affection,” said Elizabeth impatiently. “There has been many a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!”
“I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love,”26 said Darcy.
“Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Every thing nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.”
Darcy only smiled; and the general pause which ensued made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself27 again. She longed to speak, but could think of nothing to say; and after a short silence Mrs. Bennet began repeating her thanks to Mr. Bingley for his kindness to Jane, with an apology for troubling him also with Lizzy. Mr. Bingley was unaffectedly civil in his answer, and forced his younger sister to be civil also, and say what the occasion required. She performed her part indeed without much graciousness, but Mrs. Bennet was satisfied, and soon afterwards ordered her carriage. Upon this signal, the youngest of her daughters put herself forward. The two girls had been whispering to each other during the whole visit, and the result of it was, that the youngest should tax28 Mr. Bingley with having promised on his first coming into the country to give a ball at Netherfield.
Lydia was a stout,29 well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured countenance; a favourite with her mother, whose affection had brought her into public at an early age. She had high animal spirits,30 and a sort of natural31 self-consequence,32 which the attentions of the officers, to whom her uncle's good dinners and her own easy manners recommended her, had increased into assurance.33 She was very equal therefore to address Mr. Bingley on the subject of the ball, and abruptly reminded him of his promise; adding, that it would be the most shameful thing in the world if he did not keep it.34 His answer to this sudden attack was delightful to their mother's ear.35
“I am perfectly ready, I assure you, to keep my engagement; and when your sister is recovered, you shall if you please name the very day of the ball. But you would not wish to be dancing while she is ill.”
Lydia declared herself satisfied. “Oh! yes —it would be much better to wait till Jane was well, and by that time most likely Captain Carter would be at Meryton again. And when you have given your ball,” she added, “I shall insist on their giving one also. I shall tell Colonel Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not.”
Mrs. Bennet and her daughters then departed, and Elizabeth returned instantly to Jane, leaving her own and her relations' behaviour to the remarks of the two ladies and Mr. Darcy; the latter of whom, however, could not be prevailed on to join in their censure of fter,36 in spite of all Miss Bingley's witticisms on fine eyes.
1. chief: greater part.
2. elegant ladies: these would most likely be the two sisters' personal lady's maids. Their main function was to help dress and groom their mistresses (most likely they were performing that function before they came to Elizabeth, which is why they are much later than the maid sent by Mr. Bingley—one can see the priorities of Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst). Calling them ladies is a courtesy, since no servant could, socially speaking, be considered a true lady. Lady's maids, who often received special training in such tasks as dressing hair, were the highest ranking and frequently the most educated and refined of all female servants, so “ladies” could be intended to imply the relative refinement of the two in employ here.
3. amendment: improvement in health.
4. The universal belief that Jane must remain stems both from fear of the potential danger of any illness and from specific worries about the harmful effects of carriage rides, for such rides, due to the rough nature of roads then, could be a trying ordeal. Jane Austen's mother was made very ill once by the hardships of a coach journey.
5. breakfast parlour: this room was often used as a morning sitting room as well as a place to eat breakfast, which is already over.
6. As the person keeping house for her brother, Miss Bingley would be considered to have a crucial say in such matters.
7. Miss Bingley is clearly far less enthusiastic about Jane's staying, though she still knows to maintain the outward forms of politeness.
8. charming prospect: charming view, particularly of the landscape outside. Having such a view was considered an essential element of fine houses, which were often sited so as to give them the best possible view of their surroundings.
9. A significant expression of overconfidence in her own intellect, and her ability to judge on the basis of initial impressions. In fact, Elizabeth will later find, to her great vexation, that on a critical point she has guessed very wrongly about Bingley.
10. suffered: allowed. Mrs. Bennet's words suggest a parental difference on this point, for she has already indicated that she thinks her husband is too inclined to favor Elizabeth.
11. One of the ways
in which Elizabeth is clearly close to her creator, whose novels attest to her powerful interest in studying character; Jane Austen would have had innumerable opportunities to do so on social occasions exactly like this one.
12. amusing: interesting.
13. This statement probably expresses some of Jane Austen's own feelings, for she was able to develop her extraordinary insights into human character despite having lived most of her life in the country, and often among a limited number of acquaintances.
14. that: this presumably refers to people's altering, though in fact Mrs. Ben-net does not seem to have a clear idea what she means, except that she dislikes Darcy and his comment.
15. What Mrs. Bennet does not appreciate is that Darcy's turning away in silence reflects his contempt for her, and was often considered to be the way a true gentleman should react to someone who was impertinent or ridiculous. His action bears affinity to the attitude of the heroine of Sense and Sensibility, who, when confronted by a man expressing idiotic opinions, disdains to reply, not thinking that “he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.” Darcy's paying Elizabeth such a compliment, by debating her on important matters, is one sign of his genuine regard for her.
16. An indication that, despite Mrs. Bennet's earlier denunciation of Elizabeth's outspokenness, it is the latter who has the true sense of what should and should not be said.
17. four and twenty families: this would presumably refer to whoever might appear at the same dinner or social event, not to intimate acquaintances. If so it represents a far smaller number than what could be claimed by those, like the inhabitants of Netherfield, who reside in London and circulate in fashionable society. Furthermore, anyone secure of their position would not need to boast about their number of social acquaintances. All this is why Mrs. Bennet's statement seems so risible to the others.
18. turn: divert (from the current subject).
19. easy: easy to get along with. Easiness was often considered the opposite of formality, so Mrs. Bennet probably intends to contrast Sir William with the formal and stiff Darcy.
20. good breeding: politeness.
21. Mrs. Bennet, trying to promote Jane's prospects with Bingley and denigrate any possible rivals, brings up Charlotte Lucas's need to help out in the kitchen. It was a sign of gentility if the daughters in the family did not have anything to do with cooking or housework, as Mrs. Bennet says is the case in her family. Jane Austen herself, living in a household of relatively modest means, had to assist a little in the kitchen, though her tasks consisted of keeping track of the stores rather than of actual cooking. It is possible that Charlotte's kitchen duties also involved such supervisory functions; many gentlewomen did that, in part because such activities, by making them familiar with the preparation of food, assisted them in directing and evaluating the efforts of their servants.
22. own: acknowledge.
23. The irony of all this aggressive promoting of her daughters by Mrs. Bennet is that it ends up hurting their prospects by tainting them with their mother's vulgarity.
24. came away: departed.
25. Writing poetry to or about one's love was a common practice then.
26. the food of love: a probable allusion to the opening line of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, where music, which was often linked with poetry, is supposed the food of love. Darcy expresses the standard ideas of the time on the subject. Elizabeth's contrary argument is just something she is tossing out in order to divert the conversation away from her mother.
27. exposing herself: making an exhibition of herself, making herself look ridiculous.
28. tax: call to account or take to task. In other words, Lydia is insisting that Bingley fulfill his promise.
29. stout: robust, healthy. The word was only beginning at this time to mean overweight, at least when applied to people, and thereby to acquire a pejorative connotation; Jane Austen does not mean it in this way. In a letter she says that someone's “figure is much improved; she is as stout again as she was” (Sept. 1, 1796).
30. high animal spirits: great natural vivacity or good humor. Animal as an adjective was often used to refer to those aspects of human nature that were shared by animals, i.e., the sensual or carnal parts rather than the spiritual or intellectual ones. As will be seen, it is indeed these animal parts that guide Lydia.
31. natural: inherent, innate.
32. self-consequence: self-importance.
33. assurance: audacity, presumptuousness. The term often had a negative connotation then.
34. It would be considered unusual for a girl of only fifteen to confront and challenge so starkly an older man whom she knew little, and who was her host.
35. their mother's ear: “their” presumably refers to Kitty and Lydia, though since only Lydia is mentioned speaking to Bingley, “her mother's ear” would seem more natural (the third edition of the novel in fact wrote it that way).
36. In other words, Darcy also criticizes Mrs. Bennet, and possibly the younger daughters, but he does not criticize Elizabeth.
Chapter Ten
The day passed much as the day before had done. Mrs. Hurst. A. and Miss Bingley had spent some hours of the morning with the invalid, who continued, though slowly, to mend; and in the evening1 Elizabeth joined their party in the drawing-room. The loo table,2 however, did not appear. Mr. Darcy was writing, and Miss Bingley, seated near him, was watching the progress of his letter, and repeatedly calling off3 his attention by messages to his sister. Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley were at piquet,4 and Mrs. Hurst was observing their game.
Elizabeth took up some needlework,5 and was sufficiently amused6 in attending to what passed between Darcy and his companion. The perpetual commendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines,7 or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each.
“How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!”
He made no answer.
“You write uncommonly fast.”
“You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.”
“How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of the year! Letters of business8 too! How odious I should think them!”
“It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours.”
“Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.”
“I have already told her so once, by your desire.”
“I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens9 remarkably well.”
“Thank you —but I always mend my own.”
“How can you contrive to write so even?”
He was silent.
“Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement on the harp,10 and pray let her know that I am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table,11 and I think it infinitely superior to Miss Grantley's.”
“Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again?—At present I have not room to do them justice.”12
“Oh! it is of no consequence. I shall see her in January. But do you always write such charming long letters to her, Mr. Darcy?”
“They are generally long; but whether always charming, it is not for me to determine.”
“It is a rule with me, that a person who can write a long letter, with ease, cannot write ill.”
“That will not do for a compliment to Darcy, Caroline,” cried her brother —”because he does not write with ease. He studies too much for words of four syllables.13 —Do not you, Darcy?”
“My stile of writing is very different from yours.”
“Oh!” cried Miss Bingley, “Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots14 the rest.”
“My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them —by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas15 at all to my correspondents.”
“Nothing is more deceitful,” said Darcy, “than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.”17
“And which of the two do you call my little recent piece of modesty?”
“The indirect boast; —for you are really proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which if not estimable,18 you think at least highly interesting. The power of doing any thing with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. When you told Mrs. Bennet this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself—and yet what is there so very laudable in a precipitance19 which must leave very necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself or any one else?”20
“Nay,” cried Bingley, “this is too much, to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning.21 And yet, upon my honour, I believed what I said of myself to be true, and I believe it at this moment. At least, therefore, I did not assume the character of needless precipitance merely to shew off before the ladies.”
“I dare say you believed it; but I am by no means convinced that you would be gone with such celerity. Your conduct would be quite as dependant on chance as that of any man I know; and if, as you were mounting your horse, a friend were to say, ‘Bingley, you had better stay till next week,' you would probably do it, you would probably not go—and, at another word, might stay a month.”
“You have only proved by this,” cried Elizabeth, “that Mr. Bingley did not do justice to his own disposition. You have shewn him off now much more than he did himself.”
“I am exceedingly gratified,” said Bingley, “by your converting what my friend says into a compliment on the sweetness of my temper.22 But I am afraid you are giving it a turn23 which that gentleman did by no means intend; for he would certainly think the better of me, if under such a circumstance I were to give a flat denial, and ride off as fast as I could.”