by Jane Austen
The time fixed for the beginning of their Northern tour was now fast approaching; and a fortnight only was wanting of it,25 when a letter arrived from Mrs. Gardiner, which at once delayed its commencement and curtailed its extent. Mr. Gardiner would be prevented by business from setting out till a fortnight later in July, and must be in London again within a month; and as that left too short a period for them to go so far, and see so much as they had proposed, or at least to see it with the leisure and comfort they had built on,26 they were obliged to give up the Lakes, and substitute a more contracted tour;27 and, according to the present plan, were to go no farther northward than Derbyshire.28 In that county, there was enough to be seen, to occupy the chief of their three weeks; and to Mrs. Gardiner it had a peculiarly29 strong attraction. The town where she had formerly passed some years of her life, and where they were now to spend a few days, was probably as great an object of her curiosity, as all the celebrated beauties of Matlock, Chatsworth, Dovedale, or the Peak.30
Elizabeth was excessively disappointed; she had set her heart on seeing the Lakes; and still thought there might have been time enough. But it was her business to be satisfied—and certainly her temper31 to be happy; and all was soon right again.32
With the mention of Derbyshire, there were many ideas connected. It was impossible for her to see the word without thinking of Pemberley and its owner. “But surely” said she, “I may enter his county with impunity, and rob it of a few petrified spars33 without his perceiving me.”
The period of expectation was now doubled. Four weeks were to pass away before her uncle and aunt's arrival. But they did pass away, and Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, with their four children, did at length appear at Longbourn. The children, two girls of six and eight years old, and two younger boys, were to be left under the particular care of their cousin Jane, who was the general favourite, and whose steady sense and sweetness of temper exactly adapted her for attending to them in every way—teaching them, playing with them, and loving them.
The Gardiners staid only one night at Longbourn, and set off the next morning with Elizabeth in pursuit of novelty and amusement. One enjoyment was certain—that of suitableness as companions; a suitableness which comprehended health and temper to bear inconveniences —cheerfulness to enhance every pleasure—and affection and intelligence, which might supply it among themselves if there were disappointments abroad.34
It is not the object of this work to give a description of Derbyshire, nor of any of the remarkable places through which their route thither lay; Oxford, Blenheim, Warwick, Kenelworth, Birmingham, &c. are sufficiently known.35 A small part of Derbyshire is all the present concern. To the little town of Lambton, the scene of Mrs. Gardiner's former residence, and where she had lately learned that some acquaintance still remained, they bent their steps, after having seen all the principal wonders of the country; and within five miles of Lambton, Elizabeth found from her aunt, that Pemberley was situated. It was not in their direct road, nor more than a mile or two out of it. In talking over their route the evening before, Mrs. Gardiner expressed an inclination to see the place again.36 Mr. Gardiner declared his willingness, and Elizabeth was applied to for her approbation.
“My love, should not you like to see a place of which you have heard so much?” said her aunt. “A place too, with which so many of your acquaintance are connected. Wickham passed all his youth there, you know.”
Elizabeth was distressed. She felt that she had no business at Pemberley, and was obliged to assume a disinclination for seeing it. She must own37 that she was tired of great houses; after going over so many, she really had no pleasure in fine carpets or satin curtains.
Mrs. Gardiner abused her stupidity.38 “If it were merely a fine house richly furnished,” said she, “I should not care about it myself; but the grounds are delightful. They have some of the finest woods in the country.”39
Elizabeth said no more —but her mind could not acquiesce. The possibility of meeting Mr. Darcy, while viewing the place, instantly occurred.40 It would be dreadful! She blushed at the very idea; and thought it would be better to speak openly to her aunt, than to run such a risk. But against this, there were objections;41 and she finally resolved that it could be the last resource, if her private enquiries as to the absence of the family, were unfavourably answered.
Accordingly, when she retired at night, she asked the chambermaid whether Pemberley were not a very fine place, what was the name of its proprietor, and with no little alarm, whether the family were down42 for the summer. A most welcome negative followed the last question43 —and her alarms being now removed, she was at leisure to feel a great deal of curiosity to see the house herself; and when the subject was revived the next morning, and she was again applied to, could readily answer, and with a proper air of indifference, that she had not really any dislike to the scheme.44
To Pemberley, therefore, they were to go.
1. understanding: intellect.
2. illiberal: uneducated; not genteel; sordid.
3. mind: character.
4. confidence: trust, willingness to rely on someone.
5. views: expectations.
6. A similar case to this is Mr. Palmer of Sense and Sensibility, who marries a woman even sillier than Mrs. Bennet and who also takes resort in silence and in sharp or sarcastic remarks to his wife. One inspiration for these cases may have come from a passage in one of Jane Austen's favorite novels, Fanny Burney's Camilla. In it a woman says, regarding men's marital tastes, “They are always enchanted with something that is both pretty and silly; because they can so easily please and so soon disconcert it; … it [their taste] brings them a plentiful harvest of repentance, when it is their connubial criterion; the pretty flies off, and the silly remains, and a man then has a choice companion for life left on his hands!”
7. Drink, gambling, and sexual philandering are likely among those meant.
8. That is, where other means of amusement or interest are lacking.
9. true philosopher: a reference to the ideal of the philosopher who, thanks to his wisdom and his control over his emotions, is able to accept tranquilly all occurrences and to find means of happiness regardless of circumstances (the notion of accepting things philosophically still conveys something of that idea). This ideal, which has roots in the philosophical sects of the ancient world, was still powerful at this time, often forming the main spiritual alternative for educated people to Christianity, and sometimes being combined with a Christian perspective. Jane Austen shows traces of it in many places, especially in her admiring depiction of those who are able to rise above misfortune and to avoid despair or resentment. Here she uses the idea in a more satirical way, for seeking consolation by laughing at one's wife would not be upheld as an ideal example of philosophical virtue.
10. ill-judged a direction of talents: his directing his talents toward ridicule and amusement rather than toward raising his children well.
11. Mr. Bennet seems to bother little with his daughters, except occasionally with Elizabeth, even though, given Mrs. Bennet's general deference toward him, he could exercise far more influence over them than he does and thus counteract some of the effects of their mother's foolishness.
12. This discussion of the Bennet marriage, and Elizabeth's reflections on it, could be placed at many points in the novel. It fits here because it comes just before her next encounter with Darcy raises the issue of her avoiding her father's marital errors, and before Lydia's elopement provides the strongest demonstration yet of the harmful effects of Mr. Bennet's paternal negligence.
13. parties abroad: social gatherings with other families, i.e., those outside the house. “Parties” then meant casual meetings as well as big occasions.
14. natural: normal.
15. watering place: fashionable spa or seaside resort. Watering places were sometimes criticized for their loose morals and tendency to lead ladies astray.
16. camp: military camp.
17. Of course, this is a
very frequent occurrence in life; “what has been sometimes found before” is clearly a deliberate understatement. This whole passage has strong echoes of one of Jane Austen's favorite authors, Samuel Johnson, who frequently expounds upon the tendency of human beings to indulge in visions of future felicity and to suffer the disappointment of their hopes, either because their schemes went awry or because even those that succeeded ended up producing less pleasure in reality than in anticipation.
18. What Elizabeth is doing is consoling herself for the absence of Jane by reflecting that, since seemingly perfect schemes (such as a trip including Jane would be) always end in some disappointment, it is better that her trip have one flaw, for then she will not anticipate perfect pleasure and thus may experience the fulfillment rather than the disappointment of her expectations. Her reflection, though it is partly meant in a joking sense, could also be an example of the consolation of a true philosopher just mentioned in relation to Mr. Bennet. In fact, Elizabeth's way of consoling herself is more truly in line with classical philosophical ideals than her father's way, for hers neither involves underlying bitterness nor leads to irresponsible action.
19. This further reveals Lydia's thoughtlessness and selfishness. Postage, which was expensive during this period, was always paid by the recipient, so sending a very short letter would be forcing the recipient to pay much in return for little. The costs would be especially high in this case, for postage rates increased with distance, and Lydia is writing from fairly far away; rates were also higher if a letter had to be delivered to an address off the main routes, as the rural Bennet home certainly would be. In a letter Jane Austen asks pardon for not filling her final sheet of paper, and thus making the recipient pay additional postage without receiving a full page worth of news (Jan. 9,1799). Lydia does not seem to be one who would ever suffer such pangs of conscience.
20. wild: filled with excitement or desire. Libraries often dealt in more than books, and could be places for meeting and socializing; see p. 53, note 20.
21. lines under the words: presumably this refers to secrets and special information that Lydia is sharing with Kitty, and that the former is communicating by giving special emphasis to certain words or phrases.
22. aspect: appearance.
23. It was normal in this period for the wealthy, after being in London for the winter and spring, to go to the country for the summer. One reason for this annual schedule was that Parliament, which was central to the lives of the leaders of elite society, was usually in session from November to June.
24. This evaluation of troop deployments with no regard to their military utility indicates the limited influence on most people's lives of the existing war, despite its being one of the longest and most trying in Britain's history; Jane Austen's other novels present a similar picture. It is one that contrasts sharply with that of the total wars of the twentieth century. Winston Churchill, who turned to Pride and Prejudice for relaxation while leading Britain during World War II, says the book struck him with this very contrast: “What calm lives they had, those people! No worries about the French Revolution, or the crashing struggle of the Napoleonic Wars” (Closing the King, p. 425).
25. That is, it was only two weeks away.
26. built on: relied or depended upon.
27. contracted tour: abbreviated tour. Hertfordshire is more than 200 miles from the Lake District (see map, p. 742); actual road distance would be even greater. Under prevailing travel conditions the journey would take several days each way; the mountainous and undeveloped character of the area would also make going from site to site slow, and thus further lengthen the trip.
28. The county of Derbyshire's rugged scenery made it probably the most popular tourist destination in England after the Lakes. It lies only half as far from Hertfordshire as the Lakes (see map, p. 742), and is a more settled area, so a trip there would take considerably less time. Thus Darcy's being from Derbyshire has definite advantages for the story, something Jane Austen undoubtedly had in mind when she made it his home. She herself may have toured Derbyshire when she was staying with cousins who lived nearby.
29. peculiarly: particularly.
30. The four principal attractions of northern Derbyshire mentioned by Gilpin (see p. 97, note 48, and p. 285, note 20) in his book on picturesque travel in that part of England. Matlock is a spa and resort area set in a river valley: Jane Austen's brother visited it, and she had characters in “Catharine, or the Bower” plan an excursion there. Chatsworth is the palatial home of the Dukes of Devonshire. Dovedale is a spectacular river gorge. The Peak, a name sometimes used for the whole area, refers particularly to the rolling hills in northern Derbyshire that are currently part of Peak District National Park. For Derbyshire's position within England, and the location of these sites within it, see the maps on pp. 742 and 744. For a picture of Matlock and Dovedale from Gilpin's book, see p. 435.
31. temper: disposition, temperament.
32. This turn of events indicates the wisdom of her earlier reflections on the probability of disappointment; it also shows her ability to console herself.
33. petrified spars: pieces of fluorspar (calcium fluoride), a luminous crystalline mineral. Elizabeth would be referring particularly to a variety of fluorspar called Blue John, a purple and white stone that was popular in expensive decorative objects such as vases and urns. It was often known as Derbyshire spar because of the presence of spectacular veins of it in the many caves and mines of Derbyshire; both the spars and the caves themselves, whose convoluted shapes and many tunnels appealed to the increasing love for the mysterious and disordered in nature, were prime attractions of the area. Gilpin, the writer on the picturesque and natural beauty, spoke of the “petrified spars” of Derbyshire. Individual spars, popular as ornaments, were also sold in local stores. In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, some characters are mentioned as purchasing spars, though since they are not in Derbyshire they could be buying a different variety of spar.
34. Meaning that the affection and intelligence of Elizabeth and the Gar-diners would allow them to find pleasure among themselves even if the places they visited proved disappointing or other external problems arose. Abroad refers to what is outside their home or local region.
35. Oxford is one of England's two great universities; Blenheim is the palace of the Dukes of Marlborough; Warwick and Kenelworth are both castles, the latter mostly in ruins; Birmingham is the largest city in the English Midlands, and was becoming a major manufacturing center at the time (its factories were an important tourist attraction). For all their locations, see map on p. 742.
It is perhaps significant that all of these places, as well as one of the attractions mentioned for Derbyshire, are man-made sights, rather than the purely natural ones earlier hoped for by Elizabeth.
36. Elizabeth and the Gardiners are engaging in what had emerged as a popular tourist activity in the late eighteenth century, touring great houses; two places already mentioned in connection with their trip, Chatsworth and Blenheim, were perhaps the most visited of all such houses. The growth of this activity was one part of the general growth of tourism in this period, and country house visiting, like other forms of touring, spawned a whole series of guidebooks to assist the tourist in selecting and appreciating various houses in England. Many homes were open to visitors, and in most cases the visitors simply needed to show up, without any prior appointment. This is why the party here can decide to tour Pemberley at the last minute.
37. own: admit.
38. stupidity: dullness, lack of interest.
39. in the country: in the county. The grounds and gardens of great houses were important attractions for tourists as well as the interiors of the houses.
40. Since servants would normally guide visitors around the house, there was no need for the owner to be present. Some owners did like to be present for visitors, and would even help show them the house; in part this was a legacy of earlier traditions of hospitality that encouraged those who were socia
lly prominent to accommodate guests and visitors in their homes. Many owners, however, preferred to avoid visitors. Some owners, as touring became more popular, even began to complain about the loss of privacy they suffered; this, plus the damage the contents of the house often suffered at the hands of guests, eventually led many places to impose restrictions on visitors, or at least to charge them fees.
41. These objections could be the awkwardness and the difficulties involved in telling Mrs. Gardiner of Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth, and of how wrong Elizabeth had been in her opinions of Darcy and Wickham.
42. down: in the country, i.e., out of London. Derbyshire is north of London, but “down” was regularly used to refer to going to places that were regarded as less important; at other points in the novel people are described as going down from London to Hertfordshire (which is north of London), or even going down to cities like Liverpool and Newcastle that are in the north of England.
43. Because a local landowning family held such prestige in the community, and would exercise great influence, socially and economically, through their activities, it would be natural for everyone living near them to know whether they were at home.
44. All developments seem to be conspiring to lead Elizabeth to Pemberley, almost as in a fairy tale.
VOLUME THREE1
1. The third volume (much more than the second volume) begins at an obvious and natural point, for the visit to Pemberley that occurs in its first chapter is the most critical turning point in the second half of the novel.
Chapter One
E lizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge,2 her spirits were in a high flutter.
The park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood, stretching over a wide extent.3
