傲慢與偏見4 A Young Man Wronged
CHAPTER FOUR
A Young Man Wronged
Mr. Collins' did not change his plan after he sawthe five Bennet daughters. Jane's lovely face proved tohim that his idea had been a good idea. From the firstevening of his stay, she became his settled choice. Thenext morning before breakfast, however, Mrs. Bennettold him to be cautious about making Jane as his wife.She told Mr. Collins that Jane already had anotherwealthy man who was interested in marrying her.
Mr. Collins then decided to change from Jane toElizabeth -- and this was soon done. Mrs. Bennet washopeful that soon she would have two marrieddaughters.
After breakfast, all the Bennet girls decided towalk into Meryton. Mr. Collins was asked to jointhem, at the request of Mr. Bennet. He wanted to getrid of Mr. Collins so that he could have his library tohimself. Earlier, Mr. Collins had followed him into thelibrary and talked without stopping about his house andgarden at Hunsford. Though prepared to put up withfoolishness and pride in every other room, Mr. Bennetdid not stand for such behavior in his library.
Mr. Collins' speech was very proud all the way toMeryton. When they reached Meryton, the attentionof the sisters was drawn away from him.
There was a young man, whom they had neverseen, walking with an officer on the other side of theroad. The officer was Mr. Denny. They knew himwell. Kitty and Lydia, pretending to want somethingfrom a nearby shop, crossed the street. They had justreached the other side of the road when the twogentlemen reached the same spot. Mr. Denny askedpermission to introduce his friend, Mr. Wickham. Mr.Wickham had just decided to join the military as anarmy soldier. The sisters expressed their view that Mr.Wickham would be most charming if he were to dress inuniform.
The party was talking together very nicely whenthey heard the sound of horses. Darcy and Bingley wereriding down the street towards them. Bingley waslooking at Jane, but Mr. Darcy decided not to look atElizabeth. They were suddenly surprised by the sight ofMr. Wickham. Elizabeth noticed that both Mr.Darcy's and Mr. Bingley's faces changed color: onelooked white, the other red. After a few moments,Mr. Wickham touched his hat -- Mr. Darcy had nochoice but to return his greeting.
Then Mr. Bingley rode on with his friend.
Mr. Denny and Mr. Wickham walked with theyoung ladies to the door of Mr. Philips' house. Thenthey said their goodbyes. Mrs. Philips, always glad tosee her nieces, received Mr. Collins most politely.Some of the officers were going to dine the next daywith the Philipses. Their aunt promised to invite Mr.Wickham as well.
As they were walking home to Longbourn,Elizabeth told Jane what she had seen. She wonderedwhy Mr. Wickham had caused such surprise, but Janehad no explanation for this behavior.
The coach took Mr. Collins and his five cousins toMeryton. When they arrived, the girls were delightedto hear that Mr. Wickham had also accepted theiruncle's invitation.
When Mr. Wickham entered the house, Elizabethwas struck by his handsomeness. He sat beside her andafter a while he asked, in an uncomfortable way, howlong Mr. Darcy had been in town.
"About a month," said Elizabeth. "I understandhe has a very large property in Derbyshire."
"Yes," replied Wickham. "I have known hisfamily since my childhood."
Elizabeth looked surprised.
"I guess you are surprised, Miss Bennet. We didgreet each other very coldly yesterday. To tell you thetruth, I do not think of him as my friend."
"He can be a very disagreeable man," saidElizabeth.
"His father was a very good man, and the truestfriend I ever had. You see, I should have been workingfor the church. If this had happened, I would now havea very good and valuable way of living. However, Mr.Darcy, made my good fortune impossible to happen."
"Indeed !"
"Yes -- his father wanted me to have his propertyand wealth. He was my godfather, and wanted toprovide well for me. But after his death, his propertywas given elsewhere. "
"Good heavens!" cried Elizabeth. "Why wasn'this will followed?"
"A certain part of the will was very unclear. Or,at least, Mr. Darcy chose to make it unclear. Theproperty was given to someone else. We are verydifferent sort of men, me and Mr. Darcy, and he hatesme!"
"He deserves to be publicly punished!"
"He will be; but not by me. Because I rememberthe kindness of his father, I will never do something tohurt his family!"
"But why did he behave so cruelly?" she asked.
"Jealousy," replied Mr. Wickham. "My fatherwas a lawyer. He did much to be useful to the late Mr.Darcy. He gave all his time and effort for taking care ofthe Pemberley property. He was also Mr. Darcy'sclosest friend. Before my father died, Mr. Darcypromised him he would provide for me. But his son'sjealousy stopped him from doing so. "
"Even though I have never liked him, I neverthought Mr. Darcy would be as bad as this. How canMr. Bingley be friends with him? He must not beaware of what Mr. Darcy has done. "
"Probably he is not. Mr. Darcy can be a very nicefriend if he thinks it is good for him. I know he takescare of his sister very carefully. "
"What kind of a girl is Miss Darcy?"
"She's very, very proud, just like her brother.She is sixteen years old. Since her father's death, shehas lived in London. A lady takes care of hereducation."
Mr. Wickham's attention was then caught by Mr.Collins, who was talking about Lady Catherine deBourgh, whose care he was under. He asked Elizabethwhether Mr. Collins was a close friend of the deBourgh family.
"I do not know how Mr. Collins was introduced toher," she replied, "but he has not known her forlong."
"Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcywere sisters. Lady Catherine is aunt to the present Mr.Darcy. "
They continued talking together until supper. Onher way home, Elizabeth could only think of Mr.Wickham and what he had told her.
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