第12章

In consequence of an agreement between the sisters, Elizabeth wrote the next morning to her mother, to beg that the carriage might be sent for them in the course of the day. But Mrs. Bennet, who had calculated on her daughters remaining at Netherfield till the following Tuesday, which would exactly finish Jane's week, could not bring herself to receive them with pleasure before. Her answer, therefore, was not propitious, at least not to Elizabeth's wishes, for she was impatient to get home. Mrs. Bennet sent them word that they could not possibly have the carriage before Tuesday; and in her postscript it was added that, if Mr. Bingley and his sister pressed them to stay longer, she could spare them very well. -Against staying longer, however, Elizabeth was positively resolved-nor did she much expect it would be asked;and fearful, on the contrary, as being considered as intruding themselves needlessly long, she urged Jane to borrow Mr. Bingley's carriage immediately, and at length it was settled that their original design of leaving Netherfield that morning should be mentioned, and the request made.

The communication excited many professions of concern; and enough was said of wishing them to stay at least till the following day, to work on Jane; and till the morrow their going was deferred. Miss Bingley was then sorry that she had proposed the delay, for her jealousy and dislike of one sister much exceeded her affection for the other.

The master of the house heard with real sorrow that they were to go so soon, and repeatedly tried to persuade Miss Bennet that it would not be safe for her-that she was not enough recovered; but Jane was firm where she felt herself to be right.

To Mr. Darcy it was welcome intelligence-Elizabeth had been at Netherfield long enough. She attracted him more than he liked-and Miss Bingley was uncivil to her, and more teasing than usual to himself. He wisely resolved to be particularly careful that no sign of admiration should now escape him, nothing that could elevate her with the hope of influencing his felicity;sensible that if such an idea had been suggested, his behaviour during the last day must have material weight in confirming or crushing it. Steady to his purpose, he scarcely spoke ten words to her through the whole of Saturday, and though they were at one time left by themselves for half an hour, he adhered most conscientiously to his book, and would not even look at her.

On Sunday, after morning service, the separation, so agreeable to almost all, took place. Miss Bingley's civility to Elizabeth increased at last very rapidly, as well as her affection for Jane; and when they parted, after assuring the latter of the pleasure it would always give her to see her either at Longbourn or Netherfield, and embracing her most tenderly, she even shook hands with the former. —Elizabeth took leave of the whole party in the liveliest spirits.

They were not welcomed home very cordially by their mother. Mrs. Bennet wondered at their coming, and thought them very wrong to give so much trouble, and was sure Jane would have caught cold again. —But their father, though very laconic in his expressions of pleasure, was really glad to see them; he had felt their importance in the family circle. The evening conversation, when they were all assembled, had lost much of its animation, and almost all its sense, by the absence of Jane and Elizabeth.

They found Mary, as usual, deep in the study of thorough bass and human nature; and had some new extracts to admire, and some new observations of thread-bare morality to listen to. Catherine and Lydia had information for them of a different sort. Much had been done and much had been said in the regiment since the preceding Wednesday; several of the officers had dined lately with their uncle, a private had been flogged, and it had actually been hinted that Colonel Forster was going to be married.

姐妹俩商定之后，伊丽莎白第二天上午给母亲写了一封信，请她当天派马车来接她们。但是，贝内特太太早就打算让她的两个女儿在内瑟菲尔德庄园留到下星期二，这样简正好住一星期，贝内特太太本人不乐意提前接她们。所以，她的回信不尽如人意，至少不如伊丽莎白的心愿，因为伊丽莎白迫不及待地想回家。贝内特太太给她们写信说，星期二之前，不可能有马车；写完信之后，她又补充说，要是宾利先生和他的妹妹极力劝说她们多待一段时间，她就可以宽限她们几天。——然而，伊丽莎白不愿多待去，铁了心要回家——也不大指望主人家挽留；相反，她怕人家以为她们想赖在那里不走，就催促简马上去向宾利借马车。最后，姐妹俩决定，按原计划向主人提出当天上午离开内瑟菲尔德庄园。

这番话引起了诸多关切的表白，说得足够多，希望她们至少待到第二天，来设法说服简；于是，姐妹俩就推迟到了明天。当时，宾利小姐后悔自己提议挽留她们，因为她对伊丽莎白既嫉妒又讨厌，也就顾不上对简的感情了。

内瑟菲尔德庄园的主人听说她们这样快就要走，真感到伤心，设法再三劝说贝内特小姐，这样对她不安全——她还没有完全康复；但是，简自己对认准的事儿常常坚定不移。

对达西先生来说，这是喜讯——伊丽莎白在内瑟菲尔德庄园住得够长了。她吸引他有些过分，他不喜欢这样——宾利小姐对她也有些失礼，对他自己说话也比平常多了一些奚落。他明智地决定要格外小心，现在不让自己的爱慕之情有任何流露，以免她产生非分之想，影响他的幸福；他感觉到，要是她有那种想法，那就一定是他昨天的行为起了重要作用，要么是确定，要么是破碎。他坚定了决心，星期六一整天几乎没有对她说十句话。尽管他们曾有一次单独在一起待了半小时，但他却认真细致地看书，连看都没有看她一眼。

星期天早礼拜之后，姐妹俩辞别，几乎让大家都非常愉快。宾利小姐对伊丽莎白的礼貌最后突飞猛进，对简的友爱也突飞猛进；分手时，她对简说，希望以后有机会在朗伯恩或在内瑟菲尔德庄园再见到她，接着又非常体贴地拥抱她，甚至还跟伊丽莎白握了握手。——伊丽莎白兴高采烈地告别了大家。

回到家里，她们并没有受到母亲非常热诚的欢迎。贝内特太太对她们的到来感到惊讶，认为给人家添那么多麻烦是十分错误的，确信简一定还会感冒。——不过，她们的父亲尽管没有说什么开心的话，但的确非常高兴见到她们；他已经感受到这两个女儿在家庭圈子里的重要性。没有简和伊丽莎白在场，晚上一家人聚在一起交谈，失去了好多活泼气氛，简直是毫无意义。

她们发现玛丽像往常一样在研究通奏低音与人性；她拿出了一些新的摘录让她们欣赏，并发表了一些对旧道德的新见解让她们听。凯瑟琳和丽迪雅给她们带来的是不同种类的消息。从上星期三以来，民兵团里出了好多事儿，也有好多传闻；最近，好几位军官跟她们的姨父一起吃过饭，一名列兵挨了鞭打，据有人确切透出口风说，福斯特上校就要结婚了。