Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers

Help / FAQ



<- Previous | Table of Contents | Next ->
PinkMonkey.com Digital Library - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen


119

carriage is regularly ordered for us. I should say, one of her
ladyship’s carriages, for she has several.” “Lady Catherine is a very
respectable, sensible woman indeed,” added Charlotte, “and a
most attentive neighbor.” “Very true, my dear, that is exactly what
I say. She is the sort of woman whom one cannot regard with too
much deference.” The evening was spent chiefly in talking over
Hertfordshire news, and telling again what had been already
written; and when it closed, Elizabeth, in the solitude of her
chamber, had to meditate upon Charlotte’s degree of contentment,
to understand her address in guiding, and composure in bearing
with, her husband, and to acknowledge that it was all done very
well. She had also to anticipate how her visit would pass, the quiet
tenor of their usual employments, the vexatious interruptions of
Mr. Collins, and the gayeties of their intercourse with Rosings. A
lively imagination soon settled it all.

About the middle of the next day, as she was in her room getting
ready for a walk, a sudden noise below seemed to speak the whole
house in confusion; and, after listening a moment, she heard
somebody running upstairs in a violent hurry, and calling loudly
after her. She opened the door and met Maria in the landing place,
who, breathless with agitation, cried out-
“Oh, my dear Eliza! pray make haste and come into the dining-
room, for there is such a sight to be seen! I will not tell you what it
is. Make haste, and come down this moment.” Elizabeth asked
questions in vain; Maria would tell her nothing more, and down
they ran into the dining-room, which fronted the lane, in quest of
this wonder! it was two ladies stopping in a low phaeton at the
garden gate.

“And is this all?” cried Elizabeth. “I expected at least that the pigs
were got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady Catherine
and her daughter!” “La! my dear,” said Maria, quite shocked at the
mistake, “it is not Lady Catherine. The old lady is Mrs. Jenkinson,
who lives with them; the other is Miss de Bourgh. Only look at her.
She is quite a little creature. Who would have thought she could be
so thin and small!” “She is abominably rude to keep Charlotte out
of doors in all this wind. Why does she not come in?” “Oh,
Charlotte says she hardly ever does. It is the greatest of favors
when Miss de Bourgh comes in.” “I like her appearance,” said
Elizabeth, struck with other ideas. “She looks sickly and cross. Yes,
she will do for him very well. She will make him a very proper
wife.” Mr. Collins and Charlotte were both standing at the gate in
conversation with the ladies; and Sir William, to Elizabeth’s high
diversion, was stationed in the
<- Previous | Table of Contents | Next ->
PinkMonkey.com Digital Library - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen



All Contents Copyright © All rights reserved.
Further Distribution Is Strictly Prohibited.

About Us | Advertising | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Home Page


Search:
Keywords:
In Association with Amazon.com