Elizabeth then contrived to sit by her aunt.Their first object was her sister;and she was more grieved than astonished to hear, in reply to her minute inquiries,that though Jane always struggled to support her spirits, there were periods of dejection. It was reasonable,however,to hope that they would not continue long. Mrs.Gardiner gave her the particulars also of Miss Bingley's visit in Gracechurch Street, and repeated conversations occurring at different times between Jane and herself,which proved that the former had,from her heart,given up the acquaintance.
Mrs.Gardiner then rallied her niece on Wickham's desertion, and complimented her on bearing it so well.
“But my dear Elizabeth,”she added,“what sort of girl is Miss King?I should be sorry to think our friend mercenary.”
“Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs,between the mercenary and the prudent motive?Where does discretion end,and avarice begin?Last Christmas you were afraid of his marrying me, because it would be imprudent; and now, because he is trying to get a girl with only ten thousand pounds,you want to find out that he is mercenary.”
“If you will only tell me what sort of girl Miss King is,I shall know what to think.”
“She is a very good kind of girl,I believe.I know no harm of her.”
“But he paid her not the smallest attention till her grandfather's death made her mistress of this fortune.”
“No—what should he?If it were not allowable for him to gain my affections because I had no money,what occasion could there be for making love to a girl whom he did not care about,and who was equally poor?”
“But there seems an indelicacy in directing his attentions towards her so soon after this event.”
“A man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant decorums which other people may observe. If she does not object to it,why should we?”
“Her not objecting does not justify him.It only shows her being deficient in something herself—sense or feeling.”
“Well,”cried Elizabeth,“have it as you choose. He shall be mercenary,and she shall be foolish.”
“No, Lizzy, that is what I do not choose. I should be sorry, you know, to think ill of a young man who has lived so long in Derbyshire.”
“Oh!if that is all,I have a very poor opinion of young men who live in Derbyshire;and their intimate friends who live in Hertfordshire are not much better.I am sick of them all.Thank Heaven!I am going to-morrow where I shall find a man who has not one agreeable quality,who has neither manner nor sense to recommend him.Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing,after all.”
“Take care,Lizzy;that speech savours strongly of disappointment.”
Before they were separated by the conclusion of the play, she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to accompany her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking in the summer.
“We have not determined how far it shall carry us,”said Mrs. Gardiner,“but,perhaps,to the Lakes.”
No scheme could have been more agreeable to Elizabeth,and her acceptance of the invitation was most ready and grateful.“Oh, my dear, dear aunt,”she rapturously cried,“what delight! what felicity!You give me fresh life and vigour.Adieu to disappointment and spleen.What are young men to rocks and mountains? Oh! what hours of transport we shall spend!And when we do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without being able to give one accurate idea of anything. We will know where we have gone—we will recollect what we have seen. Lakes, mountains, and rivers shall not be jumbled together in our imaginations;nor when we attempt to describe any particular scene,will we begin quarreling about its relative situation. Let our first effusions be less insupportable than those of the generality of travellers.”