On the very last day of the regiment's remaining at Meryton, he dined,with other of the officers,at Longbourn;and so little was Elizabeth disposed to part from him in good humour,that on his making some inquiry as to the manner in which her time had passed at Hunsford,she mentioned Colonel Fitzwilliam's and Mr. Darcy's having both spent three weeks at Rosings,and asked him, if he was acquainted with the former.
He looked surprised,displeased,alarmed;but with a moment's recollection and a returning smile,replied,that he had formerly seen him often;and,after observing that he was a very gentlemanlike man,asked her how she had liked him.Her answer was warmly in his favour.With an air of indifference,he soon afterwards added:
“How long did you say he was at Rosings?”
“Nearly three weeks.”
“And you saw him frequently?”
“Yes,almost every day.”
“His manners are very different from his cousin's.”
“Yes, very different. But I think Mr. Darcy improves upon acquaintance.”
“Indeed!”cried Mr.Wickham with a look which did not escape her.“And pray,may I ask?—”But checking himself,he added,in a gayer tone,“Is it in address that he improves?Has he deigned to add aught of civility to his ordinary style?—for I dare not hope,”he continued in a lower and more serious tone,“that he is improved in essentials.”
“Oh, no!”said Elizabeth.“In essentials, I believe, he is very much what he ever was.”
While she spoke, Wickham looked as if scarcely knowing whether to rejoice over her words,or to distrust their meaning. There was a something in her countenance which made him listen with an apprehensive and anxious attention,while she added:
“When I said that he improved on acquaintance,I did not mean that his mind or his manners were in a state of improvement, but that, from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood.”
Wickham's alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion and agitated look;for a few minutes he was silent,till,shaking off his embarrassment,he turned to her again,and said in the gentlest of accents:
“You, who so well know my feeling towards Mr. Darcy, will readily comprehend how sincerely I must rejoice that he is wise enough to assume even the appearance of what is right.His pride, in that direction, may be of service, if not to himself, to many others,for it must only deter him from such foul misconduct as I have suffered by.I only fear that the sort of cautiousness to which you,I imagine,have been alluding,is merely adopted on his visits to his aunt, of whose good opinion and judgement he stands much in awe.His fear of her has always operated,I know,when they were together;and a good deal is to be imputed to his wish of forwarding the match with Miss de Bourgh,which I am certain he has very much at heart.”
Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered only by a slight inclination of the head.She saw that he wanted to engage her on the old subject of his grievances,and she was in no humour to indulge him.The rest of the evening passed with the appearance, on his side, of usual cheerfulness, but with no further attempt to distinguish Elizabeth;and they parted at last with mutual civility,and possibly a mutual desire of never meeting again.
When the party broke up, Lydia returned with Mrs. Forster to Meryton, from whence they were to set out early the next morning.The separation between her and her family was rather noisy than pathetic.Kitty was the only one who shed tears;but she did weep from vexation and envy.Mrs.Bennet was diffuse in her good wishes for the felicity of her daughter,and impressive in her injunctions that she should not miss the opportunity of enjoying herself as much as possible—advice which there was every reason to believe would be attended to; and in the clamorous happiness of Lydia herself in bidding farewell, the more gentle adieus of her sisters were uttered without being heard.