CHAPTER IX.

Elizabeth was sitting by herself the next morning, and writing to Jane,

while Mrs. Collins and Maria were gone on business into the village,

when she was startled by a ring at the door, the certain signal of a

visitor. As she had heard no carriage, she thought it not unlikely to be

Lady Catherine, and under that apprehension was putting away her

half-finished letter that she might escape all impertinent questions,

when the door opened, and to her very great surprise, Mr. Darcy, and Mr.

Darcy only, entered the room.

He seemed astonished too on finding her alone, and apologised for his

intrusion, by letting her know that he had understood all the ladies to

be within.

They then sat down, and when her enquiries after Rosings were made,

seemed in danger of sinking into total silence. It was absolutely

necessary, therefore, to think of something, and in this emergence

recollecting _when_ she had seen him last in Hertfordshire, and feeling

curious to know what he would say on the subject of their hasty

departure, she observed,

"How very suddenly you all quitted Netherfield last November, Mr. Darcy!

It must have been a most agreeable surprise to Mr. Bingley to see you

all after him so soon; for, if I recollect right, he went but the day

before. He and his sisters were well, I hope, when you left London."

"Perfectly so--I thank you."

She found that she was to receive no other answer--and, after a short

pause, added,

"I think I have understood that Mr. Bingley has not much idea of ever

returning to Netherfield again?"

"I have never heard him say so; but it is probable that he may spend

very little of his time there in future. He has many friends, and he is

at a time of life when friends and engagements are continually

increasing."

"If he means to be but little at Netherfield, it would be better for the

neighbourhood that he should give up the place entirely, for then we

might possibly get a settled family there. But perhaps Mr. Bingley did

not take the house so much for the convenience of the neighbourhood as

for his own, and we must expect him to keep or quit it on the same

principle."

"I should not be surprised," said Darcy, "if he were to give it up, as

soon as any eligible purchase offers."

Elizabeth made no answer. She was afraid of talking longer of his

friend; and, having nothing else to say, was now determined to leave the

trouble of finding a subject to him.

He took the hint, and soon began with, "This seems a very comfortable

house. Lady Catherine, I believe, did a great deal to it when Mr.

Collins first came to Hunsford."

"I believe she did--and I am sure she could not have bestowed her

kindness on a more grateful object."

"Mr. Collins appears very fortunate in his choice of a wife."

"Yes, indeed; his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of

the very few sensible women who would have accepted him, or have made

him happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding--though

I am not certain that I consider her marrying Mr. Collins as the wisest

thing she ever did. She seems perfectly happy, however, and in a

prudential light, it is certainly a very good match for her."

"It must be very agreeable to her to be settled within so easy a

distance of her own family and friends."

"An easy distance do you call it? It is nearly fifty miles."

"And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day's

journey. Yes, I call it a _very_ easy distance."

"I should never have considered the distance as one of the _advantages_

of the match," cried Elizabeth. "I should never have said Mrs. Collins

was settled _near_ her family."

"It is a proof of your own attachment to Hertfordshire. Any thing beyond

the very neighbourhood of Longbourn, I suppose, would appear far."

As he spoke there was a sort of smile, which Elizabeth fancied she

understood; he must be supposing her to be thinking of Jane and

Netherfield, and she blushed as she answered,

"I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too near her

family. The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many

varying circumstances. Where there is fortune to make the expence of

travelling unimportant, distance becomes no evil. But that is not the

case _here_. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have a comfortable income, but not

such a one as will allow of frequent journeys--and I am persuaded my

friend would not call herself _near_ her family under less than _half_

the present distance."

Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, "_You_ cannot

have a right to such very strong local attachment. _You_ cannot have

been always at Longbourn."

Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some change of

feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper from the table, and,

glancing over it, said, in a colder voice,

"Are you pleased with Kent?"

A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued, on either side

calm and concise--and soon put an end to by the entrance of Charlotte

and her sister, just returned from their walk. The tête-à-tête surprised

them. Mr. Darcy related the mistake which had occasioned his intruding

on Miss Bennet, and after sitting a few minutes longer without saying

much to any body, went away.

"What can be the meaning of this!" said Charlotte, as soon as he was

gone. "My dear Eliza he must be in love with you, or he would never have

called on us in this familiar way."

But when Elizabeth told of his silence, it did not seem very likely,

even to Charlotte's wishes, to be the case; and after various

conjectures, they could at last only suppose his visit to proceed from

the difficulty of finding any thing to do, which was the more probable

from the time of year. All field sports were over. Within doors there

was Lady Catherine, books, and a billiard table, but gentlemen cannot be

always within doors; and in the nearness of the Parsonage, or the

pleasantness of the walk to it, or of the people who lived in it, the

two cousins found a temptation from this period of walking thither

almost every day. They called at various times of the morning, sometimes

separately, sometimes together, and now and then accompanied by their

aunt. It was plain to them all that Colonel Fitzwilliam came because he

had pleasure in their society, a persuasion which of course recommended

him still more; and Elizabeth was reminded by her own satisfaction in

being with him, as well as by his evident admiration of her, of her

former favourite George Wickham; and though, in comparing them, she saw

there was less captivating softness in Colonel Fitzwilliam's manners,

she believed he might have the best informed mind.

But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage, it was more difficult

to understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there

ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it

seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice--a sacrifice to

propriety, not a pleasure to himself. He seldom appeared really

animated. Mrs. Collins knew not what to make of him. Colonel

Fitzwilliam's occasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he was

generally different, which her own knowledge of him could not have told

her; and as she would have liked to believe this change the effect of

love, and the object of that love, her friend Eliza, she sat herself

seriously to work to find it out.--She watched him whenever they were at

Rosings, and whenever he came to Hunsford; but without much success. He

certainly looked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that

look was disputable. It was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but she often

doubted whether there were much admiration in it, and sometimes it

seemed nothing but absence of mind.

She had once or twice suggested to Elizabeth the possibility of his

being partial to her, but Elizabeth always laughed at the idea; and Mrs.

Collins did not think it right to press the subject, from the danger of

raising expectations which might only end in disappointment; for in her

opinion it admitted not of a doubt, that all her friend's dislike would

vanish, if she could suppose him to be in her power.

In her kind schemes for Elizabeth, she sometimes planned her marrying

Colonel Fitzwilliam. He was beyond comparison the pleasantest man; he

certainly admired her, and his situation in life was most eligible; but,

to counterbalance these advantages, Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage

in the church, and his cousin could have none at all.