第11章

When the ladies removed after dinner, Elizabeth ran up to her sister, and, seeing her well guarded from cold, attended her into the drawing-room; where she was welcomed by her two friends with many professions of pleasure; and Elizabeth had never seen them so agreeable as they were during the hour which passed before the gentlemen appeared. Their powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an entertainment with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh at their acquaintance with spirit.

But when the gentlemen entered, Jane was no longer the first object. Miss Bingley's eyes were instantly turned towards Darcy, and she had something to say to him before he had advanced many steps. He addressed himself directly to Miss Bennet, with a polite congratulation; Mr. Hurst also made her a slight bow, and said he was“very glad;”but diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley's salutation. He was full of joy and attention. The first half hour was spent in piling up the fire, lest she should suffer from the change of room; and she removed at his desire to the other side of the fireplace, that she might be farther from the door. He then sat down by her, and talked scarcely to any one else. Elizabeth, at work in the opposite corner, saw it all with great delight.

When tea was over, Mr. Hurst reminded his sister-in-law of the card-table-but in vain. She had obtained private intelligence that Mr. Darcy did not wish for cards; and Mr. Hurst soon found even his open petition rejected. She assured him that no one intended to play, and the silence of the whole party on the subject seemed to justify her. Mr. Hurst had therefore nothing to do but to stretch himself on one of the sophas and go to sleep. Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same; and Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings, joined now and then in her brother's conversation with Miss Bennet.

Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question, and read on. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said,“How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!—When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

No one made any reply. She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement; when, hearing her brother mentioning a ball to Miss Bennet, she turned suddenly towards him and said,

“By the bye, Charles, are you really serious in meditating a dance at Netherfield? —I would advise you, before you determine on it, to consult the wishes of the present party; I am much mistaken if there are not some among us to whom a ball would be rather a punishment than a pleasure.”

“If you mean Darcy,”cried her brother,“he may go to bed, if he chooses, before it begins-but as for the ball, it is quite a settled thing; and as soon as Nicholls has made white soup enough I shall send round my cards.”

“I should like balls infinitely better,”she replied,“if they were carried on in a different manner;but there is something insufferably tedious in the usual process of such a meeting. It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day.”

“Much more rational, my dear Caroline, I dare say, but it would not be near so much like a ball.”

Miss Bingley made no answer; and soon afterwards got up and walked about the room. Her figure was elegant, and she walked well; —but Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious. In the desperation of her feelings she resolved on one effort more; and turning to Elizabeth, said,

“Miss Eliza Bennet, let me persuade you to follow my example, and take a turn about the room. —I assure you it is very refreshing after sitting so long in one attitude.”

Elizabeth was surprised, but agreed to it immediately. Miss Bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility; Mr. Darcy looked up. He was as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book. He was directly invited to join their party, but he declined it, observing that he could imagine but two motives for their chusing to walk up and down the room together, with either of which motives his joining them would interfere.“What could he mean? she was dying to know what could be his meaning”—and asked Elizabeth whether she could at all understand him?

“Not at all,”was her answer;“but depend upon it, he means to be severe on us, and our surest way of disappointing him will be to ask nothing about it.”

Miss Bingley, however, was incapable of disappointing Mr. Darcy in anything, and persevered therefore in requiring an explanation of his two motives.

“I have not the smallest objection to explaining them,”said he, as soon as she allowed him to speak.“You either choose this method of passing the evening because you are in each other's confidence, and have secret affairs to discuss, or because you are conscious that your figures appear to the greatest advantage in walking; —if the first, I should be completely in your way; —and if the second, I can admire you much better as I sit by the fire.”

“Oh! shocking!”cried Miss Bingley.“I never heard anything so abominable. How shall we punish him for such a speech?”

“Nothing so easy, if you have but the inclination,”said Elizabeth.“We can all plague and punish one another. Teaze him-laugh at him. -Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.”

“But upon my honour I do not. I do assure you that my intimacy has not yet taught me that. Teaze calmness of temper and presence of mind! No, no—I feel he may defy us there. And as to laughter, we will not expose ourselves, if you please, by attempting to laugh without a subject. Mr. Darcy may hug himself.”

“Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at!”cried Elizabeth.“That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance. I dearly love a laugh.”

“Miss Bingley,”said he,“has given me credit for more than can be. The wisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.”

“Certainly,”replied Elizabeth—“there are such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. —But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.”

“Perhaps that is not possible for any one. But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule.”

“Such as vanity and pride.”

“Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride-where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.”

Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile.

“Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume,”said Miss Bingley; —“and pray what is the result?”

“I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.”

“No”-said Darcy,“I have made no such pretension. I have faults enough, but they are not,I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. -It is I believe too little yielding-certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offences against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. -My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.”

“That is a failing indeed!”—cried Elizabeth.“Implacable resentment is a shade in a character. But you have chosen your fault well. —I really cannot laugh at it; you are safe from me.”

“There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.”

“And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.”

“And yours,”he replied with a smile,“is wilfully to misunderstand them.”

“Do let us have a little music,”—cried Miss Bingley, tired of a conversation in which she had no share. —“Louisa, you will not mind my waking Mr. Hurst.”

Her sister made not the smallest objection, and the piano-forte was opened, and Darcy, after a few moments recollection, was not sorry for it. He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.

晚饭过后，太太小姐们离开餐厅，伊丽莎白跑去姐姐那里，见她裹得严严实实，不会受凉，就陪她进了客厅。她在那里受到了两位朋友的欢迎。她们连声说见到她非常高兴。在男士们到来之前的那个小时，伊丽莎白从来没有看到过她们那样和蔼可亲。她们的交谈能力相当了得。她们描述宴会能细致入微，叙述奇闻趣事幽默风趣，嘲笑朋友则声情并茂。

而当两位先生进来之后，简不再是首选的目标。宾利小姐的目光马上转向达西，还没等他向前走多少步，她就有话对他说。他马上礼貌地向贝内特小姐表示问候；赫斯特先生也向她微微鞠躬，说他“非常高兴”；不过，最周到和热情的还是宾利的问候。他充满喜悦和关怀。前半小时花在了添煤上，唯恐她会因屋里温度的变化而受罪；按照宾利的心愿，简移到了壁炉的另一边，那样她就离门口远了些。随后，他在她的身边坐下来，几乎不跟其他人说话。伊丽莎白在对面角落做着活计，把这一切都看在眼里，感到心花怒放。

喝完茶后，赫斯特先生提醒他的小姨子摆好牌桌——但无济于事。她早就看出达西先生不想打牌；赫斯特先生公开提出要打牌，也被她拒绝了。她向他保证说，谁也不想打牌，全场对这件事都默不作声，似乎证明她说的没错。因此，赫斯特先生无事可做，只好躺在沙发上睡觉。达西拿起一本书，宾利小姐也拿起了一本；赫斯特太太聚精会神地把玩着自己的手镯和戒指，偶尔在她的弟弟和贝内特小姐交谈时说上几句话。

宾利小姐一方面专心致志地看自己的书，一方面又在观察达西先生看书的进度；她要么不断询问，要么看他读到了哪一页。然而，她引不起达西的任何话题；他只是问一句答一句，然后继续看书。最后，宾利小姐之所以只选那本书，是因为那是达西看的第二卷，她本想读得津津有味，却筋疲力尽，就打了个大哈欠，说：“夜晚要这样度过是多么愉快啊！我敢说，什么乐趣也比不上看书！做什么事儿都很快就会厌倦，看书却不会！——等我有了自己的家，要是没有一个出色的书房，我会非常难过。”

谁也没有搭腔。于是，她又打了个哈欠，把书扔到一边，目光环顾了一下房间，要寻找一些乐趣，这时听到她的哥哥向贝内特小姐提起舞会，她突然转向他说道：

“对了，查尔斯，你是当真想在内瑟菲尔德庄园举行舞会吗？——我要劝你，在决定这件事之前，先问问在座的心愿；要是我们当中没有人觉得跳舞是受罪而不是享乐，那我就大错特错了。”

“你要是指达西的话，”她的哥哥大声说道，“那他就可以在舞会开始之前上床睡觉，随他的便——但说到舞会，那完全是定好的事儿；尼科尔斯一准备好，我就发请帖。”

宾利小姐说：“要是开舞会能换换花样，那我就会更喜欢；可是，舞会上通常的老一套乏味透顶，让人受不了。要是把那一天的日程改一下，用交谈代替跳舞，那肯定就会合理得多了。”

“亲爱的卡罗琳，也许会更合理，但那就完全不像舞会了。”

宾利小姐没有回答，过了一会儿站起身，在房间里走来走去。她身段优美，走姿好看；——但是，一切都是针对达西，他依然专心看书，不为所动。她感到失望，决心再努力一次，就转向伊丽莎白，说道：

“伊莱扎·贝内特小姐，我劝你像我这样，在房间里转一圈。——我向你保证，一个姿势坐了很久以后，转一圈非常提神。”

伊丽莎白感到惊讶，但马上同意。宾利小姐温文尔雅的真正目的果然达到了；达西先生抬起了头。他跟伊丽莎白本人一样完全明白了她标新立异是想引人注目，不知不觉地合上了书。宾利小姐马上邀请他一块走走，但他婉言谢绝，说他可以想象到，她们选择在客厅里一起走来走去只能有两种动机，无论出于哪种动机，他跟着她们一起走，都会成为妨碍。“他能是什么意思呢？”她很想知道他可能是什么意思——便问伊丽莎白是否能听得懂他是什么意思。

“根本不懂，”伊丽莎白答道，“但我敢说，他是有意为难我们，所以让他失望的最可靠方法就是什么也不要问。”

然而，宾利小姐什么事儿都不会让达西先生失望，所以坚持要他解释两种动机。

等她一住口，他就说道：“我完全不反对来解释它们。你们选择这种方法度过夜晚，要么是因为相互信任，有私密事儿讨论，要么是因为你们觉得走路时你们的身段显得最好看；——要是第一种，我就会完全妨碍你们；要是第二种，我坐在火炉边欣赏你们就会好得多。”

“噢！真讨厌！”宾利小姐叫道，“我从来没有听到过这样讨厌的话。他这样说，我们要怎么罚他？”

“只要你想罚，那是再容易不过的事儿了，”伊丽莎白说，“我们彼此可以相互折磨和惩罚。戏弄他——嘲笑他。——既然你们亲密，你就一定知道该怎么做。”

“可我的确不知道。我向你保证，我跟他亲密是亲密，而他还没有教会我怎么做。戏弄性情冷静、镇定沉着的人！不，不——我觉得他会使我们希望落空。至于嘲笑，对不起，我们企图凭空嘲笑，就会出洋相。达西先生就会沾沾自喜。”

“达西先生没有什么可嘲笑的！”伊丽莎白嚷道，“这是一个难得的优点。我希望一直难得，因为这样的朋友多了，对我的损失就会很大。我非常喜欢笑话。”

“宾利小姐，”他说，“对我过奖了。要是一个人生活的首选目标是嘲笑，最聪明和最出色的人也就会变得荒谬可笑。”

“肯定，”伊丽莎白答道——“有这种人，但我希望我不是其中之一。我希望我从不嘲笑聪明或美好之事。愚蠢无聊、反复无常和自相矛盾的确让我开心；而且，我承认，只要有可能，我就会嘲笑。不过，我想，这些你正好没有吧。”

“也许谁也不可能做到这一点。而我一生都在研究怎样去避免那些弱点，因为那些弱点常常使智力发达的人受到嘲笑。”

“比如虚荣和傲慢。”

“是的，虚荣的确是一种弱点。可是，傲慢——要是真正聪明过人，傲慢总是会恰到好处。”

伊丽莎白转过身，掩饰自己的笑容。

“我想，你对达西先生的盘问即结束了吧，”宾利小姐说——“请问结果怎么样？”

“我完全相信达西先生没有任何缺点。他自己也承认了这一点，没有掩饰。”

“不，”达西说，“我绝对没有这样自负过。我有足够的缺点，但我希望不是智力上的缺点。我的脾气我不敢担保。——我相信我的脾气太缺乏让步精神——当然是在与人方便方面太缺乏让步精神。我无法尽快忘记别人的愚蠢和恶行，也无法尽快忘记别人对我本人的冒犯。我的情绪不是每努力动一下就会松动。我的脾气也许会让人怨恨。——一旦对人失去好感，我就会永远失去。”

“这的确是一个缺点！”伊丽莎白大声说道，“毫不留情的怨恨在性格上是一个阴影。可你已经严格挑出了自己的缺点。——我真的不能嘲笑它了；你对我放心好了。”

“我相信，每个人的性格都倾向于犯某种特定的错误，这是一种天生的缺陷，即使最好的教育也克服不了。”

“而你的缺点就是倾向于怨恨别人。”

“而你的缺点，”达西微笑着答道，“就是任意误解别人。”

“请让我们听点音乐吧，”宾利小姐对这场自己无法参与的谈话感到厌倦，大声说道，“路易莎，你不会介意我吵醒赫斯特先生吧。”

她的姐姐毫不反对，于是钢琴就打开了。达西想了一会儿，觉得没有什么惋惜的，就开始感觉到了对伊丽莎白过分关注的危险性。