Elizabeth's impatience to acquaint Jane with what had happened could no longer be overcome; and at length resolving to suppress every particular in which her sister was concerned, and preparing her to be surprised, she related to her the next morning the chief of the scene between Mr. Darcy and herself.
Miss Bennet's astonishment was soon lessened by the strong sisterly partiality which made any admiration of Elizabeth appear perfectly natural; and all surprise was shortly lost in other feelings. She was sorry that Mr. Darcy should have delivered his sentiments in a manner so little suited to recommend them; but still more was she grieved for the unhappiness which her sister's refusal must have given him.
"His being so sure of succeeding, was wrong," said she; "and certainly ought not to have appeared; but consider how much it must increase his disappointment."
"Indeed," replied Elizabeth, "I am heartily sorry for him; but he has other feelings which will probably soon drive away his regard for me. You do not blame me, however, for refusing him?"
"Blame you! Oh, no."
"But you blame me for having spoken so warmly of Wickham."
"No -- I do not know that you were wrong in saying what you did."
"But you will know it, when I have told you what happened the very next day."
She then spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents as far as they concerned George Wickham. What a stroke was this for poor Jane! who would willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind, as was here collected in one individual. Nor was Darcy's vindication, though grateful to her feelings, capable of consoling her for such discovery. Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error, and seek to clear one without involving the other.
"This will not do," said Elizabeth. "You never will be able to make both of them good for any thing. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Mr. Darcy's, but you shall do as you chuse."
It was some time, however, before a smile could be extorted from Jane.
"I do not know when I have been more shocked," said she. "Wickham so very bad! It is almost past belief. And poor Mr. Darcy! dear Lizzy, only consider what he must have suffered. Such a disappointment! and with the knowledge of your ill opinion too! and having to relate such a thing of his sister! It is really too distressing. I am sure you must feel it so."
"Oh! no, my regret and compassion are all done away by seeing you so full of both. I know you will do him such ample justice, that I am growing every moment more unconcerned and indifferent. Your profusion makes me saving; and if you lament over him much longer, my heart will be as light as a feather."
"Poor Wickham; there is such an expression of goodness in his countenance! such an openness and gentleness in his manner."
"There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it."
"I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the appearance of it as you used to do."
"And yet I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him, without any reason. It is such a spur to one's genius, such an opening for wit to have a dislike of that kind. One may be continually abusive without saying any thing just; but one cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty."
"Lizzy when you first read that letter, I am sure you could not treat the matter as you do now."
"Indeed I could not. I was uncomfortable enough. I was very uncomfortable, I may say unhappy. And with no one to speak to of what I felt, no Jane to comfort me and say that I had not been so very weak and vain and nonsensical as I knew I had! Oh! how I wanted you!"
"How unfortunate that you should have used such very strong expressions in speaking of Wickham to Mr. Darcy, for now they do appear wholly undeserved."
"Certainly. But the misfortune of speaking with bitterness is a most natural consequence of the prejudices I had been encouraging. There is one point on which I want your advice. I want to be told whether I ought, or ought not, to make our acquaintance in general understand Wickham's character."
Miss Bennet paused a little and then replied, "Surely there can be no occasion for exposing him so dreadfully. What is your own opinion?"
"That it ought not to be attempted. Mr. Darcy has not authorised me to make his communication public. On the contrary, every particular relative to his sister was meant to be kept as much as possible to myself; and if I endeavour to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent, that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton to attempt to place him in an amiable light. I am not equal to it. Wickham will soon be gone; and therefore it will not signify to anybody here, what he really is. Sometime hence it will be all found out, and then we may laugh at their stupidity in not knowing it before. At present I will say nothing about it."
"You are quite right. To have his errors made public might ruin him for ever. He is now perhaps sorry for what he has done, and anxious to re-establish a character. We must not make him desperate."
The tumult of Elizabeth's mind was allayed by this conversation. She had got rid of two of the secrets which had weighed on her for a fortnight, and was certain of a willing listener in Jane, whenever she might wish to talk again of either. But there was still something lurking behind, of which prudence forbad the disclosure. She dared not relate the other half of Mr. Darcy's letter, nor explain to her sister how sincerely she had been valued by his friend. Here was knowledge in which no one could partake; and she was sensible that nothing less than a perfect understanding between the parties could justify her in throwing off this last incumbrance of mystery. "And then," said she, "if that very improbable event should ever take place, I shall merely be able to tell what Bingley may tell in a much more agreeable manner himself. The liberty of communication cannot be mine till it has lost all its value!"
She was now, on being settled at home, at leisure to observe the real state of her sister's spirits. Jane was not happy. She still cherished a very tender affection for Bingley. Having never even fancied herself in love before, her regard had all the warmth of first attachment, and, from her age and disposition, greater steadiness than first attachments often boast; and so fervently did she value his remembrance, and prefer him to every other man, that all her good sense, and all her attention to the feelings of her friends, were requisite to check the indulgence of those regrets which must have been injurious to her own health and their tranquillity.
"Well, Lizzy," said Mrs. Bennet one day, "what is your opinion now of this sad business of Jane's? For my part, I am determined never to speak of it again to anybody. I told my sister Philips so the other day. But I cannot find out that Jane saw any thing of him in London. Well, he is a very undeserving young man -- and I do not suppose there is the least chance in the world of her ever getting him now. There is no talk of his coming to Netherfield again in the summer; and I have enquired of every body, too, who is likely to know."
"I do not believe that he will ever live at Netherfield any more."
"Oh, well! it is just as he chooses. Nobody wants him to come. Though I shall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill; and if I was her, I would not have put up with it. Well, my comfort is, I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry for what he has done."
But as Elizabeth could not receive comfort from any such expectation, she made no answer.
"Well, Lizzy," continued her mother soon afterwards, "and so the Collinses live very comfortable, do they? Well, well, I only hope it will last. And what sort of table do they keep? Charlotte is an excellent manager, I dare say. If she is half as sharp as her mother, she is saving enough. There is nothing extravagant in their housekeeping, I dare say."
"No, nothing at all."
"A great deal of good management, depend upon it. Yes, yes. They will take care not to outrun their income. They will never be distressed for money. Well, much good may it do them! And so, I suppose, they often talk of having Longbourn when your father is dead. They look upon it quite as their own, I dare say, whenever that happens."
"It was a subject which they could not mention before me."
"No. It would have been strange if they had. But I make no doubt, they often talk of it between themselves. Well, if they can be easy with an estate that is not lawfully their own, so much the better. I should be ashamed of having one that was only entailed on me."
--正文
伊丽莎白之前忍着不告诉简发生的事情，但是现在她再也忍不住了。最终，她决定关于姐姐的事情只字不提，她预料到姐姐会很惊讶，第二天早上就把达西和自己的事情告诉了她。
简一开始的惊讶很快就被姐妹间的偏爱替代了，这种偏爱让人觉得不论如何爱慕伊丽莎白都很正常。很快惊讶就都让位于其它感情了。简很抱歉达西选择了这么一个不合适的方式，倾诉了自己的感情。但是想到自己妹妹的拒绝会让他多么难受，她又悲伤起来。
“他那么胸有成竹是不对的，“简说，”而且更不应该表现出来。但是想想这会让他多么失望吧！“
”是啊，“伊丽莎白回复说，”我真诚地为他感到抱歉，但是他还有些其它想法，应该很快就会忘了对我的感觉。你不怪我拒绝了她吧？“
”怪你？没有没有。“
”但是你怪我之前对维克汉姆那么好。“
”也没有，我不知道你之前那么说有什么错。“
”但是我把下一天发生的事情告诉你，你就会知道我错了。“
然后她就说起了那封信，把所有涉及到维克汉姆的事情都重复了一遍。这对于可怜的简是多么大的打击。她无论如何也不会相信，身边竟然有个人能把这个世上邪恶的事情做尽。而达西的证词虽然让她好受一些，可是发现了这样一件事情，她也无法感到安慰。她还是想证明可能有什么误会，试图替双方辩护。
”这是不行的，“伊丽莎白说，”你不可能让他们两人同时做好人的。随你相信哪个，但是你只能相信一个。他们两人之间只有这么多优点，只够分给一个人的。而且现在再摇摆不定已经太晚了，我更愿意相信达西的说法，但是你可以自由选择。“
花了好一会儿，简才勉强挤出一个笑容来。
”我不知道啥时候有像现在这么震惊过，“她说，”维克汉姆可真是太坏了，简直是难以置信的坏。可怜的达西！利兹，你快想想他承受了多少？他应该是失望透顶，现在又知道了你那么贬低他。而且这事还跟自己的亲妹妹有关。想想他该有多大压力吧！我相信你也感受到了。“
”没有没有，我看到你那么遗憾又充满同情，我就没啥感觉了。我知道你肯定会给他满满的公平，所以我就越来越不关心，越来越冷漠了。你的感情那么多，正好我就省了一些。你要是再替他难受的话，我可就毫不在乎了。“
”可怜的维克汉姆，小伙子长得倒挺周正的，举止也落落大方，绅士风度，咋就做出了这事。“
”这两位年轻人肯定小时候没教育好。一个是大圣人但是长得丑，另一个呢长得帅但是一肚子坏水。“
”我可没觉得达西先生像你说的那样，长得丑。“
”而我之前毫无理由地讨厌达西，我还觉得是非常聪明的做法。这对于一个人来说其实是种激励，会激励你增长智慧。。一个人可以一直骂人，说不出什么好话，但是一个人如果不停地笑话一个人，总能说出两句机灵话。“
“利兹，你一开始读那封信的时候，我肯定不像现在这样故作轻松。”
“确实没办法。当时我可是难受得不得了。非常不舒服，甚至可以说不开心了。而且也没人能说说心里话，没有简来安慰我，告诉我其实自己十分脆弱，无助，又丧失理智了，我知道自己确实这样。我真的需要你。”
“你跟达西提维克汉姆事情的时候，真不该那样的，因为现在看来真是不值得。”
“确实。但是我之所以那样激烈的说，也是自己一直以来的偏见的引导。有一件事情我需要你的意见。我们应不应该告诉别人维克汉姆的真实样子？”
本内特小姐顿了一会，说：“我们最好不要这样揭露他。你自己觉得呢？”
“最好还是别吧，达西没有授权我公开他说的话呢。恰恰相反，涉及到维克汉姆和他妹妹的事情，我都应该保密。而如果我告诉别人他其余的行为，又有谁会信我呢？这儿的人都对达西有强烈的偏见，要是说了这事，梅屯有一半的好乡亲会接受不了的。我也没有好办法。维克汉姆很快就会离开，因此他具体是什么样的人，对于这儿的人来说并不重要。也许以后他们都知道了，我们就笑笑他们之前多么蠢。但是现在我是不会说的。”
“你说的对。这时候把他的错误曝出来，可能会毁了他。他现在可能会为之前的事情后悔，正给予重塑自己呢。我们最好别让他绝望。”
说完这些话，伊丽莎白躁动的心终于放松了夏利。她终于卸下了两周来一直压在心头的两个秘密，而且现在只要她想提起这些话题，简都会愿意听。但还是有些事情，因为谨慎考虑，而不得不隐瞒起来。她不敢提起达西信上的另一半内容，也不敢跟她姐姐说宾利是多么得珍惜她。这件事是别人不能知道的。伊丽莎白明白在谜底揭晓之前，只有让双方之间完全说清楚了对她姐姐才公平。“到那个时候，”她说，“如果那件概率极小的事情真的发生了，我便把这个秘密说出来，不过到那时候，宾利先生自己说得会更动听一些。除非这事没有发生，不然我是不会提起的。”
回到家后，她才有闲心来观察简的精神状态。简并不开心。她对于宾利还是有着温柔的喜爱。简从来没想过自己会坠入爱河，她的柔情还带有初遇时的喜爱，但是又有着她这个年纪和性格的人，所少有的专情。她还在热情地回忆着他的过往，瞧不上别的男人。幸亏她明白事理，也照顾了朋友的请先许，这才没有多愁善感，否则一定会毁了她的健康，扰了心境。
有一天，本内特太太说：“栗子，你觉得你姐姐这件事情怎么办？就我而言，我已经决定不跟任何人提起这件事。前两天我还跟菲利普妹妹说了。但是我不知道简在伦敦有没有找到他。反正我觉得这个男人不值，但是我不觉得她有机会再得到他了。夏天的时候再没人提起他要来耐热屯了，我已经跟可能的知情人都打听过了。”
“我觉得他再也不会在耐热屯住了。”
“嗯，这也是他选的。反正也没人想他来。我常说他可是把我女儿害惨了，如果我是她，我可不会忍着这些事情。反正让我舒心的是，我女儿肯定会伤心而死，到时候他就会后悔自己做得事情了。”
但是伊丽莎白没法这么想，所以她也没搭话。
“栗子，”本内特太太又接着说，“柯林斯那两口子过得日子很好吧？我反正希望人家好日子过长一点。他们用什么样的桌子？我敢说夏洛特是个好管家。如果她像她老妈一样机灵的话，那肯定省了不少钱。我估计这家子不会铺张浪费。”
“当然了，一点也不会浪费。”
“家管得好不好，就看这个了。是啊，他们得小心些，不能超支，他们是不会愁没钱花的。希望他们都能过得好。而且我猜他们肯定说等你父亲死了，就来接收蘑菇屯。我敢说，不管你父亲什么时候去世，他们已经把这当成他们自己的财产了。”
“他们没在我面前提这个话题。”
“那肯定不会，要是这么做了才尴尬。但是我敢保，他们私底下肯定天天说。如果他们能安心接受一片本来不属于他们的地产，那真是再好不过了。我要是有这么片地产只有自己能继承，那我才真要害臊呢！”（翻译官：本内特太太已经发动了恰柠檬技能。）
网友评论