06-03-傲慢与偏见 [64]
妹妹来到了蓝白屯的旅馆，拜访伊丽莎白和嘉丁纳夫妇。嘉丁纳夫妇对这种殊荣甚感吃惊，但伊丽莎白明显的尴尬神色加上达西匆忙地安排如此紧迫的拜访，不久就给他们俩提供了解释。在拜访中他们俩密切地观察外甥女和达西的行为，结论是，毫无疑问，这位先生已经爱上了小姐，但小姐的感情还不敢确定。
伊丽莎白喜悦地发现乔治安娜·达西不像韦翰所说的那样，根本谈不上高傲，只是十分羞怯，举止十分恬静、温柔。很明显，她很钦佩哥哥，并极欲同班纳特小姐结交，因为达西尽说她的好话。伊丽莎白还高兴地看到，和达西兄妹同行的彬格莱似乎对乔治安娜小姐不是特别感兴趣，这一点就由不得卡罗琳·彬格莱了。她还不得不承认，她还从来没有见过达西先生的举止这样随和，这样令人高兴，不但对她如此，而且对自己的亲戚也如此。然而，最后一次在汉斯福教区长住宅谈话时，他曾如此鄙夷地说到她的亲戚。伊丽莎白本人也比往常更加急于使自己的形象在所有人面前显得和蔼可亲。她成功地做到了这一点，因为彬格莱时刻准备着接受她这种形象，乔治安娜渴望着接受她这种形象，达西下决心接受她这种形象。
达西小姐在哥哥的鼓励下，邀请伊丽莎白和嘉丁纳夫妇两天后到彭伯里赴宴。他们接受了邀请之后，达西兄妹和彬格莱先生就离开了，双方都说了很多暖烘烘的客气话。嘉丁纳夫妇对于外甥女对达西先生的感情感到十分好奇，但他们很小心，没有问她。
那天晚上，伊丽莎白翻来覆去整整两个小时未能入睡，她在努力弄清她对达西到底是什么感觉。她现在对他感到尊敬，和一定程度的爱慕，并且怀有深深的感激之情，不但是因为他以前爱过她，而且还因为他现在还爱她，爱得足以能够原谅她对他的断然拒绝，原谅她对他不公正的指责。在一个曾如此傲慢的人身上，她所注意到的这些变化，一定是因为他对自己的爱所致。既然她几乎可以肯定，如果她愿意的话，她可以鼓励他再次向自己求婚，那么，现在她只需决定在多大程度上她愿意涉足他未来的幸福，在这一点上，她现在已感到有了真正的兴趣。
■ 10 Lydia and Wickham
On the third morning of her visit to Lambton， Elizabeth received two letters from Jane．The first had been bad－ly addressed and sent elsewhere， then redirected．Her aunt and uncle were out walking，so she sat down to read them at once．The first had been written five days before，and started just as expected， with a description of Longbourn dinner parties and visits， but the second half of this letter was dated a day later，and was evidently written in a great hurry．This is what it said：
Since writing the above，dear Lizzy，something most unex－pected and serious has happened But do not wish to alarm you， we are all well．It concerns poor Lydia．An express letter came at midnight last night， when we were all in bed， from Colonel Forster， to inform us that she had run away to Scot－land with one of his officers，with Wickham， in fact！There，of course， she can marry without her parents’approval．Imagine our surprise．What a foolish marriage for both of them！But at least he is not interested in her money， as he must know my father can give her almost nothing．Kitty admits that she knew about Lydia's attachment to Wickham，from Lydia's letters．Our poor mother is very upset．I must finish now，as I cannot stay away from her for long．I hope you can read this．I hardly know what I have written．
Without allowing herself time to think， Elizabeth opened the second letter， dated a day later， and read impatiently：
My dearest sister，
I am so confused I cannot write properly．I have bad news for you
伊丽莎白喜悦地发现乔治安娜·达西不像韦翰所说的那样，根本谈不上高傲，只是十分羞怯，举止十分恬静、温柔。很明显，她很钦佩哥哥，并极欲同班纳特小姐结交，因为达西尽说她的好话。伊丽莎白还高兴地看到，和达西兄妹同行的彬格莱似乎对乔治安娜小姐不是特别感兴趣，这一点就由不得卡罗琳·彬格莱了。她还不得不承认，她还从来没有见过达西先生的举止这样随和，这样令人高兴，不但对她如此，而且对自己的亲戚也如此。然而，最后一次在汉斯福教区长住宅谈话时，他曾如此鄙夷地说到她的亲戚。伊丽莎白本人也比往常更加急于使自己的形象在所有人面前显得和蔼可亲。她成功地做到了这一点，因为彬格莱时刻准备着接受她这种形象，乔治安娜渴望着接受她这种形象，达西下决心接受她这种形象。
达西小姐在哥哥的鼓励下，邀请伊丽莎白和嘉丁纳夫妇两天后到彭伯里赴宴。他们接受了邀请之后，达西兄妹和彬格莱先生就离开了，双方都说了很多暖烘烘的客气话。嘉丁纳夫妇对于外甥女对达西先生的感情感到十分好奇，但他们很小心，没有问她。
那天晚上，伊丽莎白翻来覆去整整两个小时未能入睡，她在努力弄清她对达西到底是什么感觉。她现在对他感到尊敬，和一定程度的爱慕，并且怀有深深的感激之情，不但是因为他以前爱过她，而且还因为他现在还爱她，爱得足以能够原谅她对他的断然拒绝，原谅她对他不公正的指责。在一个曾如此傲慢的人身上，她所注意到的这些变化，一定是因为他对自己的爱所致。既然她几乎可以肯定，如果她愿意的话，她可以鼓励他再次向自己求婚，那么，现在她只需决定在多大程度上她愿意涉足他未来的幸福，在这一点上，她现在已感到有了真正的兴趣。
■ 10 Lydia and Wickham
On the third morning of her visit to Lambton， Elizabeth received two letters from Jane．The first had been bad－ly addressed and sent elsewhere， then redirected．Her aunt and uncle were out walking，so she sat down to read them at once．The first had been written five days before，and started just as expected， with a description of Longbourn dinner parties and visits， but the second half of this letter was dated a day later，and was evidently written in a great hurry．This is what it said：
Since writing the above，dear Lizzy，something most unex－pected and serious has happened But do not wish to alarm you， we are all well．It concerns poor Lydia．An express letter came at midnight last night， when we were all in bed， from Colonel Forster， to inform us that she had run away to Scot－land with one of his officers，with Wickham， in fact！There，of course， she can marry without her parents’approval．Imagine our surprise．What a foolish marriage for both of them！But at least he is not interested in her money， as he must know my father can give her almost nothing．Kitty admits that she knew about Lydia's attachment to Wickham，from Lydia's letters．Our poor mother is very upset．I must finish now，as I cannot stay away from her for long．I hope you can read this．I hardly know what I have written．
Without allowing herself time to think， Elizabeth opened the second letter， dated a day later， and read impatiently：
My dearest sister，
I am so confused I cannot write properly．I have bad news for you