06-03-傲慢与偏见 [72]
address．He went to see Wickham，and insisted on seeing Lydia，hoping to persuade her to return to her family．However，Lydia told him she only cared for Wickham，and had no intention of leaving him，whether he married her or not Wickham privately told Mr Darcy that he had left the regiment because of his gam- bling debts，not because he intended to marry Lydia，and that he was still hoping to find and marry a woman of fortune in order to have a comfortable income．It was clearly necessary to persuade him to marry Lydia as soon as possible，and Mr Darcy had several meetings with Wickham to arrange finan- cisl matters with him Finally，Mr Darcy was able to visit your uncle，as I have said，to explain the whole business，and to in- sist that he alone should be responsible for paying Wickham the promised amount．Your uncle argued with him for a long time，but our visitor was so obstinate that Mr Gardiner even- tually had to agree．I think，Lizzy，that obstinacy is Mr Darcy's real fault，rather than any of the other faults of which he has been accused．He paid Wickham several thousand pounds，for past debts and future expenses，and attended the wedding to make a final payment．And in spite of Mr Darcy's declared motives，my dear Lizzy，you may be sure that your uncle would never have given in，if we had not assumed that Mr Darcy had another interest in the matter．Will you be very angry with me，my dear Lizzy，if I take this opportunity of saying how much I like him？His behaviour to us has always been as agreeable as when we were in Derbyshire．I think that if he marries the right woman，his wife may teach him to become more sociable．Please forgive me if I have assumed too much，or at least do not punish me by not inviting me to Pemberley．I shall never be happy until I have been all the way round the park．
But I must go to my children now．
Yours very sincerely，
M．Gardiner
Elizabeth read this letter with a mixture of pleasure and pain． Mr Darcy had thought so little of his pride that he had spent considerable time，effort and money on two people for whom he must feel the greatest disdain．He had even had to bargain with Wickham！She could not believe he had done all this for her，a woman who had already rejected him．But the fact remained that she and her family owed him everything．How bitterly she now regretted criticizing and mocking him in the past！She was ashamed of herself，but she was proud of him，proud that in a matter of honour，he had been able to conquer his own pride．She was even rather pleased，if a little regretful，that her aunt and uncle had felt sure that there was mutual affection be- tween Mr Darcy and herself．
Mrs Bennet was quite depressed when Lydia and Wickham left Longbourn to travel north to Newcastle．But soon Mrs Philips brought the happy news that Mr Bingley was expected to return to Netherfield in a day or two，and Mrs Bennet be- came very excited．She made preparations to invite him to din- ner，and counted the days that must pass before she could send the invitation．
However，on only the third morning after his arrival，she caught sight of him from her bedroom window，riding towards Longbourn House，with another gentleman，also on horseback．
‘Girls！Quickly！’she cried．‘Mr Bingley is coming！And who's that with him？It must be Mr Darcy，that tall，proud man．Well，as he is Mr Bingley's friend，we must be polite to him，but I must say，I hate the sight of him．’
Both Jane and Elizabeth felt uncomfortable，and sympathized with each other．Jane was nervous about meeting Bingley again，and determined not to show her feelings．Elizabeth was uneasy at the thought of seeing Darcy，as she was the only one who knew how much the whole family owed him，in spite of their general dislike of him．She was astonished that he had come to see her，and for a moment she allowed herself to hope that his affection and wishes might still be the same．
But I must go to my children now．
Yours very sincerely，
M．Gardiner
Elizabeth read this letter with a mixture of pleasure and pain． Mr Darcy had thought so little of his pride that he had spent considerable time，effort and money on two people for whom he must feel the greatest disdain．He had even had to bargain with Wickham！She could not believe he had done all this for her，a woman who had already rejected him．But the fact remained that she and her family owed him everything．How bitterly she now regretted criticizing and mocking him in the past！She was ashamed of herself，but she was proud of him，proud that in a matter of honour，he had been able to conquer his own pride．She was even rather pleased，if a little regretful，that her aunt and uncle had felt sure that there was mutual affection be- tween Mr Darcy and herself．
Mrs Bennet was quite depressed when Lydia and Wickham left Longbourn to travel north to Newcastle．But soon Mrs Philips brought the happy news that Mr Bingley was expected to return to Netherfield in a day or two，and Mrs Bennet be- came very excited．She made preparations to invite him to din- ner，and counted the days that must pass before she could send the invitation．
However，on only the third morning after his arrival，she caught sight of him from her bedroom window，riding towards Longbourn House，with another gentleman，also on horseback．
‘Girls！Quickly！’she cried．‘Mr Bingley is coming！And who's that with him？It must be Mr Darcy，that tall，proud man．Well，as he is Mr Bingley's friend，we must be polite to him，but I must say，I hate the sight of him．’
Both Jane and Elizabeth felt uncomfortable，and sympathized with each other．Jane was nervous about meeting Bingley again，and determined not to show her feelings．Elizabeth was uneasy at the thought of seeing Darcy，as she was the only one who knew how much the whole family owed him，in spite of their general dislike of him．She was astonished that he had come to see her，and for a moment she allowed herself to hope that his affection and wishes might still be the same．