INSTEAD OF RECEIVING any such letter of excuse from his friend, as Elizabeth half expected Mr. Bingley to do, he was able to bring
Darcy with him to Longbourn before many days had passed after
Lady Catherine’s visit. The gentlemen arrived early; and before Mrs.
Bennet had time to tell him of their having seen his aunt, of which her daughter sat in momentary dread, Bingley, who wanted to be alone with Jane, proposed their all walking out. It was agreed to. Mrs.
Bennet was not in the habit of walking, Mary could never spare time, but the remaining five set off together. Bingley and Jane, however, soon allowed the others to outstrip them. They lagged behind, while
Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy were to entertain each other. Very little was said by either; Kitty was too
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I shall offer to pay him to-morrow; he will rant and storm about his love for you, and there will be an end of the matter.” He then recollected her embarrassment a few days before on his reading Mr. Collins’s letter; and after laughing at her some time, allowed her at last to go—saying, as she quitted the room, “If any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at leisure.” Elizabeth’s mind was now relieved from a very heavy weight; and after half an hour’s quiet reflection in her own room, she was able to join the others with tolerable composure. Everything was too recent for gaiety, but the evening passed tranquilly away; there was no longer anything material to be dreaded, and the comfort of ease and
familiarity would come in time.
When her mother went up to her dressing-room at night, she followed her, and made the important communication. Its effect was most extraordinary; for on first hearing it, Mrs. Bennet sat quite still and unable to utter a syllable. Nor was it under many, many minutes that she could comprehend what she heard, though not in general backward to credit what was for the advantage of her family, or