by Jane Austen
2. obeisance: bow; respectful or deferential gesture.
3. The melancholy scene being their departure from Lady Catherine, which Mr. Collins assumes would distress anyone.
4. dull: listless, gloomy.
5. Lady Catherine's hospitality to them expands now that she again has no other guests.
6. How furious Lady Catherine would indeed have been is revealed later. Elizabeth's indulgence in such speculations is a sign that, amidst her distress, she has retained her humor and playfulness. It also shows that the idea of marriage to Darcy has not departed her mind completely.
7. The real reason for Darcy's unhappy state can be guessed: that he is far from having recovered from Elizabeth's rejection. Jane Austen often uses this technique of communicating important information about a character through someone else's casual reporting of what they have done or said.
8. out of spirits: downcast, in poor spirits.
A barouche. The top can fold down to allow for an open ride. The perch on the upper left is the barouche box. See p. 391, note 11.
[From T. Fuller, An Essay on Wheel Carnages (London, 1828), Plate No. 6]
9. Elizabeth is probably being sarcastic here, though not in such an obvious way that Lady Catherine notices, for the latter is inviting Elizabeth to stay at someone else's home.
10. Lady Catherine's confident expectation, while reflecting her belief in her own omniscience, is not unreasonable in itself. Visits this long were common in their milieu, a result both of the abundance of leisure, especially among women, and of the time and trouble involved in traveling. Jane Ben-net is still in the midst of a stay of more than four months with the Gardiners. Jane Austen herself often stayed with relations for many weeks, and sometimes even for months.
11. Barouche box: a barouche is a fancy carriage, popular among the wealthy; Jane Austen confesses in a letter to a sense of unnatural elegance from riding in one (May 24, 1813). The box is the seat on the outside containing the driver (see picture on p. 389). Lady Catherine's idea is that Daw-son, her servant, would join the driver there and free up one place inside—the barouche seats four, and the others would be Lady Catherine, her daughter, and Mrs. Jenkinson. Lady Catherine's second offer is, if it is not too warm for such crowding, to allow three people—presumably Elizabeth, Maria, and Mrs. Jenkinson—to squeeze together on one side on a seat for two. It is thus not an extremely generous offer, especially since it is only 20 miles from this area of Kent to London, so Elizabeth and Maria would receive only a short ride in return for staying an extra month.
12. post: the main method of traveling between towns for wealthier people. Unlike a public coach, which was used by those unable to afford better means of travel and is almost never seen in Jane Austen, traveling post involved the use of a separate, private carriage (either one's own or a rented one). The horses pulling the carriage would be rented, however, and would be changed at posts along the way (hence the name).
13. Lady Catherine's dislike of women traveling without an escort is normal for the time, for women, especially genteel unmarried women, were considered to need escorts to avoid danger as well as any possibility of sexual impropriety or scandal. Jane Austen often speaks in her letters of adjusting travel plans so that she or her sister will have a man to accompany them.
14. Ramsgate: a resort town—see p. 372 and p. 373, note 64. The irony is that, even with the elaborate precautions taken for Miss Darcy's journey to Ramsgate, the lack of a suitable guardian for her there almost led to disaster.
15. John: a lower servant, probably a footman; this is indicated by his being called by his first name (in contrast to Dawson).
16. It would be a male servant because his purpose would be to escort the women, and thus prevent a situation of women traveling by themselves. Having such a servant is worthy of note for Lady Catherine because male servants cost more, both because they commanded higher salaries and because there was a special tax on them (higher than the one on female servants). Partly for these reasons the proportion of servants who were female had steadily grown over the eighteenth century; by the early 1800's it was more than 85%. All this made keeping a man-servant a mark of status.
17. change horses: as mentioned above, this was part of traveling post; it was necessary because horses would tire and need to rest after a certain distance. The system of post-horses was very well organized by this time, so normally each changing post had fresh sets of horses constantly on hand, and one of these sets would be immediately attached to the carriage in order to allow the travelers to continue onward with very little wait.
18. Bromley: a town on the road to London; it is at the approximate midpoint between the area where they are now, near Westerham, and London, and thus would be a logical stopping point. See map, p. 745.
19. the Bell: probably the name of the inn at Bromley; inns were usually the places where fresh horses were available. The inn could also supply refreshment for the travelers during the short time they were waiting for the horses to be changed.
20. She could be remembering his resentful references to her rejection of him or his proud refusal to acknowledge being wrong in his actions regarding Jane and Bingley.
21. This indicates the continued limits in her regard for Darcy. Much more will need to occur before they can be united.
22. chagrin: anxiety, melancholy.
23. This characteristic of Mr. Bennet has already been displayed; it is now that its harsh consequences for the family begin to become more apparent.
24. insensible: unaware.
25. situation: marital situation.
26. developement: disclosure, unveiling.
Chapter Fifteen
O n Saturday morning Elizabeth and Mr. Collins met for breakfast a few minutes before the others appeared; and he took the opportunity of paying the parting civilities which he deemed indispensably necessary.1
“I know not, Miss Elizabeth” said he, “whether Mrs. Collins has yet expressed her sense of your kindness in coming to us, but I am very certain you will not leave the house without receiving her thanks for it. The favour of your company has been much felt, I assure you. We know how little there is to tempt any one to our humble abode. Our plain manner of living, our small rooms, and few domestics,2 and the little we see of the world, must make Hunsford extremely dull to a young lady like yourself; but I hope you will believe us grateful for the condescension,3 and that we have done every thing in our power to prevent your spending your time unpleasantly.”
Elizabeth was eager with her thanks and assurances of happiness. She had spent six weeks with great enjoyment; and the pleasure of being with Charlotte, and the kind attentions she had received, must make her feel the obliged. Mr. Collins was gratified; and with a more smiling solemnity replied,
“It gives me the greatest pleasure to hear that you have passed your time not disagreeably. We have certainly done our best; and most fortunately having it in our power to introduce you to very superior society, and from our connection with Rosings, the frequent means of varying the humble home scene, I think we may flatter ourselves that your Hunsford visit cannot have been entirely irksome. Our situation with regard to Lady Catherine's family is indeed the sort of extraordinary advantage and blessing which few can boast. You see on what a footing we are. You see how continually we are engaged there. In truth I must acknowledge that, with all the disadvantages of this humble parsonage, I should not think any one abiding in it an object of compassion, while they are sharers of our intimacy at Rosings.”
Words were insufficient for the elevation of his feelings;4 and he was obliged to walk about the room, while Elizabeth tried to unite civility and truth in a few short sentences.5
“You may, in fact, carry a very favourable report of us into Hertfordshire, my dear cousin. I flatter myself at least that you will be able to do so. Lady Catherine's great attentions to Mrs. Collins you have been a daily witness of; and altogether I trust it does not appear that your friend has drawn an unfortunate
—6but on this point it will be as well to be silent. Only let me assure you, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that I can from my heart most cordially wish you equal felicity in marriage. My dear Charlotte and I have but one mind and one way of thinking. There is in every thing a most remarkable resemblance of character and ideas between us. We seem to have been designed for each other.”7
Elizabeth could safely say that it was a great happiness where that was the case, and with equal sincerity could add that she firmly believed and rejoiced in his domestic comforts.8 She was not sorry, however, to have the recital of them interrupted by the entrance of the lady from whom they sprung. Poor Charlotte! —it was melancholy to leave her to such society! —But she had chosen it with her eyes open; and though evidently regretting that her visitors were to go, she did not seem to ask for compassion.9 Her home and her housekeeping, her parish10 and her poultry,11 and all their dependent concerns, had not yet lost their charms.
At length the chaise12 arrived, the trunks were fastened on, the parcels placed within, and it was pronounced to be ready. After an affectionate parting between the friends, Elizabeth was attended to the carriage by Mr. Collins, and as they walked down the garden, he was commissioning her with his best respects to all her family, not forgetting his thanks for the kindness he had received at Longbourn in the winter, and his compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, though unknown. He then handed her in, Maria followed, and the door was on the point of being closed, when he suddenly reminded them, with some consternation, that they had hitherto forgotten to leave any message for the ladies of Rosings.
“But” he added, “you will of course wish to have your humble respects delivered to them, with your grateful thanks for their kindness to you while you have been here.”
Elizabeth made no objection; —the door was then allowed to be shut, and the carriage drove off.
“Good gracious!” cried Maria, after a few minutes silence, “it seems but a day or two since we first came!—and yet how many things have happened!”
“A great many indeed,” said her companion with a sigh.
“We have dined nine times at Rosings, besides drinking tea there twice!13 —How much I shall have to tell!”14
Elizabeth privately added, “And how much I shall have to conceal.”
Their journey was performed without much conversation, or any alarm; and within four hours of their leaving Hunsford, they reached Mr. Gardiner's house, where they were to remain a few days.
Jane looked well, and Elizabeth had little opportunity of studying her spirits, amidst the various engagements which the kindness of her aunt had reserved for them. But Jane was to go home with her, and at Longbourn there would be leisure enough for observation.
It was not without an effort meanwhile that she could wait even for Longbourn, before she told her sister of Mr. Darcy's proposals. To know that she had the power of revealing what would so exceedingly astonish Jane, and must, at the same time, so highly gratify whatever of her own vanity she had not yet been able to reason away, was such a temptation to openness as nothing could have conquered, but the state of indecision in which she remained, as to the extent of what she should communicate; and her fear, if she once entered on the subject, of being hurried into repeating something of Bingley, which might only grieve her sister farther.15
1. indispensably necessary: a curious redundancy. It may be meant to convey how fervent Mr. Collins is in rendering civilities.
2. domestics: servants.
3. the condescension: the favor of lowering yourself to visit us.
A chaise, the vehicle in which Elizabeth is about to embark. The chaise pictured is a post-chaise, and thus used for traveling between towns (see p. 391, note 12); this is indicated by the position of the driver on the horse, the standard position for driving post (see p. 639, note 4). The clothing in this picture is from a slightly earlier period.
[From Marjorie and C.H.B. Quennell, A History of Everyday Things in England, Vol. II (New York, 1922), p. 187]
4. Mr. Collins's being rendered speechless, a rare occurrence, indicates how much this subject above all others moves him.
5. In other words, she tried to be civil and offer the compliments Mr. Collins desired, while also being truthful. The task would not be easy, given the truth of her feelings about Lady Catherine. Elizabeth, however, seems to succeed, at least to judge from Mr. Collins's reaction; her brevity is probably crucial to this. It signals her ability to strike a healthy balance between dishonest flattery, as seen in characters like Miss Bingley or Wickham, and inconsiderate frankness, as seen in characters like Darcy or Lady Catherine.
6. an unfortunate—: Mr. Collins is presumably about to say “lot” or something similar that refers to Charlotte's married position. Elizabeth's rejection of him is still on his mind, and he would probably love to have her admit that she erred, or at least to praise Charlotte's contrary decision.
7. Mr. Collins is most likely sincere in this belief. If so, it indicates how well Charlotte has managed him; obviously he has not noticed, for example, how she has arranged their daily routine so as to keep him away from her as much as possible.
8. comforts: felicities. Elizabeth's reply constitutes an example of her uniting of civility and truth. One notices that in her carefully crafted reply she does not say she believes in Charlotte's domestic felicity.
9. The final verdict on Charlotte's marriage remains ambiguous. She has shown a great ability to adapt to her circumstances and to make it as pleasant as possible; we never see her actively suffering or complaining. Yet her regret at Elizabeth's departure suggests the limitations of her choice.
10. her parish: this may refer to her assisting her husband in dealing with his parishioners or his clerical business. Her far superior intelligence and common sense would make her a valuable assistant to her husband.
11. her poultry: the family poultry was normally under the particular care of the woman; income from it would provide her with extra spending money. In the next chapter Lady Lucas is described as asking specifically about her daughter's poultry. Jane Austen's mother raised poultry, and Jane Austen mentions in a letter, at a time when the Austen family was leaving its home, the arrival of a group of women who wish to purchase the family's chickens.
12. chaise: the carriage most often used for traveling post (see picture on p. 397). It carried three people, but the only passengers would be Elizabeth, Maria, and the servant of Mr. Gardiner—mentioned in the last chapter—who is to accompany them and who has presumably brought the chaise to them.
13. The two teas happened while Darcy was there; one included his and Elizabeth's talk at the piano, while the other was the one she missed from not feeling well, and that he left in order to propose to her. The nine dinners all happened before or after Darcy's visit, and can be surmised from brief clues in the text: Elizabeth and the others dined at Lady Catherine's shortly after their arrival; they are described as dining there “about twice a week,” and thus probably five more times, during the period, a little more than two weeks, until Darcy's arrival; they dined there the day he left; finally, in the week remaining, when “engagements at Rosings were as frequent” as earlier, they dined twice more, including the night before their departure. Among other things, such a chronology indicates how much less Lady Catherine bothered with those at the parsonage during the almost three weeks when Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were visiting her.
14. In the original edition this speech was joined to the previous one, suggesting that it was spoken also by Elizabeth. But its tone of excitement about being entertained at Rosings, and Elizabeth's private response, indicate that it should be attributed to Maria Lucas. The third edition of the novel corrected the probable mistake by separating the two speeches.
15. In other words, she wishes to tell Jane her news about Darcy's proposal, both because it will astonish Jane and because the proposal highly gratifies Elizabeth's vanity. She has tried to reason or argue herself out of this vanity—an attempt that in
dicates some realization of her faults of pride—but has not fully succeeded in that. But she refrains from telling for two reasons. First, she remains uncertain about how much she should tell; her uncertainty may center around Darcy's information concerning Wickham and his sister, about which Darcy has requested her silence. Second, she fears that while speaking of the proposal and of Wickham, she might stumble into revealing information about Bingley that could cause Jane greater distress.
Chapter Sixteen1
I t was the second week in May, in which the three young ladies set out together from Gracechurch-street, for the town of—in Hertfordshire; and, as they drew near the appointed inn where Mr. Bennet's carriage was to meet them,2 they quickly perceived, in token of the coachman's punctuality,3 both Kitty and Lydia looking out of a dining room upstairs. These two girls had been above an hour in the place, happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner,4 watching the sentinel on guard, and dressing5 a sal-lad6 and cucumber.
After welcoming their sisters, they triumphantly displayed a table set out with such cold meat as an inn larder usually affords, exclaiming, “Is not this nice? is not this an agreeable surprise?”
“And we mean to treat you all,” added Lydia; “but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.” Then shewing her purchases: “Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not.71 shall pull it to pieces as soon as I get home, and see if I can make it up any better.”
And when her sisters abused it as ugly, she added, with perfect unconcern, “Oh! but there were two or three much uglier in the shop; and when I have bought some prettier-coloured satin to trim it with fresh,8 I think it will be very tolerable. Besides, it will not much signify what one wears this summer, after the—shire have left Meryton, and they are going in a fortnight.”9