Pride and Prejudice Part 10

At EDF, we don't just encourage you to use less electricity, we actually reward you for it. That's why when you use less dream peak times on weekdays, we give you free electricity on Sundays. How you use it is up to you. EDF. Change is in our power. How to reduce their weekday peak electricity usage by 50% can earn up to 16 hours of free electricity per week. For details, eligibility and season seas, visit edfenergy.com forward slash r-power. Hello, it's Fern Cotten here. My podcast, Happy Place, is currently sponsored by Volvo and the fully electric EX90. The Volvo EX90 is a large, fully electric SUV, perfect for all the family. With seven seats, there's plenty of room for everyone and up to 378 miles range, which is great to keep the journey going. It's also very reassuring to know that the EX90 is designed to be the safest Volvo car ever made. And the fast infotainment system is perfect for seamless connectivity, so you can keep the music playing the whole time. What more could you want? Search Volvo EX90 to find out more. Electric range may vary based on driving behaviour and conditions. Welcome to Jane Austen Stories. I'm Julie Andrews and from the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Pride and Prejudice, Part 10. In the last episode, Elizabeth was astonished when she learned that her best friend Charlotte Lucas had agreed to marry Mr. Collins. Having already turned down the pompous clergyman herself, Lizzie could not understand her friend's decision. Charlotte admitted that she isn't particularly interested in love, just a comfortable home and secure future, and with Mr. Collins due to inherit the long-born estate, he can offer her those things at least. All in all, not the most romantic of matches, and one that Lizzie cannot feel pleased about, our heroine then turned her attentions to her wounded sister Jane. Mr. Bingley, we're told, does not intend to return to Hertfordshire to see Jane again. So strange after it seemed certain the pair would get engaged. What Lizzie is now certain of is that Bingley's malign and meddling sister has something to do with this unhappy development. Now as winter settles over the countryside and Christmas draws near, we pick up the story once more. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Pride and Prejudice. Chapter 25 After a week spent in professions of love and schemes of felicity, Mr. Collins was called from his amiable Charlotte by the arrival of Saturday. The pain of separation, however, might be alleviated on his side by preparations for the reception of his bride, as he had reason to hope that shortly after his next return into Hertfordshire the day would be fixed that was to make him the happiest of men. He took leave of his relations at Longbourn with as much solemnity as before, wished his fair cousins health and happiness again, and promised their father another letter of thanks. On the following Monday Mrs. Bennet had the pleasure of receiving her brother and his wife who came as usual to spend the Christmas at Longbourn. Mr. Gardner was a sensible, gentleman-like man, greatly superior to his sister as well by nature as education. The Netherfield ladies would have had difficulty in believing that a man who lived by trade within view of his own warehouses could have been so well bred and agreeable. Mrs. Gardner, who was several years younger than Mrs. Bennet, was an amiable, intelligent, elegant woman and a great favourite with her Longbourn nieces. Between the two eldest and herself especially, their subsisted a very particular regard. They had frequently been staying with her in town. The first part of Mrs. Gardner's business on her arrival was to distribute her presence and describe the newest fashions. When this was done, she had a less active part to play. It became her turn to listen. Mrs. Bennet had many grievances to relate and much to complain of. They had all been very ill-used since she last saw her sister. Few of her girls had been on the point of marriage and, after all, there was nothing in it. I do not blame Jane, Mrs. Bennet continued, for Jane would have got Mr. Bingley if she could. But Lizzie, oh, sister, it is very hard to think that she might have been Mr. Collins' wife by this time had it not been for her own perverseness. She made her an offer in this very room and she refused him. The consequence of it is that Lady Lucas will have a daughter married before I have and that long-worn estate is just as much entailed as ever. The Lucas' are very artful people indeed, sister. They are all for what they can get. I'm sorry to say it off the much so it is. It makes me very nervous and poorly to be thwarted so in my own family and to have neighbors who think of themselves before anybody else. However, your coming just at this time is the greatest of comforts and I am very glad to hear what you tell us of long sleeves. Mrs. Gardner, to whom the chief of this news had been given before in the course of Jane and Elizabeth's correspondence with her, made her sister a slight answer and in compassion to her nieces turned the conversation. When alone with Elizabeth afterwards, she spoke more on the subject. It seemed as likely to have been a desirable match for Jane, said Mrs. Gardner. I'm sorry it went off, but these things happen so often. A young man such as you described, Mr. Bingley, so easily falls in love with a pretty girl for a few weeks and when accident separates them, so easily forgets her that these sort of inconstancies are very frequent. An excellent consolation in its way, said Elizabeth, but it will not do for us. We do not suffer by accident. It does not often happen that the interference of friends will persuade a young man of independent fortune to think no more of a girl whom he was violently in love with only a few days before. But that expression of violently in love is so hackneyed, so doubtful, so indefinite, that it gives me very little idea, said Mrs. Gardner. It is as often applied to feelings which arise only from a half-hour's acquaintance as to a real strong attachment. Pray, how violent was Mr. Bingley's love? I never saw a more promising inclination. He was growing quite inattentive to other people and wholly engrossed by her, replied Lizzie. Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable. At his own ball, he offended two or three young ladies by not asking them to dance, and I spoke to him twice myself without receiving an answer. Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general insubility the very essence of love? Oh, yes, cried Mrs. Gardner, of that kind of love which I suppose him to have felt. Poor Jane. I am sorry for her, because with her disposition, she may not get over it immediately. It had better have happened to you, Lizzie. You would have laughed yourself out if it's sooner. But do you think she would be prevailed on to go back with us to London? Change of scene might be of service, and perhaps a little relief from home, maybe as useful as anything. Elizabeth was exceedingly pleased with this proposal and felt persuaded of her sister's ready acquiescence. I hope, added Mrs. Gardner, that no consideration with regard to this young man will influence her. We live in so different a part of town, all our connections are so different, and as you well know, we go out so little that it is very improbable that they should meet at unless he really comes to see her. And that is quite impossible, replied Lizzie, for he is now in the custody of his friend, and Mr. Darcy would no more suffer him to call on Jane in such a part of London. My dear aunt, how could you think of it? Mr. Darcy may perhaps have heard of such a place as Grace Church Street, but he would hardly think a month's ablution enough to cleanse him from its impurities were he wants to enter it, and depend upon it Mr. Bingley ne'er the stirs without him. So much the better, replied Mrs. Gardner. I hope they will not meet at all. But does not Jane correspond with his sister? She will not be able to help calling. She replied, she will drop the acquaintance entirely. But in spite of the certainty in which Elizabeth affected to place this point, as well as the still more interesting one of Bingley's being withheld from seeing Jane, she felt a solicitude on the subject which convinced her on examination that she did not consider it entirely hopeless. It was possible, and sometimes she thought it probable, that his affection might be reanimated and the influence of his friends successfully combated by the more natural influence of Jane's attractions. Miss Jane Bennett accepted her aunt's invitation with pleasure, and the Bingleys were no otherwise in her thoughts at the same time than as she hoped by Carolines not living in the same house with her brother, she might occasionally spend a morning with her without any danger of seeing him. The gardeners stayed a week at Longbourn, and what with the Philipses, the Lucases, and the offices, there was not a day without its engagement. Mrs. Bennett had so carefully provided for the entertainment of her brother and sister, that they did not once sit down to a family dinner. When the engagement was for home, some of the offices always made part of it, of which officers, Mr. Wickham was sure to be one. And on these occasions, Mrs. Gardner, rendered suspicious by Elizabeth's warm commendation of him, narrowly observes them both. Without supposing them from what she saw to be very seriously in love, their preference of each other was plain enough to make her a little uneasy, and she resolved to speak to Elizabeth on the subject before she left Hartfordshire and represent to her the imprudence of encouraging such an attachment. To Mrs. Gardner, Wickham had one means of affording pleasure, unconnected with his general powers. About ten or a dozen years ago, before her marriage, she had spent a considerable time in that very part of Darvishia to which he belonged. They had therefore many acquaintances in common, and though Wickham had been little there since the death of Darcy's father five years before, it was yet in his power to give her fresher intelligence of her former friends that she had been in the way of procuring. Mrs. Gardner had seen Pemberley and known the late Mr. Darcy by character perfectly well. Here, consequently, was an inexhaustible subject of discourse. In comparing her recollection of Pemberley with a minute description which Wickham could give, and in bestowing her tribute of praise on the character of its late possessor, she was delighting both him and herself. On being made acquainted with the present Mr. Darcy's treatment of Wickham, she tried to remember something of that gentleman's reputed disposition when quite a lad, which might agree with it, and was confident at last that she recollected having heard Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy formally spoken of as a very proud, ill-natured boy. Lift Your Day From Wham and Whitney in the 80s to Take That and the Spice Girls in the 90s, or Pink and Kelly Clarkson in the 90s and Adele and Bruno Mars in the 10s, right through to today with artists like Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Miles Smith. And with Magic's No Repeat Work Day, you won't hear the same song twice between nine and five. Magic Radio has had a real glow up. It's the home of Magic Radio Breakfast with Gokwan and Harriet Scott, and the world's famous Mellow Magic is back now hosted by Nicky Chapman. Plus, weekends are even more fun with Gabby Roslyn, Mel Gedroich and Anna Richardson. Listen to Magic Radio on your digital radio, on the free Reo app, or just ask your smart speaker to play Magic Radio. Electric or Hybrid So ready for a family adventure? The new Citroen C3 Aircross for lovers of the wilderness and everyday comfort, now with a £1,500 electric car grant. Chapter 26 Mrs. Gardner's caution to Elizabeth was punctually and kindly given on the first favourable opportunity of speaking to her alone. After honestly telling her what she thought, she thus went on, You are too sensible a girl, Lizzie, to fall in love merely because you are warned against it, and therefore I am not afraid of speaking openly. Seriously, I would have you be on your guard. Do not involve yourself or endeavour to involve him in an affection which the want of fortune would make so very imprudent. I have nothing to say against him. He is a most interesting young man, and if he had the fortune he ought to have, I think you could not do better. But as it is, you must not let your fancy run away with you. You have sense, and we all expect you to use it. Your father would depend on your resolution and good conduct, I am sure. You must not disappoint your father. My dear aunt, this is being serious indeed, replied Lizzie. Yes, and I hope to engage you to be serious likewise. Well then, you need not be under any alarm. I will take care of myself and of Mr. Wickham too. He shall not be in love with me if I can prevent it. Elizabeth, you are not serious now, replied her aunt. I beg your pardon. I will try again. At present I am not in love with Mr. Wickham. No, I certainly am not. But he is beyond all comparison the most agreeable man I ever saw, and if he becomes really attached to me, I believe it will be better that he should not. I see the imprudence of it. Oh, that abominable Mr. Darcy. My father's opinion of me does me the greatest honour, and I should be miserable to forfeit it. My father, however, is partial to Mr. Wickham. In short, my dear aunt, I should be very sorry to be the means of making any of you unhappy. But since we see every day that where there is affection, young people are seldom withheld by immediate want of fortune from entering into engagements with each other, how can I promise to be wiser than so many of my fellow creatures if I am tempted, or how am I even to know that it would be wiser to resist? All that I can promise you, therefore, is not to be in a hurry. I will not be in a hurry to believe myself his first object. When I am in company with him, I will not be wishing. In short, I will do my best. Perhaps it will be as well if you discourage his coming here so very often, replied Mrs. Gardner. At least you should not remind your mother of inviting him. As I did the other day, said Elizabeth with a conscious smile. Very true. It will be wise in me to refrain from that. But do not imagine that he is always here so often. It is on your account that he has been so frequently invited this week. You know my mother's ideas as to the necessity of constant company for her friends. But really, and upon my honour, I will try to do what I think to be wisest. And now I hope you are satisfied. Her aunt assured her that she was, and Elizabeth, having thanked her for the kindness of a hints, they parted. A wonderful instance of advice being given on such a point without being resented. Mr. Collins returned into Hertfordshire soon after it had been quitted by the gardeners and Jane. But as he took up his abode with the Lucases, his arrival was no great inconvenience to Mrs. Bennet. His marriage was now fast approaching and she was at length, so far resigned as to think it inevitable, and even repeatedly to say in an ill-natured tone that she wished they might be happy. Thursday was to be the wedding day, and on Wednesday, Ms. Lucas paid her farewell visit, and when she rose to take her leave, Elizabeth ashamed of her mother's ungracious and reluctant good wishes and sincerely affected herself, accompanied her out of the room. As they went downstairs together, Charlotte said, I shall depend on hearing from you very often, Lizzie. That you certainly shall, replied Lizzie, and I have another favour to ask. Will you come and see me? We shall often meet, I hope, in Hertfordshire, replied Lizzie. I am not likely to leave Kent for some time. Promise me, therefore, to come to Hunsford. Elizabeth could not refuse, though she foresaw little pleasure in the visit. My father and sister Maria are coming to me in March, added Charlotte, and I hope you will consent to be of the party. Indeed, Lizzie, you will be as welcome to me as either of them. The wedding took place. The bride and bridegroom set off for Kent from the church door, and everybody had as much to say or to hear on the subject as usual. Elizabeth soon heard from her friend, and their correspondence was as regular and frequent as it had ever been. That it should be equally unreserved was impossible. Elizabeth could never address her without feeling that all the comfort of intimacy was over, and though determined not to slacken as a correspondent, it was for the sake of what had been rather than what was. Charlotte's first letters were received with a good deal of eagerness. There could not but be curiosity to know how she would speak of her new home, how she would like Lady Catherine, and how happy she would dare pronounce herself to be. Though, when the letters were read, Elizabeth felt that Charlotte had expressed herself on every point exactly as she might have foreseen. She wrote cheerfully, seemed surrounded with comforts, and mentioned nothing which she could not praise. The house, furniture, neighborhood, and roads were all to her taste, and Lady Catherine's behavior was most friendly and obliging. It was Mr. Collins' picture of Huntsford and Rosings rationally softened, and Elizabeth perceived that she must wait for her own visit there to know the rest. At EDF, we don't just encourage you to use less electricity, we actually reward you for it. That's why when you use less during peak times on weekdays, we give you free electricity on Sundays. How you use it is up to you. EDF, change is in our power. Households to reduce their weekday peak electricity usage by 50% can earn up to 16 hours of free electricity per week. For full details, eligibility, and season fees, visit edfenergy.com forward slash r-power. Hello, it's Fern Cotten here. My podcast, Happy Place, is currently sponsored by Volvo and the fully electric EX90. The Volvo EX90 is a large fully electric SUV, perfect for all the family. With seven seats, there's plenty of room for everyone, and up to 378 miles range, which is great to keep the journey going. It's also very reassuring to know that the EX90 is designed to be the safest Volvo car ever made, and the fast infotainment system is perfect for seamless connectivity. So you can keep the music playing the whole time. What more could you want? Search Volvo EX90 to find out more. Electric range may vary based on driving behaviour and conditions. Jane had already written a few lines to her sister to announce their safe arrival in London, and when she wrote again, Elizabeth hoped it would be in her power to say something of the bingles. Her impatience for this second letter was as well rewarded as impatience generally is. Jane had been a week in town without either seeing or hearing from Caroline. She accounted for it, however, by supposing that her last letter to her friend from Longbourn had, by some accident, been lost. My aunt, Jane continued, is going tomorrow into that part of town, and I shall take the opportunity of calling in Groverner Street. She wrote again when the visit was paid, and she had seen Miss Bingley. I did not think Caroline in spirits were her words, but she was very glad to see me and reproached me for giving her no notice of my coming to London. I was right, therefore, my last letter had never reached her. I enquired after their brother, of course. He was well, but so much engaged with Mr. Darcy that they scarcely ever saw him. I found that Miss Darcy was expected to dinner. I wish I could see her. My visit was not long as Caroline and Mrs. Hurst were going out. I dare say I shall soon see them here. Elizabeth shook her head over this letter. It convinced her that accident only could discover to Mr. Bingley Jane's being in town. Four weeks passed away, and Jane saw nothing of him. She endeavoured to persuade herself that she did not regret it, but she could no longer be blind, to Miss Bingley's inattention. After waiting at home every morning for a fortnight and inventing every evening a fresh excuse for her, the visitor did at last appear, but the shortness of her stay and yet more the alteration of her manner would allow Jane to deceive herself no longer. The letter which she wrote on this occasion to her sister will prove what she felt. My dearest Lizzie Will, I am sure, be incapable of triumphing in her better judgment at my expense when I confess myself to have been entirely deceived in Miss Bingley's regard for me. But, my dear sister, though the event has proved you right, do not think me obstinate if I still assert that considering what her behaviour was, my confidence was as natural as your suspicion. I do not at all comprehend her reason for wishing to be intimate with me, but is the same circumstances were to happen again? I am sure I should be deceived again. Caroline did not return my visit to me yesterday, and not a note, not a line did I receive in the meantime. When she did come it was very evident that she had no pleasure in it. She made a slight formal apology for not calling before, said not a word of wishing to see me again, and was, in every respect, so altered a creature that when she went away I was perfectly resolved to continue the acquaintance no longer. I pity, though I cannot help blaming her, she was very wrong in singling me out as she did. I can safely say that every advance to intimacy began on her side, but I pity her because she must feel that she has been acting wrong, and because I am very sure that anxiety for her brother is the cause of it. I need not explain myself further, and though we know this anxiety to be quite needless, yet if she feels it, it will easily account for her behaviour to me, and so deservedly dear as he is to his sister, whatever anxiety she may feel on his behalf is natural and amiable. I cannot but wonder, however, at her having any such fears now, because if he had at all cared about me, we must have met long, long ago. He knows of my being in town I am certain from something she said herself, and yet it was seen by her manner of talking as if she wanted to persuade herself that he is really partial to Miss Darcy. I cannot understand it. If I were not afraid of judging harshly, I should be almost tempted to say that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this. I will endeavour to banish every painful thought and think only of what will make me happy, your affection, and the invariable kindness of my dear uncle and aunt. Let me hear from you very soon. Miss Bingley said something of his never returning to Netherfield again, of giving up the house, but not with any certainty. We had better not mention it. I am extremely glad that you have such pleasant accounts for my friends at Huntsford. Pray go to see them with Sir William and Maria. I am sure you will be very comfortable there, yours, etc. This letter gave Elizabeth some pain, but her spirits returned as she considered that Jane would no longer be duped by the sister at least. All expectation from the brother was now absolutely over. Lizzie could not even wish for any renewal of his attentions. His character sunk on every review of it, and as a punishment for him, as well as a possible advantage to Jane, she seriously hoped he might really soon marry Mr Darcy's sister, as by Wickham's account she would make him abundantly regret what he had thrown away. Mrs Gardner about this time reminded Elizabeth of her promise concerning that gentleman and required information, and Elizabeth had such to send as might rather give contentment to her aunt than to herself. His apparent partiality had subsided, his attentions were over. He was the admirer of someone else. Elizabeth was watchful enough to see it all, but she could see it and write of it without material pain. Her heart had been but slightly touched, and her vanity was satisfied with believing that she would have been his only choice, had fortune permitted it. The sudden acquisition of £10,000 was the most remarkable charm of the young lady to whom he was now rendering himself agreeable. But Elizabeth, less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte's, did not quarrel with him for his wish of independence. Nothing on the contrary could be more natural, and while able to suppose that it cost him a few struggles to relinquish her, she was ready to allow it a wise and desirable measure for both, and could very sincerely wish him happy. All this was acknowledged to Mrs Gardner, and after relating the circumstances Lizzie thus went on. I am now convinced, my dear aunt, that I have never been much in love, for had I really experienced that pure and elevating passion, I should at present detest his very name and wish him all manner of evil. But my feelings are not only cordial toward him, they are even impartial towards Miss King. I cannot find out that I hate her at all, or that I am in the least unwilling to think her a very good sort of girl. There can be no love in all of this. My watchfulness has been effectual, and though I should certainly be a more interesting object to all my acquaintances where I distractedly in love with him, I cannot say that I regret my comparative insignificance. Importance may sometimes be purchased too dearly. Kitty and Lydia take his defection much more to heart than I do. They are young in the ways of the world, and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain. In the next episode, Elizabeth leaves the familiarity of Longbourn and heads to Kent, hoping to repair a relationship that has come under strain. During an eventful few days away, Lizzie unexpectedly finds herself in the enormous, intimidating home of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourg. There she is forced to defend herself and her family from a scathing attack. That's next time on Jane Austen Stories, Pride and Prejudice. You can listen to the next two episodes of Pride and Prejudice right now without waiting by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noiser.com slash subscriptions for more information or click the link in the episode description. At EDF, we don't just encourage you to use less electricity, we actually reward you for it. That's why when you use less during peak times on weekdays, we give you free electricity on Sundays. How you use it is up to you. EDF, change is in our power. How so to reduce their weekday peak electricity usage by 50% can earn up to 16 hours of free electricity per week. For full details, eligibility and season fees, visit EDFenergy.com forward slash r-power. What if you could feel more confident? Finally, go after that promotion and feel great about inspiring other women. It all starts by recognising your worth and talking about your wins with confidence. That's why Galaxy Chocolate has created the Unhumble Project in partnership with the charity Young Women's Trust. To bring you free confidence training, get the pleasure you deserve from the incredible things you do. Take the training today. Search Galaxy Chocolate, The Unhumble Project.