Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 107 The Steele Sisters' Secret
Mrs. Jennings applauded Edward's conduct, but only Eleanor and Marianne understood the true value of it.Only they knew that Edward disobeyed his mother's orders not because of any temptation, but because he thought he was doing the right thing.As a result, he lost his friends and lost his property.Eleanor is proud of his uprightness; Marianne sympathizes with him for his punishment, and forgives his transgressions.However, after this matter was made public, although the two sisters became confidants again, when they were alone together, neither of them wanted to talk about it in detail.Eleanor tried to avoid talking about it in principle, because Marianne's words were too extreme and arbitrary, and she always thought that Edward was still in love with her.Eleanor originally hoped that she would dismiss the idea, but the more Marianne talked, the more she thought about it.

Marianne soon lost her courage to talk about the subject, too, because it inevitably contrasted Eleanor's behavior with her own, and in consequence made her even more dissatisfied with herself.

She felt the validity of the comparison, but it did not induce her to restrain her feelings, as her sister expected.On the contrary, the comparison prompted her to constantly blame herself, which made her feel all kinds of pain, regretting that she had never restrained herself before.However, these pains only made her feel annoyed, and did not bring hope of rehabilitation.Her will had grown so feeble that she still found it impossible to restrain herself now, and she only sank more and more into despair.

For a day or two after that, they heard nothing new from Harley Street or Matrick House.They already knew so much about the matter, however, that Mrs. Jennings could have spread the word for a while without further inquiry, but she had made up her mind from the first to visit her cousins ​​and nieces as soon as possible, and to comfort them , while asking about the situation.Unfortunately, there were more guests than usual in the past two days, so she couldn't get away.

The third day after they learned the details, it was a sunny and bright Sunday. Although it was only the second week of March, Kensington Park attracted many tourists, including Mrs. Jennings and Eleanor. .But Marianne, knowing that the Willoughbys were in town again, and dreading meeting them, preferred to remain at home rather than go into such public places.

Soon after entering the park, a friend of Mrs. Jennings joined them in the fun, and Elinor was not sorry about this, because she could be quiet with them talking to Mrs. Jennings constantly. think carefully.She saw neither the Willoughbys, nor Edward, and for some time saw no one who happened to interest her.Opportunities, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, came to her.

But at last she caught Miss Steel coming up to her, expressing, with a rather embarrassed air, her great pleasure in seeing them.At the kind invitation of Mrs. Jennings, she left her company for a while, and came among them.Mrs. Jennings immediately whispered to Elinor:

"My dear, let her tell it all. She'll tell you anything if you ask. You see, I can't leave Mrs. Clarke."

Happily, the curiosity of Mrs. Jennings and Elinor met with good luck, and Miss Steele said everything without asking.Otherwise, they would not hear these words from other people's mouths.

"I'm glad to see you," said Miss Steele, and taking Elinor's arm affectionately, "because I want to see you more than anything else." Then, lowering her voice, "I miss Jennings My wife has heard. Is she angry?"

"I don't think she's mad at you at all."

"That's all right. Mrs. Middleton, isn't she angry?"

"I don't think it's easy to be angry."

"I'm so happy. My God, what's in my heart! I've never seen Lucy fly like that. She swore at the beginning that she would never put on a new hat for me again as long as she lived." Nothing for me. But she's all right now, and we're good friends again. Look, she tied this bow for my hat, and put a feather in it last night. Well, You're going to laugh at me too. But why shouldn't I wear pink ribbons? I don't care if it's the doctor's favorite color. Of course, if he didn't tell me himself, I never would I know he likes this color best. My cousins ​​really annoy me. Sometimes I don't know where to look when I'm in front of them."

As she went on she fell into another subject, on which Eleanor had nothing to say, so she thought it best to return to the first.

"But, Miss Dashwood," said Miss Steele triumphantly, "there are people who have spread a rumor that Mr. Ferrars has announced that Lucy is gone, and they can say what they like, but really, there is no That thing. It is a shameless thing to spread such gossip everywhere. No matter what Lucy thinks about it, no one else has a right to believe it."

"To tell the truth, I tell you, I've never heard anyone say that before," said Eleanor.

"Oh! really? But I know very well that it has been said, and more than one. Miss Godby said it to Miss Sparks, and she said no one in their senses would think that Mr. Ferrars would Lucy Steele gave up Miss Morton, and Miss Morton had thirty thousand pounds, and Lucy was penniless. I heard that from Miss Sparks herself. Besides, my cousin My brother Richard himself said that he was afraid Mr. Ferrars would change his mind at a critical moment. Edward has not been with us for three days, and I can't tell what idea I should come up with. From the bottom of my heart Lucy, I believe, has decided that there is no hope, for we left your brother's house on Wednesday, and did not see him for three whole days Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and did not know how Edward was. Lucy thought of writing to him, But in a fit of anger he refused to write again. However, he came this morning as soon as we got home from church, and the whole thing was cleared up. It turned out that he was called to Harley Street on Wednesday, and his mother's party wanted to talk to him. He declared before them all that he wanted no one but Lucy, and he was so disturbed by these things that he mounted his horse as soon as he stepped over his mother's threshold, and went off somewhere in the country. On Thursdays and Fridays he stayed at an inn to cool himself off, and he said, thinking and thinking, that he had no property, and was poor, and that it seemed inhumane to continue his engagement with Lucy, because In this way, she will suffer with him, and he only has two thousand pounds, and he has no hope of other income. He wants to be a priest in the past, but even if he does, he can only get a curate position. How can they rely on this What about working for a living? It made him sad to think that Lucy couldn't live better, so he begged her that if she wanted to, he hoped to break off the engagement at once and go to work for himself. I heard him say all that. Clearly. When he mentioned the dissolution of the engagement, it was entirely for Lucy's sake, and for Lucy's sake, not for his own. I swear he never slipped a word that he wanted to Marry Miss Morton, get tired of showing, and that sort of thing. But of course Lucy wouldn't hear him say that, so she said to him right away (you know, she said a lot of that tenderness— God, you know you can't repeat this kind of thing)——she told him right away that she had absolutely no intention of breaking the engagement, that she could live with him in poverty, and no matter how poor he was, she was very willing Put up with everything, that's the kind of talk anyway. Edward was very happy with this, talked for a while about what they should do, and finally agreed that Edward should be a priest at once, and they should marry when he got a vicar's benefice. I couldn't listen any more at that time, because my cousin called me downstairs, saying that Mrs. Richardson was coming in a car to take one of us up to Kensington Park; so I had to go inside , interrupted their conversation, and asked Lucy if she would go, but she would not leave Edward; so I went upstairs and put on my silk stockings, and went with the Richardsons."

"I don't understand what you mean by 'interrupt them,'" said Eleanor. "Aren't you in the same room together?"

"Certainly not! Well, Miss Dashwood, don't you think they'll fall in love in the presence of other people? Oh, isn't it shameful? Of course you won't understand." She smiled awkwardly, Say, "No, no, they're shut up in the living room, and I'm just listening to them at the door."

"Why!" cried Eleanor, "you just heard it at the door after all the talk? I'm sorry I didn't know beforehand, or I wouldn't have let you go into details of their conversation, because You shouldn't even know it yourself. How could you do such an improper thing to your sister?"

"Ah! what's the matter? I just stood at the door and listened to as much as I could. I'm sure Lucy would have treated me in the same way. During the past year or two, I We had a lot of private conversations with Martha Sharp, and she was always eavesdropping on us, hiding in closets, behind the mantel panels."

Eleanor tried to talk about something else, but Miss Steele couldn't help returning to the topic on which she was most concerned, and it was impossible for her to leave it for two or three minutes.

"Edward says he's going to Oxford soon," she said, "but he's staying at No. [-] Pall Mall. His mother is a surly woman, isn't she? Your brother and sister-in-law aren't very nice either! I won't speak ill of them in your presence, though. Of course, they sent us home in their own wagon, which I didn't expect. I was terrified. I was terrified of your sister-in-law. Will take back the sewing box that was given to us a day or two ago. She didn't say anything about it, though, and I carefully hid mine. Edward said he had something to do in Oxford and was going for a while. After that's done, as soon as he gets a chance to meet a bishop, he'll be ordained. I don't know what he's going to get! My God! (chuckles as he talks,) I dare Bet my life I know what my cousins ​​will say if they hear. They'll tell me to write to the doctor and ask him to find a priesthood for Edward. I know they'll say that, but I'm sure No such thing. 'Oh!' I'll say right away, 'I don't know how you can think of such a thing. You're asking me to write to the doctor, really!'"

"Well," said Elinor, "you've got your answers ready, just be prepared."

Miss Steele was on the point of answering this question when her companions came, so she changed the subject.

"Ah! here comes the Richardsons, and I have a lot to say to you, but I can't stay away from them for too long. They're real gentlemen, to tell you the truth. He's earned A lot of money, and they have their own carriage. I haven't had time to speak to Mrs. Jennings about it myself, but please tell her how glad I am that neither she nor Mrs. Middleton are angry with us. In case you and your sister are going away on business, we will be willing to come and keep her company as long as she wants us to. I don't think Mrs. Middleton will call us for a while. Good-bye. I'm sorry. Miss Marianne isn't here. Give her my regards. Oh! You shouldn't be wearing that dappled muslin dress. It's strange that you're not afraid to tear it."

Such was the worry she expressed when she left.Having said this, she had just had time to say good-bye to Mrs. Jennings when she was called away by Mrs. Richardson.Elinor learned from her things which, though she had long anticipated, might serve to prompt her to meditate for a while.As she had deduced, the marriage of Edward and Lucy was certain, but the time of marriage could not be determined.As she expected, everything depended on whether he could get the priesthood, but at present, this situation cannot be judged.

Mrs. Jennings was eager for news as soon as they were back in the carriage.However, Elinor thought it best to spread as little as possible of such circumstances, because she felt that they were obtained by very unfair means, so she only repeated a few simple circumstances perfunctorily.She was sure that Lucy would like to let people know these things in order to increase her value.All she said was that they continued their engagement and what they were doing to achieve it.After hearing this, Mrs. Jennings naturally uttered the following remarks:
"Wait until he gets a vicarage! Well, everybody knows what it's going to be. They wait a year and find nothing, and end up on a vicarage of fifty pounds a year, and the two thousand pounds for it." Interest, and what Mr. Steele and Mr. Pratt can give her, to get a home. Besides, they're going to have a baby every year! God help! How poor they'll be! I'll see if I can send What do they want, I said the other day, to help them set up the house, two maids and two boys! No, no, they must hire a strong girl who can do anything. Betty's sister is definitely not suitable now .”

The next morning the post office brought Eleanor a letter from Lucy.The content is as follows:
Dear Miss Dashwood, I hope you will forgive me for writing to you.I know, however, that you are very friendly to me, and that you must be delighted to hear me tell the story of me and my dear Edward during these recent misfortunes.So instead of being too polite, I'd like to say: Thank goodness!Although we have suffered so much, we are all fine now. We love each other and will always be so happy.We have had great persecutions and great trials, but nevertheless we are grateful to many friends, and especially to you.I will always remember your deep friendship, and I also told Edward that he will never forget your great kindness in his life.

I am sure you will be pleased to know, and my dear Mrs. Jennings will be equally pleased to know, that I spent two hours of bliss with him yesterday afternoon.I then felt it my duty to persuade him, and urged him, as a matter of prudence, to disown me, and if he consented, I was at once ready to part with him entirely.Although I said it earnestly, he didn't agree.He said that we will never be separated, as long as I can love him, he doesn't care if his mother is angry or not.

Of course, our prospects are not very bright, but we must wait and hope for the best.He wanted to be a priest soon.If you have a connection, you can recommend him to someone and give him a priesthood, I think you will not forget us.And dear Mrs. Jennings, I hope she will recommend us to Sir John, to Mr. Palmer, and to all who can help us.Poor Anne shouldn't have said those things, but she did so out of good intentions, so I won't repeat them.I hope Mrs. Jennings will do her best to see us some morning when she passes by.It will be a great kindness to us, and my cousins ​​will be honored to know her.

Not enough letter paper, remind me to stop writing.If you ever have the opportunity to see Mrs. Jennings, Sir John, Lady Middleton, and those lovely children, send her my most grateful and respectful greetings, and Miss Marianne.

your lucy
written in matrick building in march
Elinor handed the letter to Mrs. Jennings as soon as she had read it, for she judged that this was the real intention of the writer.Mrs. Jennings read the letter aloud, full of triumphant compliments.

"That's wonderful! How beautifully she writes! Ah! Edward would be right to break off the engagement, if he would, as is true of Lucy. Poor child! I wish I could get it for him with all my heart." A clergymanship. You see, she called me dear Mrs. Jennings. She was the sweetest girl in the world, absolutely the best, absolutely true. That was a beautifully written line. Yes , yes, I must go and see her. She is so thoughtful and has thought of everyone! Thank you, dear, for showing me the letter. It is the most touching letter I have ever seen , which shows that Lucy is very intelligent and very affectionate."

(End of this chapter)