Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 116 Mother and Daughter Meet
Long after Willoughby left, and even the sound of his carriage had disappeared for a long time, Eleanor's thoughts were always chaotic. Although all kinds of thoughts were completely different, they all came together in her heart, and in the end they all turned into abnormal sorrow. It actually made her forget about her sister.

Willoughby, the man whom she had thought mean and mean half an hour ago, the man whom she abhorred, who, in spite of all his faults, had caused him so much misery, was perhaps More or less aroused a little pity in her.She couldn't help but feel a burst of regret and pity when she thought that he would be cut off from their family and have no contact with them anymore.She soon realized that her emotions were exactly what he wanted, not what he was.She felt that the supposedly insignificant circumstances further shaped her opinion of him.Among them was his unusually charming figure, and his frank, sentimental, lively manner, which are not really virtues.And he still has a deep affection for Marianne, and it would be even immoral to allow this kind of affection to continue to indulge.Still, she felt the influence of his appeals on her judgment, until they began to wane.

Finally, Eleanor returns to Marianne in her sleep to find her waking up, just as she expected.After a long, sweet sleep, Marianne recovered as much as she had hoped.Elinor could not help thinking of the past, the present, the future--or the visit of Willoughby, the well-being of Marianne, the imminent arrival of her mother, all of which excited her with no sense of fatigue.Her only concern was not letting her sister know what was on her mind.Happily her apprehension was not long, for within half an hour after Willoughby's departure she heard the sound of another carriage, and ran downstairs again.Eager to spare her mother a moment of undue alarm, she ran into the hall at once.When he arrived at the front door, he happened to meet his mother and helped her in.

When Mrs. Dashwood approached, she was so frightened with apprehension, that she was almost convinced that Marianne was dead, so that she could not speak, nor could she ask how Marianne was doing, or even Eleanor, but Eleanor, without waiting for her mother to say hello or ask her, immediately reported the gratifying news.My mother was as excited as usual when she heard this. She was terrified just now, but she was extremely happy in a blink of an eye.Supported by her daughter and her friends, she entered the living room.She wept tears of joy, and still could not speak, but hugged Eleanor again and again.At the same time, from time to time, he turned to shake Colonel Bland's hand, his eyes showed gratitude, and he seemed convinced that he was also sharing the great joy of the moment.The colonel, however, shared in the joy in a more silent way than she did.

As soon as Mrs. Dashwood had recovered her composure, she resolved to go and see Marianne. 2 minutes later she was with her sweet baby.Through parting, misfortune, and danger, children are closer than ever.Eleanor was very excited and happy to see her mother and Marianne seeing each other, but was only a little worried that Marianne would not be able to sleep any longer.Mrs. Dashwood's calm, even cautious manner, when the child's life was in danger, was a great comfort to Marianne.Seeing her mother by her side, Marianne felt relieved, and felt that she was too weak to speak, and the people around her who watched her did not speak, so she obeyed immediately.

Mrs. Dashwood insisted on spending the night with Marianne, and Elinor obeyed her mother and went to bed by herself.After a whole night and a long period of exhausting anxiety, when a good rest is most due, she could not sleep because of her distraction. "Poor Willoughby," was the phrase that haunted her, and she called him now.It would be great if I didn't hear his confession.She felt that she had been too hard on him before, and she blamed herself for this, and sometimes felt that Willoughby deserved it.She promised to tell her sister what he had said, but the matter kept embarrassing her.She wondered how Marianne would react to this.She was afraid that if she said this, whether her sister could live happily with another person—for a while, she even hoped that Willoughby would become a widower!But when she thought of Colonel Bland, she scolded herself again. She felt that Marianne should repay the colonel's steadfastness and bitter love, rather than continue to maintain feelings with his rival. Thinking of this, she hoped that Mrs. Willoughby would never die.

Besides, when Colonel Bland came to Barton to pick up Mrs. Dashwood, she was not very shocked, because she had already been mentally prepared.It turned out that she was too worried about Marianne's condition, so she decided not to wait for news, and set off for Cleveland that day.She had made all the arrangements for the journey before Colonel Bland arrived.At that time she was waiting for the Careys to come and pick up Margaret before leaving, because the mother refused to take the youngest daughter with her for fear that she would be infected.

Marianne was improving day by day, and Mrs. Dashwood's rapturous countenance proved that she was, as she repeatedly declared, the happiest woman in the world.When Elinor heard her say this, and saw her joy, she sometimes wondered whether her mother still remembered Edward.Eleanor had written modestly to her mother about her disappointment, and Mrs. Dashwood believed it.At the moment, however, she was in the midst of her pleasure, thinking only of things that would make her happier.Marianne has returned to her embrace from the death line, but she began to feel that it was she who was confused and misjudged the person at the beginning, and encouraged Marianne to fall in love with Willoughby unfortunately, which made her almost give up. Life.It did not occur to Elinor that, besides the joy of Marianne's recovery, there was another thing that made her mother happy.As soon as the two of them had had an opportunity of being together in private, her mother confided in this way:
"We are alone at last. My dear Elinor, you don't know how happy I am. Colonel Bland is in love with Marianne, he told me that himself."

When the daughter heard it, she was really happy and painful. She was surprised at times and calm at times. She listened intently without saying a word.

"You were never like me, Eleanor dear, or I should wonder at your composure. If I were to sit down to consider the happiness of our family, I should marry Colonel Bland between the two of you." One of you is the most desirable object. I believe that, of the two of you, Marianne will be the happier in marrying him."

Elinor was eager to ask her why she thought so, for she was sure that, if their ages, characters, and affections were taken into account without partiality, she could have no reasonable grounds for it.But my mother is always prone to fantasizing and getting carried away when she is interested in things, so it is better for her not to ask, just laugh it off.

"Yesterday we were walking on the road, and he confided everything in his heart to me. It happened very unexpectedly, very suddenly. Just believe it, I can't talk about my child, and I can't talk about anything else. The colonel also concealed it. I could see that he was grieving as much as I was, and perhaps he thought that mere friendship, in the way of the world, was not enough to account for such deep sympathy—or perhaps he was Without thinking—he couldn't help being emotional, and told me he had a true, deep, and unfailing love for Marianne. He'd loved her from the first time he saw her, I Eleanor."

However, Eleanor realized at this time that these were not Colonel Bland's original words, because her mother was too imaginative and naturally liked to add details, so no matter what she liked, she always said what she wanted to say. How to say.

"The Colonel's love for Marianne, whether Willoughby is sincere or false, is far greater than Willoughby's affection for Marianne, far more passionate, loyal and dedicated-you can call it that —He knew dear Marianne was unfortunately infatuated with that worthless young man, but he still loved her! He loved her without any selfishness, without any hope! Maybe he wanted her to be happy with someone else Live together—what a noble mind! How frank, how sincere! What a man he is."

"Colonel Bland is a fine character," said Eleanor, "that is well known."

"I know that," replied the mother solemnly, "otherwise I would never have encouraged it, or even enjoyed it, having learned from it. The Colonel was so active. , so friendly and timely, so willing to pick me up, this is enough to prove that he is the greatest good man in the world."

"However," replied Elinor, "his personality is not founded on this good deed, and even if there were no benevolence in it, love for Marianne would have prompted him to do so. For a long time, Mrs. Jennings and the Middletons have always known him, and they all love and respect him. Even myself, although I have only recently met him, I know him very well, and I have great respect and admiration for him. .If Marianne were to be happily married to him, I would, as you do, consider this marriage the greatest happiness in our family. How did you answer him? Give him hope?"

"Oh! my dear, I could not have hoped or wished for him or myself at the time. Marianne might have been dying at that time. But the Colonel did not ask me to give him hope or support. He It was an inadvertent confidant to a bosom friend, not a plea to a mother, and he couldn't hold back his eloquence. At first I really didn't know what to say, but after a while, I I did tell him that if Marianne lived--and I'm sure she would--my greatest happiness would be to bring about their marriage. Since we got here, and heard the good news that Marianne was out of danger, I told him Be more specific, and I tried to encourage him as best I could. I told him that time, a little time, will solve all problems. Marianne's heart would never be fixed on a man like Willoughby. The Colonel's own Virtue will soon win this heart."

"However, judging from the Colonel's mood, you have not yet made him feel equally optimistic."

"Yes. He thinks Marianne's affection is too deep, and it will not change for a long time. Even if she forgets the old love, but the age and character are so different, he can't believe that he can win her favor. On this point, however, he was quite mistaken, and his older age than Marianne was just an advantage, for his temperament and opinions were fixed. As for his temperament, I was just convinced that it was precisely A temperament that will make your sister happy. His appearance and manners are also in his favour. My preference for him has not blinded me. He is certainly not as handsome as Willoughby, but there is something more endearing about his features. There was a look in Willoughby's eyes sometimes, if you remember, that I did not like."

Eleanor could not remember anything.But her mother, without waiting for her assent, went on:

"His manner, I mean the colonel's, not only pleases me more than Willoughby's, but I know very well that it pleases Marianne more. Manliness, which is more attuned to Marianne's true disposition. And the Colonel's disposition is quite different from Willoughby's affectated, untimely joviality. I am sure that even if Willoughby were not as outspoken as he is now, and became very Amiable, Marianne will never be as happy in marrying him as she is in Colonel Bland."

She stopped.The daughter couldn't quite agree with her, but she didn't hear what she said, so she didn't offend her.

"If Marianne were to marry at Delaford, she would not be far from me, if I remained at Barton," went on Mrs. Dashwood, "and it would be very convenient for us to come and go. And I have heard that it is a large village, and the neighborhood — there must be some little house or cottage that would suit us as well as our present abode."

Poor Eleanor!Here's a new plan to get her to Delaford!However, her will is strong.

"And his property. You know, a man of my age cares about that. I don't know and don't want to know how much he has, but I'm optimistic that it must be a lot."

At this point, a third person came in and interrupted their conversation, and Eleanor took the opportunity to withdraw and think about the matter carefully by herself, wishing her friend success.But, as she wished, she felt sorry for Willoughby.

(End of this chapter)