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November 15, 2016 06:26AM | Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 2,088 |
Hunsford Parsonage
17 March, 1813
Dear Lizzy — I have been with Mary for a week, and it is perfectly awful. I do not know how she and Mr. Collins contrive to remain here all the year, as there is nothing to do but take tea with Lady Catherine and Miss de Bourgh. Lady Catherine is very dignified and very unpleasant, and I am sure she hates me—mostly because of you, of course. She talks all the time of the impertinence of people who wish to marry above their station. Miss de Bourgh is very small and thin, and almost never speaks. I feel sorry for her, for I think it would be dreadful to have a mother like Lady Catherine, and she has never been allowed to go anywhere or anything fun at all. She has never even been to a ball!
I do not know if you noticed, for you were getting married, but when we saw Mary and Mr. Collins in October, they did not seem to be getting on very well at all. It was like they were always fighting with each other when they made speeches, and their speeches were awful. I could hardly bear to be in the same room with them—I almost didn’t agree to come because of it. Well, at least I can say that Mary seems happier now. The baby has made such a change in her, you can’t imagine, and she spends less time talking about virtue and more time talking about—well, pigs and carrots and candles, and all kinds of nonsensical things, but at least they are better than extracts. She cares for nothing but housekeeping now.
If Mary writes you that William is a beautiful baby, do not believe her. He looks just like Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins, of course, thinks he is perfect. He calls him his olive leaf, and the Greenest Branch of the Great Collins Tree. Mary calls him the Heir of Longbourn. I must admit, though, he is not fussy at all, and when he smiled for the first time only yesterday, it was at me. Mary says he was really smiling at her behind my shoulder, but I know better. I am prettier than Mary, so of course he smiled at me. Do not tell Jane and Charles, but I think I might like him better than Janet, who cries all the time. Your affectionate sister,
Kitty~*~ Netherfield Park
4 June, 1813
My dearest Lizzy — We have only just arrived home from London to find the most significant news waiting for us: Mr. Morris has found a purchaser for the lease. They are to take possession as soon as we are able to remove ourselves, so that by the time we come to you next month we will be quite homeless. Charles assures me we will have no difficulty finding a good estate in your area of the country, and as that is the dearest wish of both our hearts, we cannot be very sorry to leave Netherfield, however happy we have been here. We will bring Kitty with us when we come, of course. When last I spoke to her she pretended she did not care, but I could see that she is really very excited at the prospect of different society than she has here. She is certain to be happy at Pemberley.
I am so glad that I am to be with you during your confinement. You will see, my dearest sister, how motherhood makes all your joys increase and abound! You have always laughed at me when I have spoken of it, but when your time comes, you will feel all I do, and perhaps even more.
…
Since writing the above to you, Lizzy, we have been at Longbourn. We found Capt. Turley come to visit Lydia, and he brought his commander with him, Col. Morrow. The colonel had very kindly wished to come with him, in order to personally commend him to my father, and because he wished to meet the family he was to marry into. He seemed a very sensible man, and was especially kind to Lydia. Lydia and the Cpt., I am glad to tell you, seem as attached as ever. I really think her manner is growing softer when he is by. While we were there, the Lucases also came in, and—Lizzy, I am not certain whether I ought to tell you this, but Charles says I should, because he thinks the same as I do. Lizzy, it really seemed that Col. Morrow took a great liking to our dear Charlotte. They spoke together for a long time, and before he left I heard him ask Lady Lucas if he could call on them next time he was in town. You will wonder what appearance he has: He is about five and thirty, I should think, quite tall, thin, but with a good figure. Although I cannot call him handsome, he has a good countenance, like a man of sense and humor. Everything I observed of him was favourable. As for Charlotte, she did not say a great deal after he left, even when Lydia assured her that he was not married, but I think she liked him very well herself. Perhaps she will tell you more when she writes to you.
My father wishes me to tell you that he misses you, and that he intends to appear at Pemberley again, but only when you least expect him. My mother also sent many messages, which I will tell you in person when I see you. She is glad now, I think, that Lydia is not to be married yet, and takes much comfort in her company when Kitty is gone. This is all I have time for now. I will write you again soon—with my dearest love,
Jane Bingley~*~ —shire
21 April, 1814
My dear Eliza — I must thank you for your kind invitation, but I do not think my husband will have leave enough to travel to Derbyshire any time soon. We have now settled into our house here at —ton, and he is hopeful that his regiment will be stationed here for some months. We were in our last house for so short a time that I did not have opportunity to think of it as home, but already I have began to feel at ease here. I find I enjoy housekeeping very much, and since I got married I have often thanked my mother for her foresight in teaching us to cook. The Col. is particularly fond of mince pies, which as you know I can make very well.
You asked me to write and tell you how Capt. Turley was getting on. He is conscientious in his duties, but Thomas says he can perceive that the fellow’s heart is not in it any more, as he is looking forward to his marriage in a few months, and the captaincy in the regulars which Mr. Darcy has promised to procure for him. He went through a despondent spell a few months ago—I believe you know the cause. According to Maria, however, Lydia has become quite altered since, and no longer flirts with the local boys at all, so I suppose that is proof that she really does love him.
You must give your son kisses from me. How he must have grown since I last saw him! Yours affectionately,
Char. Morrow~*~ Longbourn
10 July, 1814
Dearest Lizzy — I have been engaged so long, I can hardly believe that I am at last to be married. To think that neither Janet nor Charles nor Edward even existed, when I met James! It has been a very long two years, and I often thought Papa quite cruel, and Darcy too, but now I am so happy that I can forgive you all. I do wish more of you would be at my wedding, but I know that Derbyshire was too far, especially as we shall be away immediately. Mama thinks you are increasing again, but I know it is because of Kitty and her curate. Gracious, to think of Kitty as a clergyman’s wife! It is fortunate that Darcy has so many livings he can bestow, or they would be very poor. James says he is now the whole family’s patron, and I suppose he is right. How fortunate it is that you married him!
James has come in while I was writing, and he wants me to tell you again how pleased he is with his new commission. It is just what he would have wanted, and he is determined to act so well in it that Mr. Darcy will never have cause to regret using his money or name to get it for us. I can see your face now, Lizzy—you will tell me that I do not deserve him, and I know you are right—but you did once tell me that you did not deserve Mr. Darcy either, so perhaps that is the way it ought to be. Farewell for now! I am to be married tomorrow.
Yours, etc,
Lydia Bennet (for today)
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