“You are quite a visit in my debt,Mr.Bingley,”she added,“for when you went to town last winter,you promised to take a family dinner with us, as soon as you returned. I have not forgot, you see;and I assure you,I was very much disappointed that you did not come back and keep your engagement.”
She was in no humour for conversation with anyone but himself;and to him she had hardly courage to speak.
“The first wish of my heart,”said she to herself,“is never more to be in company with either of them.Their society can afford no pleasure that will atone for such wretchedness as this!Let me never see either one or the other again!”
“It is a delightful thing, to be sure, to have a daughter well married,”continued her mother,“but at the same time, Mr.Bingley, it is very hard to have her taken such a way from me. They are gone down to Newcastle, a place quite northward, it seems,and there they are to stay,I do not know how long.His regiment is there; for I suppose you have heard of his leaving the―shire, and of his being gone into the regulars. Thank Heaven!he has some friends,though perhaps not so many as he deserves.”
She inquired after his sister,but could do no more.
Elizabeth's misery increased,at such unnecessary,such officious attention!Were the same fair prospect to arise at present as had flattered them a year ago,every thing,she was persuaded,would be hastening to the same vexatious conclusion.At that instant, she felt that years of happiness could not make Jane or herself amends for moments of such painful confusion.