第114章

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    Mr. Bennet had very often wished before this period of his life that, instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum for the better provision of his children, and of his wife,if she survived him.He now wished it more than ever. Had he done his duty in that respect,Lydia need not have been indebted to her uncle for whatever of honour or credit could now be purchased for her.The satisfaction of prevailing on one of the most worthless young men in Great Britain to be her husband might then have rested in its proper place.

    He was seriously concerned that a cause of so little advantage to anyone should be forwarded at the sole expense of his brother-in-law,and he was determined,if possible,to find out the extent of his assistance,and to discharge the obligation as soon as he could.

    When first Mr.Bennet had married,economy was held to be perfectly useless,for,of course,they were to have a son.The son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for. Five daughters successively entered the world, but yet the son was to come; and Mrs. Bennet, for many years after Lydia's birth, had been certain that he would.This event had at last been despaired of,but it was then too late to be saving. Mrs.Bennet had no turn for economy,and her husband's love of independence had alone prevented their exceeding their income.

    Five thousand pounds was settled by marriage articles on Mrs. Bennet and the children. But in what proportions it should be divided amongst the latter depended on the will of the parents. This was one point,with regard to Lydia,at least,which was now to be settled,and Mr.Bennet could have no hesitation in acceding to the proposal before him.In terms of grateful acknowledgment for the kindness of his brother,though expressed most concisely, he then delivered on paper his perfect approbation of all that was done,and his willingness to fulfil the engagements that had been made for him. He had never before supposed that, could Wickham be prevailed on to marry his daughter, it would be done with so little inconvenience to himself as by the present arrangement.He would scarcely be ten pounds a year the loser by the hundred that was to be paid them;for,what with her board and pocket allowance,and the continual presents in money which passed to her through her mother's hands,Lydia's expenses had been very little within that sum.

    That it would be done with such trifling exertion on his side, too, was another very welcome surprise; for his wish at present was to have as little trouble in the business as possible.When the first transports of rage which had produced his activity in seeking her were over, he naturally returned to all his former indolence.His letter was soon dispatched;for,though dilatory in undertaking business,he was quick in its execution.He begged to know further particulars of what he was indebted to his brother, but was too angry with Lydia to send any message to her.

    The good news spread quickly through the house, and with proportionate speed through the neighbourhood. It was borne in the latter with decent philosophy. To be sure, it would have been more for the advantage of conversation had Miss Lydia Bennet come upon the town; or, as the happiest alternative,been secluded from the world, in some distant farmhouse.But there was much to be talked of in marrying her; and the good-natured wishes for her well-doing which had proceeded before from all the spiteful old ladies in Meryton lost but a little of their spirit in this change of circumstances,because with such an husband her misery was considered certain.

    It was a fortnight since Mrs.Bennet had been downstairs;but on this happy day she again took her seat at the head of her table, and in spirits oppressively high. No sentiment of shame gave a damp to her triumph.The marriage of a daughter,which had been the first object of her wishes since Jane was sixteen,was now on the point of accomplishment, and her thoughts and her words ran wholly on those attendants of elegant nuptials,fine muslins, new carriages, and servants. She was busily searching through the neighbourhood for a proper situation for her daughter,and, without knowing or considering what their income might be, rejected many as deficient in size and importance.

    “Haye Park might do,”said she,“if the Gouldings could quit it—or the great house at Stoke,if the drawing-room were larger;but Ashworth is too far off!I could not bear to have her ten miles from me;and as for Pulvis Lodge,the attics are dreadful.”

    Her husband allowed her to talk on without interruption while the servants remained. But when they had withdrawn, he said to her:“Mrs.Bennet,before you take any or all of these houses for your son and daughter,let us come to a right understanding. Into one house in this neighbourhood they shall never have admittance. I will not encourage the impudence of either, by receiving them at Longbourn.”

    A long dispute followed this declaration; but Mr. Bennet was firm. It soon led to another; and Mrs. Bennet found, with amazement and horror, that her husband would not advance a guinea to buy clothes for his daughter. He protested that she should receive from him no mark of affection whatever on the occasion.Mrs.Bennet could hardly comprehend it.That his anger could be carried to such a point of inconceivable resentment as to refuse his daughter a privilege without which her marriage would scarcely seem valid,exceeded all she could believe possible.She was more alive to the disgrace which her want of new clothes must reflect on her daughter's nuptials, than to any sense of shame at her eloping and living with Wickham a fortnight before they took place.