Pride and Prejudice by Laura Wood

Author:Laura Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barrington Stoke Ltd
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

They had only been staying with Charlotte for a couple of days when an invitation came to dine with Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Mr Collins was beside himself with joy. He clearly could not wait to show off Lady Catherine’s house and his friendly relationship with her to his visitors.

Their visit to Rosings, where Lady Catherine lived, was all that was talked of the whole day and the next morning. The weather was fine the day of the visit, giving them a pleasant walk across the park. Mr Collins spent a long time talking about how many windows the Rosings house had and what it had cost to buy so much glass.

When they arrived, they were taken to the room where Lady Catherine and her daughter were sitting.

Lord Lucas was so completely awed by the grandeur surrounding him that he had just courage enough to make a very low bow and take his seat without saying a word, and Maria, frightened almost out of her senses, sat on the edge of her chair, not knowing which way to look. Elizabeth alone was not a bit scared and gazed levelly at the women in front of her.

Lady Catherine was a tall, large woman with strong features, which might once have been handsome. Her daughter was pale and sickly, and she said very little.

They sat down to a very splendid dinner, with plate after plate of extravagant food. Mr Collins had to stop to praise every dish, of course.

Lady Catherine had a lot of opinions, and she was very happy to share them. She asked about Charlotte’s domestic concerns and gave her a great deal of advice as to the management of them all.

Lady Catherine asked Lizzy how many sisters she had and whether they were older or younger than herself. She enquired about whether any of them were likely to be married, whether they were handsome, where they had been educated, what carriage her father kept, and what had been her mother’s maiden name. Lizzy answered all these questions calmly.

“Do you play and sing, Miss Bennet?” Lady Catherine asked.

“A little.” Lizzy nodded.

“Oh! Then some time or other we shall be happy to hear you. Do your sisters play and sing too?” Lady Catherine demanded.

“One of them does,” Lizzy replied.

“Why didn’t you all learn? You should all have learnt. Do you draw?” Lady Catherine’s questions fell hard and fast like blows, but Lizzy did not flinch.

“No, not at all,” she said.

“What, none of you?” Lady Catherine looked horrified.

“Not one of us,” Lizzy said cheerfully.

“That is very strange. But I suppose you had no opportunity. Are any of your younger sisters out, Miss Bennet?” Lady Catherine’s question was a demand.

“Yes, all of them are out.”

“All! What, all five eligible to marry at the same time? Very odd! And you are only the second. The younger ones are out before the elder ones are married!” Lady Catherine looked horrified.

“I think it would be very unfair for younger sisters to have to sit at home because the elder may not have the means or desire to marry early,” Lizzy said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.