Every object in the next day's journey was new and interesting to Elizabeth;
and her spirits were in a state of enjoyment; for she had seen her sister look-
ing so well as to banish all fear for her health, and the prospect of her north-
ern tour was a constant source of delight.
When they left the high road for the lane to Hunsford, every eye was in
search of the Parsonage, and every turning expected to bring it in view. The
palings of Rosings Park was their boundary on one side. Elizabeth smiled at
the recollection of all that she had heard of its inhabitants.
At length the Parsonage was discernible. The garden sloping to the road,
the house standing in it, the green pales, and the laurel hedge, everything
declared they were arriving. Mr. Collins and Charlotte appeared at the door,
and the carriage stopped at the small gate which led by a short gravel walk
to the house, amidst the nods and smiles of the whole party. In a moment
they were all out of the chaise, rejoicing at the sight of each other. Mrs.
Collins welcomed her friend with the liveliest pleasure, and Elizabeth was
more and more satisfied with coming when she found herself so affection-
ately received. She saw instantly that her cousin's manners were not altered
by his marriage; his formal civility was just what it had been, and he de-
tained her some minutes at the gate to hear and satisfy his inquiries after all
her family. They were then, with no other delay than his pointing out the
neatness of the entrance, taken into the house; and as soon as they were in
the parlour, he welcomed them a second time, with ostentatious formality to
his humble abode, and punctually repeated all his wife's offers of
refreshment.
Elizabeth was prepared to see him in his glory; and she could not help in
fancying that in displaying the good proportion of the room, its aspect and
its furniture, he addressed himself particularly to her, as if wishing to make
her feel what she had lost in refusing him. But though everything seemed
neat and comfortable, she was not able to gratify him by any sigh of repen-
tance, and rather looked with wonder at her friend that she could have so
cheerful an air with such a companion. When Mr. Collins said anything of
which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, which certainly was not un-
seldom, she involuntarily turned her eye on Charlotte. Once or twice she
could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear. Af-
ter sitting long enough to admire every article of furniture in the room, from
the sideboard to the fender, to give an account of their journey, and of all
that had happened in London, Mr. Collins invited them to take a stroll in the
garden, which was large and well laid out, and to the cultivation of which
he attended himself. To work in this garden was one of his most respectable
pleasures; and Elizabeth admired the command of countenance with which
Charlotte talked of the healthfulness of the exercise, and owned she encour-
aged it as much as possible. Here, leading the way through every walk and
cross walk, and scarcely allowing them an interval to utter the praises he
asked for, every view was pointed out with a minuteness which left beauty
entirely behind. He could number the fields in every direction, and could
tell how many trees there were in the most distant clump. But of all the
views which his garden, or which the country or kingdom could boast, none
were to be compared with the prospect of Rosings, afforded by an opening
in the trees that bordered the park nearly opposite the front of his house. It
was a handsome modern building, well situated on rising ground.
From his garden, Mr. Collins would have led them round his two mead-
ows; but the ladies, not having shoes to encounter the remains of a white
frost, turned back; and while Sir William accompanied him, Charlotte took
her sister and friend over the house, extremely well pleased, probably, to
have the opportunity of showing it without her husband's help. It was rather
small, but well built and convenient; and everything was fitted up and
arranged with a neatness and consistency of which Elizabeth gave Charlotte
all the credit. When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was really an air
of great comfort throughout, and by Charlotte's evident enjoyment of it,
Elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten.
She had already learnt that Lady Catherine was still in the country. It was
spoken of again while they were at dinner, when Mr. Collins joining in,
observed:
"Yes, Miss Elizabeth, you will have the honour of seeing Lady Catherine
de Bourgh on the ensuing Sunday at church, and I need not say you will be
delighted with her. She is all affability and condescension, and I doubt not
but you will be honoured with some portion of her notice when service is
over. I have scarcely any hesitation in saying she will include you and my
sister Maria in every invitation with which she honours us during your stay
here. Her behaviour to my dear Charlotte is charming. We dine at Rosings
twice every week, and are never allowed to walk home. Her ladyship's car-
riage is regularly ordered for us. I should say, one of her ladyship's car-
riages, for she has several."
"Lady Catherine is a very respectable, sensible woman indeed," added
Charlotte, "and a most attentive neighbour."
"Very true, my dear, that is exactly what I say. She is the sort of woman
whom one cannot regard with too much deference."
The evening was spent chiefly in talking over Hertfordshire news, and
telling again what had already been written; and when it closed, Elizabeth,
in the solitude of her chamber, had to meditate upon Charlotte's degree of
contentment, to understand her address in guiding, and composure in bear-
ing with, her husband, and to acknowledge that it was all done very well.
She had also to anticipate how her visit would pass, the quiet tenor of their
usual employments, the vexatious interruptions of Mr. Collins, and the gai-
eties of their intercourse with Rosings. A lively imagination soon settled it
all.
About the middle of the next day, as she was in her room getting ready
for a walk, a sudden noise below seemed to speak the whole house in con-
fusion; and, after listening a moment, she heard somebody running upstairs
in a violent hurry, and calling loudly after her. She opened the door and met
Maria in the landing place, who, breathless with agitation, cried out—
"Oh, my dear Eliza! pray make haste and come into the dining-room, for
there is such a sight to be seen! I will not tell you what it is. Make haste,
and come down this moment."
Elizabeth asked questions in vain; Maria would tell her nothing more,
and down they ran into the dining-room, which fronted the lane, in quest of
this wonder; It was two ladies stopping in a low phaeton at the garden gate.
"And is this all?" cried Elizabeth. "I expected at least that the pigs were
got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady Catherine and her
daughter."
"La! my dear," said Maria, quite shocked at the mistake, "it is not Lady
Catherine. The old lady is Mrs. Jenkinson, who lives with them; the other is
Miss de Bourgh. Only look at her. She is quite a little creature. Who would
have thought that she could be so thin and small?"
"She is abominably rude to keep Charlotte out of doors in all this wind.
Why does she not come in?"
"Oh, Charlotte says she hardly ever does. It is the greatest of favours
when Miss de Bourgh comes in."
"I like her appearance," said Elizabeth, struck with other ideas. "She
looks sickly and cross. Yes, she will do for him very well. She will make
him a very proper wife."
Mr. Collins and Charlotte were both standing at the gate in conversation
with the ladies; and Sir William, to Elizabeth's high diversion, was stationed
in the doorway, in earnest contemplation of the greatness before him, and
constantly bowing whenever Miss de Bourgh looked that way.
At length there was nothing more to be said; the ladies drove on, and the
others returned into the house. Mr. Collins no sooner saw the two girls than
he began to congratulate them on their good fortune, which Charlotte ex-
plained by letting them know that the whole party was asked to dine at Ros-
ings the next day.
