第52章

'Upon my word，'said her Ladyship，'you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person.—Pray，what is your age？'

'With three younger sisters grown up，'replied Elizabeth smiling，'your Ladyship can hardly expect me to own it.'

Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer；and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence！

'You cannot be more than twenty，I am sure，—therefore you need not conceal your age.'

'I am not one and twenty.'

When the gentlemen had joined them，and tea was over，the card tables were placed. Lady Catherine，Sir William，and Mr.and Mrs.Collins sat down to quadrille；and as Miss De Bourgh chose to play at cassino，the two girls had the honour of assisting Mrs.Jenkinson to make up her party.Their table was superlatively stupid.Scarcely a syllable was uttered that did not relate to the game，except when Mrs.Jenkinson expressed her fears of Miss De Bourgh's being too hot or too cold，or having too much or too little light.A great deal more passed at the other table.Lady Catherine was generally speaking—stating the mistakes of the three others，or relating some anecdote of herself.Mr.Collins was employed in agreeing to every thing her Ladyship said，thanking her for every fish he won，and apologising if he thought he won too many.Sir William did not say much.He was storing his memory with anecdotes and noble names.

When Lady Catherine and her daughter had played as long as they chose，the tables were broke up，the carriage was offered to Mrs. Collins，gratefully accepted，and immediately ordered.The party then gathered round the fire to hear Lady Catherine determine what weather they were to have on the morrow.Fromthese instructions they were summoned by the arrival of the coach，and with many speeches of thankfulness on Mr.Collins's side，and as many bows on Sir William's，they departed.As soon as they had driven from the door，Elizabeth was called on by her cousin，to give her opinion of all that she had seen at Rosings，which，for Charlotte's sake，she made more favourable than it really was.But her commendation，though costing her some trouble，could by no means satisfy Mr.Collins，and he was very soon obliged to take her Ladyship's praise into his own hands.

VII

S ir William staid only a week at Hunsford；but his visit was long enough to convince him of his daughter's being most comfortably settled，and of her possessing such a husband and such a neighbour as were not often met with. While Sir William was with them，Mr.Collins devoted his mornings to driving him out in his gig，and shewing him the country but when he went away，the whole family returned to their usual employments，and Elizabeth was thankful to find that they did not see more of her cousin by the alteration，for the chief of the time between breakfast and dinner was now passed by him either at work in the garden，or in reading and writing，and looking out of window in his own book room，which fronted the road.The room in which the ladies sat was backwards.Elizabeth at first had rather wondered that Charlotte should not prefer the dining parlour for common use；it was a better sized room，and had a pleasanter aspect；but she soon saw that her friend had an excellent reason for what she did，for Mr.Collins would undoubtedly have been much less in his own apartment，had they sat in one equally lively；and she gave Charlotte credit for the arrangement.

From the drawing room they could distinguish nothing in the lane，and were indebted to Mr. Collins for the knowledge of what carriages went along，and how often especially Miss De Bourgh drove by in her phaeton，which he never failed coming to inform them of，though it happened almost every day.She notunfrequently stopped at the Parsonage，and had a few minutes'conversation with Charlotte，but was scarcely ever prevailed on to get out.

Very few days passed in which Mr. Collins did not walk to Rosings，and not many in which his wife did not think it necessary to go likewise；and till Elizabeth recollected that there might be other family livings to be disposed of，she could not understand the sacrifice of so many hours.Now and then，they were honoured with a call from her Ladyship，and nothing escaped her observation that was passing in the room during these visits.She examined into their employments，looked at their work，and advised them to do it differently；found fault with the arrangement of the furniture，or detected the housemaid in negligence；and if she accepted any refreshment，seemed to do it only for the sake of finding out that Mrs.Collins's joints of meat were too large for her family.

Elizabeth soon perceived that though this great lady was not in the commission of the peace for the county，she was a most active magistrate in her own parish，the minutest concerns of which were carried to her by Mr. Collins；and whenever any of the cottagers were disposed to be quarrelsome，discontented or too poor，she sallied forth into the village to settle their differences，silence their complaints，and scold them into harmony and plenty.