If Elizabeth had judged marriage only by looking at her own parents, she would not have had a very positive idea of married life.
Her father had been attracted to her mother because of her youth, beauty, and cheerful appearance.
Unfortunately, once they were married, he quickly discovered that her mind was weak and her understanding limited.
Whatever affection he had felt for her soon disappeared.
Over the years, there was no real love between them. They had neither respect nor trust, and Mr. Bennet had given up any hope of finding happiness in his marriage.
Still, he never looked for comfort in foolish or immoral pleasures.
He loved the countryside and books, and these became the main sources of his happiness.
His wife provided him with very little except amusement.
Her ignorance and foolish behavior often entertained him.
It was certainly not the kind of happiness a husband would normally want to get from his wife.
But when a man has few other sources of entertainment, even foolishness can sometimes provide amusement.
Elizabeth had never failed to notice that her father’s behavior as a husband was wrong.
It had always troubled her.
She respected his intelligence and was grateful for the kindness he showed her, so she tried not to think too much about his failures as a husband.
But she could never completely ignore them.
His careless behavior had allowed Mrs. Bennet to become an object of ridicule even in front of her own children.
Elizabeth now understood more clearly than ever how much harm such an unhappy marriage could cause the children.
Her father was intelligent and talented enough to have protected the family’s reputation if he had used his abilities more responsibly.
Instead, he mostly used them to amuse himself.
Now that Wickham had left Meryton, Elizabeth had one less thing to worry about.
But she found little else to celebrate.
Without the officers, life in the neighborhood became much quieter.
At home, Mrs. Bennet and Kitty constantly complained about how boring everything was.
Kitty might eventually recover her good sense now that Wickham and the other officers were gone.
Lydia, however, was a much greater concern.
Being surrounded by soldiers at a seaside resort seemed likely to make her even more reckless.
Elizabeth had once looked forward eagerly to the regiment leaving.
But now that it had happened, she realized that it had not brought her as much happiness as she had expected.
So she needed something else to look forward to.
Her planned trip to the Lakes became her main source of excitement.
Whenever her mother and Kitty made the house unpleasant with their complaints, Elizabeth comforted herself by thinking about the journey.
If Jane could go with her, the trip would be perfect.
“But perhaps it is lucky that there is still something missing,” Elizabeth thought.
“If everything were arranged exactly as I wanted, I would probably end up disappointed.”
“At least Jane’s absence gives me one small reason to expect less.”
“A plan that promises nothing but happiness is probably too good to succeed. A little disappointment somewhere may protect me from being disappointed everywhere.”
Meanwhile, Lydia had promised to write regularly from Brighton.
She did write to her mother and Kitty.
But her letters were always late and usually very short.
Her letters to Mrs. Bennet contained little more than stories about going to the shops and seeing officers there.
She described the beautiful things she had seen and mentioned her new clothes and accessories.
Sometimes she had to stop writing because Mrs. Forster was calling her to go to the camp.
Her letters to Kitty were a little longer.
But they contained so many secret comments about the officers that Kitty could not show them to anyone else.
After about two or three weeks, life at Longbourn began to return to normal.
Everyone became happier.
Families who had spent the winter in London returned home.
Summer clothes appeared, and people began making plans for summer activities.
Mrs. Bennet returned to her usual habit of complaining without being completely miserable.
By the middle of June, Kitty had recovered enough to visit Meryton without crying.
Elizabeth considered this a very encouraging sign.
She hoped that by Christmas Kitty might become sensible enough to mention an officer no more than once a day.
Unless, of course, the army decided to send another regiment to Meryton.
The time for Elizabeth’s northern trip was getting close.
Only two weeks remained when a letter arrived from Mrs. Gardiner.
The news forced them to change their plans.
Mr. Gardiner’s business would prevent him from leaving until two weeks later than expected.
He would also have to return to London within a month.
That left too little time for the long journey to the Lakes.
They would not be able to see everything they had planned without rushing.
So they decided to give up the Lakes and make a shorter trip instead.
They would travel through Derbyshire and spend most of their three weeks there.
Mrs. Gardiner was especially interested in the area.
She had once lived in a small town called Lambton, and she had recently learned that some old acquaintances still lived there.
She was looking forward to visiting the town again.
There were also plenty of famous places to see nearby, including Matlock, Chatsworth, Dovedale, and the Peak.
Elizabeth was deeply disappointed.
She had been looking forward to seeing the Lakes for a long time.
She still thought they might somehow find enough time.
But there was nothing she could do.
She reminded herself to be grateful for the trip they could have.
Her disappointment soon faded.
Then she saw the word “Derbyshire” and immediately thought of Pemberley.
She also thought of its owner.
“But surely I can visit Derbyshire without getting into trouble,” she told herself.
“I can walk around his county and perhaps pick up a few interesting stones without Mr. Darcy ever knowing I was there.”
The waiting period became even longer.
Another four weeks had to pass before her aunt and uncle arrived.
Eventually, the time came.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner arrived at Longbourn with their four children.
They had two girls, six and eight years old, and two younger boys.
The children would stay behind at Longbourn under Jane’s care.
Jane was everyone’s favorite.
She was patient, sensible, and gentle, so she was perfectly suited to look after the children.
She could teach them, play with them, and keep them happy.
The Gardiners stayed at Longbourn for only one night.
The next morning, they set off with Elizabeth.
Everyone was looking forward to the journey.
Elizabeth was especially happy to be traveling with people she genuinely liked.
Her aunt and uncle were good companions.
They were healthy enough to handle the inconveniences of travel, cheerful enough to make every experience more enjoyable, and intelligent and affectionate enough to comfort one another if anything went wrong.
They traveled through several famous places on their way to Derbyshire.
They passed through Oxford, Blenheim, Warwick, Kenilworth, Birmingham, and other well-known places.
There was no need to describe all of them.
Eventually, they reached the part of Derbyshire that mattered most to Elizabeth.
They planned to visit Lambton, the town where Mrs. Gardiner had once lived.
After seeing many of the area’s famous sights, they were only about five miles from Lambton when Elizabeth learned that Pemberley was nearby.
It was not directly on their route, but it was only a mile or two away.
The evening before their visit, Mrs. Gardiner mentioned that she would like to see Pemberley again.
Mr. Gardiner immediately agreed.
Then Mrs. Gardiner turned to Elizabeth.
“My dear, wouldn’t you like to see a place you’ve heard so much about?”
“So many of your acquaintances are connected with it.”
“And Wickham spent much of his youth there, you know.”
Elizabeth immediately became uncomfortable.
She knew she had no real reason to visit Pemberley.
She certainly did not want to meet Darcy there.
So she tried to sound uninterested.
“I think I’m rather tired of visiting large houses,” she said.
“After seeing so many of them, I don’t think I have much interest left in expensive carpets and silk curtains.”
Mrs. Gardiner laughed.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“If Pemberley were nothing more than a large, beautifully decorated house, I wouldn’t care much about it either.”
“But the grounds are supposed to be wonderful.”
“They have some of the finest woods in the whole area.”
Elizabeth said nothing more.
But she could not stop thinking about the possibility of seeing Darcy.
What if he happened to be there?
The thought made her blush.
It would be terribly embarrassing.
For a moment, she considered telling her aunt the truth.
But she decided against it.
There was another way to find out whether Darcy was at Pemberley.
That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Elizabeth quietly asked the maid some questions.
“Is Pemberley really a beautiful place?”
“Who owns it?”
Then, trying to hide her nervousness, she asked the most important question.
“Does the family usually stay there during the summer?”
The maid gave her exactly the answer she wanted.
“No, ma’am. The family isn’t there.”
Elizabeth immediately felt relieved.
Now that she knew Darcy was away, she found herself genuinely curious about Pemberley.
The next morning, when her aunt brought up the idea again, Elizabeth was able to answer calmly.
“I don’t really have any objection to going.”
So the decision was made.
They would visit Pemberley.