Chapter 8 36
" Yes, and her petticoat; I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain; and the gown which had been let down to hide it not doing its office."
" Your picture may be very exact, Louisa," said Bingley; " but this was all lost upon me. I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet looked remarkably well when she came into the room this morning. Her dirty petticoat quite escaped my notice."
" You observed it, Mr. Darcy, I am sure," said Miss Bingley; " and I am inclined to think that you would not wish to see your sister make such an exhibition."
" Certainly not."
" To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above her ankles in dirt, and alone, quite alone! What could she mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country-town indifference to decorum."
" It shows an affection for her sister that is very pleasing," said Bingley.
" I am afraid, Mr. Darcy," observed Miss Bingley in a half whisper, " that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes."
" Not at all," he replied; " they were brightened by the exercise." A short pause followed this speech, and Mrs. Hurst began again:
" I have an excessive regard for Miss Jane Bennet, she is really a very sweet girl, and I wish with all my heart she were well settled. But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it."
" I think I have heard you say that their uncle is an attorney on Meryton." " Yes; and they have another, who lives somewhere near Cheapside."