варіація на тему "Гордість та упередженість" Джейн Остін. Я як картинку шукала, то виявилося, що ця Валері дуже багато різних варіантів написала розвитку подій з тими ж героями. Цікаве захоплення у жіночки… може, я колись ще одну прочитаю… ця була милою, але місцями абсурдною. Хоча я думаю - що так і було задумано )
…But Jane said nothing. Elizabeth did not know it, but her sister was contemplating whether it made any sense at all to explain that she might have preferred the look of Mr. Bingley or that Mr. Darcy seemed to suit Lizzy in some intangible way. That perhaps the sisters were mismatched, each with the wrong man.
Because it did not matter, did it? The men were in charge of these things and pursued where they saw fit. The sisters were not exactly beggars, she supposed, but close enough to beggars that they still could not be choosers.
The men chose.
The women accepted.
It was the way of things…
…she wanted him to want to marry her, she thought.
Which she fully owned was not exactly the same as wanting to marry him.
But it was close enough…
…Bingley had said, "I know she is not greatly my superior in terms of her status or her wealth, but she is my superior, Darcy. She's a woman to strive for. The look of her, it's…"
"Yes," Darcy had muttered, picturing Elizabeth Bennet, who was not pretty, not exactly, but was still the most interesting woman he'd ever seen. He would not mind gazing upon her for years and years, from every single angle. He wondered what she looked like with her hair down or with her—
These sorts of thoughts were beneath him…
…Shouldn't poke fun at her, perhaps, Mr. Darcy thought. Yes, he should be kinder to her. It was not her own fault that she had developed feelings for him, and he had been in the same situation before, when he admired someone who did not admire him back…
…BEING REASONABLY SURE that Miss Elizabeth would be asleep, Mr. Darcy looked in on her later on that night, just before he retired for bed. He chastised himself for doing so. If anyone saw him, it wouldn't look good, he didn't think, going into a maiden's room (even one so ill) just before bed, very late at night.
So, he made sure that no one would see him.
And no one did.
Well, no one, that is, except the maiden herself, who was not at all asleep. She was sitting up in bed with a book of Shakespearean comedies, and he started at the sight of her.
"Miss Bennet!" he said. "I must have taken a wrong turn."
"Oh?" she said. "Well, I found myself a bit confused in the house, I must say, and it is a relief to know that you, who have been staying here for weeks, still find it confusing, too." She gave him a little smirk, to let him know that she didn't believe for a moment that he'd gotten turned around.
"I must go."
"You should, likely, yes," she said airily. "Why, you may catch my illness, and then we shall be felled by it, a houseful of people with coughs and fevers, and everyone will be ever so cross, and it will be all my own fault. You mustn't come near me, really, but I must say, I am dreadfully bored, Mr. Darcy. And you, whatever I may say about you, are not boring."
He went still, then, looking her over.
She coughed, and then groaned. "Oh, dear. Apologies, sir, you must not mind me. I am feverish and saying things I shall regret later, undoubtedly."
"What do you say about me?" he said.
"Me?" She touched her chest. "Who says that I say anything about you?"
"You did. Just then. You said, ‘whatever I may say about' me, that I wasn't boring."
"Oh, yes, but that was just a turn of phrase," she said with a shrug.
He raised his eyebrows…
…When he put the book in her hands, she lit up, and he felt a singular sort of pride, for having pleased her. There was something about this woman, like the charged air of a gathered storm…
…It was morning, and Mr. Darcy was waiting for some sign that Mr. Bingley knew that he'd given Elizabeth that book last night. How was he to explain that?
I just thought to look in on her, the woman you have told me you are hoping to marry, right before bed, all alone, and there was nothing untoward about it.
What had he been thinking?
Why was he such an idiot? Elizabeth had said he was intelligent last night, but the truth was that he was not even remotely intelligent. He was a dull sod who could not do anything right…
…"Shall I read the book, then?"
"Do you wish to read the book?" she said.
"If you wish me to read it, then yes, I do. I wish to please you."
She furrowed her brow, unsure of how to take that. Was it not romantic for a man to wish to please a woman? Why did it therefore make her uncomfortable? She found she had trouble giving Mr. Bingley a direct order, for some reason…
…He wanted to scream. She was the most exasperating woman in the entire world…
…ELIZABETH SHOULD HAVE realized that Mr. Darcy would not speak to her about anything at all. He was the most frustrating man in the entire world…
…"She's not pretty," said Richard. "When you first look at her, that's what you think. But then, you realize you have been staring at her for quite some time, that—in fact—you do not wish to stop staring at her."
"Exactly," said Darcy. "And you should speak to her. Speaking to her is even more like that. She's self-possessed and funny and full of a sparkling sort of wit. Nothing bothers her. She is unruffled and cheery. She's everything you could ever want in a woman and…"
"Oh," said his cousin. "I didn't realize you were in love with her."
"I am not," he said firmly.
Richard only laughed.
Anyway, they had not come to Rosings precisely because of Elizabeth…
…She wasn't giving up the pipe to be ladylike or anything.
She just was beginning to think it was stupid to want to do something only because it ruffled other people's feathers. That was a kind of control, really, wasn't it? If she did a thing to upset people, was it any different than doing a thing to please people? Their reactions still ruled her. It was a sort of reverse control, truly.
Anne was never going to be controlled…
No comments :
Post a Comment