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Android Development with Kotlin

Learn Android application development with the extensive features of

Kotlin
Marcin Moskala
Igor Wojda

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Android Development with Kotlin
Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is
sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt
Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of

the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of
capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this
information.

First published: August 2017

Production reference: 1280817

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78712-368-7
www.packtpub.com
Credits

Authors
Copy Editor
Marcin Moskala
Safis Editing
Igor Wojda

Reviewers Project Coordinator

Mikhail Glukhikh Stepan Goncharov Vaidehi Sawant

Commissioning Editor Proofreader

Aaron Lazar Safis Editing

Acquisition Editor Indexer

Chaitanya Nair Francy Puthiry

Content Development Editor Graphics

Rohit Kumar Singh Abhinash Sahu

Technical Editor Production Coordinator

Pavan Ramchandani Nilesh Mohite

About the Authors
Marcin Moskala is an experienced Android developer who is always looking
for ways to improve. He has been passionate about Kotlin since its early beta
release. He writes articles for Trade press and speaks at programming
conferences.

Marcin is quite active in the programming and open source community and is
also passionate about cognitive and data science. You can visit his website (marcin
moskala.com), or follow him on GitHub (MarcinMoskala) and on Twitter
(@marcinmoskala).

I would like to thank my co-workers in Gamekit, Docplanner, and Apreel. I

especially want to thank my supervisors, who were not only supportive, but who
are also constant source of knowledge and inspiration: Mateusz Mikulski,
Krzyysztof Wolniak, Bartek Wilczynski and Rafal Trzeciak.
I would like to thank Marek Kaminski, Gleb Smirnov, Jacek Jablonski, and
Maciej Gorski for the corrections, and Dariusz Bacinski and James Shvarts for
reviewing the code of example application.
Also I would like to thank my family and my girlfriend, Maja Markiewicz for her
support, help, making an environment that is supporting passion and self-
realization.

Igor Wojda is an experienced engineer with over 11 years of experience in

software development. His adventure with Android started a few years ago, and
he is currently working as a senior Android developer in the healthcare industry.
Igor has been deeply interested in Kotlin development long before the 1.0
version was officially released, and he is an active member of the Kotlin
community. He enjoys sharing his passion for coding with developers.

To learn more about him, you can visit on Medium (@igorwojda) and follow him on
Twitter (@igorwojda).
I would also like to thank amazing team at Babylon, who are not only
professionals but also the inspiring and very helpful people, especially Mikolaj
Leszczynski, Sakis Kaliakoudas, Simon Attard, Balachandar Kolathur Mani,
Sergio Carabantes, Joao Alves, Tomas Navickas, Mario Sanoguera, Sebastien
Rouif.
I offer thanks to all the reviewers, especially technical reviewer Stepan
Goncharov, Mikhail Glukhikh and my colleagues who lived us feedback on the
drafts, especially Michał Jankowski.
I also thankful to my family for all of their love and support. I'd like to thank my
parents for allowing me to follow my ambitions throughout my childhood and for
all the education.
Thanks also go to JetBrains for creating this awesome language and to the
Kotlin community for sharing the knowledge, being helpful, open and inspiring.
This book could not be written without you!
I offer special thanks to my friends, especially Konrad Hamela, Marcin Sobolski,
Maciej Gierasimiuk, Rafal Cupial, Michal Mazur and Edyta Skiba for their
friendship, inspiration and continuous support. I value your advice immensely.
About the Reviewers
Mikhail Glukhikh has graduated from Ioffe Physical Technical School in 1995
and from Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University in 2001 with master
degree in informational technologies. During 2001-2004, he was PhD student in
the same university, and then he defended PhD thesis in 2007. The title of his
thesis is Synthesis method development of special-purpose informational and
control systems with structural redundancy.

Mikhail worked in Kodeks Software Development Center during 1999-2000,

and in Efremov Research Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus during 2001-
2002. Since 2002, he is a lead developer in Digitek Labs at computer system and
software engineering department. He was a senior lecturer of the department
from 2004 to 2007, from 2007 he is an associate professor. In 2013 he had one-
year stay in Clausthal University of Technology as an invited researcher. In
2014, he worked at SPb office of Intel corporation, since March 2015, he
participates in Kotlin language development at JetBrains company.

Mikhail is one of Digitek Aegis defect detection tool authors, also he is one of
Digitek RA tool authors. Nowadays primary R&D areas include code analysis,
code verification, code refactoring and code reliability estimation methods.
Before he had also interests in fault-tolerant system design and analysis and also
in high-productive digital signal processing complexes developing.

Stepan Goncharov is currently working at Grab as the engineering lead of the

Driver Android app. He is an organizer of Kotlin User Group Singapore who has
developed apps and games for Android since 2008. He is a Kotlin and RxJava
addict, and obsessed with elegant and functional style code. He is mainly
focused on mobile apps architecture.

Stepan is making a difference by spending more and more time contributing to

open-source projects. He is the reviewer of Learning RxJava, by Thomas Nield,
published by Packt.
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Table of Contents

Preface
What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support
Downloading the example code

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Beginning Your Kotlin Adventure

Say hello to Kotlin

Awesome Kotlin examples

Dealing with Kotlin code

Kotlin Playground

Android Studio
Configuring Kotlin for the project

Using Kotlin in a new Android project

Java to Kotlin converter (J2K)

Alternative ways to run Kotlin code

Kotlin under the hood

The Kotlin standard library

More reasons to use Kotlin

 Summary

2. Laying a Foundation
Variables

Type inference

Strict null safety

Safe call

Elvis operator

Not null assertion

Let

Nullability and Java

Casts
Safe/unsafe cast operator

Smart casts
Type smart casts

Non-nullable smart cast

Primitive data types

Numbers

Char

Arrays

The Boolean type

Composite data types

Strings
String templates

Ranges

Collections

Statements versus expressions

Control flow
The if statement
 The when expression

Loops
The for loop

The while loop

Other iterations

Break and continue

Exceptions
The try... catch block

Compile-time constants

Delegates

Summary

3. Playing with Functions

Basic function declaration and usages
Parameters

Returning functions

Vararg parameter

Single-expression functions

Tail-recursive functions

Different ways of calling a function

Default arguments values

Named arguments syntax

Top-level functions

Top-level functions under the hood

Local functions

Nothing return type

Summary
4. Classes and Objects
Classes
Class declaration

Properties
Read-write versus read-only property

Property access syntax between Kotlin and Java

Increment and decrement operators

Custom getters/setters
The getter versus property default value

Late-initialized properties

Annotating properties

Inline properties

Constructors
Property versus constructor parameter

Constructor with default arguments

Patterns

Inheritance
The JvmOverloads annotation

Interfaces

Data classes
The equals and hashCode method

The toString method

The copy method

Destructive declarations

Operator overloading

Object declaration

Object expression

Companion objects
Companion object instantiation
 Enum classes

Infix calls for named methods

Visibility modifiers
Internal modifier and Java bytecode

Sealed classes

Nested classes

Import aliases

Summary

5. Functions as First-Class Citizens

Function type
What is function type under the hood?

Anonymous functions

Lambda expressions
Implicit name of a single parameter

Higher-order functions
Providing operations to functions

Observer (Listener) pattern

Callback after a threaded operation

Combination of named arguments and lambda expressions

Last lambda in argument convention

Named code surrounding

Processing data structures using LINQ style

Java SAM support in Kotlin

Named Kotlin function types

Named parameters in function type

Type alias

Underscore for unused variables

 Destructuring in lambda expressions

Inline functions
The noinline modifier

Non-local returns

Labeled return in lambda expressions

Crossinline modifier

Inline properties

Function References

Summary

6. Generics Are Your Friends

Generics
The need for generics
Type parameters versus type arguments

Generic constraints
Nullability

Variance
Variance modifiers

Use-site variance versus declaration-site variance

Collection variance

Variance producer/consumer limitation

Invariant constructor

Type erasure
Reified type parameters
The startActivity method

Star-projections

Type parameter naming conventions

Summary

7. Extension Functions and Properties

Extension functions
Extension functions under the hood
No method overriding

Access to receiver elements

Extensions are resolved statically

Companion object extensions

Operator overloading using extension functions

Where should top-level extension functions be used?

Extension properties
Where should extension properties be used?

Member extension functions and properties

Type of receivers

Member extension functions and properties under the hood

Generic extension functions

Collection processing
Kotlin collection type hierarchy

The map, filter, flatMap functions

The forEach and onEach functions

The withIndex and indexed variants

The sum, count, min, max, and sorted functions

Other stream processing functions

Examples of stream collection processing

Sequence

Function literals with receiver

Kotlin standard library functions
The let function

Using the apply function for initialization

The also function

 The run and with function

The to function

Domain-specific language
Anko

Summary

8. Delegates
Class delegation
Delegation pattern

Decorator pattern

Property delegation
What are delegated properties?

Predefined delegates
The lazy function

The notNull function

The observable delegate

The vetoable delegate

Property delegation to Map type

Custom delegates
View binging

Preference binding

Providing a delegate

Summary

9. Making Your Marvel Gallery Application

Marvel Gallery
How to use this chapter

Make an empty project

Character gallery
View implementation
 Network definition

Business logic implementation

Putting it all together

Character search

Character profile display

Summary
Preface
Nowadays, the Android application development process is quite extensive.
Over the last few years, we have seen how various tools have evolved to make
our lives easier. However, one core element of Android application development
process hasn’t changed much over time, Java. The Android platform adapts to
newer versions of Java, but to be able to use them, we need to wait for a very
long time until new Android devices reach proper market propagation. Also,
developing applications in Java comes with its own set of challenges since Java
is an old language with many design issues that can’t be simply resolved due to
backward compatibility constraints.

Kotlin, on the other hand, is a new but stable language that can run on all
Android devices and solve many issues that Java cannot. It brings lots of proven
programming concepts to the Android development table. It is a great language
that makes a developer's life much easier and allows to produce more secure,
expressive, and concise code.

This book is an easy-to-follow, practical guide that will help you to speed up and
improve the Android development process using Kotlin. We will present many
shortcuts and improvements over Java and new ways of solving common
problems. By the end of this book, you will be familiar with Kotlin features and
tools, and you will be able to develop an Android application entirely in Kotlin.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 CHAPTER XIV.
The two gentlemen left Rosings the next morning; and Mr. Collins
having been in waiting near the lodges, to make them his parting
obeisance, was able to bring home the pleasing intelligence, of their
appearing in very good health, and in as tolerable spirits as could be
expected, after the melancholy scene so lately gone through at
Rosings. To Rosings he then hastened to console Lady Catherine,
and her daughter; and on his return, brought back, with great
satisfaction, a message from her Ladyship, importing that she felt
herself so dull as to make her very desirous of having them all to
dine with her.
Elizabeth could not see Lady Catherine without recollecting, that had
she chosen it, she might by this time have been presented to her, as
her future niece; nor could she think, without a smile, of what her
ladyship's indignation would have been. "What would she have said?
—how would she have behaved?" were questions with which she
amused herself.
Their first subject was the diminution of the Rosings party.—"I
assure you, I feel it exceedingly," said Lady Catherine; "I believe
nobody feels the loss of friends so much as I do. But I am
particularly attached to these young men; and know them to be so
much attached to me!—They were excessively sorry to go! But so
they always are. The dear colonel rallied his spirits tolerably till just
at last; but Darcy seemed to feel it most acutely, more I think than
last year. His attachment to Rosings, certainly increases."
Mr. Collins had a compliment, and an allusion to throw in here, which
were kindly smiled on by the mother and daughter.
Lady Catherine observed, after dinner, that Miss Bennet seemed out
of spirits, and immediately accounting for it herself, by supposing
that she did not like to go home again so soon, she added,
"But if that is the case, you must write to your mother to beg that
you may stay a little longer. Mrs. Collins will be very glad of your
company, I am sure."
"I am much obliged to your ladyship for your kind invitation," replied
Elizabeth, "but it is not in my power to accept it.—I must be in town
next Saturday."
"Why, at that rate, you will have been here only six weeks. I
expected you to stay two months. I told Mrs. Collins so before you
came. There can be no occasion for your going so soon. Mrs. Bennet
could certainly spare you for another fortnight."
"But my father cannot.—He wrote last week to hurry my return."
"Oh! your father of course may spare you, if your mother can.—
Daughters are never of so much consequence to a father. And if you
will stay another month complete, it will be in my power to take one
of you as far as London, for I am going there early in June, for a
week; and as Dawson does not object to the Barouche box, there
will be very good room for one of you—and indeed, if the weather
should happen to be cool, I should not object to taking you both, as
you are neither of you large."
"You are all kindness, Madam; but I believe we must abide by our
original plan."
Lady Catherine seemed resigned.
"Mrs. Collins, you must send a servant with them. You know I always
speak my mind, and I cannot bear the idea of two young women
travelling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must
contrive to send somebody. I have the greatest dislike in the world
to that sort of thing.—Young women should always be properly
guarded and attended, according to their situation in life. When my
niece Georgiana went to Ramsgate last summer, I made a point of
her having two men servants go with her.—Miss Darcy, the daughter
of Mr. Darcy, of Pemberley, and Lady Anne, could not have appeared
with propriety in a different manner.—I am excessively attentive to
all those things. You must send John with the young ladies, Mrs.
Collins. I am glad it occurred to me to mention it; for it would really
be discreditable to you to let them go alone."
"My uncle is to send a servant for us."
"Oh!—Your uncle!—He keeps a man-servant, does he?—I am very
glad you have somebody who thinks of those things. Where shall
you change horses?—Oh! Bromley, of course.—If you mention my
name at the Bell, you will be attended to."
Lady Catherine had many other questions to ask respecting their
journey, and as she did not answer them all herself, attention was
necessary, which Elizabeth believed to be lucky for her; or, with a
mind so occupied, she might have forgotten where she was.
Reflection must be reserved for solitary hours; whenever she was
alone, she gave way to it as the greatest relief; and not a day went
by without a solitary walk, in which she might indulge in all the
delight of unpleasant recollections.
Mr. Darcy's letter, she was in a fair way of soon knowing by heart.
She studied every sentence: and her feelings towards its writer were
at times widely different. When she remembered the style of his
address, she was still full of indignation; but when she considered
how unjustly she had condemned and upbraided him, her anger was
turned against herself; and his disappointed feelings became the
object of compassion. His attachment excited gratitude, his general
character respect; but she could not approve him; nor could she for
a moment repent her refusal, or feel the slightest inclination ever to
see him again. In her own past behaviour, there was a constant
source of vexation and regret; and in the unhappy defects of her
family a subject of yet heavier chagrin. They were hopeless of
remedy. Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never
exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest
daughters; and her mother, with manners so far from right herself,
was entirely insensible of the evil. Elizabeth had frequently united
with Jane in an endeavour to check the imprudence of Catherine and
Lydia; but while they were supported by their mother's indulgence,
what chance could there be of improvement? Catherine, weak-
spirited, irritable, and completely under Lydia's guidance, had been
always affronted by their advice; and Lydia, self-willed and careless,
would scarcely give them a hearing. They were ignorant, idle, and
vain. While there was an officer in Meryton, they would flirt with
him; and while Meryton was within a walk of Longbourn, they would
be going there for ever.
Anxiety on Jane's behalf, was another prevailing concern, and Mr.
Darcy's explanation, by restoring Bingley to all her former good
opinion, heightened the sense of what Jane had lost. His affection
was proved to have been sincere, and his conduct cleared of all
blame, unless any could attach to the implicitness of his confidence
in his friend. How grievous then was the thought that, of a situation
so desirable in every respect, so replete with advantage, so
promising for happiness, Jane had been deprived, by the folly and
indecorum of her own family!
When to these recollections was added the developement of
Wickham's character, it may be easily believed that the happy spirits
which had seldom been depressed before, were now so much
affected as to make it almost impossible for her to appear tolerably
cheerful.
Their engagements at Rosings were as frequent during the last week
of her stay, as they had been at first. The very last evening was
spent there; and her Ladyship again enquired minutely into the
particulars of their journey, gave them directions as to the best
method of packing, and was so urgent on the necessity of placing
gowns in the only right way, that Maria thought herself obliged, on
her return, to undo all the work of the morning, and pack her trunk
afresh.
When they parted, Lady Catherine, with great condescension,
wished them a good journey, and invited them to come to Hunsford
again next year; and Miss De Bourgh exerted herself so far as to
curtsey and hold out her hand to both.
 CHAPTER XV.
On Saturday morning Elizabeth and Mr. Collins met for breakfast a
few minutes before the others appeared; and he took the opportunity
of paying the parting civilities which he deemed indispensably
necessary.
"I know not, Miss Elizabeth," said he, "whether Mrs. Collins has yet
expressed her sense of your kindness in coming to us, but I am very
certain you will not leave the house without receiving her thanks for
it. The favour of your company has been much felt, I assure you. We
know how little there is to tempt any one to our humble abode. Our
plain manner of living, our small rooms, and few domestics, and the
little we see of the world, must make Hunsford extremely dull to a
young lady like yourself; but I hope you will believe us grateful for
the condescension, and that we have done every thing in our power
to prevent your spending your time unpleasantly."
Elizabeth was eager with her thanks and assurances of happiness.
She had spent six weeks with great enjoyment; and the pleasure of
being with Charlotte, and the kind attentions she had received, must
make her feel the obliged. Mr. Collins was gratified; and with a more
smiling solemnity replied,
"It gives me the greatest pleasure to hear that you have passed your
time not disagreeably. We have certainly done our best; and most
fortunately having it in our power to introduce you to very superior
society, and from our connection with Rosings, the frequent means of
varying the humble home scene, I think we may flatter ourselves that
your Hunsford visit cannot have been entirely irksome. Our situation
with regard to Lady Catherine's family is indeed the sort of
extraordinary advantage and blessing which few can boast. You see
on what a footing we are. You see how continually we are engaged
there. In truth I must acknowledge that, with all the disadvantages of
this humble parsonage, I should not think any one abiding in it an
object of compassion, while they are sharers of our intimacy at
Rosings."
Words were insufficient for the elevation of his feelings; and he was
obliged to walk about the room, while Elizabeth tried to unite civility
and truth in a few short sentences.
"You may, in fact, carry a very favourable report of us into
Hertfordshire, my dear cousin. I flatter myself at least that you will be
able to do so. Lady Catherine's great attentions to Mrs. Collins you
have been a daily witness of; and altogether I trust it does not
appear that your friend has drawn an unfortunate—but on this point
it will be as well to be silent. Only let me assure you, my dear Miss
Elizabeth, that I can from my heart most cordially wish you equal
felicity in marriage. My dear Charlotte and I have but one mind and
one way of thinking. There is in every thing a most remarkable
resemblance of character and ideas between us. We seem to have
been designed for each other."
Elizabeth could safely say that it was a great happiness where that
was the case, and with equal sincerity could add that she firmly
believed and rejoiced in his domestic comforts. She was not sorry,
however, to have the recital of them interrupted by the entrance of
the lady from whom they sprung. Poor Charlotte!—it was melancholy
to leave her to such society!—But she had chosen it with her eyes
open; and though evidently regretting that her visitors were to go,
she did not seem to ask for compassion. Her home and her
housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent
concerns, had not yet lost their charms.
At length the chaise arrived, the trunks were fastened on, the parcels
placed within, and it was pronounced to be ready. After an
affectionate parting between the friends, Elizabeth was attended to
the carriage by Mr. Collins, and as they walked down the garden, he
was commissioning her with his best respects to all her family, not
forgetting his thanks for the kindness he had received at Longbourn
in the winter, and his compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, though
unknown. He then handed her in, Maria followed, and the door was
on the point of being closed, when he suddenly reminded them, with
some consternation, that they had hitherto forgotten to leave any
message for the ladies of Rosings.
"But," he added, "you will of course wish to have your humble
respects delivered to them, with your grateful thanks for their
kindness to you while you have been here."
Elizabeth made no objection;—the door was then allowed to be shut,
and the carriage drove off.
"Good gracious!" cried Maria, after a few minutes silence, "it seems
but a day or two since we first came!—and yet how many things
have happened!"
"A great many indeed," said her companion with a sigh.
"We have dined nine times at Rosings, besides drinking tea there
twice!—How much I shall have to tell!"
Elizabeth privately added, "And how much I shall have to conceal."
Their journey was performed without much conversation, or any
alarm; and within four hours of their leaving Hunsford, they reached
Mr. Gardiner's house, where they were to remain a few days.
Jane looked well, and Elizabeth had little opportunity of studying her
spirits, amidst the various engagements which the kindness of her
aunt had reserved for them. But Jane was to go home with her, and
at Longbourn there would be leisure enough for observation.
It was not without an effort meanwhile that she could wait even for
Longbourn, before she told her sister of Mr. Darcy's proposals. To
know that she had the power of revealing what would so exceedingly
astonish Jane, and must, at the same time, so highly gratify whatever
of her own vanity she had not yet been able to reason away, was
such a temptation to openness as nothing could have conquered, but
the state of indecision in which she remained, as to the extent of
what she should communicate; and her fear, if she once entered on
the subject, of being hurried into repeating something of Bingley,
which might only grieve her sister farther.
 CHAPTER XVI.
It was the second week in May, in which the three young ladies set
out together from Gracechurch-street, for the town of —— in
Hertfordshire; and, as they drew near the appointed inn where Mr.
Bennet's carriage was to meet them, they quickly perceived, in token
of the coachman's punctuality, both Kitty and Lydia looking out of a
dining-room up stairs. These two girls had been above an hour in the
place, happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner, watching the
sentinel on guard, and dressing a sallad and cucumber.
After welcoming their sisters, they triumphantly displayed a table set
out with such cold meat as an inn larder usually affords, exclaiming,
"Is not this nice? is not this an agreeable surprise?"
"And we mean to treat you all," added Lydia; "but you must lend us
the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there." Then
shewing her purchases: "Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do
not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not.
I shall pull it to pieces as soon as I get home, and see if I can make it
up any better."
And when her sisters abused it as ugly, she added, with perfect
unconcern, "Oh! but there were two or three much uglier in the shop;
and when I have bought some prettier-coloured satin to trim it with
fresh, I think it will be very tolerable. Besides, it will not much signify
what one wears this summer, after the ——shire have left Meryton,
and they are going in a fortnight."
"Are they indeed?" cried Elizabeth, with the greatest satisfaction.
"They are going to be encamped near Brighton; and I do so want
papa to take us all there for the summer! It would be such a delicious
scheme, and I dare say would hardly cost any thing at all. Mamma
would like to go too of all things! Only think what a miserable
summer else we shall have!"
"Yes," thought Elizabeth, "that would be a delightful scheme, indeed,
and completely do for us at once. Good Heaven! Brighton, and a
whole campful of soldiers, to us, who have been overset already by
one poor regiment of militia, and the monthly balls of Meryton."
"Now I have got some news for you," said Lydia, as they sat down to
table. "What do you think? It is excellent news, capital news, and
about a certain person that we all like."
Jane and Elizabeth looked at each other, and the waiter was told that
he need not stay. Lydia laughed, and said,
"Aye, that is just like your formality and discretion. You thought the
waiter must not hear, as if he cared! I dare say he often hears worse
things said than I am going to say. But he is an ugly fellow! I am glad
he is gone. I never saw such a long chin in my life. Well, but now for
my news: it is about dear Wickham; too good for the waiter, is not it?
There is no danger of Wickham's marrying Mary King. There's for
you! She is gone down to her uncle at Liverpool; gone to stay.
Wickham is safe."
"And Mary King is safe!" added Elizabeth; "safe from a connection
imprudent as to fortune."
"She is a great fool for going away, if she liked him."
"But I hope there is no strong attachment on either side," said Jane.
"I am sure there is not on his. I will answer for it he never cared
three straws about her. Who could about such a nasty little freckled
thing?"
Elizabeth was shocked to think that, however incapable of such
coarseness of expression herself, the coarseness of the sentiment
was little other than her own breast had formerly harboured and
fancied liberal!
As soon as all had ate, and the elder ones paid, the carriage was
ordered; and after some contrivance, the whole party, with all their
boxes, workbags, and parcels, and the unwelcome addition of Kitty's
and Lydia's purchases, were seated in it.
"How nicely we are crammed in!" cried Lydia. "I am glad I bought my
bonnet, if it is only for the fun of having another bandbox! Well, now
let us be quite comfortable and snug, and talk and laugh all the way
home. And in the first place, let us hear what has happened to you
all, since you went away. Have you seen any pleasant men? Have you
had any flirting? I was in great hopes that one of you would have got
a husband before you came back. Jane will be quite an old maid
soon, I declare. She is almost three and twenty! Lord, how ashamed
I should be of not being married before three and twenty! My aunt
Philips wants you so to get husbands, you can't think. She says Lizzy
had better have taken Mr. Collins; but I do not think there would have
been any fun in it. Lord! how I should like to be married before any
of you; and then I would chaperon you about to all the balls. Dear
me! we had such a good piece of fun the other day at Colonel
Forster's. Kitty and me were to spend the day there, and Mrs. Forster
promised to have a little dance in the evening; (by the bye, Mrs.
Forster and me are such friends!) and so she asked the two
Harringtons to come, but Harriet was ill, and so Pen was forced to
come by herself; and then, what do you think we did? We dressed up
Chamberlayne in woman's clothes, on purpose to pass for a lady,—
only think what fun! Not a soul knew of it, but Col. and Mrs. Forster,
and Kitty and me, except my aunt, for we were forced to borrow one
of her gowns; and you cannot imagine how well he looked! When
Denny, and Wickham, and Pratt, and two or three more of the men
came in, they did not know him in the least. Lord! how I laughed!
and so did Mrs. Forster. I thought I should have died. And that made
the men suspect something, and then they soon found out what was
the matter."
With such kind of histories of their parties and good jokes, did Lydia,
assisted by Kitty's hints and additions, endeavour to amuse her
companions all the way to Longbourn. Elizabeth listened as little as
she could, but there was no escaping the frequent mention of
Wickham's name.
Their reception at home was most kind. Mrs. Bennet rejoiced to see
Jane in undiminished beauty; and more than once during dinner did
Mr. Bennet say voluntarily to Elizabeth,
"I am glad you are come back, Lizzy."
Their party in the dining-room was large, for almost all the Lucases
came to meet Maria and hear the news: and various were the
subjects which occupied them; lady Lucas was enquiring of Maria
across the table, after the welfare and poultry of her eldest daughter;
Mrs. Bennet was doubly engaged, on one hand collecting an account
of the present fashions from Jane, who sat some way below her, and
on the other, retailing them all to the younger Miss Lucases; and
Lydia, in a voice rather louder than any other person's, was
enumerating the various pleasures of the morning to any body who
would hear her.
"Oh! Mary," said she, "I wish you had gone with us, for we had such
fun! as we went along, Kitty and me drew up all the blinds, and
pretended there was nobody in the coach; and I should have gone so
all the way, if Kitty had not been sick; and when we got to the
George, I do think we behaved very handsomely, for we treated the
other three with the nicest cold luncheon in the world, and if you
would have gone, we would have treated you too. And then when we
came away it was such fun! I thought we never should have got into
the coach. I was ready to die of laughter. And then we were so merry
all the way home! we talked and laughed so loud, that any body
might have heard us ten miles off!"
To this, Mary very gravely replied, "Far be it from me, my dear sister,
to depreciate such pleasures. They would doubtless be congenial with
the generality of female minds. But I confess they would have no
charms for me. I should infinitely prefer a book."
But of this answer Lydia heard not a word. She seldom listened to
any body for more than half a minute, and never attended to Mary at
all.
In the afternoon Lydia was urgent with the rest of the girls to walk to
Meryton and see how every body went on; but Elizabeth steadily
opposed the scheme. It should not be said, that the Miss Bennets
could not be at home half a day before they were in pursuit of the
officers. There was another reason too for her opposition. She
dreaded seeing Wickham again, and was resolved to avoid it as long
as possible. The comfort to her, of the regiment's approaching
removal, was indeed beyond expression. In a fortnight they were to
go, and once gone, she hoped there could be nothing more to plague
her on his account.
She had not been many hours at home, before she found that the
Brighton scheme, of which Lydia had given them a hint at the inn,
was under frequent discussion between her parents. Elizabeth saw
directly that her father had not the smallest intention of yielding; but
his answers were at the same time so vague and equivocal, that her
mother, though often disheartened, had never yet despaired of
succeeding at last.
 CHAPTER XVII.
Elizabeth's impatience to acquaint Jane with what had happened
could no longer be overcome; and at length resolving to suppress
every particular in which her sister was concerned, and preparing her
to be surprised, she related to her the next morning the chief of the
scene between Mr. Darcy and herself.
Miss Bennet's astonishment was soon lessened by the strong sisterly
partiality which made any admiration of Elizabeth appear perfectly
natural; and all surprise was shortly lost in other feelings. She was
sorry that Mr. Darcy should have delivered his sentiments in a
manner so little suited to recommend them; but still more was she
grieved for the unhappiness which her sister's refusal must have
given him.
"His being so sure of succeeding, was wrong," said she; "and
certainly ought not to have appeared; but consider how much it must
increase his disappointment."
"Indeed," replied Elizabeth, "I am heartily sorry for him; but he has
other feelings which will probably soon drive away his regard for me.
You do not blame me, however, for refusing him?"
"Blame you! Oh, no."
"But you blame me for having spoken so warmly of Wickham."
"No—I do not know that you were wrong in saying what you did."
"But you will know it, when I have told you what happened the very
next day."
She then spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents as
far as they concerned George Wickham. What a stroke was this for
poor Jane! who would willingly have gone through the world without
believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of
mankind, as was here collected in one individual. Nor was Darcy's
vindication, though grateful to her feelings, capable of consoling her
for such discovery. Most earnestly did she labour to prove the
probability of error, and seek to clear one, without involving the other.
"This will not do," said Elizabeth. "You never will be able to make
both of them good for any thing. Take your choice, but you must be
satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between
them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has
been shifting about pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe
it all Mr. Darcy's, but you shall do as you chuse."
It was some time, however, before a smile could be extorted from
Jane.
"I do not know when I have been more shocked," said she.
"Wickham so very bad! It is almost past belief. And poor Mr. Darcy!
dear Lizzy, only consider what he must have suffered. Such a
disappointment! and with the knowledge of your ill opinion too! and
having to relate such a thing of his sister! It is really too distressing. I
am sure you must feel it so."
"Oh! no, my regret and compassion are all done away by seeing you
so full of both. I know you will do him such ample justice, that I am
growing every moment more unconcerned and indifferent. Your
profusion makes me saving; and if you lament over him much longer,
my heart will be as light as a feather."
"Poor Wickham; there is such an expression of goodness in his
countenance! such an openness and gentleness in his manner."
"There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of
those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other
all the appearance of it."
"I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the appearance of it as you
used to do."
"And yet I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a
dislike to him, without any reason. It is such a spur to one's genius,
such an opening for wit to have a dislike of that kind. One may be
continually abusive without saying any thing just; but one cannot be
always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on
something witty."
"Lizzy, when you first read that letter, I am sure you could not treat
the matter as you do now."
"Indeed I could not. I was uncomfortable enough. I was very
uncomfortable, I may say unhappy. And with no one to speak to, of
what I felt, no Jane to comfort me and say that I had not been so
very weak and vain and nonsensical as I knew I had! Oh! how I
wanted you!"
"How unfortunate that you should have used such very strong
expressions in speaking of Wickham to Mr. Darcy, for now they do
appear wholly undeserved."
"Certainly. But the misfortune of speaking with bitterness, is a most
natural consequence of the prejudices I had been encouraging. There
is one point, on which I want your advice. I want to be told whether I
ought, or ought not to make our acquaintance in general understand
Wickham's character."
Miss Bennet paused a little and then replied, "Surely there can be no
occasion for exposing him so dreadfully. What is your own opinion?"
"That it ought not to be attempted. Mr. Darcy has not authorised me
to make his communication public. On the contrary every particular
relative to his sister, was meant to be kept as much as possible to
myself; and if I endeavour to undeceive people as to the rest of his
conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr.
Darcy is so violent, that it would be the death of half the good people
in Meryton, to attempt to place him in an amiable light. I am not
equal to it. Wickham will soon be gone; and therefore it will not
signify to anybody here, what he really is. Sometime hence it will be
all found out, and then we may laugh at their stupidity in not
knowing it before. At present I will say nothing about it."
"You are quite right. To have his errors made public might ruin him
for ever. He is now perhaps sorry for what he has done, and anxious
to re-establish a character. We must not make him desperate."
The tumult of Elizabeth's mind was allayed by this conversation. She
had got rid of two of the secrets which had weighed on her for a
fortnight, and was certain of a willing listener in Jane, whenever she
might wish to talk again of either. But there was still something
lurking behind, of which prudence forbad the disclosure. She dared
not relate the other half of Mr. Darcy's letter, nor explain to her sister
how sincerely she had been valued by his friend. Here was
knowledge in which no one could partake; and she was sensible that
nothing less than a perfect understanding between the parties could
justify her in throwing off this last incumbrance of mystery. "And
then," said she, "if that very improbable event should ever take place,
I shall merely be able to tell what Bingley may tell in a much more
agreeable manner himself. The liberty of communication cannot be
mine till it has lost all its value!"
She was now, on being settled at home, at leisure to observe the real
state of her sister's spirits. Jane was not happy. She still cherished a
very tender affection for Bingley. Having never even fancied herself in
love before, her regard had all the warmth of first attachment, and
from her age and disposition, greater steadiness than first
attachments often boast; and so fervently did she value his
remembrance, and prefer him to every other man, that all her good
sense, and all her attention to the feelings of her friends, were
requisite to check the indulgence of those regrets, which must have
been injurious to her own health and their tranquillity.
"Well, Lizzy," said Mrs. Bennet one day, "what is your opinion now of
this sad business of Jane's? For my part, I am determined never to
speak of it again to anybody. I told my sister Philips so the other day.
But I cannot find out that Jane saw any thing of him in London. Well,
he is a very undeserving young man—and I do not suppose there is
the least chance in the world of her ever getting him now. There is
no talk of his coming to Netherfield again in the summer; and I have
enquired of every body too, who is likely to know."
"I do not believe that he will ever live at Netherfield any more."
"Oh, well! it is just as he chooses. Nobody wants him to come.
Though I shall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill;
and if I was her, I would not have put up with it. Well, my comfort is,
I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry
for what he has done."
But as Elizabeth could not receive comfort from any such expectation,
she made no answer.
"Well, Lizzy," continued her mother soon afterwards, "and so the
Collinses live very comfortable, do they? Well, well, I only hope it will
last. And what sort of table do they keep? Charlotte is an excellent
manager, I dare say. If she is half as sharp as her mother, she is
saving enough. There is nothing extravagant in their housekeeping, I
dare say."
"No, nothing at all."
"A great deal of good management, depend upon it. Yes, yes. They
will take care not to outrun their income. They will never be
distressed for money. Well, much good may it do them! And so, I
suppose, they often talk of having Longbourn when your father is
dead. They look upon it quite as their own, I dare say, whenever that
happens."
"It was a subject which they could not mention before me."
"No. It would have been strange if they had. But I make no doubt,
they often talk of it between themselves. Well, if they can be easy
with an estate that is not lawfully their own, so much the better. I
should be ashamed of having one that was only entailed on me."
 CHAPTER XVIII.
The first week of their return was soon gone. The second began. It
was the last of the regiment's stay in Meryton, and all the young
ladies in the neighbourhood were drooping apace. The dejection was
almost universal. The elder Miss Bennets alone were still able to eat,
drink, and sleep, and pursue the usual course of their employments.
Very frequently were they reproached for this insensibility by Kitty
and Lydia, whose own misery was extreme, and who could not
comprehend such hard-heartedness in any of the family.
"Good Heaven! What is to become of us! What are we to do!" would
they often exclaim in the bitterness of woe. "How can you be smiling
so, Lizzy?"
Their affectionate mother shared all their grief; she remembered
what she had herself endured on a similar occasion, five and twenty
years ago.
"I am sure," said she, "I cried for two days together when Colonel
Millar's regiment went away. I thought I should have broke my
heart."
"I am sure I shall break mine," said Lydia.
"If one could but go to Brighton!" observed Mrs. Bennet.
"Oh, yes!—if one could but go to Brighton! But papa is so
disagreeable."
"A little sea-bathing would set me up for ever."
"And my aunt Philips is sure it would do me a great deal of good,"
added Kitty.
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