06-03-傲慢与偏见 [52]
了自己用以阻挠朋友同她姐姐结婚的障碍。但他那可怕的高傲自大，他那对拆散简和彬格莱的姻缘的恬不知耻的坦白，以及他对韦翰的残酷无情，不久便把她可能产生的怜悯之情冲刷得荡然无存。
■ 8 Elizabeth Learns more about Darcy and Wickham
The next morning Elizabeth had still not recovered from the surprise of Darcy's proposal to her．Feeling in need of exercise and fresh air， she decided to have a walk． In order to avoid meeting Mr Darcy， she kept away from her favourite path， but could not resist walking a little way into Lady Catherine's park． There she was astonished to see Darcy him－self approaching her and calling her name．
‘I have been walking some time in the hope of meeting you，’he said．‘Will you do me the honour of reading this let－ter？’And， handing her an envelope， he bowed slightly and walked quickly away．With no expectation of pleasure， but with the strongest curiosity， Elizabeth opened the letter， and began to read it as she continued her walk alone．
Do not be alarmed，madam，that I shall repeat the offer which so disgusted you last night．I have no intention of mentioning again wishes which， for the happiness of both of us， cannot be too soon forgotten．I would not have written， but justice re－quires my character to be defended．
You accused me last night of two very different offences．The first was that I had separated Mr Bingley from your sister，in spite of their mutual affection，and the second was that I had destroyed Mr Wickham's chance of future wealth and happiness， in spite of my father's honourable promises to him．I hope that you will no longer blame me for either of these offences， when you have read the explanation which follows．If I am forced to describe feelings which offend you， I can only say I am sorry．
I had not been long in Hertfordshire before I noticed that Bingley preferred your elder sister Jane to any other young woman．But I had often seen him in love before，and it wasn't until the Netherfield ball that I realized how serious his at-tachment was．I was careful to observe your sister closely，and as her manners and appearance were as pleasant and cheerful as ever， I remained convinced that she did not feel strongly about him．I was perhaps deceived by her calmness，and in that case， your anger has not been unreasonable． But I sincerely believed that her heart had not been touched．I ob－jected to Bingley's possible marriage to her， not only for those reasons of social inferiority that I mentioned to you last night，but also for reasons which in my case I had tried to for－get， but which I must state now．The behaviour that evening of your mother， your three younger sisters， and occasionally even your father，was so lacking in social correctness that I made up my mind to save my friend from what I considered would be a most unhappy marriage．If you are upset by my description of your family's faults， it may comfort you to con-sider that you and your elder sister have avoided any share of blame，and deserve nothing but honourable praise for your behaviour．To continue—when I was in London， with the help of Bingley's sisters， who shared my opinion，I explained to him the disadvantages of marriage to your sister．This alone would not have been enough to prevent the marriage，if I had not also been able to convince him of your sister's indiffer－ence to him．Then it was easy to persuade him not to return to Hertfordshire．I do regret one thing， however．Miss Bingley and I both knew that your sister was in London， but we hid the fact from Bingley．In this I consider I was less than honest， but I have no other apology to offer．
Your other， more serious accusation refers to Mr Wickham．Here again I may cause you pain—only you can tell how much．In order to show you his real character I must explain the whole of his connection with my family．
■ 8 Elizabeth Learns more about Darcy and Wickham
The next morning Elizabeth had still not recovered from the surprise of Darcy's proposal to her．Feeling in need of exercise and fresh air， she decided to have a walk． In order to avoid meeting Mr Darcy， she kept away from her favourite path， but could not resist walking a little way into Lady Catherine's park． There she was astonished to see Darcy him－self approaching her and calling her name．
‘I have been walking some time in the hope of meeting you，’he said．‘Will you do me the honour of reading this let－ter？’And， handing her an envelope， he bowed slightly and walked quickly away．With no expectation of pleasure， but with the strongest curiosity， Elizabeth opened the letter， and began to read it as she continued her walk alone．
Do not be alarmed，madam，that I shall repeat the offer which so disgusted you last night．I have no intention of mentioning again wishes which， for the happiness of both of us， cannot be too soon forgotten．I would not have written， but justice re－quires my character to be defended．
You accused me last night of two very different offences．The first was that I had separated Mr Bingley from your sister，in spite of their mutual affection，and the second was that I had destroyed Mr Wickham's chance of future wealth and happiness， in spite of my father's honourable promises to him．I hope that you will no longer blame me for either of these offences， when you have read the explanation which follows．If I am forced to describe feelings which offend you， I can only say I am sorry．
I had not been long in Hertfordshire before I noticed that Bingley preferred your elder sister Jane to any other young woman．But I had often seen him in love before，and it wasn't until the Netherfield ball that I realized how serious his at-tachment was．I was careful to observe your sister closely，and as her manners and appearance were as pleasant and cheerful as ever， I remained convinced that she did not feel strongly about him．I was perhaps deceived by her calmness，and in that case， your anger has not been unreasonable． But I sincerely believed that her heart had not been touched．I ob－jected to Bingley's possible marriage to her， not only for those reasons of social inferiority that I mentioned to you last night，but also for reasons which in my case I had tried to for－get， but which I must state now．The behaviour that evening of your mother， your three younger sisters， and occasionally even your father，was so lacking in social correctness that I made up my mind to save my friend from what I considered would be a most unhappy marriage．If you are upset by my description of your family's faults， it may comfort you to con-sider that you and your elder sister have avoided any share of blame，and deserve nothing but honourable praise for your behaviour．To continue—when I was in London， with the help of Bingley's sisters， who shared my opinion，I explained to him the disadvantages of marriage to your sister．This alone would not have been enough to prevent the marriage，if I had not also been able to convince him of your sister's indiffer－ence to him．Then it was easy to persuade him not to return to Hertfordshire．I do regret one thing， however．Miss Bingley and I both knew that your sister was in London， but we hid the fact from Bingley．In this I consider I was less than honest， but I have no other apology to offer．
Your other， more serious accusation refers to Mr Wickham．Here again I may cause you pain—only you can tell how much．In order to show you his real character I must explain the whole of his connection with my family．