06-03-傲慢与偏见 [54]
to refer her to Colonel Fitzwilliam，if he were not certain that his cousin could prove these statements．
She became absolutely ashamed of herself．‘How badly I have behaved！’she cried．‘How prejudiced I have been， I who have always been so proud of my ability to judge people！ That pride has led me blindly into making a stupid mistake．Flattered by Wickham's interest， and offended by Darcy's coolness，I have misjudged both of them．Till this moment， I never knew myself．’
She re－read what Darcy had to say about Jane， and this time was forced to admit that Jane had displayed few outward signs of her feelings for Bingley．Charlotte had even commented on it．Then when Elizabeth looked again at Darcy's comments on her family's behaviour， her sense of shame was very great， and she could not deny the justice of his words．Feeling more mis－erable than she had ever felt before，she slowly returned to the Rectory， where she had difficulty in maintaining a cheerful ap－pearance．
Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam left Rosings the next day，and were sadly missed by their aunt， who now had so little entertainment that she invited the Collinses and their visitors several times that week． As Elizabeth only had a few days left before the end of her visit， she thought it fortunate that most of her time was occupied． When she had a moment to herself， it was a great relief to walk outside in the garden or the park，alone with her thoughts． She soon knew Mr Darcy's letter by heart． Although she was still angry with him for the proud，over－confident way in which he had proposed， her anger turned against herself when she considered how unjustly she had criti－cized and accused him．She respected his character and felt pity for his disappointment，but did not for a moment regret her re－fusal， or have the slightest desire to see him ever again．
She was saddened when she thought of her family．Her fa-ther enjoyed laughing at Kitty's and Lydia's foolishness so much that he never attempted to control his two youngest daughters，and her mother，whose own behaviour was far from correct，was completely unaware that anything was wrong．And poor Jane！It now appeared that Bingley's affection had been sincere， and Jane's disappointment had been indirectly caused by the behaviour of her own near relations．
On Saturday morning Elizabeth said goodbye to her friend Charlotte， feeling sorry to leave her with such a husband． But Charlotte， although regretting the departure of her visitors， appeared quite content with her domestic arrangements． Mr Collins took care to say to Elizabeth， before she left，‘I do hope，my dear Miss Elizabeth， that you will be as happy in marriage as I am．My dear Charlotte and I have one mind and one way of thinking．We seem to be made for each other．’
‘It is most fortunate when that is the case，’was all that Elizabeth could safely reply．
By midday she had arrived in London，where she had ar－ranged to stay a few days at her aunt's house．There was，how-ever， no opportunity to discuss Mr Darcy's letter with Jane，until they both reached Longbourn again， at the end of the week．
It was pleasant to be at home again，but Elizabeth was very conscious of her younger sisters'silliness．They were full of the sad news they had just heard， that the regiment was leaving Meryton in two weeks’ time and would be staying for the summer in Brighton， a holiday town on the south coast．Lydia and her mother were trying hard to persuade Mr Bennet to take them to Brighton too， for several months， as the summer would be so miserable in Hertfordshire without the officers．Fortunately，Elizabeth felt sure her father would not agree to this foolish idea．
When she and Jane were alone，she told her sister about Darcy's proposal of marriage．Jane was astonished，but soon her sisterly feelings made her think it quite natural， and her kind heart felt
She became absolutely ashamed of herself．‘How badly I have behaved！’she cried．‘How prejudiced I have been， I who have always been so proud of my ability to judge people！ That pride has led me blindly into making a stupid mistake．Flattered by Wickham's interest， and offended by Darcy's coolness，I have misjudged both of them．Till this moment， I never knew myself．’
She re－read what Darcy had to say about Jane， and this time was forced to admit that Jane had displayed few outward signs of her feelings for Bingley．Charlotte had even commented on it．Then when Elizabeth looked again at Darcy's comments on her family's behaviour， her sense of shame was very great， and she could not deny the justice of his words．Feeling more mis－erable than she had ever felt before，she slowly returned to the Rectory， where she had difficulty in maintaining a cheerful ap－pearance．
Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam left Rosings the next day，and were sadly missed by their aunt， who now had so little entertainment that she invited the Collinses and their visitors several times that week． As Elizabeth only had a few days left before the end of her visit， she thought it fortunate that most of her time was occupied． When she had a moment to herself， it was a great relief to walk outside in the garden or the park，alone with her thoughts． She soon knew Mr Darcy's letter by heart． Although she was still angry with him for the proud，over－confident way in which he had proposed， her anger turned against herself when she considered how unjustly she had criti－cized and accused him．She respected his character and felt pity for his disappointment，but did not for a moment regret her re－fusal， or have the slightest desire to see him ever again．
She was saddened when she thought of her family．Her fa-ther enjoyed laughing at Kitty's and Lydia's foolishness so much that he never attempted to control his two youngest daughters，and her mother，whose own behaviour was far from correct，was completely unaware that anything was wrong．And poor Jane！It now appeared that Bingley's affection had been sincere， and Jane's disappointment had been indirectly caused by the behaviour of her own near relations．
On Saturday morning Elizabeth said goodbye to her friend Charlotte， feeling sorry to leave her with such a husband． But Charlotte， although regretting the departure of her visitors， appeared quite content with her domestic arrangements． Mr Collins took care to say to Elizabeth， before she left，‘I do hope，my dear Miss Elizabeth， that you will be as happy in marriage as I am．My dear Charlotte and I have one mind and one way of thinking．We seem to be made for each other．’
‘It is most fortunate when that is the case，’was all that Elizabeth could safely reply．
By midday she had arrived in London，where she had ar－ranged to stay a few days at her aunt's house．There was，how-ever， no opportunity to discuss Mr Darcy's letter with Jane，until they both reached Longbourn again， at the end of the week．
It was pleasant to be at home again，but Elizabeth was very conscious of her younger sisters'silliness．They were full of the sad news they had just heard， that the regiment was leaving Meryton in two weeks’ time and would be staying for the summer in Brighton， a holiday town on the south coast．Lydia and her mother were trying hard to persuade Mr Bennet to take them to Brighton too， for several months， as the summer would be so miserable in Hertfordshire without the officers．Fortunately，Elizabeth felt sure her father would not agree to this foolish idea．
When she and Jane were alone，she told her sister about Darcy's proposal of marriage．Jane was astonished，but soon her sisterly feelings made her think it quite natural， and her kind heart felt