06-03-傲慢与偏见 [78]
might have imagined too much．
In spite of Elizabeth's doubts，however，Mr Darcy returned to Netherfield a few days later，and he and Mr Bingley came to Longbourn soon afterwards．Bingley suggested they should all go for a walk，and while he and Jane concentrated on their own private conversation，some distance away，Elizabeth found her- self alone with Mr Darcy．
Taking a deep breath，she said bravely，‘Mr Darcy，I can no longer stop myself from thanking you for your extraordinary kindness to my poor sister．If the rest of my family knew of it， they would add their grateful thanks to mine．’
‘I had hoped to keep it a secret，’he answered，‘but if you must thank me，let it be for yourself alone．I shall not attempt to deny that wishing to give happiness to you was one of my reasons for helping your sister．But your family owe me noth- ing．Much as I respect them，I believe I thought only of you．’
Elizabeth was too embarrassed to say a word．After a short pause he added，‘You are too generous to play with my feelings. If you still feel as you did last April，tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged，but one word from you will prevent me from ever mentioning them again．’
Elizabeth forced herself to speak，and immediately，though hesitatingly，gave him to understand that her feelings had changed so considerably since that time that she was now grateful and pleased to accept his proposal．When Darcy heard this，he was probably happier than he had ever been before，and he expressed himself as warmly and sensibly as a man violently in love can．
They walked on，without noticing in which direction．There was so much to be thought，and felt，and said．She soon learnt that his aunt had indeed seen him in London，after her disap- pointing visit to Longbourn．But unluckily for her ladyship，her critical comments and description of her conversation with Elizabeth produced exactly the opposite result to what she had intended．
‘It taught me to hope，’Darcy explained，‘as I had hardly ever allowed myself to hope before．I knew that if you had de- cided never to marry me，you would have admitted it to Lady Catherine openly and honestly．’
Elizabeth blushed and laughed as she replied，‘Yes，you have experienced my honesty.After scolding you so rudely to your face，I was obviously quite capable of criticizing you to all your relations. ’
‘I certainly deserved all your accusations. As an only son，I was brought up to be selfish and proud，and to consider myself superior to others．I would have continued like that if you， dearest，loveliest Elizabeth，had not taught me a lesson．I owe you a great deal for that．’
‘And I，how soon I thought better of you，when I read the letter you sent me！When I realized your description of events must be true，all my prejudices against you were removed！’
They talked of their unexpected meeting at Pemberley， which had renewed their interest in each other，of Georgiana Darcy's immediate liking for Elizabeth，and of the engagement between Jane and Bingley．
‘I guessed，’smiled Elizabeth，‘that you had given your permission for their marriage. ’
‘My permission！No！But I must admit I confessed to Bingley that I had made a mistake in supposing that your sister was indifferent to him，and I encouraged him to return to Netherfield to see if she still cared for him．I am delighted to hear of their engagement．He will be one of the happiest men in the world when he marries your sister．Only I shall be happier than him，when I am fortunate enough to marry you.
Their conversation continued in this way，until they sudden- ly became aware of the lateness of the hour. They returned to Longbourn House，where they separated.
That evening Elizabeth could not help telling Jane her news． However，she almost regretted doing so，when she saw the astonishment on Jane's face
In spite of Elizabeth's doubts，however，Mr Darcy returned to Netherfield a few days later，and he and Mr Bingley came to Longbourn soon afterwards．Bingley suggested they should all go for a walk，and while he and Jane concentrated on their own private conversation，some distance away，Elizabeth found her- self alone with Mr Darcy．
Taking a deep breath，she said bravely，‘Mr Darcy，I can no longer stop myself from thanking you for your extraordinary kindness to my poor sister．If the rest of my family knew of it， they would add their grateful thanks to mine．’
‘I had hoped to keep it a secret，’he answered，‘but if you must thank me，let it be for yourself alone．I shall not attempt to deny that wishing to give happiness to you was one of my reasons for helping your sister．But your family owe me noth- ing．Much as I respect them，I believe I thought only of you．’
Elizabeth was too embarrassed to say a word．After a short pause he added，‘You are too generous to play with my feelings. If you still feel as you did last April，tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged，but one word from you will prevent me from ever mentioning them again．’
Elizabeth forced herself to speak，and immediately，though hesitatingly，gave him to understand that her feelings had changed so considerably since that time that she was now grateful and pleased to accept his proposal．When Darcy heard this，he was probably happier than he had ever been before，and he expressed himself as warmly and sensibly as a man violently in love can．
They walked on，without noticing in which direction．There was so much to be thought，and felt，and said．She soon learnt that his aunt had indeed seen him in London，after her disap- pointing visit to Longbourn．But unluckily for her ladyship，her critical comments and description of her conversation with Elizabeth produced exactly the opposite result to what she had intended．
‘It taught me to hope，’Darcy explained，‘as I had hardly ever allowed myself to hope before．I knew that if you had de- cided never to marry me，you would have admitted it to Lady Catherine openly and honestly．’
Elizabeth blushed and laughed as she replied，‘Yes，you have experienced my honesty.After scolding you so rudely to your face，I was obviously quite capable of criticizing you to all your relations. ’
‘I certainly deserved all your accusations. As an only son，I was brought up to be selfish and proud，and to consider myself superior to others．I would have continued like that if you， dearest，loveliest Elizabeth，had not taught me a lesson．I owe you a great deal for that．’
‘And I，how soon I thought better of you，when I read the letter you sent me！When I realized your description of events must be true，all my prejudices against you were removed！’
They talked of their unexpected meeting at Pemberley， which had renewed their interest in each other，of Georgiana Darcy's immediate liking for Elizabeth，and of the engagement between Jane and Bingley．
‘I guessed，’smiled Elizabeth，‘that you had given your permission for their marriage. ’
‘My permission！No！But I must admit I confessed to Bingley that I had made a mistake in supposing that your sister was indifferent to him，and I encouraged him to return to Netherfield to see if she still cared for him．I am delighted to hear of their engagement．He will be one of the happiest men in the world when he marries your sister．Only I shall be happier than him，when I am fortunate enough to marry you.
Their conversation continued in this way，until they sudden- ly became aware of the lateness of the hour. They returned to Longbourn House，where they separated.
That evening Elizabeth could not help telling Jane her news． However，she almost regretted doing so，when she saw the astonishment on Jane's face