第117章

'My dearest child，'she cried，'I can think of nothing else！Ten thousand a year，and very likely more！'Tis as good as a Lord！And a special licence. You must and shall be married by a special licence.But my dearest love，tell me what dish Mr.Darcy is particularly fond of，that I may have it to-morrow.

This was a sad omen of what her mother's behaviour to the gentleman himself might be；and Elizabeth found，that though inthe certain possession of his warmest affection，and secure of her relations'consent，there was still something to be wished for. But the morrow passed off much better than she expected；for Mrs.Bennet luckily stood in such awe of her intended son-in-law，that she ventured not to speak to him，unless it was in her power to offer him any attention，or mark her deference for his opinion.

Elizabeth had the satisfaction of seeing her father taking pains to get acquainted with him；and Mr. Bennet soon assured her that he was rising every hour in his esteem.

'I admire all my three sons-in-law highly，'said he.'Wickham，perhaps，is my favourite；but I think I shall like your husband quite as well as Jane's.'

XVIII

E lizabeth's spirits soon rising to playfulness again，she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her.'How could you begin？'said she.'I can comprehend your going on charmingly，when you had once made a beginning；but what could set you off in the first place？'

'I cannot fix on the hour，or the spot，or the look，or the words，which laid the foundation. It is too long ago.I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.'

'My beauty you had early withstood，and as for my manners—my behaviour to you was at least always bordering on the uncivil，and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere；did you admire me for my impertinence？'

'For the liveliness of your mind，I did.'

'You may as well call it impertinence at once. It was very little less.The fact is，that you were sick of civility，of deference，of officious attention.You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking，and thinking for your approbation alone.I roused，and interested you，because I was so unlike them.Had you not been really amiable you would have hated me for it；but in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself，your feelings were always noble and just；and in your heart，you thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you.There—I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it；and really，all things considered，I begin to think it perfectly reasonable.To besure，you knew no actual good of me—but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.'

'Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane，while she was ill at Netherfield？'

'Dearest Jane！who could have done less for her？But make a virtue of it by all means. My good qualities are under your protection，and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible；and，in return，it belongs to me to find occasions for teazing and quarrelling with you as often as may be；and I shall begin directly by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point at last.What made you so shy of me，when you first called，and afterwards dined here？Why，especially，when you called，did you look as if you did not care about me？'

'Because you were grave and silent，and gave me no encouragement.'

'But I was embarrassed.'

'And so was I.'

'You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.'

'A man who had felt less，might.'

'How unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer to give，and that I should be so reasonable as to admit it！But I wonder how long you would have gone on，if you had been left to yourself. I wonder when you would have spoken，if I had not asked you！My resolution of thanking you for your kindness to Lydia had certainly great effect.Too much，I am afraid；for what becomes of the moral，if our comfort springs from a breach of promise，for I ought not to have mentioned the subject？This will never do.'

'You need not distress yourself. The moral will be perfectly fair.Lady Catherine's unjustifiable endeavours to separate us，were themeans of removing all my doubts.I am not indebted for my present happiness to your eager desire of expressing your gratitude.I was not in a humour to wait for any opening of your's.My aunt's intelligence had given me hope，and I was determined at once to know every thing.'

'Lady Catherine has been of infinite use，which ought to make her happy，for she loves to be of use. But tell me，what did you come down to Netherfield for？Was it merely to ride to Longbourn and be embarrassed？or had you intended any more serious consequence？'

'My real purpose was to see you，and to judge，if I could，whether I might ever hope to make you love me. My avowed one，or what I avowed to myself，was to see whether your sister were still partial to Bingley，and if she were，to make the confession to him which I have since made.'

'Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine，what is to befall her？'

'I am more likely to want time than courage，Elizabeth. But it ought to be done，and if you will give me a sheet of paper，it shall be done directly.'

'And if I had not a letter to write myself，I might sit by you，and admire the evenness of your writing，as another young lady once did. But I have an aunt，too，who must not be longer neglected.'

From an unwillingness to confess how much her intimacy with Mr. Darcy had been over-rated，Elizabeth had never yet answered Mrs.Gardiner's long letter，but now，having that to communicate which she knew would be most welcome，she was almost ashamed to find，that her uncle and aunt had already lost three days of happiness，and immediately wrote as follows：