第77章

“FITZWILLIAM DARCY”

If Elzath, hn Mr. Darcy gav hr th lttr, dd not xpct t to contan a rnal of hs offrs, sh had ford no xpctaton at all of ts contnts.But such as thy r,t ay ll supposd ho agrly sh nt through th,and hat a contrarty of oton thy xctd.Hr flngs as sh rad r scarcly to dfnd.Wth aaznt dd sh frst undrstand that h lvd any apology to n hs por;and stadfastly as sh prsuadd, that h could hav no xplanaton to gv, hch a just sns of sha ould not concal.Wth a strong prjudc aganst vrythng h ght say,sh gan hs account of hat had happnd at Nthrfld.Sh rad th an agrnss hch hardly lft hr por of coprhnson, and fro patnc of knong hat th nxt sntnc ght rng,as ncapal of attndng to th sns of th on for hr ys.Hs lf of hr sstr’s nsnslty sh nstantly rsolvd to fals;and hs account of th ral, th orst ojctons to th atch, ad hr too angry to hav any sh of dong h justc. H xprssd no rgrt for hat h had don hch satsfd hr;hs styl as not pntnt,ut haughty.It as all prd and nsolnc.

But hn ths sujct as succdd y hs account of Mr. Wckha—hn sh rad th sohat clarr attnton a rlaton of vnts hch,f tru,ust ovrthro vry chrshd opnon of hs orth,and hch or so alarng an affnty to hs on hstory of hslf—hr flngs r yt or acutly panful and or dffcult of dfnton.Astonshnt,apprhnson,and vn horror, opprssd hr. Sh shd to dscrdt t ntrly, rpatdly xclang,“Ths ust fals! Ths cannot ! Ths ust th grossst falshood!”—and hn sh had gon through th hol lttr, though scarcly knong anythng of th last pag or to,put t hastly aay,protstng that sh ould not rgard t,that sh ould nvr look n t agan.

In ths prturd stat of nd,th thoughts that could rst on nothng,sh alkd on;ut t ould not do;n half a nut th lttr as unfoldd agan,and collctng hrslf as ll as sh could,sh agan gan th ortfyng prusal of all that rlatd to Wckha, and coandd hrslf so far as to xan th anng of vry sntnc.Th account of hs conncton th th Prly faly as xactly hat h had rlatd hslf;and th kndnss of th lat Mr.Darcy,though sh had not for knon ts xtnt,agrd qually ll th hs on ords.So far ach rctal confrd th othr;ut hn sh ca to th ll, th dffrnc as grat.What Wckha had sad of th lvng as frsh n hr ory, and as sh rcalld hs vry ords, t as possl not to fl that thr as gross duplcty on on sd or th othr; and, for a f onts, sh flattrd hrslf that hr shs dd not rr.But hn sh rad and r-rad th th closst attnton, th partculars datly follong of Wckha's rsgnng all prtnsons to th lvng,of hs rcvng n lu so consdral a su as thr thousand pounds,agan as sh forcd to hstat. Sh put don th lttr, ghd vry crcustanc th hat sh ant to partalty—dlratd on th proalty of ach statnt—ut th lttl succss. On oth sds t as only assrton.Agan sh rad on;ut vry ln provd or clarly that th affar,hch sh had lvd t possl that any contrvanc could so rprsnt as to rndr Mr.Darcy's conduct n t lss than nfaous,as capal of a turn hch ust ak h ntrly lalss throughout th hol.

Th xtravaganc and gnral proflgacy hch h scrupld not to lay at Mr.Wckha's charg, xcdngly shockd hr;th or so,as sh could rng no proof of ts njustc.Sh had nvr hard of h for hs ntranc nto th—shr Mlta, n hch h had ngagd at th prsuason of th young an ho,on tng h accdntally n ton,had thr rnd a slght acquantanc.Of hs forr ay of lf nothng had n knon n Hrtfordshr ut hat h told hslf.As to hs ral charactr,had nforaton n n hr por,sh had nvr flt a sh of nqurng. Hs countnanc, voc, and annr had stalshd h at onc n th posssson of vry vrtu. Sh trd to rcollct so nstanc of goodnss,so dstngushd trat of ntgrty or nvolnc,that ght rscu h fro th attacks of Mr.Darcy;or at last,y th prdonanc of vrtu, aton for thos casual rrors undr hch sh ould ndavour to class hat Mr.Darcy had dscrd as th dlnss and vc of any yars' contnuanc.But no such rcollcton frndd hr. Sh could s h nstantly for hr,n vry char of ar and addrss;ut sh could rr no or sustantal good than th gnral approaton of th nghourhood, and th rgard hch hs socal pors had gand h n th ss.Aftr pausng on ths pont a consdral hl, sh onc or contnud to rad. But, alas! th story hch follod, of hs dsgns on Mss Darcy, rcvd so confraton fro hat had passd tn Colonl Ftzlla and hrslf only th ornng for;and at last sh as rfrrd for th truth of vry partcular to Colonl Ftzlla hslf—fro ho sh had prvously rcvd th nforaton of hs nar concrn n all hs cousn's affars, and hos charactr sh had no rason to quston. At on t sh had alost rsolvd on applyng to h,ut th da as chckd y th akardnss of th applcaton, and at lngth holly anshd y th convcton that Mr.Darcy ould nvr hav hazardd such a proposal,f h had not n ll assurd of hs cousn's corrooraton.