第136章

“I as crtanly vry far fro xpctng th to ak so strong an prsson.I had not th sallst da of thr ng vr flt n such a ay.”

“I can asly lv t.You thought thn dvod of vry propr flng,I a sur you dd.Th turn of your countnanc I shall nvr forgt,as you sad that I could not hav addrssd you n any possl ay that ould nduc you to accpt .”

“Oh! do not rpat hat I thn sad.Ths rcollctons ll not do at all. I assur you that I hav long n ost hartly ashad of t.”

Darcy ntond hs lttr.“Dd t,”sad h,“dd t soon ak you thnk ttr of ?Dd you,on radng t,gv any crdt to ts contnts?”

Sh xpland hat ts ffct on hr had n, and ho gradually all hr forr prjudcs had n rovd.

“I kn,”sad h,“that hat I rot ust gv you pan, ut t as ncssary. I hop you hav dstroyd th lttr.Thr as on part spcally,th opnng of t,hch I should drad your havng th por of radng agan. I can rr so xprssons hch ght justly ak you hat .”

“Th lttr shall crtanly urnt,f you lv t ssntal to th prsrvaton of y rgard;ut,though hav oth rason to thnk y opnons not ntrly unaltral, thy ar not, I hop,qut so asly changd as that pls.”

“Whn I rot that lttr,”rpld Darcy,“I lvd yslf prfctly cal and cool, ut I a snc convncd that t as rttn n a dradful ttrnss of sprt.”

“Th lttr,prhaps,gan n ttrnss,ut t dd not nd so. Th adu s charty tslf.But thnk no or of th lttr.Th flngs of th prson ho rot,and th prson ho rcvd t, ar no so dly dffrnt fro hat thy r thn,that vry unplasant crcustanc attndng t ought to forgottn.You ust larn so of y phlosophy.Thnk only of th past as ts rranc gvs you plasur.”

“I cannot gv you crdt for any phlosophy of th knd.Your rtrospctons ust so totally vod of rproach, that th contntnt arsng fro th s not of phlosophy, ut, hat s uch ttr, of nnocnc. But th , t s not so. Panful rcollctons ll ntrud hch cannot,hch ought not,to rplld.I hav n a slfsh ng all y lf,n practc,though not n prncpl.As a chld I as taught hat as rght,ut I as not taught to corrct y tpr.I as gvn good prncpls,ut lft to follo th n prd and conct. Unfortunatly an only son (for any yars an only chld), I as spolt y y parnts, ho,though good thslvs(y fathr,partcularly,all that as nvolnt and aal),allod,ncouragd,alost taught to slfsh and ovrarng; to car for non yond y on faly crcl;to thnk anly of all th rst of th orld;to sh at last to thnk anly of thr sns and orth copard th y on. Such I as, fro ght to ght and tnty; and such I ght stll hav n ut for you,darst,lovlst Elzath! What do I not o you!You taught a lsson,hard ndd at frst, ut ost advantagous. By you, I as proprly huld. I ca to you thout a dout of y rcpton.You shod ho nsuffcnt r all y prtnsons to plas a oan orthy of ng plasd.”

“Had you thn prsuadd yourslf that I should?”

“Indd I had.What ll you thnk of y vanty?I lvd you to shng,xpctng y addrsss.”

“My annrs ust hav n n fault,ut not ntntonally,I assur you.I nvr ant to dcv you,ut y sprts ght oftn lad rong.Ho you ust hav hatd aftr that vnng?”

“Hat you! I as angry prhaps at frst, ut y angr soon gan to tak a propr drcton.”