“Miss Bennet,” replied her Ladyship, in an angry tone,“you ought to know that I am not to be trifled with.But however insincere _you_ may choose to be,you shall not find _me_ so.My character has ever been celebrated for its sincerity and frankness;and in a cause of such moment as this,I shall certainly not depart from it.A report of a most alarming nature reached me two days ago.I was told, that not only your sister was on the point of being most advantageously married, but that _you_--that Miss Elizabeth Bennet would, in all likelihood, be soon afterwards united to my nephew--my own nephew, Mr. Darcy. Though I _know_ it must be a scandalous falsehood, though I would not injure him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible, I instantly resolved on setting off for this place, that I might make my sentiments known to you.”
“If you believed it impossible to be true,” said Elizabeth, colouring with astonishment and disdain,“I wonder you took the trouble of coming so far.What could your Ladyship propose by it?”
“At once to insist upon having such a report universally contradicted. ”
“Your coming to Longbourn, to see me and my family,” said Elizabeth coolly,“will be rather a confirmation of it--if, indeed,such a report is in existence.”
“If!do you then pretend to be ignorant of it?Has it not been industriously circulated by yourselves?Do you not know that such a report is spread abroad?”
“I never heard that it was.”
“And can you likewise declare,that there is no _foundation_ for it?”
“I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your Ladyship._You_ may ask questions which _I_ shall not choose to answer. ”
“This is not to be borne. Miss Bennet,I insist on being satisfied. Has he, has my nephew,made you an offer of marriage?”
“Your Ladyship has declared it to be impossible.”
“It ought to be so; it must be so,while he retains the use of his reason.But _your_ arts and allurements may,in a moment of infatuation,have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family.You may have drawn him in.”
“If I have, I shall be the last person to confess it.”
“Miss Bennet, do you know who I am?I have not been accustomed to such language as this.I am almost the nearest relation he has in the world,and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns.”
“But you are not entitled to know _mine_;nor will such behaviour as this ever induce me to be explicit. ”
“Let me be rightly understood. This match,to which you have the presumption to aspire,can never take place. No, never. Mr.Darcy is engaged to _my daughter_. Now,what have you to say?”
“Only this,--that if he is so,you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me. ”
Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment, and then replied, --
“The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind.From their infancy,they have been intended for each other.It was the favourite wish of _his_ mother,as well as of hers.While in their cradles we planned the union; and now,at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished,is their marriage to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth,of no importance in the world,and wholly unallied to the family?Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends--to his tacit engagement with Miss de Bourgh?Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy?Have you not heard me say,that from his earliest hours he was destined for his cousin?”
“Yes; and I had heard it before. But what is that to me?If there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew,I shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry Miss de Bourgh. You both did as much as you could in planning the marriage. Its completion depended on others. If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice?And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?”
“Because honour, decorum, prudence--nay,interest--forbid it. Yes, Miss Bennet, interest;for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends,if you wilfully act against the inclinations of all.You will be censured, slighted, and despised,by everyone connected with him.Your alliance will be a disgrace;your name will never even be mentioned by any of us.”
“These are heavy misfortunes,” replied Elizabeth.“But the wife of Mr.Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine.”
“Obstinate, headstrong girl!I am ashamed of you!Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring?Is nothing due to me on that score?Let us sit down. You are to understand, Miss Bennet,that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose;nor will I be dissuaded from it.I have not been used to submit to any person’s whims.I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment. ”
“_That_ will make your Ladyship’s situation at present more pitiable;but it will have no effect on _me_.”
“I will not be interrupted!Hear me in silence. My daughter and my nephew are formed for each other.They are descended, on the maternal side,from the same noble line; and, on the father’s,from respectable, honourable, and ancient,though untitled, families.Their fortune on both sides is splendid.They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses; and what is to divide them?--the upstart pretensions of a young woman without family,connections, or fortune!Is this to be endured?But it must not, shall not be!If you were sensible of your own good,you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up. ”
“In marrying your nephew,I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere.He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter;so far we are equal.”
“True. You _are_ a gentleman’s daughter.But what was your mother?Who are your uncles and aunts?Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition.”
“Whatever my connections may be,” said Elizabeth,“if your nephew does not object to them,they can be nothing to _you_.”
“Tell me, once for all, are you engaged to him?”
Though Elizabeth would not,for the mere purpose of obliging Lady Catherine,have answered this question, she could not but say,after a moment’s deliberation,--
“I am not.”
Lady Catherine seemed pleased.
“And will you promise me never to enter into such an engagement?”
“I will make no promise of the kind.”
“Miss Bennet, I am shocked and astonished.I expected to find a more reasonable young woman.But do not deceive yourself into a belief that I will ever recede.I shall not go away till you have given me the assurance I require. ”
“And I certainly _never_ shall give it.I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable.Your Ladyship wants Mr. Darcy to marry your daughter;but would my giving you the wished-for promise make _their_ marriage at all more probable?Supposing him to be attached to me,would _my_ refusing to accept his hand make him wish to bestow it on his cousin?Allow me to say, Lady Catherine,that the arguments with which you have supported this extraordinary application have been as frivolous as the application was ill-judged. You have widely mistaken my character, if you think I can be worked on by such persuasions as these. How far your nephew might approve of your interference in _his_ affairs, I cannot tell; but you have certainly no right to concern yourself in mine. I must beg, therefore, to be importuned no further on the subject.”