“You can be at no loss,Miss Bennet, to understand the reason of my journey hither.Your own heart,your own conscience, must tell you why I come.”
Elizabeth replied very concisely that she was.
“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?”
“I hope you are well,Miss Bennet.That lady,I suppose,is your mother.”
“May I take the liberty of asking your ladyship whether you left Mr.and Mrs.Collins well.”
As soon as they entered the copse, Lady Catherine began in the following manner:―
“Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it,if you will favour me with your company.”
“How could I ever think her like her nephew?”said she,as she looked in her face.
“And can you likewise declare,that there is no foundation for it?”
“You have a very small park here,”returned Lady Catherine after a short silence.
“Yes, madam,”said Mrs. Bennet, delighted to speak to Lady Catherine.“She is my youngest girl but one.My youngest of all is lately married,and my eldest is somewhere about the grounds, walking with a young man who,I believe,will soon become a part of the family.”
“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.”