“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.”
“Tell me once for all,are you engaged to him?”
“Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible.”
“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?”
“That will make your ladyship's situation at present more pitiable;but it will have no effect on me.”