“Good Heaven!can it be really so!Yet now I must believe you,”cried Jane.“My dear,dear Lizzy,I would―I do congratulate you―but are you certain?forgive the question―are you quite certain that you can be happy with him?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why,I must confess that I love him better than I do Bingley.I am afraid you will be angry.”
Jane looked at her doubtingly.“Oh,Lizzy!it cannot be.I know how much you dislike him.”
Kitty owned that she had rather stay at home.Darcy professed a great curiosity to see the view from the Mount,and Elizabeth silently consented.As she went upstairs to get ready,Mrs.Bennet followed her,saying:
“You know nothing of the matter. That is all to be forgot. Perhaps I did not always love him so well as I do now.But in such cases as these,a good memory is unpardonable.This is the last time I shall ever remember it myself.”
“My dearest sister,now be serious.I want to talk very seriously. Let me know every thing that I am to know,without delay.Will you tell me how long you have loved him?”
“It has been coming on so gradually,that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.”