“Dear Sir,
“And so was I.”
“But I was embarrassed.”
“Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine what is to befall her?”
“For the liveliness of your mind,I did.”
Elizabeth's spirits soon rising to playfulness again,she wanted Mr.Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her.“How could you begin?”said she.“I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?”
“I would have thanked you before,my dear aunt,as I ought to have done,for your long,kind,satisfactory,detail of particulars;but to say the truth,I was too cross to write.You supposed more than really existed. But now suppose as much as you choose;give a loose rein to your fancy,indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford,and unless you believe me actually married,you cannot greatly err.You must write again very soon,and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last. I thank you, again and again, for not going to the Lakes. How could I be so silly as to wish it!Your idea of the ponies is delightful.We will go round the Park every day.I am the happiest creature in the world.Perhaps other people have said so before, but no one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles,I laugh.Mr.Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me.You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas.Yours,etc.”