第111章[第1頁/共4頁]

“You must not be too severe upon yourself,”replied Elizabeth.“You may well warn me against such an evil.Human nature is so prone to fall into it!No,Lizzy,let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame.I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression.It will pass away soon enough.”

It was not till the afternoon,when he joined them at tea,that Elizabeth ventured to introduce the subject; and then, on her briefly expressing her sorrow for what he must have endured,he replied,“Say nothing of that.Who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing,and I ought to feel it.”

“Lizzy,I bear you no ill-will for being justified in your advice to me last May,which,considering the event,shows some greatness of mind.”

Then after a short silence he continued:

The present unhappy state of the family rendered any other excuse for the lowness of her spirits unnecessary; nothing, therefore,could be fairly conjectured from that,though Elizabeth, who was by this time tolerably well acquainted with her own feelings, was perfectly aware that, had she known nothing of Darcy,she could have borne the dread of Lydia's infamy somewhat better.It would have spared her,she thought,one sleepless night out of two.