Austen Said:

In this manner Lady Catherine

talked on, till they were at the door of the carriage, when, turning hastily round, she added,

Elizabeth made no answer; and without attempting to persuade her ladyship to return into the house, walked quietly into it herself. She heard the carriage drive away as she proceeded up stairs. Her

mother

impatiently met her at the door of the dressing-room, to

ask

said her daughter,

Elizabeth was forced to give into a little falsehood here; for to acknowledge the substance of their conversation was impossible.

The discomposure of spirits which this extraordinary visit threw Elizabeth into, could not be easily overcome; nor could she, for many hours, learn to think of it less than incessantly.

but from what the report of their engagement could originate, Elizabeth was at a loss to imagine;

till she recollected that

She had not herself forgotten to feel that

In revolving Lady Catherine's expressions, however,

she could not help feeling some uneasiness

From what she had said of her resolution to prevent their marriage,

it occurred to Elizabeth that

she dared not pronounce. She knew not

but

it was natural to suppose that

to Elizabeth

she added,

The surprise of the rest of the family, on hearing who their visitor had been, was very great; but they obligingly satisfied it, with the same kind of supposition which had appeased Mrs. Bennet's curiosity; and Elizabeth was spared from much teasing on the subject.

The next morning, as she was going downstairs, she was met by her father, who came out of his library with a letter in his hand.

said he,

She followed him thither; and her curiosity to know what he had to tell her was heightened by the supposition of its being in some manner connected with the letter he held.

It suddenly struck her that

and she anticipated with dismay all the consequent explanations.

She followed her father to the fire place, and they both sat down. He then said,

The colour now rushed into Elizabeth's cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew, instead of the aunt; and

she was undetermined

when her father continued:

Elizabeth tried to join in her father's pleasantry, but could only force one most reluctant smile. Never had his wit been directed in a manner so little agreeable to her.

cried Elizabeth,

To this question his daughter replied only with a laugh; and as it had been asked without the least suspicion, she was not distressed by his repeating it. Elizabeth had never been more at a loss to make her feelings appear what they were not. It was necessary to laugh, when she would rather have cried. Her father had most cruelly mortified her, by what he said of Mr. Darcy's indifference, and

she could do nothing but wonder at

or fear that perhaps,

Instead of receiving any such letter of excuse from his friend, as Elizabeth half expected Mr. Bingley to do, he was able to bring Darcy with him to Longbourn before many days had passed after Lady Catherine's visit. The gentlemen arrived early; and, before Mrs. Bennet had time to tell him of their having seen his aunt, of which her daughter sat in momentary dread, Bingley, who wanted to be alone with Jane, proposed their all walking out. It was agreed to. Mrs. Bennet was not in the habit of walking; Mary could never spare time; but the remaining five set off together. Bingley and Jane, however, soon allowed the others to outstrip them. They lagged behind, while Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy were to entertain each other. Very little was said by either; Kitty was too much afraid of him to talk;

Elizabeth

was secretly forming a desperate resolution; and

perhaps

They walked towards the Lucases, because Kitty wished to call upon Maria; and as Elizabeth saw no occasion for making it a general concern, when Kitty left them she went boldly on with him alone.

and, while her courage was high, she immediately said:

replied Darcy, in a tone of surprise and emotion,

he replied,

Elizabeth was too much embarrassed to say a word. After a short pause, her companion added,

Elizabeth, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently,

gave him to understand that

probably

and

he expressed himself