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第103章（第1页）

“WhenIconsider，”sheaddedinayetmoreagitatedvoice，“thatImighthavepreventedit!I，whoknewwhathewas。HadIbutexplainedsomepartofitonly—somepartofwhatIlearnt，tomyownfamily!Hadhischaracterbeenknown，thiscouldnothavehappened。Butitisall—alltoolatenow。”

“Iamgrievedindeed，”criedDarcy;“grieved—shocked。Butisitcertain—absolutelycertain?”

“Oh，yes!TheyleftBrightontogetheronSundaynight，andweretracedalmosttoLondon，butnotbeyond;theyarecertainlynotgonetoScotland。”

“Andwhathasbeendone，whathasbeenattempted，torecoverher?”

“MyfatherhasgonetoLondon，andJanehaswrittentobegmyunclesimmediateassistance;andweshallbeoff，Ihope，inhalf-an-hour。Butnothingcanbedone—Iknowverywellthatnothingcanbedone。Howissuchamantobeworkedon?Howaretheyeventobediscovered?Ihavenotthesmallesthope。Itiseverywayhorrible!”

Darcyshookhisheadinsilentacquiescence。

“Whenmyeyeswereopenedtohisrealcharacter—Oh!hadIknownwhatIought，whatIdaredtodo!ButIknewnot—Iwasafraidofdoingtoomuch。Wretched，wretchedmistake!”

Darcymadenoanswer。Heseemedscarcelytohearher，andwaswalkingupanddowntheroominearnestmeditation，hisbrowcontracted，hisairgloomy。Elizabethsoonobserved，andinstantlyunderstoodit。Herpowerwassinking;everythingmustsinkundersuchaproofoffamilyweakness，suchanassuranceofthedeepestdisgrace。Shecouldneitherwondernorcondemn，butthebeliefofhisself-conquestbroughtnothingconsolatorytoherbosom，affordednopalliationofherdistress。Itwas，onthecontrary，exactlycalculatedtomakeherunderstandherownwishes;andneverhadshesohonestlyfeltthatshecouldhavelovedhim，asnow，whenalllovemustbevain。

Butself，thoughitwouldintrude，couldnotengrossher。Lydia—thehumiliation，themiseryshewasbringingonthemall，soonswallowedupeveryprivatecare;andcoveringherfacewithherhandkerchief，Elizabethwassoonlosttoeverythingelse;and，afterapauseofseveralminutes，wasonlyrecalledtoasenseofhersituationbythevoiceofhercompanion，who，inamannerwhich，thoughitspokecompassion，spokelikewiserestraint，said，

“Iamafraidyouhavebeenlongdesiringmyabsence，norhaveIanythingtopleadinexcuseofmystay，butreal，thoughunavailingconcern。WouldtoHeaventhatanythingcouldbeeithersaidordoneonmypartthatmightofferconsolationtosuchdistress!ButIwillnottormentyouwithvainwishes，whichmayseempurposelytoaskforyourthanks。Thisunfortunateaffairwill，Ifear，preventmysistershavingthepleasureofseeingyouatPemberleyto-day。”

“Oh，yes。BesokindastoapologiseforustoMissDarcy。Saythaturgentbusinesscallsushomeimmediately。Concealtheunhappytruthaslongasitispossible，Iknowitcannotbelong。”

Hereadilyassuredherofhissecrecy;againexpressedhissorrowforherdistress，wisheditahappierconclusionthantherewasatpresentreasontohope，andleavinghiscomplimentsforherrelations，withonlyoneserious，partinglook，wentaway。

Ashequittedtheroom，ElizabethfelthowimprobableitwasthattheyshouldeverseeeachotheragainonsuchtermsofcordialityashadmarkedtheirseveralmeetingsinDerbyshire;andasshethrewaretrospectiveglanceoverthewholeoftheiracquaintance，sofullofcontradictionsandvarieties，sighedattheperversenessofthosefeelingswhichwouldnowhavepromoteditscontinuance，andwouldformerlyhaverejoicedinitstermination。