{{prxprp217.jpg}} || PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 217 ||

strange must it appear to him! In what a disgraceful light might

it not strike so vain a man! It might seem as if she had purposely

thrown herself in his way again! Oh! why did she come? or, why

did he thus come a day before he was expected; Had they been

only ten minutes sooner, they should have been beyond the reach

of his discrimination, for it was plain that he was that moment

arrived, that moment alighted from his horse or his carriage.

She blushed again and again over the perverseness of the meeting.

And his behaviour, so strikingly altered, -- what could it mean?

That he should even speak to her was amazing! -- but to speak

with such civility, to inquire after her family! Never in her life

had she seen his manners so little dignified, never had he spoken

with such gentleness as on this unexpected meeting. What a

contrast did it offer to his last address in Rosings Park, when he

put his letter into her hand! She knew not what to think, or

how to account for it.

They had now entered a beautiful walk by the side of the

water, and every step was bringing forward a nobler fall of ground,

or a finer reach of the woods to which they were approaching;

but it was some time before Elizabeth was sensible of any of it;

and, though she answered mechanically to the repeated appeals of

her uncle and aunt, and seemed to direct her eyes to such objects

as they pointed out, she distinguished no part of the scene. Her

thoughts were all fixed on that one spot of Pemberley House,

whichever it might be, where Mr. Darcy then was. She longed

to know what at that moment was passing in his mind; in what

manner he thought of her, and whether, in defiance of every thing,

she was still dear to him. Perhaps he had been civil only because

he felt himself at ease; yet there had been that in his voice, which

was not like ease. Whether he had felt more of pain or of pleasure

in seeing her, she could not tell, but he certainly had not seen her

with composure.

At length, however, the remarks of her companions on her

absence of mind roused her, and she felt the necessity of appearing

more like herself.

They entered the woods, and bidding adieu to the river for a

while, ascended some of the higher grounds; whence, in spots

 [[217]]