doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement;
and the avowal of all that he felt, and had long felt, for her
immediately followed. He spoke well; but there were feelings besides
those of the heart to be detailed. His sense of her inferiority, of
marriage with her being a degradation, of the family obstacles which
judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth
which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very
unlikely to recommend his suit. In truth, it was already lost, for
though Elizabeth could not be insensible to the compliment of such a
man's affection, her intentions did not vary for an instant. Accusing
him of having ruined, perhaps for ever, the happiness of her sister
Jane, and of having blighted the career of his former friend Wickham,
she reproached him with the uncivil style of his declaration, and gave
him her answer in the words:

"You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way
that would have tempted me to accept it."

Soon after, Darcy took his leave; but the next day he accosted Elizabeth
in the park, and handed her a letter, which he begged her to read. She
read it, and had the mortification to discover not only that Darcy made
some scathing but perfectly justifiable comments on the objectionable
members of her family, but that he was able to clear himself of both the
charges she had brought against him. He maintained that in separating
Bingley from Jane he had not the slightest notion that he was doing the
latter any injury, since he never credited her with any strong
attachment to his friend; and he assured Elizabeth that, though Wickham
had always been an idle and dissipated person, he had more than
fulfilled his father's intentions to him, and that Wickham had repaid
him for his generosity by trying to elope with his young sister