Chapter 33: More than once Elizabeth
has unexpectedly met Mr. Darcy in the park. She has told him that she often walks there, so she
does not understand why he continues to go there. While she is walking this time though, she meets
Colonel Fitzwilliam. They begin to walk and converse, and when the subject of Miss Darcy arises,
Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth that he is joined in the guardianship of her with Darcy. When Elizabeth
asks if such a young lady is difficult to manage, Fitzwilliam looks at her earnestly, and Elizabeth
thinks that she had somehow got near the truth. The conversation turns to Darcy's friendship with
Bingley, and Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth that it seems that Bingley is in debt to Darcy for getting
him out of an imprudent marriage. While he says that he is not sure it is Bingley, he says that
he understands that there were "some very strong objections against the lady," and Darcy congratulates
himself on getting Bingley away from her. Elizabeth is quite sure that Fitzwilliam is speaking
of Jane and Bingley, as she cannot believe that Darcy could have so much influence over two men.
When she is again at home, her agitation and tears bring on a headache, and she does not join the others
for a visit to Lady Catherine's.
Chapter 34: Elizabeth is surprised
by a visit from Darcy while the others are at Lady Catherine's. Darcy shocks Elizabeth by telling
her that he admires and loves her and wishes her to marry him. He speaks of how he has tried to
fight his love for her because of her and her family's inferiority, and Elizabeth can see that he has
no doubt that she will accept his hand. He is quite amazed when instead she does not accept, and
says that she is not only offended by the speech he has just made, but that she has other reasons for
declining his offer, such as how he had treated Jane and Wickham. Darcy admits to separating Bingley
and Jane and rejoicing in his success at it, and he speaks with contempt of Wickham. Darcy angrily
accuses Elizabeth of not being able to overlook these offenses because her pride was hurt by his speech
about her family's inferiority, and Elizabeth states that the only thing those declarations did was
spare her any concern she may have in refusing him. He is astonished when she says that he "could
not have made [her] the offer of [his] hand in any possible way that would have tempted [her] to accept."
Darcy asks Elizabeth to accept his best wishes for her health and happiness and quickly leaves the house.
Chapter 35: The next day Elizabeth
cannot think of anything else but what had happened the night before. She decides to take a walk,
and when she hears Darcy calling her, she tries to avoid him. When he catches up to her, he gives
her a letter, asking her to read it. The letter starts by saying that Elizabeth need not worry
about him trying to renew any of his offers, but that he feels that he should explain the circumstances
around the two accusations she made against him.
In reference to his talking Bingley into leaving Netherfield, he states that he had seen Bingley in
love many times before, and that he did not realize how serious this relationship was until the ball
when he heard Sir William and others speaking of how they expected a marriage. He then observed
Bingley and Jane closer, and while he saw that Bingley was clearly affected by Jane, he thought Jane
seemed more indifferent to Bingley. When he explained his concerns about the inferiority of Jane's
family to him, Bingley was not willing to give her up, but when Darcy told him that he felt Jane indifferent,
Bingley agreed to leave. With
respect to Wickham, Darcy also explains. He writes that his father indeed had the highest opinion
of him, but that after his death Wickham received an agreed upon sum, and when it was gone, came back
for more to support his "life of idleness and dissipation." Darcy would not give him more money, and
did not hear from him a while, until he found out from his sister that she felt herself in love with
him. Darcy arrived in time to stop the elopement. Darcy concludes his letter by hoping that
she will acquit him of any cruelty towards Wickham, and that if she needs any proof of the truth of
what he had written, she could talk to Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Chapter 36: Elizabeth reads through
Darcy's letter with a mixture of emotions. When she first reads Darcy's explanation of his conduct
with Bingley and Jane, she dismisses his explanation of his concern about Jane's indifference as false,
and believes he acted solely because of her family. However, when she begins reading his explanation
of the dealings with Wickham, she begins to read more clearly. She soon begins to realize that
she had not known anything of Wickham before the night when he told her of he and Darcy, and she wonders
why she didn't realize his impropriety at speaking of such things to a stranger. As she continues
to reread and think, she realizes that she had been "blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd," and that she
believes Darcy's version of what happened. She then rereads the section about Jane and Bingley,
and sees that she cannot deny the justice of his description of Jane's seeming indifference after all.
After two hours of wandering in the park she returns home to be told that both Fitzwilliam and Darcy
had come to say their good-byes.
|