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 he might be doing the same.
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 her sentiments had undergone so material a change,since the period to which he alluded,as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances.The happiness which this reply produced,was such as he had probably never felt before;and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do.Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye,she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him;but,though she could not look,she could listen,and he told her of feelings,which,in proving of what importance she was to him,made his affection every moment more valuable.