Chapter 56 339
" Because honour , decorum , prudence , nay , interest , forbid it . Yes , Miss Bennet , interest ; for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends , if you wilfully act against the inclinations of all . You will be censured , slighted , and despised , by everyone connected with him . Your alliance will be a disgrace ; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us ."
" These are heavy misfortunes ," replied Elizabeth . " But the wife of Mr . Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation , that she could , upon the whole , have no cause to repine ."
" Obstinate , headstrong girl ! I am ashamed of you ! Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring ? Is nothing due to me on that score ? Let us sit down . You are to understand , Miss Bennet , that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose ; nor will I be dissuaded from it . I have not been used to submit to any person ' s whims . I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment ."
" That will make your ladyship ' s situation at present more pitiable ; but it will have no effect on me ."
" I will not be interrupted . Hear me in silence . My daughter and my nephew are formed for each other . They are descended , on the maternal side , from the same noble line ; and , on the father ' s , from respectable , honourable , and ancient--though untitled--families . Their fortune on both sides is splendid . They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses ; and what is to divide them ? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family , connections , or fortune . Is this to be endured ! But it must not , shall not be . If you were sensible of your own good , you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up ."
" In marrying your nephew , I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere . He is a gentleman ; I am a gentleman ' s daughter ; so far we are equal ."