While she was alone, Elizabeth read Jane's recent letters again. They were not full of complaints, but they lacked Jane’s usual cheerfulness. Thinking about Darcy’s pride and how he had hurt her sister made Elizabeth feel even angrier.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She thought it might be Colonel Fitzwilliam, but to her total shock, Mr. Darcy walked into the room. He asked quickly about her health. Elizabeth answered him coldly. He sat down for a moment, then got up and started walking around the room. After a few minutes of silence, he came toward her and said:
"I have tried to fight it, but it is no use. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you."
Elizabeth was so surprised she couldn't speak. She just stared at him. Mr. Darcy took her silence as encouragement. He began to explain how long he had loved her. However, he also talked about his pride. He spoke about her "inferior" family and how it was a "degradation" for him to marry her. He made it sound like he was doing something difficult by loving her.
Elizabeth’s initial pity for him turned into pure anger. When he finally finished and asked for her hand in marriage, he looked like he expected her to say "yes."
"In such cases," Elizabeth said, "it is normal to say thank you. If I could feel gratitude, I would. But I cannot. I have never wanted your good opinion, and you have certainly given it to me very unwillingly."
Mr. Darcy turned pale with anger. "And this is your only answer? May I ask why you are so rude to me?"
"I might as well ask why you chose to tell me that you like me against your will and against your reason!" Elizabeth replied. "But I have other reasons. Do you think I could ever accept the man who has ruined the happiness of my beloved sister?"
Darcy looked surprised, but he didn't interrupt.
"You cannot deny," she continued, "that you separated Mr. Bingley and Jane. You made them both miserable."
Darcy smiled coldly. "I do not deny it. I did everything in my power to separate them. I believe I was kinder to my friend than to myself."
Elizabeth grew even angrier. "But it is not just that. I also know your character from Mr. Wickham. You have reduced him to poverty! You took away the life that was promised to him."
"You take a great interest in that gentleman," Darcy said, his voice rising.
"Who wouldn't?" Elizabeth cried. "You have ruined his life, and yet you treat him with contempt."
Darcy walked quickly across the room. "So, this is what you think of me! Thank you for being so honest. Perhaps you could have overlooked my faults if I had hidden my struggles and flattered you. But I hate disguise. I was honest about my feelings regarding your family. Could you expect me to be happy about your relatives, who are so much lower than my own?"
"You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said firmly. "The only thing your honesty did was show me that you are not a gentleman. Even if you had asked me in a better way, I would still have refused you."
Darcy looked at her with shock.
"From the very first moment I met you," she went on, "I saw your pride, your conceit, and your selfishness. I hadn't known you for a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world I would ever marry."
"You have said enough, madam," Darcy said quietly. "I understand your feelings. Please forgive me for taking up your time. I wish you health and happiness."
He left the house immediately.
When he was gone, Elizabeth sat down and cried for half an hour. She was exhausted. She couldn't believe Mr. Darcy had been in love with her for months. But his pride, his role in Jane’s misery, and his treatment of Wickham were too much. She could never love a man like him.