DARCY
You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what
they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes
are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject
forever.
ELIZABETH
Oh, Mr. Darcy. I... I...
DARCY
...If your feelings are the same, just say so. I'll go away. You'll
never see me again.
ELIZABETH
I... I...
DARCY
...I have no right to expect anything but your censure. My behaviour
has been abominable.
ELIZABETH
Mr. Darcy...
DARCY
...Miss Elizabeth, you're so quiet.
ELIZABETH
Mr. Darcy, how can you even speak to me after the terrible things
I said last April?
DARCY
How can I speak to you? But the only thing I want to
do is to speak to you, Miss Elizabeth. Forever.
ELIZABETH
Mr. Darcy.. I... I...
DARCY
I've never stopped loving you, Elizabeth. But if you --
ELIZABETH
But the things I said to you, ...
DARCY
I deserved everything you said.
ELIZABETH
Not entirely. I was wrong about so many things.
DARCY
It all tortured me, for weeks and weeks. Not because it was hurtful,
but because I eventually realized how true it was. I had been so,
so...
ELIZABETH
My sentiments have changed, Mr. Darcy, so very much. In fact...
I must say... I have to say... that I must receive with gratitude
...and pleasure... oh...
DARCY
Miss Elizabeth, are you trying to say...
ELIZABETH
Yes. ...Oh yes, Mr. Darcy.
DARCY
Oh Elizabeth, I can hardly believe it. Do you mean it?
ELIZABETH
Yes.
DARCY
I prayed and prayed for another chance to ask you.
ELIZABETH
When you left for London I thought I'd never see you again.
DARCY
You were so quiet at Longbourn. I was hoping you'd at least insult me,
or admonish me, or anything at all. Any excuse to look into your eyes.
ELIZABETH
I was too embarrassed to speak.
DARCY
When I was in London two days ago I had almost resolved to come back and
just ask you straight out. I was steeling myself for another
humiliation. And then my aunt came to visit.
ELIZABETH
She did? Oh, Mr. Darcy, I was so horribly rude to her. She'll
never forgive me.
DARCY
I don't care any more. She told me all about her visit. It serves her
right. She made me realize that there was still hope. How can I ever
apologize for her behaviour?
ELIZABETH
She gave you hope? Oh, my. Perhaps we should be
grateful to her.
DARCY
I must confess, my own feelings were similar to hers for such a long
time, for most of my life in fact. That's how I was raised. But I
never counted on meeting anyone like you.
ELIZABETH
Oh, Mr. Darcy.
DARCY
But you must stop calling me Mr. Darcy. I hope I can call you
Lizzy.
LIZZY
Oh, of course! Say it as often as you'd like. Say it a thousand
times!
DARCY
Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy! Oh, I must write to Georgiana tonight. She'll fall
off her pianoforte stool when she hears the news. Do you know how many
times she's told me to marry you?
LIZZY
She has? Oh, my. She's such a perceptive girl.
DARCY
Ha, ha. You know, Lizzy, I think that's the very first time that I
haven't been the butt of your wit.
LIZZY
But I'm afraid you're going to become the butt of my teasing,
though. Can I write to your sister as well?
DARCY
Oh, of course. She won't be able to sit still. She'll probably hop on
her horse and ride all the way down here to congratulate us.
LIZZY
Oh, Mr. Darcy, I feel like dancing a reel. ...I wonder if Jane and
Mr. Bingley suspect. Have you confessed anything to him?
DARCY
A little bit.
LIZZY
About last April?
DARCY
Oh, no. Too embarrassing.
LIZZY
Too embarrassing to be in love with me?
DARCY
Oh, Lizzy, you're teasing me already. No, it's too embarrassing to
admit that I've been so stupid and underhanded and foolish about
everything. It was hard enough just telling him how I separated him
from your sister.
LIZZY
Was he angry with you?
DARCY
You see this mark on my forehead? He threw a book at me.
LIZZY
Oh, Mr. Darcy, my brain is in such a muddle. ...Tell me everything.
I want to know exactly what you thought of me at every stage.
Starting with that first assembly in Meryton.
DARCY
Assembly? I don't think I recall any assembly.
LIZZY
Oh, but you must remember. When you said I wasn't handsome
enough to tempt you.
DARCY
Oh, yes. That does sound vaguely familiar. But didn't Bingley say that
about your sister?
LIZZY
Um, Mr. Darcy...
DARCY
Oh Lizzy, I'm just teasing. There was something about you at that first
meeting that caught my eye. Not just your beauty, but the way you
looked at me when our eyes met by accident, and the way you looked when
you spoke to Miss Lucas. The way your lips moved. And the way you
laughed.
LIZZY
Yes, I do go out of my way to make people laugh. Much too far,
sometimes.
DARCY
I couldn't speak to you without making a fool of myself. But I did
stare at you quite a bit. I tried to hide it. And I really hoped that
I would forget about you as soon as I returned to Netherfield.
LIZZY
Forget about me?
DARCY
It was my first week in Meryton, and I didn't want to become
infatuated with a local lady right away.
LIZZY
Oh, Mr. Darcy. I guess I completely ruined your plans.
DARCY
And then I met you on the street the next day, do you remember?
LIZZY
Oh, yes indeed. We started off on the wrong foot, I dare say.
And then what you said in that dress shop.
DARCY
You had completely unnerved me.
LIZZY
I hoped I would never see you again after that.
DARCY
I had long ago made up my mind that the perfect woman would be
intelligent, have a good sense of humour, but would also be a very kind
person. I found out later at Netherfield how kind you were, not just to
your own sister, but by the way you helped Caroline Bingley with her
tatting, and Mrs. Hurst with the draperies.
LIZZY
Oh, Mr. Darcy. You'll swell my head if you continue like this.
You must insult me at once to bring me back down.
DARCY
And your beauty was just a bonus. By the time you and Jane left
Netherfield I couldn't concentrate on anything but you.
LIZZY
And I had no idea of the way you felt. I thought your manner
was simply that of a man who had no time for foolish country girls
like me. That doesn't speak well for my so-called "intelligence",
does it?
DARCY
It didn't take much persuasion to convince me that I had to get away
from Netherfield and back to London. And I persuaded Bingley too. It
wasn't until much later that I realized you were the woman I'd been
looking for my entire life.
LIZZY
I am almost afraid of asking what you thought of me when we met at
Pemberley. You blamed me for coming?
DARCY
No, indeed. I felt nothing but surprise. It was a dream come true, to
see you standing there.
LIZZY
I wanted to die on the spot.
DARCY
Oh, Lizzy. I must go to your father immediately. I can't wait.
LIZZY
Oh. Perhaps you should wait a day or so. My father may still be
skeptical.
DARCY
As you wish. But I want you to come to Netherfield as soon as you can
to dance that reel with me.