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1The steadiness of his manner, and the intelligence of his eye as he spoke, convincing Elinor, that whatever other
2unpardonable folly might bring him to Cleveland, he was not brought there by intoxication, she said, after a moment's
3recollection, "Mr. Willoughby, you ought to feel, and I certainly do, that after what has passed, your coming here in
4this manner, and forcing yourself upon my notice, requires a very particular excuse. What is it, that you mean by it?"
5"I mean," said he, with serious energy, "if I can, to make you hate me one degree less than you do now. I mean to offer
6some kind of explanation, some kind of apology, for the past; to open my whole heart to you, and by convincing you, that
7though I have been always a blockhead, I have not been always a rascal, to obtain something like forgiveness from Ma--
8from your sister." "Is this the real reason of your coming?" "Upon my soul it is,"--was his answer, with a warmth which
9brought all the former Willoughby to her remembrance, and in spite of herself made her think him sincere. "If that is
10all, you may be satisfied already; for Marianne does, she has long forgiven you." "Has she?" he cried, in the same eager
11tone. "Then she has forgiven me before she ought to have done it. But she shall forgive me again, and on more reasonable
12grounds. Now will you listen to me?" Elinor bowed her assent. "I do not know," said he, after a pause of expectation on
13her side, and thoughtfulness on his own, "how you may have accounted for my behaviour to your sister, or what diabolical
14motive you may have imputed to me. Perhaps you will hardly think the better of me,--it is worth the trial however, and
15you shall hear every thing. When I first became intimate in your family, I had no other intention, no other view in the
16acquaintance than to pass my time pleasantly while I was obliged to remain in Devonshire, more pleasantly than I had
17ever done before. Your sister's lovely person and interesting manners could not but please me; and her behaviour to me
18almost from the first, was of a kind--it is astonishing, when I reflect on what it was, and what she was, that my heart
19should have been so insensible! But at first I must confess, my vanity only was elevated by it. Careless of her
20happiness, thinking only of my own amusement, giving way to feelings which I had always been too much in the habit of
21indulging, I endeavoured, by every means in my power, to make myself pleasing to her, without any design of returning
22her affection." Miss Dashwood, at this point, turning her eyes on him with the most angry contempt, stopped him, by
23saying, "It is hardly worth while, Mr. Willoughby, for you to relate, or for me to listen any longer. Such a beginning
24as this cannot be followed by any thing. Do not let me be pained by hearing any thing more on the subject." "I insist on
25you hearing the whole of it," he replied, "My fortune was never large, and I had always been expensive, always in the
26habit of associating with people of better income than myself. Every year since my coming of age, or even before, I
27believe, had added to my debts; and though the death of my old cousin, Mrs. Smith, was to set me free; yet that event
28being uncertain, and possibly far distant, it had been for some time my intention to re-establish my circumstances by
29marrying a woman of fortune. To attach myself to your sister, therefore, was not a thing to be thought of; and with a
30meanness, selfishness, cruelty, which no indignant, no contemptuous look, even of yours, Miss Dashwood, can ever
31reprobate too much,--I was acting in this manner, trying to engage her regard, without a thought of returning it. But
32one thing may be said for me: even in that horrid state of selfish vanity, I did not know the extent of the injury I
33meditated, because I did not then know what it was to love. But have I ever known it? Well may it be doubted; for, had I
34really loved, could I have sacrificed my feelings to vanity, to avarice? or, what is more, could I have sacrificed hers?
35But I have done it. To avoid a comparative poverty, which her affection and her society would have deprived of all its
36horrors, I have, by raising myself to affluence, lost every thing that could make it a blessing." "You did then," said
37Elinor, a little softened, "believe yourself at one time attached to her?" "To have resisted such attractions, to have
38withstood such tenderness! Is there a man on earth who could have done it? Yes, I found myself, by insensible degrees,
39sincerely fond of her; and the happiest hours of my life were what I spent with her when I felt my intentions were
40strictly honourable, and my feelings blameless. Even then, however, when fully determined on paying my addresses to her,
41I allowed myself most improperly to put off, from day to day, the moment of doing it, from an unwillingness to enter
42into an engagement while my circumstances were so greatly embarrassed. I will not reason here--nor will I stop for you
43to expatiate on the absurdity, and the worse than absurdity, of scrupling to engage my faith where my honour was already
44bound. The event has proved, that I was a cunning fool, providing with great circumspection for a possible opportunity
45of making myself contemptible and wretched for ever. At last, however, my resolution was taken, and I had determined, as
46soon as I could engage her alone, to justify the attentions I had so invariably paid her, and openly assure her of an
47affection which I had already taken such pains to display. But in the interim--in the interim of the very few hours that
48were to pass, before I could have an opportunity of speaking with her in private--a circumstance occurred--an unlucky
49circumstance, to ruin all my resolution, and with it all my comfort. A discovery took place,"--here he hesitated and
50looked down. "Mrs. Smith had somehow or other been informed, I imagine by some distant relation, whose interest it was
51to deprive me of her favour, of an affair, a connection--but I need not explain myself farther," he added, looking at
52her with an heightened colour and an enquiring eye,--"your particular intimacy--you have probably heard the whole story
53long ago." "I have," returned Elinor, colouring likewise, and hardening her heart anew against any compassion for him,
54"I have heard it all. And how you will explain away any part of your guilt in that dreadful business, I confess is
55beyond my comprehension." "Remember," cried Willoughby, "from whom you received the account. Could it be an impartial
56one? I acknowledge that her situation and her character ought to have been respected by me. I do not mean to justify
57myself, but at the same time cannot leave you to suppose that I have nothing to urge--that because she was injured she
58was irreproachable, and because I was a libertine, she must be a saint. If the violence of her passions, the weakness of
59her understanding--I do not mean, however, to defend myself. Her affection for me deserved better treatment, and I
60often, with great self-reproach, recall the tenderness which, for a very short time, had the power of creating any
61return. I wish--I heartily wish it had never been. But I have injured more than herself; and I have injured one, whose
62affection for me (may I say it?) was scarcely less warm than hers; and whose mind--Oh! how infinitely superior!" "Your
63indifference, however, towards that unfortunate girl--I must say it, unpleasant to me as the discussion of such a
64subject may well be--your indifference is no apology for your cruel neglect of her. Do not think yourself excused by any
65weakness, any natural defect of understanding on her side, in the wanton cruelty so evident on yours. You must have
66known, that while you were enjoying yourself in Devonshire pursuing fresh schemes, always gay, always happy, she was
67reduced to the extremest indigence." "But, upon my soul, I did not know it," he warmly replied; "I did not recollect
68that I had omitted to give her my direction; and common sense might have told her how to find it out." "Well, sir, and
69what said Mrs. Smith?"
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