Pride and Prejudice — Chapter Forty (Abridged)

Elizabeth could not wait any longer to tell Jane what had happened. The next morning, she decided to share the main story — Mr. Darcy's surprising proposal and her refusal — but she chose not to mention anything about Bingley's feelings for Jane.

Jane was surprised, but since she always thought highly of Elizabeth, it didn't seem strange to her that a man would admire her sister. She felt sorry that Darcy had expressed himself so poorly, and even sorrier that Elizabeth's refusal must have hurt him deeply.

"He shouldn't have been so confident that you would say yes," Jane said. "But think how disappointed he must feel now."

"I do feel sorry for him," Elizabeth replied. "But he'll get over it quickly, I'm sure. You don't blame me for refusing him, do you?"

"Of course not."

"But you do blame me for defending Wickham so strongly."

"I'm not sure you were wrong to say what you did — yet," Jane said.

"You will be, once I tell you what happened the next day."

Elizabeth then explained everything Darcy's letter had said about Wickham. Jane was shocked. She had never imagined that someone could behave so badly. Even though the letter also proved Darcy was innocent, this news was still painful for her to accept. She tried hard to believe there had been some mistake, hoping both men could somehow be good.

"That won't work," Elizabeth said. "You can't make them both good. There's only enough good character between them for one decent man — and lately, I believe all of it belongs to Darcy."

Jane finally admitted she had never been so shocked in her life. She felt terrible for Darcy too, imagining how painful it must have been for him to admit such things about his own sister. Elizabeth teased her gently, saying Jane's sympathy for Darcy was so strong that she herself felt less sorry for him by comparison.

They talked about how differently the two men had once appeared — Wickham always seemed kind and open, while Darcy had seemed proud and cold. "There must have been something wrong in how those two young men were raised," Jane said. "One got real goodness, and the other only the appearance of it."

Elizabeth admitted that disliking Darcy so strongly, without real reason, had felt clever and witty at the time — but she now realized her judgment had been unfair.

Finally, Elizabeth asked Jane's advice: should they tell everyone in town the truth about Wickham? Jane thought carefully and said it seemed unnecessary to ruin his reputation completely. Elizabeth agreed. Darcy hadn't given her permission to share his private letter, and few people would believe her anyway, since most of Meryton already disliked Darcy. Besides, Wickham would soon leave with his regiment, so it wouldn't matter much locally. The truth would come out eventually on its own.

Sharing these two secrets with Jane brought Elizabeth great relief. But one secret remained hidden — Darcy's explanation of Bingley's true feelings for Jane. Elizabeth decided it was too risky to share, since it might only cause her sister more pain.

Now that she was home, Elizabeth could clearly see that Jane still wasn't truly happy. She still loved Bingley deeply, even though she tried hard not to show it.

One day, Mrs. Bennet brought up the painful subject again, blaming Bingley for treating Jane so badly, while also chattering on about how carefully the Collinses managed their money at Hunsford — and hinting, none too subtly, that they were surely already looking forward to inheriting Longbourn someday.