Strona 337 z 817

In spite of having been at St. James's, Sir William was so

completely awed by the grandeur surrounding him, that he had but

just courage enough to make a very low bow, and take his seat

without saying a word; and his daughter, frightened almost out of

her senses, sat on the edge of her chair, not knowing which way

to look. Elizabeth found herself quite equal to the scene, and

could observe the three ladies before her composedly. Lady

Catherine was a tall, large woman, with strongly-marked features,

which might once have been handsome. Her air was not

conciliating, nor was her manner of receiving them such as to

make her visitors forget their inferior rank. She was not

rendered formidable by silence: but whatever she said was spoken

in so authoritative a tone as marked her self-importance, and

brought Mr. Wickham immediately to Elizabeth's mind; and, from

the observation of the day altogether, she believed Lady

Catherine to be exactly what he had represented.