All interesting comments Agnes, particularly the one about native speakers (Your English is excellent) . You see, English people, beyond schooldays and the few who take degrees in it, don't learn the English language because it is their native tongue (as you own is) used every day by everyone. I actually learned far more about English from studying Spanish, particularly things like the subjunctive. I'm not sure just how much English study Jane Austen did (presumably, a fair amount) but it is actually rather surprising to find the apostrohe t ('t) in can't instead of the more formal can not or cannot. Again, we don't (do not?) always speak as per textbooks because of slang terms, regional accent differences and those dreaded class levels. ( this doesn't just apply to one language, but most: a footman would hardly speak the same way as his Lord and Master) Because of this, many "rules" are either ignored or become flexible in application. The internet and text speak have become the worst enemies of the English language. Back to the question..(-:
I think this might be quite relevant in context:
"
Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, "You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You cannot have been always at Longbourn.". ( to make that real question he could have added "surely?" on the end, but is that an ommision from Darcy, or a deliberate "sort it out for yourselves" moment from J.A.?
Why did he move closer to Lizzy at that stage? Was he in some way encouraged by the topic? The mood was very fleeting as he soon moved away, but was he toying with proposing right there and then and didn't get the encouragement he hoped for?
