“Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound. – Your own excellent sense – your exertions for your father’s sake – I know you will not allow yourself – .” Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, “The feelings of the warmest friendship – Indignation – Abominable scoundrel!” – And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, “He will soon be gone. They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for her. She deserves a better fate.”
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 49. Almost all the conversation between Mr. Knightley and Emma in this chapter involves them misreading and misinterpreting one another. In this speech he consoles Emma over the news of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax’s secret engagement. Mistakenly believing Emma to be romantically attached to Frank, he thinks the news is painful for her. What he doesn’t realize is that he is the one she loves.