“As a friend!” – repeated Mr. Knightley. – “Emma, that I fear is a word – No, I have no wish – Stay, yes, why should I hesitate? – I have gone too far already for concealment. – Emma, I accept your offer – Extraordinary as it may seem, I accept it, and refer myself to you as a friend. – Tell me, then, have I no chance of ever succeeding?” He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her.
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 49. When Emma invites Mr. Knightley to speak to her openly as a friend, wrongly thinking he has affections for Harriet, it brings this emotional response from him. It is the beginning of Mr. Knightley’s declaration of love and proposal to Emma. He pleads with her on whether he has no chance of succeeding with her. Overwhelmed by the intensity of his words and gaze, she is rendered speechless, having completely misread him. Mr. Knightley struggling with words, the dashes, the unfinished sentences indicate a nervousness on his part. But they also convey the depth of his passion and sincerity of his affections for Emma.