{"id":"01KJRRE0MQS65WF6PG3MMCZFNQ","cid":"bafkreidbi7g7a7o5mlazfcm6d47frspou5imyonhz6ytasgrkb3hcletlu","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":179382,"char_start":171608,"chunk_index":24,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1944,"label":"yesterday. Are you much acquainted with Mr. Darcy?","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"yesterday. Are you much acquainted with Mr. Darcy?”\r\n\r\n“As much as I ever wish to be,” cried Elizabeth, warmly. “I have spent\r\nfour days in the same house with him, and I think him very\r\ndisagreeable.”\r\n\r\n“I have no right to give _my_ opinion,” said Wickham, “as to his being\r\nagreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him\r\ntoo long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for _me_ to\r\nbe impartial. But I believe your opinion of him would in general\r\nastonish--and, perhaps, you would not express it quite so strongly\r\nanywhere else. Here you are in your own family.”\r\n\r\n“Upon my word I say no more _here_ than I might say in any house in the\r\nneighbourhood, except Netherfield. He is not at all liked in\r\nHertfordshire. Everybody is disgusted with his pride. You will not find\r\nhim more favourably spoken of by anyone.”\r\n\r\n“I cannot pretend to be sorry,” said Wickham, after a short\r\ninterruption, “that he or that any man should not be estimated beyond\r\ntheir deserts; but with _him_ I believe it does not often happen. The\r\nworld is blinded by his fortune and consequence, or frightened by his\r\nhigh and imposing manners, and sees him only as he chooses to be seen.”\r\n\r\n“I should take him, even on _my_ slight acquaintance, to be an\r\nill-tempered man.”\r\n\r\nWickham only shook his head.\r\n\r\n“I wonder,” said he, at the next opportunity of speaking, “whether he is\r\nlikely to be in this country much longer.”\r\n\r\n“I do not at all know; but I _heard_ nothing of his going away when I\r\nwas at Netherfield. I hope your plans in favour of the ----shire will\r\nnot be affected by his being in the neighbourhood.”\r\n\r\n“Oh no--it is not for _me_ to be driven away by Mr. Darcy. If _he_\r\nwishes to avoid seeing _me_ he must go. We are not on friendly terms,\r\nand it always gives me pain to meet him, but I have no reason for\r\navoiding _him_ but what I might proclaim to all the world--a sense of\r\nvery great ill-usage, and most painful regrets at his being what he is.\r\nHis father, Miss Bennet, the late Mr. Darcy, was one of the best men\r\nthat ever breathed, and the truest friend I ever had; and I can never be\r\nin company with this Mr. Darcy without being grieved to the soul by a\r\nthousand tender recollections. His behaviour to myself has been\r\nscandalous; but I verily believe I could forgive him anything and\r\neverything, rather than his disappointing the hopes and disgracing the\r\nmemory of his father.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth found the interest of the subject increase, and listened with\r\nall her heart; but the delicacy of it prevented further inquiry.\r\n\r\nMr. Wickham began to speak on more general topics, Meryton, the\r\nneighbourhood, the society, appearing highly pleased with all that he\r\nhad yet seen, and speaking of the latter, especially, with gentle but\r\nvery intelligible gallantry.\r\n\r\n“It was the prospect of constant society, and good society,” he added,\r\n“which was my chief inducement to enter the ----shire. I know it to be a\r\nmost respectable, agreeable corps; and my friend Denny tempted me\r\nfurther by his account of their present quarters, and the very great\r\nattentions and excellent acquaintance Meryton had procured them.\r\nSociety, I own, is necessary to me. I have been a disappointed man, and\r\nmy spirits will not bear solitude. I _must_ have employment and society.\r\nA military life is not what I was intended for, but circumstances have\r\nnow made it eligible. The church _ought_ to have been my profession--I\r\nwas brought up for the church; and I should at this time have been in\r\npossession of a most valuable living, had it pleased the gentleman we\r\nwere speaking of just now.”\r\n\r\n“Indeed!”\r\n\r\n“Yes--the late Mr. Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best\r\nliving in his gift. He was my godfather, and excessively attached to me.\r\nI cannot do justice to his kindness. He meant to provide for me amply,\r\nand thought he had done it; but when the living fell, it was given\r\nelsewhere.”\r\n\r\n“Good heavens!” cried Elizabeth; “but how could _that_ be? How could his\r\nwill be disregarded? Why did not you seek legal redress?”\r\n\r\n“There was just such an informality in the terms of the bequest as to\r\ngive me no hope from law. A man of honour could not have doubted the\r\nintention, but Mr. Darcy chose to doubt it--or to treat it as a merely\r\nconditional recommendation, and to assert that I had forfeited all claim\r\nto it by extravagance, imprudence, in short, anything or nothing.\r\nCertain it is that the living became vacant two years ago, exactly as I\r\nwas of an age to hold it, and that it was given to another man; and no\r\nless certain is it, that I cannot accuse myself of having really done\r\nanything to deserve to lose it. I have a warm unguarded temper, and I\r\nmay perhaps have sometimes spoken my opinion _of_ him, and _to_ him, too\r\nfreely. I can recall nothing worse. But the fact is, that we are very\r\ndifferent sort of men, and that he hates me.”\r\n\r\n“This is quite shocking! He deserves to be publicly disgraced.”\r\n\r\n“Some time or other he _will_ be--but it shall not be by _me_. Till I\r\ncan forget his father, I can never defy or expose _him_.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth honoured him for such feelings, and thought him handsomer than\r\never as he expressed them.\r\n\r\n“But what,” said she, after a pause, “can have been his motive? what can\r\nhave induced him to behave so cruelly?”\r\n\r\n“A thorough, determined dislike of me--a dislike which I cannot but\r\nattribute in some measure to jealousy. Had the late Mr. Darcy liked me\r\nless, his son might have borne with me better; but his father’s uncommon\r\nattachment to me irritated him, I believe, very early in life. He had\r\nnot a temper to bear the sort of competition in which we stood--the sort\r\nof preference which was often given me.”\r\n\r\n“I had not thought Mr. Darcy so bad as this--though I have never liked\r\nhim, I had not thought so very ill of him--I had supposed him to be\r\ndespising his fellow-creatures in general, but did not suspect him of\r\ndescending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as\r\nthis!”\r\n\r\nAfter a few minutes’ reflection, however, she continued, “I _do_\r\nremember his boasting one day, at Netherfield, of the implacability of\r\nhis resentments, of his having an unforgiving temper. His disposition\r\nmust be dreadful.”\r\n\r\n“I will not trust myself on the subject,” replied Wickham; “_I_ can\r\nhardly be just to him.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth was again deep in thought, and after a time exclaimed, “To\r\ntreat in such a manner the godson, the friend, the favourite of his\r\nfather!” She could have added, “A young man, too, like _you_, whose very\r\ncountenance may vouch for your being amiable.” But she contented herself\r\nwith--“And one, too, who had probably been his own companion from\r\nchildhood, connected together, as I think you said, in the closest\r\nmanner.”\r\n\r\n“We were born in the same parish, within the same park; the greatest\r\npart of our youth was passed together: inmates of the same house,\r\nsharing the same amusements, objects of the same parental care. _My_\r\nfather began life in the profession which your uncle, Mr. Philips,\r\nappears to do so much credit to; but he gave up everything to be of use\r\nto the late Mr. Darcy, and devoted all his time to the care of the\r\nPemberley property. He was most highly esteemed by Mr. Darcy, a most\r\nintimate, confidential friend. Mr. Darcy often acknowledged himself to\r\nbe under the greatest obligations to my father’s active superintendence;\r\nand when, immediately before my father’s death, Mr. Darcy gave him a\r\nvoluntary promise of providing for me, I am convinced that he felt it\r\nto be as much a debt of gratitude to _him_ as of affection to myself.”\r\n\r\n“How strange!” cried Elizabeth. “How abominable! I wonder that the very\r\npride of this Mr. Darcy has not made him just to you."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF03HV8WK7S25SR34XZ4G","peer_label":"meryton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"town","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGXA5G45WS8FVH5R7BE","peer_label":"netherfield","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF03EKPCZWK39EPRV4X1Y","peer_label":"mr wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0V27VZ765A0967R07KJ","peer_label":"mr denny","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF12XM7XRBAHQY9QT9MJ1","peer_label":"ecclesiastical living","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"position","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0Z7YF7S0Y1BK3HFVD7V","peer_label":"____shire regiment","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"military_corps","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0YB65S9YTQA71N6S7T8","peer_label":"hertfordshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0ZAWNKZ1HGP59VFX103","peer_label":"church profession","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"profession","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1JY0216AW1XW4XP2D1Z","peer_label":"wickhams father","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1GQXGH5SGWQFV36Z7N3","peer_label":"late mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1JH8VM8NMX4JF87P0BV","peer_label":"mr philips","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1KB9HG68C924XKNF2TX","peer_label":"pemberley estate","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:36.442Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.207Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:37.135Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}