{"id":"01KJRRE0MZH7YR243AA3S9MZQX","cid":"bafkreibdbd7irqf557gircjqo23qnejpc3ooa6k7qf7c46kjynvbsxfux4","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":207792,"char_start":200062,"chunk_index":28,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1933,"label":"his life.”\r \r Darcy made no answer, and seemed des","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"his life.”\r\n\r\nDarcy made no answer, and seemed desirous of changing the subject. At\r\nthat moment Sir William Lucas appeared close to them, meaning to pass\r\nthrough the set to the other side of the room; but, on perceiving Mr.\r\nDarcy, he stopped, with a bow of superior courtesy, to compliment him on\r\nhis dancing and his partner.\r\n\r\n“I have been most highly gratified, indeed, my dear sir; such very\r\nsuperior dancing is not often seen. It is evident that you belong to the\r\nfirst circles. Allow me to say, however, that your fair partner does not\r\ndisgrace you: and that I must hope to have this pleasure often repeated,\r\nespecially when a certain desirable event, my dear Miss Eliza (glancing\r\nat her sister and Bingley), shall take place. What congratulations will\r\nthen flow in! I appeal to Mr. Darcy;--but let me not interrupt you, sir.\r\nYou will not thank me for detaining you from the bewitching converse of\r\nthat young lady, whose bright eyes are also upbraiding me.”\r\n\r\n[Illustration:\r\n\r\n“Such very superior dancing is not\r\noften seen.”\r\n\r\n[_Copyright 1894 by George Allen._]]\r\n\r\nThe latter part of this address was scarcely heard by Darcy; but Sir\r\nWilliam’s allusion to his friend seemed to strike him forcibly, and his\r\neyes were directed, with a very serious expression, towards Bingley and\r\nJane, who were dancing together. Recovering himself, however, shortly,\r\nhe turned to his partner, and said,--\r\n\r\n“Sir William’s interruption has made me forget what we were talking\r\nof.”\r\n\r\n“I do not think we were speaking at all. Sir William could not have\r\ninterrupted any two people in the room who had less to say for\r\nthemselves. We have tried two or three subjects already without success,\r\nand what we are to talk of next I cannot imagine.”\r\n\r\n“What think you of books?” said he, smiling.\r\n\r\n“Books--oh no!--I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same\r\nfeelings.”\r\n\r\n“I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be\r\nno want of subject. We may compare our different opinions.”\r\n\r\n“No--I cannot talk of books in a ball-room; my head is always full of\r\nsomething else.”\r\n\r\n“The _present_ always occupies you in such scenes--does it?” said he,\r\nwith a look of doubt.\r\n\r\n“Yes, always,” she replied, without knowing what she said; for her\r\nthoughts had wandered far from the subject, as soon afterwards appeared\r\nby her suddenly exclaiming, “I remember hearing you once say, Mr. Darcy,\r\nthat you hardly ever forgave;--that your resentment, once created, was\r\nunappeasable. You are very cautious, I suppose, as to its _being\r\ncreated_?”\r\n\r\n“I am,” said he, with a firm voice.\r\n\r\n“And never allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice?”\r\n\r\n“I hope not.”\r\n\r\n“It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion,\r\nto be secure of judging properly at first.”\r\n\r\n“May I ask to what these questions tend?”\r\n\r\n“Merely to the illustration of _your_ character,” said she, endeavouring\r\nto shake off her gravity. “I am trying to make it out.”\r\n\r\n“And what is your success?”\r\n\r\nShe shook her head. “I do not get on at all. I hear such different\r\naccounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.”\r\n\r\n“I can readily believe,” answered he, gravely, “that reports may vary\r\ngreatly with respect to me; and I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were\r\nnot to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to\r\nfear that the performance would reflect no credit on either.”\r\n\r\n“But if I do not take your likeness now, I may never have another\r\nopportunity.”\r\n\r\n“I would by no means suspend any pleasure of yours,” he coldly replied.\r\nShe said no more, and they went down the other dance and parted in\r\nsilence; on each side dissatisfied, though not to an equal degree; for\r\nin Darcy’s breast there was a tolerably powerful feeling towards her,\r\nwhich soon procured her pardon, and directed all his anger against\r\nanother.\r\n\r\nThey had not long separated when Miss Bingley came towards her, and,\r\nwith an expression of civil disdain, thus accosted her,--\r\n\r\n“So, Miss Eliza, I hear you are quite delighted with George Wickham?\r\nYour sister has been talking to me about him, and asking me a thousand\r\nquestions; and I find that the young man forgot to tell you, among his\r\nother communications, that he was the son of old Wickham, the late Mr.\r\nDarcy’s steward. Let me recommend you, however, as a friend, not to give\r\nimplicit confidence to all his assertions; for, as to Mr. Darcy’s using\r\nhim ill, it is perfectly false: for, on the contrary, he has been always\r\nremarkably kind to him, though George Wickham has treated Mr. Darcy in a\r\nmost infamous manner. I do not know the particulars, but I know very\r\nwell that Mr. Darcy is not in the least to blame; that he cannot bear\r\nto hear George Wickham mentioned; and that though my brother thought he\r\ncould not well avoid including him in his invitation to the officers, he\r\nwas excessively glad to find that he had taken himself out of the way.\r\nHis coming into the country at all is a most insolent thing, indeed, and\r\nI wonder how he could presume to do it. I pity you, Miss Eliza, for this\r\ndiscovery of your favourite’s guilt; but really, considering his\r\ndescent, one could not expect much better.”\r\n\r\n“His guilt and his descent appear, by your account, to be the same,”\r\nsaid Elizabeth, angrily; “for I have heard you accuse him of nothing\r\nworse than of being the son of Mr. Darcy’s steward, and of _that_, I can\r\nassure you, he informed me himself.”\r\n\r\n“I beg your pardon,” replied Miss Bingley, turning away with a sneer.\r\n“Excuse my interference; it was kindly meant.”\r\n\r\n“Insolent girl!” said Elizabeth to herself. “You are much mistaken if\r\nyou expect to influence me by such a paltry attack as this. I see\r\nnothing in it but your own wilful ignorance and the malice of Mr.\r\nDarcy.” She then sought her eldest sister, who had undertaken to make\r\ninquiries on the same subject of Bingley. Jane met her with a smile of\r\nsuch sweet complacency, a glow of such happy expression, as sufficiently\r\nmarked how well she was satisfied with the occurrences of the evening.\r\nElizabeth instantly read her feelings; and, at that moment, solicitude\r\nfor Wickham, resentment against his enemies, and everything else, gave\r\nway before the hope of Jane’s being in the fairest way for happiness.\r\n\r\n“I want to know,” said she, with a countenance no less smiling than her\r\nsister’s, “what you have learnt about Mr. Wickham. But perhaps you have\r\nbeen too pleasantly engaged to think of any third person, in which case\r\nyou may be sure of my pardon.”\r\n\r\n“No,” replied Jane, “I have not forgotten him; but I have nothing\r\nsatisfactory to tell you. Mr. Bingley does not know the whole of his\r\nhistory, and is quite ignorant of the circumstances which have\r\nprincipally offended Mr. Darcy; but he will vouch for the good conduct,\r\nthe probity and honour, of his friend, and is perfectly convinced that\r\nMr. Wickham has deserved much less attention from Mr. Darcy than he has\r\nreceived; and I am sorry to say that by his account, as well as his\r\nsister’s, Mr. Wickham is by no means a respectable young man. I am\r\nafraid he has been very imprudent, and has deserved to lose Mr. Darcy’s\r\nregard.”\r\n\r\n“Mr. Bingley does not know Mr. Wickham himself.”\r\n\r\n“No; he never saw him till the other morning at Meryton.”\r\n\r\n“This account then is what he has received from Mr. Darcy. I am\r\nperfectly satisfied. But what does he say of the living?”\r\n\r\n“He does not exactly recollect the circumstances, though he has heard\r\nthem from Mr. Darcy more than once, but he believes that it was left to\r\nhim _conditionally_ only.”\r\n\r\n“I have not a doubt of Mr. Bingley’s sincerity,” said Elizabeth warmly,\r\n“but you must excuse my not being convinced by assurances only."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREZGM87R12EADFF6YZZG3","peer_label":"jane bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYTMYM5H9026MPV0AJMX","peer_label":"sir william lucas","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF06V9ABE1JZWJHE56BCY","peer_label":"miss bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYRAPBAR593DJKHRVWY2","peer_label":"george allen","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"organization","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYS51T78NJZ45CYXSXS9","peer_label":"george wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0YV9NV5WVK4WWSM736Q","peer_label":"meryton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1GQXGH5SGWQFV36Z7N3","peer_label":"late mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF2XQ9ZCCK755CCTCSGA7","peer_label":"certain desirable event","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"social_event","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF2WSZTKE2V2YC4YMG4M4","peer_label":"bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF3238PJD7HPM3AV6TE6S","peer_label":"illustration","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_element","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF31DGBT9031J2YE362RD","peer_label":"old wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF2V5XWPGQ8NCVBZAMV1A","peer_label":"darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:38.228Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.215Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:39.137Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}