{"id":"01KJRRE0N9VYNRC5H2WE3C4JRN","cid":"bafkreid6m4gvc6beeeklzpumbllkwxmas7lc57pth7yd7ta6t7untzwmaa","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":250507,"char_start":242749,"chunk_index":34,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1940,"label":"who has been so fortunate as I have been, in early","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"who has been so fortunate as I have been, in early preferment; and, I\r\ntrust, I am resigned. Perhaps not the less so from feeling a doubt of my\r\npositive happiness had my fair cousin honoured me with her hand; for I\r\nhave often observed, that resignation is never so perfect as when the\r\nblessing denied begins to lose somewhat of its value in our estimation.\r\nYou will not, I hope, consider me as showing any disrespect to your\r\nfamily, my dear madam, by thus withdrawing my pretensions to your\r\ndaughter’s favour, without having paid yourself and Mr. Bennet the\r\ncompliment of requesting you to interpose your authority in my behalf.\r\nMy conduct may, I fear, be objectionable in having accepted my\r\ndismission from your daughter’s lips instead of your own; but we are all\r\nliable to error. I have certainly meant well through the whole affair.\r\nMy object has been to secure an amiable companion for myself, with due\r\nconsideration for the advantage of all your family; and if my _manner_\r\nhas been at all reprehensible, I here beg leave to apologize.”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XXI.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\nThe discussion of Mr. Collins’s offer was now nearly at an end, and\r\nElizabeth had only to suffer from the uncomfortable feelings necessarily\r\nattending it, and occasionally from some peevish allusion of her mother.\r\nAs for the gentleman himself, _his_ feelings were chiefly expressed, not\r\nby embarrassment or dejection, or by trying to avoid her, but by\r\nstiffness of manner and resentful silence. He scarcely ever spoke to\r\nher; and the assiduous attentions which he had been so sensible of\r\nhimself were transferred for the rest of the day to Miss Lucas, whose\r\ncivility in listening to him was a seasonable relief to them all, and\r\nespecially to her friend.\r\n\r\nThe morrow produced no abatement of Mrs. Bennet’s ill humour or ill\r\nhealth. Mr. Collins was also in the same state of angry pride. Elizabeth\r\nhad hoped that his resentment might shorten his visit, but his plan did\r\nnot appear in the least affected by it. He was always to have gone on\r\nSaturday, and to Saturday he still meant to stay.\r\n\r\nAfter breakfast, the girls walked to Meryton, to inquire if Mr. Wickham\r\nwere returned, and to lament over his absence from the Netherfield ball.\r\nHe joined them on their entering the town, and attended them to their\r\naunt’s, where his regret and vexation and the concern of everybody were\r\nwell talked over. To Elizabeth, however, he voluntarily acknowledged\r\nthat the necessity of his absence _had_ been self-imposed.\r\n\r\n“I found,” said he, “as the time drew near, that I had better not meet\r\nMr. Darcy;--that to be in the same room, the same party with him for so\r\nmany hours together, might be more than I could bear, and that scenes\r\nmight arise unpleasant to more than myself.”\r\n\r\nShe highly approved his forbearance; and they had leisure for a full\r\ndiscussion of it, and for all the commendations which they civilly\r\nbestowed on each other, as Wickham and another officer walked back with\r\nthem to Longbourn, and during the walk he particularly attended to her.\r\nHis accompanying them was a double advantage: she felt all the\r\ncompliment it offered to herself; and it was most acceptable as an\r\noccasion of introducing him to her father and mother.\r\n\r\n[Illustration: “Walked back with them”\r\n\r\n[_Copyright 1894 by George Allen._]]\r\n\r\nSoon after their return, a letter was delivered to Miss Bennet; it came\r\nfrom Netherfield, and was opened immediately. The envelope contained a\r\nsheet of elegant, little, hot-pressed paper, well covered with a lady’s\r\nfair, flowing hand; and Elizabeth saw her sister’s countenance change as\r\nshe read it, and saw her dwelling intently on some particular passages.\r\nJane recollected herself soon; and putting the letter away, tried to\r\njoin, with her usual cheerfulness, in the general conversation: but\r\nElizabeth felt an anxiety on the subject which drew off her attention\r\neven from Wickham; and no sooner had he and his companion taken leave,\r\nthan a glance from Jane invited her to follow her upstairs. When they\r\nhad gained their own room, Jane, taking out her letter, said, “This is\r\nfrom Caroline Bingley: what it contains has surprised me a good deal.\r\nThe whole party have left Netherfield by this time, and are on their way\r\nto town; and without any intention of coming back again. You shall hear\r\nwhat she says.”\r\n\r\nShe then read the first sentence aloud, which comprised the information\r\nof their having just resolved to follow their brother to town directly,\r\nand of their meaning to dine that day in Grosvenor Street, where Mr.\r\nHurst had a house. The next was in these words:--“‘I do not pretend to\r\nregret anything I shall leave in Hertfordshire except your society, my\r\ndearest friend; but we will hope, at some future period, to enjoy many\r\nreturns of that delightful intercourse we have known, and in the\r\nmeanwhile may lessen the pain of separation by a very frequent and most\r\nunreserved correspondence. I depend on you for that.’” To these\r\nhigh-flown expressions Elizabeth listened with all the insensibility of\r\ndistrust; and though the suddenness of their removal surprised her, she\r\nsaw nothing in it really to lament: it was not to be supposed that their\r\nabsence from Netherfield would prevent Mr. Bingley’s being there; and as\r\nto the loss of their society, she was persuaded that Jane must soon\r\ncease to regard it in the enjoyment of his.\r\n\r\n“It is unlucky,” said she, after a short pause, “that you should not be\r\nable to see your friends before they leave the country. But may we not\r\nhope that the period of future happiness, to which Miss Bingley looks\r\nforward, may arrive earlier than she is aware, and that the delightful\r\nintercourse you have known as friends will be renewed with yet greater\r\nsatisfaction as sisters? Mr. Bingley will not be detained in London by\r\nthem.”\r\n\r\n“Caroline decidedly says that none of the party will return into\r\nHertfordshire this winter. I will read it to you.\r\n\r\n“‘When my brother left us yesterday, he imagined that the business which\r\ntook him to London might be concluded in three or four days; but as we\r\nare certain it cannot be so, and at the same time convinced that when\r\nCharles gets to town he will be in no hurry to leave it again, we have\r\ndetermined on following him thither, that he may not be obliged to spend\r\nhis vacant hours in a comfortless hotel. Many of my acquaintance are\r\nalready there for the winter: I wish I could hear that you, my dearest\r\nfriend, had any intention of making one in the crowd, but of that I\r\ndespair. I sincerely hope your Christmas in Hertfordshire may abound in\r\nthe gaieties which that season generally brings, and that your beaux\r\nwill be so numerous as to prevent your feeling the loss of the three of\r\nwhom we shall deprive you.’\r\n\r\n“It is evident by this,” added Jane, “that he comes back no more this\r\nwinter.”\r\n\r\n“It is only evident that Miss Bingley does not mean he _should_.”\r\n\r\n“Why will you think so? It must be his own doing; he is his own master.\r\nBut you do not know _all_. I _will_ read you the passage which\r\nparticularly hurts me. I will have no reserves from _you_. ‘Mr. Darcy is\r\nimpatient to see his sister; and to confess the truth, _we_ are scarcely\r\nless eager to meet her again. I really do not think Georgiana Darcy has\r\nher equal for beauty, elegance, and accomplishments; and the affection\r\nshe inspires in Louisa and myself is heightened into something still\r\nmore interesting from the hope we dare to entertain of her being\r\nhereafter our sister. I do not know whether I ever before mentioned to\r\nyou my feelings on this subject, but I will not leave the country\r\nwithout confiding them, and I trust you will not esteem them\r\nunreasonable."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREYT564P5405ZE4Q76ZF5","peer_label":"mrs bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY6ZWGAT4FYVDEM6VE2E","peer_label":"mr collins","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF12Y1DAF33TFMWWRKDV2","peer_label":"miss lucas","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0QZTC5KJ63MKYZHD3F9","peer_label":"meryton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"town","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYW2V9QH9GNRQRJT67GK","peer_label":"mr bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF19AD63KEEZZWPG3X2KQ","peer_label":"mr wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7VA665FKK6CM48CN8K0","peer_label":"longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGXA5G45WS8FVH5R7BE","peer_label":"netherfield","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGM87R12EADFF6YZZG3","peer_label":"jane bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7M6PWKTFGVY5GSW3MFX","peer_label":"caroline bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZ9ES6JCT32MXQCVR11Y","peer_label":"mr hurst","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF97RYM5YBKZCQR8QRJYS","peer_label":"grosvenor street","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"street","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYW19YDDGRB70B483ZRV","peer_label":"hertfordshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"county","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY5SSJCQ67QYG0XTG9A8","peer_label":"mr bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF9M2538MHHJ98FNAFJA7","peer_label":"georgiana darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1BBS2X0TJJEBX6BHZ5D","peer_label":"london","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFBEQGRM7NZDW7C4GFM8B","peer_label":"mr collinss offer","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFBBKVS8BG1199G10D4FX","peer_label":"netherfield ball","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"event","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFBETVJS3M58GA1QJXECS","peer_label":"louisa","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFBFBR1MN26TE1BZH4YWN","peer_label":"chapter xxi","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_section","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.758Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.225Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:47.465Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}