{"id":"01KJRRE0PX1P999J9D2Z99CXME","cid":"bafkreibvukobn3owz4deq3hnxuuxw4ewtstbddx3m4iips2clwnusjblom","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":405888,"char_start":398036,"chunk_index":56,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1963,"label":"intended to provide for him in it. As for myself,","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"intended to provide for him in it. As for myself, it is many, many years\r\nsince I first began to think of him in a very different manner. The\r\nvicious propensities, the want of principle, which he was careful to\r\nguard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the\r\nobservation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who\r\nhad opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments, which Mr. Darcy\r\ncould not have. Here again I shall give you pain--to what degree you\r\nonly can tell. But whatever may be the sentiments which Mr. Wickham has\r\ncreated, a suspicion of their nature shall not prevent me from unfolding\r\nhis real character. It adds even another motive. My excellent father\r\ndied about five years ago; and his attachment to Mr. Wickham was to the\r\nlast so steady, that in his will he particularly recommended it to me to\r\npromote his advancement in the best manner that his profession might\r\nallow, and if he took orders, desired that a valuable family living\r\nmight be his as soon as it became vacant. There was also a legacy of\r\none thousand pounds. His own father did not long survive mine; and\r\nwithin half a year from these events Mr. Wickham wrote to inform me\r\nthat, having finally resolved against taking orders, he hoped I should\r\nnot think it unreasonable for him to expect some more immediate\r\npecuniary advantage, in lieu of the preferment, by which he could not be\r\nbenefited. He had some intention, he added, of studying the law, and I\r\nmust be aware that the interest of one thousand pounds would be a very\r\ninsufficient support therein. I rather wished than believed him to be\r\nsincere; but, at any rate, was perfectly ready to accede to his\r\nproposal. I knew that Mr. Wickham ought not to be a clergyman. The\r\nbusiness was therefore soon settled. He resigned all claim to assistance\r\nin the church, were it possible that he could ever be in a situation to\r\nreceive it, and accepted in return three thousand pounds. All connection\r\nbetween us seemed now dissolved. I thought too ill of him to invite him\r\nto Pemberley, or admit his society in town. In town, I believe, he\r\nchiefly lived, but his studying the law was a mere pretence; and being\r\nnow free from all restraint, his life was a life of idleness and\r\ndissipation. For about three years I heard little of him; but on the\r\ndecease of the incumbent of the living which had been designed for him,\r\nhe applied to me again by letter for the presentation. His\r\ncircumstances, he assured me, and I had no difficulty in believing it,\r\nwere exceedingly bad. He had found the law a most unprofitable study,\r\nand was now absolutely resolved on being ordained, if I would present\r\nhim to the living in question--of which he trusted there could be little\r\ndoubt, as he was well assured that I had no other person to provide for,\r\nand I could not have forgotten my revered father’s intentions. You will\r\nhardly blame me for refusing to comply with this entreaty, or for\r\nresisting every repetition of it. His resentment was in proportion to\r\nthe distress of his circumstances--and he was doubtless as violent in\r\nhis abuse of me to others as in his reproaches to myself. After this\r\nperiod, every appearance of acquaintance was dropped. How he lived, I\r\nknow not. But last summer he was again most painfully obtruded on my\r\nnotice. I must now mention a circumstance which I would wish to forget\r\nmyself, and which no obligation less than the present should induce me\r\nto unfold to any human being. Having said thus much, I feel no doubt of\r\nyour secrecy. My sister, who is more than ten years my junior, was left\r\nto the guardianship of my mother’s nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and\r\nmyself. About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an\r\nestablishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with\r\nthe lady who presided over it to Ramsgate; and thither also went Mr.\r\nWickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior\r\nacquaintance between him and Mrs. Younge, in whose character we were\r\nmost unhappily deceived; and by her connivance and aid he so far\r\nrecommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a\r\nstrong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was\r\npersuaded to believe herself in love and to consent to an elopement. She\r\nwas then but fifteen, which must be her excuse; and after stating her\r\nimprudence, I am happy to add, that I owed the knowledge of it to\r\nherself. I joined them unexpectedly a day or two before the intended\r\nelopement; and then Georgiana, unable to support the idea of grieving\r\nand offending a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father,\r\nacknowledged the whole to me. You may imagine what I felt and how I\r\nacted. Regard for my sister’s credit and feelings prevented any public\r\nexposure; but I wrote to Mr. Wickham, who left the place immediately,\r\nand Mrs. Younge was of course removed from her charge. Mr. Wickham’s\r\nchief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty\r\nthousand pounds; but I cannot help supposing that the hope of revenging\r\nhimself on me was a strong inducement. His revenge would have been\r\ncomplete indeed. This, madam, is a faithful narrative of every event in\r\nwhich we have been concerned together; and if you do not absolutely\r\nreject it as false, you will, I hope, acquit me henceforth of cruelty\r\ntowards Mr. Wickham. I know not in what manner, under what form of\r\nfalsehood, he has imposed on you; but his success is not perhaps to be\r\nwondered at, ignorant as you previously were of everything concerning\r\neither. Detection could not be in your power, and suspicion certainly\r\nnot in your inclination. You may possibly wonder why all this was not\r\ntold you last night. But I was not then master enough of myself to know\r\nwhat could or ought to be revealed. For the truth of everything here\r\nrelated, I can appeal more particularly to the testimony of Colonel\r\nFitzwilliam, who, from our near relationship and constant intimacy, and\r\nstill more as one of the executors of my father’s will, has been\r\nunavoidably acquainted with every particular of these transactions. If\r\nyour abhorrence of _me_ should make _my_ assertions valueless, you\r\ncannot be prevented by the same cause from confiding in my cousin; and\r\nthat there may be the possibility of consulting him, I shall endeavour\r\nto find some opportunity of putting this letter in your hands in the\r\ncourse of the morning. I will only add, God bless you.\r\n\r\n“FITZWILLIAM DARCY.”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\nElizabeth, when Mr. Darcy gave her the letter, did not expect it to\r\ncontain a renewal of his offers, she had formed no expectation at all of\r\nits contents. But such as they were, it may be well supposed how eagerly\r\nshe went through them, and what a contrariety of emotion they excited.\r\nHer feelings as she read were scarcely to be defined. With amazement did\r\nshe first understand that he believed any apology to be in his power;\r\nand steadfastly was she persuaded, that he could have no explanation to\r\ngive, which a just sense of shame would not conceal. With a strong\r\nprejudice against everything he might say, she began his account of\r\nwhat had happened at Netherfield. She read with an eagerness which\r\nhardly left her power of comprehension; and from impatience of knowing\r\nwhat the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the\r\nsense of the one before her eyes. His belief of her sister’s\r\ninsensibility she instantly resolved to be false; and his account of the\r\nreal, the worst objections to the match, made her too angry to have any\r\nwish of doing him justice. He expressed no regret for what he had done\r\nwhich satisfied her; his style was not penitent, but haughty. It was all\r\npride and insolence.\r\n\r\nBut when this subject was succeeded by his account of Mr."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRRF19AD63KEEZZWPG3X2KQ","peer_label":"mr wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF9YT9F8Z9BAXYRC3SHK6","peer_label":"fitzwilliam darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJ8A0QJK2TXKT8DT57S","peer_label":"pemberley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYZ36C2F9Z4KP5F6ANMZ","peer_label":"london","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"city","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF9M2538MHHJ98FNAFJA7","peer_label":"georgiana darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7YPKAMRSS5AR5RC8DQN","peer_label":"colonel fitzwilliam","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGXA5G45WS8FVH5R7BE","peer_label":"netherfield","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFE8X1JK3EESNDFPJZHXZ","peer_label":"mr darcys letter","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFCPG7W6XSKD5D827DMKA","peer_label":"mrs younge","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDBPMG1BJ4MNZG0QB5NE","peer_label":"family living","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"church_position","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDATHYG169JS7QFW0P7W","peer_label":"three thousand pounds settlement","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"financial_sum","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDBZNQ4XGEFTYSEZQJ8D","peer_label":"one thousand pounds legacy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"financial_sum","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDYDMWBX47WK2XQR8SY2","peer_label":"ramsgate","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"location","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDACZ1X0FGDYE2EESFT9","peer_label":"darcys father","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDM5JVNV9M2SE6FHC3T4","peer_label":"incumbent of the living","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDHP5KYRM62P4GXS8YBV","peer_label":"law study","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDYJ5B2AP2CJM6FVS3Y8","peer_label":"elopement plot","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"event","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDZ26VFDF9EGGSWS0R0X","peer_label":"thirty thousand pounds fortune","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"financial_sum","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFE7S2GEYZJCXHY2MG0PN","peer_label":"chapter xxxvi","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_section","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFEGCNP43JCS6ZKWTVH84","peer_label":"darcys fathers will","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFFE591N7JYVVBPNQJ257","peer_label":"taking orders church","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.482Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.277Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:52.305Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}