{"id":"01KJRRE0QERV4055Z785N4MWC0","cid":"bafkreifycehuxc57ajrdivn2363xv5rwhtj7ddf4bqjglr3fsphqsmktsa","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":477671,"char_start":469692,"chunk_index":66,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1995,"label":"her curiosity as all the celebrated beauties of Ma","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"her curiosity as all the celebrated beauties of Matlock, Chatsworth,\r\nDovedale, or the Peak.\r\n\r\nElizabeth was excessively disappointed: she had set her heart on seeing\r\nthe Lakes; and still thought there might have been time enough. But it\r\nwas her business to be satisfied--and certainly her temper to be happy;\r\nand all was soon right again.\r\n\r\nWith the mention of Derbyshire, there were many ideas connected. It was\r\nimpossible for her to see the word without thinking of Pemberley and its\r\nowner. “But surely,” said she, “I may enter his county with impunity,\r\nand rob it of a few petrified spars, without his perceiving me.”\r\n\r\nThe period of expectation was now doubled. Four weeks were to pass away\r\nbefore her uncle and aunt’s arrival. But they did pass away, and Mr. and\r\nMrs. Gardiner, with their four children, did at length appear at\r\nLongbourn. The children, two girls of six and eight years old, and two\r\nyounger boys, were to be left under the particular care of their cousin\r\nJane, who was the general favourite, and whose steady sense and\r\nsweetness of temper exactly adapted her for attending to them in every\r\nway--teaching them, playing with them, and loving them.\r\n\r\nThe Gardiners stayed only one night at Longbourn, and set off the next\r\nmorning with Elizabeth in pursuit of novelty and amusement. One\r\nenjoyment was certain--that of suitableness as companions; a\r\nsuitableness which comprehended health and temper to bear\r\ninconveniences--cheerfulness to enhance every pleasure--and affection\r\nand intelligence, which might supply it among themselves if there were\r\ndisappointments abroad.\r\n\r\nIt is not the object of this work to give a description of Derbyshire,\r\nnor of any of the remarkable places through which their route thither\r\nlay--Oxford, Blenheim, Warwick, Kenilworth, Birmingham, etc., are\r\nsufficiently known. A small part of Derbyshire is all the present\r\nconcern. To the little town of Lambton, the scene of Mrs. Gardiner’s\r\nformer residence, and where she had lately learned that some\r\nacquaintance still remained, they bent their steps, after having seen\r\nall the principal wonders of the country; and within five miles of\r\nLambton, Elizabeth found, from her aunt, that Pemberley was situated. It\r\nwas not in their direct road; nor more than a mile or two out of it. In\r\ntalking over their route the evening before, Mrs. Gardiner expressed an\r\ninclination to see the place again. Mr. Gardiner declared his\r\nwillingness, and Elizabeth was applied to for her approbation.\r\n\r\n“My love, should not you like to see a place of which you have heard so\r\nmuch?” said her aunt. “A place, too, with which so many of your\r\nacquaintance are connected. Wickham passed all his youth there, you\r\nknow.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth was distressed. She felt that she had no business at\r\nPemberley, and was obliged to assume a disinclination for seeing it. She\r\nmust own that she was tired of great houses: after going over so many,\r\nshe really had no pleasure in fine carpets or satin curtains.\r\n\r\nMrs. Gardiner abused her stupidity. “If it were merely a fine house\r\nrichly furnished,” said she, “I should not care about it myself; but the\r\ngrounds are delightful. They have some of the finest woods in the\r\ncountry.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth said no more; but her mind could not acquiesce. The\r\npossibility of meeting Mr. Darcy, while viewing the place, instantly\r\noccurred. It would be dreadful! She blushed at the very idea; and\r\nthought it would be better to speak openly to her aunt, than to run such\r\na risk. But against this there were objections; and she finally resolved\r\nthat it could be the last resource, if her private inquiries as to the\r\nabsence of the family were unfavourably answered.\r\n\r\nAccordingly, when she retired at night, she asked the chambermaid\r\nwhether Pemberley were not a very fine place, what was the name of its\r\nproprietor, and, with no little alarm, whether the family were down for\r\nthe summer? A most welcome negative followed the last question; and her\r\nalarms being now removed, she was at leisure to feel a great deal of\r\ncuriosity to see the house herself; and when the subject was revived the\r\nnext morning, and she was again applied to, could readily answer, and\r\nwith a proper air of indifference, that she had not really any dislike\r\nto the scheme.\r\n\r\nTo Pemberley, therefore, they were to go.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration:\r\n\r\n     “Conjecturing as to the date”\r\n]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XLIII.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\nElizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of\r\nPemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned\r\nin at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter.\r\n\r\nThe park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They\r\nentered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through\r\na beautiful wood stretching over a wide extent.\r\n\r\nElizabeth’s mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired\r\nevery remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for\r\nhalf a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable\r\neminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by\r\nPemberley House, situated on the opposite side of the valley, into which\r\nthe road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome stone\r\nbuilding, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high\r\nwoody hills; and in front a stream of some natural importance was\r\nswelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks\r\nwere neither formal nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She\r\nhad never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural\r\nbeauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were\r\nall of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that\r\nto be mistress of Pemberley might be something!\r\n\r\nThey descended the hill, crossed the bridge, and drove to the door; and,\r\nwhile examining the nearer aspect of the house, all her apprehension of\r\nmeeting its owner returned. She dreaded lest the chambermaid had been\r\nmistaken. On applying to see the place, they were admitted into the\r\nhall; and Elizabeth, as they waited for the housekeeper, had leisure to\r\nwonder at her being where she was.\r\n\r\nThe housekeeper came; a respectable looking elderly woman, much less\r\nfine, and more civil, than she had any notion of finding her. They\r\nfollowed her into the dining-parlour. It was a large, well-proportioned\r\nroom, handsomely fitted up. Elizabeth, after slightly surveying it, went\r\nto a window to enjoy its prospect. The hill, crowned with wood, from\r\nwhich they had descended, receiving increased abruptness from the\r\ndistance, was a beautiful object. Every disposition of the ground was\r\ngood; and she looked on the whole scene, the river, the trees scattered\r\non its banks, and the winding of the valley, as far as she could trace\r\nit, with delight. As they passed into other rooms, these objects were\r\ntaking different positions; but from every window there were beauties\r\nto be seen. The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture\r\nsuitable to the fortune of their proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with\r\nadmiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly\r\nfine,--with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the\r\nfurniture of Rosings.\r\n\r\n“And of this place,” thought she, “I might have been mistress! With\r\nthese rooms I might have now been familiarly acquainted! Instead of\r\nviewing them as a stranger, I might have rejoiced in them as my own, and\r\nwelcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt. But, no,” recollecting\r\nherself, “that could never be; my uncle and aunt would have been lost to\r\nme; I should not have been allowed to invite them.”\r\n\r\nThis was a lucky recollection--it saved her from something like regret.\r\n\r\nShe longed to inquire of the housekeeper whether her master were really\r\nabsent, but had not courage for it. At length, however, the question was\r\nasked by her uncle; and she turned away with alarm, while Mrs."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREZJ8A0QJK2TXKT8DT57S","peer_label":"pemberley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSZYA9P29KKXYZVTJ15","peer_label":"mr gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZH1WA49EQP66J0ZHR6G","peer_label":"derbyshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"county","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSAZT646RSHT9C5XPKR","peer_label":"mrs gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7VA665FKK6CM48CN8K0","peer_label":"longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGM87R12EADFF6YZZG3","peer_label":"jane bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA63SH24KA7N4R2W9MAJ","peer_label":"wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA76Z48PKAT35WMD1QWR","peer_label":"lambton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"town","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA8MR5MRGC3Q9JF6TNKZ","peer_label":"pemberley house","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"building","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA8T5CWN5K08K4ZDZDT5","peer_label":"gardiner children","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_persons","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA5WJD25XPJTH01NWVFN","peer_label":"the lakes","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"geographic_region","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFA96SCPMPZWSRSWA3DY2","peer_label":"pemberley grounds","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"feature","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFAT50ZT5HAY7NK5B231Z","peer_label":"pemberley housekeeper","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"role","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFAV8NGHBM4VFV8DGQH8F","peer_label":"chapter xliii","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_section","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFAVQHPNF367KEPRB5A7P","peer_label":"pemberley woods","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFATB4JV3Z1254SYY4Q5T","peer_label":"mr and mrs gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.073Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.294Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:46.803Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}