{"id":"01KJRRE0QESQZRR3PJCQ0Q980X","cid":"bafkreibwh3okpfs5b7s7w6x5jd3s23b2njicl2rorzfg3ttwgcdncesbdi","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":448769,"char_start":440814,"chunk_index":62,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1989,"label":"unhappiness which her sister’s refusal must have g","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"unhappiness which her sister’s refusal must have given him.\r\n\r\n“His being so sure of succeeding was wrong,” said she, “and certainly\r\nought not to have appeared; but consider how much it must increase his\r\ndisappointment.”\r\n\r\n“Indeed,” replied Elizabeth, “I am heartily sorry for him; but he has\r\nother feelings which will probably soon drive away his regard for me.\r\nYou do not blame me, however, for refusing him?”\r\n\r\n“Blame you! Oh, no.”\r\n\r\n“But you blame me for having spoken so warmly of Wickham?”\r\n\r\n“No--I do not know that you were wrong in saying what you did.”\r\n\r\n“But you _will_ know it, when I have told you what happened the very\r\nnext day.”\r\n\r\nShe then spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents as far\r\nas they concerned George Wickham. What a stroke was this for poor Jane,\r\nwho would willingly have gone through the world without believing that\r\nso much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind as was here\r\ncollected in one individual! Nor was Darcy’s vindication, though\r\ngrateful to her feelings, capable of consoling her for such discovery.\r\nMost earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error, and\r\nseek to clear one, without involving the other.\r\n\r\n“This will not do,” said Elizabeth; “you never will be able to make both\r\nof them good for anything. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied\r\nwith only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just\r\nenough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting\r\nabout pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Mr.\r\nDarcy’s, but you shall do as you choose.”\r\n\r\nIt was some time, however, before a smile could be extorted from Jane.\r\n\r\n“I do not know when I have been more shocked,” said she. “Wickham so\r\nvery bad! It is almost past belief. And poor Mr. Darcy! dear Lizzy,\r\nonly consider what he must have suffered. Such a disappointment! and\r\nwith the knowledge of your ill opinion too! and having to relate such a\r\nthing of his sister! It is really too distressing, I am sure you must\r\nfeel it so.”\r\n\r\n“Oh no, my regret and compassion are all done away by seeing you so full\r\nof both. I know you will do him such ample justice, that I am growing\r\nevery moment more unconcerned and indifferent. Your profusion makes me\r\nsaving; and if you lament over him much longer, my heart will be as\r\nlight as a feather.”\r\n\r\n“Poor Wickham! there is such an expression of goodness in his\r\ncountenance! such an openness and gentleness in his manner.”\r\n\r\n“There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those\r\ntwo young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the\r\nappearance of it.”\r\n\r\n“I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the _appearance_ of it as you\r\nused to do.”\r\n\r\n“And yet I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike\r\nto him, without any reason. It is such a spur to one’s genius, such an\r\nopening for wit, to have a dislike of that kind. One may be continually\r\nabusive without saying anything just; but one cannot be always laughing\r\nat a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”\r\n\r\n“Lizzy, when you first read that letter, I am sure you could not treat\r\nthe matter as you do now.”\r\n\r\n“Indeed, I could not. I was uncomfortable enough, I was very\r\nuncomfortable--I may say unhappy. And with no one to speak to of what I\r\nfelt, no Jane to comfort me, and say that I had not been so very weak,\r\nand vain, and nonsensical, as I knew I had! Oh, how I wanted you!”\r\n\r\n“How unfortunate that you should have used such very strong expressions\r\nin speaking of Wickham to Mr. Darcy, for now they _do_ appear wholly\r\nundeserved.”\r\n\r\n“Certainly. But the misfortune of speaking with bitterness is a most\r\nnatural consequence of the prejudices I had been encouraging. There is\r\none point on which I want your advice. I want to be told whether I\r\nought, or ought not, to make our acquaintance in general understand\r\nWickham’s character.”\r\n\r\nMiss Bennet paused a little, and then replied, “Surely there can be no\r\noccasion for exposing him so dreadfully. What is your own opinion?”\r\n\r\n“That it ought not to be attempted. Mr. Darcy has not authorized me to\r\nmake his communication public. On the contrary, every particular\r\nrelative to his sister was meant to be kept as much as possible to\r\nmyself; and if I endeavour to undeceive people as to the rest of his\r\nconduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is\r\nso violent, that it would be the death of half the good people in\r\nMeryton, to attempt to place him in an amiable light. I am not equal to\r\nit. Wickham will soon be gone; and, therefore, it will not signify to\r\nanybody here what he really is. Some time hence it will be all found\r\nout, and then we may laugh at their stupidity in not knowing it before.\r\nAt present I will say nothing about it.”\r\n\r\n“You are quite right. To have his errors made public might ruin him for\r\never. He is now, perhaps, sorry for what he has done, and anxious to\r\nre-establish a character. We must not make him desperate.”\r\n\r\nThe tumult of Elizabeth’s mind was allayed by this conversation. She\r\nhad got rid of two of the secrets which had weighed on her for a\r\nfortnight, and was certain of a willing listener in Jane, whenever she\r\nmight wish to talk again of either. But there was still something\r\nlurking behind, of which prudence forbade the disclosure. She dared not\r\nrelate the other half of Mr. Darcy’s letter, nor explain to her sister\r\nhow sincerely she had been valued by his friend. Here was knowledge in\r\nwhich no one could partake; and she was sensible that nothing less than\r\na perfect understanding between the parties could justify her in\r\nthrowing off this last encumbrance of mystery. “And then,” said she, “if\r\nthat very improbable event should ever take place, I shall merely be\r\nable to tell what Bingley may tell in a much more agreeable manner\r\nhimself. The liberty of communication cannot be mine till it has lost\r\nall its value!”\r\n\r\nShe was now, on being settled at home, at leisure to observe the real\r\nstate of her sister’s spirits. Jane was not happy. She still cherished a\r\nvery tender affection for Bingley. Having never even fancied herself in\r\nlove before, her regard had all the warmth of first attachment, and from\r\nher age and disposition, greater steadiness than first attachments often\r\nboast; and so fervently did she value his remembrance, and prefer him to\r\nevery other man, that all her good sense, and all her attention to the\r\nfeelings of her friends, were requisite to check the indulgence of those\r\nregrets which must have been injurious to her own health and their\r\ntranquillity.\r\n\r\n“Well, Lizzy,” said Mrs. Bennet, one day, “what is your opinion _now_ of\r\nthis sad business of Jane’s? For my part, I am determined never to speak\r\nof it again to anybody. I told my sister Philips so the other day. But I\r\ncannot find out that Jane saw anything of him in London. Well, he is a\r\nvery undeserving young man--and I do not suppose there is the least\r\nchance in the world of her ever getting him now. There is no talk of his\r\ncoming to Netherfield again in the summer; and I have inquired of\r\neverybody, too, who is likely to know.”\r\n\r\n[Illustration:\r\n\r\n     “I am determined never to speak of it again”\r\n]\r\n\r\n“I do not believe that he will ever live at Netherfield any more.”\r\n\r\n“Oh, well! it is just as he chooses. Nobody wants him to come; though I\r\nshall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill; and, if I was\r\nher, I would not have put up with it. Well, my comfort is, I am sure\r\nJane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry for what he\r\nhas done.”\r\n\r\nBut as Elizabeth could not receive comfort from any such expectation she\r\nmade no answer.\r\n\r\n“Well, Lizzy,” continued her mother, soon afterwards, “and so the\r\nCollinses live very comfortable, do they? Well, well, I only hope it\r\nwill last. And what sort of table do they keep? Charlotte is an\r\nexcellent manager, I dare say."},"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":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFNKJ8B4H3DF42BHVS7FA","peer_label":"darcys letter","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYT564P5405ZE4Q76ZF5","peer_label":"mrs bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYS51T78NJZ45CYXSXS9","peer_label":"george wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF9MMMJ32QVBB79DRTMGA","peer_label":"meryton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"fictional_town","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0886HKAEXJPHPK5R594","peer_label":"charles bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1A42FY2HZTFF6WCFG11","peer_label":"mrs philips","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF91TF3GBBE6ETQBF0DYP","peer_label":"charlotte collins","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYZ36C2F9Z4KP5F6ANMZ","peer_label":"london","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"city","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFTAD87E7HQG9GEHRG6CR","peer_label":"prejudice against mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"social_phenomenon","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFT82ZMFXPEJXSTK8S911","peer_label":"mr and mrs collins","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"couple","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFTG0YZYB4SAKRG94S6BB","peer_label":"netherfield park","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"fictional_estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:03.618Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.294Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.581Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}