{"id":"01KJRRE0RD6TB1CY757YC3FB2K","cid":"bafkreiabdfsecas4rm5zsswm3l3x6o4erut5o4kryqomzriqf4haj2dmy4","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":506275,"char_start":498405,"chunk_index":70,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1968,"label":"the house and take some refreshment; but this was","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"the house and take some refreshment; but this was declined, and they\r\nparted on each side with the utmost politeness. Mr. Darcy handed the\r\nladies into the carriage; and when it drove off, Elizabeth saw him\r\nwalking slowly towards the house.\r\n\r\nThe observations of her uncle and aunt now began; and each of them\r\npronounced him to be infinitely superior to anything they had expected.\r\n\r\n“He is perfectly well-behaved, polite, and unassuming,” said her uncle.\r\n\r\n“There _is_ something a little stately in him, to be sure,” replied her\r\naunt; “but it is confined to his air, and is not unbecoming. I can now\r\nsay with the housekeeper, that though some people may call him proud,\r\n_I_ have seen nothing of it.”\r\n\r\n“I was never more surprised than by his behaviour to us. It was more\r\nthan civil; it was really attentive; and there was no necessity for such\r\nattention. His acquaintance with Elizabeth was very trifling.”\r\n\r\n“To be sure, Lizzy,” said her aunt, “he is not so handsome as Wickham;\r\nor rather he has not Wickham’s countenance, for his features are\r\nperfectly good. But how came you to tell us that he was so\r\ndisagreeable?”\r\n\r\nElizabeth excused herself as well as she could: said that she had liked\r\nhim better when they met in Kent than before, and that she had never\r\nseen him so pleasant as this morning.\r\n\r\n“But perhaps he may be a little whimsical in his civilities,” replied\r\nher uncle. “Your great men often are; and therefore I shall not take him\r\nat his word about fishing, as he might change his mind another day, and\r\nwarn me off his grounds.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth felt that they had entirely mistaken his character, but said\r\nnothing.\r\n\r\n“From what we have seen of him,” continued Mrs. Gardiner, “I really\r\nshould not have thought that he could have behaved in so cruel a way by\r\nanybody as he has done by poor Wickham. He has not an ill-natured look.\r\nOn the contrary, there is something pleasing about his mouth when he\r\nspeaks. And there is something of dignity in his countenance, that would\r\nnot give one an unfavourable idea of his heart. But, to be sure, the\r\ngood lady who showed us the house did give him a most flaming character!\r\nI could hardly help laughing aloud sometimes. But he is a liberal\r\nmaster, I suppose, and _that_, in the eye of a servant, comprehends\r\nevery virtue.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth here felt herself called on to say something in vindication of\r\nhis behaviour to Wickham; and, therefore, gave them to understand, in as\r\nguarded a manner as she could, that by what she had heard from his\r\nrelations in Kent, his actions were capable of a very different\r\nconstruction; and that his character was by no means so faulty, nor\r\nWickham’s so amiable, as they had been considered in Hertfordshire. In\r\nconfirmation of this, she related the particulars of all the pecuniary\r\ntransactions in which they had been connected, without actually naming\r\nher authority, but stating it to be such as might be relied on.\r\n\r\nMrs. Gardiner was surprised and concerned: but as they were now\r\napproaching the scene of her former pleasures, every idea gave way to\r\nthe charm of recollection; and she was too much engaged in pointing out\r\nto her husband all the interesting spots in its environs, to think of\r\nanything else. Fatigued as she had been by the morning’s walk, they had\r\nno sooner dined than she set off again in quest of her former\r\nacquaintance, and the evening was spent in the satisfactions of an\r\nintercourse renewed after many years’ discontinuance.\r\n\r\nThe occurrences of the day were too full of interest to leave Elizabeth\r\nmuch attention for any of these new friends; and she could do nothing\r\nbut think, and think with wonder, of Mr. Darcy’s civility, and, above\r\nall, of his wishing her to be acquainted with his sister.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XLIV.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\nElizabeth had settled it that Mr. Darcy would bring his sister to visit\r\nher the very day after her reaching Pemberley; and was, consequently,\r\nresolved not to be out of sight of the inn the whole of that morning.\r\nBut her conclusion was false; for on the very morning after their own\r\narrival at Lambton these visitors came. They had been walking about the\r\nplace with some of their new friends, and were just returned to the inn\r\nto dress themselves for dining with the same family, when the sound of a\r\ncarriage drew them to a window, and they saw a gentleman and lady in a\r\ncurricle driving up the street. Elizabeth, immediately recognizing the\r\nlivery, guessed what it meant, and imparted no small degree of surprise\r\nto her relations, by acquainting them with the honour which she\r\nexpected. Her uncle and aunt were all amazement; and the embarrassment\r\nof her manner as she spoke, joined to the circumstance itself, and many\r\nof the circumstances of the preceding day, opened to them a new idea on\r\nthe business. Nothing had ever suggested it before, but they now felt\r\nthat there was no other way of accounting for such attentions from such\r\na quarter than by supposing a partiality for their niece. While these\r\nnewly-born notions were passing in their heads, the perturbation of\r\nElizabeth’s feelings was every moment increasing. She was quite amazed\r\nat her own discomposure; but, amongst other causes of disquiet, she\r\ndreaded lest the partiality of the brother should have said too much in\r\nher favour; and, more than commonly anxious to please, she naturally\r\nsuspected that every power of pleasing would fail her.\r\n\r\nShe retreated from the window, fearful of being seen; and as she walked\r\nup and down the room, endeavouring to compose herself, saw such looks of\r\ninquiring surprise in her uncle and aunt as made everything worse.\r\n\r\nMiss Darcy and her brother appeared, and this formidable introduction\r\ntook place. With astonishment did Elizabeth see that her new\r\nacquaintance was at least as much embarrassed as herself. Since her\r\nbeing at Lambton, she had heard that Miss Darcy was exceedingly proud;\r\nbut the observation of a very few minutes convinced her that she was\r\nonly exceedingly shy. She found it difficult to obtain even a word from\r\nher beyond a monosyllable.\r\n\r\nMiss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth; and, though\r\nlittle more than sixteen, her figure was formed, and her appearance\r\nwomanly and graceful. She was less handsome than her brother, but there\r\nwas sense and good-humour in her face, and her manners were perfectly\r\nunassuming and gentle. Elizabeth, who had expected to find in her as\r\nacute and unembarrassed an observer as ever Mr. Darcy had been, was much\r\nrelieved by discerning such different feelings.\r\n\r\nThey had not been long together before Darcy told her that Bingley was\r\nalso coming to wait on her; and she had barely time to express her\r\nsatisfaction, and prepare for such a visitor, when Bingley’s quick step\r\nwas heard on the stairs, and in a moment he entered the room. All\r\nElizabeth’s anger against him had been long done away; but had she still\r\nfelt any, it could hardly have stood its ground against the unaffected\r\ncordiality with which he expressed himself on seeing her again. He\r\ninquired in a friendly, though general, way, after her family, and\r\nlooked and spoke with the same good-humoured ease that he had ever done.\r\n\r\nTo Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner he was scarcely a less interesting personage\r\nthan to herself. They had long wished to see him. The whole party before\r\nthem, indeed, excited a lively attention. The suspicions which had just\r\narisen of Mr. Darcy and their niece, directed their observation towards\r\neach with an earnest, though guarded, inquiry; and they soon drew from\r\nthose inquiries the full conviction that one of them at least knew what\r\nit was to love. Of the lady’s sensations they remained a little in\r\ndoubt; but that the gentleman was overflowing with admiration was\r\nevident enough.\r\n\r\nElizabeth, on her side, had much to do."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREYSAVKDMJ2BZEZTPX3RP","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY5S38CP9RKK4A7C9TCQ","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSAZT646RSHT9C5XPKR","peer_label":"mrs gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSZYA9P29KKXYZVTJ15","peer_label":"mr gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYS51T78NJZ45CYXSXS9","peer_label":"george wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZBRZ8EGM8F2KAVNGP5X","peer_label":"the inn at lambton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"lodging","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYXH8RN4QZCFESER30BM","peer_label":"pecuniary transactions","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZWZA7ZJVMS9VW2V3SE9","peer_label":"charles bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZ97BW38PJKD56S56HAB","peer_label":"miss georgiana darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZAW21V5NK0RX7ASTQ58","peer_label":"kent","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"location","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZBKA6Z1AYDP1MV6531D","peer_label":"hertfordshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"location","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJ8A0QJK2TXKT8DT57S","peer_label":"pemberley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZE7Z6248V420EM2DX2X","peer_label":"lambton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"location","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:34.525Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.325Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:35.460Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}