{"id":"01KJRRE0S5337TFCETFV7K70GZ","cid":"bafkreictikdaibh53xrlgvuv5typaxt5uzrxglzcoak7wxljnm7okpzcry","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":577361,"char_start":569681,"chunk_index":80,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1920,"label":"eager in it, he meant to assist him in pursuing it","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"eager in it, he meant to assist him in pursuing it. He added, that Mr.\r\nBennet seemed wholly disinclined at present to leave London, and\r\npromised to write again very soon. There was also a postscript to this\r\neffect:--\r\n\r\n“I have written to Colonel Forster to desire him to find out, if\r\npossible, from some of the young man’s intimates in the regiment,\r\nwhether Wickham has any relations or connections who would be likely to\r\nknow in what part of the town he has now concealed himself. If there\r\nwere anyone that one could apply to, with a probability of gaining such\r\na clue as that, it might be of essential consequence. At present we have\r\nnothing to guide us. Colonel Forster will, I dare say, do everything in\r\nhis power to satisfy us on this head. But, on second thoughts, perhaps\r\nLizzy could tell us what relations he has now living better than any\r\nother person.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth was at no loss to understand from whence this deference for\r\nher authority proceeded; but it was not in her power to give any\r\ninformation of so satisfactory a nature as the compliment deserved.\r\n\r\nShe had never heard of his having had any relations, except a father\r\nand mother, both of whom had been dead many years. It was possible,\r\nhowever, that some of his companions in the ----shire might be able to\r\ngive more information; and though she was not very sanguine in expecting\r\nit, the application was a something to look forward to.\r\n\r\nEvery day at Longbourn was now a day of anxiety; but the most anxious\r\npart of each was when the post was expected. The arrival of letters was\r\nthe first grand object of every morning’s impatience. Through letters,\r\nwhatever of good or bad was to be told would be communicated; and every\r\nsucceeding day was expected to bring some news of importance.\r\n\r\nBut before they heard again from Mr. Gardiner, a letter arrived for\r\ntheir father, from a different quarter, from Mr. Collins; which, as Jane\r\nhad received directions to open all that came for him in his absence,\r\nshe accordingly read; and Elizabeth, who knew what curiosities his\r\nletters always were, looked over her, and read it likewise. It was as\r\nfollows:--\r\n\r\n     /* “My dear Sir, */\r\n\r\n     “I feel myself called upon, by our relationship, and my situation\r\n     in life, to condole with you on the grievous affliction you are now\r\n     suffering under, of which we were yesterday informed by a letter\r\n     from Hertfordshire. Be assured, my dear sir, that Mrs. Collins and\r\n     myself sincerely sympathize with you, and all your respectable\r\n     family, in your present distress, which must be of the bitterest\r\n     kind, because proceeding from a cause which no time can remove. No\r\n     arguments shall be wanting on my part, that can alleviate so severe\r\n     a misfortune; or that may comfort you, under a circumstance that\r\n     must be, of all others, most afflicting to a parent’s mind. The\r\n     death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of\r\n     this. And it is the more to be lamented, because there is reason to\r\n     suppose, as my dear Charlotte informs me, that this licentiousness\r\n     of behaviour in your\r\n\r\n     [Illustration:\r\n\r\n“To whom I have related the affair”\r\n\r\n     [_Copyright 1894 by George Allen._]]\r\n\r\n     daughter has proceeded from a faulty degree of indulgence; though,\r\n     at the same time, for the consolation of yourself and Mrs. Bennet,\r\n     I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally\r\n     bad, or she could not be guilty of such an enormity, at so early an\r\n     age. Howsoever that may be, you are grievously to be pitied; in\r\n     which opinion I am not only joined by Mrs. Collins, but likewise by\r\n     Lady Catherine and her daughter, to whom I have related the affair.\r\n     They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one\r\n     daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others: for\r\n     who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says, will connect\r\n     themselves with such a family? And this consideration leads me,\r\n     moreover, to reflect, with augmented satisfaction, on a certain\r\n     event of last November; for had it been otherwise, I must have been\r\n     involved in all your sorrow and disgrace. Let me advise you, then,\r\n     my dear sir, to console yourself as much as possible, to throw off\r\n     your unworthy child from your affection for ever, and leave her to\r\n     reap the fruits of her own heinous offence.\r\n\r\n“I am, dear sir,” etc., etc.\r\n\r\nMr. Gardiner did not write again, till he had received an answer from\r\nColonel Forster; and then he had nothing of a pleasant nature to send.\r\nIt was not known that Wickham had a single relation with whom he kept up\r\nany connection, and it was certain that he had no near one living. His\r\nformer acquaintance had been numerous; but since he had been in the\r\nmilitia, it did not appear that he was on terms of particular friendship\r\nwith any of them. There was no one, therefore, who could be pointed out\r\nas likely to give any news of him. And in the wretched state of his own\r\nfinances, there was a very powerful motive for secrecy, in addition to\r\nhis fear of discovery by Lydia’s relations; for it had just transpired\r\nthat he had left gaming debts behind him to a very considerable amount.\r\nColonel Forster believed that more than a thousand pounds would be\r\nnecessary to clear his expenses at Brighton. He owed a good deal in the\r\ntown, but his debts of honour were still more formidable. Mr. Gardiner\r\ndid not attempt to conceal these particulars from the Longbourn family;\r\nJane heard them with horror. “A gamester!” she cried. “This is wholly\r\nunexpected; I had not an idea of it.”\r\n\r\nMr. Gardiner added, in his letter, that they might expect to see their\r\nfather at home on the following day, which was Saturday. Rendered\r\nspiritless by the ill success of all their endeavours, he had yielded to\r\nhis brother-in-law’s entreaty that he would return to his family and\r\nleave it to him to do whatever occasion might suggest to be advisable\r\nfor continuing their pursuit. When Mrs. Bennet was told of this, she did\r\nnot express so much satisfaction as her children expected, considering\r\nwhat her anxiety for his life had been before.\r\n\r\n“What! is he coming home, and without poor Lydia?” she cried. “Sure he\r\nwill not leave London before he has found them. Who is to fight Wickham,\r\nand make him marry her, if he comes away?”\r\n\r\nAs Mrs. Gardiner began to wish to be at home, it was settled that she\r\nand her children should go to London at the same time that Mr. Bennet\r\ncame from it. The coach, therefore, took them the first stage of their\r\njourney, and brought its master back to Longbourn.\r\n\r\nMrs. Gardiner went away in all the perplexity about Elizabeth and her\r\nDerbyshire friend, that had attended her from that part of the world.\r\nHis name had never been voluntarily mentioned before them by her niece;\r\nand the kind of half-expectation which Mrs. Gardiner had formed, of\r\ntheir being followed by a letter from him, had ended in nothing.\r\nElizabeth had received none since her return, that could come from\r\nPemberley.\r\n\r\nThe present unhappy state of the family rendered any other excuse for\r\nthe lowness of her spirits unnecessary; nothing, therefore, could be\r\nfairly conjectured from _that_,--though Elizabeth, who was by this time\r\ntolerably well acquainted with her own feelings, was perfectly aware\r\nthat, had she known nothing of Darcy, she could have borne the dread of\r\nLydia’s infamy somewhat better. It would have spared her, she thought,\r\none sleepless night out of two.\r\n\r\nWhen Mr. Bennet arrived, he had all the appearance of his usual\r\nphilosophic composure."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRREYW2V9QH9GNRQRJT67GK","peer_label":"mr bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7V69NB58H106CVY82PE","peer_label":"colonel forster","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYZ36C2F9Z4KP5F6ANMZ","peer_label":"london","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"city","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYS51T78NJZ45CYXSXS9","peer_label":"george wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7VA665FKK6CM48CN8K0","peer_label":"longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGM87R12EADFF6YZZG3","peer_label":"jane bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSZYA9P29KKXYZVTJ15","peer_label":"mr gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFG0K5SREGAFMDG85V7D7","peer_label":"mrs collins","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYW19YDDGRB70B483ZRV","peer_label":"hertfordshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"county","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY6ZWGAT4FYVDEM6VE2E","peer_label":"mr collins","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY6RHWPTVXJ7SHB3NE6F","peer_label":"lydia bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF7W0F41M39HBQQVSZAWG","peer_label":"brighton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"city","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY7G184NZ401P9V4JV87","peer_label":"lady catherine de bourgh","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF3238PJD7HPM3AV6TE6S","peer_label":"illustration","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_element","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF9M9V5J9NXFGXFNCFRQN","peer_label":"lady catherines daughter","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDPQ01PQ532XZTP8D6HR","peer_label":"george allen","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"publisher","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJ8A0QJK2TXKT8DT57S","peer_label":"pemberley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"estate","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFVJNY4BSMQGK907C8F3P","peer_label":"gaming debts","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"financial_obligation","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFW064W06VJ7X2G6315X2","peer_label":"mrs gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFV85PSXJYTHVR8N2QHC2","peer_label":"regiment","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"military_unit","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFVY1TJZNX6EPTP89QT8H","peer_label":"lydias infamy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"social_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:30:04.106Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.349Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:30:05.043Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}