{"id":"01KJRRE0S537EG9K0JW67HJJAV","cid":"bafkreicjt4bn5urdtoho6dhmqyluwjpuvxuwpet3ghcoo7f6bj3qpaq7ay","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":591595,"char_start":583666,"chunk_index":82,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1983,"label":"discharged, to settle on my niece, in additio","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"     discharged, to settle on my niece, in addition to her own fortune.\r\n     If, as I conclude will be the case, you send me full powers to act\r\n     in your name throughout the whole of this business, I will\r\n     immediately give directions to Haggerston for preparing a proper\r\n     settlement. There will not be the smallest occasion for your coming\r\n     to town again; therefore stay quietly at Longbourn, and depend on\r\n     my diligence and care. Send back your answer as soon as you can,\r\n     and be careful to write explicitly. We have judged it best that my\r\n     niece should be married from this house, of which I hope you will\r\n     approve. She comes to us to-day. I shall write again as soon as\r\n     anything more is determined on. Yours, etc.\r\n\r\n“EDW. GARDINER.”\r\n\r\n“Is it possible?” cried Elizabeth, when she had finished. “Can it be\r\npossible that he will marry her?”\r\n\r\n“Wickham is not so undeserving, then, as we have thought him,” said her\r\nsister. “My dear father, I congratulate you.”\r\n\r\n“And have you answered the letter?” said Elizabeth.\r\n\r\n“No; but it must be done soon.”\r\n\r\nMost earnestly did she then entreat him to lose no more time before he\r\nwrote.\r\n\r\n“Oh! my dear father,” she cried, “come back and write immediately.\r\nConsider how important every moment is in such a case.”\r\n\r\n“Let me write for you,” said Jane, “if you dislike the trouble\r\nyourself.”\r\n\r\n“I dislike it very much,” he replied; “but it must be done.”\r\n\r\nAnd so saying, he turned back with them, and walked towards the house.\r\n\r\n“And--may I ask?” said Elizabeth; “but the terms, I suppose, must be\r\ncomplied with.”\r\n\r\n“Complied with! I am only ashamed of his asking so little.”\r\n\r\n“And they _must_ marry! Yet he is _such_ a man.”\r\n\r\n“Yes, yes, they must marry. There is nothing else to be done. But there\r\nare two things that I want very much to know:--one is, how much money\r\nyour uncle has laid down to bring it about; and the other, how I am ever\r\nto pay him.”\r\n\r\n“Money! my uncle!” cried Jane, “what do you mean, sir?”\r\n\r\n“I mean that no man in his proper senses would marry Lydia on so slight\r\na temptation as one hundred a year during my life, and fifty after I am\r\ngone.”\r\n\r\n“That is very true,” said Elizabeth; “though it had not occurred to me\r\nbefore. His debts to be discharged, and something still to remain! Oh,\r\nit must be my uncle’s doings! Generous, good man, I am afraid he has\r\ndistressed himself. A small sum could not do all this.”\r\n\r\n“No,” said her father. “Wickham’s a fool if he takes her with a farthing\r\nless than ten thousand pounds: I should be sorry to think so ill of him,\r\nin the very beginning of our relationship.”\r\n\r\n“Ten thousand pounds! Heaven forbid! How is half such a sum to be\r\nrepaid?”\r\n\r\nMr. Bennet made no answer; and each of them, deep in thought, continued\r\nsilent till they reached the house. Their father then went to the\r\nlibrary to write, and the girls walked into the breakfast-room.\r\n\r\n“And they are really to be married!” cried Elizabeth, as soon as they\r\nwere by themselves. “How strange this is! and for _this_ we are to be\r\nthankful. That they should marry, small as is their chance of happiness,\r\nand wretched as is his character, we are forced to rejoice! Oh, Lydia!”\r\n\r\n“I comfort myself with thinking,” replied Jane, “that he certainly would\r\nnot marry Lydia, if he had not a real regard for her. Though our kind\r\nuncle has done something towards clearing him, I cannot believe that ten\r\nthousand pounds, or anything like it, has been advanced. He has children\r\nof his own, and may have more. How could he spare half ten thousand\r\npounds?”\r\n\r\n“If we are ever able to learn what Wickham’s debts have been,” said\r\nElizabeth, “and how much is settled on his side on our sister, we shall\r\nexactly know what Mr. Gardiner has done for them, because Wickham has\r\nnot sixpence of his own. The kindness of my uncle and aunt can never be\r\nrequited. Their taking her home, and affording her their personal\r\nprotection and countenance, is such a sacrifice to her advantage as\r\nyears of gratitude cannot enough acknowledge. By this time she is\r\nactually with them! If such goodness does not make her miserable now,\r\nshe will never deserve to be happy! What a meeting for her, when she\r\nfirst sees my aunt!”\r\n\r\n“We must endeavour to forget all that has passed on either side,” said\r\nJane: “I hope and trust they will yet be happy. His consenting to marry\r\nher is a proof, I will believe, that he is come to a right way of\r\nthinking. Their mutual affection will steady them; and I flatter myself\r\nthey will settle so quietly, and live in so rational a manner, as may in\r\ntime make their past imprudence forgotten.”\r\n\r\n“Their conduct has been such,” replied Elizabeth, “as neither you, nor\r\nI, nor anybody, can ever forget. It is useless to talk of it.”\r\n\r\nIt now occurred to the girls that their mother was in all likelihood\r\nperfectly ignorant of what had happened. They went to the library,\r\ntherefore, and asked their father whether he would not wish them to make\r\nit known to her. He was writing, and, without raising his head, coolly\r\nreplied,--\r\n\r\n“Just as you please.”\r\n\r\n“May we take my uncle’s letter to read to her?”\r\n\r\n“Take whatever you like, and get away.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth took the letter from his writing-table, and they went upstairs\r\ntogether. Mary and Kitty were both with Mrs. Bennet: one communication\r\nwould, therefore, do for all. After a slight preparation for good news,\r\nthe letter was read aloud. Mrs. Bennet could hardly contain herself. As\r\nsoon as Jane had read Mr. Gardiner’s hope of Lydia’s being soon married,\r\nher joy burst forth, and every following sentence added to its\r\nexuberance. She was now in an irritation as violent from delight as she\r\nhad ever been fidgety from alarm and vexation. To know that her daughter\r\nwould be married was enough. She was disturbed by no fear for her\r\nfelicity, nor humbled by any remembrance of her misconduct.\r\n\r\n“My dear, dear Lydia!” she cried: “this is delightful indeed! She will\r\nbe married! I shall see her again! She will be married at sixteen! My\r\ngood, kind brother! I knew how it would be--I knew he would manage\r\neverything. How I long to see her! and to see dear Wickham too! But the\r\nclothes, the wedding clothes! I will write to my sister Gardiner about\r\nthem directly. Lizzy, my dear, run down to your father, and ask him how\r\nmuch he will give her. Stay, stay, I will go myself. Ring the bell,\r\nKitty, for Hill. I will put on my things in a moment. My dear, dear\r\nLydia! How merry we shall be together when we meet!”\r\n\r\nHer eldest daughter endeavoured to give some relief to the violence of\r\nthese transports, by leading her thoughts to the obligations which Mr.\r\nGardiner’s behaviour laid them all under.\r\n\r\n“For we must attribute this happy conclusion,” she added, “in a great\r\nmeasure to his kindness. We are persuaded that he has pledged himself to\r\nassist Mr. Wickham with money.”\r\n\r\n“Well,” cried her mother, “it is all very right; who should do it but\r\nher own uncle? If he had not had a family of his own, I and my children\r\nmust have had all his money, you know; and it is the first time we have\r\never had anything from him except a few presents. Well! I am so happy.\r\nIn a short time, I shall have a daughter married. Mrs. Wickham! How well\r\nit sounds! And she was only sixteen last June. My dear Jane, I am in\r\nsuch a flutter, that I am sure I can’t write; so I will dictate, and you\r\nwrite for me. We will settle with your father about the money\r\nafterwards; but the things should be ordered immediately.”\r\n\r\nShe was then proceeding to all the particulars of calico, muslin, and\r\ncambric, and would shortly have dictated some very plentiful orders, had\r\nnot Jane, though with some difficulty, persuaded her to wait till her\r\nfather was at leisure to be consulted. One day’s delay, she observed,\r\nwould be of small importance; and her mother was too happy to be quite\r\nso obstinate as usual."},"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":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYW2V9QH9GNRQRJT67GK","peer_label":"mr bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY6RHWPTVXJ7SHB3NE6F","peer_label":"lydia bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYS51T78NJZ45CYXSXS9","peer_label":"george wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYSAZT646RSHT9C5XPKR","peer_label":"mrs gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFHG1Z5TC53R7DZ6XW3JV","peer_label":"haggerston","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0VGMTTKPRSDMPY969CW","peer_label":"longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYT564P5405ZE4Q76ZF5","peer_label":"mrs bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY4KCKYKYTFBWSNR6EZ0","peer_label":"kitty bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY63WYEJRTN7FS2QXC2P","peer_label":"mary bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKMZXJ9YQGT4B2CCXSW4","peer_label":"marriage settlement for lydia and wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"legal_document","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKKH89QAZK7NZN29CA40","peer_label":"ten thousand pounds","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"financial_value","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKQBG6K7AEGAZ85Q92RC","peer_label":"letter from edward gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKME6ZDWA6YVC85CXVPK","peer_label":"edward gardiner","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKNVK0TA1CYFK8KHBTWC","peer_label":"library at longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"room","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFKNJ0SEA12TAJWGZ28ED","peer_label":"breakfast-room at longbourn","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"room","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFM5AQWG49J6J6D2R91GD","peer_label":"gardiners house","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFM5ES02HKW4Y641JZBJ5","peer_label":"hill","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:55.444Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.349Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:56.235Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}