{"id":"01KJRRE0SMFA8JMERXKEKG8R48","cid":"bafkreic3vx2nvvu2ll7aeuo2aodkc7asqfpuszdv4dcbvfqr2nkxncs3zi","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":641477,"char_start":633517,"chunk_index":89,"chunk_total":108,"estimated_tokens":1990,"label":"to be sure, it would have been such a thing for me","source_file_key":"pride-and-prejudice","text":"to be sure, it would have been such a thing for me! The quiet, the\r\nretirement of such a life, would have answered all my ideas of\r\nhappiness! But it was not to be. Did you ever hear Darcy mention the\r\ncircumstance when you were in Kent?”\r\n\r\n“I _have_ heard from authority, which I thought _as good_, that it was\r\nleft you conditionally only, and at the will of the present patron.”\r\n\r\n“You have! Yes, there was something in _that_; I told you so from the\r\nfirst, you may remember.”\r\n\r\n“I _did_ hear, too, that there was a time when sermon-making was not so\r\npalatable to you as it seems to be at present; that you actually\r\ndeclared your resolution of never taking orders, and that the business\r\nhad been compromised accordingly.”\r\n\r\n“You did! and it was not wholly without foundation. You may remember\r\nwhat I told you on that point, when first we talked of it.”\r\n\r\nThey were now almost at the door of the house, for she had walked fast\r\nto get rid of him; and unwilling, for her sister’s sake, to provoke him,\r\nshe only said in reply, with a good-humoured smile,--\r\n\r\n“Come, Mr. Wickham, we are brother and sister, you know. Do not let us\r\nquarrel about the past. In future, I hope we shall be always of one\r\nmind.”\r\n\r\nShe held out her hand: he kissed it with affectionate gallantry, though\r\nhe hardly knew how to look, and they entered the house.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration:\r\n\r\n“Mr. Darcy with him.”\r\n]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER LIII.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Illustration]\r\n\r\nMr. Wickham was so perfectly satisfied with this conversation, that he\r\nnever again distressed himself, or provoked his dear sister Elizabeth,\r\nby introducing the subject of it; and she was pleased to find that she\r\nhad said enough to keep him quiet.\r\n\r\nThe day of his and Lydia’s departure soon came; and Mrs. Bennet was\r\nforced to submit to a separation, which, as her husband by no means\r\nentered into her scheme of their all going to Newcastle, was likely to\r\ncontinue at least a twelvemonth.\r\n\r\n“Oh, my dear Lydia,” she cried, “when shall we meet again?”\r\n\r\n“Oh, Lord! I don’t know. Not these two or three years, perhaps.”\r\n\r\n“Write to me very often, my dear.”\r\n\r\n“As often as I can. But you know married women have never much time for\r\nwriting. My sisters may write to _me_. They will have nothing else to\r\ndo.”\r\n\r\nMr. Wickham’s adieus were much more affectionate than his wife’s. He\r\nsmiled, looked handsome, and said many pretty things.\r\n\r\n“He is as fine a fellow,” said Mr. Bennet, as soon as they were out of\r\nthe house, “as ever I saw. He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us\r\nall. I am prodigiously proud of him. I defy even Sir William Lucas\r\nhimself to produce a more valuable son-in-law.”\r\n\r\nThe loss of her daughter made Mrs. Bennet very dull for several days.\r\n\r\n“I often think,” said she, “that there is nothing so bad as parting with\r\none’s friends. One seems so forlorn without them.”\r\n\r\n“This is the consequence, you see, madam, of marrying a daughter,” said\r\nElizabeth. “It must make you better satisfied that your other four are\r\nsingle.”\r\n\r\n“It is no such thing. Lydia does not leave me because she is married;\r\nbut only because her husband’s regiment happens to be so far off. If\r\nthat had been nearer, she would not have gone so soon.”\r\n\r\nBut the spiritless condition which this event threw her into was shortly\r\nrelieved, and her mind opened again to the agitation of hope, by an\r\narticle of news which then began to be in circulation. The housekeeper\r\nat Netherfield had received orders to prepare for the arrival of her\r\nmaster, who was coming down in a day or two, to shoot there for several\r\nweeks. Mrs. Bennet was quite in the fidgets. She looked at Jane, and\r\nsmiled, and shook her head, by turns.\r\n\r\n“Well, well, and so Mr. Bingley is coming down, sister,” (for Mrs.\r\nPhilips first brought her the news). “Well, so much the better. Not that\r\nI care about it, though. He is nothing to us, you know, and I am sure I\r\nnever want to see him again. But, however, he is very welcome to come to\r\nNetherfield, if he likes it. And who knows what _may_ happen? But that\r\nis nothing to us. You know, sister, we agreed long ago never to mention\r\na word about it. And so, it is quite certain he is coming?”\r\n\r\n“You may depend on it,” replied the other, “for Mrs. Nichols was in\r\nMeryton last night: I saw her passing by, and went out myself on purpose\r\nto know the truth of it; and she told me that it was certainly true. He\r\ncomes down on Thursday, at the latest, very likely on Wednesday. She was\r\ngoing to the butcher’s, she told me, on purpose to order in some meat on\r\nWednesday, and she has got three couple of ducks just fit to be killed.”\r\n\r\nMiss Bennet had not been able to hear of his coming without changing\r\ncolour. It was many months since she had mentioned his name to\r\nElizabeth; but now, as soon as they were alone together, she said,--\r\n\r\n“I saw you look at me to-day, Lizzy, when my aunt told us of the present\r\nreport; and I know I appeared distressed; but don’t imagine it was from\r\nany silly cause. I was only confused for the moment, because I felt that\r\nI _should_ be looked at. I do assure you that the news does not affect\r\nme either with pleasure or pain. I am glad of one thing, that he comes\r\nalone; because we shall see the less of him. Not that I am afraid of\r\n_myself_, but I dread other people’s remarks.”\r\n\r\nElizabeth did not know what to make of it. Had she not seen him in\r\nDerbyshire, she might have supposed him capable of coming there with no\r\nother view than what was acknowledged; but she still thought him partial\r\nto Jane, and she wavered as to the greater probability of his coming\r\nthere _with_ his friend’s permission, or being bold enough to come\r\nwithout it.\r\n\r\n“Yet it is hard,” she sometimes thought, “that this poor man cannot come\r\nto a house, which he has legally hired, without raising all this\r\nspeculation! I _will_ leave him to himself.”\r\n\r\nIn spite of what her sister declared, and really believed to be her\r\nfeelings, in the expectation of his arrival, Elizabeth could easily\r\nperceive that her spirits were affected by it. They were more disturbed,\r\nmore unequal, than she had often seen them.\r\n\r\nThe subject which had been so warmly canvassed between their parents,\r\nabout a twelvemonth ago, was now brought forward again.\r\n\r\n“As soon as ever Mr. Bingley comes, my dear,” said Mrs. Bennet, “you\r\nwill wait on him, of course.”\r\n\r\n“No, no. You forced me into visiting him last year, and promised, if I\r\nwent to see him, he should marry one of my daughters. But it ended in\r\nnothing, and I will not be sent on a fool’s errand again.”\r\n\r\nHis wife represented to him how absolutely necessary such an attention\r\nwould be from all the neighbouring gentlemen, on his returning to\r\nNetherfield.\r\n\r\n“’Tis an _etiquette_ I despise,” said he. “If he wants our society, let\r\nhim seek it. He knows where we live. I will not spend _my_ hours in\r\nrunning after my neighbours every time they go away and come back\r\nagain.”\r\n\r\n“Well, all I know is, that it will be abominably rude if you do not wait\r\non him. But, however, that shan’t prevent my asking him to dine here, I\r\nam determined. We must have Mrs. Long and the Gouldings soon. That will\r\nmake thirteen with ourselves, so there will be just room at table for\r\nhim.”\r\n\r\nConsoled by this resolution, she was the better able to bear her\r\nhusband’s incivility; though it was very mortifying to know that her\r\nneighbours might all see Mr. Bingley, in consequence of it, before\r\n_they_ did. As the day of his arrival drew near,--\r\n\r\n“I begin to be sorry that he comes at all,” said Jane to her sister. “It\r\nwould be nothing; I could see him with perfect indifference; but I can\r\nhardly bear to hear it thus perpetually talked of. My mother means well;\r\nbut she does not know, no one can know, how much I suffer from what she\r\nsays. Happy shall I be when his stay at Netherfield is over!”\r\n\r\n“I wish I could say anything to comfort you,” replied Elizabeth; “but it\r\nis wholly out of my power."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJRRD3TNE5A6AKAVXSRFT9RC","peer_label":"pride-and-prejudice","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJRRC2C7K6XERRJES8143XGV","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJRRF19AD63KEEZZWPG3X2KQ","peer_label":"mr wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZJBEM6MWHW485H9DS9F","peer_label":"mr darcy","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZKG263C7SQSDV3TZ5MX","peer_label":"elizabeth bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYT564P5405ZE4Q76ZF5","peer_label":"mrs bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYW2V9QH9GNRQRJT67GK","peer_label":"mr bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF8ZJF4REG15P25YHB22C","peer_label":"newcastle","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREYTMYM5H9026MPV0AJMX","peer_label":"sir william lucas","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREY5SSJCQ67QYG0XTG9A8","peer_label":"mr bingley","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFAJYKWEPFHVWMT9VSZG9","peer_label":"netherfield","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF1A42FY2HZTFF6WCFG11","peer_label":"mrs philips","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF0YV9NV5WVK4WWSM736Q","peer_label":"meryton","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRREZGM87R12EADFF6YZZG3","peer_label":"jane bennet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRF8XS6TS1MYYYNH9DJHZE","peer_label":"derbyshire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFC6R2K9F9ZSJXPFZP7GQ","peer_label":"mrs long","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFD19WJWJEDTWJS731HG5","peer_label":"kent","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"place","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFD37GW9Y8WSWBKXKG92Y","peer_label":"ecclesiastical orders","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFD0XM92N6EBZFT1TB7V1","peer_label":"sermon-making","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFD56W3ZD6T2HFQAWQNNQ","peer_label":"chapter liii","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_structure","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDAM6MNWH3YY7WTK2KGP","peer_label":"housekeeper at netherfield","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"role","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFD518WR93H0GGM70GGCN","peer_label":"lydia wickham","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDND2K8NJAWY52E0GQQD","peer_label":"the gouldings","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDKJMT24C0CSYH2HJ1E9","peer_label":"mrs nichols","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}},{"peer":"01KJRRFDPMXVWD3J4W1T6TSD0W","peer_label":"etiquette","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:50.312Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-03T02:29:01.364Z","ts":"2026-03-03T02:29:51.267Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}