Austen Said:

her husband's never intending to go there himself.

for the felicity of her daughter,

she should not miss the opportunity of enjoying herself as much as possible —

Mr. Gardiner would be prevented by business from setting out till a fortnight later in July, and must be in London again within a month, and as that left too short a period for them to go so far, and see so much as they had proposed, or at least to see it with the leisure and comfort they had built on, they were obliged to give up the Lakes, and substitute a more contracted tour, and, according to the present plan, were to go no farther northwards than Derbyshire. In that county there was enough to be seen to occupy the chief of their three weeks;

Pemberley was situated. It was not in their direct road, nor more than a mile or two out of it.

to see the place again.

“My love, should not you like to see a place of which you have heard so much?”

“a place, too, with which so many of your acquaintances are connected. Wickham passed all his youth there, you know.”

“If it were merely a fine house richly furnished,”

“I should not care about it myself; but the grounds are delightful. They have some of the finest woods in the country.”

how she liked it.

“I have heard much of your master's fine person,”

“it is a handsome face. But, Lizzy, you can tell us whether it is like or not.”

“And is Miss Darcy as handsome as her brother?”

“Is your master much at Pemberley in the course of the year?”

“If your master would marry, you might see more of him.”

“There are very few people of whom so much can be said. You are lucky in having such a master.”

“His father was an excellent man,”

“This fine account of him,”

is not quite consistent with his behaviour to our poor friend.”

“That is not very likely; our authority was too good.”

as to the date of the building,

of going round the whole park,

it might be beyond a walk.

only of returning to the carriage as quickly as possible.

“for your housekeeper,”

“informed us that you would certainly not be here till to-morrow; and indeed, before we left Bakewell, we understood that you were not immediately expected in the country.”

“He is perfectly well behaved, polite, and unassuming,”

“There is something a little stately in him, to be sure,”

“but it is confined to his air, and is not unbecoming. I can now say with the housekeeper, that though some people may call him proud, I have seen nothing of it.”

“I was never more surprised than by his behaviour to us. It was more than civil; it was really attentive; and there was no necessity for such attention. His acquaintance with Elizabeth was very trifling.”

“To be sure, Lizzy,”

“he is not so handsome as Wickham; or, rather, he has not Wickham's countenance, for his features are perfectly good. But how came you to tell me that he was so disagreeable?”

“But perhaps he may be a little whimsical in his civilities,”

“Your great men often are; and therefore I shall not take him at his word about fishing, as he might change his mind another day, and warn me off his grounds.”

“From what we have seen of him,”

“I really should not have thought that he could have behaved in so cruel a way by anybody, as he has done by poor Wickham. He has not an ill-natured look. On the contrary, there is something pleasing about his mouth when he speaks. And there is something of dignity in his countenance that would not give one an unfavourable idea of his heart. But, to be sure, the good lady who showed us his house did give him a most flaming character! I could hardly help laughing aloud sometimes. But he is a liberal master, I suppose, and that in the eye of a servant comprehends every virtue.”

“But what is to be done about Pemberley?”

“John told us Mr. Darcy was here when you sent for us; was it so?”

“What is all settled?”

“And are they upon such terms as for her to disclose the real truth? Oh, that I knew how it was!”

“I have been thinking it over again, Elizabeth,”

“and really, upon serious consideration, I am much more inclined than I was to judge as your eldest sister does on the matter. It appears to me so very unlikely that any young man should form such a design against a girl who is by no means unprotected or friendless, and who was actually staying in his colonel's family, that I am strongly inclined to hope the best. Could he expect that her friends would not step forward? Could he expect to be noticed again by the regiment, after such an affront to Colonel Forster? His temptation is not adequate to the risk!”

“Upon my word,”

“I begin to be of your uncle's opinion. It is really too great a violation of decency, honour, and interest, for him to be guilty of it. I cannot think so very ill of Wickham. Can you yourself, Lizzy, so wholly give him up, as to believe him capable of it?”

“In the first place,”

“there is no absolute proof that they are not gone to Scotland.”

“Well, then — supposing them to be in London. They may be there, though for the purpose of concealment, for no more exceptional purpose. It is not likely that money should be very abundant on either side; and it might strike them that they could be more economically, though less expeditiously, married in London than in Scotland.”

“But can you think that Lydia is so lost to everything but love of him as to consent to live with him on any terms other than marriage?”

“But you see that Jane,”