Beginning, Section II

Chapter 10 – A Most Unpleasant Surprise

Posted on 2010-02-07

The day of the Longbourn dinner party arrived. It was going to be a rather large party for dinner; it pleased Lady Catherine that there were going to be thirty persons altogether at her dinner table that evening, the ladies being herself, her four daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Anne and including Lydia her youngest, and Mrs Jenkinson -- for Lydia, as long as she was accompanied by her governess, was now granted permission to attend most of the parties at home and in the neighbourhood except the most formal balls and gatherings; the three ladies from Lucas Lodge, Lady Lucas and the two Miss Lucases, Charlotte and Maria, the three ladies from Netherfield, Mrs Bingley, Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley, the three ladies from Meryton Parsonage, Mrs Phillips and the two Miss Phillips, Mary and Kitty; while the gentlemen, besides Sir Bennet and Mr de Bourgh, were Sir William and Mr Lucas of Lucas Lodge, Mr Bingley, Mr Hurst and Mr Darcy from Netherfield, the Rev Mr Phillips and his curate Mr Collins, and Colonel Forster and five other officers to make up the numbers. The latter included Mr Wickham, the newly commissioned lieutenant whose handsome looks and graceful manner had already recommended him to most of the ladies who had met him at Meryton.

Mr Wickham had learned from his colleagues the names of the principal families of the neighbourhood, he had been startled on being informed of the name of the family who had recently leased Netherfield, but had made up his mind to meet them with every appearance of composure. Mr Wickham had greatly the advantage of the Netherfield party in that respect, for they were unaware of his presence in the neighbourhood, until they met him at the dinner party at Longbourn.

The entire Netherfield party had been very much looking forward to the Longbourn dinner party, even Mr Hurst, who was looking forward to a very good dinner, for he was certain that Lady Catherine would keep an excellent table; the dinner was sure to be exceedingly handsome.

Mr Bingley was very much looking forward to furthering his acquaintance, or rather his courtship of his angel, the eldest Miss de Bourgh, for he had by now quite made up his mind that his heart belonged to her, and that he would seek every favourable opportunity to win her heart. He was a rather modest young man, but he was also of a generally cheerful and optimistic disposition, and he told himself that so far she had appeared to receive his attentions with some pleasure. It was true that there was nothing flirtatious in her manner towards him, as there was a general serenity in her countenance, air and manner, but that only served to confirm to him that she was a most superior young lady in every sense of the word – she had gentle dignity without either pride or conceit, and he was convinced of the sweetness of her disposition. She was quite unlike her mother; he would never have fallen in love with a younger version of Lady Catherine. It was true that Bingley felt some slight uneasiness at the thought of her ladyship, for everybody had heard enough of her ladyship's views and opinions on various subjects to make him aware that her ladyship was hoping that her daughters would make good marriages with men of distinction and rank as well as fortune. His own large fortune, having been acquired by trade, was regarded as being low of origin in her ladyship's view. However, it was also quite obvious that neither Sir Bennet nor any of his daughters shared Lady Catherine's prideful views – how fortunate it was that the Miss de Bourghs appeared to share their father's opinions instead of their mother's.

Mr Darcy was also very much looking forward to furthering his acquaintance with the de Bourghs in general, and of course with Miss Elizabeth de Bourgh in particular. He had found himself thinking more and more of Miss Elizabeth and her fine eyes, and had resolved to do what he could to endeavour to get to know her better and make himself agreeable to her. It was not at all easy for him; he was rather awkward with young ladies, unless he had known them for years. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he wished that he had his friend Charles' easy disposition instead of his own. It seemed so easy for Charles to get along well with almost every lady he had met, and Charles already appeared to be on such friendly terms with Miss Elizabeth's eldest sister. Anyway, in keeping with his resolution, Darcy spent rather more time and care in dressing for the dinner party at Longbourn than was usual for him -- he had in general been rather scornful and contemptuous of dandified young men who spent as much time on their dressing as the ladies.

Consequently, Darcy who was usually the first among the three gentlemen to complete his dressing, was instead the last, and Bingley and Hurst were already in the drawing room waiting for the ladies when Darcy came downstairs. Bingley raised his eyebrows in rather exaggerated surprise and remarked:
"Well, William, for once James and I have been waiting for you instead of finding you ready before us; and bearing your disapproval for taking 'almost as much time as the ladies', as you often put it. Well, James, do you think that the time he had taken had been worth it, and that William is looking exceptionally fine this evening?"

Darcy had flushed slightly, but he said calmly: "I did not quite realize the time – that's why I'm a little late, but the ladies are not downstairs yet."

"If my mother and sisters do not spend quite so much time with their preparations, they might have come downstairs before you, and what a wonder that would have been! then we would never have heard the last of it!"

There were certainly excited preparations by the three Netherfield ladies. Mrs Bingley had got over the startling thought suggested by Darcy that Mr de Bourgh might yet be displaced from the position of heir to the baronetcy by a future son of Sir Bennet, she had talked it over with her daughters, and Louisa had said that it was in the highest degree unlikely; nay, that it was indeed impossible for Lady Catherine to have another child at her age. Mr de Bourgh would indeed be a very good match for Caroline if they could only catch him.

Needless to say, Miss Bingley's dressing occupied a great deal of time, and had it been left to Mrs Bingley's directions, Miss Bingley would have been decidedly and gaudily overdressed for the occasion. Mrs Hurst, however, since her marriage to a gentleman of fortune had learned a great deal about fashion and elegance as well as propriety of attire in young ladies of quality; so she and her maid between them managed to prevent any ridiculous overdressing or appearance of vulgarity in over-bright colours or gaudiness in Caroline's attire, and instead ensured that she was elegantly and fashionably dressed for the dinner party.

When the Netherfield party entered the drawing-room at Longbourn, Mr Wickham and his fellow officers were already there.

The Netherfield party were paying their respects to their host and hostess, and exchanging a few words with Mr and the Miss de Bourghs, when Mr Darcy, who had told himself to be careful not to appear to be rude or impertinent by staring too long at Miss Elizabeth, had allowed his eyes to look at the other guests, when they were suddenly arrested by the sight of Mr Wickham. The effect on Darcy was immediate, he changed colour and turned quite red, he could hardly believe it that he would meet that – that scoundrel here, of all places. Wickham, who had known that this moment would come as soon as he had heard of the name of the family who had leased Netherfield, had managed to preserve an appearance of composure, and bowed gracefully to Darcy and the other members of the Netherfield party. Elizabeth, happening to see Darcy's altered countenance as he looked at Wickham, and Wickham's appearance of graceful composure, was all astonishment at the effect of the meeting. At that moment, Mr Bingley also noticed what was going on; he started slightly when he saw Wickham, but quickly recovered his composure; he was certainly less discomposed than his friend, and eyed Darcy rather anxiously for some moments, hoping that his friend would soon recollect himself and not make any scene in Lady Catherine's drawing room.

When Mrs Bingley had seen Wickham, she exclaimed loudly:
"Why, that's George Wickham! Where have you been these last two or three years, George? And so you have joined the army, how well you looked in your regimentals. My lady," turning to explain to Lady Catherine, "Lieutenant Wickham's late father was employed as the manager in the business of my late husband and the late Mr Darcy. The three boys – Charles, William and George, all knew each other very well when they were growing up, although George Wickham is a little younger than William, and a little older than Charles."

Mrs Bingley appeared to be quite unaware of William's glowering countenance, and of her son Charles' rather uneasy glances, as she talked quite happily to the son of the late manager of Darcy and Bingley; and George Wickham's manner was so good, he appeared to be perfectly respectful and charming in responding to Mrs Bingley.

Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley had stiffened slightly when Wickham bowed gracefully to them, and gave stiff little curtsies in return. Mrs Hurst cast a rather anxious glance at her younger sister; Miss Bingley remembered that Wickham had once attempted to flirt with her, and was determined to avoid him as much as possible. Mr Hurst, who was hardly aware of any previous relations that had existed between Wickham and his wife's family and friends, was genuinely indifferent to Mr Wickham's presence, and bowed slightly to him as he would to any common acquaintance.

Mr Darcy's resolution to do his best to be agreeable at the Longbourn dinner party that evening, was completely spoiled by the unexpected presence of Wickham. The only thing he could be thankful about was that Georgina was not at Netherfield with him. But it was still bad enough to have to encounter Wickham in Hertfordshire. So, instead of endeavouring his best to be civil and to converse with Miss Elizabeth on topics that could be of mutual interest between them – he had found out that she was well-read and knew that she was musical, and had planned in his mind to talk to her on books and music, Darcy spent the evening being upset, angry and glowering. He thus appeared to be most disagreeable, and confirmed Elizabeth's earlier unfavourable impression of him, while on the other hand Wickham was perfectly charming to the ladies, and all the ladies, with the exception of Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley, were quite delighted with him.

Elizabeth could not help wondering about the previous relations that had existed between Mr Wickham, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, especially considering the unexpected reactions of Mr Darcy, and to a lesser extent, Mr Bingley, upon their encounter with Mr Wickham. The entire Netherfield party did not make a very good impression on Elizabeth that evening, even Mr Bingley seemed to be slightly discomposed and not quite like himself upon encountering Mr Wickham, although unlike Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley soon regained his composure, and was able to converse quite pleasantly, with his usual good humour, with the young ladies in general, and with Jane de Bourgh in particular. As for Miss Bingley, Elizabeth was quite irritated with her, for she could see that she was obviously attempting to attract the attention of Tom de Bourgh, and her attempts were also too obviously supported by her mother, whose manners were really quite disgustingly vulgar, thought Elizabeth. If Lady Catherine had been less engrossed with her other guests, she might have noticed it too, and would have been most seriously displeased with Miss Bingley.

There was to be some music after dinner; and the best young lady performers among them – Elizabeth, Anne, Charlotte Lucas and Caroline Bingley -- were invited to take their turns at the pianoforte. When Miss Bingley took her turn at the pianoforte, she not so subtly requested Mr de Bourgh to look through the music, and to express his preference as to the choice of what he would like her to sing and play. Tom politely selected a song, and Miss Bingley proceeded to perform it in superior style – she was certainly a very accomplished performer, with a fine, full-toned voice, thought Tom, although Charlotte as well as his cousin Anne also played the pianoforte very well, even though they did not sing, and his cousin Lizzy could sing sweetly as she played.

The Longbourn dinner party, which had been looked forward to with such eager anticipation by the entire party from Netherfield, had produced a most unexpected and unpleasant encounter to at least one or two members of the party. The dinner itself had certainly met Mr Hurst's expectations, and neither he nor his mother-in-law had been aware of any discomfort or unpleasantness. Mr Darcy was fuming over the presence of Wickham in the neighbourhood, and the cool impudence of that fellow in acting as though he had nothing to be ashamed of; Darcy knew that Bingley was partially aware of Wickham's faults, but he had not revealed to his friend the full extent of Wickham's designs on Georgina. Mrs Bingley was quite uninformed and unaware of it, as Darcy had not wished that Bingley's indiscreet mother should ever get to hear of Georgina's meditated elopement.

Darcy did not sleep well that night, remembering what had so nearly happened between his sister and that scoundrel, and he was also thinking that perhaps he should take his friend Charles into his confidence about that incident at Ramsgate, now that they would be forced to encounter Wickham in the neighbourhood.

Chapter 11 -- Wickham's Stories on Darcy and Bingley

Posted on 2010-02-27

Having observed the strange reactions at the meeting between Mr Wickham and the Netherfield party – the apparently pleasing manners and easy address of Wickham, the unaffected delight of Mrs Bingley, the indifference of Mr Hurst, the cool superciliousness mingled with slight embarrassment of Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley, the slight discomposure of Mr Bingley and the very great discomposure of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth could not help feeling rather curious about the relationship that had existed between the son of the late manager of Darcy and Bingley and the employers' families in general and the young men in particular.

A couple of days later, there was a small evening party at Lucas Lodge. It was rather an informal party attended by the young people who were old friends with each other, so Sir Bennet and Lady Catherine were not present, but the four Miss de Bourghs were escorted by their cousin Mr de Bourgh and chaperoned by the governess Mrs Jenkinson. The Miss de Bourghs and the Miss Lucases were always glad to see each other, and Mr de Bourgh was always very glad and only too willing to accompany his cousins to Lucas Lodge. Of course, everybody knew that Mr de Bourgh and Mr John Lucas were such old friends. Mr Lucas was also friendly with the young officers of the regiment that was quartered at Meryton, and several of them were also present, including Mr Wickham. None of the party from Netherfield was present that evening; after all they were new acquaintances rather than old friends, and perhaps Miss Lucas was not too keen on having Miss Bingley with them at this time.

The officers of the regiment were in general a very creditable, gentlemanlike set, and the best of them were of the present party, but Mr Wickham appeared to be far beyond them all in person, countenance, air and walk. Although he was only the son of a business employee, his appearance was such that he would not have appeared out of place in London society, even among the gentlemen and noblemen's sons who were members of the ton, thought Elizabeth. Indeed, his appearance was quite superior to some of the well-born but dull and heavy looking or pompous young gentlemen of her acquaintance, including also her mother's eldest nephew, Robert, Lord Fitzwilliam. In fact, the curate Mr Collins sometimes struck her as what her cousin Robert might have been like had he been born in less noble and less affluent circumstances.

When the gentlemen entered the room, there was an empty seat next to Elizabeth, and Mr Wickham approached it, and respectfully requested her permission to sit himself next to her, if the seat were quite unoccupied. Miss Elizabeth de Bourgh was quite pleased to graciously invite him to take the seat, and the agreeable manner in which he immediately fell into conversation, though it was only on its being a rather wet night, and on the probability of a rainy season, made her feel that the commonest, dullest, most threadbare topic might be rendered interesting by the skill of the speaker.

When the card tables were placed, Mr Wickham was so fortunate as to find himself seated between Elizabeth and Lydia de Bourgh. At first there seemed to be danger of Lydia's engrossing him entirely, for she was a most determined talker, especially when she was not under her mother's aristocratic eye, but being likewise extremely fond of lottery tickets, she soon grew too much interested in the game, too eager in making bets and exclaiming over prizes, to have attention for anyone in particular. Allowing for the common demands of the game, Mr Wickham was therefore at leisure to talk to Elizabeth, and she was very willing to hear him. What she chiefly wished to hear, however, was the history of his relationship with the Bingley and Darcy families. She was wondering how she could tactfully begin her inquiries, her mother would have had no difficulty in beginning a series of direct personal questions if she wanted to find out about anybody or anything, but Elizabeth had no wish to model her own behavior on that of Lady Catherine's dignified impertinence. Elizabeth's curiosity however was unexpectedly relieved, when Wickham provided an opening when he began the subject himself.

He enquired about the Netherfield estate, saying "I wonder if Mr Bingley means to purchase Netherfield and settle down permanently in this neighbourhood."

"I believe he is considering it," answered Elizabeth, "at least that is what he has said to my sister, although at the moment he has but a short lease."

There was a slight pause and then Elizabeth, unwilling to let the subject drop, added, "I understand from what Mrs Bingley said that you were once well-acquainted with their family – with both Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy."

He responded in a modestly hesitating manner: "Yes, indeed, during my father's lifetime, although I have not seen much of them ever since … I understand that Mr Darcy is also quite at home at Netherfield."

"He has been staying with them for about a month, along with Mr Bingley's mother and sisters."

"Are you much acquainted with Mr Darcy?"

"Quite as much as I could wish to be," replied Elizabeth, "Mr Bingley is very popular in the neighbourhood, so the Bingleys and the Hursts and their friend Mr Darcy are often invited everywhere, but Mr Darcy certainly appears to be a very disagreeable contrast to Mr Bingley."

"I have no right to give my opinion," said Wickham, "as to his being agreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. Of course, it is natural that he should no longer consider me as an equal, considering his very large fortune, although if he had not – and Mr Bingley is very much inclined to be guided by him. I wonder, whether Mr Darcy is likely to be in the country much longer."

"I do not at all know, but I have heard nothing about his going away from Netherfield. He seems to be quite like a member of the family."

"Yes, indeed, and at one time I thought he was in fact going to be a member of the family. Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley were once very fond of each other, before her coming out in society -- well, I suspect that they may still be fond of each other, but they both have quite different ideas now. Both the families now have quite as much fortune as they could desire, although of course the Darcys' fortune is even greater, being double that of the Bingleys, since the late Mr Darcy owned two third of the shares in Darcy and Bingley. Having now quite as much money as they could spend, they have also learned the importance of connections and consequence, and the fact that their money alone might not always open all the doors in society to them. Mrs Bingley has always been kind to me and is a very good natured woman in her own way, but she has been so pleased and proud of her elder daughter's marriage to a gentleman with a landed estate and a fashionable address in town, that ever since then she has been cherishing the hopes that her son and younger daughter will also make good marriages and marry into the gentry, or better still to have marriage alliances with titled families or even the nobility, if possible. I suppose Mr Darcy's large fortune will also make him acceptable to some lady of consequence who might not be too particular and would not mind his manner."

"It would certainly not make him acceptable to me; or to any of my sisters either," thought Elizabeth to herself. Aloud, she said:

"Mrs Bingley certainly seemed pleased to see you again, as you say, she is good-natured in her own way, and I would have thought that her son would also have been pleased to renew his acquaintance with you, as I've said, Mr Bingley appears to be quite unlike his friend. Mr Darcy may have become very proud due to the large fortune that he has acquired, but Mr Bingley is generally agreeable and friendly to everybody here. I don't believe that his fortune has made him at all proud."

"No indeed, but since Mr Bingley has always been disposed to look up to Mr Darcy and be guided by him ever since the days when we were boys together, he would believe anything that his friend tells him."

Elizabeth looked sharply at Mr Wickham; she thought that there was something in the manner in which he had spoken about Bingley believing anything Darcy told him that hinted at some deep undercurrents in the relationship that had existed between the three young men. She decided to question him further about the time when those three had been boys together.

"What were they like, when you were boys together?"

Wickham appeared to hesitate again for a moment; then he said:
"Miss de Bourgh, since you are so kind as to talk to me and express such interest in … I think I might as well speak quite frankly to you about what had happened between me and the families we were talking about."

"Oh, please do – speak frankly, I mean if you do not mind."

"I do not at all mind confiding in such a kind and gracious listener as you, ma'am. As you can see, they – Mr Darcy and even Mr Bingley – are no longer on friendly terms with me, and it always gives me pain to meet them, but I have no reason for avoiding them but what I might proclaim to all the world: a sense of very great ill-usage, and most painful regret at Mr Darcy being what he is. His father, the late Mr Darcy, was a very good man, and a true friend to both my father and myself; and I can never be in company with this Mr Darcy without being grieved to the soul by many tender recollections. His behavior to myself has been scandalous, but I verily believe that I could forgive him anything and everything, but that he has disgraced the memory of his father, by his callous disregard of his father's intentions."

Elizabeth felt the interest of the subject increased, and listened with all her heart.

"You know that my father was employed as the manager in Darcy and Bingley."

"Yes, Mrs Bingley told us that."

"My father had been employed there for many years – almost since the business was first established about thirty years ago. Darcy and Bingley was quite a small firm then, and my father was among one of their earliest employees. He remained with the firm all his life, gradually rising to become its most senior employee and general manager. The firms' partners treated him almost as one of themselves – the late Mr Darcy was also my godfather, and excessively attached to me. I cannot do justice to his kindness. He had also declared that they owned much of the business expansion and success to my father's loyalty, diligence and skill. Both the late Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley were then planning for my father to be offered a partnership in the firm, but Mr Bingley died suddenly before any such step could be taken – this was about six years ago. The present Mr Bingley was not yet of age then, but the present Mr Darcy was just of age, and he very kindly offered, so his father thought, to assist in taking care of the late Mr Bingley's affairs. His father was quite thankful for any assistance, as he felt that he had his hands full in dealing with those affairs, as well as the shock of his friend's death. Mr Darcy himself was not in good health, and he died about a year after Mr Bingley. He fully intended to make my father a full partner in the firm, but the legal formalities required to establish the new partnership had not been completed at the time of his death. He believed that he could certainly trust his son to carry out those intentions. He did mention both my father and myself in his will, but with just such an informality in the terms of the bequest as to give me no hope from law. A man of honour – a gentleman – would undoubtedly have carried out such intentions, but then Mr Darcy is not a gentleman. Some might say that a tradesman need not be over-scrupulous with regard to obligations that are binding in honour only but are not legally binding – but the late Mr Darcy, unlike his son, was not only a most successful tradesman but was also worthy to be compared with the most honourable of gentlemen."

"Good heavens! This is quite shocking! And your father – what happened to him?"

"In a sense it was perhaps a blessing that my father did not long survive Mr Darcy, so he was quite unaware of the present Mr Darcy's infamous conduct and the excuses and evasions that he came up with to justify himself. It would have quite broken my father's heart if he had known – not only for the loss of the shares in the partnership but because of his own high personal regard for the late Mr Darcy."

"I had not thought Mr Darcy so bad as that – though to be sure I have never liked him. I had not thought so very ill of him – I had supposed him to be proud of his wealth, and to be of a most reserved, taciturn disposition – in great contrast to his friend, Mr Bingley, who appears to be very amiable, but did not suspect him of descending to such injustice, ingratitude, such inhumanity as this. But are you sure that there is no redress under the law? My cousin Mr de Bourgh is a barrister, perhaps if you would speak to him and ask his advice …"

Wickham said quickly "I have already spoken to the lawyers soon after my father's death--and I know that there is certainly no recourse under the law – Mr Darcy has his lawyers, and he is too clever to commit any illegal act – everything he did had been strictly within the letter of the law – as I said, an honourable man would have acted differently, but perhaps it is too much to expect …after all it is a business partnership … but the late Mr Darcy had treated my father and I quite like family … that was why we have come to trust them, and had not been over concerned with legal formalities … some people might say that it was my poor father's fault for being too naοve and trusting, and not taking care of his own business interests better … but I do not in the least blame my father, whose trust in the late Mr Darcy was certainly not misplaced -- if the present Mr Darcy had only half his father's goodness and generosity, my situation would have been very different."

"But – even if strictly speaking he had committed no illegal act -- How could he have acted with such cold-heartedness towards a childhood friend? He appears to be so close to his friend Mr Bingley, and I have heard both Mr and Miss Bingley say that they and the Darcys are so close to each other because they had been childhood friends together. And is Mr Bingley not aware that his friend had committed such an act of injustice?"

"I believe now that Mr Darcy has always disliked me – a dislike which I cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy. Had the late Mr Darcy liked me less, his son might have borne with me better. As for Mr Bingley – well, he is a very good-natured, easy going young man, and very much under the influence of his friend; he looks up to Mr Darcy and trusts him and believes him in business and in everything in fact, and I'm sorry to say that Mr Darcy has quite turned him against me, by alleging extravagance and imprudence on my part, in short everything or nothing. Miss Bingley too, we used to be quite friendly together when we were younger, but since she attended a fashionable seminary for young ladies, she has become ashamed of her friendship with an employee's son, and she made all sorts of allegations against me – claiming that I was presumptuous and impudent, and had attempted to pay flirtatious attentions to her against her will. So, between his sister and his friend, they have quite turned Mr Bingley against me as well."

"Well, I've never really liked Miss Bingley either, although my eldest sister is quite fond of her, and they have become quite intimate friends. I think Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley should be very well-matched with each other."

"They would be well-matched indeed, but they are now both determined to seek good marriage alliances with well born members of society. And since Mr Bingley is so easily led by them, I suppose that with their encouragement, he would also find himself proposing to some lady of rank – I know that he had been in love with the daughter of a tradesman, but his family and his particular friend soon put a stop to that affair."

Elizabeth was much dismayed to hear what Mr Wickham said about Mr Bingley's character. She had liked Mr Bingley, in fact he had been the only member of the Netherfield party whom she really liked. She had observed his attentions to Jane, and had realized that Jane had received his attentions with much quiet pleasure, and was developing an attachment to him. She had believed the developing attachment between Jane and Bingley to have been equally sincere on both sides, and she herself would certainly have no objection to such a brother – but if he had been in love with another, and was now encouraged by his social-climbing family to pay attentions to Jane because of her family rank – no, Elizabeth would not like it at all. Jane deserved better than that.

"Oh, Mr Wickham, what you have told me about them is most abominable – Mr Darcy's conduct to you was most horrible, and Miss Bingley too – but it is even more distressing that – it is most unfortunate that Mr Bingley, whom I have regarded as very good-natured and amiable, should be so weak, and easily misguided by his family and his friend."

"It is unfortunate indeed. Mr Darcy is regarded by them quite as though he is the head of both the Darcy and Bingley families, and of course he likes that – his young sister alone is not quite enough for him to dominate over, especially since he is not her sole guardian."

"What sort of a girl is Miss Darcy?"

He shook his head. "I wish I could call her amiable. But she, too, has become proud – very proud -- As a child, she was affectionate and pleasing, and extremely fond of me; and I have devoted hours and hours to her amusement, but she is nothing to me now. She is a handsome girl, about fifteen or sixteen, and I understand highly accomplished. She once attended the same seminary attended by the Miss Bingleys, but did not remain there for long, she left soon after Miss Bingley left – I think it hurt her pride when she found it difficult to make friends with the noblemen's and gentlemen's daughters there -- and her home now is with her aunt and co-guardian, a Mrs Annesley, who prefers to hire a governess to superintend her education."

The conversation then became more general, and after a while, the card tables were breaking up, and the players were soon called to supper. There was no opportunity for further private conversation between Elizabeth and Wickham, as they were not seated next to each other at the supper table. He had said more than enough however, Elizabeth's head was full of the information that he had given her about the Darcy and Bingley families, and she was determined to relate to Jane on the next day, as to what had passed between Mr Wickham and herself.