["[Event happened on 2024-01-01 The user is reading a book]\n<User> The day passed much as the day before had done. Mrs. Hurst and Miss\nBingley had spent some hours of the morning with the invalid, who\ncontinued, though slowly, to mend; and in the evening Elizabeth joined\ntheir party in the drawing-room. The loo table, however, did not appear. Mr. Darcy was writing, and Miss Bingley, seated near him, was watching\nthe progress of his letter, and repeatedly calling off his attention by\nmessages to his sister. Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley were at piquet, and\nMrs. Hurst was observing their game. Elizabeth took up some needlework, and was sufficiently amused in\nattending to what passed between Darcy and his companion. The perpetual\ncommendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness\nof his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern\nwith which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was\nexactly in unison with her opinion of each. \"How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!\" He made no answer. \"You write uncommonly fast.\" \"You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.\" \"How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of the\nyear! Letters of business too! How odious I should think them!\" \"It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours.\" \"Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.\" \"I have already told her so once, by your desire.\" \"I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend\npens remarkably well.\" \"Thank you--but I always mend my own.\" \"How can you contrive to write so even?\" He was silent. \"Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement on the harp,\nand pray let her know that I am quite in raptures with her beautiful\nlittle design for a table, and I think it infinitely superior to Miss\nGrantley's.\" \"Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again?--At\npresent I have not room to do them justice.\" \"Oh! it is of no consequence. I shall see her in January. But do you\nalways write such charming long letters to her, Mr. Darcy?\" \"They are generally long; but whether always charming, it is not for me\nto determine.\" \"It is a rule with me, that a person who can write a long letter, with\nease, cannot write ill.\"\n\n\"That will not do for a compliment to Darcy, Caroline,\" cried her\nbrother--\"because he does _not_ write with ease. He studies too much for\nwords of four syllables.--Do not you, Darcy?\" \"My style of writing is very different from yours.\" \"Oh!\" cried Miss Bingley, \"Charles writes in the most careless way\nimaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest.\" \"My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them--by which\nmeans my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents.\" \"Your humility, Mr. Bingley,\" said Elizabeth, \"must disarm reproof.\" \"Nothing is more deceitful,\" said Darcy, \"than the appearance of\nhumility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an\nindirect boast.\" \"And which of the two do you call _my_ little recent piece of modesty?\" \"The indirect boast;--for you are really proud of your defects in\nwriting, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of\nthought and carelessness of execution, which if not estimable, you think\nat least highly interesting. The power of doing any thing with\nquickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any\nattention to the imperfection of the performance. When you told Mrs.\nBennet this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield\nyou should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of\npanegyric, of compliment to yourself--and yet what is there so very\nlaudable in a precipitance which must leave very necessary business\nundone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself or any one else?\" \"Nay,\" cried Bingley, \"this is too much, to remember at night all the\nfoolish things that were said in the morning. And yet, upon my honour, I\nbelieved what I said of myself to be true, and I believe it at this\nmoment. At least, therefore, I did not assume the character of needless\nprecipitance merely to shew off before the ladies.\" \"I dare say you believed it; but I am by no means convinced that you\nwould be gone with such celerity. Your conduct would be quite as\ndependant on chance as that of any man I know; and if, as you were\nmounting your horse, a friend were to say, 'Bingley, you had better stay\ntill next week,' you would probably do it, you would probably not\ngo--and, at another word, might stay a month.\" \"You have only proved by this,\" cried Elizabeth, \"that Mr. Bingley did\nnot do justice to his own disposition. You have shewn him off now much\nmore than he did himself.\" \"I am exceedingly gratified,\" said Bingley, \"by your converting what my\nfriend says into a compliment on the sweetness of my temper. But I am\nafraid you are giving it a turn which that gentleman did by no means\nintend; for he would certainly think the better of me, if under such a\ncircumstance I were to give a flat denial, and ride off as fast as I\ncould.\" \"Would Mr. Darcy then consider the rashness of your original intention\nas atoned for by your obstinacy in adhering to it?\" \"Upon my word I cannot exactly explain the matter, Darcy must speak for\nhimself.\" \"You expect me to account for opinions which you chuse to call mine, but\nwhich I have never acknowledged. Allowing the case, however, to stand\naccording to your representation, you must remember, Miss Bennet, that\nthe friend who is supposed to desire his return to the house, and the\ndelay of his plan, has merely desired it, asked it without offering one\nargument in favour of its propriety.\" \"To yield readily--easily--to the _persuasion_ of a friend is no merit\nwith you.\" \"To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of\neither.\" \"You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of\nfriendship and affection. A regard for the requester would often make\none readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason\none into it. I am not particularly speaking of such a case as you have\nsupposed about Mr. Bingley. We may as well wait, perhaps, till the\ncircumstance occurs, before we discuss the discretion of his behaviour\nthereupon. But in general and ordinary cases between friend and friend,\nwhere one of them is desired by the other to change a resolution of no\nvery great moment, should you think ill of that person for complying\nwith the desire, without waiting to be argued into it?\" \"Will it not be advisable, before we proceed on this subject, to arrange\nwith rather more precision the degree of importance which is to\nappertain to this request, as well as the degree of intimacy subsisting\nbetween the parties?\" \"By all means,\" cried Bingley; \"let us hear all the particulars, not\nforgetting their comparative height and size; for that will have more\nweight in the argument, Miss Bennet, than you may be aware of. I assure\nyou that if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow, in comparison with\nmyself, I should not pay him half so much deference. I declare I do not\nknow a more aweful object than Darcy, on particular occasions, and in\nparticular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening\nwhen he has nothing to do.\" Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was\nrather offended; and therefore checked her laugh. Miss Bingley warmly\nresented the indignity he had received, in an expostulation with her\nbrother for talking such nonsense. \"I see your design, Bingley,\" said his friend.--\"You dislike an\nargument, and want to silence this.\" \"Perhaps I do. Arguments are too much like disputes. If you and Miss\nBennet will defer yours till I am out of the room, I shall be very\nthankful; and then you may say whatever you like of me.\" \"What you ask,\" said Elizabeth, \"is no sacrifice on my side; and Mr.\nDarcy had much better finish his letter.\" Mr. Darcy took her advice, and did finish his letter. When that business was over, he applied to Miss Bingley and Elizabeth\nfor the indulgence of some music. Miss Bingley moved with alacrity to\nthe piano-forte, and after a polite request that Elizabeth would lead\nthe way, which the other as politely and more earnestly negatived, she\nseated herself.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-01, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-02 The user is reading a book]\n<User> Mrs. Hurst sang with her sister, and while they were thus employed\nElizabeth could not help observing as she turned over some music books\nthat lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy's eyes were fixed\non her. She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of\nadmiration to so great a man; and yet that he should look at her because\nhe disliked her, was still more strange. She could only imagine however\nat last, that she drew his notice because there was a something about\nher more wrong and reprehensible, according to his ideas of right, than\nin any other person present. The supposition did not pain her. She liked\nhim too little to care for his approbation. After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a\nlively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near\nElizabeth, said to her--\n\n\"Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an\nopportunity of dancing a reel?\" She smiled, but made no answer. He repeated the question, with some\nsurprise at her silence. \"Oh!\" said she, \"I heard you before; but I could not immediately\ndetermine what to say in reply. You wanted me, I know, to say 'Yes,'\nthat you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but I always\ndelight in overthrowing those kind of schemes, and cheating a person of\ntheir premeditated contempt. I have therefore made up my mind to tell\nyou, that I do not want to dance a reel at all--and now despise me if\nyou dare.\" \"Indeed I do not dare.\" Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his\ngallantry; but there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her\nmanner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody; and Darcy had\nnever been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really\nbelieved, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he\nshould be in some danger. Miss Bingley saw, or suspected enough to be jealous; and her great\nanxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane, received some\nassistance from her desire of getting rid of Elizabeth. She often tried to provoke Darcy into disliking her guest, by talking of\ntheir supposed marriage, and planning his happiness in such an alliance. \"I hope,\" said she, as they were walking together in the shrubbery the\nnext day, \"you will give your mother-in-law a few hints, when this\ndesirable event takes place, as to the advantage of holding her tongue;\nand if you can compass it, do cure the younger girls of running after\nthe officers.--And, if I may mention so delicate a subject, endeavour to\ncheck that little something, bordering on conceit and impertinence,\nwhich your lady possesses.\" \"Have you any thing else to propose for my domestic felicity?\" \"Oh! yes.--Do let the portraits of your uncle and aunt Philips be\nplaced in the gallery at Pemberley. Put them next to your great uncle\nthe judge. They are in the same profession, you know; only in different\nlines. As for your Elizabeth's picture, you must not attempt to have it\ntaken, for what painter could do justice to those beautiful eyes?\" \"It would not be easy, indeed, to catch their expression, but their\ncolour and shape, and the eye-lashes, so remarkably fine, might be\ncopied.\" At that moment they were met from another walk, by Mrs. Hurst and\nElizabeth herself. \"I did not know that you intended to walk,\" said Miss Bingley, in some\nconfusion, lest they had been overheard. \"You used us abominably ill,\" answered Mrs. Hurst, \"in running away\nwithout telling us that you were coming out.\" Then taking the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy, she left Elizabeth to walk\nby herself. The path just admitted three. Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness\nand immediately said,--\n\n\"This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the\navenue.\" But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain with them,\nlaughingly answered,\n\n\"No, no; stay where you are.--You are charmingly group'd, and appear to\nuncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a\nfourth. Good bye.\" She then ran gaily off, rejoicing as she rambled about, in the hope of\nbeing at home again in a day or two. Jane was already so much recovered\nas to intend leaving her room for a couple of hours that evening. When the ladies removed after dinner, Elizabeth ran up to her sister,\nand seeing her well guarded from cold, attended her into the\ndrawing-room; where she was welcomed by her two friends with many\nprofessions of pleasure; and Elizabeth had never seen them so agreeable\nas they were during the hour which passed before the gentlemen appeared. Their powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an\nentertainment with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh\nat their acquaintance with spirit. But when the gentlemen entered, Jane was no longer the first object. Miss Bingley's eyes were instantly turned towards Darcy, and she had\nsomething to say to him before he had advanced many steps. He addressed\nhimself directly to Miss Bennet, with a polite congratulation; Mr. Hurst\nalso made her a slight bow, and said he was \"very glad;\" but diffuseness\nand warmth remained for Bingley's salutation. He was full of joy and\nattention. The first half hour was spent in piling up the fire, lest she\nshould suffer from the change of room; and she removed at his desire to\nthe other side of the fire-place, that she might be farther from the\ndoor. He then sat down by her, and talked scarcely to any one else. Elizabeth, at work in the opposite corner, saw it all with great\ndelight. When tea was over, Mr. Hurst reminded his sister-in-law of the\ncard-table--but in vain. She had obtained private intelligence that Mr.\nDarcy did not wish for cards; and Mr. Hurst soon found even his open\npetition rejected. She assured him that no one intended to play, and the\nsilence of the whole party on the subject, seemed to justify her. Mr.\nHurst had therefore nothing to do, but to stretch himself on one of the\nsophas and go to sleep. Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same;\nand Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and\nrings, joined now and then in her brother's conversation with Miss\nBennet. Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr.\nDarcy's progress through _his_ book, as in reading her own; and she was\nperpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She\ncould not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her\nquestion, and read on. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be\namused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the\nsecond volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said, \"How pleasant it\nis to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no\nenjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a\nbook!--When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not\nan excellent library.\" No one made any reply. She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and\ncast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement; when hearing\nher brother mentioning a ball to Miss Bennet, she turned suddenly\ntowards him and said,\n\n\"By the bye, Charles, are you really serious in meditating a dance at\nNetherfield?--I would advise you, before you determine on it, to consult\nthe wishes of the present party; I am much mistaken if there are not\nsome among us to whom a ball would be rather a punishment than a\npleasure.\" \"If you mean Darcy,\" cried her brother, \"he may go to bed, if he chuses,\nbefore it begins--but as for the ball, it is quite a settled thing; and\nas soon as Nicholls has made white soup enough I shall send round my\ncards.\" \"I should like balls infinitely better,\" she replied, \"if they were\ncarried on in a different manner; but there is something insufferably\ntedious in the usual process of such a meeting. It would surely be much\nmore rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the\nday.\" \"Much more rational, my dear Caroline, I dare say, but it would not be\nnear so much like a ball.\" Miss Bingley made no answer; and soon afterwards got up and walked about\nthe room. Her figure was elegant, and she walked well;--but Darcy, at\nwhom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-02, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-04 The user is reading a book]\n<User> In the desperation\nof her feelings she resolved on one effort more; and, turning to\nElizabeth, said,\n\n\"Miss Eliza Bennet, let me persuade you to follow my example, and take a\nturn about the room.--I assure you it is very refreshing after sitting\nso long in one attitude.\" Elizabeth was surprised, but agreed to it immediately. Miss Bingley\nsucceeded no less in the real object of her civility; Mr. Darcy looked\nup. He was as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as\nElizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book. He was\ndirectly invited to join their party, but he declined it, observing,\nthat he could imagine but two motives for their chusing to walk up and\ndown the room together, with either of which motives his joining them\nwould interfere. \"What could he mean? she was dying to know what could\nbe his meaning\"--and asked Elizabeth whether she could at all understand\nhim? \"Not at all,\" was her answer; \"but depend upon it, he means to be severe\non us, and our surest way of disappointing him, will be to ask nothing\nabout it.\" Miss Bingley, however, was incapable of disappointing Mr. Darcy in any\nthing, and persevered therefore in requiring an explanation of his two\nmotives. \"I have not the smallest objection to explaining them,\" said he, as soon\nas she allowed him to speak. \"You either chuse this method of passing\nthe evening because you are in each other's confidence and have secret\naffairs to discuss, or because you are conscious that your figures\nappear to the greatest advantage in walking;--if the first, I should be\ncompletely in your way;--and if the second, I can admire you much better\nas I sit by the fire.\" \"Oh! shocking!\" cried Miss Bingley. \"I never heard any thing so\nabominable. How shall we punish him for such a speech?\" \"Nothing so easy, if you have but the inclination,\" said Elizabeth. \"We\ncan all plague and punish one another. Teaze him--laugh at\nhim.--Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.\" \"But upon my honour I do _not_. I do assure you that my intimacy has not\nyet taught me _that_. Teaze calmness of temper and presence of mind! No,\nno--I feel he may defy us there. And as to laughter, we will not expose\nourselves, if you please, by attempting to laugh without a subject. Mr.\nDarcy may hug himself.\" \"Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at!\" cried Elizabeth. \"That is an\nuncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would\nbe a great loss to _me_ to have many such acquaintance. I dearly love a\nlaugh.\" \"Miss Bingley,\" said he, \"has given me credit for more than can be. The\nwisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions,\nmay be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a\njoke.\" \"Certainly,\" replied Elizabeth--\"there are such people, but I hope I am\nnot one of _them_. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies\nand nonsense, whims and inconsistencies _do_ divert me, I own, and I\nlaugh at them whenever I can.--But these, I suppose, are precisely what\nyou are without.\" \"Perhaps that is not possible for any one. But it has been the study of\nmy life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong\nunderstanding to ridicule.\" \"Such as vanity and pride.\" \"Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride--where there is a real\nsuperiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.\" Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile. \"Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume,\" said Miss\nBingley;--\"and pray what is the result?\" \"I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it\nhimself without disguise.\" \"No\"--said Darcy, \"I have made no such pretension. I have faults enough,\nbut they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch\nfor.--It is I believe too little yielding--certainly too little for the\nconvenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of\nothers so soon as I ought, nor their offences against myself. My\nfeelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper\nwould perhaps be called resentful.--My good opinion once lost is lost\nfor ever.\" \"_That_ is a failing indeed!\" --cried Elizabeth. \"Implacable resentment\n_is_ a shade in a character. But you have chosen your fault well.--I\nreally cannot _laugh_ at it. You are safe from me.\" \"There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular\nevil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.\" \"And _your_ defect is a propensity to hate every body.\" \"And yours,\" he replied with a smile, \"is wilfully to misunderstand\nthem.\" \"Do let us have a little music,\"--cried Miss Bingley, tired of a\nconversation in which she had no share.--\"Louisa, you will not mind my\nwaking Mr. Hurst.\" Her sister made not the smallest objection, and the piano-forte was\nopened, and Darcy, after a few moments recollection, was not sorry for\nit. He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention. In consequence of an agreement between the sisters, Elizabeth wrote the\nnext morning to her mother, to beg that the carriage might be sent for\nthem in the course of the day. But Mrs. Bennet, who had calculated on\nher daughters remaining at Netherfield till the following Tuesday, which\nwould exactly finish Jane's week, could not bring herself to receive\nthem with pleasure before. Her answer, therefore, was not propitious, at\nleast not to Elizabeth's wishes, for she was impatient to get home. Mrs.\nBennet sent them word that they could not possibly have the carriage\nbefore Tuesday; and in her postscript it was added, that if Mr. Bingley\nand his sister pressed them to stay longer, she could spare them very\nwell.--Against staying longer, however, Elizabeth was positively\nresolved--nor did she much expect it would be asked; and fearful, on the\ncontrary, as being considered as intruding themselves needlessly long,\nshe urged Jane to borrow Mr. Bingley's carriage immediately, and at\nlength it was settled that their original design of leaving Netherfield\nthat morning should be mentioned, and the request made. The communication excited many professions of concern; and enough was\nsaid of wishing them to stay at least till the following day to work on\nJane; and till the morrow, their going was deferred. Miss Bingley was\nthen sorry that she had proposed the delay, for her jealousy and dislike\nof one sister much exceeded her affection for the other. The master of the house heard with real sorrow that they were to go so\nsoon, and repeatedly tried to persuade Miss Bennet that it would not be\nsafe for her--that she was not enough recovered; but Jane was firm where\nshe felt herself to be right. To Mr. Darcy it was welcome intelligence--Elizabeth had been at\nNetherfield long enough. She attracted him more than he liked--and Miss\nBingley was uncivil to _her_, and more teazing than usual to himself. He wisely resolved to be particularly careful that no sign of admiration\nshould _now_ escape him, nothing that could elevate her with the hope of\ninfluencing his felicity; sensible that if such an idea had been\nsuggested, his behaviour during the last day must have material weight\nin confirming or crushing it. Steady to his purpose, he scarcely spoke\nten words to her through the whole of Saturday, and though they were at\none time left by themselves for half an hour, he adhered most\nconscientiously to his book, and would not even look at her. On Sunday, after morning service, the separation, so agreeable to almost\nall, took place. Miss Bingley's civility to Elizabeth increased at last\nvery rapidly, as well as her affection for Jane; and when they parted,\nafter assuring the latter of the pleasure it would always give her to\nsee her either at Longbourn or Netherfield, and embracing her most\ntenderly, she even shook hands with the former.--Elizabeth took leave of\nthe whole party in the liveliest spirits. They were not welcomed home very cordially by their mother. Mrs. Bennet\nwondered at their coming, and thought them very wrong to give so much\ntrouble, and was sure Jane would have caught cold again.--But their\nfather, though very laconic in his expressions of pleasure, was really\nglad to see them; he had felt their importance in the family circle. The\nevening conversation, when they were all assembled, had lost much of its\nanimation, and almost all its sense, by the absence of Jane and\nElizabeth.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-04, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-05 The user is reading a book]\n<User> They found Mary, as usual, deep in the study of thorough bass and human\nnature; and had some new extracts to admire, and some new observations\nof thread-bare morality to listen to. Catherine and Lydia had\ninformation for them of a different sort. Much had been done, and much\nhad been said in the regiment since the preceding Wednesday; several of\nthe officers had dined lately with their uncle, a private had been\nflogged, and it had actually been hinted that Colonel Forster was going\nto be married. \"I hope, my dear,\" said Mr. Bennet to his wife, as they were at\nbreakfast the next morning, \"that you have ordered a good dinner to-day,\nbecause I have reason to expect an addition to our family party.\" \"Who do you mean, my dear? I know of nobody that is coming I am sure,\nunless Charlotte Lucas should happen to call in, and I hope _my_ dinners\nare good enough for her. I do not believe she often sees such at home.\" \"The person of whom I speak, is a gentleman and a stranger.\" Mrs.\nBennet's eyes sparkled.--\"A gentleman and a stranger! It is Mr. Bingley\nI am sure. Why Jane--you never dropt a word of this; you sly thing! Well, I am sure I shall be extremely glad to see Mr. Bingley.--But--good\nlord! how unlucky! there is not a bit of fish to be got to-day. Lydia,\nmy love, ring the bell. I must speak to Hill, this moment.\" \"It is _not_ Mr. Bingley,\" said her husband; \"it is a person whom I\nnever saw in the whole course of my life.\" This roused a general astonishment; and he had the pleasure of being\neagerly questioned by his wife and five daughters at once. After amusing himself some time with their curiosity, he thus explained. \"About a month ago I received this letter, and about a fortnight ago I\nanswered it, for I thought it a case of some delicacy, and requiring\nearly attention. It is from my cousin, Mr. Collins, who, when I am dead,\nmay turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.\" \"Oh! my dear,\" cried his wife, \"I cannot bear to hear that mentioned. Pray do not talk of that odious man. I do think it is the hardest thing\nin the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your own\nchildren; and I am sure if I had been you, I should have tried long ago\nto do something or other about it.\" Jane and Elizabeth attempted to explain to her the nature of an entail. They had often attempted it before, but it was a subject on which Mrs.\nBennet was beyond the reach of reason; and she continued to rail\nbitterly against the cruelty of settling an estate away from a family of\nfive daughters, in favour of a man whom nobody cared anything about. \"It certainly is a most iniquitous affair,\" said Mr. Bennet, \"and\nnothing can clear Mr. Collins from the guilt of inheriting Longbourn. But if you will listen to his letter, you may perhaps be a little\nsoftened by his manner of expressing himself.\" \"No, that I am sure I shall not; and I think it was very impertinent of\nhim to write to you at all, and very hypocritical. I hate such false\nfriends. Why could not he keep on quarrelling with you, as his father\ndid before him?\" \"Why, indeed, he does seem to have had some filial scruples on that\nhead, as you will hear.\" _Hunsford, near Westerham, Kent,\n\n     15th October._\n\n     DEAR SIR,\n\n     The disagreement subsisting between yourself and my late honoured\n     father, always gave me much uneasiness, and since I have had the\n     misfortune to lose him, I have frequently wished to heal the\n     breach; but for some time I was kept back by my own doubts, fearing\n     lest it might seem disrespectful to his memory for me to be on good\n     terms with any one, with whom it had always pleased him to be at\n     variance.--\"There, Mrs. Bennet.\" --My mind however is now made up on\n     the subject, for having received ordination at Easter, I have been\n     so fortunate as to be distinguished by the patronage of the Right\n     Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh,\n     whose bounty and beneficence has preferred me to the valuable\n     rectory of this parish, where it shall be my earnest endeavour to\n     demean myself with grateful respect towards her Ladyship, and be\n     ever ready to perform those rites and ceremonies which are\n     instituted by the Church of England. As a clergyman, moreover, I\n     feel it my duty to promote and establish the blessing of peace in\n     all families within the reach of my influence; and on these grounds\n     I flatter myself that my present overtures of good-will are highly\n     commendable, and that the circumstance of my being next in the\n     entail of Longbourn estate, will be kindly overlooked on your side,\n     and not lead you to reject the offered olive branch. I cannot be\n     otherwise than concerned at being the means of injuring your\n     amiable daughters, and beg leave to apologise for it, as well as to\n     assure you of my readiness to make them every possible amends,--but\n     of this hereafter. If you should have no objection to receive me\n     into your house, I propose myself the satisfaction of waiting on\n     you and your family, Monday, November 18th, by four o'clock, and\n     shall probably trespass on your hospitality till the Saturday\n     se'night following, which I can do without any inconvenience, as\n     Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence on a\n     Sunday, provided that some other clergyman is engaged to do the\n     duty of the day. I remain, dear sir, with respectful compliments to\n     your lady and daughters, your well-wisher and friend,\n\n     WILLIAM COLLINS.\" \"At four o'clock, therefore, we may expect this peace-making gentleman,\"\nsaid Mr. Bennet, as he folded up the letter. \"He seems to be a most\nconscientious and polite young man, upon my word; and I doubt not will\nprove a valuable acquaintance, especially if Lady Catherine should be so\nindulgent as to let him come to us again.\" \"There is some sense in what he says about the girls however; and if he\nis disposed to make them any amends, I shall not be the person to\ndiscourage him.\" \"Though it is difficult,\" said Jane, \"to guess in what way he can mean\nto make us the atonement he thinks our due, the wish is certainly to his\ncredit.\" Elizabeth was chiefly struck with his extraordinary deference for Lady\nCatherine, and his kind intention of christening, marrying, and burying\nhis parishioners whenever it were required. \"He must be an oddity, I think,\" said she. \"I cannot make him\nout.--There is something very pompous in his style.--And what can he\nmean by apologizing for being next in the entail?--We cannot suppose he\nwould help it, if he could.--Can he be a sensible man, sir?\" \"No, my dear; I think not. I have great hopes of finding him quite the\nreverse. There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his\nletter, which promises well. I am impatient to see him.\" \"In point of composition,\" said Mary, \"his letter does not seem\ndefective. The idea of the olive branch perhaps is not wholly new, yet I\nthink it is well expressed.\" To Catherine and Lydia, neither the letter nor its writer were in any\ndegree interesting. It was next to impossible that their cousin should\ncome in a scarlet coat, and it was now some weeks since they had\nreceived pleasure from the society of a man in any other colour. As for\ntheir mother, Mr. Collins's letter had done away much of her ill-will,\nand she was preparing to see him with a degree of composure, which\nastonished her husband and daughters. Mr. Collins was punctual to his time, and was received with great\npoliteness by the whole family. Mr. Bennet indeed said little; but the\nladies were ready enough to talk, and Mr. Collins seemed neither in need\nof encouragement, nor inclined to be silent himself. He was a tall,\nheavy looking young man of five and twenty. His air was grave and\nstately, and his manners were very formal. He had not been long seated\nbefore he complimented Mrs. Bennet on having so fine a family of\ndaughters, said he had heard much of their beauty, but that, in this\ninstance, fame had fallen short of the truth; and added, that he did\nnot doubt her seeing them all in due time well disposed of in marriage.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-05, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-08 The user is reading a book]\n<User> This gallantry was not much to the taste of some of his hearers, but\nMrs. Bennet, who quarrelled with no compliments, answered most readily,\n\n\"You are very kind, sir, I am sure; and I wish with all my heart it may\nprove so; for else they will be destitute enough. Things are settled so\noddly.\" \"You allude perhaps to the entail of this estate.\" \"Ah! sir, I do indeed. It is a grievous affair to my poor girls, you\nmust confess. Not that I mean to find fault with _you_, for such things\nI know are all chance in this world. There is no knowing how estates\nwill go when once they come to be entailed.\" \"I am very sensible, madam, of the hardship to my fair cousins,--and\ncould say much on the subject, but that I am cautious of appearing\nforward and precipitate. But I can assure the young ladies that I come\nprepared to admire them. At present I will not say more, but perhaps\nwhen we are better acquainted----\"\n\nHe was interrupted by a summons to dinner; and the girls smiled on each\nother. They were not the only objects of Mr. Collins's admiration. The\nhall, the dining-room, and all its furniture were examined and praised;\nand his commendation of every thing would have touched Mrs. Bennet's\nheart, but for the mortifying supposition of his viewing it all as his\nown future property. The dinner too in its turn was highly admired; and\nhe begged to know to which of his fair cousins, the excellence of its\ncookery was owing. But here he was set right by Mrs. Bennet, who assured\nhim with some asperity that they were very well able to keep a good\ncook, and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen. He begged\npardon for having displeased her. In a softened tone she declared\nherself not at all offended; but he continued to apologise for about a\nquarter of an hour. During dinner, Mr. Bennet scarcely spoke at all; but when the servants\nwere withdrawn, he thought it time to have some conversation with his\nguest, and therefore started a subject in which he expected him to\nshine, by observing that he seemed very fortunate in his patroness. Lady\nCatherine de Bourgh's attention to his wishes, and consideration for his\ncomfort, appeared very remarkable. Mr. Bennet could not have chosen\nbetter. Mr. Collins was eloquent in her praise. The subject elevated him\nto more than usual solemnity of manner, and with a most important aspect\nhe protested that he had never in his life witnessed such behaviour in a\nperson of rank--such affability and condescension, as he had himself\nexperienced from Lady Catherine. She had been graciously pleased to\napprove of both the discourses, which he had already had the honour of\npreaching before her. She had also asked him twice to dine at Rosings,\nand had sent for him only the Saturday before, to make up her pool of\nquadrille in the evening. Lady Catherine was reckoned proud by many\npeople he knew, but _he_ had never seen any thing but affability in her. She had always spoken to him as she would to any other gentleman; she\nmade not the smallest objection to his joining in the society of the\nneighbourhood, nor to his leaving his parish occasionally for a week or\ntwo, to visit his relations. She had even condescended to advise him to\nmarry as soon as he could, provided he chose with discretion; and had\nonce paid him a visit in his humble parsonage; where she had perfectly\napproved all the alterations he had been making, and had even vouchsafed\nto suggest some herself,--some shelves in the closets up stairs. \"That is all very proper and civil, I am sure,\" said Mrs. Bennet, \"and I\ndare say she is a very agreeable woman. It is a pity that great ladies\nin general are not more like her. Does she live near you, sir?\" \"The garden in which stands my humble abode, is separated only by a lane\nfrom Rosings Park, her ladyship's residence.\" \"I think you said she was a widow, sir? has she any family?\" \"She has one only daughter, the heiress of Rosings, and of very\nextensive property.\" \"Ah!\" cried Mrs. Bennet, shaking her head, \"then she is better off than\nmany girls. And what sort of young lady is she? is she handsome?\" \"She is a most charming young lady indeed. Lady Catherine herself says\nthat in point of true beauty, Miss De Bourgh is far superior to the\nhandsomest of her sex; because there is that in her features which marks\nthe young woman of distinguished birth. She is unfortunately of a sickly\nconstitution, which has prevented her making that progress in many\naccomplishments, which she could not otherwise have failed of; as I am\ninformed by the lady who superintended her education, and who still\nresides with them. But she is perfectly amiable, and often condescends\nto drive by my humble abode in her little phaeton and ponies.\" \"Has she been presented? I do not remember her name among the ladies at\ncourt.\" \"Her indifferent state of health unhappily prevents her being in town;\nand by that means, as I told Lady Catherine myself one day, has deprived\nthe British court of its brightest ornament. Her ladyship seemed pleased\nwith the idea, and you may imagine that I am happy on every occasion to\noffer those little delicate compliments which are always acceptable to\nladies. I have more than once observed to Lady Catherine, that her\ncharming daughter seemed born to be a duchess, and that the most\nelevated rank, instead of giving her consequence, would be adorned by\nher.--These are the kind of little things which please her ladyship, and\nit is a sort of attention which I conceive myself peculiarly bound to\npay.\" \"You judge very properly,\" said Mr. Bennet, \"and it is happy for you\nthat you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask\nwhether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the\nmoment, or are the result of previous study?\" \"They arise chiefly from what is passing at the time, and though I\nsometimes amuse myself with suggesting and arranging such little elegant\ncompliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions, I always wish to\ngive them as unstudied an air as possible.\" Mr. Bennet's expectations were fully answered. His cousin was as absurd\nas he had hoped, and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment,\nmaintaining at the same time the most resolute composure of countenance,\nand except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in\nhis pleasure. By tea-time however the dose had been enough, and Mr. Bennet was glad to\ntake his guest into the drawing-room again, and when tea was over, glad\nto invite him to read aloud to the ladies. Mr. Collins readily assented,\nand a book was produced; but on beholding it, (for every thing announced\nit to be from a circulating library,) he started back, and begging\npardon, protested that he never read novels.--Kitty stared at him, and\nLydia exclaimed.--Other books were produced, and after some deliberation\nhe chose Fordyce's Sermons. Lydia gaped as he opened the volume, and\nbefore he had, with very monotonous solemnity, read three pages, she\ninterrupted him with,\n\n\"Do you know, mama, that my uncle Philips talks of turning away Richard,\nand if he does, Colonel Forster will hire him. My aunt told me so\nherself on Saturday. I shall walk to Meryton to-morrow to hear more\nabout it, and to ask when Mr. Denny comes back from town.\" Lydia was bid by her two eldest sisters to hold her tongue; but Mr.\nCollins, much offended, laid aside his book, and said,\n\n\"I have often observed how little young ladies are interested by books\nof a serious stamp, though written solely for their benefit. It amazes\nme, I confess;--for certainly, there can be nothing so advantageous to\nthem as instruction. But I will no longer importune my young cousin.\" Then turning to Mr. Bennet, he offered himself as his antagonist at\nbackgammon. Mr. Bennet accepted the challenge, observing that he acted\nvery wisely in leaving the girls to their own trifling amusements. Mrs.\nBennet and her daughters apologised most civilly for Lydia's\ninterruption, and promised that it should not occur again, if he would\nresume his book; but Mr. Collins, after assuring them that he bore his\nyoung cousin no ill will, and should never resent her behaviour as any\naffront, seated himself at another table with Mr. Bennet, and prepared\nfor backgammon.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-08, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far."]
[{"question": "Summarize the content of the book I read from 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-08", "answer": "Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley, Mr. Bingley, Hursts, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bennet, William Collins, Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Kitty, Lydia, Netherfield, Longbourn, Hunsford parish, drawing room, carriage, Fordyce's Sermons, estate entailment, male heir, inheritance, social class, pride, folly, weakness, character contrast, flirtation, debate, attraction, Sunday departure, five days at Netherfield, visitor announcement, rector, patronage, pompousness, obsequiousness, cook, novels, reading aloud, family dynamics, property inheritance, Bennet daughters"}]