["[Event happened on 2024-01-01 The user is reading a book]\n<User> As the Miss Dashwoods entered the drawing-room of the park the next\nday, at one door, Mrs. Palmer came running in at the other, looking as\ngood humoured and merry as before. She took them all most\naffectionately by the hand, and expressed great delight in seeing them\nagain. \"I am so glad to see you!\" said she, seating herself between Elinor and\nMarianne, \"for it is so bad a day I was afraid you might not come,\nwhich would be a shocking thing, as we go away again tomorrow. We must\ngo, for the Westons come to us next week you know. It was quite a\nsudden thing our coming at all, and I knew nothing of it till the\ncarriage was coming to the door, and then Mr. Palmer asked me if I\nwould go with him to Barton. He is so droll! He never tells me any\nthing! I am so sorry we cannot stay longer; however we shall meet again\nin town very soon, I hope.\" They were obliged to put an end to such an expectation. \"Not go to town!\" cried Mrs. Palmer, with a laugh, \"I shall be quite\ndisappointed if you do not. I could get the nicest house in the world for\nyou, next door to ours, in Hanover-square. You must come, indeed. I\nam sure I shall be very happy to chaperon you at any time till I am\nconfined, if Mrs. Dashwood should not like to go into public.\" They thanked her; but were obliged to resist all her entreaties. \"Oh, my love,\" cried Mrs. Palmer to her husband, who just then entered\nthe room--\"you must help me to persuade the Miss Dashwoods to go to\ntown this winter.\" Her love made no answer; and after slightly bowing to the ladies, began\ncomplaining of the weather. \"How horrid all this is!\" said he. \"Such weather makes every thing and\nevery body disgusting. Dullness is as much produced within doors as\nwithout, by rain. It makes one detest all one's acquaintance. What\nthe devil does Sir John mean by not having a billiard room in his\nhouse? How few people know what comfort is! Sir John is as stupid as\nthe weather.\" The rest of the company soon dropt in. \"I am afraid, Miss Marianne,\" said Sir John, \"you have not been able to\ntake your usual walk to Allenham today.\" Marianne looked very grave and said nothing. \"Oh, don't be so sly before us,\" said Mrs. Palmer; \"for we know all\nabout it, I assure you; and I admire your taste very much, for I think\nhe is extremely handsome. We do not live a great way from him in the\ncountry, you know. Not above ten miles, I dare say.\" \"Much nearer thirty,\" said her husband. \"Ah, well! there is not much difference. I never was at his house; but\nthey say it is a sweet pretty place.\" \"As vile a spot as I ever saw in my life,\" said Mr. Palmer. Marianne remained perfectly silent, though her countenance betrayed her\ninterest in what was said. \"Is it very ugly?\" continued Mrs. Palmer--\"then it must be some other\nplace that is so pretty I suppose.\" When they were seated in the dining room, Sir John observed with regret\nthat they were only eight all together. \"My dear,\" said he to his lady, \"it is very provoking that we should be\nso few. Why did not you ask the Gilberts to come to us today?\" \"Did not I tell you, Sir John, when you spoke to me about it before,\nthat it could not be done? They dined with us last.\" \"You and I, Sir John,\" said Mrs. Jennings, \"should not stand upon such\nceremony.\" \"Then you would be very ill-bred,\" cried Mr. Palmer. \"My love you contradict every body,\" said his wife with her usual\nlaugh. \"Do you know that you are quite rude?\" \"I did not know I contradicted any body in calling your mother\nill-bred.\" \"Ay, you may abuse me as you please,\" said the good-natured old lady,\n\"you have taken Charlotte off my hands, and cannot give her back again. So there I have the whip hand of you.\" Charlotte laughed heartily to think that her husband could not get rid\nof her; and exultingly said, she did not care how cross he was to her,\nas they must live together. It was impossible for any one to be more\nthoroughly good-natured, or more determined to be happy than Mrs.\nPalmer. The studied indifference, insolence, and discontent of her\nhusband gave her no pain; and when he scolded or abused her, she was\nhighly diverted. \"Mr. Palmer is so droll!\" said she, in a whisper, to Elinor. \"He is\nalways out of humour.\" Elinor was not inclined, after a little observation, to give him credit\nfor being so genuinely and unaffectedly ill-natured or ill-bred as he\nwished to appear. His temper might perhaps be a little soured by\nfinding, like many others of his sex, that through some unaccountable\nbias in favour of beauty, he was the husband of a very silly\nwoman,--but she knew that this kind of blunder was too common for any\nsensible man to be lastingly hurt by it.-- It was rather a wish of\ndistinction, she believed, which produced his contemptuous treatment of\nevery body, and his general abuse of every thing before him. It was\nthe desire of appearing superior to other people. The motive was too\ncommon to be wondered at; but the means, however they might succeed by\nestablishing his superiority in ill-breeding, were not likely to attach\nany one to him except his wife. \"Oh, my dear Miss Dashwood,\" said Mrs. Palmer soon afterwards, \"I have\ngot such a favour to ask of you and your sister. Will you come and\nspend some time at Cleveland this Christmas? Now, pray do,--and come\nwhile the Westons are with us. You cannot think how happy I shall be! It will be quite delightful!--My love,\" applying to her husband, \"don't\nyou long to have the Miss Dashwoods come to Cleveland?\" \"Certainly,\" he replied, with a sneer--\"I came into Devonshire with no\nother view.\" \"There now,\"--said his lady, \"you see Mr. Palmer expects you; so you\ncannot refuse to come.\" They both eagerly and resolutely declined her invitation. \"But indeed you must and shall come. I am sure you will like it of all\nthings. The Westons will be with us, and it will be quite delightful. You cannot think what a sweet place Cleveland is; and we are so gay\nnow, for Mr. Palmer is always going about the country canvassing\nagainst the election; and so many people came to dine with us that I\nnever saw before, it is quite charming! But, poor fellow! it is very\nfatiguing to him! for he is forced to make every body like him.\" Elinor could hardly keep her countenance as she assented to the\nhardship of such an obligation. \"How charming it will be,\" said Charlotte, \"when he is in\nParliament!--won't it? How I shall laugh! It will be so ridiculous to\nsee all his letters directed to him with an M.P.--But do you know, he\nsays, he will never frank for me? He declares he won't. Don't you,\nMr. Palmer?\" Mr. Palmer took no notice of her. \"He cannot bear writing, you know,\" she continued--\"he says it is quite\nshocking.\" \"No,\" said he, \"I never said any thing so irrational. Don't palm all\nyour abuses of languages upon me.\" \"There now; you see how droll he is. This is always the way with him! Sometimes he won't speak to me for half a day together, and then he\ncomes out with something so droll--all about any thing in the world.\" She surprised Elinor very much as they returned into the drawing-room,\nby asking her whether she did not like Mr. Palmer excessively. \"Certainly,\" said Elinor; \"he seems very agreeable.\" \"Well--I am so glad you do. I thought you would, he is so pleasant;\nand Mr. Palmer is excessively pleased with you and your sisters I can\ntell you, and you can't think how disappointed he will be if you don't\ncome to Cleveland.--I can't imagine why you should object to it.\" Elinor was again obliged to decline her invitation; and by changing the\nsubject, put a stop to her entreaties.\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 2024-01-04 The user is reading a book]\n<User> She thought it probable that as\nthey lived in the same county, Mrs. Palmer might be able to give some\nmore particular account of Willoughby's general character, than could\nbe gathered from the Middletons' partial acquaintance with him; and she\nwas eager to gain from any one, such a confirmation of his merits as\nmight remove the possibility of fear from Marianne. She began by\ninquiring if they saw much of Mr. Willoughby at Cleveland, and whether\nthey were intimately acquainted with him. \"Oh dear, yes; I know him extremely well,\" replied Mrs. Palmer;--\"Not\nthat I ever spoke to him, indeed; but I have seen him for ever in town. Somehow or other I never happened to be staying at Barton while he was\nat Allenham. Mama saw him here once before;--but I was with my uncle\nat Weymouth. However, I dare say we should have seen a great deal of\nhim in Somersetshire, if it had not happened very unluckily that we\nshould never have been in the country together. He is very little at\nCombe, I believe; but if he were ever so much there, I do not think Mr.\nPalmer would visit him, for he is in the opposition, you know, and\nbesides it is such a way off. I know why you inquire about him, very\nwell; your sister is to marry him. I am monstrous glad of it, for then\nI shall have her for a neighbour you know.\" \"Upon my word,\" replied Elinor, \"you know much more of the matter than\nI do, if you have any reason to expect such a match.\" \"Don't pretend to deny it, because you know it is what every body talks\nof. I assure you I heard of it in my way through town.\" \"My dear Mrs. Palmer!\" \"Upon my honour I did.--I met Colonel Brandon Monday morning in\nBond-street, just before we left town, and he told me of it directly.\" \"You surprise me very much. Colonel Brandon tell you of it! Surely\nyou must be mistaken. To give such intelligence to a person who could\nnot be interested in it, even if it were true, is not what I should\nexpect Colonel Brandon to do.\" \"But I do assure you it was so, for all that, and I will tell you how\nit happened. When we met him, he turned back and walked with us; and\nso we began talking of my brother and sister, and one thing and\nanother, and I said to him, 'So, Colonel, there is a new family come to\nBarton cottage, I hear, and mama sends me word they are very pretty,\nand that one of them is going to be married to Mr. Willoughby of Combe\nMagna. Is it true, pray? for of course you must know, as you have been\nin Devonshire so lately.'\" \"And what did the Colonel say?\" \"Oh--he did not say much; but he looked as if he knew it to be true, so\nfrom that moment I set it down as certain. It will be quite\ndelightful, I declare! When is it to take place?\" \"Mr. Brandon was very well I hope?\" \"Oh! yes, quite well; and so full of your praises, he did nothing but\nsay fine things of you.\" \"I am flattered by his commendation. He seems an excellent man; and I\nthink him uncommonly pleasing.\" \"So do I.--He is such a charming man, that it is quite a pity he should\nbe so grave and so dull. Mama says HE was in love with your sister\ntoo.-- I assure you it was a great compliment if he was, for he hardly\never falls in love with any body.\" \"Is Mr. Willoughby much known in your part of Somersetshire?\" said\nElinor. \"Oh! yes, extremely well; that is, I do not believe many people are\nacquainted with him, because Combe Magna is so far off; but they all\nthink him extremely agreeable I assure you. Nobody is more liked than\nMr. Willoughby wherever he goes, and so you may tell your sister. She\nis a monstrous lucky girl to get him, upon my honour; not but that he\nis much more lucky in getting her, because she is so very handsome and\nagreeable, that nothing can be good enough for her. However, I don't\nthink her hardly at all handsomer than you, I assure you; for I think\nyou both excessively pretty, and so does Mr. Palmer too I am sure,\nthough we could not get him to own it last night.\" Mrs. Palmer's information respecting Willoughby was not very material;\nbut any testimony in his favour, however small, was pleasing to her. \"I am so glad we are got acquainted at last,\" continued\nCharlotte.--\"And now I hope we shall always be great friends. You\ncan't think how much I longed to see you! It is so delightful that you\nshould live at the cottage! Nothing can be like it, to be sure! And I\nam so glad your sister is going to be well married! I hope you will be\na great deal at Combe Magna. It is a sweet place, by all accounts.\" \"You have been long acquainted with Colonel Brandon, have not you?\" \"Yes, a great while; ever since my sister married.-- He was a\nparticular friend of Sir John's. I believe,\" she added in a low voice,\n\"he would have been very glad to have had me, if he could. Sir John\nand Lady Middleton wished it very much. But mama did not think the\nmatch good enough for me, otherwise Sir John would have mentioned it to\nthe Colonel, and we should have been married immediately.\" \"Did not Colonel Brandon know of Sir John's proposal to your mother\nbefore it was made? Had he never owned his affection to yourself?\" \"Oh, no; but if mama had not objected to it, I dare say he would have\nliked it of all things. He had not seen me then above twice, for it\nwas before I left school. However, I am much happier as I am. Mr.\nPalmer is the kind of man I like.\" The Palmers returned to Cleveland the next day, and the two families at\nBarton were again left to entertain each other. But this did not last\nlong; Elinor had hardly got their last visitors out of her head, had\nhardly done wondering at Charlotte's being so happy without a cause, at\nMr. Palmer's acting so simply, with good abilities, and at the strange\nunsuitableness which often existed between husband and wife, before Sir\nJohn's and Mrs. Jennings's active zeal in the cause of society,\nprocured her some other new acquaintance to see and observe. In a morning's excursion to Exeter, they had met with two young ladies,\nwhom Mrs. Jennings had the satisfaction of discovering to be her\nrelations, and this was enough for Sir John to invite them directly to\nthe park, as soon as their present engagements at Exeter were over. Their engagements at Exeter instantly gave way before such an\ninvitation, and Lady Middleton was thrown into no little alarm on the\nreturn of Sir John, by hearing that she was very soon to receive a\nvisit from two girls whom she had never seen in her life, and of whose\nelegance,--whose tolerable gentility even, she could have no proof; for\nthe assurances of her husband and mother on that subject went for\nnothing at all. Their being her relations too made it so much the\nworse; and Mrs. Jennings's attempts at consolation were therefore\nunfortunately founded, when she advised her daughter not to care about\ntheir being so fashionable; because they were all cousins and must put\nup with one another. As it was impossible, however, now to prevent\ntheir coming, Lady Middleton resigned herself to the idea of it, with\nall the philosophy of a well-bred woman, contenting herself with merely\ngiving her husband a gentle reprimand on the subject five or six times\nevery day. The young ladies arrived: their appearance was by no means ungenteel or\nunfashionable. Their dress was very smart, their manners very civil,\nthey were delighted with the house, and in raptures with the furniture,\nand they happened to be so doatingly fond of children that Lady\nMiddleton's good opinion was engaged in their favour before they had\nbeen an hour at the Park. She declared them to be very agreeable girls\nindeed, which for her ladyship was enthusiastic admiration. Sir John's\nconfidence in his own judgment rose with this animated praise, and he\nset off directly for the cottage to tell the Miss Dashwoods of the Miss\nSteeles' arrival, and to assure them of their being the sweetest girls\nin the world. From such commendation as this, however, there was not\nmuch to be learned; Elinor well knew that the sweetest girls in the\nworld were to be met with in every part of England, under every\npossible variation of form, face, temper and understanding. Sir John\nwanted the whole family to walk to the Park directly and look at his\nguests. Benevolent, philanthropic man! It was painful to him even to\nkeep a third cousin to himself.\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 2024-01-07 The user is reading a book]\n<User> \"Do come now,\" said he--\"pray come--you must come--I declare you shall\ncome--You can't think how you will like them. Lucy is monstrous\npretty, and so good humoured and agreeable! The children are all\nhanging about her already, as if she was an old acquaintance. And they\nboth long to see you of all things, for they have heard at Exeter that\nyou are the most beautiful creatures in the world; and I have told them\nit is all very true, and a great deal more. You will be delighted with\nthem I am sure. They have brought the whole coach full of playthings\nfor the children. How can you be so cross as not to come? Why they\nare your cousins, you know, after a fashion. YOU are my cousins, and\nthey are my wife's, so you must be related.\" But Sir John could not prevail. He could only obtain a promise of\ntheir calling at the Park within a day or two, and then left them in\namazement at their indifference, to walk home and boast anew of their\nattractions to the Miss Steeles, as he had been already boasting of the\nMiss Steeles to them. When their promised visit to the Park and consequent introduction to\nthese young ladies took place, they found in the appearance of the\neldest, who was nearly thirty, with a very plain and not a sensible\nface, nothing to admire; but in the other, who was not more than two or\nthree and twenty, they acknowledged considerable beauty; her features\nwere pretty, and she had a sharp quick eye, and a smartness of air,\nwhich though it did not give actual elegance or grace, gave distinction\nto her person.-- Their manners were particularly civil, and Elinor soon\nallowed them credit for some kind of sense, when she saw with what\nconstant and judicious attention they were making themselves agreeable\nto Lady Middleton. With her children they were in continual raptures,\nextolling their beauty, courting their notice, and humouring their\nwhims; and such of their time as could be spared from the importunate\ndemands which this politeness made on it, was spent in admiration of\nwhatever her ladyship was doing, if she happened to be doing any thing,\nor in taking patterns of some elegant new dress, in which her\nappearance the day before had thrown them into unceasing delight. Fortunately for those who pay their court through such foibles, a fond\nmother, though, in pursuit of praise for her children, the most\nrapacious of human beings, is likewise the most credulous; her demands\nare exorbitant; but she will swallow any thing; and the excessive\naffection and endurance of the Miss Steeles towards her offspring were\nviewed therefore by Lady Middleton without the smallest surprise or\ndistrust. She saw with maternal complacency all the impertinent\nencroachments and mischievous tricks to which her cousins submitted. She saw their sashes untied, their hair pulled about their ears, their\nwork-bags searched, and their knives and scissors stolen away, and felt\nno doubt of its being a reciprocal enjoyment. It suggested no other\nsurprise than that Elinor and Marianne should sit so composedly by,\nwithout claiming a share in what was passing. \"John is in such spirits today!\" said she, on his taking Miss Steeles's\npocket handkerchief, and throwing it out of window--\"He is full of\nmonkey tricks.\" And soon afterwards, on the second boy's violently pinching one of the\nsame lady's fingers, she fondly observed, \"How playful William is!\" \"And here is my sweet little Annamaria,\" she added, tenderly caressing\na little girl of three years old, who had not made a noise for the last\ntwo minutes; \"And she is always so gentle and quiet--Never was there\nsuch a quiet little thing!\" But unfortunately in bestowing these embraces, a pin in her ladyship's\nhead dress slightly scratching the child's neck, produced from this\npattern of gentleness such violent screams, as could hardly be outdone\nby any creature professedly noisy. The mother's consternation was\nexcessive; but it could not surpass the alarm of the Miss Steeles, and\nevery thing was done by all three, in so critical an emergency, which\naffection could suggest as likely to assuage the agonies of the little\nsufferer. She was seated in her mother's lap, covered with kisses, her\nwound bathed with lavender-water, by one of the Miss Steeles, who was\non her knees to attend her, and her mouth stuffed with sugar plums by\nthe other. With such a reward for her tears, the child was too wise to\ncease crying. She still screamed and sobbed lustily, kicked her two\nbrothers for offering to touch her, and all their united soothings were\nineffectual till Lady Middleton luckily remembering that in a scene of\nsimilar distress last week, some apricot marmalade had been\nsuccessfully applied for a bruised temple, the same remedy was eagerly\nproposed for this unfortunate scratch, and a slight intermission of\nscreams in the young lady on hearing it, gave them reason to hope that\nit would not be rejected.-- She was carried out of the room therefore\nin her mother's arms, in quest of this medicine, and as the two boys\nchose to follow, though earnestly entreated by their mother to stay\nbehind, the four young ladies were left in a quietness which the room\nhad not known for many hours. \"Poor little creatures!\" said Miss Steele, as soon as they were gone. \"It might have been a very sad accident.\" \"Yet I hardly know how,\" cried Marianne, \"unless it had been under\ntotally different circumstances. But this is the usual way of\nheightening alarm, where there is nothing to be alarmed at in reality.\" \"What a sweet woman Lady Middleton is!\" said Lucy Steele. Marianne was silent; it was impossible for her to say what she did not\nfeel, however trivial the occasion; and upon Elinor therefore the whole\ntask of telling lies when politeness required it, always fell. She did\nher best when thus called on, by speaking of Lady Middleton with more\nwarmth than she felt, though with far less than Miss Lucy. \"And Sir John too,\" cried the elder sister, \"what a charming man he is!\" Here too, Miss Dashwood's commendation, being only simple and just,\ncame in without any eclat. She merely observed that he was perfectly\ngood humoured and friendly. \"And what a charming little family they have! I never saw such fine\nchildren in my life.--I declare I quite doat upon them already, and\nindeed I am always distractedly fond of children.\" \"I should guess so,\" said Elinor, with a smile, \"from what I have\nwitnessed this morning.\" \"I have a notion,\" said Lucy, \"you think the little Middletons rather\ntoo much indulged; perhaps they may be the outside of enough; but it is\nso natural in Lady Middleton; and for my part, I love to see children\nfull of life and spirits; I cannot bear them if they are tame and\nquiet.\" \"I confess,\" replied Elinor, \"that while I am at Barton Park, I never\nthink of tame and quiet children with any abhorrence.\" A short pause succeeded this speech, which was first broken by Miss\nSteele, who seemed very much disposed for conversation, and who now\nsaid rather abruptly, \"And how do you like Devonshire, Miss Dashwood? I suppose you were very sorry to leave Sussex.\" In some surprise at the familiarity of this question, or at least of\nthe manner in which it was spoken, Elinor replied that she was. \"Norland is a prodigious beautiful place, is not it?\" added Miss Steele. \"We have heard Sir John admire it excessively,\" said Lucy, who seemed\nto think some apology necessary for the freedom of her sister. \"I think every one MUST admire it,\" replied Elinor, \"who ever saw the\nplace; though it is not to be supposed that any one can estimate its\nbeauties as we do.\" \"And had you a great many smart beaux there? I suppose you have not so\nmany in this part of the world; for my part, I think they are a vast\naddition always.\" \"But why should you think,\" said Lucy, looking ashamed of her sister,\n\"that there are not as many genteel young men in Devonshire as Sussex?\" \"Nay, my dear, I'm sure I don't pretend to say that there an't. I'm\nsure there's a vast many smart beaux in Exeter; but you know, how could\nI tell what smart beaux there might be about Norland; and I was only\nafraid the Miss Dashwoods might find it dull at Barton, if they had not\nso many as they used to have. But perhaps you young ladies may not\ncare about the beaux, and had as lief be without them as with them. For my part, I think they are vastly agreeable, provided they dress\nsmart and behave civil. But I can't bear to see them dirty and nasty.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-07, 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> Now there's Mr. Rose at Exeter, a prodigious smart young man, quite a\nbeau, clerk to Mr. Simpson, you know, and yet if you do but meet him of\na morning, he is not fit to be seen.-- I suppose your brother was quite\na beau, Miss Dashwood, before he married, as he was so rich?\" \"Upon my word,\" replied Elinor, \"I cannot tell you, for I do not\nperfectly comprehend the meaning of the word. But this I can say, that\nif he ever was a beau before he married, he is one still for there is\nnot the smallest alteration in him.\" \"Oh! dear! one never thinks of married men's being beaux--they have\nsomething else to do.\" \"Lord! Anne,\" cried her sister, \"you can talk of nothing but\nbeaux;--you will make Miss Dashwood believe you think of nothing else.\" And then to turn the discourse, she began admiring the house and the\nfurniture. This specimen of the Miss Steeles was enough. The vulgar freedom and\nfolly of the eldest left her no recommendation, and as Elinor was not\nblinded by the beauty, or the shrewd look of the youngest, to her want\nof real elegance and artlessness, she left the house without any wish\nof knowing them better. Not so the Miss Steeles.--They came from Exeter, well provided with\nadmiration for the use of Sir John Middleton, his family, and all his\nrelations, and no niggardly proportion was now dealt out to his fair\ncousins, whom they declared to be the most beautiful, elegant,\naccomplished, and agreeable girls they had ever beheld, and with whom\nthey were particularly anxious to be better acquainted.-- And to be\nbetter acquainted therefore, Elinor soon found was their inevitable\nlot, for as Sir John was entirely on the side of the Miss Steeles,\ntheir party would be too strong for opposition, and that kind of\nintimacy must be submitted to, which consists of sitting an hour or two\ntogether in the same room almost every day. Sir John could do no more;\nbut he did not know that any more was required: to be together was, in\nhis opinion, to be intimate, and while his continual schemes for their\nmeeting were effectual, he had not a doubt of their being established\nfriends. To do him justice, he did every thing in his power to promote their\nunreserve, by making the Miss Steeles acquainted with whatever he knew\nor supposed of his cousins' situations in the most delicate\nparticulars,--and Elinor had not seen them more than twice, before the\neldest of them wished her joy on her sister's having been so lucky as\nto make a conquest of a very smart beau since she came to Barton. \"'Twill be a fine thing to have her married so young to be sure,\" said\nshe, \"and I hear he is quite a beau, and prodigious handsome. And I\nhope you may have as good luck yourself soon,--but perhaps you may have\na friend in the corner already.\" Elinor could not suppose that Sir John would be more nice in\nproclaiming his suspicions of her regard for Edward, than he had been\nwith respect to Marianne; indeed it was rather his favourite joke of\nthe two, as being somewhat newer and more conjectural; and since\nEdward's visit, they had never dined together without his drinking to\nher best affections with so much significancy and so many nods and\nwinks, as to excite general attention. The letter F--had been likewise\ninvariably brought forward, and found productive of such countless\njokes, that its character as the wittiest letter in the alphabet had\nbeen long established with Elinor. The Miss Steeles, as she expected, had now all the benefit of these\njokes, and in the eldest of them they raised a curiosity to know the\nname of the gentleman alluded to, which, though often impertinently\nexpressed, was perfectly of a piece with her general inquisitiveness\ninto the concerns of their family. But Sir John did not sport long\nwith the curiosity which he delighted to raise, for he had at least as\nmuch pleasure in telling the name, as Miss Steele had in hearing it. \"His name is Ferrars,\" said he, in a very audible whisper; \"but pray do\nnot tell it, for it's a great secret.\" \"Ferrars!\" repeated Miss Steele; \"Mr. Ferrars is the happy man, is he? What! your sister-in-law's brother, Miss Dashwood? a very agreeable\nyoung man to be sure; I know him very well.\" \"How can you say so, Anne?\" cried Lucy, who generally made an amendment\nto all her sister's assertions. \"Though we have seen him once or twice\nat my uncle's, it is rather too much to pretend to know him very well.\" Elinor heard all this with attention and surprise. \"And who was this\nuncle? Where did he live? How came they acquainted?\" She wished very\nmuch to have the subject continued, though she did not chuse to join in\nit herself; but nothing more of it was said, and for the first time in\nher life, she thought Mrs. Jennings deficient either in curiosity after\npetty information, or in a disposition to communicate it. The manner\nin which Miss Steele had spoken of Edward, increased her curiosity; for\nit struck her as being rather ill-natured, and suggested the suspicion\nof that lady's knowing, or fancying herself to know something to his\ndisadvantage.--But her curiosity was unavailing, for no farther notice\nwas taken of Mr. Ferrars's name by Miss Steele when alluded to, or even\nopenly mentioned by Sir John. Marianne, who had never much toleration for any thing like\nimpertinence, vulgarity, inferiority of parts, or even difference of\ntaste from herself, was at this time particularly ill-disposed, from\nthe state of her spirits, to be pleased with the Miss Steeles, or to\nencourage their advances; and to the invariable coldness of her\nbehaviour towards them, which checked every endeavour at intimacy on\ntheir side, Elinor principally attributed that preference of herself\nwhich soon became evident in the manners of both, but especially of\nLucy, who missed no opportunity of engaging her in conversation, or of\nstriving to improve their acquaintance by an easy and frank\ncommunication of her sentiments. Lucy was naturally clever; her remarks were often just and amusing; and\nas a companion for half an hour Elinor frequently found her agreeable;\nbut her powers had received no aid from education: she was ignorant and\nilliterate; and her deficiency of all mental improvement, her want of\ninformation in the most common particulars, could not be concealed from\nMiss Dashwood, in spite of her constant endeavour to appear to\nadvantage. Elinor saw, and pitied her for, the neglect of abilities\nwhich education might have rendered so respectable; but she saw, with\nless tenderness of feeling, the thorough want of delicacy, of\nrectitude, and integrity of mind, which her attentions, her\nassiduities, her flatteries at the Park betrayed; and she could have no\nlasting satisfaction in the company of a person who joined insincerity\nwith ignorance; whose want of instruction prevented their meeting in\nconversation on terms of equality, and whose conduct toward others made\nevery shew of attention and deference towards herself perfectly\nvalueless. \"You will think my question an odd one, I dare say,\" said Lucy to her\none day, as they were walking together from the park to the\ncottage--\"but pray, are you personally acquainted with your\nsister-in-law's mother, Mrs. Ferrars?\" Elinor DID think the question a very odd one, and her countenance\nexpressed it, as she answered that she had never seen Mrs. Ferrars. \"Indeed!\" replied Lucy; \"I wonder at that, for I thought you must have\nseen her at Norland sometimes. Then, perhaps, you cannot tell me what\nsort of a woman she is?\" \"No,\" returned Elinor, cautious of giving her real opinion of Edward's\nmother, and not very desirous of satisfying what seemed impertinent\ncuriosity-- \"I know nothing of her.\" \"I am sure you think me very strange, for enquiring about her in such a\nway,\" said Lucy, eyeing Elinor attentively as she spoke; \"but perhaps\nthere may be reasons--I wish I might venture; but however I hope you\nwill do me the justice of believing that I do not mean to be\nimpertinent.\" Elinor made her a civil reply, and they walked on for a few minutes in\nsilence. It was broken by Lucy, who renewed the subject again by\nsaying, with some hesitation,\n\n\"I cannot bear to have you think me impertinently curious. I am sure I\nwould rather do any thing in the world than be thought so by a person\nwhose good opinion is so well worth having as yours.\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.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-11 The user is reading a book]\n<User> And I am sure I\nshould not have the smallest fear of trusting YOU; indeed, I should be\nvery glad of your advice how to manage in such an uncomfortable\nsituation as I am; but, however, there is no occasion to trouble YOU. I am sorry you do not happen to know Mrs. Ferrars.\" \"I am sorry I do NOT,\" said Elinor, in great astonishment, \"if it could\nbe of any use to YOU to know my opinion of her. But really I never\nunderstood that you were at all connected with that family, and\ntherefore I am a little surprised, I confess, at so serious an inquiry\ninto her character.\" \"I dare say you are, and I am sure I do not at all wonder at it. But\nif I dared tell you all, you would not be so much surprised. Mrs.\nFerrars is certainly nothing to me at present--but the time MAY\ncome--how soon it will come must depend upon herself--when we may be\nvery intimately connected.\" She looked down as she said this, amiably bashful, with only one side\nglance at her companion to observe its effect on her. \"Good heavens!\" cried Elinor, \"what do you mean? Are you acquainted\nwith Mr. Robert Ferrars? Can you be?\" And she did not feel much\ndelighted with the idea of such a sister-in-law. \"No,\" replied Lucy, \"not to Mr. ROBERT Ferrars--I never saw him in my\nlife; but,\" fixing her eyes upon Elinor, \"to his eldest brother.\" What felt Elinor at that moment? Astonishment, that would have been as\npainful as it was strong, had not an immediate disbelief of the\nassertion attended it. She turned towards Lucy in silent amazement,\nunable to divine the reason or object of such a declaration; and though\nher complexion varied, she stood firm in incredulity, and felt in no\ndanger of an hysterical fit, or a swoon. \"You may well be surprised,\" continued Lucy; \"for to be sure you could\nhave had no idea of it before; for I dare say he never dropped the\nsmallest hint of it to you or any of your family; because it was always\nmeant to be a great secret, and I am sure has been faithfully kept so\nby me to this hour. Not a soul of all my relations know of it but\nAnne, and I never should have mentioned it to you, if I had not felt\nthe greatest dependence in the world upon your secrecy; and I really\nthought my behaviour in asking so many questions about Mrs. Ferrars\nmust seem so odd, that it ought to be explained. And I do not think\nMr. Ferrars can be displeased, when he knows I have trusted you,\nbecause I know he has the highest opinion in the world of all your\nfamily, and looks upon yourself and the other Miss Dashwoods quite as\nhis own sisters.\" --She paused. Elinor for a few moments remained silent. Her astonishment at what she\nheard was at first too great for words; but at length forcing herself\nto speak, and to speak cautiously, she said, with calmness of manner,\nwhich tolerably well concealed her surprise and solicitude-- \"May I ask\nif your engagement is of long standing?\" \"We have been engaged these four years.\" \"Four years!\" \"Yes.\" Elinor, though greatly shocked, still felt unable to believe it. \"I did not know,\" said she, \"that you were even acquainted till the\nother day.\" \"Our acquaintance, however, is of many years date. He was under my\nuncle's care, you know, a considerable while.\" \"Your uncle!\" \"Yes; Mr. Pratt. Did you never hear him talk of Mr. Pratt?\" \"I think I have,\" replied Elinor, with an exertion of spirits, which\nincreased with her increase of emotion. \"He was four years with my uncle, who lives at Longstaple, near\nPlymouth. It was there our acquaintance begun, for my sister and me\nwas often staying with my uncle, and it was there our engagement was\nformed, though not till a year after he had quitted as a pupil; but he\nwas almost always with us afterwards. I was very unwilling to enter\ninto it, as you may imagine, without the knowledge and approbation of\nhis mother; but I was too young, and loved him too well, to be so\nprudent as I ought to have been.-- Though you do not know him so well\nas me, Miss Dashwood, you must have seen enough of him to be sensible\nhe is very capable of making a woman sincerely attached to him.\" \"Certainly,\" answered Elinor, without knowing what she said; but after\na moment's reflection, she added, with revived security of Edward's\nhonour and love, and her companion's falsehood--\"Engaged to Mr. Edward\nFerrars!--I confess myself so totally surprised at what you tell me,\nthat really--I beg your pardon; but surely there must be some mistake\nof person or name. We cannot mean the same Mr. Ferrars.\" \"We can mean no other,\" cried Lucy, smiling. \"Mr. Edward Ferrars, the\neldest son of Mrs. Ferrars, of Park Street, and brother of your\nsister-in-law, Mrs. John Dashwood, is the person I mean; you must allow\nthat I am not likely to be deceived as to the name of the man on who\nall my happiness depends.\" \"It is strange,\" replied Elinor, in a most painful perplexity, \"that I\nshould never have heard him even mention your name.\" \"No; considering our situation, it was not strange. Our first care has\nbeen to keep the matter secret.-- You knew nothing of me, or my family,\nand, therefore, there could be no OCCASION for ever mentioning my name\nto you; and, as he was always particularly afraid of his sister's\nsuspecting any thing, THAT was reason enough for his not mentioning it.\" She was silent.--Elinor's security sunk; but her self-command did not\nsink with it. \"Four years you have been engaged,\" said she with a firm voice. \"Yes; and heaven knows how much longer we may have to wait. Poor\nEdward! It puts him quite out of heart.\" Then taking a small miniature\nfrom her pocket, she added, \"To prevent the possibility of mistake, be\nso good as to look at this face. It does not do him justice, to be\nsure, but yet I think you cannot be deceived as to the person it was\ndrew for.--I have had it above these three years.\" She put it into her hands as she spoke; and when Elinor saw the\npainting, whatever other doubts her fear of a too hasty decision, or\nher wish of detecting falsehood might suffer to linger in her mind, she\ncould have none of its being Edward's face. She returned it almost\ninstantly, acknowledging the likeness. \"I have never been able,\" continued Lucy, \"to give him my picture in\nreturn, which I am very much vexed at, for he has been always so\nanxious to get it! But I am determined to set for it the very first\nopportunity.\" \"You are quite in the right,\" replied Elinor calmly. They then\nproceeded a few paces in silence. Lucy spoke first. \"I am sure,\" said she, \"I have no doubt in the world of your faithfully\nkeeping this secret, because you must know of what importance it is to\nus, not to have it reach his mother; for she would never approve of it,\nI dare say. I shall have no fortune, and I fancy she is an exceeding\nproud woman.\" \"I certainly did not seek your confidence,\" said Elinor; \"but you do me\nno more than justice in imagining that I may be depended on. Your\nsecret is safe with me; but pardon me if I express some surprise at so\nunnecessary a communication. You must at least have felt that my being\nacquainted with it could not add to its safety.\" As she said this, she looked earnestly at Lucy, hoping to discover\nsomething in her countenance; perhaps the falsehood of the greatest\npart of what she had been saying; but Lucy's countenance suffered no\nchange. \"I was afraid you would think I was taking a great liberty with you,\"\nsaid she, \"in telling you all this. I have not known you long to be\nsure, personally at least, but I have known you and all your family by\ndescription a great while; and as soon as I saw you, I felt almost as\nif you was an old acquaintance. Besides in the present case, I really\nthought some explanation was due to you after my making such particular\ninquiries about Edward's mother; and I am so unfortunate, that I have\nnot a creature whose advice I can ask. Anne is the only person that\nknows of it, and she has no judgment at all; indeed, she does me a\ngreat deal more harm than good, for I am in constant fear of her\nbetraying me.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-11, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-12 The user is reading a book]\n<User> She does not know how to hold her tongue, as you must\nperceive, and I am sure I was in the greatest fright in the world\nt'other day, when Edward's name was mentioned by Sir John, lest she\nshould out with it all. You can't think how much I go through in my\nmind from it altogether. I only wonder that I am alive after what I\nhave suffered for Edward's sake these last four years. Every thing in\nsuch suspense and uncertainty; and seeing him so seldom--we can hardly\nmeet above twice a-year. I am sure I wonder my heart is not quite\nbroke.\" Here she took out her handkerchief; but Elinor did not feel very\ncompassionate. \"Sometimes.\" continued Lucy, after wiping her eyes, \"I think whether it\nwould not be better for us both to break off the matter entirely.\" As\nshe said this, she looked directly at her companion. \"But then at\nother times I have not resolution enough for it.-- I cannot bear the\nthoughts of making him so miserable, as I know the very mention of such\na thing would do. And on my own account too--so dear as he is to me--I\ndon't think I could be equal to it. What would you advise me to do in\nsuch a case, Miss Dashwood? What would you do yourself?\" \"Pardon me,\" replied Elinor, startled by the question; \"but I can give\nyou no advice under such circumstances. Your own judgment must direct\nyou.\" \"To be sure,\" continued Lucy, after a few minutes silence on both\nsides, \"his mother must provide for him sometime or other; but poor\nEdward is so cast down by it! Did you not think him dreadful\nlow-spirited when he was at Barton? He was so miserable when he left\nus at Longstaple, to go to you, that I was afraid you would think him\nquite ill.\"\n\n\"Did he come from your uncle's, then, when he visited us?\" \"Oh, yes; he had been staying a fortnight with us. Did you think he\ncame directly from town?\" \"No,\" replied Elinor, most feelingly sensible of every fresh\ncircumstance in favour of Lucy's veracity; \"I remember he told us, that\nhe had been staying a fortnight with some friends near Plymouth.\" She\nremembered too, her own surprise at the time, at his mentioning nothing\nfarther of those friends, at his total silence with respect even to\ntheir names. \"Did not you think him sadly out of spirits?\" repeated Lucy. \"We did, indeed, particularly so when he first arrived.\" \"I begged him to exert himself for fear you should suspect what was the\nmatter; but it made him so melancholy, not being able to stay more than\na fortnight with us, and seeing me so much affected.-- Poor fellow!--I\nam afraid it is just the same with him now; for he writes in wretched\nspirits. I heard from him just before I left Exeter;\" taking a letter\nfrom her pocket and carelessly showing the direction to Elinor. \"You\nknow his hand, I dare say, a charming one it is; but that is not\nwritten so well as usual.--He was tired, I dare say, for he had just\nfilled the sheet to me as full as possible.\" Elinor saw that it WAS his hand, and she could doubt no longer. This\npicture, she had allowed herself to believe, might have been\naccidentally obtained; it might not have been Edward's gift; but a\ncorrespondence between them by letter, could subsist only under a\npositive engagement, could be authorised by nothing else; for a few\nmoments, she was almost overcome--her heart sunk within her, and she\ncould hardly stand; but exertion was indispensably necessary; and she\nstruggled so resolutely against the oppression of her feelings, that\nher success was speedy, and for the time complete. \"Writing to each other,\" said Lucy, returning the letter into her\npocket, \"is the only comfort we have in such long separations. Yes, I\nhave one other comfort in his picture, but poor Edward has not even\nTHAT. If he had but my picture, he says he should be easy. I gave him\na lock of my hair set in a ring when he was at Longstaple last, and\nthat was some comfort to him, he said, but not equal to a picture. Perhaps you might notice the ring when you saw him?\" \"I did,\" said Elinor, with a composure of voice, under which was\nconcealed an emotion and distress beyond any thing she had ever felt\nbefore. She was mortified, shocked, confounded. Fortunately for her, they had now reached the cottage, and the\nconversation could be continued no farther. After sitting with them a\nfew minutes, the Miss Steeles returned to the Park, and Elinor was then\nat liberty to think and be wretched. [At this point in the first and second editions, Volume 1 ends.]\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-12, 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 2024-01-12", "answer": "Mrs. Palmer, Dashwood sisters, Elinor, Marianne, Mr. Palmer, Cleveland, Christmas invitation, Willoughby, Combe, Colonel Brandon, town, attachment rumor, marriage speculation, Sir John Middleton, Anne Steele, Lucy Steele, Exeter, Barton, Lady Middleton, Edward Ferrars, Robert Ferrars, Mrs. Ferrars, secret engagement, Plymouth, ring with hair, concealed relationship, lack of fortune, grief, friendship ties, clever but ill-read, teasing, disappointment, social class, genteel young men"}]