Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 35

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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But however this remonstrance might have staggered or delayed his determination, I do not suppose that it would ultimately have prevented the marriage, had it not been seconded by the assurance, which I hesitated not in giving, of your sister’s indifference. He had before believed her to return his affection with sincere, if not with equal, regard. But Bingley has great natural modesty, with a stronger dependence on my judgment than on his own. To convince him, therefore, that he had deceived himself was no very difficult point. To persuade him against returning into Hertfordshire, when that conviction had been given, was scarcely the work of a moment. I cannot blame myself for having done thus much.

Perhaps this concealment, this disguise, was beneath me. It is done, however, and it was done for the best. On this subject I have nothing more to say, no other apology to offer. If I have wounded your sister’s feelings, it was unknowingly done; and though the motives which governed me may to you very naturally appear insufficient, I have not yet learnt to condemn them. With respect to that other, more weighty accusation, of having injured Mr. Wickham, I can only refute it by laying before you the whole of his connection with my family. Of what he has particularly accused me I am ignorant; but of the truth of what I shall relate I can summon more than one witness of undoubted veracity.

Read both passages aloud. Which sentence sounds the least sure of itself?

For the educator Two passages from Darcy’s letter, both from the half about Bingley and Jane; the second runs on into the Wickham half. The first tells how he talked his friend out of the match. Its first sentence opens on a concession, “however this remonstrance might have staggered or delayed”, with a pair of verbs, then reaches its main claim, and closes on a condition turned round to open on “had it not been”. Inside that condition a clause interrupts, “which I hesitated not in giving”, an old word order for “which I did not hesitate to give”, and holds apart “the assurance” and what it was about, “your sister’s indifference”. Here “remonstrance” means a protest made to someone’s face, “staggered” means shook, and “seconded” means backed up. The second sentence slips a qualifier between commas: “sincere, if not with equal, regard”. Then two sentences open the same way, on “To convince him” and “To persuade him”, each with the verb held back to the end, and each ends in an understatement: “no very difficult point”, “scarcely the work of a moment”. The passage closes on a short, flat sentence: “I cannot blame myself for having done thus much.” The second passage turns on the one thing he regrets. It opens by naming the act twice, the second word harsher: “this concealment, this disguise”. The next sentence says “done” twice around a “however”. Then a pair, “nothing more to say, no other apology to offer”. The fourth sentence opens on “If”, sets a concession inside “though”, and ends on “not yet”. The last two sentences move to Wickham. Here “refute” means prove false. The last is balanced across its semicolon, each half opening on what it is about: “Of what he has _particularly_ accused me”, where the edition’s underscores mark a stressed word, and “of the truth of what I shall relate”. One half ends on “ignorant”, the other on “undoubted veracity”, meaning truthfulness beyond doubt. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who picks “Perhaps this concealment, this disguise, was beneath me” for its “Perhaps”; one who picks “He had before believed her to return his affection with sincere, if not with equal, regard” for its qualifier; and one who picks “If I have wounded your sister’s feelings” for its “If”. A strong student may notice that the unsure sentences are about Jane and the surest one, with a witness behind it, is about Wickham.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences. Start with Elizabeth’s walk the morning after, and end with the name at the foot of the letter. Then pick the one sentence that matters most, and say why.

Darcy has been walking in the grove, hoping to meet Elizabeth, yet he hands her a letter and leaves before she reads it. Why not stay and talk? Character
Of Elizabeth’s two charges, Darcy calls parting Jane and Bingley the smaller one. Is he right? Moral reasoning
At the ball, Darcy watched Jane and saw no sign that she loved Bingley. What would Jane have had to do for him to see it? Inference
Keeping Jane’s stay in London from Bingley is the one act Darcy regrets, and he calls it perhaps “beneath me.” What would be different if he had called it wrong? Tone
Darcy tells Elizabeth a secret about his sister, one he says he would wish to forget. Why trust it to her, the morning after she refused him? Character
Darcy’s sister was only fifteen, and he says her age “must be her excuse.” Does he judge Elizabeth’s family by the same rule? Moral reasoning

Make a Connection Think of a time, in your own life or in a book, when someone had to guess another person’s feelings from their face. How could they tell if they had guessed wrong?

Vocabulary

remonstrance: But however this remonstrance might have staggered or delayed his determination, I do not suppose that it would ultimately have prevented the marriage, had it not been seconded by the assurance, which I hesitated not in giving, of your sister’s indifference. A strong protest, made to someone’s face to change their mind (the verb is remonstrate). Darcy’s remonstrance is his argument with Bingley against the match. He says it might only have “staggered or delayed” his friend; what settled it was his own word that Jane did not care. The sentence shows how much rested on that one judgment.
veracity: Of what he has particularly accused me I am ignorant; but of the truth of what I shall relate I can summon more than one witness of undoubted veracity. Truthfulness; the habit of telling the truth (Latin verus, true, as in verify and verdict). Darcy promises “more than one witness of undoubted veracity” for his account of Wickham, and later names Colonel Fitzwilliam. Set beside “witness”, it is the language of a court: in the Wickham half of the letter he argues like a man answering a charge, with witnesses, and in the Jane half he offers none.
propriety: The situation of your mother’s family, though objectionable, was nothing in comparison of that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters, and occasionally even by your father:--pardon me,--it pains me to offend you. Proper behaviour; doing what is fitting and expected in company (related to proper). Darcy says the lower rank of her mother’s family was nothing beside “that total want of propriety”, a lack of fitting behaviour, shown by her mother, her younger sisters and at times her father. It is his heaviest charge against her family, and it is about conduct, not birth.
propensities: The vicious propensities, the want of principle, which he was careful to guard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who had opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments, which Mr. Darcy could not have. Natural leanings or tendencies, usually toward something bad (a propensity is what a person is inclined to do). Darcy says Wickham hid his “vicious propensities” from the old Mr. Darcy, but not from a young man of his own age who saw him “in unguarded moments”. Here, as with Jane, Darcy rests his judgment on what his own eyes saw.
preferment: His own father did not long survive mine; and within half a year from these events Mr. Wickham wrote to inform me that, having finally resolved against taking orders, he hoped I should not think it unreasonable for him to expect some more immediate pecuniary advantage, in lieu of the preferment, by which he could not be benefited. Appointment or promotion to a post, especially a post in the church (from prefer, in its old sense of put forward). The preferment here is the family living the old Mr. Darcy meant for Wickham, a parish with its income. Wickham asks for “pecuniary advantage”, money, “in lieu of”, instead of, the preferment. Darcy sets out the exchange in sums and dates, as evidence.

Critical thinking

Darcy admits he wanted to think Jane did not care, but says the wish did not decide what he believed. Can anyone keep a wish out of a judgment that cleanly?
Darcy says he writes because his “character required it.” Is the letter more an apology to Elizabeth or a defence of himself?