He is to be married next month, or soon after, and he is to bring Miss Harriet to Meryton. She is not much older than I am, and Mama said if he had not been spoken for already she was sure Colonel Forster would have proposed to me. I wonder what his wife will be like. I hope she will be fond of dancing and give lots of balls.

Lizzy has not been so lucky. Mr Wickham has deserted her for Mary King—nasty freckled thing—just because Miss King inherited ten thousand pounds. I am sure I cannot blame Miss King for wanting him, he is ever so handsome, but I wish Lizzy could inherit ten thousand pounds and then she could have him. Or even better I could inherit it and then I could be Mrs Wickham! I will be sixteen in June and I hope to be married soon after. What fun it would be to be married before my sisters, and to be married to someone as handsome as Mr Wickham!

Kitty sends her love but is too busy to write as she is trimming her bonnet.

Your good friend,

Lydia


Miss Eleanor Sotherton to Miss Lydia Bennet

Bath, January 20

I wish we had some officers here, everyone is ancient, at least a hundred, and they talk of nothing but their gout, all except my sister Susan, who is newly engaged to Mr Wainwright. He is very handsome and very rich and I wish he had a brother for me to marry but he has only three sisters.

Frederick is surprisingly sober. Lucy is as prosy as ever. She is busy reading a novel which she insists is a history book. She is making extracts from it and then making notes on the extracts, just as if it were a learned work. She thinks it is a treatise on the iniquities of the Catholic Church and the causes of the French Revolution, when it is nothing but a story about a girl whose wicked father has locked her mother in the catacombs so that he can marry someone else. But at least it is better than her sermonizing and telling us to study all the time.

Hurry up and marry someone and then invite me to stay. If I have to live in Bath much longer I will die of boredom.

What is Kitty doing to her bonnet?

Your devoted friend,

Ellie


Miss Jane Bennet to Miss Elizabeth Bennet

Gracechurch Street, London,

January 22

My dearest Lizzy will, I am sure, be incapable of triumphing in her better judgment, at my expense, when I confess myself to have been entirely deceived in Miss Bingley’s regard for me. But, my dear sister, though the event has proved you right, do not think me obstinate if I still assert that, considering what her behaviour was, my confidence was as natural as your suspicion. I do not at all comprehend her reason for wishing to be intimate with me; but if the same circumstances were to happen again, I am sure I should be deceived again.

Caroline did not return my visit till yesterday; and not a note, not a line, did I receive in the meantime. When she did come, it was very evident that she had no pleasure in it; she made a slight, formal apology for not calling before, said not a word of wishing to see me again, and was in every respect so altered a creature, that when she went away, I was perfectly resolved to continue the acquaintance no longer. I pity her, though I cannot help blaming her. She was very wrong in singling me out as she did; I can safely say that every advance to intimacy began on her side. But I pity her, because she must feel that she has been acting wrong, and because I am very sure that anxiety for her brother is the cause of it. I need not explain myself further; and though we know this anxiety to be quite needless, yet if she feels it, it will easily account for her behaviour to me; and so deservedly dear as he is to his sister, whatever anxiety she may feel on his behalf is natural and amiable.

I cannot but wonder, however, at her having any such fears now, because if he had at all cared about me, we must have met long, long ago. He knows of my being in town, I am certain, from something she said herself; and yet it would seem, by her manner of talking, as if she wanted to persuade herself that he is really partial to Miss Darcy. I cannot understand it. If I were not afraid of judging harshly, I should be almost tempted to say that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this. But I will endeavour to banish every painful thought, and think only of what will make me happy—your affection, and the invariable kindness of my dear uncle and aunt. Let me hear from you very soon.

Miss Bingley said something of his never returning to Netherfield again, of giving up the house, but not with any certainty. We had better not mention it. I am extremely glad that you have such pleasant accounts from our friends at Hunsford. Pray remember me to them, and do go to see them, with Sir William and Maria. I am sure you will be very comfortable there.

Yours truly,

Jane


Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Charlotte Collins

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

January 22

My dear Charlotte,

I am commanded to send you my sister Jane’s best wishes, and I do so gladly, knowing that you will be happy to receive them. Mr Bingley, alas, is not so willing to receive them, or rather, I suspect, his sister is determined that he should not have them. Jane has been three weeks now in London and has finally seen through Miss Bingley’s protestations of friendship, having been treated coldly and with incivility. Miss Bingley wishes her brother to marry Miss Darcy, and she is determined that Jane shall not come between them. From everything Mr Wickham has said of Miss Darcy, she will make him abundantly regret what he has thrown away in Jane, being an imperious girl, every bit as proud and disagreeable as her brother.

It seems that everyone is playing us false this New Year, when at the end of last year everything seemed so promising: Jane unhappy, and my own situation not much better, though I believe I have a temperament which can better bear the loss. Mr Wickham has become less and less attentive, and although my head applauds this turn of events, my affections cannot be so triumphant. I still think him one of the most charming young men of my acquaintance, but his poverty has caused him to transfer his attentions to Miss King, who has recently inherited ten thousand pounds. It is an inducement, is it not? Though I believe that I would have been his choice had his fortune permitted it.

I am looking forward to visiting you in March.

Your friend,

Lizzy


Mrs Gardiner to Miss Elizabeth Bennet

Gracechurch Street, London,

January 22

My dear Lizzy,

I know you have heard from Jane, and so you are aware that Miss Bingley has been a false friend to your sister, and that Jane does not intend to see Caroline again. I cannot say that I am sorry. It would have been very difficult for the two young women to be friends when the spectre of the brother’s previous affection lay between them. And even if this were not the case, I would not like Miss Bingley as a friend for Jane; she is a very cold and supercilious woman. Your sister has now accepted that her intimacy with the Bingleys is at an end.

But what of you? When last we met you promised me you would not encourage your feelings for Mr Wickham. Have you been successful in your endeavour, or is he still a favourite with you? Let me know how you go on.

Your affectionate aunt,

Margaret


Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Gardiner

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

January 24

My dear aunt,

I have that to tell you about Mr Wickham which will please you more than it pleases me: his attentions are at an end. I am now convinced, my dear aunt, that I have never been much in love; for had I really experienced that pure and elevating passion, I should at present detest his very name, and wish him all manner of evil. But my feelings are not only cordial towards him, they are even impartial towards Miss King, to whom he has transferred his affections.

I cannot find out that I hate her at all, or that I am in the least unwilling to think her a very good sort of girl. There can be no love in all this. My watchfulness has been effectual; and though I should certainly be a more interesting object to all my acquaintance were I distractedly in love with him, I cannot say that I regret my comparative insignificance. Importance may sometimes be purchased too dearly.

Kitty and Lydia take his defection much more to heart than I do. They are young in the ways of the world, and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain.

Your loving niece,

Lizzy

FEBRUARY

Mr Charles Bingley to Mrs Bingley

Bath, February 10

Dearest Ma,

Caroline said that I looked seedy, she thought London was not doing me good and she persuaded me to take a house in Bath, so here we are. Upon my honour it is lively enough but somehow the concerts and amusements do not entertain me as much as I thought they would. I am glad you are coming to stay with us; I am looking forward to seeing you again and you must stay until Easter.

I thought of going back to Netherfield Park next month but as I would have to see Miss Bennet again, and as Darcy and Caroline assure me that Miss Bennet had no affection for me, I have decided against it. I think it would be hard to be with her and know that she did not care for me. I am not complaining. She is an angel and can do far better I am sure, for I am a very ordinary sort of fellow. Come soon, Ma, you will like it here. If Ned cannot tear himself away from business, then come without him.