Nodiver d.o.o. · Pride & Prejudice · page 52 of 640

Pride & Prejudice – page 52

Chapter 7

Mr. Bennet’s property consisted almost entirely in an

estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for

his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on

a distant relation; and their mother’s fortune, though

ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the

deficiency of his. Her father had been an attorney in

Meryton, and had left her four thousand pounds.

She had a sister married to a Mr. Phillips, who

had been a clerk to their father and succeeded him

in the business, and a brother settled in London in a

respectable line of trade.

The village of Longbourn was only one mile from

Meryton; a most convenient distance for the young

ladies, who were usually tempted thither three or four

times a week, to pay their duty to their aunt and to

a milliner’s shop just over the way. The two youngest