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Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen · Opening paragraphs of chapter I

IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

“But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

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Project Gutenberg 1342 · Text extracted from the EPUB edition included in the collection. Original wording retained; line breaks adapted for web reading.

Credits: Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. Original source images: The Internet Archive.

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