'I believe this has become something of a tradition,' he said after a while, and handed me a book. 

 'Oh! Good. I'm perfectly willing for this to be a tradition. What is it?'

 'It's called Pride and Prejudice. It was published anonymously in February.'

 'Sounds interesting,' I said and started to read. A couple of pages in, though, I put it down and began to laugh. 

 'What is it?'

 'Did Cecily recommend this book to you?'

 'She did as a matter of fact. What of it?'

 'Only that I think I know where she came up with the idea of a bad attack of nerves!' I read him a relative passage, dealing with Mrs Bennet, which he heard with great enjoyment. 

&nb...

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