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GLOSSARY

ASSEMBLY

A community ball or dance held in a public ballroom, as distinct from a private ball held at someone's home.

ENTAIL

The limitation of the inheritance of a landed estate to a specific line of heirs. Usually this meant a male heir, as in the case of Mr. Bennet's estate of Longbourn. The entail can be broken by the heir, on coming of age, voluntarily joining with the owner of the estate in a legal proceeding. An entail may have been laid down in some ancestor's will, generations earlier, as Mrs. Bennet was never able to understand.

IN TRADE

A way of earning one's income that is middle-class but not at as high a level in society as having landed property. "Trade" could mean manufacturing, any form of business or commerce, or the practice of law. A LIVING

Specifically in England, an appointment as rector to a Church of England parish with whatever income was attached to it, including a house called the rectory or parsonage. Jane Austen's father, the Reverend George Austen, held two neighboring and very small livings; his income from them was so small that he was obliged to take in pupils in order to support his large family. A good living, such as several mentioned in Jane Austen's novels, and in particular the living that was in the Darcy family's power to give, might yield a very comfortable income.

MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT

The sum settled on a woman, usually by her spouse or father, when she married. Her children were entitled to share this sum on her death.

WEDDING CLOTHES

The wardrobe and linens that a bride acquires for her married life and household. We use the French word, trousseau, for this. Lydia's wedding clothes are Mrs. Bennet's main concern when she learns that Lydia has eloped.

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