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They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a

circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that

their brother's fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.

Mr. Bingley inherited property to the amount of nearly a hundred

thousand pounds from his father, who had intended to purchase an

estate, but did not live to do it. Mr. Bingley intended it

likewise, and sometimes made choice of his county; but, as he was

now provided with a good house and the liberty of a manor, it was

doubtful to many of those who best knew the easiness of his

temper, whether he might not spend the remainder of his days at

Netherfield, and leave the next generation to purchase.