By Elizabeth’s persuasion, he was prevailed on to overlook the offence, and seek a reconciliation; and, after a little farther resistance on the part of his aunt, her resentment gave way, either to her affection for him, or her curiosity to see how his wife conducted herself: and she condescended to wait on them at Pemberley, in spite of that pollution which its woods had received, not merely from the presence of such a mistress, but the visits of her uncle and aunt from the city.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 61. After the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth, Lady Catherine is so angry that she sends her nephew Darcy a letter full of abuse, especially towards Elizabeth. But in the above passage we learn that Elizabeth plays the role of peacemaker and persuades Darcy to seek a reconciliation with his aunt. Lady Catherine "condescends" to visit them at Pemberley in spite of the "pollution" that the great lady had forecast would descend on the place if the lowly Elizabeth married into her family. In her final word on Lady Catherine, Austen mercilessly satirizes upper class snobbery in her deliciously sarcastic and ironic style – as only she can do.
