“I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should not I call it so?""Very true," said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement—people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word.”

“Temeraire said, 'It is very nice how many books there are, indeed. And on so many subjects!”

“Oh, a sleeping drunkardUp in Central Park,And a lion-hunterIn the jungle dark,And a Chinese dentist, And a British queen--All fit together In the same machine. Nice, nice, very nice;Nice, nice, very nice;Nice, nice, very nice--So many different peopleIn the same device.”

“Nice, nice, very nice-- So many different people in the same device.”

“Nice, nice, very nice.”

“It is amazing to me," said Bingley, "How young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are.""All young ladies accomplished? My dear Charles, what do you mean?""Yes, all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover screens and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time without being informed that she was very accomplished.""Your list of the common extent of accomplishments," said Darcy, "has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse or covering a screen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.""Nor I, I am sure." said Miss Bingley."Then," observed Elizabeth, "you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman.""Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it.""Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant, "no one can really be esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.""All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.""I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder at your knowing any.”

“Jane, last night was” — he raked a hand through his hair — “nice.” Her expression could only be described as crestfallen. “No,”he hurried to say. “Don’t look like that! I didn’t mean ‘nice.’ In fact, it wasn’t nice at all.” Her brows lowered. “No?” “No.I mean, yes! Yes, it was nice, but it was also very, very—” He tried with all of his might to grasp a word that would encompass that heart - pounding exertion that even now was making his balls hum,but to his horror, he heard himself say once again,“ —nice. But really, really, really nice.”