Mr. Wickham was so perfectly satisfied with this conversation, that he never again distressed himself or provoked his dear sister Elizabeth by introducing the subject of it; and she was pleased to find that she had said enough to keep him quiet. (53)

I am not sure if Ch. 52 is the first opportunity for a private conversation with Lizzy or if Wickham found out she had received a letter from Mrs. Gardiner. It is all so coincidental. Anyhow Wickham makes a bee line to a solitary Lizzy when freed from the attentions of Lydia and Mrs. Bennet. Whatever the prompting, he is on an intelligence gathering and damage control mission. Lizzy is cagey in revealing the depth of her information so Wickham only knows enough to be apprehensive and his faux sentiments about the clergy are an attempt to rehabilitate her compassion for his situation. He realizes she is not the willing or unwitting ally of the past but in the end it does not matter because I think his only motive is to solidify his position; he wants to understand where he stands with her since her recent visit to Derbyshire and intimacy with the Gardiners may have given her the power to expose him. Although different in degree from Benedicte (45869), I think the description of his perfect satisfaction is a bit ironic because it seems to me he would have liked to understand Lizzy completely and have her on his side. However I think Wickham was perfectly satisfied in that he realized from the conversation (52) that however much Lizzy understands of his past behavior and even if she is no longer his faithful assistant she is not going to expose him. I think his perfect satisfaction is further example of the “easy assurance” (51) Wickham shares with Lydia despite what they have done; it illustrates the bankruptcy of his character with his unrelenting self-centered point of view and a complete lack of remorse for his actions. (;D)