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I could get the general sense of this sentence, but I'm so confused by the wording.

  1. Does "where" mean "in which" or "to which", or something else?

  2. And what does "to every other objection" mean?

  3. If to rephrase the clause, should it be:

    a. in addition to other objection, the family would be added in an alliance and relationship of the nearest kind with the man / whom he so justly scorned

    b. the family would be added an alliance and relationship of the nearest kind with the man whom he so justly scorned to every other objection

    But , if b. is right, then why use "where", not "which"?

The context is that:

Wickham and Lydia got married; Elizabeth, the sister of Lydia, was sad, for she knew that from now on there is no chance for her and Darcy, because Darcy hated Wickham.

Here is the sentence:

Elizabeth was now most heartily sorry that she had, from the distress of the moment, been led to make Mr. Darcy acquainted with their fears for her sister, for since her marriage would so shortly give the proper termination to the elopement, they might hope to conceal its unfavourable beginning from all those who were not immediately on the spot.

She had no fear of its spreading farther, through his means. There were few people on whose secrecy she would have more confidently depended, but at the same time, there was no one whose knowledge of a sister’s frailty would have mortified her so much. Not, however, from any fear of disadvantage from it individually to herself, for at any rate there seemed a gulf impassable between them. Had Lydia’s marriage been concluded on the most honourable terms, it was not to be supposed that Mr. Darcy would connect himself with a family, where to every other objection would now be added an alliance and relationship of the nearest kind with the man whom he so justly scorned.

From such a connection she could not wonder that he should shrink. The wish of procuring her regard, which she had assured herself of his feeling in Derbyshire, could not in rational expectation survive such a blow as this. She was humbled, she was grieved; she repented, though she hardly knew of what. She became jealous of his esteem, when she could no longer hope to be benefited by it. She wanted to hear of him, when there seemed the least chance of gaining intelligence. She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.

From Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

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I haven't read the paragraphs through. But for the sentence structure, it should be

where = in which = in the family

and the whole sentence can be reorganized as

In the family, an alliance and relationship of the nearest kind with the man would now be added to every other objection.

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  • Thank you so much! that all I need!! I could really use the perspective from a native English speaker. one more small question: could I think that: "to every objection" has been used as "inversion", been placed forward so as to heighten it?
    – user86301
    Apr 24, 2020 at 5:23
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    @user86301 Sorry to tell you that I am not a native speaker. But I am pretty confident of my explanation because: (1) I have seen enough many examples that put "to..." in front of a sentences in various literature. For example, "we assign a name to each entity = to each entity we assign a name"; (2) it makes sense gramatically. And yes, of course you can think of this as highlighting it, but it could also be a matter of habit...I guess only a native speaker can answer.
    – trisct
    Apr 24, 2020 at 5:34
  • @user86301 If you have doubts about my answer, you are welcome to take my interpretation into the original paragraph and see if it makes sense.
    – trisct
    Apr 24, 2020 at 5:37
  • No doubt at all. and your explanation makes perfect sense, so perfect that I mistake you for a native speaker, and please don't take it as an offense. many thanks:)
    – user86301
    Apr 24, 2020 at 5:46
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    Elizabeth is fretting about the many reasons that Darcy has to object to her family, and here is one more item to add to the list. Putting "to every other objection" before the rest of the sentence highlights this meaning for the reader. If it were at the end, Elizabeth's worries would be less clear to us.
    – SarahT
    Apr 24, 2020 at 7:04

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