“Not of consequence!” she cried. “Mr. Darcy!” she exclaimed. “Mr. Darcy and Lizzy! And you say nothing – nothing at all!”
Mr. Bennet closed his book with deliberation. “I imagined,” he said, “that you would discover it soon enough.”
Mrs. Bennet sank into a chair, fanning herself. “I am quite overcome. To think that such a thing should be going forward in my own house – and I not the first to be acquainted with it!”
“My dear,” said Mr. Bennet, “you have rarely shown yourself deficient in discovering what concerns your daughters. I was unwilling to deprive you of the satisfaction.”
She gave him a look of mingled reproach and impatience. “This is no time for your wit, Mr. Bennet. You must tell me everything.”
“There is, I am afraid, very little to tell,” he replied. “Mr. Darcy admires Elizabeth. That, I believe, is evident. And he is not a man to admire lightly.”
“Oh! Where is my fan? I shall be quite overcome – I declare I shall!” she heaved.
“Fanny, calm yourself. Mr. Darcy is not a regular suitor.”
Mrs. Bennet blinked. “Not regular? What can you mean by that?”
“I mean,” he returned, “that he is not a gentleman to be hurried, directed, or arranged for.”
Mrs. Bennet coloured slightly. “I am sure I do not know to what you allude.”
“No?” said he mildly. “I had understood that Mr. Collins was, for a time, intended for Elizabeth.”
“That was quite a different matter!”
“Entirely so,” he agreed. “And, I think, a very fortunate difference. For that scheme, had it succeeded, would have been most disastrous.”
Mrs. Bennet drew herself up. “Mr. Collins is a very respectable man.”
“I do not dispute it. But he is not Mr. Darcy.”
She hesitated. “No… that is certain.”
Mr. Bennet rose and began to walk slowly across the room.
“This is, as I said, a different game altogether. Mr. Darcy is a man of sense – and of consequence. If he chooses to pursue Elizabeth, it is because he has formed a decided opinion.”
She sat quite still for a moment, then gave a small, delighted exclamation.
“Well! This is beyond anything I could have imagined.”
Mr. Bennet glanced at her. “It generally is.”
“But what is to be done?” she continued. “We must invite him – no, he is already invited – we must see him as often as possible – Lizzy must be properly guided…”
Mr. Bennet raised a hand. “My dear, I would recommend that we do nothing.”
“Nothing!”
“Nothing,” he repeated. “If Mr. Darcy is in earnest, he will require no assistance. And if he is not, no assistance will avail.”
Mrs. Bennet considered this, though not without visible effort.
“But Lizzy – she must not be foolish.”
“On that point,” said he, “I am tolerably easy.”
Mrs. Bennet drew a breath, her spirits rising once more. “Well! I declare, I shall not sleep tonight. To think – Mr. Darcy! And Lizzy!”
