It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. A corollary of this maxim must be that a single man without a good fortune must be in want of a wife who is in possession of such an asset.
Such is the situation in this story.
"Jane, Lizzy!" said Mrs. Fanny Bennet to her oldest daughters one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"
They replied that they had not.
"But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."
Her daughters made no answer, knowing that their mother had more to tell and nothing they did or said would prevent her from doing so.
"Do you not want to know who has taken it?" cried their mother impatiently. Her daughters sat tolerantly, knowing she would tell them or burst. "Why, my dears, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately. He is to take possession before Michaelmas and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."
"What is his name?"
"Bingley."
"Is he married or single?"
"Oh! Single, my dears, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for you girls!"
"How so? How can it affect us?" They knew very well what their mother was implying but took great pleasure in vexing her, albeit quite gently.
"How can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of you; perhaps even you, Lizzy. However, since you have had your turn already, you will have to remain in the background to give your sisters first chance at him. Jane, I am thinking that it is your turn as you missed out when Mr. Collins was looking for a wife." Mrs. Bennet was thoughtful for a moment.
"It is very likely that he may fall in love with one of you and therefore we must decide how we will visit him as soon as he comes. If your father were alive, I would insist that he should go, but now we must decide for ourselves how we will meet him. We cannot let this opportunity slip by us. There are so few eligible gentlemen around here since that horrid Napoleon has caused so many young men leave us for the army and navy.
"We may have to rely on my brother Philips to make the introductions. I will go to him right away to insist that he do this for us. Mrs. Long also said that Mr. Bingley told Sir William that he and his whole party will attend the next Meryton Assembly. He said that he likes nothing more than a country dance. We will all have to go; you too, Lizzy. It has been far too long since you went to a public entertainment. I will not hear any more of your unwillingness to go anywhere. Enough is enough."
Elizabeth, her second daughter, was not enthusiastic about going to this Assembly as she had been careful to avoid attending any public event since her husband died more than three years before. Her husband had not been kind to her, to say the least, and she had been anxious about meeting any strange men, even if they were gentlemen, ever since then. She finally agreed to go to this Assembly as she was becoming worn down by her mother's insistence that it was time for her to begin to socialize where eligible gentlemen might be in attendance. In any case, she had always loved to dance and missed this pleasant exercise. However, the last thing she wanted was to give anyone the impression that she was looking for another husband. He might end up being just like her first one. She still had nightmares about him.
Once she decided that she would go with her mother and sisters to the Assembly, she then thought of what she would wear. She had not been shopping for fancy outfits for herself for years; did she have anything in her closet that would be suitable? After mentally reviewing what was in there, she knew she did not; all her outfits were of subdued or even drab colours, so she would have to go to the shops in Meryton to see what she could find. There was sufficient time before the Assembly for her to find something, even if it might not be the best for her. As she would not be going with the intention of finding another husband, she did not care if her gown were not the finest in the hall. However, her concern for Jane's future made her decide that her sister would definitely need the finest outfit that could be found in Meryton, no matter the cost. Then she thought that if she provided the funds for Jane, her other sisters, especially the two youngest, would insist that they also needed new gowns. However, their demands would not be as important as Jane's, so they would not be happy when their requests were refused.
Mrs. Bennet went to see her sister Philips and prevailed upon Mr. Philips to make his acquaintance with Mr. Bingley as soon as he was in residence. In due course he did make his duty call to Netherfield and then informed his sister that Mr. Bingley was returning to London to pick up a large party of family and friends, but that he had promised that they would return in time to attend the next Assembly as Sir William had described how they were the highlights of the local entertainments and were not to be missed. What he did not mention was his boasting to Mr. Bingley that his five nieces were the finest beauties in the county.
The day of the Assembly finally came and Longbourn was in an uproar with all the ladies busy trying to look their best. The one maid they all shared was almost distracted with all the calls for her help. Even Elizabeth was not immune to their excitement, so she took special care with her own appearance. What pleased her most was how beautiful Jane looked in her new outfit. Elizabeth had managed to refuse her youngest sisters' demands for new gowns as she knew they both had suitable gowns in their closets. She tried to appease them by purchasing new ribbons for them to enhance their gowns. Mary, as was usual, said that she did not care about her appearance; she did not expect to enjoy the evening as she was rarely asked to dance. She would never admit that she always hoped that she would be asked, especially by a handsome young gentleman.
They had heard that Mr. Bingley was bringing back twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him; this news worried everyone as there was already a shortage of eligible gentlemen in the area because of the demands of the war with the French, as Mrs. Bennet had noted so emphatically. However, they each could only hope that they would be noticed and asked to dance in spite of the likelihood of there being more ladies than gentlemen at the Assembly.
The six Longbourn ladies were finally ready to go and their carriage was crowded, with each lady worried that her gown might be crushed by the others sitting too close to her. However, they managed to arrive at the Meryton Assembly Hall in good order and entered to find it already unusually full. It was obvious that the whole neighbourhood was interested in meeting the new residents of the area. They greeted their friends who were pleased to see that Elizabeth had finally consented to attend an entertainment. They all looked around for the Netherfield party, but there was no sign of the newcomers. They were soon in the company of Mr. and Mrs. Philips, who had been watching for their arrival. Their Uncle Philips had become quite protective of his nieces since the death of their father.
Elizabeth saw her good friend, Charlotte Lucas, and went over to her. "Well, Charlotte, what have you heard about the Netherfield party?"
"My father went to see them this morning to ensure they would come tonight. The gossip about their numbers was obviously very wrong; they consist of only six: two ladies and four gentlemen, so there should be plenty of partners for all of us." She hoped that one of them might even ask her to dance. The older she became, the less interest she generated from any eligible gentlemen. However, she tried to hide her concerns from everyone except for Lizzy, her best friend.
Then Charlotte looked at her friend and said, "Lizzy, is that a new dress? I do not remember seeing it before. That shade of green becomes you very well. I have always said that you look best in brighter colours than what you have been wearing."
"Yes, it is new. When Mother convinced me to come tonight, I realized that I did not have any gown that would be appropriate. I bought this here in Meryton. I even convinced Jane to come with me for a new one for herself as well. I decided that Jane should look her best when she meets the Netherfield party." She did not need to add that she, and especially their mother, hoped Jane would catch the eye of the newcomers.
The two friends chatted about what they had heard of the Netherfield party, which was not much. They turned with everyone else to face the door as the music slowed and stopped upon the entrance of a group of unknown visitors. They saw Charlotte's father, Sir William Lucas, immediately go to the door to act as the official greeter. He welcomed each of the newcomers in turn, and asked the gentleman with the ginger hair if they would like to be introduced to the leading families of the area who were in attendance tonight.
Elizabeth appreciated his wide smile and enthusiastic, almost boyish, demeanor. "By all means, Sr William, please introduce us. I want nothing more than to dance the night away. I hope all the ladies here tonight have the same intentions." As he said this, his gaze surveyed the many potential partners whose eyes were all on the newcomers. He was delighted to see a number of pretty faces; this is exactly what he had hoped to find.
"Ah, capital! Capital!" Mrs. Bennet had shepherded her daughters close to Sir William to make sure they were introduced to the Bingley party before anyone else. Sir William continued, "Here is one of our leading families from the Longbourn estate which is right next to Netherfield—Mrs. Bennet and her daughters. May I introduce Mrs. Bennet, Miss Jane Bennet, Miss Mary Bennet, Miss Catherine Bennet, and Miss Lydia Bennet?" He indicated each lady as he named them. Each of them made very polite curtsies when they were named. "These are their aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Philips. I understand that you have already met Mr. Philips."
He looked around and saw that Elizabeth was almost hiding behind her sisters. "Ah! Here is the other Bennet daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Collins." Elizabeth had suddenly become nervous when faced with this new gentleman, so she tried to stay out of their sight as much as possible even though she managed a brief curtsy when she was identified. When finally faced with meeting strange gentlemen, her anxieties overwhelmed her sense of propriety. She quickly tried to disappear after being introduced.
"Ladies, this is Mr. Charles Bingley, his sister, Miss Caroline Bingley, his other sister, Mrs. Louisa Hurst and her husband, Mr. Geoffrey Hurst. These other two gentlemen are Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire and his cousin Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam of His Majesty's Derbyshire Dragoons, lately returned from the peninsula."
Every lady in the room took special note of this last gentleman as he was distinguished by his fine dress regimental uniform that was renowned for its scarlet tunic with considerable gold braid and even a fancy ceremonial sword. What lady could not help but be impressed by such finery on a gentleman, even if he was not quite as handsome as his two friends? Certainly not one lady in attendance tonight barely noticed if he was handsome or not. His dress uniform and proud posture were all that was needed to draw their attention. There was a perceptible stirring among the admiring ladies who automatically pulled their shoulders back to show off what they considered to be their best features. So many smiles were directed at him that he could not help but return them. This situation was certainly more preferable than facing the business ends of French muskets!
Elizabeth peeked around her sisters and noticed that only Mr. Bingley and the Colonel were smiling, but the size of their smiles almost made up for the hostile expressions of the other newcomers. Every one of the others had looks on their faces that almost gave the impression that they were smelling something unpleasant. Elizabeth noticed that Mr. Bingley had eyes only for Jane, which was not unusual as she was easily the most beautiful of the five sisters. He immediately asked her to dance, which she accepted in her usual demure manner. This made Elizabeth smile as she wanted nothing more than to see her favourite sister happy. Their mother could barely restrain herself as this was precisely what she had planned.
Elizabeth then turned her eyes to the other smiling gentleman, the one who looked so dashing in his regimentals. She was well aware that her two youngest sisters were enamoured with any man wearing a red coat, but she saw that he was ignoring their encouraging, nay, almost too bold 'come hither' looks, and was smiling directly at her even though she had tried to avoid his notice. When she thought that he might have suspected that her pleasing smile was for him, she straightened her face and almost shrank back when he smiled back at her again, but he approached her before she could disappear. She felt her heart racing as she was not sure what she felt, it had been so many years since she had been the recipient of any gentleman's admiration.
He came right up to her and bowed, then invitingly held out his hand to her. "Mrs. Collins, may I have the pleasure of your hand for the next set if you are not already engaged?"
She was not sure what to do, she was so flustered. "I am not, Colonel, but I am not inclined to dance tonight. I have not danced for many years."
Her words did not appear to discourage this intrepid soldier who had learned how to be brave even in the most challenging situations. "Mrs. Collins, I understand from Sir William that you are a widow but that you are well over your mourning period. Might I be so bold to ask if your reluctance to dance is a result of your unfortunate situation?" He then attempted to tease her into accepting his request. "I would hate to think that it is the battle-scarred appearance of this old soldier."
"Sir, I assure you that it is nothing personal." His continuous smile was beginning to ease her fears ever so slightly, so she volunteered, "My husband has been gone for more than three years but I have not been in society since then." Normally she would never say even one word about her history, but something about this officer made her open up to him ever so slightly.
The Colonel wondered if her reluctance to dance or even to talk to him meant that her marriage was an unusually happy one. Then he thought that it might have been an unusually unpleasant one as Sir William had not volunteered anything about this part of her history. He would have to find out which it was if she proved to be as attractive and tempting as she appeared at first glance. He liked nothing more than to be in the company of a pretty lady and his red coat was usually all that was needed to induce ladies to be receptive of his attentions. He had been especially successful with widows and other experienced women. He then saw how young she was, probably not more than twenty, so she must have married when she was very young. She just might prove to be more difficult to tempt than he had expected, but he liked nothing better than a challenge.
"I understand your reluctance, but I hope that you will reconsider. It distresses me to think of you still avoiding any chance of enjoying yourself tonight. Might I add that I am familiar with grief as my regiment has lost a number of good men, some of whom left widows and children? In my experience, the best remedy for someone in your situation is to begin to socialize in a friendly setting and a public dance among friends is just the right place to do that.
"May I humbly ask again that you join me in a set? I promise that I will not embarrass you or ask any further questions about this sad event." He held out his hand to her to encourage her to accept his company. He knew there must be quite a story behind her reluctance to accept his request, which he hoped he would learn over the course of the evening. He knew that many people loved nothing more than to gossip about their neighbours. Something about this lady was attracting him more than any other lady had for a long time even though he had yet to detect the slightest hint of a smile on her attractive face since he began talking to her. He just knew she would be worth the effort it would take to win her approval. Now that he had a chance to view her more closely, he could see just how attractive she was in face and form.