Pride and Prejudice: The Complete Works of Jane Austen

Author: Jane Austen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-08-01
Features: Excerpt: Chapter 2 Although Mr. Bennet consistently maintained in front of his wife that he did not wish to visit Mr. Bingley, he had been secretly planning to pay him a visit and had even become one of the people intending to do so. It was not until the very next evening after his visit that his wife discovered this. The truth came out in this way—He saw his second daughter folding a hat and suddenly said, "I hope Mr. Bingley will like this hat, Lizzy." "Since we are not planning to visit Mr. Bingley, why should we care what he thinks of it?" her mother retorted angrily. "Don't forget, mother," Elizabeth said, "we will meet him at the ball, didn't Long promise to introduce him to us?" "As if Long would ever agree to do that, she has two nieces of her own. She is selfish, insincere, and I despise people like her." "I do too," Mr. Bennet said, "I love it when you don't expect anything from her." Mrs. Bennet, without paying him any mind, could not help but be angry with one of her daughters. "Stop coughing all the time, Kitty, for God's sake, spare me a little patience, you're nearly driving me to the point of exhaustion." "Kitty is so thoughtless," her father said, "coughing doesn't pick a good time." "I'm not coughing on purpose," Kitty said irritably. "When is your ball, Lizzy?" "There are still two weeks to go from tomorrow." "Oh, really," her mother exclaimed, "Long won't be back until the day before the ball starts, so by then she won't have time to introduce Mr. Bingley to you, and she doesn't even know him herself." "Then, my dear wife, you get the better of your friend and can introduce this distinguished gentleman to her." "No, Mr. Bennet, that's not possible, I don't even know him myself, how can I make such a joke?" "I really admire how thoughtful you are. Two weeks of acquaintance is certainly not enough to truly understand someone. However, if we don't try, someone else will—Long and her two nieces will inevitably give it a try. In any case, she will think it is our way of showing her kindness, so if you refuse to introduce him, I will do it myself." The daughters stared straight at their father. Mrs. Bennet said casually, "That's nonsense, that's nonsense." "Why are you making such a fuss!" Mr. Bennet roared, "Do you think making an introduction for someone is nonsense? I don't agree with you. What do you think? Mary, I know you are a very sensible girl, you read all those great novels and even took notes." Mary really wanted to say something weighty, but for the moment, she didn't know how to phrase it. "Let Mary think about it before giving her opinion," Mr. Bennet continued, "let's talk about Mr. Bingley again." "I hate talking about him," Mrs. Bennet shouted.