And, after all, what is the good of seeking for the reason of charm?—it is there. There were better sense in the sad mechanic exercise of determining the reason of its absence where it is not. In the novels of the last hundred years there are vast numbers of young ladies with whom it might be a pleasure to fall in love; there are at least five with whom, as it seems to me, no man of taste and spirit can help doing so. Their names are, in chronological order, Elizabeth Bennet, Diana Vernon, Argemone Lavington, Beatrix Esmond, and Barbara Grant. I should have been most in love with Beatrix and Argemone; I should, I think, for mere occasional companionship, have preferred Diana and Barbara. But to live with and to marry, I do not know that any one of the four can come into competition with Elizabeth.
| PAGE | |
| Frontispiece | [iv] |
| Title-page | [v] |
| Dedication | [vii] |
| Heading to Preface | [ix] |
| Heading to List of Illustrations | [xxv] |
| Heading to Chapter I. | [1] |
| “He came down to see the place” | [2] |
| Mr. and Mrs. Bennet | [5] |
| “I hope Mr. Bingley will like it” | [6] |
| “I’m the tallest” | [9] |
| “He rode a black horse” | [10] |
| “When the party entered” | [12] |
| “She is tolerable” | [15] |
| Heading to Chapter IV. | [18] |
| Heading to Chapter V. | [22] |
| “Without once opening his lips” | [24] |
| Tailpiece to Chapter V. | [26] |
| Heading to Chapter VI. | [27] |
| “The entreaties of several” | [31] |
| “A note for Miss Bennet” | [36] |
| “Cheerful prognostics” | [40] |
| “The apothecary came” | [43] |
| “Covering a screen” | [45] |
| “Mrs. Bennet and her two youngest girls” | [53] |
| Heading to Chapter X. | [60] |
| “No, no; stay where you are” | [67] |
| “Piling up the fire” | [69] |
| Heading to Chapter XII. | [75] |
| Heading to Chapter XIII. | [78] |
| Heading to Chapter XIV. | [84] |
| “Protested that he never read novels” | [87] |
| Heading to Chapter XV. | [89] |
| Heading to Chapter XVI. | [95] |
| “The officers of the ——shire” | [97] |
| “Delighted to see their dear friend again” | [108] |
| Heading to Chapter XVIII. | [113] |
| “Such very superior dancing is not often seen” | [118] |
| “To assure you in the most animated language” | [132] |
| Heading to Chapter XX. | [139] |
| “They entered the breakfast-room” | [143] |
| Heading to Chapter XXI. | [146] |
| “Walked back with them” | [148] |
| Heading to Chapter XXII. | [154] |
| “So much love and eloquence” | [156] |
| “Protested he must be entirely mistaken” | [161] |
| “Whenever she spoke in a low voice” | [166] |
| Heading to Chapter XXIV. | [168] |
| Heading to Chapter XXV. | [175] |
| “Offended two or three young ladies” | [177] |
| “Will you come and see me?” | [181] |
| “On the stairs” | [189] |
| “At the door” | [194] |
| “In conversation with the ladies” | [198] |
| “Lady Catherine,” said she, “you have given me a treasure” | [200] |
| Heading to Chapter XXX. | [209] |
| “He never failed to inform them” | [211] |
| “The gentlemen accompanied him” | [213] |
| Heading to Chapter XXXI. | [215] |
| Heading to Chapter XXXII. | [221] |
| “Accompanied by their aunt” | [225] |
| “On looking up” | [228] |
| Heading to Chapter XXXIV. | [235] |
| “Hearing herself called” | [243] |
| Heading to Chapter XXXVI. | [253] |
| “Meeting accidentally in town” | [256] |
| “His parting obeisance” | [261] |
| “Dawson” | [263] |
| “The elevation of his feelings” | [267] |
| “They had forgotten to leave any message” | [270] |
| “How nicely we are crammed in!” | [272] |
| Heading to Chapter XL. | [278] |
| “I am determined never to speak of it again” | [283] |
| “When Colonel Miller’s regiment went away” | [285] |
| “Tenderly flirting” | [290] |
| The arrival of the Gardiners | [294] |
| “Conjecturing as to the date” | [301] |
| Heading to Chapter XLIV. | [318] |
| “To make herself agreeable to all” | [321] |
| “Engaged by the river” | [327] |
| Heading to Chapter XLVI. | [334] |
| “I have not an instant to lose” | [339] |
| “The first pleasing earnest of their welcome” | [345] |
| The Post | [359] |
| “To whom I have related the affair” | [363] |
| Heading to Chapter XLIX. | [368] |
| “But perhaps you would like to read it” | [370] |
| “The spiteful old ladies” | [377] |
| “With an affectionate smile” | [385] |
| “I am sure she did not listen” | [393] |
| “Mr. Darcy with him” | [404] |
| “Jane happened to look round” | [415] |
| “Mrs. Long and her nieces” | [420] |
| “Lizzy, my dear, I want to speak to you” | [422] |
| Heading to Chapter LVI. | [431] |
| “After a short survey” | [434] |
| “But now it comes out” | [442] |
| “The efforts of his aunt” | [448] |
| “Unable to utter a syllable” | [457] |
| “The obsequious civility” | [466] |
| Heading to Chapter LXI. | [472] |
| The End | [476] |
Chapter I.
IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.