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At breakfast there was something in Mr. Collins’s expression, and his way of looking at her daughters, which Mrs. Bennet thought concerning.

At the end of the meal, she hustled the girls out of the parlour, informed them that they could have a holiday from rational pursuit, and advised them, if they wanted to avoid an unwanted proposal, to whisk themselves out of Mr. Collins’s sight.

Lydia was off in a flash.

“He never took much interest in me anyway,” Jane said. “But I was wanting to take one of my boots to be mended, so I think I will go into Meryton.”

Feeling that Mr. Collins could at any moment resume his interest in Jane, Mrs. Bennet expressed the opinion that one should never neglect the repair of boots. Or, she thought, any opportunity for avoiding Mr. Collins.

“I don’t need to disappear,” Mary said. “He was completely put off me. But I wouldn’t mind going along with Jane. Mr. Holt was expecting to have some new music in his shop this week.”

Mrs. Bennet thought that one should always keep up on new musical selections.

Mr. Collins had very likely forgotten his dislike for Mary’s opinions on flattery and compliments.

Besides, Mr. Fordyce had mentioned that he was staying in Meryton for a few days, and it was nice for friends to meet up and enjoy a chat.

“Mr. Collins isn’t likely to want a difficult wife,” Elizabeth said. “And Mr. Madison said he was going to bring me another book this morning, so I’ll stay in.”

“So will I,” Kitty said. “If Mr. Collins intends to propose to me, I might as well get it over with.”

Mrs. Bennet thought this bravery admirable.

It was not long before Mr. Collins entered the room where the three of them were sitting in wait. And as expected, he requested the order of a private audience with—

Elizabeth? Mrs. Bennet shook her head. Were her ears again failing her?

But then she heard Elizabeth, not Kitty, reply, “You can have nothing to say to me that my mother and sister need not hear.”

“Quite right,” Mrs. Bennet cried. “Nothing at all. You cannot have any private business to conduct with Elizabeth.”

“But I do,” he protested. “It is my intention to make her an offer of marriage, which I am confident cannot fail of being acceptable.”

“I assure you that it can.”

“Yes, so you have already said. But I have since seen that you were indeed mistaken in your expectation of her soon being engaged. I am in a position to know that my cousin will not receive the offer you are hoping for.

“You cannot know any such thing,” Mrs. Bennet declared.

“Indeed, I do. My connection with the de Bourgh family gives me a greater understanding of Mr. Darcy’s circumstances.

I have comprehended that he is the man whom you expect to marry Cousin Elizabeth, but I am in a position to inform you that the match to which she has presumed to aspire can never take place.

Lady Catherine will not countenance such an unequal union for her nephew. ”

“Unequal!” Mrs. Bennet cried in affront. “That would not be the case. Lizzy is a gentleman’s daughter.”

“But Mr. Bennet is a very ordinary gentleman. I mean no insult to you or him, but his estate is a great deal smaller than Pemberley, and his family line, although respectable, is nothing like Mr. Darcy’s illustrious descent.

And cousin Elizabeth has no fortune. Lady Catherine will think her ideally suited for Hunsford Parsonage, but she will not allow the shades of Pemberley to be polluted by someone whom she will consider to be an upstart. ”

“Well, then it is a very good thing that Elizabeth has presumed nothing,” Mrs. Bennet declared in anger.

She refused to have Mr. Collins talking about Lizzy like this.

“You have quite misunderstood me. I only said that such a union would not be unequal, not that my daughter aspires to it. I haven’t yet had a chance to explain that Mr. Darcy is not the man to whom I was referring.

He and Lizzy are great friends, but nothing more. ”

“I am pleased to hear this. Although I was willing to attribute her presumption to the innocence of youth, I am delighted to understand that she is not without proper humility. There was an unfortunate degree of immodesty in considering herself on a footing of friendship with a nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, but I can assure her that not a word of reproach on that subject will pass my lips after we are married.”

This was going about as well as Mrs. Bennet had expected. She might as well grant the man his private interview and let Lizzy make her refusal as well as she could.

But a knock at the door gave her the notion of helping her daughter to escape instead.

“That will be Mr. Madison,” she said to Mr. Collins. “Lizzy has been expecting him. You go and speak to him, dear. And you might as well go upstairs and sit in my dressing room, Kitty.”

The two of them left so quickly that Mr. Collins’s protest came too late. “My offer should take precedence over Mr. Madison’s. I was already in the middle of making it.”

Mrs. Bennet had not intended to give the impression that Mr. Madison had come to make Lizzy an offer, but having inadvertently done so, she saw no harm in using Mr. Collins’s misconception to put an end to his presumption.

“But Mr. Madison had a prior arrangement to speak with Lizzy,” she said.

“I believe that gives him the right to take precedence. Which leaves us with nothing further to discuss, so if you’ll excuse me, I am going to join Kitty in my dressing room.

And if you are thinking of making an application to her instead, I strongly recommend that you take some time to reconsider. It really won’t go well.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Collins shook his head. “I learned yesterday evening that cousin Kitty’s suitor is indeed a man who can afford to marry without regard to fortune, just as you said. But the young man whom you have in mind for Cousin Mary has no prospects and no ability to support a wife.”

He had evidently comprehended Mary’s attachment to Mr. Fordyce, but Mrs. Bennet said, “I don’t know who you mean, but you can’t possibly have met Mary’s suitor.

He was obliged to go away just before you came to stay, and he won’t be back until next week.

But I can assure you that he is very well-off and quite able to support a wife. And now I really must go upstairs.”

A few minutes later, from an upstairs window, Mrs. Bennet saw Mr. Collins leave the house. “I hope he isn’t going to look for Mary,” she said to Kitty. “If he is, she will be caught unaware. But perhaps he is just thinking of scouring the lanes in search of a wife.”