Chapter - 58 | Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Collins was not left long to the silent contemplation of his successful
love; for Mrs. Bennet, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for
the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door and with
quick step pass her towards the staircase, than she entered the breakfast-
room, and congratulated both him and herself in warm terms on the happy
prospect or their nearer connection. Mr. Collins received and returned these
felicitations with equal pleasure, and then proceeded to relate the particulars
of their interview, with the result of which he trusted he had every reason to
be satisﬁed, since the refusal which his cousin had steadfastly given him
would naturally ﬂow from her bashful modesty and the genuine delicacy of
her character.
This information, however, startled Mrs. Bennet; she would have been
glad to be equally satisﬁed that her daughter had meant to encourage him by
protesting against his proposals, but she dared not believe it, and could not
help saying so.
"But, depend upon it, Mr. Collins," she added, "that Lizzy shall be
brought to reason. I will speak to her about it directly. She is a very head-
strong, foolish girl, and does not know her own interest but I will make her
know it."
"Pardon me for interrupting you, madam," cried Mr. Collins; "but if she
is really headstrong and foolish, I know not whether she would altogether
be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for
happiness in the marriage state. If therefore she actually persists in rejecting
my suit, perhaps it were better not to force her into accepting me, because if
liable to such defects of temper, she could not contribute much to my
felicity."

"Sir, you quite misunderstand me," said Mrs. Bennet, alarmed. "Lizzy is
only headstrong in such matters as these. In everything else she is as good-
natured a girl as ever lived. I will go directly to Mr. Bennet, and we shall
very soon settle it with her, I am sure."
She would not give him time to reply, but hurrying instantly to her hus-
band, called out as she entered the library, "Oh! Mr. Bennet, you are wanted
immediately; we are all in an uproar. You must come and make Lizzy marry
Mr. Collins, for she vows she will not have him, and if you do not make
haste he will change his mind and not have her."
Mr. Bennet raised his eyes from his book as she entered, and ﬁxed them
on her face with a calm unconcern which was not in the least altered by her
communication.
"I have not the pleasure of understanding you," said he, when she had ﬁn-
ished her speech. "Of what are you talking?"
"Of Mr. Collins and Lizzy. Lizzy declares she will not have Mr. Collins,
and Mr. Collins begins to say that he will not have Lizzy."
"And what am I to do on the occasion? It seems an hopeless business."
"Speak to Lizzy about it yourself. Tell her that you insist upon her marry-
ing him."
"Let her be called down. She shall hear my opinion."
Mrs. Bennet rang the bell, and Miss Elizabeth was summoned to the
library.
"Come here, child," cried her father as she appeared. "I have sent for you
on an affair of importance. I understand that Mr. Collins has made you an
offer of marriage. Is it true?" Elizabeth replied that it was. "Very well—and
this offer of marriage you have refused?"
"I have, sir."
"Very well. We now come to the point. Your mother insists upon your ac-
cepting it. Is it not so, Mrs. Bennet?"
"Yes, or I will never see her again."
"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you
must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you
again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if
you do."
Elizabeth could not but smile at such a conclusion of such a beginning,
but Mrs. Bennet, who had persuaded herself that her husband regarded the
affair as she wished, was excessively disappointed.

"What do you mean, Mr. Bennet, in talking this way? You promised me
to insist upon her marrying him."
"My dear," replied her husband, "I have two small favours to request.
First, that you will allow me the free use of my understanding on the
present occasion; and secondly, of my room. I shall be glad to have the li-
brary to myself as soon as may be."
Not yet, however, in spite of her disappointment in her husband, did Mrs.
Bennet give up the point. She talked to Elizabeth again and again; coaxed
and threatened her by turns. She endeavoured to secure Jane in her interest;
but Jane, with all possible mildness, declined interfering; and Elizabeth,
sometimes with real earnestness, and sometimes with playful gaiety, replied
to her attacks. Though her manner varied, however, her determination never
did.
Mr. Collins, meanwhile, was meditating in solitude on what had passed.
He thought too well of himself to comprehend on what motives his cousin
could refuse him; and though his pride was hurt, he suffered in no other
way. His regard for her was quite imaginary; and the possibility of her de-
serving her mother's reproach prevented his feeling any regret.
While the family were in this confusion, Charlotte Lucas came to spend
the day with them. She was met in the vestibule by Lydia, who, ﬂying to
her, cried in a half whisper, "I am glad you are come, for there is such fun
here! What do you think has happened this morning? Mr. Collins has made
an offer to Lizzy, and she will not have him."
Charlotte hardly had time to answer, before they were joined by Kitty,
who came to tell the same news; and no sooner had they entered the break-
fast-room, where Mrs. Bennet was alone, than she likewise began on the
subject, calling on Miss Lucas for her compassion, and entreating her to
persuade her friend Lizzy to comply with the wishes of all her family. "Pray
do, my dear Miss Lucas," she added in a melancholy tone, "for nobody is
on my side, nobody takes part with me. I am cruelly used, nobody feels for
my poor nerves."
Charlotte's reply was spared by the entrance of Jane and Elizabeth.
"Aye, there she comes," continued Mrs. Bennet, "looking as unconcerned
as may be, and caring no more for us than if we were at York, provided she
can have her own way. But I tell you, Miss Lizzy—if you take it into your
head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way, you will never
get a husband at all—and I am sure I do not know who is to maintain you

when your father is dead. I shall not be able to keep you—and so I warn
you. I have done with you from this very day. I told you in the library, you
know, that I should never speak to you again, and you will ﬁnd me as good
as my word. I have no pleasure in talking to undutiful children. Not that I
have much pleasure, indeed, in talking to anybody. People who suffer as I
do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking. No-
body can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain
are never pitied."
Her daughters listened in silence to this effusion, sensible that any at-
tempt to reason with her or soothe her would only increase the irritation.
She talked on, therefore, without interruption from any of them, till they
were joined by Mr. Collins, who entered the room with an air more stately
than usual, and on perceiving whom, she said to the girls, "Now, I do insist
upon it, that you, all of you, hold your tongues, and let me and Mr. Collins
have a little conversation together."
Elizabeth passed quietly out of the room, Jane and Kitty followed, but
Lydia stood her ground, determined to hear all she could; and Charlotte, de-
tained ﬁrst by the civility of Mr. Collins, whose inquiries after herself and
all her family were very minute, and then by a little curiosity, satisﬁed her-
self with walking to the window and pretending not to hear. In a doleful
voice Mrs. Bennet began the projected conversation: "Oh! Mr. Collins!"
"My dear madam," replied he, "let us be for ever silent on this point. Far
be it from me," he presently continued, in a voice that marked his displea-
sure, "to resent the behaviour of your daughter. Resignation to inevitable
evils is the evil duty of us all; the peculiar duty of a young man who has
been so fortunate as I have been in early preferment; and I trust I am re-
signed. Perhaps not the less so from feeling a doubt of my positive happi-
ness had my fair cousin honoured me with her hand; for I have often ob-
served that resignation is never so perfect as when the blessing denied be-
gins to lose somewhat of its value in our estimation. You will not, I hope,
consider me as showing any disrespect to your family, my dear madam, by
thus withdrawing my pretensions to your daughter's favour, without having
paid yourself and Mr. Bennet the compliment of requesting you to interpose
your authority in my behalf. My conduct may, I fear, be objectionable in
having accepted my dismission from your daughter's lips instead of your
own. But we are all liable to error. I have certainly meant well through the
whole affair. My object has been to secure an amiable companion for my-