Elizabeth was sitting with her mother and sisters when Sir William Lucas arrived. His daughter, Charlotte, had sent him to share some surprising news: she was engaged to Mr. Collins.
The Bennet family could not believe it. Mrs. Bennet was not very polite and insisted that Sir William must be wrong. Lydia, who was often rude, shouted, “Sir William, how can you tell such a story? Don’t you know Mr. Collins wants to marry Lizzy?”
Sir William was a very polite man, so he stayed calm and ignored their rudeness. Elizabeth felt she had to help him. She stepped forward and confirmed the news. She told her family that she already knew about the engagement because Charlotte had told her earlier. Jane joined Elizabeth in congratulating Sir William, and they talked about how happy the couple would be.
As soon as Sir William left, Mrs. Bennet’s anger broke out. She refused to believe the news at first. Then, she insisted that Charlotte had tricked Mr. Collins. She hoped they would be miserable and that the marriage would never happen. She was especially angry with Elizabeth, blaming her for the whole mess. For many months, she could not forgive the Lucases.
Mr. Bennet took the news much more calmly. He actually found it quite funny. He said it was interesting to find out that Charlotte Lucas, who he used to think was sensible, was just as foolish as his own wife!
Between Elizabeth and Charlotte, things became difficult. They did not talk about the engagement, and Elizabeth felt she could no longer trust her friend. She felt disappointed in Charlotte and turned to her sister Jane for comfort. She was worried about Jane’s happiness because Mr. Bingley had been gone for a week, and there was no news of his return.
Soon, a letter arrived from Mr. Collins. He wrote with great pride about his engagement to “the lovely Miss Lucas.” He also explained that he was coming back to Longbourn in two weeks. He said that Lady Catherine de Bourgh approved of the marriage and wanted it to happen as soon as possible.
Mrs. Bennet was now very unhappy about Mr. Collins’s return. She complained that it was inconvenient to have a visitor while she felt so stressed. She hated the idea of "lovers" in her house. However, her greatest worry was still Mr. Bingley’s absence.
In the town of Meryton, people began to say that Mr. Bingley would not return to his house, Netherfield, for the whole winter. Elizabeth began to fear that Bingley’s sisters were successfully keeping him away from Jane. She believed Bingley truly loved Jane, but she feared he was too weak to resist his friends’ influence.
Jane was very sad, but she tried to hide her feelings. Her mother made things worse by talking about Bingley every hour and complaining about how badly he was treating them. It was very hard for Jane to stay calm during these attacks.
When Mr. Collins returned, the Bennets did not welcome him as warmly as before. Luckily, he spent most of his time at the Lucas's house, so they didn't have to talk to him much.
Mrs. Bennet remained in a terrible mood. She hated seeing Charlotte Lucas. She knew that one day, because of an old law, Mr. Collins and Charlotte would own the Bennet house. She was convinced that as soon as Mr. Bennet died, Charlotte would turn her and her daughters out into the street.
“It is very hard,” Mrs. Bennet cried to her husband, “to think that Charlotte Lucas will one day be the mistress of this house!”
“My dear,” Mr. Bennet replied, “let us hope for better things. Perhaps I will live longer than Mr. Collins.”
This did not comfort Mrs. Bennet at all, and she continued to complain about the unfairness of the world.