Even with the help of all five daughters, Mrs. Bennet could not get a satisfying answer from her husband about Mr. Bingley.
They tried everything.
They asked him direct questions, made guesses, and dropped hints, hoping he would finally reveal something useful.
But Mr. Bennet avoided every question.
In the end, they had to rely on what their neighbor, Lady Lucas, had heard.
Her news was excellent.
Lady Lucas said that Sir William had been very impressed with Mr. Bingley.
He was young, extremely handsome, friendly, and pleasant.
Best of all, he planned to attend the upcoming ball with a large group of friends.
Mrs. Bennet could hardly contain her excitement.
A young man who loved dancing was already halfway to falling in love, she thought.
Everyone began hoping that Mr. Bingley might soon fall for one of the Bennet girls.
“If I could see one of our daughters happily married to Mr. Bingley and living at Netherfield,” Mrs. Bennet told her husband, “and the others all married just as well, I would never ask for anything more.”
A few days later, Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet’s visit.
He spent about ten minutes with Mr. Bennet in his library.
Mr. Bingley had hoped to meet the young women he had heard so much about.
But he saw only their father.
The Bennet sisters had to settle for something much less exciting.
From an upstairs window, they managed to see that Mr. Bingley was wearing a blue coat and riding a black horse.
Soon afterward, the Bennets invited him to dinner.
Mrs. Bennet immediately began planning an impressive meal.
She was already thinking about all the dishes she could serve when Mr. Bingley’s reply arrived.
He was going to London the next day and could not accept their invitation.
Mrs. Bennet was extremely disappointed.
She could not understand why he needed to go to London so soon after arriving in Hertfordshire.
Then another worry occurred to her.
What if he was the sort of man who was always traveling from place to place?
What if he never stayed at Netherfield at all?
Lady Lucas managed to calm her down a little.
Perhaps, she suggested, Mr. Bingley was going to London simply to bring more people back with him for the ball.
That possibility soon seemed likely.
Word spread that Mr. Bingley would return with twelve ladies and seven gentlemen.
The Bennet girls were disappointed to hear about so many women.
But the day before the ball, they received better news.
Mr. Bingley had brought only six ladies from London—his five sisters and a cousin.
When the group finally arrived at the ballroom, however, there were only five people altogether.
Mr. Bingley had come with his two sisters, the husband of his oldest sister, Mr. Hurst, and his close friend, Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Bingley immediately made a good impression.
He was handsome, polite, cheerful, and easy to talk to.
His sisters were also attractive women, and their fashionable appearance made it clear that they were used to a higher level of society.
Mr. Hurst looked respectable enough, but there was nothing especially interesting about him.
His friend Mr. Darcy, however, attracted everyone’s attention.
He was tall, handsome, and carried himself with confidence.
Within minutes, everyone was talking about his fortune.
People said he earned ten thousand pounds a year.
The gentlemen admired his appearance.
The ladies thought he was even more handsome than Mr. Bingley.
For the first half of the evening, Mr. Darcy was the most admired man in the room.
Then people began to notice his behavior.
He seemed cold and arrogant.
He acted as though everyone around him was beneath him.
He refused to join conversations and showed no interest in pleasing anyone.
Before long, almost everyone had decided that he was the proudest and most unpleasant man they had ever met.
Not even his enormous estate in Derbyshire could make people like him.
Mr. Bingley, meanwhile, was having a wonderful time.
He quickly introduced himself to the most important people in the room.
He danced every dance and seemed genuinely happy to be there.
When someone mentioned that the ball would end early, he was disappointed.
He even talked about holding a ball himself at Netherfield.
Everyone liked him.
The difference between him and Mr. Darcy could not have been greater.
Mr. Darcy danced only twice that evening.
Once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley.
He refused to be introduced to any other woman.
For most of the evening, he simply walked around the room or occasionally spoke to someone from his own group.
By the end of the night, everyone had made up their minds about him.
He was proud, rude, and completely disagreeable.
Nobody wanted to see him at another ball.
Mrs. Bennet disliked him more than almost anyone else.
And she had an especially good reason.
Mr. Darcy had insulted one of her daughters.
Because there were not enough gentlemen at the ball, Elizabeth had been forced to sit out two dances.
During one of those breaks, Mr. Darcy happened to be standing close enough for her to hear his conversation with Mr. Bingley.
Bingley had just left the dance floor and was trying to persuade his friend to join him.
“Come on, Darcy,” Bingley said. “You have to dance. I hate seeing you standing around by yourself.”
“You would enjoy yourself much more if you joined us.”
“I certainly will not,” Darcy replied.
“You know I hate dancing unless I know my partner well.”
“At a gathering like this, it would be unbearable.”
“Your sisters are already dancing, and there isn’t another woman here I would willingly dance with.”
Bingley laughed.
“I wouldn’t be nearly as picky as you are, not even for a kingdom!”
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pleasant girls in one place.”
“And look around. Several of them are remarkably pretty.”
“You’re already dancing with the prettiest woman here,” Darcy said, glancing toward Jane Bennet.
“Oh, she’s absolutely beautiful!” Bingley replied.
“But look behind you. One of her sisters is sitting there.”
“She is very pretty too, and I’m sure she would be pleasant company.”
“Why don’t you let your partner introduce you to her?”
“Which one?”
Darcy turned and looked at Elizabeth for a moment.
Their eyes met.
Darcy immediately looked away.
“She is pleasant enough,” he said coldly.
“But she isn’t pretty enough to tempt me.”
“And I don’t feel like wasting my time paying attention to a young woman whom no other man has asked to dance.”
“You should go back to your partner and enjoy yourself. You’re wasting your time here.”
Bingley took his friend’s advice and returned to the dance.
Darcy walked away.
Elizabeth was left with a very poor opinion of him.
She later told her friends exactly what had happened.
Fortunately, Elizabeth had a lively and playful personality.
Instead of letting Darcy’s insult upset her, she found the whole thing amusing.
She enjoyed telling the story and laughing about his ridiculous attitude.
Overall, the evening was a great success for the Bennet family.
Mrs. Bennet was delighted to see how much attention Jane had received from the Netherfield group.
Mr. Bingley had danced with Jane twice.
His sisters had also paid special attention to her.
Jane was extremely pleased, although she was much quieter about it than her mother.
Elizabeth could see how happy her sister was, and that made her happy too.
Mary had another reason to feel pleased.
Miss Bingley had apparently called her the most accomplished young woman in the neighborhood.
As for Catherine and Lydia, they had never been without dance partners.
For them, that was more than enough to make the evening a success.
The family returned home to Longbourn in high spirits.
Mr. Bennet was still awake when they arrived.
He had been reading a book and had completely lost track of time.
But tonight, he was also curious about the ball.
His wife had been expecting so much from Mr. Bingley that he had secretly hoped the evening would disappoint her.
Instead, he was about to hear quite the opposite.
The moment Mrs. Bennet entered the room, she began talking.
“Oh, my dear Mr. Bennet! We had the most wonderful evening!”
“It was such a fantastic ball. I wish you could have been there.”
“Jane was admired by everyone!”
“You should have heard all the compliments she received. Everyone said she looked beautiful.”
“And Mr. Bingley thought she was absolutely beautiful.”
“He danced with her twice!”
“Just think of that! He danced with her twice, and she was the only woman he asked to dance with a second time.”
“First, he danced with Miss Lucas.”
“I was so annoyed when I saw him choose her.”
“But he clearly wasn’t interested in her. Nobody could be, really.”
“He noticed Jane while they were dancing.”
“So he asked who she was, had himself introduced to her, and then asked her to dance again.”
“Then he danced with Miss King, then Maria Lucas, and then Jane again.”
“After that he danced with Lizzy, and then there was the Boulanger—”
Mr. Bennet could not take any more.
“If he had any pity for me, he wouldn’t have danced nearly so much!”
“For heaven’s sake, don’t tell me the names of all his partners.”
“I wish he had twisted his ankle during the first dance!”
“Oh, my dear,” Mrs. Bennet continued, completely ignoring his complaint.
“I am absolutely delighted with Mr. Bingley.”
“He is so handsome!”
“And his sisters are lovely women.”
“I have never seen anyone dressed more elegantly.”
“I especially noticed the lace on Mrs. Hurst’s dress. I believe it must have been—”
Mr. Bennet interrupted her again.
He had no interest whatsoever in hearing a detailed description of expensive clothes.
Mrs. Bennet was forced to change the subject.
This time, she moved on to Mr. Darcy.
And she had plenty to say about him.
She described his behavior with great anger and exaggerated every unpleasant detail.
“But I can tell you one thing,” she said.
“Lizzy hasn’t lost anything by failing to attract him.”
“He is an awful man.”
“He is so arrogant and full of himself that nobody could stand being around him.”
“He spent the entire evening walking around as if he were some kind of king.”
“And he actually said Lizzy wasn’t pretty enough to dance with!”
“I wish you had been there, my dear.”
“You could have put him in his place with one of your clever remarks.”
“I absolutely hate that man!”