A short walk from Longbourn lived a family who were very close to the Bennets.
Sir William Lucas had once been a successful businessman in Meryton.
He had made a comfortable amount of money there and had even been given a knighthood after speaking to the king while serving as the town’s mayor.
Sir William was extremely proud of the honor.
In fact, it changed his feelings about his old life.
He soon became tired of his business and of living in a small market town.
So he left both behind and moved with his family to a house about a mile from Meryton.
They called the house Lucas Lodge.
Without a business to worry about, Sir William was now free to spend his time feeling important and being polite to everyone he met.
His new title had made him proud, but it had not made him arrogant.
Quite the opposite.
He was friendly, attentive, and always ready to help.
Lady Lucas was a kind and sensible woman.
She was not particularly clever, which made her an ideal neighbor for Mrs. Bennet.
The Lucases had several children.
Their oldest daughter, Charlotte, was about twenty-seven.
She was intelligent, sensible, and one of Elizabeth’s closest friends.
After such an important ball, there was no way the Bennet and Lucas girls could avoid discussing it.
The very next morning, Charlotte and her sisters came to Longbourn to exchange all the latest news.
Mrs. Bennet greeted Charlotte with a polite smile.
“You started the evening very well, Charlotte. You were Mr. Bingley’s first choice for a dance.”
“Yes,” Charlotte replied.
“But he seemed to like his second choice even more.”
“You mean Jane, of course.”
“He danced with her twice.”
“That certainly makes it look as though he liked her.”
“I rather think he did.”
“I heard something about it, although I’m not quite sure what it was.”
“Something involving Mr. Robinson, I believe.”
“Perhaps you’re thinking of something I overheard,” Charlotte said.
“Did I not tell you about it?”
“Mr. Robinson asked Mr. Bingley what he thought of the Meryton ball.”
“He asked whether Mr. Bingley thought there were many pretty women there.”
“Then he asked which woman he thought was the prettiest.”
“And Mr. Bingley immediately answered, ‘The eldest Miss Bennet, without question. Surely everyone must agree on that.’”
“Really?” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed.
“Well, that certainly sounds very definite.”
“That does make it seem as though he admires her.”
“Although, of course, it may still lead to nothing.”
“My overheard conversation was much more interesting than yours, Eliza,” Charlotte said.
“Mr. Darcy isn’t nearly as pleasant to listen to as his friend, is he?”
“Poor Lizzy.”
“Apparently you’re only ‘tolerable’ in his eyes.”
“I hope you won’t make Lizzy upset by reminding her of his insult,” Mrs. Bennet said.
“After all, he is such an unpleasant man that it would be a misfortune for anyone to be liked by him.”
“Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat beside her for half an hour without saying a single word.”
“Are you sure about that?” Jane asked.
“Perhaps there was some misunderstanding.”
“I definitely saw Mr. Darcy speaking to her.”
“Yes, because she eventually asked him how he liked Netherfield.”
“He couldn’t very well refuse to answer her.”
“But Mrs. Long said he looked extremely annoyed that she had spoken to him.”
“Miss Bingley told me that Mr. Darcy rarely talks much unless he is with close friends,” Jane said.
“She says he is actually very pleasant when he’s with people he knows well.”
“I don’t believe that for a moment, my dear,” Mrs. Bennet replied.
“If he were really so pleasant, he would have spoken to Mrs. Long.”
“But I think I know what happened.”
“Everyone says Mr. Darcy is terribly proud.”
“And I wouldn’t be surprised if he had somehow learned that Mrs. Long doesn’t own a carriage and had to come to the ball in a hired one.”
“I don’t particularly care whether he spoke to Mrs. Long,” Charlotte said.
“But I do wish he had danced with Lizzy.”
“Maybe next time,” Mrs. Bennet said.
“If I were you, Lizzy, I wouldn’t dance with him.”
“I can safely promise you that I have no intention of ever dancing with him.”
“His pride doesn’t bother me as much as it usually would,” Charlotte said.
“Actually, I can understand why he is proud.”
“A young man who is handsome, wealthy, well connected, and successful has plenty of reasons to think highly of himself.”
“Perhaps it’s only natural.”
“If I may put it this way, he has earned the right to be proud.”
“That is true,” Elizabeth replied.
“I could easily forgive his pride.”
“But I can’t forgive him for making me feel small.”
Mary, who always enjoyed showing how thoughtful she was, joined the conversation.
“Pride is one of the most common human weaknesses.”
“Everything I’ve read has convinced me of that.”
“People naturally tend to think highly of themselves.”
“Very few of us are completely free from feeling proud of some quality we believe we possess, whether that quality is real or imagined.”
“Pride and vanity are not actually the same thing, even though people often use the words as if they were.”
“A person can be proud without being vain.”
“Pride is mainly about how we think of ourselves.”
“Vanity is more about how we want other people to think of us.”
One of the younger Lucas boys, who had come with his sisters, suddenly spoke up.
“If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy, I wouldn’t care how proud I was.”
“I would keep a whole pack of hunting dogs.”
“And I’d drink a bottle of wine every day!”
“Then you’d be drinking far more than you should,” Mrs. Bennet replied.
“And if I ever caught you doing it, I’d take the bottle away immediately.”
The boy insisted that she wouldn’t dare.
Mrs. Bennet insisted that she absolutely would.
They continued arguing about it until the visit finally came to an end.