Austen Said:

of his happiness in having obtained the affection of their amiable neighbour, Miss Lucas,

it was merely with the view of enjoying her society that he had been so ready to close with their kind wish of seeing him again at Longbourn, whither he hoped to be able to return on Monday fortnight; for Lady Catherine,

so heartily approved his marriage, that she wished it to take place as soon as possible, which he trusted would be an unanswerable argument with his amiable Charlotte to name an early day for making him the happiest of men.

their being all settled in London for the winter,

shortly after his next return into Hertfordshire, the day would be fixed that was to make him the happiest of men.

his fair cousins health and happiness again,

their father another letter of thanks.

“I shall depend on hearing from you very often, Eliza.”

“And I have another favour to ask you. Will you come and see me?”

“I am not likely to leave Kent for some time. Promise me, therefore, to come to Hunsford.”

“My father and Maria are coming to me in March,”

“and I hope you will consent to be of the party. Indeed, Eliza, you will be as welcome to me as either of them.”

to his humble abode,

“Yes, Miss Elizabeth, you will have the honour of seeing Lady Catherine de Bourgh on the ensuing Sunday at church, and I need not say you will be delighted with her. She is all affability and condescension, and I doubt not but you will be honoured with some portion of her notice when service is over. I have scarcely any hesitation in saying that she will include you and my sister Maria in every invitation with which she honours us during your stay here. Her behaviour to my dear Charlotte is charming. We dine at Rosings twice every week, and are never allowed to walk home. Her ladyship's carriage is regularly ordered for us. I should say, one of her ladyship's carriages, for she has several.”

“Lady Catherine is a very respectable, sensible woman indeed,”

“and a most attentive neighbour.”

“Very true, my dear, that is exactly what I say. She is the sort of woman whom one cannot regard with too much deference.”

“Oh, my dear Eliza! pray make haste and come into the dining-room, for there is such a sight to be seen! I will not tell you what it is. Make haste, and come down this moment.”

“La! my dear,”

“it is not Lady Catherine. The old lady is Mrs. Jenkinson, who lives with them; the other is Miss de Bourgh. Only look at her. She is quite a little creature. Who would have thought that she could be so thin and small?”

“Oh,

Charlotte says

congratulate them on their good fortune,

letting them know that the whole party was asked to dine at Rosings the next day.

“I confess,”

“that I should not have been at all surprised by her ladyship's asking us on Sunday to drink tea and spend the evening at Rosings. I rather expected, from my knowledge of her affability, that it would happen. But who could have foreseen such an attention as this? Who could have imagined that we should receive an invitation to dine there (an invitation, moreover, including the whole party) so immediately after your arrival!”

“Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest — there is no occasion for anything more. Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved.”

recommend their being quick, as Lady Catherine very much objected to be kept waiting for her dinner.

to give her opinion of all that she had seen at Rosings,

what an honour they might expect,

“I may thank you, Eliza, for this piece of civility. Mr. Darcy would never have come so soon to wait upon me.”

“We are speaking of music, madam,”

“I assure you, madam,”

“that she does not need such advice. She practises very constantly.”

having promised to play to him;

“Pray let me hear what you have to accuse him of,”

“I should like to know how he behaves among strangers.”

“I can answer your question,”

“without applying to him. It is because he will not give himself the trouble.”

“What can be the meaning of this ?”

“My dear, Eliza, he must be in love with you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way.”

He certainly looked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. It was an earnest, stedfast gaze,

whether there were much admiration in it, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.

it admitted not of a doubt,

all her friend's dislike would vanish, if she could suppose him to be in her power.

He was beyond comparison the most pleasant man; he certainly admired her, and his situation in life was most eligible; but, to counterbalance these advantages, Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage in the church, and his cousin could have none at all.

“I have been making the tour of the park,”

“as I generally do every year, and intend to close it with a call at the Parsonage. Are you going much farther?”

“Yes — if Darcy does not put it off again. But I am at his disposal. He arranges the business just as he pleases.”

“He likes to have his own way very well,”