1 The Bennets It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife In the village of Longbourn the arrival of a young man of fortune to the neighborhood was exciting beyond words Nowhere was the excitement more obvious than at the estate house itself You must visit Netherfi eld Park to meet Mr Bingley Mrs Bennet announced to her husband He must marry one of our girls Is that why he has come here Don’t be silly his wife said But he is certain to fall in love with one of them Perhaps you should visit him with all the girls her husband said I will send along a 4
note giving my permission to marry whichever one of you he likes With fi ve daughters of marrying age Mrs Bennet could think of little but marriage all the time The Longbourn estate could only be passed from one male to another With no Bennet sons the house and income would move to a distant cousin when Mr Bennet died Mrs Bennet’s only hope was to marry her daughters to fi ne gentlemen as quickly as possible We’ll see Mr Bingley at social events her second-oldest daughter Elizabeth said sensibly Mrs Long has promised to introduce us Her mother sniffed Like she would do that She is a selfi sh woman with two daughters of her own Oh forget Mr Bingley I wish you had told me before I visited him Mr Bennet said with a smile Now you must meet him It’s only proper The girls squealed with joy and Mrs Bennet scolded her husband for teasing her 5
From talk with the neighbors they learned Mr Bingley was young handsome and pleasant Also he was fond of dancing Oh to be fond of dancing is a certain step toward falling in love Mrs Bennet cried Now everyone in the village looked forward to the next ball Mr Bingley attended with his two sisters his brother-in-law and his best friend Upon their entrance whispers slipped through the crowd like a breeze Mr Bingley is very handsome Kitty Bennet noticed as she gripped her younger sister’s arm And look at his sisters Lydia the youngest Bennet agreed with a giggle They’re so fashionable Mary the middle Bennet merely peered at them without speaking She was far more interested in books than fashion Mr Bingley looks cheerful Elizabeth said to her older sister Jane Though his friend Mr Darcy is rather grim 6
