PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 20

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MR. COLLINS was not left long to the silent contemplation of his successful
  love; for Mrs. Bennet, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch
  for the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door
  and with quick step pass her towards the staircase, than she entered
  the breakfast room, and congratulated both him and herself in warm terms
  on the happy prospect of their nearer connection. Mr. Collins received
  and returned these felicitations with equal pleasure, and then proceeded
  to relate the particulars of their interview, with the result of which
  he trusted he had every reason to be satisfied, since the refusal which
  his cousin had stedfastly given him would naturally flow from her bashful
  modesty and the genuine delicacy of her character.

  This information, however, startled Mrs. Bennet; -- she would have been
  glad to be equally satisfied that her daughter had meant to encourage
  him by protesting against his proposals, but she dared not to believe
  it, and could not help saying so.

"But depend upon it, Mr. Collins," she added, "that Lizzy shall
  be brought to reason. I will speak to her about it myself directly.
  She is a very headstrong foolish girl, and does not know her own interest;
  but I will make her know it."

"Pardon me for interrupting you, Madam," cried Mr. Collins; "but
  if she is really headstrong and foolish, I know not whether she would
  altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally
  looks for happiness in the marriage state. If therefore she actually
  persists in rejecting my suit, perhaps it were better not to force her
  into accepting me, because if liable to such defects of temper, she
  could not contribute much to my felicity."

"Sir, you quite misunderstand me," said Mrs. Bennet, alarmed. "Lizzy
  is only headstrong in such matters as these. In every thing else she
  is as good natured a girl as ever lived. I will go directly to Mr. Bennet,
  and we shall very soon settle it with her, I am sure."

She would not give him time to reply, but hurrying instantly to her
  husband, called out as she entered the library,

"Oh! Mr. Bennet, you are wanted immediately; we are all in an uproar.
  You must come and make Lizzy marry Mr. Collins, for she vows she will
  not have him, and if you do not make haste he will change his mind and
  not have her."

Mr. Bennet raised his eyes from his book as she entered, and fixed
  them on her face with a calm unconcern which was not in the least altered
  by her communication.

"I have not the pleasure of understanding you," said he, when she
  had finished her speech. "Of what are you talking?"

"Of Mr. Collins and Lizzy. Lizzy declares she will not have Mr. Collins,
  and Mr. Collins begins to say that he will not have Lizzy."

"And what am I to do on the occasion? -- It seems an hopeless business."

"Speak to Lizzy about it yourself. Tell her that you insist upon
  her marrying him."

"Let her be called down. She shall hear my opinion."

Mrs. Bennet rang the bell, and Miss Elizabeth was summoned to the
  library.

"Come here, child," cried her father as she appeared. "I have sent
  for you on an affair of importance. I understand that Mr. Collins has
  made you an offer of marriage. Is it true?" Elizabeth replied that
  it was. "Very well -- and this offer of marriage you have refused?"

"I have, Sir."

"Very well. We now come to the point. Your mother insists upon your
  accepting it. Is not it so, Mrs. Bennet?"

"Yes, or I will never see her again."

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you
  must be a stranger to one of your parents. -- Your mother will never
  see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see
  you again if you do."

Elizabeth could not but smile at such a conclusion of such a beginning;
  but Mrs. Bennet, who had persuaded herself that her husband regarded
  the affair as she wished, was excessively disappointed.

"What do you mean, Mr. Bennet, by talking in this way? You promised
  me to insist upon her marrying him."

"My dear," replied her husband, "I have two small favours to request.
  First, that you will allow me the free use of my understanding on the
  present occasion; and secondly, of my room. I shall be glad to have
  the library to myself as soon as may be."

Not yet, however, in spite of her disappointment in her husband, did
  Mrs. Bennet give up the point. She talked to Elizabeth again and again;
  coaxed and threatened her by turns. She endeavoured to secure Jane in
  her interest but Jane with all possible mildness declined interfering;
  -- and Elizabeth, sometimes with real earnestness and sometimes with
  playful gaiety, replied to her attacks. Though her manner varied, however,
  her determination never did.

Mr. Collins, meanwhile, was meditating in solitude on what had passed.
  He thought too well of himself to comprehend on what motive his cousin
  could refuse him; and though his pride was hurt, he suffered in no other
  way. His regard for her was quite imaginary; and the possibility of
  her deserving her mother's reproach prevented his feeling any regret.

While the family were in this confusion, Charlotte Lucas came to spend
  the day with them. She was met in the vestibule by Lydia, who, flying
  to her, cried in a half whisper, "I am glad you are come, for there
  is such fun here! -- What do you think has happened this morning? --
  Mr. Collins has made an offer to Lizzy, and she will not have him."

Charlotte had hardly time to answer, before they were joined by Kitty,
  who came to tell the same news, and no sooner had they entered the breakfast-room,
  where Mrs. Bennet was alone, than she likewise began on the subject,
  calling on Miss Lucas for her compassion, and entreating her to persuade
  her friend Lizzy to comply with the wishes of all her family. "Pray
  do, my dear Miss Lucas," she added in a melancholy tone, "for nobody
  is on my side, nobody takes part with me, I am cruelly used, nobody
  feels for my poor nerves."

Charlotte's reply was spared by the entrance of Jane and Elizabeth.

"Aye, there she comes," continued Mrs. Bennet, "looking as unconcerned
  as may be, and caring no more for us than if we were at York, provided
  she can have her own way. -- But I tell you what, Miss Lizzy, if you
  take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in
  this way, you will never get a husband at all -- and I am sure I do
  not know who is to maintain you when your father is dead. -- I shall
  not be able to keep you -- and so I warn you. -- I have done with you
  from this very day. -- I told you in the library, you know, that I should
  never speak to you again, and you will find me as good as my word. I
  have no pleasure in talking to undutiful children, -- Not that I have
  much pleasure indeed in talking to any body. People who suffer as I
  do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking.
  Nobody can tell what I suffer! -- But it is always so. Those who do
  not complain are never pitied."

Her daughters listened in silence to this effusion, sensible that
  any attempt to reason with or sooth her would only increase the irritation.
  She talked on, therefore, without interruption from any of them till
  they were joined by Mr. Collins, who entered with an air more stately
  than usual, and on perceiving whom, she said to the girls,

"Now, I do insist upon it, that you, all of you, hold your tongues,
  and let Mr. Collins and me have a little conversation together."

Elizabeth passed quietly out of the room, Jane and Kitty followed,
  but Lydia stood her ground, determined to hear all she could; and Charlotte,
  detained first by the civility of Mr. Collins, whose inquiries after
  herself and all her family were very minute, and then by a little curiosity,
  satisfied herself with walking to the window and pretending not to hear.
  In a doleful voice Mrs. Bennet thus began the projected conversation.
  -- "Oh! Mr. Collins!" --

"My dear Madam," replied he, "let us be for ever silent on this
  point. Far be it from me," he presently continued, in a voice that
  marked his displeasure, "to resent the behaviour of your daughter.
  Resignation to inevitable evils is the duty of us all; the peculiar
  duty of a young man who has been so fortunate as I have been in early
  preferment; and I trust I am resigned. Perhaps not the less so from
  feeling a doubt of my positive happiness had my fair cousin honoured
  me with her hand; for I have often observed that resignation is never
  so perfect as when the blessing denied begins to lose somewhat of its
  value in our estimation. You will not, I hope, consider me as shewing
  any disrespect to your family, my dear Madam, by thus withdrawing my
  pretensions to your daughter's favour, without having paid yourself
  and Mr. Bennet the compliment of requesting you to interpose your authority
  in my behalf. My conduct may, I fear, be objectionable in having accepted
  my dismission from your daughter's lips instead of your own. But we
  are all liable to error. I have certainly meant well through the whole
  affair. My object has been to secure an amiable companion for myself,
  with due consideration for the advantage of all your family, and if
  my manner has been at all reprehensible, I here beg leave to apologise."

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1. Ebooks list page : 81
2. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 58
3. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 44
4. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 42
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 41
6. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 40
7. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 39
8. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 38
9. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 11
10. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 12
11. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 45
12. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 46
13. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 49
14. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 57
15. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 56
16. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Chapter 55