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(click here for Part 1)Once in Kent visiting the now-married Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, Lizzie enjoys the countryside around Kent and the quiet of the countryside and life without her rambunctious younger sisters. She has high hopes of Jane having a wonderful time in London, and making things up with Bingley once the more rowdy members of the family are out of the way.

She does not get the best view of marriage possible, but she does see that it does have a fair amount of freedom compared to the life of a single woman. Charlotte tells her that the ideal marriage is to have as little to do with one’s partner as possible. Lizze, however, dreams of something more passionate and intellectually stimulating. She has no real hope of Wickham’s love now that the regiment has moved to fashionable Brighton, and he has shown his true colors by chasing after unattractive Miss King for her fortune, but she does at least clarify in her own mind that there are a lot worse things than being single.

While in Kent, she is surprised to be invited often to Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s house to entertain with her wit and fine playing. Mr. Collins is delighted that his cousin has made such a favorable impression. Save for her ladyship’s kindness and endowment of his living at the Church, he would not have many prospects.

She is stunned when Mr. Darcy comes into the district to stay with his aunt, and his charming cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. The fact that his is his given name too shows how close the family ties are. Lizzie despises Darcy for lack of proper family feeling due to the tale she has been told by Mr. Wickham, that he really wanted to be a clergyman like Mr. Collins, at Darcy’s estate, but Darcy cheated him out of it.

She decides to ask Colonel Fitzwilliam about it, but he can’t say a word wrong about Darcy. In fact, no one can. However, a chance remark by Colonel Fitzwilliam about Mr. Darcy having recently rescued Mr. Bingley from an unfortunate match due to there “being strong objections to the lady” totally infuriates her.

In a masterpiece of dramatic timing, she has only just made this discovery, and has declined an invitation to Lady Catherine’s because she has been so upset, when in walks Darcy, to actually propose marriage to her.

The whole time they have been in Kent, he has silently observed her, and she has taken it as nothing but fault-finding. Indeed, while he professes to love her, he also spells out that he will be lowering himself considerably in taking her to wife.

Her own pride wounded, she lets her prejudices against him have full rein, revealing that she is under the impression that Darcy ruined Wickham, and that he meddled between Bingley and Ajne and has destroyed her happiness forever. That it was not simply a way to get a husband on Jane’s side, but there seemed genuine feeling for both of the young people.

Darcy Is stunned at her outrage, and withdraws his marriage proposal in embarrassment and shame over his lack of gentlemanly actions. He writes a letter to explain himself, and Elizabeth is embarrassed in return to learn that she had been mislead about Darcy’s character.

Wickham squandered his living, and every education opportunity which was given to him, until Darcy finally agreed to give him the sum of the living he was to have had as a clergyman (which he was clearly unsuited for) and bought him as a commission as an officer in the Army.

She is stunned at this, but even worse is to come—Wickham had been brought up with the family though only the son of Darcy’s steward of the estate, and tried to use his charm with Darcy’s young sister, only 15 at the time, to get her to elope so he could get his hands on her money. In this he was helped by Georgiana’s own governess—both of them unscrupulously trying to make their way in the world like parasites rather than do an honest day’s work, willing to marry for money, but no love.

Lizzie is horrified at this tale of Wickham’s bad character, and is sorry for ever having misjudged Darcy, though she can’t entirely forgive him for his meddling with Jane’s life. But now she is forced to re-look at Darcy, and see all his actions in a different light-that of a man in love almost from the moment he met her, but naturally reluctant to link himself with Mrs Bennet and her younger daughters, who cause scandal wherever they go.

She begins to think that had she known the truth, she would have loved Darcy as he loved her. Darcy leaves that part of the country before she can sort out her feelings and make amends with him. She tells Jane and no one else, and is secretly heart-broken at the idea that she might never see him again, and that he must hate her now for all the things she said and did, and despise her for being so stupid as to fancy herself in love with Wickham the worthless when she could have had Darcy the heir to Pemberley.

Good fortune seems to come in the form of a trip to Derbyshire with her Aunt Gardiner, who grew up there. She persuades Lizzie to go see Pemberley and they are greeted graciously by the house-keeper, who has known Darcy since he was a child, and Wickham too. Everything she says confirms what Lizzie has discovered. That has is an amazing man, devoted guardian and brother, son, and master of the estate, the exact opposite of the debauched Wickham in every way.

She has the sinking feeling she has made the biggest mistake of her life. Then she meets him again when she is touring the gardens of his estate with her aunt and uncle.

To her surprise, after his initial shock in finding her there, Darcy treats her with kindness, and goes out of his way to get to know her aunt and uncle even though they are in trade. From the invitations he gives and the way he introduces her to Georgiana, she believes he may still love her. But before anything can be done about it, she learns that one of her younger sister, Lydia, the youngest at only 15, has eloped with Wickham from Brighton. Elizabeth blurts out the news to Darcy when he comes to pick her up early for a day at his estate. He is horrified, and runs for her aunt and uncle. She returns home immediately, miserable at the thought that she could have prevented it had she warned people of Wickham’s true character, though she did not because she did not want to betrays Darcy’s confiding in her and leave young Georgiana open to scandal.

She is also disturbed because she is sure Darcy will never want anything to do with her or her family-after all, how could he possibly ever bear to be a brother-in-law to Wickham of all people.

Her father has gone to London to see if he could find the couple, for they have not actually got married thus far. He and her uncle have no luck and Mr Bennet comes home dejected and with no idea what to do next. All Wickham’s debts are now revealed, and his bad character generally made known. He is ruined in Hertfordshire and Brighton, and the fear they will never get him to marry Lydia because they will never have enough money to clear his debts and survive.

Just as they are giving up hope, Uncle Gardiner writes to say he will take Lydia with $1000 a year. Everyone is relieved, but Mr Bennet confides in Lizzie that he is sure it is Mr Gardiner’s money and he must have had to give Wickham a huge bribe and pay off all his debts. He is miserable that he will never be able to repay him.

When the scandal of her sister’s elopement and wedding is sorted out, Elizabeth is surprised that Darcy returns to the district with Bingley. She expected that the shame of her sister’s actions had ruined any chances of a relationship with Mr. Darcy, or between Jane and Bingley.

Lydia comes to see them all to lord it over the girls that she is the youngest but now married. She lets drop that Darcy was at the wedding in London.

Elizabeth is stunned, and demands to know from her aunt what it could mean. She learns from her aunt that Darcy did a great part in getting her younger sister properly married; he hunted them down hiding with Georgiana’s former governess. Lizzie regretted ruining her chances with Darcy by telling him of the elopement. In fact, if she had not told him, the whole family would have been destroyed.

Darcy helped Lydia because he loves Lizzie, and they admit their love, and are married.

Bingley has been given his blessing by Darcy, who admits he should never have interfered. Lady Catherine is not too happy that Elizabeth and Darcy are to be married—she had intended him for her daughter. Caroline Bingley too, acted out of spite because she wanted Darcy for herself, and for Bingley to marry Georgiana.

But the virtuous if poor Bennet girls are rewarded, even if the naughty one and Wickham are as well. They all live happily ever after except for Lydia and Wickham. From pride to humility, from prejudice to love and compassion, Lizzie and Darcy make the greatest journey of all, and we feel that all the couples get their just reward in the end.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 12:19 am and is filed under Jane Austen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.