Chapter 1(1/3)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

" My dear Mr. Bennet, " said his lady to him one day, " have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last? "

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

" But it is, " returned she, " for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it. "

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

" Do not you want to know who has taken it? " cried his wife impatiently.

" YOU want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it. "

This was invitation enough.

" Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas. "

" What is his name? "