“He is as fine a fellow,”said Mr.Bennet,as soon as they were out of the house,“as ever I saw. He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all.I am prodigiously proud of him.I defy even Sir William Lucas himself to produce a more valuable son-in-law.”
“You may depend on it,”replied the other,“for Mrs.Nicholls was in Meryton last night; I saw her passing by, and went out myself on purpose to know the truth of it;and she told me that it was certain true.He comes down on Thursday at the latest,very likely on Wednesday.She was going to the butcher's,she told me, on purpose to order in some meat on Wednesday,and she has got three couple of ducks just fit to be killed.”
“Yet it is hard,”she sometimes thought,“that this poor man cannot come to a house which he has legally hired,without raising all this speculation!I will leave him to himself.”
“No,no.You forced me into visiting him last year,and promised, if I went to see him,he should marry one of my daughters.But it ended in nothing,and I will not be sent on a fool's errand again.”
“Well,well,and so Mr.Bingley is coming down,sister,”(for Mrs. Phillips first brought her the news).“Well, so much the better. Not that I care about it,though.He is nothing to us,you know, and I am sure I never want to see him again. But, however, he is very welcome to come to Netherfield,if he likes it.And who knows what may happen? But that is nothing to us.You know, sister,we agreed long ago never to mention a word about it.And so,is it quite certain he is coming?”