3. 12 November 1811 #2
Then Bingley proceeded to answer every question, and as he had warned, it painted quite a grim picture.
Miss Jane Bennet was the eldest of five daughters; the family had no sons, and the estate was entailed to the male line.
Upon Mr Bennet’s death, the estate would go to a distant cousin.
Their mother’s marriage settlement of five thousand pounds would, upon her death, be divided amongst the daughters, thus providing an eventual dowry of only one thousand pounds for each.
The family’s connexions were limited to a small-town solicitor and a prosperous London merchant.
Darcy prompted his friend, “Please tell me what you wish to discuss about each point. Let us start with the entailment.”
“Well, that matters not at all to me. I have the funds to purchase an estate, so I do not need to marry a lady who will inherit an estate.”
“But,” Darcy pointed out, “when Mr Bennet dies, you may have to provide for his widow and unmarried daughters. It could be that you will take on providing for, not just one lady—your wife—but six.”
“Ohhh.” Bingley paled as he considered such a thing.
“I am not saying you should not marry Miss Bennet because of this possibility, but I feel strongly that you ought to consider it. Now, what do you say about her paltry dowry?”
“I have enough money not to worry about that. Or at least, I thought I did, when I considered only Miss Bennet. If I have to provide for six, and especially if I have daughters….”
Bingley looked crushed. Darcy said, “Again, we are talking about possibilities. I feel that there are steps you could take that would offset some of these unfortunate circumstances. Let us get to the last point: the low connexions of the Bennet family. Remember that society considers your connexions to be ‘low,’ as well—the taint of trade is a bit less important these days, but still of some significance . Therefore, if you could manage to marry a gentleman’s daughter with a few better connexions among the landed gentry, that would be helpful to elevating your own standing. ”
Rising from his chair and pacing back and forth, Bingley cast his eyes downwards and chewed his lip.
After several circuits of the room, he halted in front of Darcy and said, “Honestly, Darce, even if I could manage to find a gentleman’s daughter with good connexions whom I could love, and whom I could convince to love me in return, I am fairly positive that her family would not stand for her marrying someone like me.
So I believe that taking the first steps of acquiring an estate and marrying a gentlewoman with poor connexions is still a large leap for my family, and future generations can stand upon that foundation and reach higher. ”
Darcy stood in order to clap his friend’s shoulder.
“That is well expressed, Bingley. As it happens, I was thinking along these same lines…. Still, I have a suggestion: you could continue to get to know Miss Bennet, to see if your feelings for her remain constant or die away, as your feelings for other ladies have in the past. After some time, if you feel very confident about your mutual feelings and you are certain you wish to marry, we could discuss ways of dealing with the possible problems created by the first two items we just reviewed.”
Bingley looked at him as if he was a literal saviour, and Darcy shook his head at his friend, saying, “I am not positive how much I could help you; the only assurance I can give is that I would try to be of service.”
His friend nodded vigorously.
The two men returned to their seats and their glasses of claret. Darcy was not usually the chatty one, but when the silence dragged on for more than a minute or two, he attempted to interest his friend in several topics. Bingley barely responded, and so the two sat silently for a quarter hour.
Finally, Bingley sighed and said, “Darcy, you need to marry someday, do you not?”
“I believe I wish to marry someday more than I need to. Pemberley is not entailed, and my current will names Georgiana and her eventual children as my heir. Still, yes, I will soon start looking for the next mistress of Pemberley.”
“And how will you choose her? What traits will you be looking for?”
“Well, I should like her to be pretty, thus appealing to me. That should not be a problem, for there are at least a hundred lovely ladies in the ton. My wife should be respectable, well mannered, well spoken, well informed, and very genteel. She must have the best character, as she and I will be the models for our children—that means she must be honest, virtuous, and even-tempered.” He thought hard and added, “I suppose she should be elegant and demure, as well.”
“This sounds like far too many wonderful traits to be realistic, but I am convinced that your list perfectly describes Miss Bennet, and there must be another such lady, somewhere, for you.”
Darcy smiled gently, knowing that he would not be marrying the daughter of a country squire who had close ties to trade.
He went on: “Naturally, I also assume that, being a member of the ton, my wife will have had excellent training in how to run a household and knowledge of the modern languages, singing and playing an instrument, and dancing. She should be accomplished but also modest about her accomplishments.”
Bingley said, “This list of required accomplishments does not well describe Miss Bennet, but I do not need my wife to know multiple languages, nor to sing and play. I am quite surprised that you feel such accomplishments to be necessary, Darcy.”
“I am merely listing traits that would ensure that I have chosen a woman worthy of becoming mistress of my estates.”
“Well, I believe that the only thing such a giant list of necessary characteristics will ensure is that you will die, decades from now, still single.”
Darcy chuckled and said, “I have not even gotten to the most difficult parts of the list, yet. Almost everything I have so far mentioned is something a lady can achieve through cleverness and hard work. But I am positive that, when I am comparing ladies as possible partners, I will also compare their dowries, inheritances, titles, and connexions. My mother was a wonderful example of all of these traits and accomplishments, and she had wealth and connexion to nobility; therefore, I will be choosing a lady who can be described thusly to continue my family’s legacy.
Bingley jumped up in agitation once again. “You sound like the worst kind of snob, Darcy.”
“If I were a snob,” Darcy pointed out, “I would not be friends with you, and we would not be having this conversation. One of my cousins is so upset at what he calls my poor choice of friends, he complains of you every time I see him.”
Bingley collapsed back into his chair and rubbed his face. He said, “My apologies, Darcy. You are correct, and I could never truly accuse you of being snobbish. Your friendship means a good deal to me, and I am aware of the gulf between your circumstances and my own.”
Darcy gently pointed out, “As I select my own wife, I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors, just as you stand on the shoulders of your own. We were born with different foundations, and that means that we have differences in our needs and also in our reach. But those differences are a matter of luck; I am no more worthy a man than you.”
Bingley thought some more, and then he grinned. “I am happy to have had this discussion. It does clarify things for me. I will not allow my grasping sisters to talk me out of my feelings, but I will consider your wise words as I continue to better know Miss Bennet.”
“Good man,” Darcy said. “I believe I will take a rest before dressing for dinner.”
“Thank you, friend. I will see you soon.”