Miss Bingley is at present trying to persuade her brother to buy an estate. He is willing, but my brother does not think he will find it easy to settle because he enjoys travelling too much and meeting new people. He is at that time of life when friendships are growing and the circle of acquaintances is always expanding.

My brother says that Mr Bingley is so easily persuadable that if one of his friends only says to him, ‘Bingley, I think you had better not buy an estate, you know,’ Mr Bingley will probably not do it.

All the same, his sisters seem determined for him to have somewhere and I think they will prevail in the end.

Your affectionate cousin,

Georgiana

APRIL

Mr Bingley to Mr Darcy

London, April 3

Upon my honour, Darcy, it is good of you to invite us to dine with you. I am looking forward to seeing you again and to asking you for some advice about buying an estate. Caroline and Louisa can only see that it would give me somewhere to invite my friends, but there is a lot of work involved in running such a place and I do not know if I would be up to the task. Your aunt thought it a good idea and recommended Surrey, but Caroline did not take to the idea. Perhaps you would be so good as to give me your opinion when we meet next week.

Your friend,

Bingley


Lady Catherine de Bourgh to Mr Darcy

Rosings Park, Kent, April 8

Dear nephew,

I hear from Georgiana that your friend Bingley did not like Surrey and that he intends to buy an estate elsewhere. It is astonishing to me that gentlemen these days are so ignorant of what is to their own advantage. Your friend Bingley is not the only one to suffer from this complaint. The rector of Hunsford, Mr Green, is similarly afflicted, and saw fit to die last week, when it was clearly in his best interests to remain alive.

Like all inconsiderate people, he died at a most inconvenient time. If he had waited until next month, I would have had more leisure to replace him. I cannot think it would have mattered to him: having lived for ninety years it would surely not have troubled him greatly to have lived for another six weeks. However, it would have made a great difference to me as my guests would, by then, have departed. But that is the problem with people today: they have no thought for others. It is a universal complaint.

It is proving difficult for me to find a replacement. As the rectory is so near to Rosings Park, it is necessary for me to have a man of sound good worth and sobriety, with a respectful manner and a becoming gratitude for the favour bestowed. He must be a man of exceptional character as well as a man of great ability; a man who understands the difference of rank but who is at the same time a gentleman. In addition to this, he must have a proper humility. I will not have him subjecting Anne to the impertinent attentions her beauty is certain to inspire, for in point of true beauty, Anne is far above the rest of her sex. I cannot prevent him from worshipping her from afar, as, indeed, what man could resist? For such a refined and elegant young woman cannot help inspiring the tenderest feelings in the male breast. But her future lies elsewhere, as well you know.

I have so far seen four candidates but they have been impossible. Mr Frampton did not play cards so he would not do, for I must have some entertainment in the evenings; Mr Redding did not show the proper deference and I cannot abide a clergyman who is above himself; Mr Waring was so overcome by Anne’s beauty that he could not remember her name and kept calling her Miss…Miss…and Mr Ingers referred to me as Mrs de Bourgh. Another gentleman, a Mr Collins, has been recommended to me. I have no great hopes of him but I will see him nonetheless.

In my day, clergymen were all of them suitable. It is a sad sign of the times that not one of them today will take the trouble to be what I wish them to be.

Your aunt,

Lady Catherine

JUNE

Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Gardiner

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

June 7

The Sothertons have left us at last and Netherfield Park is empty. We have all been cast down by their departure; all except Mary, who said that we must cherish in our bosoms the knowledge that vice, if allowed to flourish, will fell even the mightiest oak, and that we must take heed of the lesson so unwillingly taught to us by our unlucky neighbours. Papa asked her if vice would fell the mightiest elm, or if it was only the oak it could topple, which was very wrong of him, but Mary would try the patience of a saint.

We went over to my aunt Philips’s house this evening, where Mary told Mr Shackleton that vice could fell any tree taller than a sapling, no matter what its species, and the rest of us spent most of our time bemoaning the loss of our friends. Charlotte felt it as much as Jane and I. She lifted our spirits, however, by saying that Mr Sotherton would have far fewer temptations in Bath and that the family could live there more cheaply, so that they would have a better chance of restoring their fortunes and then being able to return to Meryton.

My aunt Philips said that two people have already requested a viewing, for she saw Mr Morris, the Sothertons’ man of business, in town this morning, and told us all about it. Mama made particular enquiries as to the nature of the prospective tenants but she was put out to discover that the first of them is a young man with a wife and two children and the second is a retired sea captain. She is hoping that neither of them take it, for she would like a family with five sons to come to the Park so that she can marry us all off at one fell swoop. The first son is to be the heir and he is to marry Jane. The second is to be a military man and he is to marry Lydia. The third is to be a clergyman with a handsome living and he is to marry Mary. The fourth is to be a sailor, the captain of a frigate, and he is to marry Kitty. And the youngest son is to marry me. I think my marriage was an afterthought, as I believe that Mama had forgotten about me!

Papa occasionally reminds her that no such family has taken the estate, but she is so happy in the imagining of it that for the most part he leaves her be.

She had some hopes that Jane might be about to marry last month. There was a gentleman from London who was staying with the Robinsons, but it all came to nothing. I am glad of it. Jane liked him, but when did Jane not like anyone? However, she was not downhearted when he went away, so it was nothing but a passing fancy. Mama was very upset, however, saying that Jane will soon be an old maid. Jane is one and twenty! Lydia of course believes everything Mama says, and declares that she will never be an old maid and that she will be married by the time she is sixteen. Since this puts Mama into a good humour, Papa says nothing to discourage it; indeed he remarks that if she can find a man who is silly enough to marry her he will consider himself lucky and hand her over with his blessing. This leads Mary to reflect on the seriousness of matrimony, whilst Kitty fidgets and asks for a new bonnet. So you see we all go on as usual!

I will write again when I have any news.

Your affectionate niece,

Lizzy


Mr Charles Bingley to Mrs Bingley

Pemberley, Derbyshire, June 15

Dearest Ma,

I have been to see three estates these last few weeks and Caroline has disliked them all. She is such a fine lady that upon my honour I hardly dare speak to her anymore. She finds fault with everything, saying the drawing room is not as large as the Pemberley drawing room or the view from the dining room is not as splendid as the one at Pemberley. She will never find a house like Pemberley, and so I keep telling her, but she only smiles and says there are other ways to live in a house than buying it. If she thinks Darcy will marry her, she is mistaken. He will marry Miss de Bourgh if he marries to please his family, and he will certainly not marry Caroline if he marries to please himself, upon my honour he will not.

I am trying to persuade her to return to Yorkshire but she says I will need a hostess and she cannot leave me in my hour of need. I thought she might leave me last week, for there was some talk of Darcy sending Georgiana to the coast for a few weeks and Caroline said that she had a mind to visit the coast herself. But when she learnt that Darcy did not intend to go with his sister she changed her mind.

Are you sure you do not need her for a few weeks, Ma? I am certain the little ones would like to see her. We will be returning to London in a few days’ time so send your reply to the London address.

Your loving son,

Charles


Mr Darcy to Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Darcy House, London, June 18

I sympathise with you over your difficulties in finding a new rector for Hunsford, aunt. I have had similar difficulties of my own. I had to dismiss my steward when I found he had been taking money from the estate and now I am looking about me for another one. I have had two since old Mr Wickham passed away but neither of them have been satisfactory. It has been a difficult position to fill, particularly as Mr Wickham’s stewardship was exemplary. I am running the estate myself for the time being but the sooner I find a new steward the better. The grove at the far end of the lake needs coppicing and the home farm is in need of repair, to name but two pressing matters. Do you know of anyone who might suit?