"PRIDE AND PREJUDICE"
"My dear Mr Bennet," said Mrs Bennet one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"
Mr Bennet replied that he had not.
"But it is," said she; "for Mrs Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."
Mr Bennet made no answer.
"Do 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. He came on Monday… to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed to take it…"
"What is his name?"
"Bingley."
"Is he married or single?"
"Oh single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"
"How?"