My Pleasure Reading. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Summary (pages 1-99)

     The garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim – to find a good match for each of her five daughters.  And when a wealthy Mr. Bingley moves into the neighborhood and becomes interested in her eldest daughter, Jane, Mrs. Bennet becomes happy and tries to push them together in every possible way. However, Mr. Bingley hasn’t come alone, but with his sisters and a close friend Mr. Darcy, who is rich and attractive, but too proud. He makes a comment on Lizzy that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. After a while, Mr. Bingley's sisters asked  Jane for a dinner. Jane, following the advice of her mother, rides over to the Bingley mansion in the rain, gets wet, falls ill, and has to remain in the Bingley house. Elizabeth arrives to nurse her sister and starts to communicate with Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley and his sisters. Darcy, to his surprise, finds himself attracted to Elizabeth.  Several days later Jane gets better and Mr. Bingley promises her mother and sisters Kitty and Lydia, who have come to visit Jane, to organize the ball in his house.

     Meanwhile, Mr. Collins, the only heir of the Bennet’s estate, arrives for a visit. Mr. Collins has decided that the nice thing to do is to marry one of the Bennet girls in order to preserve their home, and chooses Elizabeth as his future wife. One evening at the dinner, Lizzy is introduced to Mr. Wickham who tells her what an awful man Darcy is. Elizabeth believes Wickham's story, and also learns that Lady Catherine is Mr. Darcy's aunt. The next day, all the Bennet girls are invited to a ball at Netherfield. Elizabeth is excited to see Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham confront each other. Mrs. Bennet tells everyone that Bingley will propose to Jane, Mary shows her non-existent musical talent, and Lydia and Kitty flirt with the military officers. Next day after the ball Mr. Collins makes a proposal to Elizabeth, but she rejects him (she considers him to be repulsive and foolish).