Читать книгу Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - Страница 1

‘It is a truth well known to all the world that an unmarried man in possession of a large fortune must be in need of a wife.’ And so, when such a man comes to live near the Bennet family, Mrs Bennet is delighted. At once, she sees in Mr Bingley a possible, almost a certain, husband for one of her five daughters.

‘People say he’s quite young, very handsome, and extremely charming!’ says foolish Lydia, the youngest of the Bennet sisters. ‘And even better, he loves dancing! Everybody knows that means he’s likely to fall in love!’

But with whom? Soon, Elizabeth Bennet is sure that he admires her eldest sister, Jane. Certainly, he is most attentive to her whenever they meet, but who can tell if admiration will lead to marriage, and happiness?

Mr Bingley, however, is not the only young man to show interest in the Bennet girls. There is their cousin, the boring Mr Collins. There are the officers of the regiment – the charming Mr Wickham, for example. And of course, there is Mr Bingley’s friend, Mr Darcy – tall, dark, and extremely wealthy, but then he is such a rude, proud, disagreeable man …