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Summary: Elizabeth, rambling in the park, often encounters Mr. Darcy unexpectedly. He walks with her on these occasions and she notices that he asks her questions about her likes and dislikes. One day she meets Fitzwilliam in the park and he walks towards the parsonage with her. They speak of Darcy and the Colonel tells Elizabeth that Darcy has recently saved a friend from an imprudent marriage. Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth that he suspects this friend is Bingley. Elizabeth is hurt and indignant at the slight of Jane, if this is the case. She broods in her room and pleads a headache, so that the others go to tea at Rosings without her.
Critical Analysis: Here Wickham confirms Elizabeth’s feeling that the major responsibility in Bingley’s removal from Netherfield rests with Darcy. Wickham’s information further alienates Darcy from Elizabeth who is already much prejudiced against him. She holds him mainly responsible for Jane’s misfortune. It is particularly his proud contempt for a girl from a lower class—a girl with “one uncle who was a country attorney and another who was in business”— that Elizabeth resents.