Alone at the parsonage, rereading Jane's letters and finding fresh reasons for anger in every line, Elizabeth hears the doorbell. This episode is the complete audiobook of Chapter 34 of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: the first proposal, the great collision at the center of the novel.

Mr. Darcy walks in, paces the room, and can hold it no longer. "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." What follows is eloquent on the subject of his affection and equally eloquent on the subjects of her inferiority, his family's expectations, and the degradation the match involves, delivered by a man with no doubt of his answer.

• Darcy proposes at length and against his judgment, dwelling on the obstacles of her birth and connections with a wa ...