Chapters 13–23: Mr. Collins arrives and proposes, Wickham wins Elizabeth’s sympathy with his story against Darcy, Charlotte accepts Collins, and Bingley’s sudden absence leaves Jane heartbroken and Elizabeth full of misjudgments.

Chapters 13–23 introduce Mr. Collins, the Bennet girls’ absurd, self-important cousin and heir to the estate, and Mr. Wickham, the charming officer whose bitter story about Darcy strongly influences Elizabeth. We see Collins’s painfully awkward proposals, first to Elizabeth and then successfully to Charlotte Lucas, and we watch the Netherfield ball devolve into a mix of embarrassment and tension. By the end of this section, Charlotte’s practical marriage to Collins, Wickham’s shifting attentions, and Bingley’s sudden departure from Netherfield have ...