The novel opens with the sentence: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in search of a wife." The arrival of such a man in the neighborhood greatly excites Mrs. Bennet, whose only interest in life is to see her five daughters married. The rich young man in question, Mr. Bingley, has rented the Netherfield estate and intends to settle down for a while with his two sisters and brother-in-law. The new arrivals generate great interest locally, particularly among mothers of marriageable daughters. They attend a public dance in the village of Meryton, where Mr. Bingley is amiable and unpretentious, dancing with many young women and showing his decided admiration for Jane Bennet. His friend Mr Darcy, however, makes himself unpopular despite his good figure and income of £10,000 a year by being proud and obnoxious. Of Elizabeth Bennet we hear: "She is tolerable, but not beautiful enough to tempt me." After the ball, Jane is invited for an evening at Netherfield, but catches a bad cold and is forced to stay for a few days. Elizabeth comes to nurse her, attracting the wary attention of Darcy and the not-so-wary hostility of Miss Bingley, who seems to have an interest in Darcy herself. Mr. Collins, a cousin who will inherit the Bennet estate as Mr. Bennet's closest male relative, arrives for a visit. He too "needs a wife" and intends to marry one of his cousins, thus atoning for his position as an insured heir and healing the rift in the family. A pompous buffoon of a clergyman, he has been ordered by his imperious patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (who is also Darcy's aunt), to find himself a suitable wife. Finding that Jane seems destined for Bingley, he shifts his sights to Elizabeth, who absolutely rejects him despite her mother's threats and pleas. Eventually, to Elizabeth's surprise, he is accepted by her friend Charlotte Lucas, who neither loves nor respects him, but wishes to escape the fate of becoming an old maid. Elizabeth does not regret the loss of her suitor, but she is disappointed in Charlotte and is unsure how happy she will be as Mrs. Collins. For some time Meryton hosted a regiment of soldiers, delighting the giddy young Bennet sisters, Kitty and Lydia. . Elizabeth is introduced to a friendly young officer, Mr. Wickham, who tells her that he has known Mr. Darcy since childhood and that he was robbed by him of a bequest from Darcy's late father..