Pride and Prejudice Park, the imposing home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, patroness of Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy's extremely wealthy aunt. She expects Mr. Darcy to marry her daughter. Mr. Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, are also visiting at Rosings Park. Colonel Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth how Mr. Darcy managed to save a friend from a bad match. Elizabeth realises the story must refer to Jane and is horrified that Darcy has interfered and caused her sister so much pain. Mr. Darcy, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Elizabeth and proposes to her. She rejects him angrily, stating that she could not
Mr. Darcy for people of Meryton, this proves his social superiority as his "London manners" are described variously in the novel as "fashionable" and "elegant". Irvine argued that the union of Elizabeth and Darcy at the end of the novel was meant by Austen as a symbol of the union of the national and regional elites in England, forging together a united nation. One scholar Rachel Brownstein noted of all the Austen romances that of Darcy and Elizabeth is the only one where the couple began as complete strangers at the beginning of the book, making "Pride and Prejudice" the most romantic