The story begins with Darcy and Bingley's traveling party (Bingley, his sister Caroline, and his other sister and her husband Mr. and Mrs. Hurst) arriving at the Meryton Assembly for a country ball. Bingley, new to the community, is an outgoing person without any pretensions, and thus is much looking forward to having a great time. By contrast, Darcy is quite reserved and stiffly formal, and he expects the jovial informality of a country ball among ill-bred strangers will make for an arduous, unpleasant evening. Caroline and the Hursts are elitist snobs and expect to be bored with the insignificant locals.