She abused the Bennet family in more ways than Darcy could have imagined, at times even offending him, simply by the ill-spirited bent of her invective. Moreover, she and her sister were so uncivil to Miss Elizabeth Bennet that Darcy felt the sting of it more even than Elizabeth seemed to. It occurred to him for the first time that Miss Bingley might regard Elizabeth as a rival of some significance. This was absurd, to his mind, on two counts: first, Miss Bingley did not now possess, and never would possess, the power to attract his addresses; second, Elizabeth was entirely safe from his addresses, due to the insurmountable difficulties posed by her family. Notwithstanding the absurdity of Miss Bingley’s misconception, he warned himself to be more guarded in future—he had no wish to cause Elizabeth pain: either directly, by raising any hopes of his own addresses, or indirectly, by exposing her to Miss Bingley’s jealousy. Finding himself in need of respite after a morning spent with Miss Bingley and the other inmates of the house, Darcy took himself off for a stroll in the shrubbery; he had not been out for a quarter-hour when Miss Bingley came to find him.
