-s Pride And Prejudice -1995-: All 6 Episodes

He stammers. He stumbles. He finally manages: “You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged. But one word from you will silence me forever.”

Episode Two sees the family plunged into crisis. Jane falls ill at Netherfield, and Elizabeth walks three muddy miles to tend to her. She arrives, petticoats caked in brown earth, a vision of vibrant defiance. Miss Bingley is aghast. Mr. Darcy, however, watches her from the window, and something in his chest unthaws. -s Pride and Prejudice -1995- All 6 Episodes

In the drawing-room that evening, while Jane recovers upstairs, Elizabeth spars with Darcy. They talk of “accomplished” women, of pride, of “a lively, playful disposition.” He smiles—a rare, awkward quirk of the mouth—and she is almost taken aback. Almost. But then he says that he cannot “forget the follies and vices of others so easily.” She thinks of his snub at the assembly. Pride , she decides, is his master. He stammers

Months later, she travels with her aunt and uncle to the Peak District. They visit Pemberley, thinking Darcy is away. Episode Six shows them wandering through the magnificent house—the marble, the paintings, the library Elizabeth covets—and then, on the lawn, a plunge. Darcy appears, returned early. He is civil. He invites her uncle to fish. He introduces her to his sister, Georgiana, shy and sweet. Elizabeth watches him with his household, his servants, his dog—and realizes she loves him. If your feelings are still what they were

Then comes the visit from Mr. Collins, their ridiculous clergyman cousin, who will inherit Longbourn. Episode Three delivers the season’s first great set-piece: he proposes to Elizabeth in the Longbourn parlor. It is a masterpiece of condescending absurdity. “My reasons for marrying are, first… secondly… thirdly…” He lists them like items on a grocery list. Elizabeth refuses, calmly, then firmly. Her mother is hysterical. Her father, hiding in his library, sighs with relief. “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth,” he says. “From this day, you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”

He stares. Then, a slow, wondering smile breaks across his face. He takes her hand, presses it to his lips, and whispers, “Elizabeth.”