at a later gathering at Lucas Lodge, and she and Darcy verbally clash on the two nights she spends at Netherfield, caring for the sick Jane who fell ill after riding in the rain. Episode two Mr William Collins, a sycophantic and somewhat dimwitted clergyman, visits his cousins, the Bennets. As Mr and Mrs Bennett do not have a son, he will be the entailed heir of their home and estate, Longbourn. He intends to marry a Bennet daughter as an act of benign goodwill, to reassure Mrs Bennet that she and her unwed daughters would not be rendered homeless once Mr Collins inherits the estate. He therefore invites himself for a two-week visit to get to know the Bennets better and select a daughter to marry. However, the Bennet girls judge Mr Collins to be a rather ridiculous man, an "oddity" with many peculiarities of speech and deportment. They nevertheless treat him civilly and take him to balls and social events in Meryton. One day, while on a walk around Meryton village, they meet members of a newly arrived militia regiment, including Mr George Wickham. At a social event, Wickham befriends Elizabeth and says that his father was the steward for Darcy's late father, and that he originally planned to join the clergy. However, Darcy denied Wickham the "living" (a curacy) that Mr Darcy's father had promised him. At a ball at Netherfield, Darcy asks Elizabeth to dance, which she grudgingly but politely accepts. Mrs Bennet tells Mr Collins that she expects Jane to soon be engaged, so he instead proposes to Elizabeth. She firmly rejects him. While Mrs Bennet reacts angrily to Elizabeth's decision, her close friend, Charlotte Lucas, invites Mr Collins to visit at Lucas Lodge. Episode three Elizabeth is stunned and appalled to learn that Charlotte Lucas has accepted Mr Collins' marriage proposal. When the Netherfield party departs for London in autumn, Jane stays with her middle-class London relatives, the Gardiners, but she soon notices that the Bingleys ignore her. After befriending Mr Wickham, Elizabeth departs for the Collins' home in Kent in the spring to visit Charlotte. They live near Rosings, the estate of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt. Elizabeth meets Darcy several times. Elizabeth learns of Darcy's direct responsibility for Jane and Bingley's separation. Soon after, Darcy unexpectedly tells her that he admires her and loves her, so much that in