Plot Summary
Chapter 10 of Pride and Prejudice opens with the Netherfield party gathered in the drawing room. Jane continues to recover slowly upstairs. Mr. Darcy is writing a letter to his sister while Miss Bingley hovers beside him, showering him with flattery about his handwriting, the evenness of his lines, and the length of his letter. Darcy responds to her constant interruptions with cool indifference, creating a comic dialogue that Elizabeth watches with amusement from her needlework.
The Debate on Persuasion and Firmness
A lively intellectual debate erupts among Darcy, Bingley, and Elizabeth about whether yielding easily to a friend's persuasion is a virtue or a weakness. Bingley good-naturedly claims he would leave Netherfield in five minutes if he resolved to go. Darcy argues that Bingley is too easily swayed by others and that yielding without conviction shows no merit. Elizabeth challenges Darcy, arguing that friendship and affection should sometimes override strict rationality. Bingley, sensing the argument growing too serious, humorously tries to end it by joking about Darcy's imposing presence "at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening."
Music and Darcy's Growing Attraction
After Darcy finishes his letter, Miss Bingley plays the pianoforte with her sister. Elizabeth notices that Darcy's eyes are frequently fixed on her and struggles to interpret his gaze, concluding he must be finding fault with her. When Miss Bingley plays a lively Scotch air, Darcy approaches Elizabeth and asks if she feels inclined to dance a reel. Elizabeth refuses with characteristic wit, telling him she knows he wanted her to say yes so he could despise her taste, and that she delights in "overthrowing those kind of schemes." Darcy is charmed rather than offended, and the narrator reveals he has "never been so bewitched by any woman."
Miss Bingley's Jealousy
Miss Bingley, sensing Darcy's growing interest in Elizabeth, grows jealous and attempts to provoke him by mockingly planning his future marriage to Elizabeth. She suggests he advise his "mother-in-law" Mrs. Bennet to hold her tongue and cure the younger girls of chasing officers. When she sarcastically asks about hanging the Phillipses' portraits at Pemberley, Darcy refuses to take the bait and instead praises Elizabeth's "beautiful eyes." The chapter ends with Elizabeth encountering the group on a walk, where Mrs. Hurst rudely squeezes her out. Elizabeth cheerfully declines to stay, telling the group they are "charmingly grouped" and the "picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a fourth." Jane is recovering well enough to leave her room that evening.