Plot Summary
Chapter 31 of Pride and Prejudice takes place at Rosings Park during an evening visit arranged after Easter. Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy have been staying with Lady Catherine for about a week, during which Fitzwilliam has called at the Parsonage several times while Darcy has been seen only at church. The Parsonage party -- Elizabeth, Charlotte, Mr. Collins, and Maria -- finally receives an invitation to spend the evening at Rosings.
Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth's Lively Conversation
At Rosings, Lady Catherine is mostly absorbed with her nephews and gives the guests little attention. Colonel Fitzwilliam, however, is genuinely glad to see the Parsonage party and seats himself beside Elizabeth. They converse so engagingly about Kent, Hertfordshire, travel, books, and music that they attract the notice of both Lady Catherine and Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine interrupts to demand to know what they are discussing, and upon learning it is music, insists on joining the conversation, claiming she would have been a great proficient had she ever learned to play.
Elizabeth at the Pianoforte
After coffee, Colonel Fitzwilliam reminds Elizabeth of her promise to play for him, and she sits down at the instrument. Lady Catherine listens briefly before resuming conversation with Darcy, who then walks away from his aunt and stations himself where he can watch Elizabeth play. Elizabeth notices his approach and teases him, saying he means to frighten her but that her courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate her.
The Banter Between Elizabeth and Darcy
Darcy replies that he knows Elizabeth enjoys professing opinions she does not truly hold. Elizabeth laughs and turns to Colonel Fitzwilliam, playfully warning that Darcy will give him a poor impression of her. She then recounts the Meryton ball where Darcy danced only four dances despite a shortage of gentlemen partners. Darcy defends himself by saying he knew no one outside his own party and is "ill-qualified to recommend himself to strangers." Elizabeth draws a pointed parallel: just as her fingers do not move over the instrument with mastery because she will not practice, Darcy's social awkwardness stems from his unwillingness to take the trouble of engaging with new people. Darcy smiles and concedes her point, saying neither of them performs to strangers.
Lady Catherine's Final Interruptions
Lady Catherine interrupts again, then approaches to listen to Elizabeth's playing. She delivers backhanded praise, saying Elizabeth "would not play at all amiss" with more practice and a London master, but that her taste is not equal to Anne's. Elizabeth observes Darcy's reaction to gauge whether he shows any romantic attachment to Miss de Bourgh, but detects no symptom of love. Lady Catherine continues her critical remarks, mixing instructions on execution and taste, and Elizabeth endures them with patient civility until the carriage is ready to take them home.