You urge Elizabeth to rally again; you observe that it is her business to be satisfied -- and certainly her temper to be happy. You wonder aloud if she needs permission from Mr Darcy to enter Derbyshire.

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This appears to do the trick. "But surely," says she, "I may enter his county with impunity, and rob it of a few petrified spars without his perceiving me."

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Mr and Mrs Gardiner, with their four children, duly appear at Longbourn. The children are to be left under the particular care of their cousin Jane, who is the general favourite.

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You wave Lizzy off once more with a heavy heart, consoled by the thought that this time she will at least have more suitable companions on her travels than Sir William ‘Have-we-ever-met-at-St James’s?’ Lucas and his dolt of a daughter, Maria.

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End of Chapter 9. 

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Congratulations, you are becoming Mr Bennet! Chapter 10 is here.