Elizabeth immediately realised the merit of the idea, and further, all of the gratification as would attend the fruition of such a creditable improvement to her husband’s estate and its tenantry. Yet above any selfish ambition for her own pleasure, she ardently wished to be as necessary in her husband’s concerns as in his leisure. Certainly, Elizabeth had no inclination for a life of drudgery and self-denial; she was nearly as resolute in refusing an existence free from any larger responsibility. The improvement of mind, she thought, made possible by a continued and regular exertion for the general welfare, was an estimable ambition. In the next instant, she apprehended that Lady Sarah’s indispensability was not a part of her happy marriage, it was, in some measure, both the cause and the effect of the congenial intercourse and mutual interests of the Hallendales. Elizabeth was very happy, very blessed, and—of all women—had no cause to repine. Yet, she now comprehended that the self-appropriation of some portion of her husband’s—and Georgiana’s—daily discharge of the obligations conferred by the blessings of comfort and privilege was the the surest plan for increasing her own extraordinary sources of happiness.

She resolved to discuss the possibility of a trade-school with Mr. Darcy. Later that day, however, she realised—to her shame—that Georgiana and Lady Hallendale, with their habits of steady application, were far more suited to the their rôles as help-mate than she. Not for the first time, she recognised a similarity between Lady Sarah and Georgiana, and discerned with a mixed satisfaction that she was so fortunate herself as to be surrounded by such friends as were too fond to see her faults. This was chusing well indeed! Undaunted by success, Elizabeth was in earnest to undertake the labour which attended the business of founding a trade-school, if her husband felt it to be of advantage to the poor of their area of Derbyshire. Lizzy, however content with her chosen lot in life, was resolved not to be downcast or defeated, and meant to speak with her husband about such a school of industry for the village, especially in light of his plans for the new cottages, as soon as she was returned to Pemberley. A school-building could be added with considerable advantage to the plan, she thought. If her friends could not provide the necessary censure to confute her own accustomary idleness, she resolved to undertake both the change of habitude and the industry itself.