Posted on Monday, 6 December 2004
It is a fact universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a good fortune in an Anglo-American common law jurisdiction must go through life making lots of contracts. Which must be why Mr. Bingley decided to get the ball rolling by taking a year-long leasehold on Netherfield, a fine estate in Hertfordshire which you might be hearing a lot more about if I had taken a class in Property.
Since I haven't, I shall be satisfied to comment that Mrs. Bennet relied on the theory that one contract begets another, and decided that Mr. Bingley would marry one of her fine brood of daughters. And had her reliance been reasonable, this story might have ended right here, but I shall not attempt to stretch the credulity of my readers by using the words Mrs. Bennet and Reasonable Person in the same sentence.
For Mrs. Bennet had five daughters, and when she did meet Mr. Bingley she did not hesitate to Offer Mr. Bingley and his friend Mr. Darcy any of them. Mr. Bingley interpreted her overture as an Invitation to Offer (Nebraska Seed v. Harsh), and did so offer dance with Miss Bennet. And one must assume that there was sufficient Consideration, and a Meeting of the Minds, for the contract was successfully completed. But Mr. Darcy did not accept the invitation, either from Mrs. Bennet or later from his friend Bingley, and in so incurred severe reputational costs in the neighbourhood for his refusal to transact with the second Miss Bennet.
Miss Elizabeth Bennet, of course, was left with no very exalted opinion of Darcy, an opinion that was later cemented by the Fraudulent Misrepresentations of Fact of a Mr. Wickham, who, with his Superior Knowledge (Vokes v. Arthur Murray, Inc.), certainly ought to have known better. But since Elizabeth knew no ill of Mr. Wickham, she had no reason to defend against his assertions.
Upon further Consideration, of course, Darcy was induced by the charms of the very Miss Bennet he had rejected. But the inducement was not mutual, and it was not for some time that he successfully convinced Miss Elizabeth to dance with him. On that occasion, at the Netherfield Ball, the squeamish might aver that there was no true Meeting of the Minds; however, perhaps on the Consideration that to refuse might keep her from enjoying the whole evening's entertainment, Miss Elizabeth Manifested her Assent according to the Objective Theory of Offer and Acceptance (Embry v. Hagardine), unable to think of any excuse in Good Faith, was forced to complete her Performance.
This, unfortunately, was not Miss Elizabeth's only encounter with an unwelcome offer. Her cousin, Mr. Collins, sought to make amends for the vagaries of the inheritance laws that allowed him to supersede his fair cousins' claim to their father's estate, Longbourn (on which I might be able to comment if I had taken that Property class) by making her an offer of marriage. Mr. Collins' Mind not having been formed for a rational Meeting, Miss Elizabeth was forced to decline his offer. He was a hard man to refuse, interpreting polite and then increasingly vehement refusals as an assent. Fortunately for Elizabeth, her father agreed to adjudicate, and Mr. Collins was given to understand that however he interpreted Miss Elizabeth's pronouncements, a Reasonable Person would interpret them quite differently, and there could be no Objective Manifestation of Assent. Mr. Collins then promptly Rescinded his offer, and tendered it elsewhere, meeting with greater success as his second offer was promptly accepted by Miss Charlotte Lucas, who was induced into the bargain in Consideration of her advancing age and lack of opportunities.
In the meantime, Mr. Bingley had been giving rise to expectations in the elder Miss Bennet. When he and his friends left the county with little notice, her friends were dismayed to find that no contract had been entered into. Of course, Jane had Reasonably Relied on his Pronouncement to her Detriment, since she was now exposed to the scorn of the neighbourhood for her disappointed hopes. However, since there had been no formal promise, Miss Bennet had no relief under a theory of Promissory Estoppel either (Ricketts v. Scothorn). Of course even if there had been a verbal promise or contract, it would have been found unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds, so it is probably for the best that Jane, despite having a solicitor for an uncle, was not litigious by nature.
It was only when she later went to Kent to visit the former Miss Lucas that Elizabeth learnt that it was Darcy who, to her view of things, had Tortiously Interfered between Bingley and Jane, preventing them from having formed a contract (Lumley v. Gye, Texaco v. Pennzoil). Unfortunately, it was right around this time that Darcy decided to Offer for her hand in marriage. In her surprise, she was initially silent, and interpreting this as assent (Hobbs v. Massatoit Whip Co.), he continued to outline the terms of his offer, making clear that her family connections had long given him pause. Of course, no Consideration could have induced Elizabeth to Accept this Offer. When he asked her for her reasons, Elizabeth did not hesitate to be specific, accusing him of Tortious Interference with Contracts between both Jane and Bingley and Wickham and his own sister Georgiana. Darcy attempted to Mitigate the Damage done to his character in a letter, although he did not renew his own offer. He asserted that he had no Knowledge that Miss Bennet would have accepted Mr. Bingley's offer in Good Faith, and that in any case, no contract had in any case Existed between them. Needless to say, his defense on this point was not entirely persuasive to Elizabeth, who felt that he had Unduly Influenced Bingley. Against her other accusation he defended himself more effectually, pointing out that Wickham had exerted Undue Influence on his sister (Odorizzi v. Bloomfield School District), her age made her possibly Incompetent to enter into a contract of marriage, and that Wickham had entered the contract in Bad Faith, in order to obtain Miss Darcy's fortune.
Needless to say, Elizabeth was affected by these revelations, but it was not until she visited Pemberley, Darcy's estate in Derbyshire (which is an estate truly worth writing about, had I taken that class on Property - but I can say that Elizabeth entered it not as a Trespasser but as a Licensee, with permission to tour the house and grounds, though not an Invitee, since she did not pay for the privilege) and saw how well Darcy fulfilled his contractual obligations with his employees in Personal Service and with his Tenants that she began to realise what she had refused. Of course as fate would have it she was so fortunate as to there encounter the master of the estate himself, whose improved civility began to give her hope that he might be persuaded to Renew his Offer.
These promising developments were interrupted by Elizabeth's receipt of the news that Wickham had made an Offer to her impressionable younger sister Lydia, which she had Accepted. The two had eloped together. Unfortunately, having a better understanding of Wickham's past behaviour, Elizabeth was confident that he intended to Materially Breach this contract, leaving the Bennets with little Recourse for the Damage they would suffer. Elizabeth was forced to return home, knowing that there was little that could be done, and that the reputational impact of this transaction would be such as to prevent Darcy from offering for her again.
Yet it was Darcy who found Wickham and Lydia, and it was he who induced Specific Performance upon the contract from Wickham, Inducing him to marry her with a large monetary settlement and a job offer. And it was Darcy who Induced Bingley to return to Netherfield (whose lease had not yet expired, though with cleverer legal representation Bingley might have extracted himself from this contract, for his purpose in taking the house had been Frustrated when he was given to understand that Miss Bennet would never love him) and try his fate again. And of course when Bingley was persuaded by Mrs. Bennet's tricks and stratagems and Darcy's honest confession to make his offer, his Miss Bennet did not disappoint him.
Darcy's romance ran a more difficult course, for his aunt Lady Catherine interfered, attempting to Enjoin Miss Elizabeth from ever contracting with Darcy, and pleading a prior commitment between him and her own daughter. Elizabeth, however, refused to oblige the lady, pointing out that whatever she or his mother might have planned, Personal Services contracts were not enforceable through Specific Performance, and that since Lady Catherine had no contractual rights to enforce a Negative Covenant against her, she was free to act as she chose (Lumley v. Wagner). Lady Catherine took her point, though with bad grace, and attempted to Enjoin her nephew instead, but the effect of her revelations was quite the opposite of what she had intended. He Anticipatorily Repudiated the obligation she and his mother had thrust upon him (perhaps relying on the Statute of Frauds) and promptly made another Offer to his Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth. And this time there was no impediment to a true Meeting of the Minds, and they contracted happily ever after.