Some interesting points from all, which
cannot (ahem) be either condoned or denied with any certainy. Darcy was a well educated and intelligent man, of that there is little doubt, and he may have found it surprising to find another intelligent soul in a country environ if the likes of Mrs Bennet were any sort of benchmark. We know his views on the locals and also on propriety, but Lizzy wasn't alone in her manners catching his eye. He also praised Jane and Charlotte Lucas as worthy of attention. Granted, he may have been uttering an outside the box form of praise in Lizzy's direction by his remarks, but could he really expect her to denigrate her own family, friends and neighbours by agreeing with him? At that point, as his impending proposal was to illustrate, his views on lowering himself to Lizzy's level (amd thus all concerned with her) were nothing short of insulting. But then again, much depends on how the reader sees Darcy in return at that point.
In short, he could not know anything of Lizzy, but his ego told him differently. Nothing in the story indicates that the Bennets had not always lived in Longbourne and the girls had not been born and raised there.
