Mr Collins was a cousin who would inherit Longbourn when Mr Bennet died, because the estate could not pass to daughters. He was a heavy, formal young clergyman, and he spoke of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, in every third sentence. He came to choose a wife among the Bennet girls, as a kind of apology for the entail. Jane was nearly engaged, so he turned to Elizabeth in a single morning. His proposal listed his reasons in order, like a sermon, and he never once said that he loved her. Elizabeth refused him plainly. He assured her that elegant females often refuse a first offer. She refused him again, and her mother wept, and her father said that from this day she must be a stranger to one of her parents.