Pride and Prejudice: Novel Summary: Chapters 57-60

Chapter 57: When Lady Catherine is gone, Elizabeth thinks on the visit and wonders how such a rumor got started, concluding that people must have heard of the wedding of Bingley and Jane and desired another wedding between his friend and her sister.  She worries that Lady Catherine will indeed continue to make sure the match does not happen, and will talk to Darcy of the inferiority of her family, firmly resolving him against her.  The next morning Elizabeth's father meets her, wishing to discuss a letter he had received from Mr. Collins.  He is surprised to find out that Mr. Collins is congratulating him on the engagement of Jane, and on the future engagement of Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy.  He is shocked that Collins could receive such a report, and is amused that it should be about Darcy, someone whom he believes Elizabeth to despise.  Elizabeth is hurt by her father's amusement, and at the fact that he sees Mr. Darcy as indifferent to her.
Chapter 58: Soon Darcy returns from London, and he and Bingley visit.  Jane, Elizabeth, Bingley, Darcy and Kitty go for a walk, but Elizabeth and Darcy are left alone when Jane and Bingley walk off and Kitty leaves to call on Maria.  Elizabeth tells Darcy that she knows of the help that Darcy gave to Lydia, and says that she is quite grateful.  Darcy is sorry that she had found out about it, but says that her family owes him nothing, as he only thought of her when he did it.  He tells her that his feelings for her are the same as they were when he proposed, but that he will speak of it no more if hers have not changed.  She asserts that her sentiments have undergone quite a change, and that she is happy that he feels the same.  Darcy tells her that his aunt's retelling of her conversation with Elizabeth had given him hope that her feelings for him had changed. Elizabeth apologizes for anything she said before that could have hurt him, but Darcy says that her reproofs were valuable, as they have helped him to change.  Darcy states that he is happy with the engagement of Jane and Bingley, and admits that he had told Bingley of his mistake about Jane's indifference, and had basically given Bingley permission to pursue the match.
Chapter 59: Elizabeth and Darcy lose track of time with their walking and talking, but although the family notices their absence, they think nothing of it, as they do not believe anything could happen between the two.  Later in the evening Elizabeth tells Jane of what occurred between she and Darcy, and Jane is incredulous.  It takes a bit of convincing for Jane to finally believe that Elizabeth's feelings for Darcy had changed and for her to be happy for her.  The next day Mrs. Bennet makes more disparaging remarks when she sees Darcy coming, and makes Elizabeth walk out with him again so that the rest of the family does not have to be around him.  During their walk it is decided that Darcy will ask Mr. Bennet for his consent to his daughter's hand that evening. 
When the evening arrives, and Darcy leaves from his conference with her father smiling, Elizabeth is somewhat relieved, but she is still nervous about disappointing her father with her choice of husband.  Mr. Bennet asks Elizabeth if she is out of her senses, as he thought that she had always hated the man.  As with Jane, it takes a bit of convincing to make her father see that she is indeed in love with Darcy, and he accepts the match.  She also tells her father of what Darcy had done for Lydia, and he is relieved that it was not his brother-in-law after all, as he knows that Darcy will not receive repayment from him.  That night Elizabeth follows her mother upstairs to tell her the news.  She is quite shocked, but then gets quite excited about how much money Elizabeth will have, and how she will have three daughters married.
Chapter 60: Elizabeth asks Darcy if he only loves her because of her impertinence to him, and he states that it was the liveliness of her mind.  She asks why he was so quiet on the first days of his visit to Longbourn, and he states that he was embarrassed, but that he had to come to see if she had perhaps changed her mind about him.  Elizabeth writes a letter to Mrs. Gardiner telling her of the engagement, and Darcy writes one to Lady Catherine.  Bingley's sister congratulates her brother with affection and insincerity, and Miss Darcy is quite sincere in her happiness for her brother's engagement.  The Collinses come to visit, as Charlotte wants to get away from Lady Catherine's anger about the match that Charlotte is so happy about.