Lucas Lodge is a mile from Meryton and within a short walk from Longbourn, in Hertfordshire. It is the home of Sir William and Lady Lucas and their many sons and daughters, including Charlotte Collins (until her marriage) and Maria Lucas. Their eldest son, who is unnamed, is presumably the heir to Lucas Lodge. Mrs. Bennet claims the park is much smaller than the one at Longbourn.[1]
William Lucas had been in trade in Meryton, where he made a tolerable fortune and was elected mayor, before he made an address to the king that caused him to be knighted and presented in St. James's. The distinction led him to quit his business and his residence in a small market town, and he removed with his family to Lucas Lodge where he can "think with pleasure of his own importance, and, unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world."[2]
The Lucases host a large party where Elizabeth Bennet first notices Fitzwilliam Darcy staring at her while she speaks with Colonel Forster. Charlotte opens the instrument so Elizabeth can perform, and after Mary Bennet succeeds her at the piano, there is dancing. Sir William tries to convince Darcy to dance with Elizabeth, but she demurs and impresses Darcy so much that he admits his attraction to Caroline Bingley.[3]
After Elizabeth rejects William Collins, Charlotte pays court to him. When he comes to Lucas Lodge, Charlotte perceives him from an upper window and set out to meet him "accidentally" in the lane, where he proposes to her, and they enter the house together to ask for the consent of her parents.[4] When Mr. Collins returns to stay another week at Longbourn, he spends most of his time at Lucas Lodge.[5] When he returns to be married, however, he stays at Lucas Lodge.[6]
A dinner at Lucas Lodge is among the numerous entertainments when Charles Bingley returns to the neighborhood, but Mrs. Bennet believes the soup at Longbourn is "fifty times better" than what the Lucases had served the week before.[7] When Lady Catherine de Bourgh is angered by Elizabeth and Darcy's engagement, Charlotte and Mr. Collins come to stay with her family.[8]