A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1. Mrs. Bennet defines Charles Bingley as "a fine thing for our girls." It is the only thing on her mind when she learns of their new rich and single neighbor. To her Bingley is a commodity or piece of property: a potential husband to be snared for one of her five single daughters! It seems that no self-respecting wealthy bachelor is safe from the husband-hunting Mrs. Bennet!