I know most people are far past this point, but I was just rereading Mr. Collin's tete-a-tete with Elizabeth, and I remember at one point thinking how scary it would be to have a parent push one into a situation that was going to be so awkward and proved to be so irrational as to be distressing. I'm SO glad that Elizabeth had her dad to be able to back her up. If she didn't, and say, only her mother were living, it would have been VERY difficult for Elizabeth to live with the consequences of refusing Mr. Collins.