no one could say he "degraded" himself by connecting himself to the daughter of a gentleman who himself has connections to those in trade. While Bingley might have been able to elevate himself by marrying someone like Georgiana Darcy or Anne de Bourgh (when hell or her mother froze over), he would not actually be lowering his social status by marrying Jane, despite the views of Caroline and Louisa. Darcy, on the hand, could afford to marry whomever he wished, and could probably not raise himself up much higher unless he married into the royal family. He would however be the subject of much gossip by connecting himself to the Philips, the Gardiners (despite what wonderful people they are) and their ilk. The difference between the Hunsford Darcy and the Pemberley Darcy is that the Pemberley Darcy no longer cared...and knew that whatever "public face" he lost by such a marriage, he gain 100 fold in what mattered.