...Mrs. Bennet meant, but thanks to Julie's interesting information, it sounds like getting a special licence would have been counter-productive, as she says! I didn't realize that special licences were only for the aristocracy. I clearly remember in Jane Aiken Hodge's Regency romance The Runaway Bride (otherwise well-researched, IMO, and a good read), the hero, who is a nobleman (JAH got that part right), feels he has to marry the heroine in a hurry to protect her reputation, so he pulls some strings to get a special licence in a few hours so he can take it with him on his way to rescue his beloved. Guess that wouldn't have happened in reality, after all! :-)