Which character says the line 'A lady's imagination is very rapid'?

Mr. Darcy says, “A lady’s imagination is very rapid.” He speaks the line to Elizabeth Bennet during a conversation at Netherfield in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Darcy’s full observation is that a woman’s imagination can leap quickly from admiration to love and then to marriage. Elizabeth treats the remark as evidence of his tendency to make confident judgments about women and courtship. The exchange is playful, but it also reveals the social assumptions that shape their early relationship.

At this point in the novel, Elizabeth and Darcy are still antagonistic conversational partners. Elizabeth enjoys challenging him, while Darcy is increasingly attracted to her wit despite his reserved manner. The line is therefore both a joke and a clue to Darcy’s growing interest.

A common mix-up is attributing it to Elizabeth because she frequently makes witty remarks about romance. However, in the novel’s dialogue, the speaker is Darcy. The quotation also belongs to Austen’s larger exploration of how quickly people form impressions and misread one another.