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Of course, Bingley might not wish to incur Darcy's disapproval by daring to suggest such a thing...... but he should have done. He may have been unsure, even feared rejection, but he needed to see for himself. For that, I'm not prepared to excuse him.
Jim G.M
I don't think Bingley had any problem displeasing Darcy.
He teases him at the Meryton Assembly and at Netherfield and Darcy informs us that he is angry with him when he finds out that he hid the fact that Jane was in London from him.
In his letter to E. Darcy tells us that nothing he said about Jane and her connections could dissuade Bingley it was only the assurance of his older and more objective ( as Bingley thought) friend that Jane didn't love him that stopped him.
With respect it was much more complicated than Bingley just riding to Meryton and asking Jane straight out if she loved him. I don't think he feared rejection, in fact I think the opposite was the case. He knew that he was a good catch, that Jane would be put under a lot of pressure to accept him. In fact even we don't know that Mr Bennet would support her if she refused Bingley as he did when E. refused Collins. That support appeared to be more about his dislike of Collins than his support for E. Bingley would be a much more acceptable son in law and suited to Jane. Bingley did not want to put Jane in a potentially distressing situation (remember Mrs B.'s treatment of E. after she refused Collins) but probably also didn't want to find himself married to a woman who had no choice in the matter.
I think JA goes to some trouble to clear Bingley of any fault in his desertion of Jane and also to demonstrate the steadiness of his love . I refer to his conversation with E. in Lambton and his eagerness to propose once he knew Jane did care.
