Mr. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid she had no knowledge of it.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 2. It is ironic that Mr. Bennet is one of the first to visit Charles Bingley, because he repeatedly insists to his wife Mrs. Bennet that he won’t make the visit to Netherfield. But Mr. Bennet sometimes means the opposite of what he says to his wife, enjoying teasing and taking a rise out of her.