Elizabeth made no
answer, and took her place in the set, amazed at the dignity to which
she was arrived in being allowed to stand opposite to Mr
Darcy, and
reading in her neighbours’ looks their equal amazement in beholding it
He replied, and was again
silent
After a pause of some minutes, she addressed him a second time,
with--

“It is _your_ turn to say something now, Mr
“Very well; that reply will do for the present
Perhaps, by-and-by, I
may observe that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones; but
_now_ we may be silent.”

“Do you talk by rule, then, while you are dancing?”

“Sometimes
One must speak a little, you know
“How near it may be to _mine_, I cannot pretend to say
She answered in the affirmative; and, unable to resist
the temptation, added, “When you met us there the other day, we had just
been forming a new acquaintance.”

The effect was immediate
A deeper shade of _hauteur_ overspread his
features, but he said not a word; and Elizabeth, though blaming herself
for her own weakness, could not go on
At length Darcy spoke, and in a
constrained manner said,--

“Mr
At
that moment Sir William Lucas appeared close to them, meaning to pass
through the set to the other side of the room; but, on perceiving Mr
Darcy, he stopped, with a bow of superior courtesy, to compliment him on
his dancing and his partner
“I have been most highly gratified, indeed, my dear sir; such very
superior dancing is not often seen
It is evident that you belong to the
first circles
What congratulations will
then flow in
Darcy;--but let me not interrupt you, sir
Recovering himself, however, shortly,
he turned to his partner, and said,--

“Sir William’s interruption has made me forget what we were talking
of.”

“I do not think we were speaking at all
Sir William could not have
interrupted any two people in the room who had less to say for
themselves
We have tried two or three subjects already without success,
and what we are to talk of next I cannot imagine.”

“What think you of books?” said he, smiling
“Books--oh no!--I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same
feelings.”

“I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be
no want of subject
Darcy,
that you hardly ever forgave;--that your resentment, once created, was
unappeasable
You are very cautious, I suppose, as to its _being
created_?”

“I am,” said he, with a firm voice
“I am trying to make it out.”

“And what is your success?”

She shook her head
They had not long separated when Miss Bingley came towards her, and,
with an expression of civil disdain, thus accosted her,--

“So, Miss Eliza, I hear you are quite delighted with George Wickham
Let me recommend you, however, as a friend, not to give
implicit confidence to all his assertions; for, as to Mr
Darcy’s using
him ill, it is perfectly false: for, on the contrary, he has been always
remarkably kind to him, though George Wickham has treated Mr
Darcy in a
most infamous manner
I do not know the particulars, but I know very
well that Mr
His coming into the country at all is a most insolent thing, indeed, and
I wonder how he could presume to do it
Darcy’s steward, and of _that_, I can
assure you, he informed me himself.”

“I beg your pardon,” replied Miss Bingley, turning away with a sneer
“Excuse my interference; it was kindly meant.”

“Insolent girl!” said Elizabeth to herself
“You are much mistaken if
you expect to influence me by such a paltry attack as this
I see
nothing in it but your own wilful ignorance and the malice of Mr
Darcy.” She then sought her eldest sister, who had undertaken to make
inquiries on the same subject of Bingley
Jane met her with a smile of
such sweet complacency, a glow of such happy expression, as sufficiently
marked how well she was satisfied with the occurrences of the evening
“I want to know,” said she, with a countenance no less smiling than her
sister’s, “what you have learnt about Mr
Bingley does not know the whole of his
history, and is quite ignorant of the circumstances which have
principally offended Mr
Darcy; but he will vouch for the good conduct,
the probity and honour, of his friend, and is perfectly convinced that
Mr
Wickham has deserved much less attention from Mr
Darcy than he has
received; and I am sorry to say that by his account, as well as his
sister’s, Mr
Wickham is by no means a respectable young man
I am
afraid he has been very imprudent, and has deserved to lose Mr
Wickham himself.”

“No; he never saw him till the other morning at Meryton.”

“This account then is what he has received from Mr
But what does he say of the living?”

“He does not exactly recollect the circumstances, though he has heard
them from Mr
Darcy more than once, but he believes that it was left to
him _conditionally_ only.”

“I have not a doubt of Mr
Bingley’s sincerity,” said Elizabeth warmly,
“but you must excuse my not being convinced by assurances only
Elizabeth listened with
delight to the happy though modest hopes which Jane entertained of
Bingley’s regard, and said all in her power to heighten her confidence
in it
Bingley himself, Elizabeth withdrew
to Miss Lucas; to whose inquiry after the pleasantness of her last
partner she had scarcely replied, before Mr
Collins came up to them,
and told her with great exultation, that he had just been so fortunate
as to make a most important discovery
