Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth
remained with no very cordial feelings towards him
She told the story,
however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively,
playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous
The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family
Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield
party
Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been
distinguished by his sisters
Jane was as much gratified by this as her
mother could be, though in a quieter way
They returned, therefore, in good
spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they
were the principal inhabitants
With a
book, he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a
good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised
such splendid expectations
He had rather hoped that all his wife’s
views on the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found that he
had a very different story to hear
Bennet,” as she entered the room, “we have had a most
delightful evening, a most excellent ball
Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it
Everybody said how well
she looked; and Mr
Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with
her twice
Only think of _that_, my dear: he actually danced with her
twice; and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second
time
First of all, he asked Miss Lucas
I was so vexed to see him stand
up with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody
can, you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going
down the dance
So he inquired who she was, and got introduced, and
asked her for the two next
For God’s sake, say no more of
his partners
O that he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!”

“Oh, my dear,” continued Mrs
Bennet, “I am quite delighted with him
and his sisters are charming women
I never
in my life saw anything more elegant than their dresses
Hurst’s gown----”

Here she was interrupted again
Bennet protested against any
description of finery
She was therefore obliged to seek another branch
of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit, and some
exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr
“But I can assure you,” she added, “that Lizzy does not lose much by not
suiting _his_ fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at
all worth pleasing
So high and so conceited, that there was no enduring
him
He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very
great
Not handsome enough to dance with
I wish you had been there, my
dear, to have given him one of your set-downs
I quite detest the man.”




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CHAPTER IV
[Illustration]

When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in
her praise of Mr
Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much
she admired him
“He is just what a young-man ought to be,” said she, “sensible,
good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners
so much ease,
with such perfect good breeding!”

“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young man ought
likewise to be if he possibly can
His character is thereby complete.”

“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time
I
did not expect such a compliment.”

“Did not you
But that is one great difference between
us
Compliments always take _you_ by surprise, and _me_ never
What
could be more natural than his asking you again
He could not help
seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in
the room
No thanks to his gallantry for that
Well, he certainly is
very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him
You have liked many a
stupider person.”

“Dear Lizzy!”

“Oh, you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general
You never see a fault in anybody
All the world are good and agreeable
in your eyes
With _your_
good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of
others
Affectation of candour is common enough; one meets with it
everywhere
But to be candid without ostentation or design,--to take the
good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing
of the bad,--belongs to you alone
And so, you like this man’s sisters,
too, do you