LITMIR.BIZ

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their invitation as he was to be in town the following day. Mrs. Bennet was quite upset. She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might never settle at Netherfield, flying about from one place to another. Lady Lucas calmed her a little by saying that Mr. Bingley, perhaps, had gone to London only to get a large party for the ball; and, indeed, they soon heard that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The number of ladies upset the girls, but the day before the ball they were comforted by hearing that he had brought only six ladies with him from London: his five sisters and a cousin. And on the assembly day Mr. Bingley's party consisted of only five altogether: Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another young man.

      Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant open face, and natural manners. His sisters were elegant women, and looked very stylish. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, only looked the gentleman. But the attention of the assembly room was soon drawn to his friend Mr. Darcy with his fine, tall figure, handsome face, noble bearing, and the word, spread within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen said he was a fine figure of a man, the ladies decided he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was the object of great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave out that he was proud, above his company, and above being pleased; then even his large estate in Derbyshire could not save him from the general decision that he was a most unpleasant person, unworthy to be compared with his friend.

      Mr. Bingley had soon made acquaintance with all the chief people in the room; he was lively and danced every dance, was sorry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving a ball himself at Netherfield. Such contrast between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy mostly walked about the room, speaking from time to time to one of his own party. He danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, and did not wish to be introduced to any other lady. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most unpleasant man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again. Mrs. Bennet disliked him even more than the others because he had snubbed one of her daughters.

      As the number of dancing gentlemen was limited, Elizabeth Bennet had to sit down for two dances. For some time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough, and she heard a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes and invited his friend to join it.

      «Come, Darcy», said he, «I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You must dance».

      «I certainly will not. You know how I hate it. I can only dance with a partner whom I know well. Your sisters are engaged, and it would be a punishment to me to dance with any other woman in the room».

      «Don't be so hard to please!» cried Mr. Bingley «Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and several of them are uncommonly pretty».

      «You are dancing with the only beautiful girl in the room», said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

      «Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever met! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and very pleasant. I can ask my partner to introduce you».

      Mr. Darcy turned round and looked for a moment at Elizabeth. Catching her eye, he turned away and coldly said: «She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am not in the mood at present to give importance to young ladies who are snubbed by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles. You are wasting your time with me».

      Elizabeth had no very hearty feelings toward him after that. She told the story, however, with great humor among her friends. Hers was a lively mind, a playful character, and she delighted in anything ridiculous.

      On the whole, the ball was successful for the Bennet girls. Mrs. Bennet was pleased that her eldest daughter had been much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and his sisters had talked to her. Jane was very much pleased by this, too, but in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure. Mary had heard as somebody had called her the most accomplished girl in the neighborhood; and Catherine and Lydia had never found themselves without partners, their chief interest at a ball. Therefore, they returned home to Longbourn in good spirits. Mr. Bennet was still up. He usually didn't notice time when reading a book, but that evening he was rather curious about the ball which had raised such great expectations. He had rather hoped that his wife would be disappointed in her expectations concerning the stranger, but he soon found out that he had a different story to hear.

      «Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet», she exclaimed as she entered the room, «we have had a most delightful evening. Jane was admired so much; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her twice! Just think of that, my dear; he actually danced with her twice! She was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so annoyed by that! But, however, he did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody can, you know; and he was quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So he asked who she was, and got introduced, and asked her for the next dance. Then he danced with Miss King, and then with Maria Lucas, and then with Jane again, and then with Lizzy, and the Boulanger…»

      «If he had had any compassion for me», cried her husband impatiently, «he would not have danced half so much! For God's sake, say no more of his partners. I wish he had sprained his ankle in the first dance!»

      Mrs. Bennet said she was quite delighted with Mr. Bingley and his charming sisters, and began to describe their elegant dresses. Here Mr. Bennet stopped her: he protested against any description of fine dresses. So Mrs. Bennet had to change the subject, and with much bitterness and some exaggeration, she told him the story of the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

      «But I can assure you», she said in the end, «that Lizzy does not lose much if he doesn't fancy her. He is a most unpleasant, horrid man. So conceited! He walked here, and he walked there, thinking himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, and had given him one of your set-downs. I quite hate the man».

      Chapter 4

      Alone with Elizabeth, Jane told her how very much she admired Mr. Bingley. She said that he was sensible, good-natured, lively, had such easy manners; a perfectly well-bred man, just as a young man ought to be.

      «He is also handsome», added Elizabeth, «a young man ought to be, if he possibly can. His character is thus complete».

      «I was very much flattered when he asked me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment».

      «But I did. And that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. It was quite natural that he had asked you again. He could not fail to see 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 pleasant, and l allow you to like him. You have liked many a stupider person».

      «Dear Lizzy!»

      «Oh! you do have a tendency to like people in general. You never see a defect in anybody. Everybody is good and agreeable in your eyes. You have never spoken badly of a person in your life».

      «I would not wish to condemn anyone hastily; but I always speak what I think».

      «I know you do; and that's the wonder. With your good mind you are blind to the defects and stupidity of others! Pretended sincerity is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But you alone are truly sincere and see the good in everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad. And so you like this man's sisters, too, don't you? Their manners are different from his».

      «At first I thought so, too. But they are very pleasing women when you talk with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am certain we'll find a very charming neighbor in her».

      Elizabeth was silent. She was of a different opinion about Mr. Bingley's sisters. Their behaviour at the assembly had not shown any desire to be pleasant. Elizabeth was more observant and her character was firmer than her sister's, and as her judgment wasn't influenced by any attention to herself, she was

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