Chapter 1

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes, to press his friend to join it.

"Come Darcy," he said, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you stand about in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."

"I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with."

"I would not be as fastidious as you are," cried Bingley, "for a kingdom!" Upon my honour, I have never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them you see uncommonly pretty."

"You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room," said Mr Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

"Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say, very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you."

"Which do you mean?" and turning around, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye he withdrew his own and coldly said, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour to give consequence to young ladies, who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for...1"

"Darcy, I am well aware that you are not in the mood to dance, but this really will not do! If you intended to be miserable, you could just as well have stayed at home."

With a dour expression, Mr Darcy replied that he would have done exactly that, had not he, Bingley, insisted on his coming hither.

"You have been miserable for weeks, nay almost months now, Darcy, and as a friend, I cannot have that. Come now, let us forgo propriety and introduce ourselves if you object to being introduced by Miss Bennet," Bingley cheerfully spoke and turned around to smile at his partner's sister, who had first with amusement, then with growing indignation and now with returning amusement, listened to the conversation between him and his friend.

Mr Darcy looked positively shocked at such a suggestion and with an almost sneaky grin Bingley turned towards the patiently waiting Jane and before the reluctant gentleman could say another word, his friend had made sure he was introduced to Miss Elizabeth, whether he wanted it or not and was duly engaged for the next set.

It was obvious that he took no pleasure in his new acquaintance, however, and rarely had Elizabeth looked forward to a dance with as little enthusiasm as this one. On occasion, it seemed, having no partner could be more agreeable than having to dance with such a miserable one as Mr Darcy, she thought to herself but was resigned to make the best of the situation anyway. What else was there to do? I it was not, after all, as if she could consider declining this dance unless she wanted to forgo the pleasure of dancing altogether for the rest of the evening, for she had already refused a dance with Mr Bradshaw, who even when sober had difficulty not tripping over his own feet. But alas, he had not been sober anymore and since asking her, he seemed to have seen reason and had retreated to sit with the other, mainly older gentlemen, to smoke and drink some more. Now she almost wished to have danced with him in order to be able to avoid having Mr Darcy as a partner. What were a couple of bruises to miserable stiffness when, at least, her partner would have been amiable?

Yet, never one crying over spilt milk, Elizabeth soon saw the funny side of the situation and while the current dance commenced, she joined her friend Miss Lucas to laugh about it.

"You cannot imagine just how conceited he is, Charlotte!" she cried out, her dark eyes gleaming with amusement. "Not handsome enough to tempt him? As if I even attempted to do so! What does he think? That each and every lady is running after him?"

"It was not very polite of him to say so, I agree, Eliza. But considering what I have heard about him, I dare say there are a great many ladies who would not mind tempting him at all," Miss Lucas replied smiling wryly and in looking up saw that they were watched by the very man they were speaking about looking rather uncertain for a moment before he was back to frowning.

"Then they can have him for all I care. What does he mean by being so miserable at a ball?"

"Oh, Eliza, now you are being unkind," Charlotte Lucas reprimanded her mildly, knowing full well that her friend was not quite in earnest, "he might have his reasons for being miserable, you know?"

"Do you mean to say that he has sprained his ankle but is too proud to say so?"

"Eliza!" Charlotte laughed, before quickly hiding her glee behind her fan.

As the present dance was just about to end the conversation between her and Miss Lucas came to a halt as she was then joined by a very timid looking Mr Darcy who stiffly led her to the dance floor. There he bowed politely, though unsmiling still, as if to make it even more clear that he took little pleasure in the activity and especially in her as a partner. He was a good dancer, however, if a bit hampered by what she perceived to be a slight limp she had not noticed before, and Elizabeth Bennet, well aware of the glances that were cast their way, was quite pleased to be able to match his style as they made their way down the set.

"For someone who does not like dancing, you are astonishingly good at it, Mr Darcy," she remarked lightly after a while, beginning to find the silence between them slightly oppressive.

This was met with a surprised glance from him, and with the tiniest hint of a smile he replied: "I might not like dancing but I do like music, the rest is nothing but practice, I suppose."

"Then you must have practised exceedingly hard," she remarked with a teasingly raised eyebrow and sparkling eyes and it was at this moment that Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley realised that she was not like all the other women he had as yet met, "for I find that it is ultimately harder to excel in something one does not like while whatever one finds pleasant comes with ease. Do you not agree?"

He nodded and for the shortest of moments his eyes lit up with a genuine smile, seemingly about to reply to her playful comment, but before he could do so, her mother's voice reached her ears and his expression turned ever so much darker.

If he was not careful, he was in great danger of enjoying himself more than he ought, more than he had done in months at any rate, if not in years. There was a refreshing lightness about his present partner that seemed completely devoid of any designs in regards to capturing him and he appreciated that. But no sooner had he thought so, when the shrill voice of a woman reached his ears as she proclaimed what a fine pair he and Miss Elizabeth would make and it took little skill to deduce that it was the very lady's mother who spoke thus.

"Oh, first my Jane and Mr Bingley and now Elizabeth and Mr Darcy! What a fine pair they make, do they not? I dare say he is quite smitten with her already. And she is the only person he danced with so far... - I would not be surprised if he called on us in a day or two."

From his partner's flustered expression it was clear that she had heard it, too, and yet, the blush that consequently had crept over her face, was most becoming, and he could not help feeling sorry that she had been so embarrassed by someone so close to her, for that she was mortified, was obvious.

He had been tempted to reply to his fair partner's remark equally light-hearted, but now thought it to be unwise. No, he could not connect himself with such a family and if dancing with the lady alone, had given rise to such speculations as an impending courtship, then smiling at her would be as good as an engagement in the eyes of the people around them, and in her mother in particular. And not just that, his leg had begun to hurt tremendously again and every step, turn and bow was becoming nothing but pure torture.

"Excuse me, please," he said at last, and led her to the very chair from whence she had overheard his and Bingley's conversation and with no little astonishment Elizabeth Bennet sat down, too speechless from anger and shame to say anything as she watched him retreat and leave the room.

And as he did so, the limp which before she had hardly been able to detect, seemed all the more prominent now. Could Charlotte be right with there being a good reason for the man being so dour and unapproachable? Pain surely could make even an amiable man prickly and abrasive. Bit if he truly was in pain, why had he not made any excuses?

Still, flustered Elizabeth Bennet glanced up and into the caring eyes of her oldest sister, but in this instant, Jane's comfort was bound to upset her even more as her thoughts whirled around in her head. She was quite sure that her mother's remark had brought this about, for for a moment Mr Darcy's features seemed to have lightened up - but still, it was not very gentlemanly to do what Mr Darcy had just done and leave his partner, her, in the middle of a dance without further explanation. If he really was injured and in pain, why had he not just said so? It would have been more than understandable that he did not wish to dance when in pain. It was all so very puzzling, confusing and most and for all mortifying.

"Oh, Elizabeth," Jane sighed, sitting down beside her sister, waking her from her thoughts.

"I am fine, Jane, save for my dignity, which somehow has been slightly injured," Elizabeth Bennet replied with a forced smile.

Once more she attempted to laugh it off, but this time, the slight had been too severe to do so with ease and feeling ever so many eyes on her she greatly wished to do as Mr Darcy had just done and simply walk from the room to get back home. There would be no joy for her to be had tonight, and by the time the ball would end, the gossip would be unbearable of that Elizabeth was certain. As much as she liked the people of Meryton, their gossiping was something to be reckoned with and it would be a while until she would hear the end of it.

"I can only assure you, that Mr Bingley is equally shocked by what has just happened. He is just now following his friend to try and bring him back," Miss Bennet carried on, embracing her sister and thus upsetting her even more.

"That would be the worst he could do. I certainly do not want him here anymore, I assure you!" Elizabeth cried out in exasperation before rousing from her seat to flee from the rooms. After all, to where she knew not.

1 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 3.