The remainder of the evening passed without incident. Mr. Darcy proved to be rather a disappointment to the people of Meryton, despite his wealth and fine appearance, for though he did dance with Miss Elizabeth, he spent the remaining hours of the assembly either alone or with his own party. He talked very little and danced even less. In such a country assembly, where gentlemen are scarce and more than one young lady is sitting down in want of a partner, one could little wonder that Mr. Darcy of Derbyshire left a less than favourable impression on those he met there. Mr. Bingley had a great deal more success than his friend in securing the good opinions of all in attendance. He did demonstrate a marked preference for one woman, which in other circumstances might have caused him too to be declared a disappointment. However, as the woman he preferred was the eldest Miss Bennet, he was instead considered to be a man of sense and taste, especially by the young lady's mother.
What thoughts passed through the mind of Elizabeth after her interaction with Darcy one could hardly guess, and none but her eldest sister tried. She laughed, conversed and danced with all the liveliness and unaffected sweetness for which she was known. It was only Jane who, when glimpsing at her dear sister in a quiet moment, thought she caught a twinge of some other feeling betray itself on her countenance for a fleeting moment. It looked to her like irritation. If Jane had Elizabeth's discernment of character, and if she had not the distractions of dancing with Bingley and being introduced to his sisters, she perhaps would have connected that look of irritation to the fact that Darcy looked at Elizabeth a great deal, while Elizabeth looked at him not at all.
To the rest of the Bennet family, the evening altogether passed off pleasantly. Despite her concern for Elizabeth, Jane was quietly gratified by the attention paid her by Bingley and his sisters. Mrs. Bennet was as much pleased as her eldest daughter, though less discreetly. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and Kitty and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned, therefore, in good spirits to Longbourn, where they found Mr. Bennet still up. 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.
"Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet," said she as she entered the room, "we have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been there. 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."
Mrs. Bennet proceeded with alacrity to list in order all of Mr. Bingley's partners, pausing only briefly at each name to note the deficiencies of his partners that were not her own daughters. She had begun to describe the seventh dance when her husband, with rising impatience, beseeched her to have compassion and cease her talk of the young gentleman's partners, dearly wishing that he had instead sprained his ankle in the first dance.
"Oh! my dear," continued Mrs. Bennet, with unperturbed enthusiasm, "I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw any thing more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst's gown—"
Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related the neighbourhood's reception of Mr. Darcy.
"Quite a rude and unpleasant man, they called him, but I fancy they only say so because he did not ask any of their daughters to dance. Such a handsome young man, my dear, and so rich! Ten-thousand a year, if you can believe it! You know, the only lady he asked to dance outside of his own party was our own dear Lizzy. How pretty she looked tonight, I do not blame him! Not as pretty as Jane, of course, but still, Darcy did choose her and not Jane as his partner. Can you believe it, my dear? Ten thousand a year, at least! Oh! and I almost forgot; Lizzy was already acquainted with him. What a dark horse you are, Lizzy, never letting on that you are acquainted with such a man. I ought to be cross with you for not telling me, but who could be cross after such a ball as we have had?"
Elizabeth smiled indulgently at her mother before excusing herself and retiring to her bedroom. She had but gazed out of her window for a moment when a knock came from her door and Jane entered her room.
"Lizzy," said Jane, once she had closed the door behind her, "will you tell me what troubles you?"
"How well you know me, Jane." Elizabeth turned toward her sister. "In truth, it is Mr. Darcy who troubles me."
"Mr. Darcy?" Jane exclaimed, moving further into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. "How does Mr. Darcy trouble you?"
"To answer that, I must first relate to you the circumstances of our first."
In due course, Elizabeth recounted the event which she had determined to conceal from all, even her dearest sister. Although Elizabeth maintained her characteristic playful air that delights in anything ridiculous, she could not help the indignant blush that rose when she recalled what Darcy had said of her to his sister when he believed her to be out of earshot.
"I am all astonishment!" cried Jane. "I cannot believe that a gentleman and friend of Mr. Bingley could say such things, and about a woman he hardly knows. But you heard it yourself, so, no, it must be true."
Elizabeth smiled to herself at the difficulty her sister had in considering anything but the good in a person.
"Poor Lizzy," continued Jane, "how much you had to bear, and alone! Why did you not tell me sooner, so that I may have comforted you?"
Elizabeth laughed affectionately. "Dear Jane, I assure you I am well. Indeed, I have hardly thought of that day until this evening. I did not tell you sooner because at our last meeting Mr. Darcy was civil and attentive. When I became friends with his sister, I determined to give him the benefit of the doubt; and I received so many favourable accounts of him from Miss Darcy that I did want to shame him by making his behaviour at our first meeting widely known."
"But how came you to think of that first meeting this evening?"
"When I asked about Miss Darcy he gave a vague and hesitant answer. Oh! Jane, if you had seen his look of disdain when he overheard discussions of my acquaintance with him and his sister, you would not be surprised that I recalled the disdain for me he expressed all those months ago."
Jane furrowed her brows as she considered this. After a moment, she asked: "But why would he single you out to dance if he truly felt that way?"
"He said that he had something he wished to say to me. What else could he have to say but that he disapproves of me as a friend for his sister?"
"I am not sure," answered Jane. "Perhaps he had some news to relate from his sister."
"Why then would he appear so awkward and evasive when I introduced her into conversation? But let us talk no more of this. Tell me, dear Jane, how do you like Mr. Bingley?"
Though Jane had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, she expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him. As she spoke about the gentleman, Jane's countenance brightened, and Elizabeth shared in her sister's pleasure. After Jane had sufficiently listed the many virtues of Mr. Bingley, and after her sister had sufficiently teased her, she moved the conversation to the gentleman's sisters. Jane was always ready to express the good in others and say nothing of the bad, with perfect frankness and without ostentation or design. It was in this way that she complimented the aforementioned ladies. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"And so you like Mr. Bingley's sisters, do you?" asked she. "Their manners are not equal to his."
"Certainly not—at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them."
Here Elizabeth was tempted to interject that conversation with Miss Bingley had rather lessened than improved Elizabeth's opinion of her. However, Jane, despite her serene air, appeared to Elizabeth so full of hope for the future, and so Elizabeth restrained herself. Instead, with a sincere smile, she stated her optimism in Mr. Bingley proving himself a charming neighbour, and the two sisters bade each other good night.
A few days after the ball, the ladies of Longbourn set out to wait upon those of Netherfield. The carriage was filled with chatter as it tumbled towards its destination. Mrs. Bennet seamlessly alternated between breathless effusions about the charming Mr. Bingley and his handsome friend, earnest lectures to Jane on the importance of making a good impression with the sisters, and scolding Mary for complaining about the interruption this morning call was to her practice at the pianoforte. Kitty and Lydia talked and giggled rapturously about the recent ball and how they might invent opportunities of dancing as they awaited the next. Jane dutifully listened to her mother, and only offered a response when called upon, which was seldom.
To none of these sounds did Elizabeth pay any heed. Her thoughts were occupied with her latest letter to Georgiana—or rather, her inability to pen said letter. How easily writing to her friend had previously been, and now how impossible! Upon every attempt, she could barely poise her pen to write before her mind was seized by the disdainful countenance of Mr. Darcy.
"Did you hear me, Lizzie?"
Mrs. Bennet's shrill, scolding voice pulled Elizabeth's mind back to the carriage. She promptly apologised and asked her mother to repeat what she had said.
"Oh! Lizzie!" cried Mrs. Bennet in exasperation. "How will you ever marry if you refuse to listen to me? As I said, I want you to be on your best behaviour should we meet Mr. Darcy. I daresay the men will not be present, but should they be you must do your best to draw him out. You have quite an advantage over all the girls of the neighbourhood there, if you would only make the most of it. Do not feel too pleased with yourself, mind, for he only asked you to dance once."
Much to Elizabeth's relief, the carriage had by now halted before Netherfield Park, which prevented her mother from lecturing further and spared Elizabeth from having to respond.
The calling card was presented and soon the Bennet ladies were led up the grand staircase to the morning room. The ladies entered the room and curtsied to its inhabitants. As Elizabeth looked up to survey the room, she noticed not two but three ladies present. She was all astonishment, for standing beside Miss Bingley was the very friend whom she had struggled to write that morning: Miss Darcy.