Every time an assembly was held in Meryton, the mood at Bennet's home could only be called festive. Mrs. Bennet had heard from a neighbour - who had heard from the butcher's wife – that at least four distinguished and single gentlemen friends of Mr. Bingley would attend the assembly. To the sadness of all the matrons of Meryton, rumor had also spread that Mr. Bingley was already engaged.

Since there were five young ladies, and there were only two maids at Longbourn to help them dress and do their hair, they needed to begin preparations several hours in advance. As always, Mrs. Bennet requested that priority be given to Jane, then to her favourite daughter Lydia, followed by Kitty, Mary, and finally, if there was still time, that they take care of helping Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was amused by the situation, since, unlike her cousins – except for Mary -, she had no desire or need to marry. At the suggestion of her grandfather and to avoid envy and discomfort, her cousins did not know the details of her large dowry, since they had very small dowries.

Her uncle didn't know the details of her dowry, but he assumed it was close to £10,000, but he never shared his thoughts with his wife. Her aunt preferred to believe and declare throughout the neighborhood that, since Elizabeth was an orphan and her grandfather was an old gentleman, like good Christians, they were raising her out of charity. Sadly, Fanny was not aware that her husband was receiving a large sum of money for Elizabeth's support.

In this way, the reports on Elizabeth's dowry were varied; some maintained that when her grandfather died, she would inherit a large fortune; others said that her dowry was similar to that of her cousins; and a third very small group of neighbors led by her aunt claimed that she did indeed live half the year on the Bennets' charity.

At the appointed time, the carriage was waiting to take the five young women and Mrs. Bennet to Meryton. As usual, Mr. Bennet was going to stay at home reading a good book.

For that occasion, Jane was wearing a beautiful light blue gown that highlighted the colour of her eyes, Elizabeth a yellow gown she had only worn once in London, and Mary, Kitty, and Lydia were all dressed in white.

They arrived a few minutes before the beginning of the first set. Elizabeth immediately spotted her good friend Charlotte Lucas and went to chat with her. Minutes later, John Lucas, who had been secretly in love with Elizabeth for a few years, joined the conversation and requested Elizabeth the first two sets.

Elizabeth was happily chatting with her dear friend and John Lucas when the Netherfield Park party finally arrived.

The eyes of most of those in attendance looked at the newcomers with curiosity. The first thing the matrons sadly noticed was that there were only two gentlemen instead of five, and one was Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Bennet, with her matchmaking tendencies, the second thing she noted was that Mr. Bingley did indeed seem to be engaged to the young blonde lady on his right, and, due to the physical resemblance, the other young woman on his left must be his sister. The other gentleman was accompanied by an older lady, and he could be single.

She took Jane, Kitty, and Lydia by the arm, since Mary and Elizabeth were elsewhere, and headed towards the Netherfield party so that Sir Lucas could introduce them. A few minutes later, her efforts were rewarded, and Sir William gallantly made the introductions.

As soon as Sir William introduced Jane to Darcy, Darcy was stunned, and for several seconds he stared at her without saying a word. Seeing how Mr. Darcy looked at her, Jane blushed profoundly and looked at her feet, feeling nervous. She had no way of knowing that she was very similar to Diana Stevens.

Georgiana, as well as Lady Maria, who had also met Diana, were both surprised by Jane's physical resemblance. They asked Mrs. Bennet a few polite questions about her family to find out if Jane and Diana were indeed relatives.

Knowing the wealth and social standing of Lady Maria and the Darcys and seeing Mr. Darcy's attention to her most beautiful daughter, Mrs. Bennet took it upon herself to flatter her illustrious neighbors and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Just a few moments later, the musician began to play. Since Darcy was quite intrigued by Jane, he eagerly asked, "Miss Bennet, if you are not already engaged, would you do me the honor of dancing with me this set?"

Jane looked at him in surprise, smiled shyly, and softly replied. "I am not engaged, Mr. Darcy. Yes, thank you."

Darcy grinned at her and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor, where Bingley and Georgiana followed them.

Like every time they danced together, John and Elizabeth chatted animatedly during the set; and in contrast, Darcy and Jane danced most of the time in silence.

Jane was still nervous and self-conscious; she had seldom seen and danced with such a handsome and elegant gentleman. As she was shy and not naturally very talkative, she merely smiled at him and nodded her head in agreement at everything Darcy said.

In order to know more about her and rule out a connection with Diana Stevens, Darcy curiously asked her. "Have you ever been to Derbyshire?"

Jane shook her head. "No, I have only been to London."

Darcy nodded slightly, adding, "Does your family have a house in London?"

"My uncle lives there with his family, and I visit them every year."

Darcy nodded, and they continued dancing in silence. Then, after a few attempts, he tried again to have a conversation, "What do you like most about London?"

Jane smiled warmly and replied. "I like visiting my family, especially my little cousins. I like going to Hyde Park and the theatre. My uncle is kind enough to take me to the theatre at least once a year."

Darcy smiled at her and said, "I enjoy going to the theatre very much." Then, he added, "What was the last play you attended?"

Jane thought for a few seconds and answered frankly, "I don't remember the name of the play. It was several months ago. I remember it was in a foreign language."

Darcy just nodded, and they continued dancing in silence. Near the end of the first set, a clumsy gentleman made an unexpected turn that caused Georgiana to fall and twist her ankle. The music stopped, and at once, Darcy and Bingley came to Georgiana's aid. Mr. Goulding, greatly embarrassed by his clumsiness, apologized several times to the Darcys and the Bingleys. Very shortly, however, despite Georgiana's assurance that it was only a sprained ankle, their party returned to Netherfield Park.

PPP

That same night, Jane and Elizabeth – as they always did after an assembly – stayed awake for a couple of hours discussing their impressions of the assembly as well as their new neighbors.

Despite Jane's initial shyness and discomfort, she had been very well impressed with Mr. Darcy and told her cousin so.

"Lizzy, he is just what a gentleman ought to be: sensible, handsome and intelligent. He danced with me for the first set. My mother is convinced by the way he was looking at me that if it weren't for his sister's accident, he would have asked me to dance again." She smiled dreamily and added, "It was a pity you were not with us when Sir William introduced us."

Elizabeth smiled and playfully replied, "I am glad he is handsome and clearly has an excellent taste as well. If he stays in the neighborhood for a while, I will surely get a chance to meet him."

"Sir William said that he will stay here until his sister gets married since he is helping his future brother-in-law learn how to manage the estate."

Elizabeth nodded and replied, "That speaks highly of him since it shows he cares for his sister's well-being."

"Yes, you are correct. Besides, Mr. Darcy's sister claimed that her brother is the best of men. "

Elizabeth, with a bit of sadness, thought of her uncle. Although he had always been kind to her, he showed very little interest in the welfare of his family. Curiously, she asked, "When is his sister getting married?"

"In early December. So, Mr. Darcy will remain here for several weeks."