The Bennet sisters soon paid a visit to the Bingleys at Netherfield.
The Bingleys returned the visit as proper manners required.
Jane’s warm and pleasant personality quickly won over Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley.
They found Mrs. Bennet unbearable and paid little attention to the younger Bennet girls.
But they clearly wanted to become better acquainted with Jane and Elizabeth.
Jane was delighted by their attention.
Elizabeth, however, remained unconvinced.
She still noticed the way the Bingley sisters looked down on almost everyone around them.
They barely seemed to treat Jane as an equal either.
Elizabeth couldn’t bring herself to like them.
Still, she appreciated the attention they showed Jane.
Most likely, they were being kind to her because their brother was so clearly interested in her.
Whenever Mr. Bingley and Jane were together, it was obvious that he admired her.
It was just as obvious to Elizabeth that Jane was beginning to return his feelings.
Her sister was clearly starting to fall in love with him.
Fortunately, Jane was so calm and naturally cheerful that she was unlikely to give herself away.
Elizabeth was pleased that most people would never guess what was happening.
She mentioned this to her friend Charlotte Lucas.
“Perhaps it’s nice to be able to hide your feelings from everyone,” Charlotte said.
“But sometimes being too careful can work against you.”
“If a woman hides her feelings so well that the man she loves can’t see them either, she may lose her chance.”
“And then it won’t help much that everyone else was fooled too.”
“Most relationships contain some mixture of gratitude, attraction, or vanity.”
“So it’s dangerous to simply sit back and hope things work out.”
“We can all begin with a little interest in someone. That’s perfectly natural.”
“But very few people will fall deeply in love without receiving some encouragement.”
“In most cases, a woman would be better off showing a little more affection than she actually feels.”
“Bingley clearly likes Jane.”
“But if Jane doesn’t give him some encouragement, he may never move beyond simply liking her.”
“But Jane does encourage him,” Elizabeth replied.
“She does as much as her personality allows.”
“If I can see how much she likes him, Bingley would have to be incredibly foolish not to notice it too.”
“Remember, Lizzy, he doesn’t know Jane as well as you do.”
“But if a woman clearly likes a man and doesn’t try to hide it, surely he will eventually realize it.”
“Perhaps.”
“But only if he gets enough time with her.”
“Bingley and Jane see each other fairly often, but they are rarely alone together for very long.”
“Most of the time they’re surrounded by other people.”
“They can’t possibly spend every moment talking to each other.”
“Jane should make the most of every opportunity she gets to have his attention.”
“Once she knows she has won him over, she can take all the time she wants to fall in love.”
“Your plan makes sense,” Elizabeth said.
“But only if the main goal is simply to get married.”
“If I were determined to find a rich husband—or any husband—I might follow your advice.”
“But Jane isn’t thinking that way.”
“She isn’t trying to make anything happen.”
“She’s not even sure how deeply she likes him yet, or whether her feelings make sense.”
“She has known him for only two weeks.”
“They danced together four times at Meryton.”
“She visited his house once.”
“And they’ve had dinner together four times.”
“That isn’t enough time for her to understand his character.”
“Not quite,” Charlotte replied.
“If they’d only had dinner together, I’d agree with you.”
“She would probably know nothing more than whether he had a good appetite.”
“But they’ve also spent four evenings together.”
“And four evenings can tell you quite a lot.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth said.
“They’ve discovered that they both prefer playing Vingt-un to Commerce.”
“But as far as anything important about their personalities goes, I don’t think they’ve learned much at all.”
“Well,” Charlotte said, “I sincerely hope Jane succeeds.”
“And if she married him tomorrow, I would think she had just as good a chance of being happy as if she spent a whole year studying his personality.”
“Marriage is mostly a matter of luck.”
“Even if two people know each other extremely well before marriage, or seem very similar, that doesn’t guarantee happiness.”
“Once they are married, people change.”
“They usually become different enough from each other to cause plenty of arguments.”
“Sometimes it’s actually better not to know too much about your future spouse’s faults.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“You always make me laugh, Charlotte.”
“But you know that isn’t really good advice.”
“And you certainly wouldn’t follow it yourself.”
While Elizabeth was busy watching Mr. Bingley’s obvious interest in Jane, she failed to notice that his friend had begun taking an interest in her.
At first, Mr. Darcy had barely considered Elizabeth pretty.
At the Meryton ball, he had looked at her without any admiration at all.
When they met again, he seemed interested only in finding things to criticize.
But once he had convinced himself that Elizabeth had hardly a beautiful feature in her face, something unexpected happened.
He began noticing her eyes.
Her dark eyes were full of intelligence and expression.
They made her face far more attractive than he had first realized.
Then he discovered several other things that annoyed him.
He had noticed that her figure was not perfectly shaped.
Yet he had to admit that she moved with a lightness and natural grace that he found attractive.
He had also criticized her manners as being too informal for fashionable society.
But he couldn’t deny that her playful, easy manner appealed to him.
Elizabeth had no idea any of this was happening.
As far as she was concerned, Darcy was simply the rude man who seemed unable to enjoy himself anywhere.
He was also the man who had decided she wasn’t pretty enough to dance with.
Darcy began wanting to know more about her.
Since he wasn’t ready to speak to her directly, he started listening whenever she talked to other people.
Elizabeth soon noticed what he was doing.
One evening, a large group had gathered at Sir William Lucas’s house.
Elizabeth turned to Charlotte.
“What does Mr. Darcy think he’s doing?”
“He’s been listening to my conversation with Colonel Forster.”
“That’s a question only Mr. Darcy can answer.”
“But if he does it again, I’m going to let him know that I’ve noticed.”
“He has a very sharp and critical way of looking at people.”
“If I don’t make fun of him first, I’m afraid I might soon become nervous around him.”
A short time later, Darcy came near them.
He didn’t appear to have any intention of joining their conversation.
Charlotte challenged Elizabeth with a look.
Elizabeth immediately took the opportunity to tease him.
“Mr. Darcy, didn’t you think I expressed myself particularly well just now?”
“I was trying to persuade Colonel Forster to arrange another ball in Meryton.”
“You certainly spoke with great energy,” Darcy replied.
“But that is usually what happens when a woman is talking about a ball.”
“You’re rather hard on women.”
“It will soon be your turn to be teased,” Charlotte said.
“I’m going to open the piano, Eliza.”
“And you know exactly what that means.”
“You are a very strange sort of friend,” Elizabeth said.
“You’re always trying to make me perform in front of everyone.”
“If I were vain about my musical abilities, you’d be an excellent friend to have.”
“But I’m not.”
“And I’d rather not play in front of people who are probably used to hearing much better musicians.”
Charlotte continued to insist.
“All right,” Elizabeth finally said.
“If you absolutely insist, then I’ll play.”
She glanced seriously at Darcy.
“There is an old saying everyone here knows.”
“‘Don’t waste your breath.’”
“So I’ll save my breath for singing.”
Elizabeth’s performance was pleasant, although she was not an outstanding musician.
After she had sung one or two songs, several people began asking her to sing again.
Before Elizabeth could respond, Mary immediately took her place at the piano.
Mary had worked extremely hard to become accomplished.
Because she was the only plain-looking daughter in the family, she had devoted herself to reading, studying, and developing impressive skills.
She was always eager for an opportunity to show them off.
Unfortunately, Mary had neither natural musical talent nor much taste.
Her determination to become accomplished had also made her rather serious and pretentious.
She often sounded as though she were giving a lecture.
Elizabeth had played more naturally and had been much more enjoyable to listen to, even though she was not nearly as technically skilled.
Mary continued playing for a long time.
Eventually, she switched to some popular Scottish and Irish songs.
Her younger sisters requested them, and they were happy to get up and dance.
Several of the Lucas girls joined them, along with a few young officers.
Before long, one end of the room had turned into a small dance floor.
Darcy stood nearby, silently annoyed.
He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to spend an entire evening dancing instead of having an intelligent conversation.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice Sir William Lucas standing beside him.
Sir William finally spoke.
“What a wonderful way for young people to spend an evening, Mr. Darcy!”
“There’s really nothing like dancing.”
“I consider it one of the great signs of a civilized society.”
“Certainly, sir,” Darcy replied.
“Although dancing has one advantage.”
“It is also popular among less civilized societies.”
“Even the most primitive people know how to dance.”
Sir William simply smiled.
After a short pause, he noticed Bingley joining the dancers.
“Your friend dances wonderfully.”
“And I imagine you are an excellent dancer yourself, Mr. Darcy.”
“You saw me dance at Meryton, I believe.”
“Yes, indeed.”
“I enjoyed watching you very much.”
“Do you often dance at St. James’s?”
“Never, sir.”
“Don’t you think it would be a nice way of showing respect for the place?”
“It’s a compliment I avoid giving whenever possible.”
“I assume you have a house in London?”
Darcy simply nodded.
“I once considered moving to London myself,” Sir William continued.
“I enjoy being around important and fashionable people.”
“But I wasn’t sure whether the London air would agree with Lady Lucas.”
He paused, clearly expecting Darcy to respond.
Darcy had no intention of doing so.
Just then, Elizabeth happened to walk toward them.
Sir William suddenly thought of something.
“My dear Miss Eliza!”
“Why aren’t you dancing?”
“Mr. Darcy, you must let me introduce this young lady as an excellent dance partner.”
“Surely you can’t refuse when such a beautiful woman is standing right in front of you.”
Sir William took Elizabeth’s hand and tried to place it in Darcy’s.
Darcy looked genuinely surprised.
But he seemed willing to accept her hand.
Elizabeth immediately pulled it away.
“Please, sir,” she said, slightly embarrassed.
“I have absolutely no intention of dancing.”
“And I certainly wasn’t walking this way because I wanted someone to ask me.”
Darcy politely asked whether she would allow him the honor of dancing with her.
But Elizabeth refused.
She had made up her mind.
Sir William wasn’t ready to give up.
“You are such an excellent dancer, Miss Eliza.”
“It would be terribly unfair to deny me the pleasure of seeing you dance.”
“And although Mr. Darcy doesn’t usually enjoy dancing, I’m sure he would be happy to make an exception for half an hour.”
“Mr. Darcy is extremely polite,” Elizabeth said with a smile.
“He certainly is.”
“And given the circumstances, we can hardly blame him for accepting.”
“Who would refuse such a beautiful partner?”
Elizabeth gave Darcy a playful look.
Then she turned away.
Her refusal had not offended him.
In fact, Darcy found himself thinking about her with a surprising amount of pleasure.
Just then, Miss Bingley approached him.
“I think I can guess what you’ve been thinking about.”
“I doubt that.”
“You’re thinking about how unbearable it must be to spend evening after evening like this.”
“Surrounded by people like these.”
“And I completely agree with you.”
“I’ve never been so bored.”
“They are noisy but have nothing interesting to say.”
“They think far too highly of themselves while having so little of importance to say.”
“I would love to hear what you really think of them.”
“Your guess is completely wrong.”
“My thoughts have been occupied with something much more pleasant.”
“I’ve been thinking about how much pleasure a beautiful pair of eyes can give when they belong to an attractive woman.”
Miss Bingley immediately looked at him with interest.
“Really?”
“Then you must tell me who the woman is.”
“Whose eyes have inspired such thoughts?”
Darcy answered without hesitation.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”
Miss Bingley stared at him in disbelief.
“I’m amazed!”
“When did she become your favorite?”
“And when should I start congratulating you?”
“That is exactly the question I expected you to ask.”
“A woman’s imagination moves remarkably quickly.”
“It goes from admiration to love, and from love to marriage, almost instantly.”
“I knew you would start congratulating me.”
“If you’re serious about it,” Miss Bingley said, “then I’ll assume the marriage is already decided.”
“You’ll certainly have a wonderful mother-in-law.”
“And I’m sure she’ll spend a great deal of time at Pemberley with you.”
Darcy listened without the slightest sign of concern.
Miss Bingley could tease him as much as she liked.
His calm expression convinced her that there was nothing serious behind his words.
So she happily continued with her jokes.