After dinner, the ladies went upstairs for a while. Elizabeth hurried to Jane’s room and made sure her sister was warm enough before bringing her back to the drawing room.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst welcomed Jane warmly. Elizabeth was surprised by how pleasant and entertaining they were that evening.
They were both excellent conversationalists. They could describe a party in detail, tell funny stories, and make amusing comments about people they knew.
But as soon as the gentlemen entered, Jane was no longer the center of Miss Bingley’s attention.
Her eyes immediately went to Darcy, and she quickly found an excuse to speak to him.
Darcy politely congratulated Jane on feeling better. Mr. Hurst also greeted her and said he was glad to see her recovering.
But Bingley’s welcome was much warmer.
He was clearly delighted to see Jane out of bed. For the first half hour, he kept adding wood to the fire because he was worried she might get cold.
He then asked Jane to move farther from the door and closer to the fire.
After that, he sat beside her and spent most of his time talking to her.
Elizabeth, sitting in the opposite corner with her sewing, watched them with great pleasure.
After tea, Mr. Hurst suggested that they play cards.
But Miss Bingley quickly rejected the idea.
She had learned that Darcy did not want to play, and she knew there was little chance of getting anyone else interested.
“No one seems to want to play cards tonight,” she said.
Mr. Hurst had no choice but to lie down on a sofa and fall asleep.
Darcy picked up a book.
Miss Bingley picked up one too, while Mrs. Hurst played with her bracelets and rings and occasionally joined Bingley and Jane in conversation.
Miss Bingley was far more interested in watching Darcy read than in reading her own book.
Every few minutes, she asked him a question or glanced at the page he was reading.
Darcy always answered politely, but he never continued the conversation. He simply returned to his book.
Miss Bingley eventually became bored with her own reading.
She had only chosen that book because it was the second volume of the one Darcy was reading.
She gave a long yawn.
“How pleasant it is to spend an evening like this,” she said. “I declare, there is nothing better than reading. Everything else becomes tiring much faster than a good book.”
“When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I don’t have an excellent library.”
No one answered.
She yawned again, put the book aside, and looked around the room for something more interesting to do.
Then she heard Bingley talking to Jane about holding a ball.
“Charles, are you really planning to hold a dance at Netherfield?”
“I would suggest that you ask everyone here before making a final decision. I suspect some people would consider a ball more of a punishment than a pleasure.”
“If you mean Darcy, he can go to bed before it starts if he wants,” Bingley replied.
“But the ball is already decided. As soon as Nicholls has prepared enough white soup, I’ll send out the invitations.”
“I would enjoy balls much more if they were organized differently,” Miss Bingley said.
“The usual routine is terribly boring. Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend the evening talking instead of dancing?”
“I’m sure that would be much more sensible, Caroline,” Bingley said.
“But it wouldn’t be much of a ball.”
Miss Bingley had nothing to say to that.
A little later, she stood up and began walking around the room.
She had an elegant figure and moved gracefully, but Darcy remained completely focused on his book.
Clearly frustrated, Miss Bingley decided to try something else.
She turned to Elizabeth.
“Miss Bennet, why don’t you walk around the room with me? It’s quite refreshing after sitting in the same position for so long.”
Elizabeth was surprised by the invitation, but she agreed.
Miss Bingley had achieved what she really wanted.
Darcy looked up from his book.
He seemed just as surprised as Elizabeth was by the sudden change.
Without even realizing it, he closed his book.
Miss Bingley immediately invited him to join them.
Darcy declined.
“I can think of only two reasons why you have decided to walk around the room together,” he said.
Miss Bingley looked at him with curiosity.
“What could those reasons possibly be?”
Elizabeth was curious too.
She leaned toward Miss Bingley.
“Can you understand what he means?”
“Not at all,” Elizabeth replied.
“But I’m sure he’s trying to make fun of us. The best way to disappoint him is simply not to ask.”
Miss Bingley, however, had no intention of giving up.
She insisted that Darcy explain himself.
“I have no objection to explaining,” Darcy said.
“You are either walking together because you are close friends and have private matters to discuss, or because you think you look especially attractive while walking.”
“If it is the first reason, I would only get in your way.”
“And if it is the second, I can admire you much better while sitting here by the fire.”
“Oh, that is outrageous!” Miss Bingley exclaimed.
“I have never heard anything so terrible. How should we punish him for saying that?”
“That’s easy enough,” Elizabeth said.
“We can tease him and make fun of him.”
“You know him well enough. Surely you must know how to annoy him.”
“I honestly don’t,” Miss Bingley replied.
“Being close to him has not taught me how to tease him. His calmness and self-control make that nearly impossible.”
“And as for laughing at him, we shouldn’t embarrass ourselves by laughing when there is nothing funny to laugh about.”
“Mr. Darcy may congratulate himself on being safe.”
“Mr. Darcy is not someone you can easily laugh at,” Elizabeth said.
“That is a rare advantage, and I hope it stays that way.”
“I would hate to have too many friends like him. I love to laugh.”
“Miss Bingley has given me more credit than I deserve,” Darcy said.
“Even the wisest and best people can be made to look ridiculous by someone who sees making jokes as the most important thing in life.”
“I agree that such people exist,” Elizabeth replied.
“But I hope I’m not one of them.”
“I would never make fun of something simply because it is wise or good.”
“But foolish behavior, nonsense, strange habits, and contradictions do amuse me. I admit that I enjoy laughing at those things whenever I can.”
“I suppose you have none of those weaknesses.”
“Perhaps no one is completely free of them,” Darcy said.
“But I have spent much of my life trying to avoid the weaknesses that can make an intelligent person look foolish.”
“Such as vanity and pride?”
“Yes. Vanity is certainly a weakness.”
“But pride, when it comes from genuine intelligence or ability, can be kept under control.”
Elizabeth turned away so Darcy would not see her smile.
“Have you finished examining Mr. Darcy?” Miss Bingley asked.
“And what have you decided about him?”
“I am now completely convinced that Mr. Darcy has no faults at all.”
“He seems perfectly willing to admit that himself.”
“No,” Darcy said.
“I have never claimed to be without faults.”
“I have plenty of them. I only hope they are not faults of intelligence.”
“As for my temper, I cannot make the same claim. I know that I am not very willing to forgive or compromise.”
“I remember other people’s mistakes and offenses much longer than I should.”
“My feelings are not easily changed just because someone tries to persuade me.”
“I suppose some people would call me resentful.”
“And once I lose a good opinion of someone, I rarely get it back.”
“That really is a serious fault,” Elizabeth said.
“Never letting go of resentment can certainly damage a person’s character.”
“But you have chosen your weakness wisely. I don’t think I can even make fun of you for it.”
“You are safe from me.”
“I believe every person has some natural weakness that even a good education cannot completely remove,” Darcy said.
“And yours is a tendency to dislike everyone.”
Darcy smiled.
“And yours is a habit of deliberately misunderstanding people.”
Miss Bingley had been listening with increasing irritation.
She finally interrupted.
“Let’s have some music.”
“Louisa, would you mind waking Mr. Hurst?”
Mrs. Hurst had no objection.
The pianoforte was opened, and the room soon filled with music.
Darcy was not sorry for the interruption.
He had begun to realize that he was paying Elizabeth far more attention than he should.