The moment Elizabeth entered the drawing room at Netherfield, she looked around for Mr. Wickham.
She had been completely certain that he would be there. She had dressed especially carefully that evening and arrived in an excellent mood, hoping to win even more of his affection before the night was over.
But Wickham was nowhere to be seen.
Elizabeth immediately began to wonder whether Darcy had somehow arranged for him not to be invited.
Lydia quickly asked Mr. Denny about Wickham.
“He had to go to London on business yesterday,” Denny explained. “He hasn’t returned yet.”
Then he added with a knowing smile, “I don’t think his business would have taken him away at a time like this if he hadn’t wanted to avoid a certain gentleman here.”
Lydia did not seem to notice the meaning behind his words, but Elizabeth did.
To her, this was almost proof that Darcy was responsible for Wickham’s absence.
Her disappointment immediately turned into anger.
When Darcy soon came over and politely spoke to her, Elizabeth could barely manage a civil reply.
She felt that being patient or friendly toward Darcy would be unfair to Wickham.
She decided she would have nothing to do with him.
She even turned away from him with an irritation that she could not completely hide.
Unfortunately, her bad mood affected her conversation with Mr. Bingley too. His obvious trust in Darcy only made her more annoyed.
But Elizabeth was not someone who could remain unhappy for very long.
Even though her plans for the evening had been ruined, she soon recovered her spirits.
She found Charlotte Lucas, whom she had not seen for a week, and told her everything that had happened.
Before long, the two of them were laughing about Mr. Collins and his strange behavior.
Then the dancing began.
Elizabeth’s first two dances were miserable.
She had to dance with Mr. Collins.
He moved awkwardly, looked far too serious, and kept apologizing instead of paying attention to the dance.
He often went the wrong way without even realizing it.
Elizabeth felt embarrassed for both of them.
When the two dances finally ended, she felt an enormous sense of relief.
She then danced with an officer.
At least that gave her a chance to talk about Wickham and hear that he was generally very popular with the officers.
After those dances, she returned to Charlotte.
They were talking when Darcy suddenly approached her.
Before Elizabeth had time to think, he asked her to dance.
She was so surprised that she accepted without even realizing what she was doing.
Darcy walked away immediately.
Elizabeth was annoyed with herself for agreeing so quickly.
Charlotte tried to comfort her.
“I dare say you’ll find him quite pleasant.”
“I certainly hope not!” Elizabeth replied. “That would be the worst thing that could happen. Imagine finding a man pleasant when I’ve already decided to dislike him. Please don’t wish that on me.”
When the next dance began, Darcy came back to claim her hand.
Charlotte quietly warned Elizabeth.
“Don’t be foolish. Don’t let your feelings for Wickham make you behave badly in front of a man like Darcy. He’s far more important than Wickham.”
Elizabeth said nothing.
She took her place opposite Darcy in the dance.
She was almost amused by the attention they were receiving. Everyone seemed surprised that she had been chosen to dance with such an important man, and she could see the astonishment on the faces around her.
For a while, neither she nor Darcy said a word.
Elizabeth began to think they might remain silent for the entire dance.
At first, she decided she would not be the one to speak.
Then she thought it might be even more unpleasant for Darcy if she forced him to make conversation.
So she finally said something about the dance.
Darcy answered briefly.
Then he fell silent again.
After several minutes, Elizabeth spoke once more.
“It’s your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, so you should say something about the room or how many couples are dancing.”
Darcy smiled.
“I’ll say whatever you want me to say.”
“Very well. That will do for now. Perhaps later I might mention that private balls are more enjoyable than public ones. But for the moment, we can be quiet.”
“Do you always follow rules when you dance?”
“Sometimes. People have to say something. It would look rather strange for two people to stand together without speaking for half an hour. But sometimes conversation should be arranged so that certain people can get away with saying as little as possible.”
“Are you thinking about yourself, or are you trying to make things easier for me?”
“Both,” Elizabeth replied playfully. “I’ve always thought our personalities are rather similar. We are both quiet and unsociable. Neither of us likes to speak unless we have something so remarkable to say that everyone in the room will remember it forever.”
“I don’t think that description fits you very well,” Darcy said. “As for me, I cannot say whether you’ve judged correctly. But I suppose you believe you’ve described me perfectly.”
“I shouldn’t be the one to judge my own performance.”
Darcy did not reply.
They continued dancing in silence for a while.
Eventually, Darcy asked, “Do you and your sisters often walk into Meryton?”
“Yes, we do.”
Elizabeth could not resist adding, “When you saw us there the other day, we had just made a new acquaintance.”
Darcy’s expression immediately became colder.
He said nothing.
Elizabeth regretted mentioning Wickham, but she had already started the subject and could not think of anything else to say.
After a moment, Darcy finally spoke.
“Mr. Wickham has a very pleasant manner, which makes it easy for him to win people’s friendship. Whether he is equally good at keeping those friendships is another question.”
“He has certainly been unlucky to lose your friendship,” Elizabeth replied pointedly. “And it seems to be a loss he will suffer from for the rest of his life.”
Darcy said nothing.
He clearly wanted to change the subject.
At that moment, Sir William Lucas came toward them.
He had intended to cross the dance floor, but when he noticed Darcy, he stopped and bowed enthusiastically.
“My dear sir, I have been extremely impressed by your dancing. One rarely sees such excellent skill. It’s obvious that you belong to the highest circles.
“And I must say that your lovely partner does you great credit as well.
“I hope we shall see this combination many more times, especially when a certain happy event takes place.”
Sir William glanced toward Jane and Bingley.
“What wonderful congratulations there will be then! But I won’t keep you from your charming conversation with this young lady, whose beautiful eyes seem to be telling me that I’m already taking too long.”
Darcy barely seemed to hear the rest of Sir William’s speech.
His mention of Bingley and Jane had caught Darcy’s attention.
Darcy looked seriously toward them as they danced together.
A moment later, he turned back to Elizabeth.
“Sir William’s interruption has made me forget what we were talking about.”
“I don’t think we were really talking at all,” Elizabeth said. “Sir William couldn’t have interrupted two people who had less to say to each other.
“We’ve already tried several subjects without success. I have no idea what we should talk about next.”
“What do you think of books?” Darcy asked with a smile.
“Books? No. I’m sure we don’t read the same books, or at least we wouldn’t have the same opinions about them.”
“That’s unfortunate. But if we disagree about books, at least we’ll always have something to discuss. We could compare our opinions.”
“No. I can’t talk about books at a ball. My mind is always occupied with other things.”
“So you’re always completely focused on what’s happening around you at events like this?”
“Yes, always.”
Elizabeth answered without thinking.
Then her thoughts suddenly returned to Darcy’s character.
“I remember you once said that you rarely forgive anyone. Once you become angry with someone, you never let go of it. I suppose you’re very careful about letting people make you angry in the first place?”
“I am.”
“And you never allow prejudice to influence your judgment?”
“I hope I don’t.”
“Then surely someone who never changes his opinion should be especially careful to make the right judgment the first time.”
“May I ask what you’re trying to discover with all these questions?”
“Nothing serious,” Elizabeth said, trying to smile. “I’m simply trying to understand your character.”
“And how successful have you been?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“Not very successful. I’ve heard so many different stories about you that I don’t know what to believe.”
“I can easily imagine that people tell very different stories about me,” Darcy replied seriously. “But I wish you would not try to judge my character right now. I suspect the result would not make either of us look particularly good.”
“But if I don’t form an opinion of you now, I may never get another opportunity.”
“I would never want to prevent you from enjoying yourself,” Darcy said coldly.
Elizabeth said no more.
They finished the dance and separated without another word.
Neither of them was completely satisfied with the conversation.
Darcy, however, was far more affected by Elizabeth than he wished to admit. His growing feelings for her made it easier for him to forgive her behavior, while his anger was increasingly directed toward Wickham.
Not long after Elizabeth left Darcy, Miss Bingley approached her.
She smiled politely, but there was obvious contempt in her expression.
“So, Miss Eliza, I hear you’re quite fascinated by Mr. Wickham.
“Your sister has been asking me all sorts of questions about him. But apparently Wickham forgot to tell you one important detail. He is the son of the late Mr. Darcy’s steward.
“As a friend, I would advise you not to believe everything he tells you.
“His story about Mr. Darcy treating him badly is completely false. Mr. Darcy was actually very kind to him, while Wickham behaved terribly toward Mr. Darcy.
“I don’t know all the details, but I know Mr. Darcy is not to blame.
“He can’t stand hearing Wickham’s name mentioned, and although my brother felt he had to invite him along with the other officers, he was extremely pleased when Wickham conveniently removed himself.
“Frankly, I think Wickham was extremely bold even to come back to this part of the country.
“I feel sorry for you, Miss Eliza, now that you’ve discovered the truth about your favorite young man. But really, considering his background, perhaps we shouldn’t have expected much better.”
“According to you, his ‘guilt’ seems to be nothing more than his family background,” Elizabeth replied angrily. “You’ve accused him of nothing worse than being the son of Mr. Darcy’s steward. And I already knew that. Wickham told me himself.”
“I beg your pardon,” Miss Bingley said with a mocking smile as she turned away. “I only meant to be helpful.”
Elizabeth watched her go.
“Insufferable girl,” she thought. “She must think I’m stupid enough to be influenced by such a cheap attack. All I see here is her own prejudice and Darcy’s spite.”
Elizabeth then went looking for Jane.
Jane had promised to ask Bingley about Wickham.
The moment Elizabeth saw her sister, she knew something good had happened.
Jane’s face was glowing with happiness.
Elizabeth immediately realized that Jane’s conversation with Bingley had gone very well.
At that moment, her concern for Wickham and her anger toward Darcy became much less important.
If Jane truly had a chance of being happy with Bingley, that was far more important to Elizabeth.
“I want to know what you’ve learned about Mr. Wickham,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “Unless you’ve been so happily occupied that you forgot all about him. In that case, I’ll forgive you.”
“No, I haven’t forgotten him,” Jane replied. “But I don’t have anything very encouraging to tell you.
“Mr. Bingley doesn’t know the whole story. He doesn’t know exactly what happened between Wickham and Darcy or what caused Darcy’s anger.
“But he completely trusts Darcy’s character. He believes Darcy is honest, honorable, and incapable of deliberately hurting someone without reason.
“He also believes Wickham has received far more kindness from Darcy than he deserved.
“And I’m afraid Bingley agrees with his sisters that Wickham is not really a respectable young man. He thinks Wickham has behaved very carelessly and probably deserved to lose Darcy’s friendship.”
“But Bingley doesn’t actually know Wickham.”
“No. He had never even met him until we saw him in Meryton.”
“Then everything Bingley knows about him came from Darcy.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m perfectly satisfied,” Elizabeth said. “I have no doubt that Bingley sincerely believes what he told you.
“But I can’t accept his opinion as proof. He doesn’t know much about the matter himself, and what he does know came directly from Darcy.
“So, for now, I’ll continue to think of both men exactly as I did before.”
Elizabeth then changed the subject to something that made both sisters much happier.
She asked Jane about Bingley.
Jane admitted, modestly but happily, that she believed Bingley cared for her.
Elizabeth was delighted.
She did everything she could to strengthen Jane’s confidence.
When Bingley joined them, Elizabeth quietly moved away and went to Charlotte Lucas.
Charlotte was about to ask whether Darcy had been a pleasant dance partner when Mr. Collins appeared beside Elizabeth.
He looked extremely pleased with himself.
“I have just made a most important discovery,” he announced.
“What have you discovered?” Charlotte asked.
“I have discovered, quite by accident, that a close relative of my patroness is here tonight.
“I overheard a gentleman speaking to Miss Bingley about his cousin, Miss De Bourgh, and her mother, Lady Catherine.
“Can you imagine my good fortune? Who would have expected me to meet a nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh at this very ball?
“I am extremely grateful that I discovered this in time to introduce myself properly.
“I shall go and speak to him at once. I hope he will forgive me for not having done so earlier. Naturally, I had no idea that we were connected.”
Elizabeth stared at him.
“You aren’t planning to introduce yourself to Mr. Darcy, are you?”
“Of course I am. I must apologize for not approaching him sooner.
“I believe he is Lady Catherine’s nephew. I can also tell him that Lady Catherine was perfectly well when I last heard from her.”
Elizabeth tried desperately to stop him.
“Mr. Darcy will probably think it extremely rude for you to approach him without being introduced. You would not be paying a compliment to his aunt.
“There’s no reason for you to speak to him at all.
“And if anyone should begin such an acquaintance, surely it should be Mr. Darcy, since he is the more important person.”
Mr. Collins listened with the firm expression of a man who had already decided to ignore her.
“My dear Miss Elizabeth, I have the greatest respect for your judgment in matters that you understand.
“But I must point out that the rules of etiquette for ordinary people are not necessarily the same as those that apply to members of the clergy.
“I consider the position of a clergyman equal in dignity to the highest ranks in the country, provided that he remains properly humble.
“Therefore, I must follow my conscience and do what I believe is my duty.
“You must forgive me for ignoring your advice on this occasion.
“On every other subject, I shall be happy to follow your guidance. But in this particular matter, my education and years of study have prepared me better than a young lady to decide what is proper.”
With a deep bow, Mr. Collins walked away.
Elizabeth watched in horror as he approached Darcy.
She could not hear what he was saying, but Mr. Collins began with another solemn bow.
From the movement of his lips, Elizabeth thought she could make out words such as “apology,” “Hunsford,” and “Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”
She felt embarrassed just watching him.
Darcy looked completely astonished.
When Mr. Collins finally stopped speaking, Darcy replied with distant politeness.
That did not discourage Mr. Collins.
He began another long speech.
The longer he talked, the more obvious Darcy’s contempt became.
When Mr. Collins finally finished, Darcy merely gave him a slight bow and walked away.
Mr. Collins returned to Elizabeth looking extremely satisfied.
“I assure you, I have absolutely no reason to complain about Mr. Darcy’s reception.
“He seemed very pleased by my attention.
“He was extremely polite and even said that he had such complete confidence in Lady Catherine’s judgment that he was certain she would never show favor to someone who did not deserve it.
“That was a very gracious thing for him to say.
“Overall, I am extremely impressed with Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth did not bother correcting him.
She had nothing else she wanted from the evening, so she focused almost entirely on Jane and Bingley.
The more she watched them, the happier she became.
She could already imagine Jane living at Netherfield with Bingley, enjoying a marriage based on genuine affection.
Under those circumstances, Elizabeth even thought she might eventually learn to like Bingley’s sisters.
She could also see that Mrs. Bennet was thinking exactly the same thing.
Elizabeth wisely tried to stay away from her mother.
Unfortunately, when they sat down for supper, Elizabeth found herself seated close to her.
Mrs. Bennet immediately began talking to Lady Lucas about Jane’s expected marriage to Bingley.
Elizabeth was horrified.
Her mother spoke openly and enthusiastically about all the advantages of the match.
“Just think about it,” Mrs. Bennet said. “Mr. Bingley is such a charming young man, and he’s so rich. And he lives only three miles away!
“And his sisters are so fond of Jane. I’m sure they would be delighted to have her as their sister.
“It would also be wonderful for my younger daughters. If Jane marries such a wealthy man, they’ll have many more opportunities to meet other rich young men.
“And at my age, it would be such a relief to have my unmarried daughters living under Jane’s care. Then I wouldn’t have to go out socially more than I wanted to.”
Mrs. Bennet continued talking as if she could never run out of reasons to celebrate the match.
She ended by wishing Lady Lucas the same good fortune.
Her tone, however, made it clear that she did not seriously believe Lady Lucas had any chance of being so lucky.
Elizabeth tried repeatedly to make her mother lower her voice.
It was useless.
Mrs. Bennet continued speaking loudly enough for Darcy, who was sitting directly opposite them, to hear.
Elizabeth was deeply embarrassed.
“Mother, please speak more quietly,” she whispered.
“What does Mr. Darcy have to do with me?” Mrs. Bennet replied. “I’m sure we don’t owe him any special consideration. Why should I stop saying what I think simply because he might not like it?”
“For heaven’s sake, please lower your voice. What good can come from offending Mr. Darcy? You’ll never make him like you if you behave this way.”
Her mother ignored her completely.
Elizabeth’s face grew red with embarrassment.
She kept looking toward Darcy despite herself.
Every time she did, she became more certain that he had heard them.
His expression slowly changed.
At first, he looked deeply offended.
Then his face became calm and serious.
Eventually, Mrs. Bennet ran out of things to say.
Lady Lucas, who had grown tired of listening to Mrs. Bennet talk about a marriage she had no chance of sharing in, finally turned her attention to her supper.
Elizabeth began to relax.
But her relief did not last long.
After supper, someone suggested that Mary should sing.
Elizabeth immediately looked at her sister and silently begged her not to do it.
She made several warning gestures.
Mary ignored every one of them.
She was delighted to have an audience and immediately began singing.
Elizabeth watched with growing horror.
Mary’s voice was weak, and her singing style was overly dramatic.
When she finished, several people thanked her and suggested that she sing again.
Mary took this as an invitation.
After a short pause, she started another song.
Elizabeth was miserable.
She looked at Jane, hoping her sister was suffering as much as she was.
Jane, however, was calmly talking with Bingley.
Elizabeth looked at Bingley’s sisters.
They were exchanging amused looks with each other.
Then she looked at Darcy.
His face remained completely serious.
Finally, Elizabeth looked at her father, silently begging him to stop Mary before she continued singing all night.
Mr. Bennet understood.
When Mary finished her second song, he spoke loudly.
“That will be enough, my dear. You’ve entertained us for quite long enough. Let the other young ladies have a chance.”
Mary pretended not to hear him, but she was clearly embarrassed.
Elizabeth felt sorry for her sister and also regretted that her father had been forced to stop her.
Other people were then encouraged to perform.
Mr. Collins immediately found a way to talk about himself.
“If I were fortunate enough to sing well, I would be delighted to entertain everyone with a song.
“I believe music is a perfectly harmless form of entertainment and entirely suitable for a clergyman.
“Of course, I would never suggest that a clergyman should spend too much time on music. There are more important duties to consider.
“A parish rector has many responsibilities.
“He must first make sure his arrangements concerning church payments are satisfactory and do not offend his patron.
“He must write his own sermons.
“Then there are his parish duties, along with the responsibility of keeping his home comfortable and well maintained.
“And he must always behave politely and respectfully toward everyone, especially those who have helped him obtain his position.
“A clergyman should never miss an opportunity to show proper respect to anyone connected with the family that supports him.”
Mr. Collins finished his speech with a bow toward Darcy.
He had spoken so loudly that half the room had heard him.
Several people stared.
Others smiled.
No one seemed more amused than Mr. Bennet.
Mrs. Bennet, however, was completely serious.
“That was an extremely sensible speech,” she told Lady Lucas. “Mr. Collins is such a clever and good young man.”
Elizabeth could hardly believe what she was seeing.
It seemed as though her entire family had decided to embarrass themselves as much as possible that evening.
And somehow, they were succeeding perfectly.
She was grateful that Bingley had missed some of their worst moments.
Fortunately, Bingley seemed too good-natured to be deeply embarrassed by his guests.
Still, Elizabeth hated the thought of Bingley’s sisters and Darcy having so many opportunities to laugh at her family.
She could not decide which was worse—the quiet contempt in Darcy’s expression or the openly mocking smiles of the two Bingley sisters.
The rest of the evening offered Elizabeth very little pleasure.
Mr. Collins refused to leave her side.
She managed to prevent him from asking her to dance again, but he still made it almost impossible for her to dance with anyone else.
“Please go and talk to someone else,” Elizabeth begged. “I’ll introduce you to any young lady you like.”
“Oh, I assure you, I have very little interest in dancing,” Mr. Collins replied. “My real purpose tonight is to win your approval through my careful attention.
“Therefore, I intend to remain beside you for the rest of the evening.”
Elizabeth realized there was no point arguing with him.
Her greatest relief came from Charlotte Lucas.
Charlotte frequently joined them and kindly kept Mr. Collins occupied with conversation.
At least Elizabeth was spared any more attention from Darcy.
Although he often stood only a short distance away, he never came close enough to speak to her.
Elizabeth assumed this was because of her comments about Wickham.
She was perfectly happy with that arrangement.
The Longbourn party were the last guests to leave.
Mrs. Bennet somehow managed to delay their carriage for another fifteen minutes after everyone else had gone.
This gave the Bennets an uncomfortable opportunity to see how relieved some of their hosts were to have them leave.
Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley barely spoke except to complain about how tired they were.
They clearly wanted the house to themselves again.
Whenever Mrs. Bennet tried to start a conversation, they gave her almost no response.
The room became painfully quiet.
Mr. Collins tried to fill the silence with a long speech praising Mr. Bingley and his sisters.
“What a wonderful evening this has been,” he said. “The entertainment was extremely elegant, and the hospitality and politeness shown to all of us were truly remarkable.”
Darcy said nothing.
Mr. Bennet also remained silent, though he was clearly enjoying the whole situation.
Bingley and Jane stood slightly apart from everyone else and spoke only to each other.
Elizabeth was almost as quiet as the Bingley sisters.
Even Lydia was too tired to complain.
“Good heavens, I’m exhausted,” she muttered, followed by a huge yawn.
At last, the Bennets were ready to leave.
Mrs. Bennet became extremely friendly again.
“We hope to see the whole family at Longbourn very soon,” she said.
Then she turned especially toward Bingley.
“You must come and have dinner with us whenever you like. There’s no need for a formal invitation. You’d make us very happy.”
Bingley was delighted.
“I’d be very happy to come,” he replied. “I’ll visit you as soon as I can after I return from London. I have to go there tomorrow for a short time.”
Mrs. Bennet was completely satisfied.
As the family finally left Netherfield, she was already convinced that Jane would soon be married to Bingley.
In her mind, the only things standing between Jane and Netherfield were the necessary legal arrangements, a new carriage, and some wedding clothes.
She was equally certain that Elizabeth would marry Mr. Collins.
She was pleased about that too, though not nearly as excited.
Of all her daughters, Elizabeth was the one Mrs. Bennet valued least.
Mr. Collins was certainly good enough for her, but in Mrs. Bennet’s mind, neither he nor Elizabeth could compare with Mr. Bingley and the magnificent prospect of Jane becoming mistress of Netherfield.