Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 19 The Netherfield Ball (1)
Elizabeth went into the drawing-room at Netherfield, and after searching for Mr. Wickham among the "red uniforms" for a while, she thought he might not be coming.She thought he would definitely come, and although she was worried by the memory of all the past events, her confidence was not affected by it. She dressed more carefully than usual, and happily prepared to take his She wants to conquer all the hearts that have not been conquered, and she believes that at today's party, she will definitely let her win that heart into her own hands.After a while, she became suspicious: when Mr. Bingley invited the officers, in order to please Mr. Darcy, he deliberately did not invite Wickham?

But in fact, it's not!His friend Mr. Danny was quick to announce the reason for his absence.This was because Lydia asked Danny impatiently, and Danny told them that Wickham had been in town the day before on business, and had not yet returned.He added a few more words with a meaningful smile: "I think, if he didn't want to avoid a certain gentleman here, he would never have just happened to be absent at this time due to business."

Although Lydia did not hear the news, Elizabeth did.Elizabeth therefore concluded that the reason for Wickham's absence, although she hadn't guessed it right at first, was still caused by Mr. Darcy.She felt very disappointed, and she was even more disgusted with Darcy, so when Darcy came up to say hello to her next, she was so angry that she couldn't answer him well.She knew that being courteous, tolerant and patient to Darcy was tantamount to hurting Wickham.She decides not to have a word with him, and turns away disconsolately, not even talking to Mr. Bingley, whose blind preference for Darcy has aroused her rage.

Eliza had a good temper during the day, and although she was very unhappy tonight, her emotional unhappiness did not last too long.She first told Miss Charlotte Lucas, whom she had not seen for a week, all her sorrows, and after a while she volunteered to tell her about her cousin's strange situation, especially for him. Point it out for her to see.

The first two dances bothered her a lot. They were two painful dances.Mr. Collins is stupid and rigid, he only knows how to apologize, but he doesn't know how to be careful, and often makes mistakes in his steps without knowing it.He was, indeed, a downright obnoxious partner who had disgraced and ruined her.Therefore, she was almost ecstatic to be freed from him.

Immediately afterwards, she dances with an officer and talks to him about Wickham.He told him that Wickham was a crowd pleaser, and she felt much more at ease.After skipping these dances, she returned to Charlotte Lucas to talk to her, when she was surprised when Mr. Darcy called her and asked her to dance unexpectedly, and she could not help agreeing. over him.Darcy walked away immediately after jumping, and she kept blaming herself for being so clueless.Charlotte did her best to comfort her.

"You will find him very agreeable in the future."

"Natural justice! That's bad luck! You make up your mind to hate someone, and then you like him all at once! Don't curse me like that, will you?"

When the dance resumed and Darcy came up to her to ask her to dance again, Charlotte couldn't help biting her ear, reminding her not to be a fool, and not to offend Wickham just because she liked him A man ten times worth more than Wickham.Elizabeth got off the dance floor without answering. She could not have expected such dignity to dance face to face with Mr. Darcy, and she saw the same surprised eyes from the people around her.They danced for a while without exchanging a word, and she thought that the two dances might be silent until the end.At first she was determined not to break the silence, and then it occurred to her that she would suffer more if she did not compel her partner to say a few words, so she said a few words about dancing. In terms of words.He answered her, and there was silence again.

After a few minutes, she communicated with him a second time: "Now it's your turn to talk, Mr. Darcy. Now that I've talked about dancing, you have to talk about the size of the dance floor and how many couples you have. question."

He smiled and told her that he would say whatever she asked him to say.

"Excellent. The answer is still valid. I may speak of private balls being better than public ones in a moment. But we can keep quiet for now."

"Then you dance with a habit of talking?"

"Sometimes. You know, a person has to talk. It's awkward enough to be together for half an hour without saying a word. But some people just want to talk as little as possible. For these people For the sake of it, the conversation might as well be arranged a little less."

"Are you taking care of your own emotions in this situation, or are you trying to comfort me emotionally?"

"It kills two birds with one stone," Elizabeth replied slickly, "because I feel that our thoughts are very similar. You and I don't quite get along with each other, and we don't like to talk too much. It's rare to open your mouth unless you want to say a few blockbuster words. , let everyone pass it down as a motto through the ages.”

He said: "I don't think your personality is necessarily like this. Whether my personality is very close to these aspects, I dare not say. You must think that you describe yourself very well."

"Of course I can't jump to conclusions myself."

He didn't answer, and they both fell silent again.He waited until he went down to the dance-floor again before he asked her if she used to go up to Meryton with her sisters.She replied that she often goes.She couldn't help herself at this point, and she went on: "When you met us there the other day, we were making a new friend."

The words had an immediate effect.A shadow of arrogance fell over his face, but he said nothing.Elizabeth could not go on, but in her heart she complained of her weakness.

Finally, it was Darcy who said reluctantly first: "Mr. Wickham has always had a good face, and is very easy to make friends. As to whether he can stay with friends for a long time, it is not very reliable."

Elizabeth replied emphatically, "It is unfortunate for him to lose your friendship, and to make such an embarrassing situation that it may cause him pain all his life."

Darcy didn't answer, and wanted to change the subject.At this moment Sir William Lucas approached them, intending to cross the dance-floor to the other side of the room, but when he saw Mr. Darcy he stopped and bowed politely to him. , Full of praise for his good dance and good partner.

"I'm so delighted, my dear sir, to dance so well. You are unquestionably a first-rate talent. Let me add that your handsome partner is truly worthy." To you, I wish I could often have such a vision, especially when some good event comes true some day, my dear Miss Elizabeth."

He glanced at her sister and Bingley, and went on: "What a lively scene of congratulations there will be then. I beseech Mr. Darcy . . . but I will leave you alone, sir. You are talking to this The young lady had a good time, and you wouldn't appreciate me if I disturbed you, and see her bright eyes reproaching me."

Darcy hardly heard the second half of the speech.But Sir William's mention of his friend had shaken his heart.He looked seriously at Bingley and Jane who were dancing over there, and immediately regained his composure, and turning to his own partner, he said: "Sir William interrupted us, and I can hardly remember what we just talked about." What's up?"

"I don't think we talked at all. No two people in the room talked less than we did, so Sir William couldn't interrupt anything. We've changed the subject two or three times, and we're always off the hook, and we'll have to. I can't think of anything to talk about."

"How about talking about books?" he said with a smile.

"Books? Oh no! I'm sure we don't read the same books, and we experience them differently."

"I'm sorry you think so. If that's the case, it's not necessarily out of the question. We can also compare different opinions."

"No, I can't talk about books in a dance hall, I always have something else on my mind."

"You're always preoccupied with the occasion at hand, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes, always," she replied.

In fact, she didn't know what she was talking about, her thoughts had gone far away, and you heard her say something like this suddenly: "Mr. Darcy, I remember hearing you say once, You're not born to forgive—once you've made a grudge with someone, you can't undo it. I think you should be very careful when you make a grudge?"

"Exactly." He said firmly.

"Are you never prejudiced and blinded?"

"I don't think so."

"For some people who are stubborn, they should consider it carefully when they decide on a proposition."

"May I ask you, what is the purpose of these words you ask me?"

She tried her best to pretend that nothing happened and said, "It's just to explain your character. I want to understand your character."

"So have you figured it out?"

She shook her head, and said: "I don't understand at all. I've heard so much disagreement about you that I don't know whom to trust."

He replied solemnly: "People's views on me are very inconsistent. I believe there must be a lot of differences. Miss Bennet, I hope you will not portray my character at present. I am afraid that doing so will be neither to you nor to me." benefit."

"However, if I don't get to know you now, I won't have a chance in the future."

So he replied coldly: "I will never interrupt your interest."

She didn't say any more.The two of them danced one more time and parted in silence.Both were unhappy, though in different degrees.Darcy was so fond of her that he forgave her at once, and turned his anger on the other.

They parted for a little while, when Miss Bingley came up to Elizabeth, and said to her with an air of contempt and civility: "Oh, Miss Elizabeth, I hear you are very fond of George Wickham. I like it! Your sister just talked about him with me and asked me a lot of questions. I found that although the young official told you everything, he just forgot to say that he is Lao Da The son of old Wickham, Mr. See's accountant. He says Mr. Darcy has treated him badly. That is utter nonsense. Allow me to advise you, as a friend, not to take his word for it blindly. Mr. Darcy has always been He was very good, except that George Wickham treated Mr Darcy meanly. I don't know the details, but I know all about it, and Mr. Darcy is not to blame at all. As soon as Darcy heard I can't stand the mention of George Wickham. My brother was having a hard time kicking him out of his dinner with the officers, but he managed to avoid it, which pleased my brother. It's a real pleasure for him to come to this village. It's ridiculous, and I don't understand how he dared to do that. Miss Elizabeth, I'm sorry for telling you the fault of your sweetheart. But the fact is, you only need to look at his background, and of course you can't expect him to do anything good. Come."

Elizabeth said angrily: "According to what you said, his fault and his origin seem to be the same thing. I didn't hear you say that he was anything but that you called him Mr. Darcy's accountant." To tell you the truth, son, he has already told me this himself."

"I'm sorry, please forgive my meddling, but I mean it well." After saying this, Miss Bingley sneered, and went away.

"How impertinent!" said Elizabeth to herself, "you are mistaken, and do you think that by attacking people so meanly, you have affected my opinion of them? I see through your attacks. Your own obstinate ignorance and Mr Darcy's insidiousness."

She then went to her own sister, who had also asked Bingley about the matter.Jane's face was full of smiles and radiance, which was enough to show how satisfied she was with the scene of the evening party that day.Elizabeth soon read her feelings, and put away in a moment her own longing for Wickham, resentment against his enemies, and every other feeling, in the hope that Jane would be able to On the road to happiness smoothly.

She also said with the same smile as her sister: "I want to ask you, have you heard anything about Mr. Wickham? Maybe you are too happy to think of a third person. If that's the case If so, I can certainly forgive you."

"Nothing," replied Jane; "I have not forgotten him, but I have nothing satisfactory to tell you. Mr. Bingley does not know all the details of him, and in what respects he chiefly offended Darcy." Sir, Mr. Bingley knows nothing. But he can vouch for his friend's good character and honesty, and he thinks that Mr. Darcy has treated Mr. Wickham too well. It is a pity that he never Mr. Wickham is by no means a decent young man by his words, or by her sister's. I am afraid he is really too rash, and it is no wonder that Mr. Darcy ignores him."

"Hasn't Mr. Bingley himself known Mr. Wickham?"

"No, it was the first time I saw him that morning at Meryton."

"He got it from Mr. Darcy, then. I am very satisfied! What did he say about the clergyman's office?"

"He only heard Mr. Darcy mention it a few times, and he can't remember the details. But he believes that although the position is stipulated for Mr. Wickham, it is also conditional."

"Mr. Bingley is, of course, an honest man," said Elizabeth passionately, "but I beg your pardon, but a few words cannot convince me. Mr. Bingley's words in defense of his own friend may have been forceful; but Now, since he doesn't know some parts of the matter, and his friend has told others about others, I still don't want to change my opinion of these two gentlemen."

(End of this chapter)