Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 6 Darcy's Mind

It was not long before the ladies of Longburn called on the ladies of Netherfield, and they returned.Miss Bennet's agreeable manner endeared her to Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley more and more.Although the old lady of the Bennets was a nuisance, and her younger sisters were not worth talking to, the two Miss Bingleys were willing to make further acquaintances with the two elder Miss Bennets.

Jane was very pleased with this hospitality, and Elizabeth saw that they were still very proud of anyone, even Jane, and disliked them.However, it is likely that they treated Jane well because their brother loved her.Just seeing the two of them together showed that their brother really adored her.

Elizabeth saw very clearly that Jane had taken a fancy to Mr. Bingley from the very beginning, and could not help accepting him, and it can be said that she liked him very much.But she happily thought that although Jane has rich feelings, she has a calm personality and maintains a normal and pleasant appearance on the outside, so that will not arouse the suspicion of those reckless people, so their intentions will not be easily detected up.Elizabeth had talked about this with her friend Miss Lucas.

Charlotte said at the time: "It may be very interesting to hide this kind of thing from everyone, but sometimes it is not good to be so worried. If a woman is in front of her beloved, she also uses this technique to hide her secrets." Covering up and not letting him know that she is interested in him, then she may not have a chance to win his favor. If that would keep everyone in the dark, it would not help. Love between men and women often depends on both parties The heart of gratitude and vanity and conceit, it is difficult to let things happen naturally. At the beginning of love, it is usually more casual. For example, if someone has a little affection for someone, it is an extremely natural thing; It's a pity that without the encouragement of the other party, there are very few people who are willing to fall in love without thinking. There are nine out of ten women who have one point of love in their hearts but show two points on the surface. There is no problem, Bing Lay likes your sister; but if your sister doesn't help him out, he might like to like her and let it go."

"But she's done her best to help him. If even I can see that she likes him, but he can't, then he is really stupid."

"Eliza, you have to remember that he doesn't know Jane's character as well as you do."

"If a woman falls in love with a man, as long as the woman doesn't deliberately hide it from him, he will definitely see it."

"Perhaps he would have seen it if men and women had had many opportunities to see each other. Though Bingley and Jane saw each other quite a lot, they never spent more than a few hours together, and when they saw each other, She is always with some miscellaneous people, and it is impossible for them to talk freely. Therefore, Jane has to pay attention all the time, and when she sees an opportunity to get close to him, she must not miss it. Wait until she can catch him, and then calmly Let’s try our best to fall in love before it’s too late.”

Elizabeth replied: "If you only want to marry a rich man, your method is indeed very good. If I am determined to find a rich husband, or simply just want to find a random husband, I may do it according to your method." It's a pity that Jane wasn't like that--she was never willing to play tricks in her dealings with people. Besides, she couldn't tell how much or whether she liked him properly. She had known him only a fortnight. She danced with him four times at Meryton. She saw him once at his house one morning, and dined with him four times since, but there was always someone else. So little acquaintance, How can she know his character."

"It's not what you say it is. If she had only dined with him, she might have seen only his appetite; but you must remember that since they had four dinners together, Say they've been together four nights—four nights does a lot."

"Yes. These four evenings have brought them to each other's common interest, which is that they both like to play blackjack and not 'commescomes: a card game in which the player can Exchange cards.' As for other important characteristics, I think they know very little about each other."

"Oh," said Charlotte, "I sincerely wish Jane success. I dare say that if she had married him to-morrow, she would be as happy as she could be, and would be better off than if she had spent a year studying his character. The happiness you can get by marrying him again will not be much less. Whether the married life is happy or not is entirely a matter of chance. A couple who have a very clear temper before marriage, or have very similar tempers, this does not guarantee that they will be happy. Happiness. Some people get farther and farther away from each other after marriage, and they are troubled. Since you want to live with this person for the rest of your life, what you need most is to know as little as possible about his shortcomings."

"That's a very brilliant statement of yours, Charlotte. But it's not sure. You know it's not, and you don't want to do it yourself."

Elizabeth was so preoccupied with talking of Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister, that it never occurred to her that she herself had become the favorite of Bingley's friend.Mr. Darcy did not think she was very pretty at first, and when he noticed her at the ball, he did not feel the slightest admiration.When they met for the second time, he only looked at her with critical eyes.Although he said that her appearance was useless in front of his friends and even in his own heart, after a while, he found that her eyes were black and bright, extremely beautiful, and revealed a burst of intelligence.Of course, along with this discovery, he discovered several unsatisfactory things about her.He found with a critical eye that her figure was uneven here and there, but he had to admit that she was lithe and pleasing.Although he kept insisting that she lacked the elegance of the upper class, he was attracted by her generous and humorous personality.But Elizabeth did not understand these circumstances at all, she just thought that Mr. Darcy was a man who was not pleasant in every way, not to mention that he once thought she was not beautiful enough to dance with him.

Mr. Darcy began to wish to become acquainted with her.In order to get close to her slowly, he would pay attention to her when she was talking to others.So, once, when Sir William Lucas was entertaining guests, his behavior caught her attention on the spot.

At that time, Elizabeth said to Charlotte: "What do you mean by Mr. Darcy? I was talking to Colonel Foster. How could he be eavesdropping?"

"That question only Mr. Darcy himself can answer."

"If he does it again, I'll make sure he understands that I'm not stupid. He's so good at being sarcastic, and it'll look like I'm afraid of him if I don't show him some color first."

After a while, Mr. Darcy came to her again. Although he didn't want to talk to them on the surface, Miss Lucas urged Elizabeth to confront him from time to time.

Elizabeth was teased by her for a while, and immediately turned her face and asked: "Mr. Darcy, I just told Colonel Forster a joke and asked him to hold a dance for us in Meryton. Don't you think I am very serious?" Appropriate?"

"It's true that you said it very enthusiastically, but this incident is what made the ladies very energetic."

"It's too harsh for you to say that about us."

"You're being laughed at now," said Miss Lucas. "I'll open the fiddle, Eliza, and you'll see what happens."

"A friend like you is one of the few in the world! . . . I'm always asked to play and sing in front of anyone! . . . If I'm trying to impress at a concert, I'll be grateful to you. But the guests They are all used to listening to first-class performers, I am really embarrassed to sit down in front of them and make a fool of myself." But she couldn't stand Miss Lucas's repeated demands, so she said, "Well, since it is necessary to make a fool of yourself, then Just show your ugliness."

She glanced at Mr. Darcy with a stern face again, and said: "There is an old saying that is good, and of course everyone here knows it: 'Everyone sweeps the snow in front of his own house, and don't let others put frost on his roof.' I also Just hold your breath and sing."

Although her performance is not perfect, it is also beautiful.After singing a song or two, she was asked to sing a few more.Before she could answer, her sister Mary eagerly took her place at the piano.It turned out that among the several sisters, Mary was not as good-looking as the other sisters, so she worked hard to study her knowledge and practice her talents, and she was always eager to show off her abilities.

Mary was neither a genius nor a high style.Her vanity prompted her to study hard, which gave her a self-important and arrogant attitude.With this style and attitude, even if her self-cultivation is better, it will not help, not to mention her talent will not catch everyone's eyes at all.

Although Elizabeth is not as good as Mary in playing the piano, she is graceful and unaffected, and it sounds pleasing to the eye.Mary's sisters were on the other side of the room with the Miss Lucases, who were dancing vigorously with two or three officers.After Mary had finished a long concerto, they asked her to play some more Scotch and Irish ditties, which she complied with joy, in order to gain the praise and gratitude of others.

Mr. Darcy was standing near them.He was very angry when he saw them spend the night like this without talking to others.He was so preoccupied that he did not even know that Sir William Lucas was standing beside him.At last he heard Sir say: "Mr. Darcy, what a lovely pastime dancing is for young people! There is nothing like dancing, and I think it is the most excellent talent in high society."

"Of course, sir. . . . And it's a good thing dancing is popular in low society too. What savage can't dance."

Mr. William smiled and remained silent.Immediately afterwards, seeing Mr. Bingley also coming to the dance, he said to Mr. Darcy, "Your friend dances very well, and I believe you are very familiar with it, Mr. Darcy."

"You must have seen me dance at Meryton, sir."

"Yes, yes, and a great pleasure to see. Do you go dancing at St. James?"

"Never, sir."

"You won't even do yourself a favor at St. James's?"

"No matter where I am, I don't want to give this kind of face, and I always avoid it if I can."

"You must have a house in the city?"

Mr. Darcy shrugged.

"I once wanted to live in the city, because I like society. But I don't dare say whether the London air is suitable for Mrs. Lucas." He paused for a moment, expecting an answer; but the other didn't bother to answer.

Soon, Elizabeth came towards them, and he had an idea to take this opportunity to be courteous, so he stopped her: "Dear Miss Elizabeth, why don't you dance?...Mr. Darcy, let me take this The young lady introduced you, she is the most ideal dance partner. With such a beauty as your dance partner, I don’t think you will stop dancing.” He took Elizabeth’s hand, ready to send her to In front of Mr. West, although Mr. Darcy was extremely surprised, he was somewhat willing to catch her jade hand.

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth immediately withdrew her hand, and said to Sir William with a panicked expression: "Sir, I really don't want to dance at all. Don't think that I came here to find partner."

Mr. Darcy very politely asked her to dance with him, but his wish was thwarted.Elizabeth had made up her mind not to dance, no matter how much Sir William tried to persuade her.

"Miss Elizabeth, why don't you allow me to feast my eyes on you, Miss Elizabeth, when you dance so well? That would be too much to justify. Although Mr. Darcy does not usually enjoy such entertainment, he would Give us face for half an hour, I believe he will not refuse."

"Mr. Darcy is very polite," said Elizabeth, laughing.

"He's very polite. . . . But, dear Miss Elizabeth, you can't blame him for being polite when he begs you like this. Who wouldn't want a partner like you?"

Elizabeth glanced at it with a smile and turned away.Her refusal did not make Darcy feel sorry, but he was thinking of her with considerable joy.Miss Bingley came to greet him: "Let me guess what you are thinking now."

"I'm sorry you can't guess."

"You're thinking how unbearably boring it is to spend many nights with these people, and I feel the same way you do. I've never been so bored! It's boring, it's loud, it's boring as hell .This group of people think they are great! I just want to hear you criticize them."

"To tell you the truth, you are quite mistaken. I am thinking of very beautiful things. I am thinking that the beautiful eyes of a beautiful woman can give so much pleasure."

Miss Bingley looked at him at once without blinking, and asked him which lady had given him the pleasure of his fancy.

Mr. Darcy answered with courage: "Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

"Miss Elizabeth Bennet!" repeated Miss Bingley, "I am amazed! How long have you had your eye on her? . . . Tell me, then, when I may drink your wedding wine?"

"I knew you would ask such a question. A woman's imagination is really rich. She can jump from admiration to love in an instant, and from love to marriage in the blink of an eye. I know you are going to come to congratulate me gone."

"Oh, if you say it so seriously, I think it's settled. Then you're bound to have a very interesting mother-in-law, and she'll stay with you forever at Pemberley. "

She was very proud of what she said, but he had a completely half-heard expression.Seeing his calm and composed appearance, she was also relieved, and started to talk more and more endlessly when she teased him.

(End of this chapter)