06-03-傲慢与偏见 [23]
Mr Bingley's invitation，sir？And if you do，will you，as a priest，consider it right to dance？’
‘I shall certainly accept，and I am so far from objecting to dancing that I hope to have the honour of dancing with all my beautiful cousins．I take this opportunity of asking you，Miss Elizabeth，for the first two dances especially．’
She was very surprised，and rather annoyed．She had hoped that Wickham would ask her for those dances，but now she would have Mr Collins instead！She could not refuse， however，and his request also worried her in another way．His manner to her seemed particularly flattering，which gave her the unwelcome idea that perhaps she had been chosen from among her sisters to be the rector of Hunsford's wife．As she observed the increasing number of compliments he paid to her beauty and character，she felt sure that he intended to propose marriage．For the moment，however，she decided to do nothing，but wait and see．
On Tuesday evening，when Elizabeth entered the hall at Netherfield and looked in vain for Mr Wickham among the red coats gathered there，she was surprised and disappointed to see he was not present．She had never doubted he would come，and had dressed with more than her usual care，looking forward to winning his heart，which she knew was already partly hers．But she immediately suspected that Darcy had persuaded Bingley not to invite Wicham，and although she discovered from one of the officers that in fact Wickham had been invited，but had been called away on business，she felt sure Wickham had want- ed to avoid meeting Darcy，and blamed Darcy for this．As a re- sult，when Darcy greeted her，she was so annoyed with him that she could hardly reply politely．
But she soon became more cheerful，and determined to enjoy the ball in spite of Wickham's absence．Unfortunately，the first two dances，with Mr Collins，were painfully embarrassing，as her cousin had no idea how to dance，and moved extremely awkwardly．She was relieved to leave him，and have the third dance with an officer，who gave her great pleasure by talking about Wickham and his popularity in the regiment．Alter this， she was very surprised to be approached by Mr Darcy and in- vited to dance．She was so astonished，in fact，that she accepted him without thinking，and found herself standing opposite him on the dance floor．‘What an honour for me，to be allowed to dance with Mr Darcy！’she thought．They danced for some time in silence，and then she made a remark．He replied，and was silent again．After a pause，she spoke again．
‘Now pou must say something，Mr Darcy．You could re- mark on the size of the room，or the number of couples．’
He smiled．‘I’ll say whatever you wish me to say．’
‘Very well．That reply will do for the moment．Perhaps soon I’ll observe that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones．But now we can be silent．Conversation needs to be ar- ranged In this way so that those people who don't enjoy talk- ing are not required to make any effort．’
‘Are you referring to yourself，or are you thinking of me？’
‘Both，’said Elizabeth，smiling，‘because I think you and Iare similar．We're both unsociable and unwilling to speak，un- less we can astonish and impress the whole room．’
‘I am sure you aren't like that，’he answered．‘I cannot say whether I am，or not．You obviously think so．’
She said nothing．
‘Do you and your sisters often go to Meryton？’he contin- ued．
‘We do，’she replied，and，unable to resist the temptation， she added，‘When you met us there last week，we had just been introduced to someone．’
The effect was immediate．There was a new coldness in Dar- cy's expression．After a moment he said，with difficulty，‘Mr Wickham is so agreeable that he makes friends easily．Whether he can keep them is less certain．’
‘He has been
‘I shall certainly accept，and I am so far from objecting to dancing that I hope to have the honour of dancing with all my beautiful cousins．I take this opportunity of asking you，Miss Elizabeth，for the first two dances especially．’
She was very surprised，and rather annoyed．She had hoped that Wickham would ask her for those dances，but now she would have Mr Collins instead！She could not refuse， however，and his request also worried her in another way．His manner to her seemed particularly flattering，which gave her the unwelcome idea that perhaps she had been chosen from among her sisters to be the rector of Hunsford's wife．As she observed the increasing number of compliments he paid to her beauty and character，she felt sure that he intended to propose marriage．For the moment，however，she decided to do nothing，but wait and see．
On Tuesday evening，when Elizabeth entered the hall at Netherfield and looked in vain for Mr Wickham among the red coats gathered there，she was surprised and disappointed to see he was not present．She had never doubted he would come，and had dressed with more than her usual care，looking forward to winning his heart，which she knew was already partly hers．But she immediately suspected that Darcy had persuaded Bingley not to invite Wicham，and although she discovered from one of the officers that in fact Wickham had been invited，but had been called away on business，she felt sure Wickham had want- ed to avoid meeting Darcy，and blamed Darcy for this．As a re- sult，when Darcy greeted her，she was so annoyed with him that she could hardly reply politely．
But she soon became more cheerful，and determined to enjoy the ball in spite of Wickham's absence．Unfortunately，the first two dances，with Mr Collins，were painfully embarrassing，as her cousin had no idea how to dance，and moved extremely awkwardly．She was relieved to leave him，and have the third dance with an officer，who gave her great pleasure by talking about Wickham and his popularity in the regiment．Alter this， she was very surprised to be approached by Mr Darcy and in- vited to dance．She was so astonished，in fact，that she accepted him without thinking，and found herself standing opposite him on the dance floor．‘What an honour for me，to be allowed to dance with Mr Darcy！’she thought．They danced for some time in silence，and then she made a remark．He replied，and was silent again．After a pause，she spoke again．
‘Now pou must say something，Mr Darcy．You could re- mark on the size of the room，or the number of couples．’
He smiled．‘I’ll say whatever you wish me to say．’
‘Very well．That reply will do for the moment．Perhaps soon I’ll observe that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones．But now we can be silent．Conversation needs to be ar- ranged In this way so that those people who don't enjoy talk- ing are not required to make any effort．’
‘Are you referring to yourself，or are you thinking of me？’
‘Both，’said Elizabeth，smiling，‘because I think you and Iare similar．We're both unsociable and unwilling to speak，un- less we can astonish and impress the whole room．’
‘I am sure you aren't like that，’he answered．‘I cannot say whether I am，or not．You obviously think so．’
She said nothing．
‘Do you and your sisters often go to Meryton？’he contin- ued．
‘We do，’she replied，and，unable to resist the temptation， she added，‘When you met us there last week，we had just been introduced to someone．’
The effect was immediate．There was a new coldness in Dar- cy's expression．After a moment he said，with difficulty，‘Mr Wickham is so agreeable that he makes friends easily．Whether he can keep them is less certain．’
‘He has been