Chapter 4
The day after the assembly, Charlotte visited Longbourn once again to discuss the events of the previous evening with the Bennet sisters. There was a great deal of discussion about who danced with whom and who presented themselves well versus who made a fool of themselves.
At one point, Charlotte said, “Speaking of Mr. Bingley, I noticed he asked you to dance twice, Jane.”
“He did,” Jane answered placidly.
Kitty clapped her hands and said, “It is just as Lizzy said. Mr. Bingley has fallen in love with you at first sight.”
“Asking for a second dance does not automatically mean he is in love, Kitty,” said Jane.
“Very well,” said Kitty. “I suppose you are correct. But I would still like to know what you thought of him.”
“I imagine I thought the same as everyone else,” said Jane. “He was friendly and talkative, and I suppose he is handsome. One could even say he is just what a young man ought to be.”
“Which makes him rather unique,” piped up Elizabeth. “Young men are so seldom what they ought to be.”
“That is rather cynical, even for you Lizzy,” said Jane. “What happened to make you feel so negatively about men?”
Elizabeth grimaced but didn’t answer.
Charlotte said, “I believe she is feeling rather put out with Mr. Bingley’s friend, Mr. Darcy. He insulted her last night, though when she told me about it, she was laughing.”
Elizabeth looked away from the group and said in a forced lighthearted tone, “Well, you must admit that some stranger coming into our neighborhood and instantly denigrating everyone and everything he sees is rather ridiculous. He seems to think that unless someone is wealthy or has noble connections, they must be worthless. That attitude simply makes him appear foolish, so in the end he only hurt himself.”
Jane could tell that, despite her words and her lighthearted tone, Elizabeth was genuinely hurting. Either Mr. Darcy had said something truly hurtful, or Elizabeth had been attracted to the man making the sting of his words ten times worse.
“What did he say?” asked Jane.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I was sitting down, because there weren’t enough partners to go round. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy were standing nearby when Mr. Bingley offered to introduce me to Mr. Darcy in an effort to get Mr. Darcy to dance. He said I was tolerable, but he would rather not dance with me, because there must be a reason why no man had already claimed a dance with me.”
Jane, Charlotte, Kitty, and Mary all gasped. Mary was the first to recover, and she said, “Does the man not know how to count? Obviously, there were about twice as many women as men in that room. He even added to the problem himself by not dancing with anyone but the ladies of his own party.”
The room then exploded with ladies attempting to console Elizabeth or condemn Mr. Darcy.
When the conversation was over and Charlotte departed, Kitty and Mary went to practice a piano harp duet they were working on. Jane turned to Elizabeth and pulled her into a hug. She said, “I am so sorry Mr. Darcy hurt you.”
When Jane let her sister go, she was surprised to see tears in her brave sister’s eyes. Elizabeth said, “Honestly, Jane, I don’t know why his insult hurt so much.