Chapter 2 #3
“The sister you mention is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me. I am in no humour to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.”
“Darcy, you are being ridiculous, truly. Come, do tell me what you have against her.”
“I certainly am not, Bingley. This person, this…young lady…” he enunciated in a tone that conveyed the exact measure of his discomfort, “this young lady you mentioned has been staring at me the entire evening! It is most disturbing. I imagine men of wealth and good connections are rarely seen in this town, and when one does happen to appear, they are hunted like prey! I can only imagine how the younger Miss Bennet would act if I asked her to dance, since she has been obsessively looking at me when we have barely said two words to each other.”
“I am sure you are wrong, Darcy. I noticed nothing of the kind!”
“Bingley, you had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”
Bingley followed the advice and left. On the other side of the column, Elizabeth was suffocated by offence, embarrassment, and anger — so hurt that she did not know how to respond.
Mr Darcy walked off, and when he turned his head, he noticed Elizabeth and likely realised she had heard him.
He looked slightly uncomfortable, but then he straightened his shoulders, looked away, and stopped near another column across the room from her, while Elizabeth was still disquieted, hardly believing her ears.
How dare he? She had been such a fool to invest her former affection for his family in this horrible, arrogant man, who deserved no cordial feelings and no respect.
The music continued, and by the end of the set, Elizabeth had regained some of her composure.
When her friend Charlotte Lucas resumed her seat after dancing, Elizabeth moved to join her, determined to share Mr Darcy’s incivility so they could amuse themselves together.
As she crossed the room, she noticed Mr Darcy was still alone, and she paused, unsure, hesitant, until the impulse of the moment was stronger than her reasoning.
She walked towards him, observing as she approached his growing confusion and anxiety, and she assumed he was likely questioning her intentions.
When she was close enough to avoid being heard by others, she smiled and said, “Mr Darcy, rest assured I had no intention of hunting you. Indeed, I find no pleasure in such prey. My curiosity and interest — for which I apologise — was roused by the fact that I was fortunate enough to meet your family a long time ago, and I hoped for a pleasant meeting with another Darcy. I was deeply grieved by the news of your parents’ deaths, and I wished to present my condolences and to enquire after Miss Darcy.
However, I shall refrain from disturbing you further.
Besides, if not for your name, I would not have imagined you could be related to them, since you do not resemble them at all, at least not in nature and manners. ”
With that, she bowed her head, turned, and left, satisfied to notice out of the corner of her eye Mr Darcy’s incredulous and dumbfounded countenance.
As she walked towards her friend Charlotte, Elizabeth decided not to recount the small and unpleasant incident after all.
She considered her rebuke of Mr Darcy to be enough chastisement for the time being.
Despite his awful rudeness, she could not forget that the uncivil man was still the son of Lady Anne, and shaming him would mean hurting her memory also.
“My dear Eliza, did my eyes deceive me or did you speak to Mr Darcy? What on earth about?” Charlotte asked directly with no little astonishment.
“I certainly did, but the conversation gave little pleasure to either of us, and it is not worth mentioning.”
“Nobody has spoken to him directly, except for his friend. That is why I was surprised.”
“I assure you I would have avoided addressing him too if it were possible. But I overheard him making some remarks about me that needed immediate clarification.”
Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “Dear Eliza, I hope Mr Darcy did not become acquainted with your usual sort of clarification. The poor man has only just arrived in Hertfordshire.”
“Do not be concerned, Charlotte. Mr Darcy is certainly not a man to be pitied.”
As she spoke to her friend, Elizabeth noticed — and even more, she felt — Mr Darcy’s insistent gaze upon her.
Several times she looked back at him, only to prove she was not intimidated.
But she remained peevishly offended. Upset with herself for her hopes of a friendship with a man who had no other quality except his name.
And his handsome features, of course, which were all ruined by his manners.
Poor Georgiana; how unfortunate for her to be forced to live with such an unpleasant brother who probably rarely had a kind word to say to her.
As a new set was forming, Mr Darcy walked in her direction, and Elizabeth turned her head deliberately, showing she was paying him no mind.
Still, he bowed, saying, “Miss Bennet, please forgive my boldness, but would you be so kind as to grant me two minutes of your time? There is something I must ask you.”
Surprise was apparent on Charlotte’s face, but Elizabeth kept her composure and showed indifference when she replied.
“I am afraid that will be impossible, Mr Darcy. We are at a ball, and I am ready to dance the next set. I am in no mood to ruin my pleasure of dancing with other activities that might not be tolerable enough to tempt me. I would be happy to listen to what you wish to ask me on another occasion, if your interest can be sustained that long.”
Her impertinent response stunned him into silence for a moment, while Charlotte gasped and only stared wordlessly. Although no stranger to her friend’s audacity, addressing a man such as Mr Darcy in such a way was difficult for Charlotte to comprehend.
After a moment of confusion, Mr Darcy continued. “Then, would you do me the honour of dancing a set with me? The next one, perhaps?”
“I am sorry, but I am engaged for the next set. I am not sure that I have any more available this evening,” Elizabeth concluded, and Mr Darcy’s expression became even colder, while Charlotte blushed next to her.
Elizabeth was pleased with her retaliatory offence that provided her with a satisfying victory over the arrogant and rude man.
But then, as he bowed again and departed, Charlotte’s distressed countenance made her reconsider her position.
If she was to be honest, she was no better than Mr Darcy, neither in character nor in manners.
He had offended her in the presence of his friend, while she had been equally uncivil to him — in her words but especially in her tone and expression — in the presence of her friend.
Revenge was sweet only briefly until remorse overcame it.
Surely Lady Anne would have been displeased with her son’s behaviour, but also with Elizabeth’s.
When Charlotte’s brother came to claim her hand for the next set, Elizabeth excused herself for a moment and took a few steps towards Mr Darcy, who was standing alone near a column.
“Mr Darcy,” she said, trying to control her voice, “I believe we should not speak of any important matter tonight, since our mutual first impressions were far from good, and there is little chance of a favourable outcome to this situation. But, as I said, I shall gladly answer any enquiry you might have when we next meet.”
Although he had clearly expected another confrontation, the change in her tone and her softened countenance seemed to relieve him, and he genuinely accepted her offer of a truce.
He bowed, she curtseyed, both with proper civility, and she walked away to where Mr John Lucas was waiting to lead her into the next set, while he remained standing where she had left him.
They did not speak again for the rest of the evening, but their eyes met often, and his gaze — changing from cold arrogance to puzzlement, then to curiosity and interest — rested on Elizabeth many times.
Once she shook off the anger and her wounded vanity, Elizabeth’s spirits rose, and she felt more like her usual self.
She tried to enjoy herself in the company of her dance partners, to engage in conversation, and to watch her sister Jane being the object of Mr Bingley’s obvious admiration.
As for Mr Darcy, of one thing she became certain: he was unpleasant, arrogant, and loathed dancing not just with her but with everyone else — and that made his initial offence easier to overcome.
If she had not heard him speaking to Mr Bingley, and if her expectations of him had not been so high, she would have decreed that he was an arrogant, haughty, irritating man and disregarded him completely.
But as it was, she could not help thinking of him throughout the rest of the assembly and even later in the comfort of her own house.
Once they returned to Longbourn, Mrs Bennet apprised Mr Bennet of every particular of the evening, with many tormenting and tiresome details, repeating how Mr Bingley danced two sets with Jane and how much he seemed to admire her.
“But his friend, Mr Darcy! Such a horribly rude man! Tall and handsome he might be with his ten thousand a year, but he is not worthy of our interest. He barely spoke two words when we were introduced, and he did not dance a single set nor speak to anyone except his friends. Lizzy, did you speak to that horrible man? I believe I saw you talking to him. What did he want? What did he say to you?”
“I did exchange a few words with him, Mama,” Elizabeth admitted. “But nothing of consequence, I assure you.”
“I assumed as much,” Mrs Bennet replied, then she continued to talk about the ball until her husband claimed tiredness and withdrew to his room, forcing his wife and daughters to do the same.
In their shared room, Jane found the courage to open the discussion about Mr Bingley.
Elizabeth listened to her sister with only half her attention.
The rest of it was on Mr Darcy, wondering when she would see him again and how their second meeting would unfold after the disastrous first experience.