«Are you quite sure, ma'am? Is not there a little mistake?» said Jane. «I certainly saw Mr. Darcy speaking to her».
«It was only because she asked him at last how he liked Netherfield, and he had to answer her; but she said he seemed quite angry at being spoken to».
«I do not mind his not talking to Mrs. Long», said Miss Lucas, «but I wish he had danced with Eliza».
«Another time, Lizzy», said her mother, «I would not dance with him, if I were you».
«I believe, ma'am, I may safely promise you never to dance with him».
«There is an excuse for his pride», said Miss Lucas. «No wonder, that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. He has a right to be proud, if I may say so».
«That is very true», replied Elizabeth, «and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not humiliated mine».
«By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that pride», remarked Mary, «is a very common flaw, and that there are very few of us who don't feel proud of themselves for some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different
things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us».
Chapter 6
«But if a woman hides her feeling with the same skill from the object of it», replied Charlotte, «she may lose the opportunity of fixing him. There are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten a woman had better show more love than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on».
«But Jane helps him on as much as her nature will allow. If I can feel her love for him, he must be a simpleton, indeed, not to discover it too».
«Remember, Eliza, that he does not know Jane's character as you do».
«But if a woman is attracted to a man, and does not try to hide it, he must find it out».
«Perhaps he must, if he sees enough of her. But Bingley and Jane meet mostly at large parties where they can't have long talks together. Jane should therefore make the most of every half-hour in which she can have his attention. When she is sure of his affection, she can freely fall in love with him as much as she chooses».
«This is a good plan», replied Elizabeth, «if you just want to get married, to get a rich husband, or any husband, but these are not Jane's feelings; she is not acting by design. And I think that now she isn't even certain of how deep her own feeling is or how reasonable. She has known him only a fortnight. They danced and dined at a few parties in Meryton. This is not quite enough to make her understand his character».
«Well», said Charlotte, «happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the characters of the parties are well known to each other or so similar beforehand, it does not help their happiness in the least. Later on, they always grow different enough to have their share of annoyance; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life».
«It is funny, Charlotte; but you know it is not right, and you would never act in this way yourself».
Elizabeth was so busy watching Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister that she didn't notice his friend's growing interest to herself. Mr. Darcy had at first looked at her without admiration, criticized her features to his friends. And suddenly he saw that her face was made uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. Though his critical mind had found no perfect symmetry in her form, his eyes found her figure light and pleasing; and in spite of his saying that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was charmed by their easy playfulness. Elizabeth was perfectly unaware of all that; to her he was only the man who made himself pleasant nowhere, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with.
Wishing to know more of her, Mr. Darcy began listening to her conversation with others. At a large party at Sir William Lucas's she noticed that he was listening to her conversation with Colonel Forster. She said to her friend Charlotte that if he listened to her conversations again, she would let him know that she had noticed it.
«He has a very satirical eye, and if I do not begin by being impolite myself, I shall soon grow afraid of him».
So, when Mr. Darcy came near them, Miss Lucas provoked her to speak to him. Elizabeth turned to him and said:
«Did you not think, Mr. Darcy, that I spoke uncommonly well just now, when I was jokingly persuading Colonel Forster to give us a ball at Meryton?»
«With great energy; but it is always a subject which makes a lady energetic».
«You are stern to us».
«It will be her turn soon to be persuaded», said Miss Lucas. «I am going to open the instrument, Eliza, and you know what follows».
«You are a very strange friend! Always wanting