He [Sir William] paused in hopes of an answer: but his companion was not disposed to make any; and Elizabeth at that instant moved towards them, he was struck with the notion of doing a very gallant thing, and called out to her, --
"My dear Miss Eliza, why are not you dancing? Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner. You cannot refuse to dance, I am sure, when so much beauty is before you." And, taking her hand, he would have given it to Mr. Darcy, who, though extremely surprised, was not unwilling to receive it, when she instantly drew back, and said with some discomposure to Sir William, --
"Indeed, sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner."
Mr. Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand, but in vain. Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her purpose by his attempt at persuasion.
"You excel so much in the dance, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the happiness of seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusement in general, he can have no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one half hour."
"Mr. Darcy is all politeness," said Elizabeth, smiling.
"He is, indeed: but, considering the inducement, my dear Miss Eliza, we cannot wonder at his complaisance; for who would object to such a partner?"
Elizabeth looked archly, and turned away. Her resistance had not injured her with the gentleman, and he was thinking of her with some complacency, when thus accosted by Miss Bingley, --
"I can guess the subject of your reverie."
"I should imagine not."
"You are considering how insupportable it would be to pass many evenings in this manner, -- in such society; and, indeed, I am quite of your opinion. I was never more annoyed! The insipidity, and yet the noise; -- the nothingness, and yet the self-importance of all these people! What would I give to hear your strictures of them!"
"Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."
Miss Bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Mr. Darcy replied with great intrepidity, --
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet."
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet!" repeated Miss Bingley. "I am all astonishment. How long has she been such a favourite? and pray when am I to wish you joy?"
"That is exactly the question which I expected you to ask. A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy."
"Nay, if you are so serious about it, I shall consider the matter as absolutely settled. You will have a charming mother-in-law, indeed, and of course she will be always at Pemberley with you."
He listened to her with perfect indifference, while she chose to entertain herself in this manner; and as his composure convinced her that all was safe, her wit flowed long.
"My dear Miss Eliza, why are not you dancing? Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner. You cannot refuse to dance, I am sure, when so much beauty is before you." And, taking her hand, he would have given it to Mr. Darcy, who, though extremely surprised, was not unwilling to receive it, when she instantly drew back, and said with some discomposure to Sir William, --
"Indeed, sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner."
Mr. Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand, but in vain. Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her purpose by his attempt at persuasion.
"You excel so much in the dance, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the happiness of seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusement in general, he can have no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one half hour."
"Mr. Darcy is all politeness," said Elizabeth, smiling.
"He is, indeed: but, considering the inducement, my dear Miss Eliza, we cannot wonder at his complaisance; for who would object to such a partner?"
Elizabeth looked archly, and turned away. Her resistance had not injured her with the gentleman, and he was thinking of her with some complacency, when thus accosted by Miss Bingley, --
"I can guess the subject of your reverie."
"I should imagine not."
"You are considering how insupportable it would be to pass many evenings in this manner, -- in such society; and, indeed, I am quite of your opinion. I was never more annoyed! The insipidity, and yet the noise; -- the nothingness, and yet the self-importance of all these people! What would I give to hear your strictures of them!"
"Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."
Miss Bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Mr. Darcy replied with great intrepidity, --
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet."
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet!" repeated Miss Bingley. "I am all astonishment. How long has she been such a favourite? and pray when am I to wish you joy?"
"That is exactly the question which I expected you to ask. A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy."
"Nay, if you are so serious about it, I shall consider the matter as absolutely settled. You will have a charming mother-in-law, indeed, and of course she will be always at Pemberley with you."
He listened to her with perfect indifference, while she chose to entertain herself in this manner; and as his composure convinced her that all was safe, her wit flowed long.
14 comments:
Ah, I might have to go find our copy of P&P and re-read it!
Abigail~
Most definitely!!
Thank you for the encouraging words! I am so thankful to have your prayers and support!
Tiffany~
It is my joy! Thank you for letting me pray for you, for sharing with us your heart.
The section you quoted answered something I wondered about.I had seen the quote "A lady's imagination is very rapid;it jumps from admiration to love,from love to matrimony, in a moment" on a blog a while ago but I didn't know which book it was from.Thanks!
Miss Bingley was never any good at guessing Mr. Darcy's thoughts.
Starting this Sunday PBS will be showing the movie Cranford in 3 parts.It's based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.Looks interesting!
Robert~
Well, there ya go. :) I'm glad I this helped you out a little.
Miss Bingley makes me laugh, she comes across so desperate, it's funny. In a way, but how embarrassing to be there with her and Mr. Darcy. :)
I've never heard of that book. Nor of Elizabeth Gaskell. Have you read it? Is it good?
I've read Cranford and I liked it...Elizabeth Gaskell also wrote "Wives and Daughters" and another book that I can't recall the name of right now. The only disappointing thing about "Wives and Daughters" is that it's not finished.
But anyway, Cranford's good, and I'm looking forward to the PBS movie. It's written from the perspective of a lady who comes to visit old friends of the family, and it kind of pokes fun at people.
Oh, have you never seen "Wives and Daughters?" It's based on Elizabeth Gaskell's book of the same name, it's really good! It's like 5 hours, like the BBC P&P. It's set during the same time period as Jane Austen's stuff. I highly recommend it! It's a great story, good acting and no objectionable scenes. "North and South" is also good, but I like Wives and Daughters better. Cranford is the only book I've read by her, and it bored me a good deal :D. But those movies are great.
I haven't read the book.But I have the movies Wives and Daughters and North and South which were based on Elizabeth Gaskell novels.Wives and Daughters is one of my favourite films.
Natalie, Abigail, and Robert~
I LOVE WIVES AND DAUGHTERS!!!! Next to Jane Austen movies, it one of my favorite movies!!!!! :)
I've never seen or heard of North and South. What is it about?
Thank you all for your comments. :) It's nice to know that even when I reject this poor little bloggie that you peeps are faithfully checking and commenting!!! Hurrah for bloggie peeps!! :)
Or maybe it's "North and South" that's not finished? No, I guess not...it's about factory workers and a family that has to move to the city (if I'm remembering this properly)...in England of course! :)
Natalie~
Thank you for the information about "North and South". Maybe I'll have to look for it sometime.
Here is a link that has a brief outline of North and South and a couple of pictures. http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/northandsouth/
Thank you for the link Robert. I'll have to check it out.
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