Not all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of
her five daughters, could ask on the subject, was sufficient to draw from her
husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in
various ways–with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant
surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all, and they were at last obliged to
accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour, Lady Lucas. Her report
was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite
young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he
meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more
delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love;
and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley’s heart were entertained.
“If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,”
said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, “and all the others equally well married, I
shall have nothing to wish for.”
In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet’s visit, and
sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of
being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard
much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for
they had the advantage of ascertaining from an upper window that he wore a blue
coat, and rode a black horse.
An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and
already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her
housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was
obliged to be in town the following day, and, consequently, unable to accept
the honour of their invitation, etc. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She
could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival
in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might be always flying about
from one place to another, and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be.
Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to
London only to get a large party for the ball; and a report soon followed that
Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the
assembly. The girls grieved over such a number of ladies, but were comforted
the day before the ball by hearing, that instead of twelve he brought only six
with him from London–his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered
the assembly room it consisted of only five altogether–Mr. Bingley, his two
sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another young man.
Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a
pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine
women, with an air of decided fashion. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely
looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the
room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report
which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his
having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of
a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was
looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners
gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered
to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his
large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding,
disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.
Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the
principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance,
was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at
Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast
between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once
with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the
rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of
his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable
man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again.
Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his
general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having
slighted one of her daughters.
Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of
gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy
had been standing near enough for her to hear a conversation between him and
Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes, to press his friend to
join it.
“Come, Darcy,” said he, “I must have you dance. I hate to
see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better
dance.”
“I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I
am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this it
would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another
woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”
“I would not be so fastidious as you are,” cried Mr.
Bingley, “for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant
girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of them you see
uncommonly pretty.”
“YOU are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,”
said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.
“Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But
there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty,
and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”
“Which do you mean?” and turning round he looked for a
moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly
said: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt ME; I am in no humour
at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.
You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting
your time with me.”
Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and
Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings toward him. She told the
story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively,
playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.
The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole
family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the
Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been
distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother
could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane’s pleasure. Mary had
heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the
neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough never to be
without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball.
They returned, therefore, in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they
lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet
still up. With a book he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he
had a good deal of curiosity as to the events of an evening which had raised
such splendid expectations. He had rather hoped that his wife’s views on the
stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found out that he had a different
story to hear.
“Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet,” as she entered the room, “we have
had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been
there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Everybody said how well
she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her
twice! Only think of THAT, my dear; he actually danced with her twice! and she
was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he
asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her! But, however, he
did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite
struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So he inquired who she was,
and got introduced, and asked her for the two next. Then the two third he
danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth
with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the BOULANGER–“
“If he had had any compassion for ME,” cried her husband
impatiently, “he would not have danced half so much! For God’s sake, say no
more of his partners. O that he had sprained his ankle in the first place!”
“Oh! my dear, I am quite delighted with him. He is so
excessively handsome! And his sisters are charming women. I never in my life
saw anything more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs.
Hurst’s gown–“
Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against
any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of
the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration,
the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.
“But I can assure you,” she added, “that Lizzy does not lose
much by not suiting HIS fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not
at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him!
He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not
handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have
given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man.”