Chapter 10

THE day passed much as the day before had done.  Mrs. 
Hurst and Miss Bingley had spent some hours of the morning 
with the invalid, who continued, though slowly, to mend;
and in the evening Elizabeth joined their party in the drawing-
room.  The loo table, however, did not appear.  Mr. Darcy
was writing, and Miss Bingley, seated near him, was watching
the progress of his letter, and repeatedly calling off his attention by messages to his sister.  Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley
were at piquet, and Mrs. Hurst was obsevering their game.
Elizabeth took up some needlework, and was sufficiently
amused in attending to what passed between Darcy and his
companion.  The perpetual commendations of the lady either
on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the
length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her
praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was
exactly in unison with her opinion of each.
"How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!"
He made no answer.
"You write uncommonly fast."
"You are mistaken.  I write rather slowly."
"How many letters you must have occasion to write in the
course of the year!  Letters of business too!  How odious I
should think them!"
"It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of
to yours."
"Pray tell your sister that I long to see her."
"I have already told her so once, by your desire."
"I am afraid you do not like your pen.  Let me mend it for
you.  I mend pens remarkably well."
"Thank you -- but I always mend my own."
"How can you contrive to write so even?"
He was silent.
"Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement
on the harp, and pray let her know that I am quite in raptures
with her beautiful little design for a table, and I think it
infinitely superior to Miss Grantley's."
"Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write
again? -- At present I have not room to do them justice."
"Oh!  it is of no consequence.  I shall see her in January.
But do you always write such charming long letters to her,
Mr. Darcy?"
"They are generally long; but whether always charming,
it is not for me to determine."
"It is a rule with me, that a person who can write a long
letter, with ease, cannot write ill."
"That will not do for a compliment to Darcy, Caroline," cried
her brother -- "because he does not write with ease.  He studies
too much for words of four syllables. -- Do not you, Darcy?"
"My style of writing is very different from yours."
"Oh!" cried Miss Bingley, "Charles writes in the most careless 
way imaginable.  He leaves out half his words, and blots
the rest."
"My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express
them -- by which means my letters sometimes convey no
ideas at all to my correspondents."
"Your humility, Mr. Bingley," said Elizabeth, "must disarm
reproof."
"Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility.  It is often only carelessness of opinion, and
sometimes an indirect boast.""
"And which of the two do you call my little recent piece of
modesty?"
"The indirect boast; -- for you are really proud of your
defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding
from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which
if not estimable, you think at least highly interesting.  The
power of doing any thing with quickness is always much
prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the
imperfection of the performance.  When you told Mrs. Bennet
this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield
you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort
of panegyric, of compliment to yourself -- and yet what is
there so very laudable in a precipitance which must leave very
necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage
to yourself or any one else?"
"Nay," cried Bingley, "this is too much, to remember at
night all the foolish things that were said in the morning.  And
yet, upon my honour, I believed what I said of myself to be
true, and I believe it at this moment.  At least, therefore, I did
not assume the character of needless precipitance merely to
shew off before the ladies."
"I dare say you believed it; but I am by no means convinced 
that you would be gone with such celerity.  Your conduct 
would be quite as dependent on chance as that of any
man I know; and if, as you were mounting your horse, a friend
were to say, ""Bingley, you had better stay till next week,""
you would probably do it, you would probably not go -- and,
at another word, might stay a month."
"You have only proved by this," cried Elizabeth, "that Mr.
Bingley did not do justice to his own disposition.  You have
shewn him off now much more than he did himself."
"I am exceedingly gratified," said Bingley, "by your converting 
what my friend says into a compliment on the sweetness
of my temper, But I am afraid you are giving it a turn which
that gentleman did by no means intend; for he would certainly
think the better of me, if under such a circumstance I were to
give a flat denial, and ride offas fast as I could."
"Would Mr. Darcy then consider the rashness of your
original intention as atoned for by your obstinacy in adhering
to it?"
 "Upon my word I cannot exactly explain the matter, Darcy
must speak for himself."
"You expect me to account for opinions which you chuse
to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged Allowing
the case, however, to stand according to your representation,
you must remember, Miss Bennet, that the friend who is supposed 
to desire his return to the house, and the delay of his
plan, has merely desired it, asked it without offering one argument 
in favour of its propriety."
"To yield readily -- easily -- to the persuasion of a friend is no
merit with you."
"To yield without conviction is no comliment to the understanding 
of either."
"You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the
influence of friendship and affection.  A regard for the requester
would often make one readily yield to a request without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.  I am not particularly
speaking of such a case as you have su osed about Mr
Bingley.  We may as well wait, perhaps, till the circumstance
occurs, before we discuss the discretion of his behaviour thereupon, But in general and ordinary cases between friend and
friend, where one of them is desired by the other to change a
resolution of no very great moment, should you think ill of
that person for complying with the desire, without waiting to
be argued into it?"
"Will it not be advisable, before we proceed on this subject,
to arrange with rather more precision the degree of importance
which is to appertain to this request, as well as the degree of
intimacy subsisting between the parties?"
 "By all means," cried Bingley; "Let us hear all the particulars,
not forgetting thier comparitive height and size; fo that will
have more weight in the argument, Miss Bennet, than you
may be aware of.  I assure you that if Darcy were not such a
great tall fellow, in comparison with myself, I should not pay
him half so much deference.  I declare I do not know a more
aweful object than Darcy, on particular occasions, and in
particular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday
evening when he has nothing to do."
Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive 
that he was rather offended; and therefore checked he
laugh.  Miss Bingley warmly resented the indignity he had
received, in an expostulation with her broth r for talking suc
nonsense.
 "I see your design, Bingley," said his friend. -- "You dislike
an argument, and want to silence this."
 "Perhaps I do.  Arguments are too much like disputes.  I
you and Miss Bennet will defer yours till I am out of the
room, I shall be very thankful; and then you may say whateve
you like of me."
"What you ask," said Elizabeth, "is no sacrifice on my side
and Mr. Darcy had much better finish his letter,"
Mr. Darcy took her advice, and did finish his letter.
When that business was over, he applied to Miss Bingley
and Elizabeth for the indulgence of some music.  Miss Bingle
moved with alacrity to the piano-forte, and after a polite
request that Elizabeth would lead the way, which the other a
politely and more earnestly negatived, she seated herself,
Mrs. Hurst sang with her sister, and while they were thus
employed Elizabeth could not help observing as she turned over
some music books that lay on the instrument, how frequently
Mr. Darcy's eyes were fixed on her.  She hardly knew how to
suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great
man; and yet that he should look at her because he disliked her,
was still more strange.  She could only imagine however at last
that she drew his notice because there was a something about
her more wrong and reprehensible, according to his ideas of
right, than in any other person present.  The supposition did not
aain her.  She liked him too little to care for his approbation
After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the
charm by a lively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy,
drawing near Elizabeth, said to her --
"Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize
such an opportunity of dancing a reel?"
She smiled, but made no answer.  He repeated the question,
with some surprise at her silence
"Oh!" said she, "I heard you before; but I could not immediately determine what to say in reply.  You wanted me, I know,
to say ""Yes,"' that you might have the pleasure of despising
my taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of
schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt.  
I have therefore made up my mind to tell you, that
I do not want to dance a reel at all -- and now despise me if
you dare."
"Indeed I do not dare."
Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was
amazed at his gallantry; but there was a mixture of sweetness
and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to
affront anybody; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by
any woman as he was by her.  He really believed, that were it
not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in
some danger.
Miss Bingley saw or suspected enough to bejealous.  and her
great anxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane, received
some assistance from her desire of getting rid of Elizabeth.
She often tried to provoke Darcy into disliking her guest,
by talking of their supposed marriage, and planning his
happiness in such an alliance.
"I hope," said she, as they were walking together in the
shrubbery the next day, "you will give your mother-in-law a
few hints, when this desirable event takes place, as to the
advantage of holding her tongue; and if you can compass it,
do cure the younger girls of running after the officers. -- And,
if I may mention so delicate a subject, endeavour to check that
little something, bordering on conceit and impertinence,
which your lady possesses."
 "Have you any thing else to propose for my domestic
felicity?"
 "Oh!  yes. -- Do let the portraits of your uncle and aunt
Philips be placed in the gallery at Pemberley.  Put them next
to your great uncle the judge.  They are in the same profession, 
you know; only in different lines.  As for your Elizabeth's 
picture, you must not attempt to have it taken, for
what painter could do justice to those beautiful eyes?"
"It would not be easy, indeed, to catch their expression, but
their colour and shape, and the eye-lashes, so remarkably
fine, might be copied."
At that moment they were met from another walk, by Mrs. 
Hurst and Elizabeth herself.
"I did not know that you intended to walk," said Miss
Bingley, in some confusion, lest they had been overheard.
"You used us abominably ill," answered Mrs. Hurst, "in
running away without telling us that you were coming out."
Then taking the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy, she left
Elizabeth to walk by herself.  The path just admitted three.
Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness and immediately said, --
 "This walk is not wide enough for our party.  We had better
go into the avenue."
But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain
with them, laughingly answered,
 "No, no; stay where you are. -- You are charmingly group'd,
and appear to uncommon advantage.  The picturesque would
be spoilt by admitting a fourth.  Good bye."
She then ran gaily off, rejoicing as she rambled about, in the
hope of being at home again in a day or two.  Jane was already
so much recovered as to intend leaving her room for a couple
of hours that evening.