Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

After the girls had supper, Elizabeth went up to her sister's, to see that she was well dressed and safe from cold, and accompanied her into the drawing-room.Her girlfriends welcomed her when they saw her, and they all said they were very happy.During the hour when the gentlemen were absent, they were so amiable that Elizabeth had never seen them.They were frighteningly good at talking, describing every detail of a dinner party, telling a story with wit, and laughing at a friend with alacrity. But as soon as the gentlemen entered, Jane was not so conspicuous.As soon as Darcy entered, Miss Bingley's eyes turned to him immediately, and she wanted to speak to him.Darcy first greeted Miss Bennet, and congratulated her politely on her recovery; Mr. Hurst also bowed slightly to her, saying that he was very happy to see her; Not so much as Mr. Bingley's greetings.Mr. Bingley was affectionate and joyful.The first half hour was spent filling coals, for fear that the cold in the room would overwhelm the patient.Jane followed Bingley's advice, and moved her seat on the other side of the fire, so that she would be far from the door, and not catch the cold.Then he sat down beside her himself, and was absorbed in talking to her, hardly paying any attention to anyone else.Elizabeth, who was at work in the opposite corner, saw the whole scene with great delight.

After tea, Mr. Hurst reminded her sister-in-law to set the card table, but it was no use.She had already seen that Mr. Darcy did not want to play cards, and Mr. Hurst's later public offer to play cards was rejected by her.She told him that no one wanted to play cards, but the whole room was silent about it, so it seemed that she was right.Mr. Hurst, therefore, had nothing to do but lie on the sofa and doze.Darcy picked up a book.Miss Bingley also took up a book.Mrs. Hurst was absorbed in her bracelets and rings, and occasionally interrupted a conversation between her brother and Miss Bennet.

Miss Bingley watched Darcy read while reading by herself, doing both at the same time, all half-heartedly.She was always asking him a question or something, or seeing what page he was reading.However, she was always unable to make him talk; he answered a question she asked, and continued reading his book after answering.Miss Bingley chose that book only because it was the second volume Darcy had read, and she was exhausted by reading it with great interest.She yawned and said: "What a pleasure to pass an evening like this!"I said, no entertainment can match the joy of reading.No matter what you do, you will get bored as soon as you start, but reading is not like this!One day in the future, I will have my own home. It would be a pity if I don't have a good study.

No one paid her any attention.Then she yawned again, put aside her book, and looked round the room, looking for something to amuse herself, when she heard her brother tell Miss Bennet that there was going to be a ball, and she Turning around abruptly, she said to him: So, Charles, are you really going to have a ball at Netherfield?I advise you to seek the opinions of friends present before making a decision.There will be some people here who feel that dancing is suffering rather than entertainment. If there are no such people, you can blame me. If you mean Darcy, exclaimed her brother, well, he can go to bed before the dancing begins, as he pleases.It has been decided that the ball must be held, and I will send out invitations as soon as Nichols has everything ready.

Miss Bingley said: "I'd be much happier if there were some variety in the ball, for the usual routine at balls is a real pain in the ass."It would be much more interesting if you could change the schedule of the day and replace dancing with talking. It might be much more interesting, Caroline, but it's like a dance. Miss Bingley made no answer.In a short time, she got up, and walked up and down the room, showing off her graceful figure and quick steps to Darcy, but it was a pity that Darcy was only there absorbed in reading, so she was wasted. scheming.Desperate, she resolved to make another effort, and turning to Elizabeth, said:

Eliza.Miss Bennet, I advise you to follow my example and walk around the room.Tell you, after sitting for so long, walking around can refresh your spirit. Elizabeth felt very surprised, but immediately complied with her wishes.Then the real purpose of Miss Bingley's courtship was achieved, and Mr. Darcy looked up. It turned out that Darcy, like Elizabeth, saw that she was playing tricks to attract attention, and unconsciously put down the book.The two ladies at once asked him to come and walk with them, but he declined, saying that it was the two of them who were walking up and down the room, and that, as far as he could imagine, there were only two motives, and that if he joined them in their walk, it would be Any one of their motives will get in the way.What does he mean by that?Miss Bingley was anxious to know what he meant by this, and asked Elizabeth if she understood.

Elizabeth replied: I don't understand at all, he must be deliberately making things difficult for us, but you'd better ignore him and let him down. It's a pity that Miss Bingley could not bear to disappoint Mr. Darcy in anything, so she repeatedly asked him to explain his so-called two motives. Darcy waited for her to stop, and said at once: "I would like to explain it very much. The matter is like this. You are close friends, so you have chosen this way to pass the evening, and you have to talk about private affairs. Otherwise, it is your own fault." I thought that walking would look particularly good-looking, so I wanted to take a walk.If it was the first motive, I would hinder you by being with you; if it was the second, I could enjoy you better sitting by the fire.

Oh, scare people!Miss Bingley cried.I have never heard such vicious words.Fortunately, he can tell, how should he be punished? It's easy enough, said Elizabeth, if you're going to punish him.Each other can be punished and punished, tortured and tortured.Make fun of him, make fun of him.Since you are so familiar, you should know how to deal with him. The conscience of heaven and earth, I don't understand.To tell you the truth, although we are acquainted, we are not far behind in knowing how to deal with him.It's not easy to deal with such a calm and quick-witted person!No, no, I don't think we can handle him.As for laughing at him, if you don't get angry, we can't laugh at others out of thin air, which makes people laugh instead.Let Mr. Darcy be complacent.

It turns out that Mr. Darcy can't be laughed at!cried Elizabeth.Such superior conditions are really rare, and I hope there will not be many of them. If there are many such friends, my loss will be great.I especially like jokes. Miss Bingley has done me a favor.He said.If a man makes joking the most important thing in his life, then even the best and the brightest — no, the smartest and the best — will become ridiculous. Of course, replied Elizabeth, there are such people, but I hope I am not among them.I hope I never ridicule clever behavior or good behavior.Stupidity and nonsense, absurdity and contradictions do amuse me, and I admit that I laugh at them whenever I can.But I think these weaknesses are exactly what you don't have.

Perhaps everyone still has these weaknesses, otherwise it would be too bad, and the extreme intelligence would be ridiculed.I have spent my life studying how to avoid these weaknesses. For example, vanity and arrogance belong to this category of weaknesses. Yes, vanity is indeed a weakness.But arrogance, as long as you are really smart, you will be more arrogant. Elizabeth turned her head so that no one should see her laughing. You will put your quiz on Mr. Darcy, I reckon, said Miss Bingley.What is the conclusion? I fully admit that Mr. Darcy does not have some faults.He admitted it himself and didn't hide it.

No, said Darcy, I didn't say anything of that pretense.I have enough faults, but they have nothing to do with the mind.As for my character, I dare not boast.I think my character is too inflexible, which of course means that I am too incapable of accommodating others in the world.I should have quickly forgotten other people's stupidity and faults, but I couldn't;When it comes to some of my emotions, it's not like they just go away as soon as I try to get rid of them.My temper can be said to be disgusting enough.Once I don't like someone, I never like them. This is indeed a big disadvantage!Elizabeth said loudly.Being resentful and incomprehensible with others is indeed a shadow of character.But you are already very critical of your own shortcomings.I really can't laugh at you anymore.Don't worry. I believe that no matter what the temper of a man is, he is bound to have some kind of shortcoming, which is a congenital defect which cannot be overcome by the best education. You have a tendency to dislike everyone, and that is your flaw. And your flaws, Darcy replied, laughing.It is to deliberately misunderstand others. Miss Bingley, tired of seeing that the conversation was not her part, said aloud: "Let us have some music, Louisa, won't you be afraid that I should wake Mr. Hurst?" Her sister made no objection, and the piano was opened.Darcy thought about it and thought it was not bad.He was beginning to feel that he had grown too close to Elizabeth.