[Pride and Prejudice] First impressions

This encounter on the road gave the Bennet sisters, especially the youngest ones, plenty to talk about, and they spent the next day almost talking about Mr. Wickham, about his good manners. And chivalry, even Mrs. Bennet was fascinated by it.And in the evening, when the news came that Lucas's house had temporarily decided to hold a dance in three days to welcome the arrival of the militia, everyone except Jane and Elizabeth almost went crazy with joy.

Jane was thinking about Mr. Bingley who was recuperating, and Elizabeth was struggling with how to put an end to Mr. Wickham's hidden dangers. For the remaining ladies of the Bennett family, with the participation of gentlemen in red uniforms from the Militia The ball, even the one at Netherfield next week, was less exciting.

----

The ball at the Lucas House came as promised, and all the people who were worthy of the reputation in the vicinity went, including the Bennet family and Mr. Collins.Mr. Bingley was unable to go because of a leg injury, so he had to entrust Mr. Darcy to escort his sister to participate.

As Elizabeth had expected, Wickham did not appear.Disappointed, Lydia learned from another lad named Danny that he was busy, so when she had to be absent tonight, her mood plummeted.Fortunately, the boys in red uniforms were all over the place tonight, completely reversing the tradition of having more boys and girls at the Meryton Ball. Some of them, although not as good as Mr. Wickham, but against the backdrop of their uniforms, they have a heroic look So soon, Lydia forgot about the unhappiness, and began to throw herself into the cheerful atmosphere of the ball one after another.

Elizabeth can be called the busiest person tonight besides the host.Not only to deal with the cousin, but also to pay attention to whether Mary is occupying the piano and not getting up, and to look at the two youngest sisters from time to time to prevent them from getting too carried away.Although the host of the dance party hopes that the guests will have a good time, if they are too uninhibited, it is easy to attract people's attention.

Elizabeth was too busy, so naturally she didn't pay much attention to Mr. Darcy. I only saw that he invited the Bingley sisters to dance a few times, and he seemed to ask Charlotte to dance once. The responsibility of becoming the flower protector of its sisters has been acting as a wall grass.Of course, everyone knew his character, and no one dared to disturb him, except for Sir Lucas, the host who came up to the distinguished guests from time to time to ask if there was anything in need, and the only one left was the familiar vicar— ——Especially, when he learned the identity of this gentleman from other people, his whole body seemed to be on fire, completely ignoring the aura of strangers exuding from that gentleman, Xinxin walked over and started to introduce himself.

Elizabeth had just finished dancing with an officer, because her legs and feet felt a little tired, so she got together with Charlotte, who happened to be free, and the two were chatting.

Charlotte seemed to be paying attention to the movements of the two gentlemen over there, glanced at her, and said with a smile: "Lizzie, everyone said that Mr. Darcy was very arrogant, and I thought so at first. He just came to ask me to dance At the time, I couldn't believe it. But after one dance, I have changed my opinion of him. He is a real gentleman and takes the partner's feelings into consideration."

Elizabeth followed her line of sight and saw that the pastor's cousin had successfully approached the target, and was nodding and bowing while talking, because it was quite noisy nearby, and she didn't know what he was talking about.But obviously, the person who was accosted didn't look very happy, and he didn't even stand up.

After silently lighting a candle for her cousin in her heart, Elizabeth followed Charlotte's words and responded jokingly: "It's only natural. Because you are the only lady in the audience who was invited to dance by him except Sister Bingley."

Charlotte shook her head disapprovingly: "This just proves that he is a gentleman. Because I am the eldest lady of the host's family, no matter how inconspicuous I am, he will come to invite me to dance out of courtesy."

Elizabeth heard the self-mockery in her tone, so she said seriously: "Charlotte, to a truly sensible gentleman, women are attractive because of their brains. Besides, in my eyes, you are very beautiful."

When Elizabeth said this, it was indeed not a random compliment.In this era, slender beauty is popular, and ladies in the upper class are proud of fainting at every turn.Charlotte, who has always been considered mediocre in appearance, actually has very regular facial features, with a bit of heroism in her brows, but it just goes against the aesthetics of the times.In modern times, her appearance is absolutely outstanding.

Charlotte smiled and waved her hand, "Come on, Lizzie, stop comforting me, the charm of a woman never comes from her mind. Taking a step back, even if a woman is really attractive because of her brain, the premise is It needs to have the conditions that make a man willing to discover the mind, and I don’t have any of them.” She looked in that direction again, “Let’s talk about you. I heard that Mr. Collins fell in love with you at first sight and wanted to marry you? Lizzie, if If you are willing, to be honest, this is a good opportunity to solve your family's troubles."

Elizabeth couldn't help but be impressed by Mrs. Bennet's small horn function again.

It's only been a few days, and everyone already knows?

"If it were you, would you accept it?"

Elizabeth remembered the marriage she would soon choose in the original book, and couldn't help asking.

If Charlotte still made such a choice this time, she would naturally understand.

Even hundreds of years later, there are many women who have made similar choices out of various considerations, let alone her now?

Charlotte seemed a little surprised by this question. After glancing at Mr. Collins' back, she was silent for a moment.

"Lizzie, if I have a face like yours, or if I can add 0 to the number of properties I currently own, believe me, I will definitely be willing to wait."

Although Charlotte's father, Sir Lucas, made some money in business, it cost a lot to buy a knighthood. After he got the title of knight, he didn't bother to engage in the old business anymore. All these years, he only relied on the interest on the farm and his previous savings. for a living.Her family's farm is even smaller than that of the Bennett's. In addition, she is the eldest daughter in the family and has several younger siblings. The dowry she can get when she gets married is naturally meager.Elizabeth had at least £1000 left, and she had half as much as Elizabeth.

Thinking of the life when she woke up every morning and saw Collins' face with the word "idiot" carved on his forehead, Elizabeth suddenly felt heartbroken for her friend.

The reality is so skinny.The marriage that was about to happen to her friend only proved this sentence again.

Since Charlotte, who only has a dowry of 500 pounds, can only marry Collins, then she has no prospects for herself with a dowry of 1000 pounds. The reality of salt, firewood and rice gave birth to scorpions.

In short, if a woman doesn't have money, she can't move an inch. This is definitely a universal truth.After Mr. Wickham's potential time bomb is cleared, she must also plan her own money.

"Look! What's happening!"

Elizabeth was immersed in her own thoughts, when she suddenly heard a low cry from a friend next to her, her voice full of surprise.Looking up, I couldn't help being surprised.

Darcy actually followed his cousin and came towards this direction!

When they came near, Darcy stopped a few paces away, while Mr. Collins almost trotted all the way up to Elizabeth, his cheeks flushed with excitement, and his hands rubbing together.

"My God, it's unbelievable! My dear cousin Elizabeth, guess what happened? I was lucky enough to meet Mrs. de Boer's nephew Mr. Darcy here! What a fate! Next time I go back to Rosings, I will definitely Tell this matter to my wife and her old man in detail, so that she will know how humble and respectable her nephew is! Dear cousin Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy not only had a heart-to-heart conversation with me, but heard me say to him When he introduced you and suggested you dance to a song to get to know each other better, he jumped at it!"

Obviously, when Mr. Collins introduced her, he more or less brought out the meaning that she was his fiancée.

While Mr. Collins was immersed in his emotions, Charlotte glanced at Mr. Darcy, and then secretly nudged Elizabeth with her elbow to express her surprise that the two could talk together.

Elizabeth could hardly laugh or cry.

She made it clear in front of Mrs. Bennet several times that she refused to marry Mr. Collins, and being a mother was like a deaf ear, so she waited for the male protagonist's proposal scene instead, and then followed the original book and sent a big NO.The problem is, not only can't wait and wait, but now he is introduced by someone with such an ambiguous identity.

"Of course, dear cousin Elizabeth, I think you and Mr. Darcy have known each other before, but I firmly believe that with the relationship between Mrs. de Boer and me, tonight's introduction will have a completely different profound meaning !"

Elizabeth did not have Mr. Bennet's taste for discovering alternative pleasures. She really couldn't stand Collins's tricks. She looked at Mr. Darcy and frowned slightly.

"Mr. Darcy, do you really want to ask me to dance?"

"If you do me the favor."

He answered briefly, looking at Elizabeth.

A new dance song just rang in my ears.

"why not?"

Elizabeth turned and headed for the dance floor.

Darcy seemed surprised that she accepted it so readily, after a little startle, he followed immediately.

----

"Dear Miss Lucas, you are a good friend of Cousin Elizabeth, and it would be a great honor to invite you to dance with me."

After watching Elizabeth and Darcy enter the dance floor, Collins turned to Charlotte politely, but tried his best to imitate Darcy's expression and tone, and the result was naturally nondescript.

When he was under the nose of the benefactor of Hunsford, due to his status, he had almost no chance to show his skills on the dance floor. Just now when he invited his cousins ​​to dance, he frequently stepped on the wrong time and stepped on their feet. Except for the kind Jane, the rest of the cousins ​​all refused to dance with him, and the husband who was waiting to dance with Jane had already started queuing up, and he couldn't get in at all.

"Thank you."

Charlotte didn't seem to notice his ridiculous and awkward expression at all, and stretched out her hand to him without changing her expression.

----

Halfway through the dance music, Elizabeth and the people around her also exchanged positions several times, but her dance partner never said a word, her lips were tightly closed, and her expression was solemn.

It seemed as if he had really come to invite his dear cousin to the dance just at the request of Collins.

Unexpectedly, not only did this guy not run into a wall at Wannian Bingshan, but he was able to invite him to invite himself to dance?

This is so unscientific.

What the hell did they just say?

"Mr. Darcy, say something?"

Turning back to face-to-face with Darcy again, Elizabeth couldn't bear this slightly weird atmosphere, and took the initiative to talk.

He finally lowered his head slightly, and after briefly meeting her eyes, who was slightly upturned, he quickly raised his eyes, his eyes passed through the top of her head, and kept his gaze straight ahead.

"What do you want to say?"

It can be regarded as an opening, but why does it sound like "you can say what you want, and I will listen to it"?

"How is Mr. Bingley's injury?"

"Thanks to your family's rescue that night, he is much better now."

"You seem to get on well with Mr. Collins?"

"good."

"How long do you want to stay here, Mr. Darcy?"

He finally lowered his gaze again and looked into her eyes, as if he was considering the hidden meaning in her words.

She dared to swear by the Bible that she had absolutely no intention of expecting him to leave as soon as possible!

"Soon. After my friend recovers."

Finally, he said lightly, looking straight ahead again.

Elizabeth snorted, and couldn't think of any more topics that could be used to pass the time of boring dance music.

Yes, it is really boring to dance with this gentleman, it is better to dance with Collins.At least when the partner is Collins, she can still learn from Mr. Bennett, and look forward to what kind of witty words the other party will say next.But now, she can't continue to ask the constellation, the blood type, and the motto that guides the long journey of life with the cheek?