“I saw you dancing.”
Elizabeth pretended great composure. “That cannot have been very surprising. I danced several times.”
“With Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth glanced toward the window. “So I did.”
Jane watched her closely. “You said before that you would not.”
Elizabeth gave a small shrug. “One cannot always adhere strictly to one’s resolutions.”
“And did you enjoy it?”
Elizabeth paused. “He proved himself capable of very civil behaviour,” she said at last.
Jane smiled. “That sounds almost like praise.”
Elizabeth laughed lightly. “Do not expect me to grow enthusiastic all at once.”
Yet as she spoke, she felt again the memory of the evening – his unexpected civility, his answering her mother when no one else would, and the quiet understanding in his look afterwards.
She rose and moved toward the window.
“He may not be quite the gentleman I first supposed him to be,” she said.
A more favourable opinion of Mr. Darcy was becoming difficult to resist. Yet it would not do to think too well of him; he would soon leave Hertfordshire, and with him, this confusion.
Jane looked pleased. “I am glad of it.”
Elizabeth turned back with a faint smile. “My dear Jane, you are always glad when anyone is thought well of.”
“That is because people often deserve it.”
Elizabeth did not immediately reply. For the moment, she was not quite certain Jane was wrong.
***
Mr. Collins did not sleep quite so soundly as the rest of the household.
The events of the preceding evening had furnished his mind with the matter of very serious reflection. Indeed, he considered himself engaged in a deliberation of no small consequence, as it concerned not only his own happiness but also the proper discharge of his duty as a clergyman.
When he had first formed the intention of seeking a wife among his fair cousins at Longbourn, his choice had been Miss Bennet as the most beautiful and eldest daughter. He had then been encouraged to turn his attention to the second daughter, Miss Elizabeth, and had persuaded himself that her lively manners and pleasing countenance rendered her a very suitable object of choice.
Yet the last few days’ observations had introduced a degree of uncertainty.
Miss Elizabeth, he could not but admit, possessed a spirit that was at times remarkably decided. Her manner of interrupting him during his intended speech of gratitude at Netherfield had been delivered with a composure that might almost be termed authoritative. Though he was far from resenting such a circumstance – indeed, he prided himself on a disposition most forgiving – it nevertheless suggested a firmness of temper which might, under certain conditions, prove difficult to reconcile with the humility so proper in a clergyman’s household.
His thoughts then turned to Miss Mary.
Miss Mary Bennet, suggested by her father to his attention, he reflected, had many qualities particularly suited to the situation of a parson’s wife. She was studious, serious in her habits, and evidently well acquainted with improving literature. Her fondness for moral reflections and religious texts could not fail to recommend her in the eyes of those whose judgement in such matters deserved the highest respect.
Nor could it be denied that her appearance the previous evening had been very creditable. Her countenance, when animated by the satisfaction of performing before an attentive audience, had possessed a degree of dignity which he found quite pleasing upon recollection.
Miss Elizabeth, it was true, had greater liveliness, but liveliness was not always the first qualification to be sought in a wife whose example must necessarily influence a parish. He had observed, too, that she was allowed a degree of independence not always desirable in a young lady.
Mr. Collins folded his hands thoughtfully upon the counterpane.
In the society of his esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a wife of calm understanding and modest deportmentwould unquestionably be most proper. A young lady too ready with her opinions might, however unintentionally, fail to display the degree of respectful attention which Lady Catherine’s superior judgement naturally commanded.
