Pride and Prejudice Becoming Jane Bennet

The opportunity to ask Mr. Bingley about the situation came quickly, and almost unexpectedly.Jane and Elizabeth were engaged in conversation in the bushes, when they were sent for their return, and it turned out that the same persons whom they had spoken of called.

Netherfield was to hold a long-awaited ball next Tuesday, and Mr. Bingley and his sisters came in person to invite them to attend.Elizabeth would very much like to take this opportunity to talk to Mr. Bingley about Mr. Wickham, but Mrs. Bennet's incessant accusations to Mr. Bingley prevented her from being available.

Mrs. Bennet was overjoyed that Mr. Bingley had come in person instead of posting an invitation.She believed that the ball was entirely a compliment to her second daughter.Mr. Collins, who was also invited, accepted the invitation with joy and joy, saying that dancing was innocuous at such a ball, given by such virtuous persons, and attended by respectable persons, and said quickly: "Hope I'm lucky enough to dance with all my beautiful cousins."

He turned to Mary again, and specially invited her to dance the first two dances with him, and Mary agreed, but Jane saw that she was not particularly eager.

So that night, she went to Mary's room, asked her about her thoughts, and told her her plan.

"Thank you," said Mary. "Mr. Collins is not really my type, but he is a gentleman."

Jane is a little confused about what her sister is thinking, but since she has told her her idea, it depends on how Mary chooses. At least for now, Mr. Collins should not make a marriage proposal.

On Tuesday night, the Bennets arrived at Netherfield punctually in a carriage.Netherfield Gardens has never been so lively as this night. On the side of the path extending from the gate of the manor to the stone steps in front of the main building, there are erected torches one after another. Carriages drive in one after another. It stopped at the foot of the stone steps, let the well-dressed gentlemen and ladies come down, and then drove out one after another.

Jane got out of the carriage holding Mr. Collins's hand, and when she was about to walk up the stone steps, she found that there were several rooms on the third floor of the house facing the gate of the manor, and Mr. Darcy was standing in one of the rooms. Looking at them expressionlessly, he found that Jane had noticed him, so he turned his eyes coldly, and walked away from the window.

Jane could not help smiling when she thought of Mr. Bingley's remark to Mr. Darcy, when he was talking of the ball, that he should "let him go to bed before the ball."She didn't care much about whether Mr. Darcy would be absent from the ball, and when her sisters and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet got out of the carriage, she happily stepped up the stone steps and walked into the house.

Mr. Bingley, his sisters, and Mr. Hurst were all waiting in the antechamber, and they greeted the Bennets, and of course Mr. Collins, with cordiality.Mr. Collins, upon seeing them, complimented them on how beautifully the place was furnished, and reminded him of a place, and then inquired whether the Bingleys had been to Rosings, etc.

The Miss Bennets were already weary of hearing him speak of Rosings Park and his benefactor—both of which Mr. Collins referred to in varying forms every day at Longbourn.After greeting the Bingley family, they went to chat with their friends and familiar officers. To the disappointment of the young ladies, Mr. Wickham did not attend the ball tonight. It is said that he went to the city the day before I went to work.

After a while, Mr. Bingley came over, and kindly and politely asked Jane and Elizabeth to let him lead the two ladies to the ballroom. The two Miss Bennet naturally agreed happily, holding Bingley on the left and the right. Mr. Arms went to the ballroom.When she entered the ballroom, Jane accidentally found Mr. Darcy there, standing behind the crowd near the door, which surprised her—she thought Mr. Darcy was really going to sleep through this ball !

"Please allow me to introduce my friend, Mr. Hunter." Mr. Bingley brought Jane and Elizabeth to a tall and strange gentleman, and said, "Mr. Hunter just happened to take care of some things and was going back to the city. Ford County, I will leave him to stay for a while before leaving."

He then introduced the two Miss Bennets to Mr. Hunt.

Mr. Hunter is about the same age as Mr. Collins, but he is much more pleasing in appearance than Mr. Collins. He is tall and tall, not as handsome as Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, but he is also handsome and his conversation is very gentle. , especially his dark brown hair and eyes, which made Jane have a good impression at first glance - I don’t know if it’s because she was a Chinese before crossing, Jane always has a good impression of people with dark hair and eyes ——In fact, Mr. Darcy also has dark hair and eyes, but his aura is too strong and his facial expression is too stern, which makes Jane feel a little pressure every time she faces him, and she pays more attention to his demeanor than to him. appearance.

Mr. Hunter asked very politely if Jane had a partner, and if not, would he take the liberty of asking her for the next dance.Jane cheerfully told him that she had no partner and would be happy to dance with him.So, when the next dance music sounded, the two slid down the dance floor hand in hand.

"Harfordshire is very different from the city," said Mr. Hunter to Jane after a short dance. "Is it always this cheerful here?"

Jane smiled and said, "There is almost nothing to worry about here."

After a pause, she asked again: "Is this your first time in Hertfordshire, sir?"

"No, it's not," Mr. Hunter replied, "but the previous few times I passed by in a hurry, this is the first time I stopped to enjoy the scenery here."

"Do you still like it here?"

"I like it very much!" Mr. Hunter said, "It's a pity that I didn't come in summer. I heard that Hertfordshire can be regarded as the 'rose garden' of England."

"Indeed," Jane said with a smile, "the wild roses all over the mountains and plains in summer are extremely beautiful."

The two then chatted about the customs of Hertfordshire. During the conversation, Jane noticed something unusual. In order to confirm her guess, she brought the topic to reading.

"Yes, the library at Netherfield is wonderful," said Mr. Hunt, "but I prefer the newspapers to the books."

"is it?"

"Yes," Mr. Hunter said, "You see, I run a newspaper myself, so I naturally pay more attention to newspapers and periodicals, and reading newspapers always gives me great fun. I can find everything new in newspapers. "

"May I venture to ask what papers you read?" asked Jane.

Mr. Hunter reported the names of several newspapers, and Jane found that the newspapers that published serialized novels written by Mary were also within his reading range. She thought for a while and asked again: "Do you choose the parts you like when you read the newspapers?" , or read them all?"

"Oh! I'll go through it first, pick out what I'm interested in and what I'm not interested in, and then read it," Mr. Hunt said.

"Do you like the section that publishes novel serials?"

"It depends," said Mr. Hunt. "If the serial happens to be the kind of fiction I like, I'd like to read that section."

At this time, the dance music just ended, but neither of them wanted to interrupt the conversation, so they stepped aside and continued the unfinished topic just now.

"I recently read a serial, which described rural customs, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it." Mr. Hunter said, "The author's writing is fluent, the language is light and humorous, and the article is also interspersed with philosophical thoughts, which is really fascinating. It's bright."

"May I ask who the author is?"

"Mr. Matt." Mr. Hunter said, then looked at Jane meaningfully, and asked, "Do you know this author?"

Jane looked at the gentleman in front of her for a while, and suddenly her mind was full of thoughts. She was silent for a while, and finally said: "I'm afraid this is the first time I know this author, sir."