When the ladies removed after dinner, Elizabeth ran up to her sister, and, seeing her well guarded from cold, attended her into the drawing-room; where she was welcomed by her two friends with many professions of pleasure; and Elizabeth had never seen them so agreeable as they were during the hour which passed before the gentlemen appeared. Their powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an entertainment with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh at their acquaintance with spirit.

But when the gentlemen entered, Jane was no longer the first object. Miss Bingley's eyes were instantly turned towards Darcy, and she had something to say to him before he had advanced many steps. He addressed himself directly to Miss Bennet, with a polite congratulation; Mr. Hurst also made her a slight bow, and said he was“very glad;”but diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley's salutation. He was full of joy and attention. The first half hour was spent in piling up the fire, lest she should suffer from the change of room; and she removed at his desire to the other side of the fireplace, that she might be farther from the door. He then sat down by her, and talked scarcely to any one else. Elizabeth, at work in the opposite corner, saw it all with great delight.

When tea was over, Mr. Hurst reminded his sister-in-law of the card-table-but in vain. She had obtained private intelligence that Mr. Darcy did not wish for cards; and Mr. Hurst soon found even his open petition rejected. She assured him that no one intended to play, and the silence of the whole party on the subject seemed to justify her. Mr. Hurst had therefore nothing to do but to stretch himself on one of the sophas and go to sleep. Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same; and Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings, joined now and then in her brother's conversation with Miss Bennet.

Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question, and read on. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said,“How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!—When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

No one made any reply. She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement; when, hearing her brother mentioning a ball to Miss Bennet, she turned suddenly towards him and said,

“By the bye, Charles, are you really serious in meditating a dance at Netherfield? —I would advise you, before you determine on it, to consult the wishes of the present party; I am much mistaken if there are not some among us to whom a ball would be rather a punishment than a pleasure.”

“If you mean Darcy,”cried her brother,“he may go to bed, if he chooses, before it begins-but as for the ball, it is quite a settled thing; and as soon as Nicholls has made white soup enough I shall send round my cards.”

“I should like balls infinitely better,”she replied,“if they were carried on in a different manner;but there is something insufferably tedious in the usual process of such a meeting. It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day.”

“Much more rational, my dear Caroline, I dare say, but it would not be near so much like a ball.”

Miss Bingley made no answer; and soon afterwards got up and walked about the room. Her figure was elegant, and she walked well; —but Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious. In the desperation of her feelings she resolved on one effort more; and turning to Elizabeth, said,

“Miss Eliza Bennet, let me persuade you to follow my example, and take a turn about the room. —I assure you it is very refreshing after sitting so long in one attitude.”

Elizabeth was surprised, but agreed to it immediately. Miss Bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility; Mr. Darcy looked up. He was as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book. He was directly invited to join their party, but he declined it, observing that he could imagine but two motives for their chusing to walk up and down the room together, with either of which motives his joining them would interfere.“What could he mean? she was dying to know what could be his meaning”—and asked Elizabeth whether she could at all understand him?

“Not at all,”was her answer;“but depend upon it, he means to be severe on us, and our surest way of disappointing him will be to ask nothing about it.”

Miss Bingley, however, was incapable of disappointing Mr. Darcy in anything, and persevered therefore in requiring an explanation of his two motives.

“I have not the smallest objection to explaining them,”said he, as soon as she allowed him to speak.“You either choose this method of passing the evening because you are in each other's confidence, and have secret affairs to discuss, or because you are conscious that your figures appear to the greatest advantage in walking; —if the first, I should be completely in your way; —and if the second, I can admire you much better as I sit by the fire.”

“Oh! shocking!”cried Miss Bingley.“I never heard anything so abominable. How shall we punish him for such a speech?”

“Nothing so easy, if you have but the inclination,”said Elizabeth.“We can all plague and punish one another. Teaze him-laugh at him. -Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.”

“But upon my honour I do not. I do assure you that my intimacy has not yet taught me that. Teaze calmness of temper and presence of mind! No, no—I feel he may defy us there. And as to laughter, we will not expose ourselves, if you please, by attempting to laugh without a subject. Mr. Darcy may hug himself.”

“Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at!”cried Elizabeth.“That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance. I dearly love a laugh.”

“Miss Bingley,”said he,“has given me credit for more than can be. The wisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.”

“Certainly,”replied Elizabeth—“there are such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. —But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.”

“Perhaps that is not possible for any one. But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule.”

“Such as vanity and pride.”

“Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride-where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.”

Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile.

“Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume,”said Miss Bingley; —“and pray what is the result?”

“I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.”

“No”-said Darcy,“I have made no such pretension. I have faults enough, but they are not,I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. -It is I believe too little yielding-certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offences against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. -My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.”

“That is a failing indeed!”—cried Elizabeth.“Implacable resentment is a shade in a character. But you have chosen your fault well. —I really cannot laugh at it; you are safe from me.”

“There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.”

“And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.”

“And yours,”he replied with a smile,“is wilfully to misunderstand them.”

“Do let us have a little music,”—cried Miss Bingley, tired of a conversation in which she had no share. —“Louisa, you will not mind my waking Mr. Hurst.”

Her sister made not the smallest objection, and the piano-forte was opened, and Darcy, after a few moments recollection, was not sorry for it. He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.

晚飯過后，太太小姐們離開餐廳，伊麗莎白跑去姐姐那里，見她裹得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實(shí)實(shí)，不會(huì)受涼，就陪她進(jìn)了客廳。她在那里受到了兩位朋友的歡迎。她們連聲說見到她非常高興。在男士們到來之前的那個(gè)小時(shí)，伊麗莎白從來沒有看到過她們那樣和藹可親。她們的交談能力相當(dāng)了得。她們描述宴會(huì)能細(xì)致入微，敘述奇聞趣事幽默風(fēng)趣，嘲笑朋友則聲情并茂。

而當(dāng)兩位先生進(jìn)來之后，簡(jiǎn)不再是首選的目標(biāo)。賓利小姐的目光馬上轉(zhuǎn)向達(dá)西，還沒等他向前走多少步，她就有話對(duì)他說。他馬上禮貌地向貝內(nèi)特小姐表示問候；赫斯特先生也向她微微鞠躬，說他“非常高興”；不過，最周到和熱情的還是賓利的問候。他充滿喜悅和關(guān)懷。前半小時(shí)花在了添煤上，唯恐她會(huì)因屋里溫度的變化而受罪；按照賓利的心愿，簡(jiǎn)移到了壁爐的另一邊，那樣她就離門口遠(yuǎn)了些。隨后，他在她的身邊坐下來，幾乎不跟其他人說話。伊麗莎白在對(duì)面角落做著活計(jì)，把這一切都看在眼里，感到心花怒放。

喝完茶后，赫斯特先生提醒他的小姨子擺好牌桌——但無濟(jì)于事。她早就看出達(dá)西先生不想打牌；赫斯特先生公開提出要打牌，也被她拒絕了。她向他保證說，誰(shuí)也不想打牌，全場(chǎng)對(duì)這件事都默不作聲，似乎證明她說的沒錯(cuò)。因此，赫斯特先生無事可做，只好躺在沙發(fā)上睡覺。達(dá)西拿起一本書，賓利小姐也拿起了一本；赫斯特太太聚精會(huì)神地把玩著自己的手鐲和戒指，偶爾在她的弟弟和貝內(nèi)特小姐交談時(shí)說上幾句話。

賓利小姐一方面專心致志地看自己的書，一方面又在觀察達(dá)西先生看書的進(jìn)度；她要么不斷詢問，要么看他讀到了哪一頁(yè)。然而，她引不起達(dá)西的任何話題；他只是問一句答一句，然后繼續(xù)看書。最后，賓利小姐之所以只選那本書，是因?yàn)槟鞘沁_(dá)西看的第二卷，她本想讀得津津有味，卻筋疲力盡，就打了個(gè)大哈欠，說：“夜晚要這樣度過是多么愉快啊！我敢說，什么樂趣也比不上看書！做什么事兒都很快就會(huì)厭倦，看書卻不會(huì)！——等我有了自己的家，要是沒有一個(gè)出色的書房，我會(huì)非常難過。”

誰(shuí)也沒有搭腔。于是，她又打了個(gè)哈欠，把書扔到一邊，目光環(huán)顧了一下房間，要尋找一些樂趣，這時(shí)聽到她的哥哥向貝內(nèi)特小姐提起舞會(huì)，她突然轉(zhuǎn)向他說道：

“對(duì)了，查爾斯，你是當(dāng)真想在內(nèi)瑟菲爾德莊園舉行舞會(huì)嗎？——我要?jiǎng)衲悖跊Q定這件事之前，先問問在座的心愿；要是我們當(dāng)中沒有人覺得跳舞是受罪而不是享樂，那我就大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)了。”

“你要是指達(dá)西的話，”她的哥哥大聲說道，“那他就可以在舞會(huì)開始之前上床睡覺，隨他的便——但說到舞會(huì)，那完全是定好的事兒；尼科爾斯一準(zhǔn)備好，我就發(fā)請(qǐng)?zhí)！?

賓利小姐說：“要是開舞會(huì)能換換花樣，那我就會(huì)更喜歡；可是，舞會(huì)上通常的老一套乏味透頂，讓人受不了。要是把那一天的日程改一下，用交談代替跳舞，那肯定就會(huì)合理得多了。”

“親愛的卡羅琳，也許會(huì)更合理，但那就完全不像舞會(huì)了。”

賓利小姐沒有回答，過了一會(huì)兒站起身，在房間里走來走去。她身段優(yōu)美，走姿好看；——但是，一切都是針對(duì)達(dá)西，他依然專心看書，不為所動(dòng)。她感到失望，決心再努力一次，就轉(zhuǎn)向伊麗莎白，說道：

“伊萊扎·貝內(nèi)特小姐，我勸你像我這樣，在房間里轉(zhuǎn)一圈。——我向你保證，一個(gè)姿勢(shì)坐了很久以后，轉(zhuǎn)一圈非常提神。”

伊麗莎白感到驚訝，但馬上同意。賓利小姐溫文爾雅的真正目的果然達(dá)到了；達(dá)西先生抬起了頭。他跟伊麗莎白本人一樣完全明白了她標(biāo)新立異是想引人注目，不知不覺地合上了書。賓利小姐馬上邀請(qǐng)他一塊走走，但他婉言謝絕，說他可以想象到，她們選擇在客廳里一起走來走去只能有兩種動(dòng)機(jī)，無論出于哪種動(dòng)機(jī)，他跟著她們一起走，都會(huì)成為妨礙。“他能是什么意思呢？”她很想知道他可能是什么意思——便問伊麗莎白是否能聽得懂他是什么意思。

“根本不懂，”伊麗莎白答道，“但我敢說，他是有意為難我們，所以讓他失望的最可靠方法就是什么也不要問。”

然而，賓利小姐什么事兒都不會(huì)讓達(dá)西先生失望，所以堅(jiān)持要他解釋兩種動(dòng)機(jī)。

等她一住口，他就說道：“我完全不反對(duì)來解釋它們。你們選擇這種方法度過夜晚，要么是因?yàn)橄嗷バ湃危兴矫苁聝河懻摚词且驗(yàn)槟銈冇X得走路時(shí)你們的身段顯得最好看；——要是第一種，我就會(huì)完全妨礙你們；要是第二種，我坐在火爐邊欣賞你們就會(huì)好得多。”

“噢！真討厭！”賓利小姐叫道，“我從來沒有聽到過這樣討厭的話。他這樣說，我們要怎么罰他？”

“只要你想罰，那是再容易不過的事兒了，”伊麗莎白說，“我們彼此可以相互折磨和懲罰。戲弄他——嘲笑他。——既然你們親密，你就一定知道該怎么做。”

“可我的確不知道。我向你保證，我跟他親密是親密，而他還沒有教會(huì)我怎么做。戲弄性情冷靜、鎮(zhèn)定沉著的人！不，不——我覺得他會(huì)使我們希望落空。至于嘲笑，對(duì)不起，我們企圖憑空嘲笑，就會(huì)出洋相。達(dá)西先生就會(huì)沾沾自喜。”

“達(dá)西先生沒有什么可嘲笑的！”伊麗莎白嚷道，“這是一個(gè)難得的優(yōu)點(diǎn)。我希望一直難得，因?yàn)檫@樣的朋友多了，對(duì)我的損失就會(huì)很大。我非常喜歡笑話。”

“賓利小姐，”他說，“對(duì)我過獎(jiǎng)了。要是一個(gè)人生活的首選目標(biāo)是嘲笑，最聰明和最出色的人也就會(huì)變得荒謬可笑。”

“肯定，”伊麗莎白答道——“有這種人，但我希望我不是其中之一。我希望我從不嘲笑聰明或美好之事。愚蠢無聊、反復(fù)無常和自相矛盾的確讓我開心；而且，我承認(rèn)，只要有可能，我就會(huì)嘲笑。不過，我想，這些你正好沒有吧。”

“也許誰(shuí)也不可能做到這一點(diǎn)。而我一生都在研究怎樣去避免那些弱點(diǎn)，因?yàn)槟切┤觞c(diǎn)常常使智力發(fā)達(dá)的人受到嘲笑。”

“比如虛榮和傲慢。”

“是的，虛榮的確是一種弱點(diǎn)。可是，傲慢——要是真正聰明過人，傲慢總是會(huì)恰到好處。”

伊麗莎白轉(zhuǎn)過身，掩飾自己的笑容。

“我想，你對(duì)達(dá)西先生的盤問即結(jié)束了吧，”賓利小姐說——“請(qǐng)問結(jié)果怎么樣？”

“我完全相信達(dá)西先生沒有任何缺點(diǎn)。他自己也承認(rèn)了這一點(diǎn)，沒有掩飾。”

“不，”達(dá)西說，“我絕對(duì)沒有這樣自負(fù)過。我有足夠的缺點(diǎn)，但我希望不是智力上的缺點(diǎn)。我的脾氣我不敢擔(dān)保。——我相信我的脾氣太缺乏讓步精神——當(dāng)然是在與人方便方面太缺乏讓步精神。我無法盡快忘記別人的愚蠢和惡行，也無法盡快忘記別人對(duì)我本人的冒犯。我的情緒不是每努力動(dòng)一下就會(huì)松動(dòng)。我的脾氣也許會(huì)讓人怨恨。——一旦對(duì)人失去好感，我就會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)失去。”

“這的確是一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)！”伊麗莎白大聲說道，“毫不留情的怨恨在性格上是一個(gè)陰影。可你已經(jīng)嚴(yán)格挑出了自己的缺點(diǎn)。——我真的不能嘲笑它了；你對(duì)我放心好了。”

“我相信，每個(gè)人的性格都傾向于犯某種特定的錯(cuò)誤，這是一種天生的缺陷，即使最好的教育也克服不了。”

“而你的缺點(diǎn)就是傾向于怨恨別人。”

“而你的缺點(diǎn)，”達(dá)西微笑著答道，“就是任意誤解別人。”

“請(qǐng)讓我們聽點(diǎn)音樂吧，”賓利小姐對(duì)這場(chǎng)自己無法參與的談話感到厭倦，大聲說道，“路易莎，你不會(huì)介意我吵醒赫斯特先生吧。”

她的姐姐毫不反對(duì)，于是鋼琴就打開了。達(dá)西想了一會(huì)兒，覺得沒有什么惋惜的，就開始感覺到了對(duì)伊麗莎白過分關(guān)注的危險(xiǎn)性。