Chapter 6
“This is quite shocking! He deserves to be publicly disgraced (公开指责) .”
“Some time or other he will be—but it will not be by me. Until I can forget his father, I can never confront (面对) or expose him.”
Elizabeth respected him for such feelings, and thought he was more noble than ever as he expressed them.
The card game ended soon afterward. Mr. Collins had lost every hand , but he assured (确信) the table that it did not matter,
because he was not concerned to have lost such a small amount of money.
“Thankfully my position is so fortunate that money is of little importance.
There are undoubtedly many who could not say the same, but thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I do not need to worry about such little matters.”
This sentence caught Mr. Wickham’s attention, and after observing Mr. Collins for a few moments,
he quietly asked Elizabeth what Mr. Collins’s relationship was to the Bourgh family.
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” she replied, “has very recently given him a position in the church.
I do not know how Mr. Collins was first introduced to her, but he certainly has not known her long.”
“You know of course that Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters. Therefore, she is aunt to the present Mr. Darcy.
Her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, will inherit (继承) a very large fortune, and it is believed that she and Mr. Darcy will marry in order to combine their wealth.”
This information made Elizabeth smile, as she thought of poor Miss Bingley.
Her praise and affection for Mr. Darcy must all be in vain and useless, if it had already been promised that he would marry someone else.
Elizabeth told Jane the next day about what she had heard from Mr. Wickham, while Jane listened with astonishment and concern.
She could not believe that Mr. Darcy was so unworthy of Mr. Bingley’s respect,
but she was not the type to distrust a young man of such a friendly appearance as Wickham.
The two young ladies were called away by the arrival of the same people of whom they had been speaking.
Mr. Bingley and his sisters came to give their personal invitation for the long-expected ball at Netherfield, which was to be held on the following Tuesday.
The possibility of the Netherfield ball was an extremely pleasant idea for every female of the family.
Mrs. Bennet chose to consider it as being given as an honor to her eldest daughter,
and was particularly **flattered (奉承) by **receiving the invitation from Mr. Bingley himself, instead of just by means of a card.
Jane imagined a happy evening in the company of her friends, and with Mr. Bingley.
Elizabeth thought with pleasure about dancing a great deal with Mr. Wickham, and of seeing a confirmation of everything Wickham had said in Mr. Darcy’s look and behavior.
Elizabeth’s was in such a good mood (好兴致) on this occasion, that though she usually tried to avoid speaking to Mr. Collins,
she could not help but ask him whether he planned to attend (参加) the ball.
She was rather surprised to find that he made no objection to the ball whatsoever, and that he was even planning to dance.
“I have so few objections to dancing myself,” said he, “that I hope to dance with all my pretty cousins throughout the evening.
I take this opportunity of asking you, Miss Elizabeth, for the two first dances especially.”
Elizabeth felt herself completely surprised.
She had planned on dancing with Mr. Wickham for those dances, and to have Mr. Collins instead!
The idea now occurred to her for the first time, that she was being chosen from among her sisters as worthy of being Mr. Collins future wife.
It was not long before her mother led her to understand that she very much approved of the possibility of their marriage.
Elizabeth, however, chose not to take the hint (暗示) , being well aware that any reply would cause a serious argument.
Mr. Collins might never propose marriage, and until he did, it was useless to argue about him.
Until Elizabeth entered the drawing-room （客厅） at Netherfield, and looked** in vain** （徒劳的）for Mr. Wickham, she had never had any doubt of his being present.
But in an instant （立刻） she felt the dreadful (令人不快的) suspicion that he had purposely not been invited, in order to please Mr. Darcy.
The first two dances were humiliating to Elizabeth, as Mr. Collins was awkward and serious, and often moved the wrong way without being aware of it.
He gave her all the shame and misery which a disagreeable partner can give in a couple of dances, and she was greatly relieved to finally escape from him.
When those dances were over, she returned to Charlotte Lucas.
The two girls were busy in conversation with one another, when Elizabeth was suddenly addressed by （与...说话）Mr. Darcy,
who surprised her so much by asking her to dance the next dance with him, that she accepted him before she quite realized what she had done.
Charlotte Lucas could see that Elizabeth was upset with herself, and tried to make her feel better: “I think you may well find him very agreeable.”
“That would be the worst of all!” Elizabeth replied. To find a man agreeable whom one has decided to hate! Whatever you do, please do not wish for that!”
When the dancing began again, and Darcy again approached to take her hand, they danced for some time without speaking a word.
She began to imagine that their silence was to last through the two dances. At first she was determined not to break the silence,
but it suddenly occurred to her that it would be a greater punishment to Mr. Darcy if she forced him to talk.
She made a small comment about the dance, he replied, and then was again silent.
After a few minutes pause, she spoke to him a second time:—“It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy.
I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some sort of comment on the size of the room, or the number of couples.”
He smiled, and assured (确保) her that he would say whatever she wished him to say.
“Very well. That reply will be suitable for the present.
Perhaps I may now say that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones. But after that, we may be silent.”
“Do you follow strict rules, then, when talking at dances?”
“Sometimes. It would look odd (古怪的) to be completely silent for half an hour, and yet when some couples dance, the less said, the better.”
“Do you believe we are such a couple, then?” asked Darcy.
“::I believe so. Both of us are proud, withdrawn , and unsociable,::
::and unwilling to speak unless we can be certain of amazing everyone in the room with our brilliance.::” Elizabeth replied.
“That does not seem to me to be a very accurate description of your character.” said Darcy.
“How good a description it may be of mine, it is not for me to say（没有权利说）. You think it an accurate one, undoubtedly.”
They were again silent, until he asked her if she and her sisters often walked to Meryton. She answered that they did.
Unable to resist the temptation, she added, “When you met us there the other day, we had just been making a new acquaintance.”