Longbourn · Chapter 1 · tolerable
Netherfield Is Let at Last
She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.tolerable · screaming
Elizabeth heard every word. The room did not hush for her. Rooms never do. She felt the heat rise at her throat and put it, with some skill, into a smile she could spend later. Charlotte saw the smile and filed it where she filed other dangerous things.
When Bingley had gone back to Jane, Elizabeth stood. She did not look at Darcy. She looked at the musicians, at her mother's feathers, at a younger sister who was laughing too loudly at a captain. Then, because she would not be a person who fled a slight, she looked at him.the look
He looked back. She was still holding the look.