The Only Handsome Man in the Room

Wickham was not there. That was the first fact that did not match the evening she had dressed for. The second was Darcy, who was, and who asked her to dance as if asking were a duty he had decided to perform correctly.

They stood up together. For a full minute they were two people who could dance and could not speak. Elizabeth, who did not enjoy being managed by silence, broke it.

It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.

He smiled. It was not a large smile. It was the first one she could not immediately spend.the smile

Do you talk by rule, then, while you are dancing?

Sometimes. One must speak a little, you know. It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together, and yet for the advantage of some, conversation ought to be so arranged as that they may have the trouble of saying as little as possible.

Are you consulting your own feelings in the present case, or do you imagine that you are gratifying mine?

Both, I think. I could more easily forgive your pride if you had not mortified mine. And I could more easily forgive mine if it did not keep looking at you to see whether you had noticed.

She had not meant to give him that last sentence. It left her anyway. The dance turned. His glove was warm through hers.the glove · unfinished