DAY 13;  Mar. 10

                 4 Elizabeth meets Mr. Wickham （4-3）

1. ‘He's certainly very proud—proud of his position，his family，his father，and his sister，too，you know．’

2. ‘What sort of a girl is Miss Darcy？’

3. He shook his head．‘It gives me pain to criticize a Darcy．But she's too much like her brother—very，very proud．She's a handsome girl of about fifteen or sixteen，and，I understand， extremely accomplished．’

4. ‘I am astonished at Mr. Darcy's close friendship with Mr. Bingley！How can Mr. Bingley，who seems so charming and kind，be friendly with such a man？’

5. ‘I don't know Mr. Bingley at all，but Mr. Darcy can be a pleasant companion if he thinks it worthwhile．’

6. Just then they were joined by some of the others，and the conversation became more general．When Mr. Collins was talking to Mrs. Philips about his patron，Mr. Wickham looked quickly in his direction，and then asked Elizabeth，‘Does your cousin know Lady Catherine de Bourgh very well？’

7. ‘I don't think he has known her for long，but she has recently given him the post of rector of Hunsford．’

8. ‘Perhaps you know that Lady Catherine is the present Mr. Darcy's aunt？I believe she is planning to marry her daughter，who will inherit a fortune，to Mr. Darcy．’

9. This information made Elizabeth smile，as she thought of poor Miss Bingley's efforts to attract Mr. Darcy，which might all be in vain．The supper party came to an end，and Elizabeth went away with her head full of Mr. Wickham．She could think of nothing but him，and what he had told her，all the way home．

10. The next day she told Jane everything she had discussed with Mr. Wickham．Jane listened with astonishment and concern．She could not believe that Mr. Darcy could so little deserve Mr. Bingley's friendship，and yet she did not want to doubt the truthfulness of such an agreeable young man as Mr. Wickham． Elizabeth，however，felt sure that Mr. Darcy was to blame．

11. That morning an invitation arrived at Longbourn．Mr. Bingley had fixed the date for the ball (舞会） he had promised to give at Netherfield，and it was to be on the following Tuesday．Every female in the Bennet family was looking forward to it，even Mary，who lifted her head from her book to say，unsmiling，‘As long as I have my mornings free for serious reading，I do not mind meeting people in the evenings．I consider some relaxation and amusement is good for everybody．’

12. Elizabeth felt so cheerful at the thought of dancing with Mr. Wickham that she made an unusual effort to speak kindly to Mr. Collins．

13. ‘Will you accept Mr. Bingley's invitation，sir？And if you do，will you，as a priest，consider it right to dance？’

14. ‘I shall certainly accept，and I am so far from objecting to dancing that I hope to have the honour of dancing with all my beautiful cousins．I take this opportunity of asking you，Miss Elizabeth，for the first two dances especially．’

15. She was very surprised，and rather annoyed．She had hoped that Wickham would ask her for those dances，but now she would have Mr. Collins instead！She could not refuse， however，and his request also worried her in another way．His manner to her seemed particularly flattering （讨好的，献媚的），which gave her the unwelcome idea that perhaps she had been chosen from among her sisters to be the rector of Hunsford's wife．As she observed the increasing number of compliments he paid to her beauty and character，she felt sure that he intended to propose marriage (求婚)．For the moment，however，she decided to do nothing，but wait and see．

16. On Tuesday evening，when Elizabeth entered the hall at Netherfield and looked in vain（白费力气地） for Mr. Wickham among the red coats gathered there，she was surprised and disappointed to see he was not present．She had never doubted he would come，and had dressed with more than her usual care （比平常更小心地打扮了一番），looking forward to winning his heart，which she knew was already partly hers．But she immediately suspected that Darcy had persuaded Bingley not to invite Wickham，and although she discovered from one of the officers that in fact Wickham had been invited，but had been called away on business，she felt sure Wickham had wanted to avoid meeting Darcy，and blamed Darcy for this．As a result，when Darcy greeted her，she was so annoyed with him that she could hardly reply politely．

17. But she soon became more cheerful，and determined to enjoy the ball in spite of Wickham's absence．Unfortunately，the first two dances，with Mr. Collins，were painfully embarrassing，as her cousin had no idea how to dance，and moved extremely awkwardly．She was relieved to leave him，and have the third dance with an officer，who gave her great pleasure by talking about Wickham and his popularity（受欢迎） in the regiment．After this， she was very surprised to be approached by Mr. Darcy and invited to dance．She was so astonished，in fact，that she accepted him without thinking，and found herself standing opposite him on the dance floor．‘What an honour for me，to be allowed to dance with Mr. Darcy！’she thought．They danced for some time in silence，and then she made a remark．He replied，and was silent again．After a pause，she spoke again．

Task for Pride and Prejudice 13

NOTES： 

His manner to her seemed particularly flattering （讨好的，献媚的），which gave her the unwelcome idea that perhaps she had been chosen from among her sisters to be the rector of Hunsford's wife．As she observed the increasing number of compliments he paid to her beauty and character，she felt sure that he intended to propose marriage (求婚)．For the moment，however，she decided to do nothing，but wait and see．

他对她似乎特别殷勤，这给她一种不祥的感觉，即，在众姐妹中莫非是她被选中了做汉斯福教区长的妻子?她观察到他对她的美貌和性格奉承的次数越来越多，便肯定他想要求婚了。不过，目前她决定按兵不动，等着瞧。