Courtesy and Contempt

Chapter 12

Chapter 12But not everything Mrs. Mitchell, with the support of her five daughters, could ask about this subject was enough to elicit a satisfactory description of Mr. Woodland from her husband. They attacked him in various ways – with shameless questions, ingenious conjectures and distant conjectures; but he eluded the skill of everyone, and they were eventually forced to accept the second-hand information of their neighbor, Lady Lucas. Your report was very favorable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was very young, wonderfully pretty, extremely gracious, and in order to crown the whole thing, he planned to be present at the next meeting with a large company. Nothing could be more beautiful! Loving dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very vivid hopes of the heart of Mr. Woodland were entertained.

"If I can see only one of my daughters who has happily settled in Netherfield," Mrs. Mitchell said to her husband, "and everyone else is just as well married, I have nothing to wish for."

In a few days, Mr. Woodland returned Mr. Mitchell's visit and sat with him in his library for about ten minutes. He had hoped to be admitted to a sight of the young ladies whose beauty he had heard much about; but he saw only the Father. The ladies had a little more luck, because they had the advantage of being able to see through an upper window that he was wearing a blue skirt and riding on a black horse.

Soon after, an invitation to dinner was sent; and Mrs. Mitchell had already planned the courses that would honor her housekeeping when an answer arrived that postponed everything. Mr. Woodland had to be in town the next day and therefore could not accept the honor of her invitation, etc. Mrs. Mitchell was quite upset. She could not imagine what he had to do in the city so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he would constantly fly from one place to another and never settle in Netherfield as it should be. Lady Lucas calmed her fears a little by coming up with the idea that he had gone to London just to organize a big party for the ball; and soon a report followed that Mr. Woodland was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen to the meeting. The girls mourned so many ladies, but the day before the ball they were comforted by the news that he was bringing only six from London instead of twelve – his five sisters and a cousin. And when the group entered the meeting room, it consisted of only five in total —Mr. Woodland, his two sisters, the elders' husband, and another young man.

Mr. Woodland was handsome and gentle; he had a friendly face and simple, unadulterated manners. His sisters were fine women with a touch of determined fashion. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, only looked like the Lord; but his friend Mr. Drury soon attracted the attention of the room for his beautiful, tall figure, his pretty facial features, his noble face, and the account that was widely circulated within five minutes of his entry that he had ten thousand a year. The gentlemen referred to him as a beautiful figure of man, the ladies declared that he was much better-looking than Mr. Woodland, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, until his manners radiated a revulsion that turned the tide of his popularity; for it was discovered that he was proud; to stand above his company and to be pleased about it;

Mr. Woodland had soon made himself acquainted with all the captains in the room; he was lively and wholehearted, dancing every dance, angry that the ball was closed so early, and talking about giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend! Drury-san danced with Mrs. Hurst only once and Miss Woodland once, refused to be introduced to another lady, and spent the rest of the evening walking around the room, occasionally talking to one of his own friends. His character was decisive. He was the proudest, most unpleasant man in the world, and everyone hoped he would never get there again. Among the most violent against him was Mrs. Mitchell,

Elizabeth Mitchell had been forced to sit down to two dances because of the lack of gentlemen; and for part of that time, Mr. Drury had been close enough for her to hear a conversation between him and Mr. Woodland, who came out of the dance for a few minutes to urge his friend to join him.

"Come, Drury," he said, "I have to make you dance. I hate to see you standing around so stupidly. You could have danced much better."

"I certainly won't. You know how I loathe it, unless I know my partner particularly well. At such a meeting, that would be intolerable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is no other woman in the room with whom I would not punish myself."

"I wouldn't be as demanding as you would," cried Mr. Woodland, "for a kingdom! On my honor, I have never met so many nice girls in my life as on this evening; and there are several of them that you see unusually pretty.'

"They're dancing with the only pretty girl in the room," said Drury-san, looking at the oldest Miss Mitchell.

She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen! But right behind you sits one of her sisters, who is very pretty, and dare I say very pleasant. Let me ask my partner to introduce you."

'Which one do you mean?' and when he turned around, he looked at Elizabeth for a moment until he caught her gaze, withdrew his own, and coldly said, "She is bearable, but not beautiful enough to tempt ME; I am currently not in the mood to give consequences to young women who are insulted by other men. You'd better go back to your partner and enjoy her smile, because you're wasting your time with me."

Mr. Woodland followed his advice. Mr. Drury walked away; and Elizabeth remained without very warm feelings for him. However, she told the story with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful nature who rejoiced in everything ridiculous.

Overall, the evening was pleasant for the whole family. Mrs. Mitchell had seen her eldest daughter greatly admired by the Netherfield Party. Mr. Woodland had danced with her twice, and she had been honored by his sisters. Jane was as happy about this as her mother could be, albeit in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane's joy. Mary had heard that she was mentioned to Miss Woodland as the most capable girl in the neighborhood; and Catherine and Linda had been lucky enough to never be without a partner, which was all they had to take care of at a ball. They therefore returned in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived and of which they were the main inhabitants. They found Mr. Mitchell still awake. With a book he was time-independent; and on this occasion, he was very curious about the events of an evening that had raised such brilliant expectations. Rather, he had hoped that his wife's views of the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found out that he had another story to hear.

'Oh! My dear Mr. Mitchell," as she entered the room, "we had a most delightful evening, a highly excellent ball. I wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like that. Everyone said how good she looked; and Mr. Woodland found her very beautiful and danced with her twice! Just remember, my dear; he actually danced with her twice! and she was the only creature in the room he asked a second time. First, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so upset to see him get up with her! But he did not admire them at all; in fact, no one can, you know; and he seemed quite impressed with Jane as she walked down the dance. So he inquired who she was, was introduced and asked her about the next two. Then he danced the two thirds with Miss King, the two fourth with Maria Lucas and the two fifth again with Jane.

"If he had felt sorry for me," her husband exclaimed impatiently, "he wouldn't have danced half as much! For God's sake, say nothing more about His partners. Oh, that he would have sprained his ankle at all!'

'Oh! my darling, I am delighted with him. He's so overly pretty! And his sisters are adorable women. I have never seen anything more elegant in my life than her clothes. I dare say the tip on Mrs. Hurst's dress ...«

Here it was interrupted again. Mr. Mitchell protested against any description of plaster. She was therefore forced to look for another branch of the subject and told with much bitterness and some exaggeration the shocking rudeness of Mr. Drury.

"But I can assure you," she added, "that Lizzy doesn't lose much if she doesn't match HIS imagination; for he is a most unpleasant, horrible person, not at all worthy of pleasing. So high and so conceited that it was unbearable! He went here and he went there and thought he was so great! Not nice enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to give him one of your haircuts. I detest the man very much."