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the dance. He replied, and was again silent. After a pause

of some minutes, she addressed him a second time, with--

_'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, and assured her that whatever she wished

him to say should be said.

'Very well; that will do for the present. Perhaps, by and

by, I may observe that private balls are much pleasanter

than public ones; but _now_ we may be silent.'

'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 to-

gether; 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,' replied Elizabeth archly; 'for I have always seen

a great similarity in the turn of our minds. We are each of

an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless

we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room,

and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a

proverb.'

'This is no very striking resemblance of your own charac-

ter, I am sure,' said he. 'How near it may be to _mine,_ I can-

not pretend to say. _You_ think it a faithful portrait, undoubt-

edly.'

'I must not decide on my own performance.'

He made no answer, and they were again silent till they

had gone down the dance, when he asked her if she and her

sisters did not very often walk to Meryton. She answered

in the affirmative; and, unable to resist the temptation, added,

'When you met us there the other day, we had just been

forming a new acquaintance.'

The effect was immediate. A deeper shade of _hauteur_

overspread his features, but he said not a word; and Eliz-

abeth, though blaming herself for her own weakness, could

not go on. At length Darcy spoke, and in a constrained

manner said,--

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