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“I barely know him since he left for university, but I liked him before and know no evil of him.”

“Then just think, ‘it is just a dance.’ That will set your frame of mind correctly. Dance with him. Converse if you feel the urge. Enjoy yourself and do not worry about the rest.”

Mary laughed gaily. “Lizzy, did you realize you were courting Mr Bingley?”

Laughter erupted from the group just in time for Master Goulding to return with punch for the ladies. They spent a few more minutes chatting until the musicians signalled the first dance.

~~~~~

Darcy joined Elizabeth for the first dance, and Elizabeth read the looks of amazement on her neighbours’ faces at the pair of them standing together.

Darcy made a very pretty comment about her appearance, to which she gave a demure reply of approval, the music started, and they were off.

The start of the dance required sufficient vigour as to prevent much speech, so they just danced.

Elizabeth found the experience thrilling, and as time went on, she lost some of her nervousness.

Each time he grabbed her hand just slightly harder than politeness strictly called for, she felt a little thrill of exhilaration, and after the second instance, she started squeezing back.

It was not overt, but it was enough to put just a touch bigger smiles on their faces, and a bit more sparkle in their eyes.

Colonel Fitzwilliam opened with Georgiana as planned.

Elizabeth had made certain everyone in the room knew it was her first dance at her first ball so they should all be kind to her.

Naturally, she spread the news by simply telling Mrs Bennet, then never gave it another thought.

Georgiana looked nervous, while the colonel looked gallant.

Elizabeth spared a few glances during the dance to make certain all was well, but not enough to make her partner feel neglected.

Jane elected not to open with Mr Bingley, which Elizabeth thought was a pragmatic decision, but hardly a romantic one.

She understood that they were not courting as such but was halfway of the opinion that Jane should either show a bit more enthusiasm or put the man out of his misery.

That, however, was Jane’s problem, and she eventually adopted the same attitude she gave Charlotte.

Jane was a woman grown, and she knew what she was about.

Bingley was also only a few years younger than Darcy, and a good five years older than Elizabeth.

She felt not the slightest compulsion to tell either of them what to do.

Mr Bingley’s aunt, Mrs Ashford, was barely a decade older than him, and still in the prime of life.

Bingley danced the opening set with her, and while it was right and proper to open his first dance with his hostess, Elizabeth guessed that the lack of an opening dance with Jane was noted.

She knew the unmarried mothers and daughters of Meryton would be wondering if he was fair game, and a fair amount of knife-sharpening was likely.

Jane danced with an old friend who everyone knew was simply a good dancer who was not in want of a wife, so nobody read anything into it (believe it if you wish).

~~~~~

The set concluded as usual, and the three eldest Bennet sisters converged on Georgiana to ensure she was enjoying her first ball.

The young lady had been nervous as could be but rallied during the dance and was having a fabulous time.

The colonel asserted that it was impossible for a lady to have anything else in his presence, and Elizabeth almost believed him.

After the gentlemen fetched drinks all around, and everyone took a few minutes to rest and refresh themselves, Elizabeth joined the colonel for the second set.

She found the colonel just as voluble and amiable as he had always been.

They did not speak of anything in particular, and five minutes later she could not have given an account of their conversation for a thousand pounds, but the dance was pleasant enough.

Darcy naturally danced with his sister, and Elizabeth spent quite a bit of her attention on the pair.

The Georgiana of the Netherfield ball was like a blooming rose compared to the wilted lily who had appeared at Longbourn less than a week earlier.

Elizabeth suspected having two bachelor guardians was not the best recipe for success, but it was not the worst either.

The girl seemed fine… especially when compared to Lydia who was dancing with Lieutenant Carter next to her.

Jane and Mr Bingley were dancing, and every eye in the room was on the couple.

Elizabeth did not pay as much attention to Jane as she might have ordinarily, mainly because she was fully occupied with the Derbyshire residents.

There just was not enough room in her mind and attention to spend more time puzzling over Jane and Mr Bingley.

With a start that made her almost stop mid-step, she reflected that she did not have any attention at all to spare Charlotte or Jane.

Did that mean she would not turn into a gossiping inveterate matchmaker like her mother, or might she have a better future?

Of course, two sets were hardly evidence to draw conclusions about the rest of her life, and the colonel reclaimed her full attention for a few minutes with an amusing observation.

~~~~~

The third set saw Darcy with Jane, which attracted every eye in the room.

Since a good case could be made that the most handsome man in the room was dancing with the most beautiful woman, everyone wanted to see the spectacle.

The fact that Mr Darcy had chosen Elizabeth over Jane was not as big of a mystery as one would think.

Everyone who knew Jane understood that she was a woman of great beauty, but without a certain spark her younger sister possessed.

A lucky man like Mr Darcy could choose fire or beauty, or in the case of Miss Elizabeth, both.

Everyone knew Jane was considered the beauty of the county, but nobody disputed that was mainly because carrying that attitude made life around Mrs Bennet easier.

Elizabeth hand-picked a couple of local gentlemen to dance with Georgiana, all young, all very much married, all excellent dancers, and all men she had known for years.

Her beau seemed happy to leave the selection to her, and the colonel did not even feel the need to look threatening…

though she thought that in some ways she was spoiling his fun.

Once she was situated, Elizabeth danced with one of her childhood friends.

Mr Bingley danced that set with Charlotte, who had barely survived her dance with Mr Collins.

She saw the couple out of the corner of her eye but had not honestly given it much attention.

All she could determine was that they were dances of mortification.

Mr Collins, awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it.

Charlotte had gamely spent some effort trying to keep him from killing anybody and mostly succeeded.

Fortunately, Charlotte would be happy to never dance again until the end of time, so it was not a tremendous obstacle to contentment.

Elizabeth and Georgiana sat out the set and spent the time in quiet discussion about the various dancers, carefully avoiding any question that might be considered awkward involving any of the Bennet ladies and any of the Netherfield gentlemen.

The fourth paired Darcy with Mary, and Elizabeth thought life was just too easy for the Derbyshire gentleman.

He could dance from dusk to dawn and never run out of her sisters and friends, so would never have to trouble himself to dance with strangers.

Naturally, not having to dance with Mr Bingley’s sisters counted as the greatest good fortune of all.

~~~~~

The supper set arrived, and Elizabeth found herself feeling more thrilled and less nervous with her beau.

She was becoming accustomed to being with him and had to sheepishly admit that she was beginning to miss him when he was away (not that he had been absent for more than a few hours since their courtship began).

She also just might admit to herself (in the dead of night with the covers pulled over her head) that she felt something that might easily pass for jealousy when he danced with others.

She would never admit it to another soul, but it was interesting.

The colonel stood up again with Georgiana, obviously not willing to leave her to the tender mercies of a local man for supper.

Jane surprised Elizabeth by giving Mr Bingley the supper set, though Elizabeth could not discern what her feelings were on the subject.

Jane had a long-standing habit of being inscrutable, and her attitude during the set showed she had reverted to form.

Elizabeth saw that and did not give it another thought.

Mr Collins spent the supper set talking with Charlotte in a conspicuous but private corner, and Elizabeth suspected their courtship would be smooth sailing.

Neither party seemed fastidious, and both were getting exactly what they wanted in a partner.

Elizabeth wondered what Lady Catherine was like, but not enough to spend any time on it.

She also believed Charlotte would be an excellent mistress to Longbourn when the time came and would have knocked Mr Collins into line by then, so the pair might do much better than anyone would expect.

Supper was a perfectly designed affair, and she wondered how credit should be apportioned between Mrs Ashford, Miss Bingley, and Mr Bingley.

The food was tastefully elegant, well-cooked, and well represented.

She felt certain that if Miss Bingley had continued, the meal would have been delicious but designed more to impress than to eat.

Of course, that could just as easily be sour grapes.

She was surprised to find her father come out of his usual comatose stupor for the evening.

He was riding herd on Mrs Bennet and the two youngest with surprising firmness.

Elizabeth had to wonder if Darcy or the colonel had made any vague hints to the gentleman, but decided some things were best left unknown.

After supper, ladies were asked to entertain.

Much to Elizabeth’s happy surprise, and Darcy and Fitzwilliam’s shock, Georgiana performed a duet with Mary.

It was clear they were both nervous at the start, but they evened out halfway through, and both seemed to be enjoying themselves at the end.

The audience agreed with her assessment and rewarded the players with a hearty round of applause.

Some of the other ladies performed, but Elizabeth demurred a request. Mr Collins looked ready to make some sort of speech, but a subtle hint from Charlotte settled him down, much to Elizabeth’s amusement.

Elizabeth could not dance a third time with Darcy without announcing an engagement or having one presumed, and she had neglected her social obligations in the first half of the evening, so she sent Darcy to dance with Georgiana again, and went to converse with some friends she had not had time to greet thus far and regale them with wild tales of being courted by one Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.