Delight in Overthrowing Those Kind of Schemes
Pride and Prejudice, chapter 10
There are three interactions in this chapter - each has Darcy reaching out to Elizabeth, while Miss Bingley notices, and each has Elizabeth shutting the interaction down. Once is an anecdote, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a motif. It’s worth it to look at these three episodes to think about what they teach us about these characters.
As the chapter opens, Darcy is writing a letter to his sister, while the rest of the Netherfield party amuses themselves with cards, needlework, or watching what the men are doing. Miss Bingley is preoccupied with Darcy’s every minuscule action, to his obvious annoyance:
“How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!”
He made no answer.
“You write uncommonly fast.”
“You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.”
“How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year! Letters of business, too! How odious I should think them!”
“It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of yours.”
“Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.”
“I have already told her so once, by your desire.”
“I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.”
“Thank you—but I always mend my own.”
“How can you contrive to write so even?”
He was silent.
Eventually, the rest of the party cannot help but be drawn into their dialogue, and a comparison of Darcy and Bingley as letter writers begins. Bingley claims that his thoughts “flow so rapidly” that his own letters are frequently unintelligible, in contrast to Darcy’s measured and studious approach. Elizabeth, very eager at the moment to like Bingley, praises his modesty. Darcy, who had clearly been bored and only half-attentive to the conversation, enters it in earnest once Elizabeth does. They spar for a while, far outmatching everyone else in the room (though Bingley tries to keep up; the conversation is ostensibly about him, after all), until Bingley begs them to stop:
“By all means,” cried Bingley; “let us hear all the particulars, not forgetting their comparative height and size; for that will have more weight in the argument, Miss Bennet, than you may be aware of. I assure you, that if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow, in comparison with myself, I should not pay him half so much deference. I declare I do not know a more awful object than Darcy, on particular occasions, and in particular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening, when he has nothing to do.”
Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended, and therefore checked her laugh. Miss Bingley warmly resented the indignity he had received, in an expostulation with her brother for talking such nonsense.
“I see your design, Bingley,” said his friend. “You dislike an argument, and want to silence this.”
“Perhaps I do. Arguments are too much like disputes. If you and Miss Bennet will defer yours till I am out of the room, I shall be very thankful; and then you may say whatever you like of me.”
“What you ask,” said Elizabeth, “is no sacrifice on my side; and Mr. Darcy had much better finish his letter.”
Mr. Darcy took her advice, and did finish his letter.
Darcy initiates an interaction with Elizabeth, in the presence of others, she eventually ends the interaction.
Later, while Miss Bingley is at the piano, poor Darcy screws up his courage and does something we know he doesn’t enjoy. He asks a girl to dance:
After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a lively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near Elizabeth, said to her:
“Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel?”
She smiled, but made no answer. He repeated the question, with some surprise at her silence.
“Oh!” said she, “I heard you before, but I could not immediately determine what to say in reply. You wanted me, I know, to say ‘Yes,’ that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt. I have, therefore, made up my mind to tell you, that I do not want to dance a reel at all—and now despise me if you dare.”
“Indeed I do not dare.”
Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry; but there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.
Again, Darcy initiates an interaction with Elizabeth, in the presence of others, and Elizabeth ends the interaction. Miss Bingley, we are told, notices his attention and is jealous of it.
The final and smallest episode closes the chapter. Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy walk the grounds, while she teases him about his crush (seething with envy the entire time). Elizabeth and Mrs. Hurst happen upon them, and though Darcy attempts to include her in their now enlarged party, she happily goes her own way:
At that moment they were met from another walk by Mrs. Hurst and Elizabeth herself.
“I did not know that you intended to walk,” said Miss Bingley, in some confusion, lest they had been overheard.
“You used us abominably ill,” answered Mrs. Hurst, “running away without telling us that you were coming out.”
Then taking the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy, she left Elizabeth to walk by herself. The path just admitted three. Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness, and immediately said:
“This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.”
But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain with them, laughingly answered:
“No, no; stay where you are. You are charmingly grouped, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a fourth. Good-bye.”
She then ran gaily off, rejoicing as she rambled about, in the hope of being at home again in a day or two. Jane was already so much recovered as to intend leaving her room for a couple of hours that evening.
Darcy initiates an interaction with Elizabeth, Miss Bingley watches, and Elizabeth rejects the offer. What have we learned about them?
First: Elizabeth is being willfully oblivious. Darcy’s interest in her has not escaped Miss Bingley, who is admittedly obsessed with Darcy but is still not a braintrust. Mrs. Hurst probably picks up on it too - she also wants her sister to marry him, and is probably in Miss Bingley's confidence. What Bingley knows is anybody’s guess; the most we can tell is that he dislikes arguments. But Elizabeth is smart enough to know what's going on, or she should be. She generally picks up when men are attracted to her, as we will see, even when they’re particularly socially awkward. Elizabeth's guess that Darcy stares at her because he finds her especially objectionable is plain embarrassing.
The second and more important piece of information is that despite Elizabeth’s best efforts, she has not been able to offend Darcy into disliking her. Elizabeth’s feelings here are sort of unclear - I doubt they’re clear to her. She doesn’t want to offend Darcy, and is troubled when she thinks she might have. She checks herself when she thinks he is offended. But she also thinks she might not be able to stop herself. Darcy’s feelings are important to her, in a way she has trouble articulating to herself for the moment. She is always very aware of him even when she’s getting him wrong.
At the same time, Elizabeth’s rejections become more blunt and obvious with each interaction: she goes from ending a conversation at Bingley’s request, to turning down a dance with a quip, to running away. She has noticed the dynamic too, and although Darcy likes her more each time, Elizabeth is getting sick of it. She wants to be away from all of them. Elizabeth is mistaken in thinking that she doesn't care for Darcy's opinion; she cares very much. She only, sadly for him, wants the opinion to be bad in order to justify her own dislike.