The next day, Emma did not receive a reply from Alvin and received an invitation from Miss Daisy. Although Miss Daisy did not receive George's love in the Cozwolds as her parents had hoped, she became acquainted with Emma and Georgiana as they got along day by day. Emma skimmed it briefly and told the servant sent by Miss Daisy that she would be there when she arrived.

On the other side, Georgiana, who received the invitation, was not so happy, and looked at the invitation a little difficult. If she agrees, she will have to go with Mr. Darcy, who will meet Emma and Emma's fiancé. But when she saw the back, Georgiana nodded in agreement. Miss Daisy says that her parents wish she would agree to Mr. Rawls's proposal, which may be the last ball before the wedding.

Emma felt that Alvin needed an undisturbed environment to think calmly, so instead of asking him if he wanted to go with him, Emma asked George to go with him as her male companion. George was used to taking Emma around and greeting acquaintances before the opening, dancing with her for the first time and then Emma going with him to the men's side. So today when Emma dropped him, he was shocked. Sister, don't you love me?【Emma's cold face: I haven't loved】

Emma threw him down for a reason, of course. This was the first time she had come to London for such a ball because she was not old enough to enter the social world, and she was an introvert with no female elders around her. Emma was relieved and decided to accompany her throughout the process.

Georgiana was a little nervous, but since she was saved by Emma in Cozwold, she had a kind of trust in Emma. When Emma walked up to her, her words, which had been a little stammering, immediately became fluent. Mr. Darcy sensed the change in Georgiana after Emma came, and smiled inwardly, and it always made him feel happy to see that the two ladies he valued got along very well. In addition to this, there is a little envy. Emma was so nice to Georgiana, of course, Emma was also very nice to him, but unfortunately he rejected it himself. Mr. Darcy clenched his fist hard, restraining his undulating feelings. It is painful to stay away, but it is necessary.

"Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy?" Miss Bingley walked over with Mr. Bingley in her arms and greeted Mr. Darcy, but Mr. Darcy was too immersed in his own thoughts to hear.

"Hey, Fitzwilliam!" Mr. Bingley unceremoniously patted Mr. Darcy on the shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing. Mr. Darcy came to his senses and felt a little embarrassed that he was in a daze in front of the crowd in the hall. "Derbyshire's business. ”

"Fitzwilliam, you're so boring, it's a merry ball, why do you think about those jobs? Look at those pretty young ladies, why don't you invite them. Mr. Bingley exclaimed.

This sound was very abrupt, and everyone around looked at it.

Mr. Bingley's face flushed and he explained that he was fine, and glanced apprehensively at his sister, who had twisted the inside of his arm with a cruel hand. He knew that Miss Bingley liked Mr. Darcy, but he also knew that Mr. Darcy did not like Miss Bingley, and it was better to cut off her illusions in the first place than to keep Miss Bingley in her impossible hopes.

Miss Bingley looked at Mr. Bingley with a little pleading, and he relented, after all, it was his sister. "Fitzwilliam, I want to invite those young ladies to dance, but my sister is my female companion. How about you invite her to a few dances?"

Mr. Darcy frowned slightly. He could feel Miss Bingley's affection for him, and he tried to be as unapologetic as he could, but the young lady was still stubborn and refused to give up. "One, as usual. I'm going to be with Georgiana tonight, and you shouldn't leave your girlfriend behind for fun. "A dance is a ritual between acquaintances, and any more is not appropriate.

Mr. Bingley shrugged, knowing that it was useless to say anything more. "Okay, okay, dear sister, it's me who is not right. So do I have the honor of having you do your first dance tonight?"

Miss Bingley was a little embarrassed to be rejected, and Mr. Darcy couldn't have danced with Georgiana all night, which was a very obvious excuse. Still, she believed that sooner or later she would be able to touch Mr. Darcy's ice-covered heart. Miss Bingley raised her head slightly, and agreed to Mr. Bingley's invitation. "Okay. ”

This is Miss Bingley, and Emma is standing beside Mr. Darcy with Georgiana in her arms, and she has a full view of what she had just seen. She was curious about Miss Bingley, who had taken on the role of 80% of the Pride and Prejudice fandom, but unfortunately the last time Mr. Bingley's other sister was sick, Miss Bingley went to take care of her and did not come to London, so she was not able to see Miss Bingley.

Miss Bingley had noticed her a long time ago. How could she ignore a beautiful young lady who was very close to Georgiana, standing beside Mr. Darcy?

Emma didn't know what she was thinking, and was the first to reach out her hand: "Emma Kentray, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

Miss Bingley's taut jaw relaxed. She knew that Emma, whom Mr. Bingley had mentioned to her, was a young lady who was engaged and not at all threatening, and of a noble position. "Carolyn Bentley, I heard Charles speak of you, and he was full of praise for your beauty and intelligence. It's a pleasure to meet you. ”

Whether or not Mr. Bentley is praising her behind her back, this Miss Bentley is still very easy to make people feel good if she wants to be likable. Emma smiled back at Miss Bingley. "Mr. Bingley is really overrated. ”

Mr. Darcy's expression grew a little colder. Mr. Bingley has always been very pitiful, and sometimes talks about some young ladies behind his back, but he has no ill intentions or ambiguity, but simply out of appreciation of beauty, so Mr. Darcy turns a blind eye. Now it seems that this kind of behavior of judging the lady's character behind the back can be tolerated!

"Hello, Earl of Kenter, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, you are a wonderful presence. Mr. Smith was still smiling, but he was clearly smiling more sincerely than he had been, probably because he was finally getting what he wanted. Although not yet engaged, Mr. Rawls came with the family.

Emma and Mr. Rawls have met once but are not impressed, and today I can call this gentleman handsome, but he is a little upright and said in a low voice. Mr. Smith Jr. was obviously not very fond of the gesture of his future brother-in-law.

After greeting everyone in a proper manner, Miss Daisy smiled shyly but cheerfully at Emma and Georgiana. "It's good that you're here. ”

Since Miss Daisy had liked Mr. Darcy for a long time, Mr. Smith did not stay long, and went to greet the other guests after saying hello. Mr. Rawls took two steps and found that Miss Daisy hadn't followed, frowning slightly and prolonging his voice: "Daisy?"

Georgiana tugged at Emma's sleeve slightly.

Emma understood what she meant, and this Mr. Rawls didn't seem to love Miss Daisy. Emma had known about this for a long time, and Miss Daisy in the café had clearly shown her affection for Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Rawls had decided to get engaged to her without caring about it, which showed that he didn't love her much. Mr. Rawls, though knighted, is financially struggling and in dire need of a large sum of cash, which should be the biggest reason for him to marry Miss Daisy.

Miss Daisy whispered to the two of them, "I'll come back later." Then he hurried to his family.

Georgiana pulled Emma aside and said in surprise and dismay, "He doesn't love her at all." ”

Emma sighed softly. "Actually, Daisy wrote to me" Miss Daisy wrote to Emma a month ago, and Emma wrote a dozen pages of letter without direct comments, analyzing the pros and cons one by one, including what she might face if her husband didn't love her, and how the Smiths might react if she rejected it. In fact, Emma is inclined to make her refuse, because from the perspective of getting along with the Smiths, these two cannot be cruel to their own daughter, at most they are locked up, and only the devil knows what a man who does not love you can do. She finally said that if Miss Daisy was worried that her parents were restricting her personal freedom and her brother was unreliable, she could come to Mansfield. However, judging from the words on the invitation, although Miss Daisy has not yet made a decision, the balance in her heart may have tilted in favor of agreeing to the engagement.

After listening to Emma's statement, Georgiana fell silent. In fact, in Britain at that time, situations like Miss Daisy's were common. Many ladies and their husbands are not in love, and the two are united because of interests, not necessarily because of greed, or because they are forced by their families or willing to make sacrifices for the family. After a while, Georgiana asked in confusion, "Am I thinking too simply? Marriages with sweet love are not as common as in the books?"

Emma felt that Mr. Darcy was actually right to tell Georgiana to read less novels. "My dear, you have a brother who loves you and a rich dowry, and you can do as you please. You don't have to worry too much about Daisy, she has a smart mother and rich father, and an older brother who loves her, and they have the ability to protect her. ”

Soon, the ball began.

Giorgio and Mr. Darcy, Emma and George, Mr. and Miss Bingley all walked off the dance floor with only one dance, and Georgiana shy declined a gentleman's invitation. The men went to the men's place, and the ladies returned to the ladies' gathering place.

Miss Bingley had always been kind to Georgiana, and as soon as she sat down, she began to compliment her on her dress for the day. Some of the ladies were also very face-saving and agreed. The guests at this ball were not too noble, and as a young lady of a large landowner's family with a dowry of 30,000 pounds, Georgiana still deserved some young ladies to praise her.

Emma listened casually to the unnourished conversation, when she suddenly noticed a young lady by the windowsill staring intently at the position of George among the men. The young lady was a little familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere.

Emma gently asked the young lady beside her, "Who is that?"

The young lady followed Emma's gaze and immediately pouted. "That's the famous Miss Emily Taylor, and she's a little, well, a little weird. ”

After knowing that the girl's name is Emily, Emma knows her strange temper without the young lady next to her to say it, and taunts Miss Kate on the spot to read a novel about women's independence to Miss Daisy. I don't know if she's not looking at George, could it be that she has a good impression of George?

Emma retracted her gaze at Miss Emily and saw Miss Daisy waving to her in a corner. Emma stole at Georgiana, and Miss Daisy nodded. Emma brought the blushing Georgiana out of the crowd.

Miss Daisy didn't have anything to say to her two friends alone. Miss Daisy trusts Emma more, and feels that Emma has a power of trust that is different from other ladies. But she felt that Georgiana was more gracious, as simple and introverted as she was. Miss Daisy grabbed Georgiana's hand: "Dear Georgiana, I finally chose to obey fate. Even though Emma offered to help me and Emily scolded me, I was too cowardly to resist. You are luckier than me, your brother treats you very well, you must ask him to help you find someone who loves you. ”

Georgiana's eyes were red. "Daisy, do you really want to say yes?"

Emma was about to say something, when suddenly an angry roar came from behind: "You liar. Then there was a lot of chaos, with the muffled sound of tables and chairs slamming on the floor, and the men's dissuasive voices: "Hey, it's okay to say don't do it, let him go, oh!" mixed with the screams of the ladies and fainting. "Sniff the salt! Sniff the salt?" Emma wasn't short, but there were too many people to see what's going on inside.

Suddenly, a flame burst out of the curtain.

"Oh my God, it's on fire. ”

People began to panic and rush out.

I went to which fool shouted that it was on fire, and it was going to happen at the rhythm of a stampede. Emma was about to kneel, and the fire caused by the fight was not intentional arson, and a few people could splash it with water and run a wool.

The first instinct of both Georgiana and Miss Daisy was to run outside, and Emma yelled, "Don't run around!" but the words were drowned out by the screams around them. Emma ran up and grabbed the two of them, trying to pull them back into a corner to avoid the tidal crowd. Even if the fire is big, can't you take a chair and smash the window and climb out? Do you have to go through the door? Unfortunately, they are a step too late, and the panicked crowd instantly swept them in.

People who have not experienced a stampede may not be able to imagine the helplessness of being drowned in the tide, with forces from all sides oppressing you and making you unable to help yourself. Emma can't help it no matter how smart she is, she wants to squeeze out, but she just can't get out, and the people next to the people behind her are desperately pushing and squeezing forward.

Emma and Georgiana Daisy were huddled together, and their voices were almost hoarse: "The fire is not big, and you can walk through the window." "Everyone was talking, they were shouting, they were all exclaiming, and one person's voice couldn't even stir up a little wave. The person in front fell, and someone in the back shouted, "Don't squeeze! A lady has fallen!" But the person behind him couldn't help himself, and could only watch as the person in front of him was squeezed to the ground, and the person behind pressed up.

Daisy was the first to be squeezed to the ground, Emma's face changed, while desperately blocking the person behind her with her back, while trying to drag her up, a gentleman who pressed on Daisy's face turned red, trying his best to support his body to cooperate. But to no avail. Soon, Georgiana also fell to the ground. Emma was single, and two or three people couldn't pull them up anyway. Soon, Emma felt that she couldn't stop the pressure of those behind her.

For a moment, Emma really thought that this time she might be less lucky. Suddenly, a hand took her arm and pulled her into his arms without refusal. Emma looked up, and tears fell from her eyes. It's Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy was a wolf bèi that he had never had, his hair was so messy that he had always combed that it looked like a chicken coop, his bow tie was crooked, and one of the buttons of his shirt had been broken. But he was so tall and so reliable, that he looked like a solid wall that could shelter him from the wind and rain.

Emma knew that it would not help to have an additional Mr. Darcy in the midst of such a crowd, but she suddenly felt as relieved as she had been when Pegasus had met Mr. Darcy when she went to Bloomberg for help on that stormy night, when she had no one to trust. The feeling is that even though you may not be able to save me, I know you won't leave me alone.

Mr. Darcy held Emma in his arms, blocking the crowd behind him with his body, and at the same time working with Emma to drag Georgiana and Miss Daisy with difficulty.

At this time, the pressure in the back suddenly weakened. A dozen servants shouted together, "The fire is out, the fire is out!" The cacophony of cries and screams grew quieter, and the panicked crowd finally came to their senses.

It turned out to be an organic servant who smashed through the window and climbed in, extinguishing the fire that was already small.

Without the pressure, the people on top of Georgiana and Miss Daisy stood up, and they naturally escaped, fortunately unharmed.

Emma gave up her position very consciously, and Georgiana immediately threw herself into her brother's arms and cried uncontrollably. The warm and soft touch was gone, and Emma's tears were still stained on the shirt on his chest, and Mr. Darcy was lost for a moment, and then immediately blackened his face for this state of mind, and said to Emma with a frown, "Miss Kentra"

Emma looked at Mr. Darcy's face and immediately reassured, "I won't think much about it, thank you." ”