Dance at Netherfield (T.I.V Classical Novel Series Chapter 1)

[Verse 1 – Darcy] Candle smoke and silver Names I must remember Faces blur like painted walls Just one more tedious ball Then you turn Unbidden Laughing at a ribbon Every rule I’ve memorized Fractures under your eyes [Verse 1 – Elizabeth] Music spins and shivers Gloves and whispered slivers Every bow the same old play Polite words in powdered gray Then I catch you watching Cool Aloof Not asking Sir I’ve read men like you Before you cross the room [Chorus – Duet] Pride and prejudice In this turning hall Every step a wound Every word a wall You are far too proud You are far too sure Yet my gaze won’t move Though I feel so poor Pride and prejudice In a borrowed light Shall we dance as foes Shall we dance tonight? One small curtsey One reluctant hand All my quiet certainties Come undone where you stand [Verse 2 – Darcy] I will not admire you Sharp tongue Bright and perilous Still that laugh keeps circling back Through the crowded Brittle clack My name weighs upon me Old demands that bind me Yet I find I seek your face In every figure of this grace [Verse 2 – Elizabeth] I will not forgive you Scorn dressed up as virtue Every word you fail to say Teaches me to turn away Yet when partners claim me Still your distance shames me Why should I resent the way You almost ask Then look away? [Bridge – Duet] [Strings swell Tempo widens] Can you hear my thoughts Beneath this practiced smile? Would you break your chains Just to dance a while? If I took your hand Would the floor fall through? If I knew you truly Would I still misjudge you? [Chorus – Duet] Pride and prejudice In this spinning hall Every glance a test Every touch a call You are far too proud I am far too sure Yet our guarded hearts ache for something pure Pride and prejudice As the candles fade Still your shadow stays where my doubts are laid Just one evening Just one joined command “All your haughty certainties Fall to dust where I stand” [Outro – Duet] So we circle Close and distant Strangers sharing the same air First impression Sharp and brilliant Hides a story neither yet can bear