There must have been more dancing throughout the country in those days
than there is now: and it seems to have sprung up more spontaneously, as
if it were a natural production, with less fastidiousness as to the
quality of music, lights, and floor. Many country towns had a monthly
ball throughout the winter, in some of which the same apartment served
for dancing and tea-room. Dinner parties more frequently ended with an
extempore dance on the carpet, to the music of a harpsichord in the
house, or a fiddle from the village. This was always supposed to be for
the entertainment of the young people, but many, who had little
pretension to youth, were very ready to join in it. There can be no
doubt that Jane herself enjoyed dancing, for she attributes this taste to
her favourite heroines; in most of her works, a ball or a private dance
is mentioned, and made of importance.
Many things connected with the ball-rooms of those days have now passed
into oblivion. The barbarous law which confined the lady to one partner
throughout the evening must indeed have been abolished before Jane went
to balls.
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