Emma, Volume III, Chapter 2 (Chapter 38)

[kellyrfineman]

Comments

[helgatwb]

That's one of my favorite bits as well.

Yay! for sexy English country dancing.

So, brothers and sisters couldn't dance, what about husbands and wives?

[kellyrfineman]

Husbands and wives could dance, although it was considered gauche in some circles for them to dance with one another. Isn't that funny? Unmarried couples had to watch how often they danced together - three dances in an evening was tantamount to an announcement of an engagement!

[helgatwb]

Yes, that is funny. So, one dance was just: Hi, I think you'd dance well. Two was: I kinda like you a little. And three was: Let's get married! Is that accurate? And I think you said that one dance was actually two, or am I imagining things?

[kellyrfineman]

Ordinarily, partners danced together (one dance) for two songs at a time. So dancing that second song wasn't counted as a second dance.