Crown Inn ball
The Crown Inn ball was the long-awaited culmination of weeks of planning, a dance that Mr. Weston had conceived and his son Frank Churchill had championed after the cramped quarters at Randalls proved inadequate. The event was originally proposed as a continuation of the dancing begun at Mr. Cole's party, but when the Randalls rooms were judged too small for ten couples, Frank Churchill suggested moving the ball to the larger accommodations of the Crown Inn. Mr. Woodhouse, ever anxious about drafts and dampness, was persuaded only by the argument that the Crown's larger room would require no windows to be opened, and by the assurance that Mrs. Weston would personally supervise the arrangements. The party assembled on a May evening, with Frank Churchill arriving at Randalls before dinner in "all the certainty of his own self," and Emma Woodhouse and Harriet Smith driving to the Crown in good time to inspect the rooms before the other guests arrived.
The Arrival and the Opening of the Ball
The evening began with a flurry of arrivals and a minor social crisis over precedence. Mrs. Elton, who had assumed the role of chaperon, expected to lead the first dance, and Mr. Weston was obliged to persuade his son to partner her rather than Emma. Frank Churchill, who had claimed Emma's hand for the first two dances by an earlier promise, submitted to the arrangement, and Mr. Weston and Mrs. Elton led the way, followed by Frank Churchill and Emma. Emma "must submit to stand second to Mrs. Elton, though she had always considered the ball as peculiarly for her." The set formed respectably, and Emma found herself smiling with enjoyment despite the slight, delighted to see "the respectable length of the set as it was forming, and to feel that she had so many hours of unusual festivity before her." Mr. Knightley, however, stood among the spectators rather than dancing, and Emma observed him with a mixture of admiration and regret, noting his "tall, firm, upright figure" among the elderly men and wishing he would take the trouble to dance.
Mr. Elton's Insult and Mr. Knightley's Rescue
The ball's most significant moment occurred during the two last dances before supper, when Harriet Smith was left sitting alone, the only young lady without a partner. Mr. Elton, sauntering about the room, made no move to ask her, and when Mrs. Weston kindly suggested that he dance with Miss Smith, he replied with deliberate cruelty: "My dancing days are over, Mrs. Weston. You will excuse me." Emma, overhearing this exchange from her position in the set, felt her "heart was in a glow, and she feared her face might be as hot." In the next moment, however, she was struck by a happier sight: Mr. Knightley leading Harriet to the set. "Never had she been more surprized, seldom more delighted, than at that instant." Mr. Knightley's dancing proved "extremely good," and Harriet, rescued from humiliation, "bounded higher than ever, flew farther down the middle, and was in a continual course of smiles." Mr. Elton retreated into the card-room, looking, Emma trusted, "very foolish."
Supper and the Aftermath
Supper was announced, and Miss Bates's voice was heard from that moment without interruption, her stream of commentary covering everything from the baked apples to the asparagus that Mr. Woodhouse had sent back. The ball concluded with Emma and Mr. Knightley sharing a brief but significant conversation in which he reprobated Mr. Elton's conduct as "unpardonable rudeness" and acknowledged that Harriet Smith possessed "some first-rate qualities." Emma was "extremely gratified" by his praise of Harriet and by their shared understanding of the Eltons' character. The next morning, as she walked about the lawn reflecting on the evening, she counted the ball among her "agreeable recollections" and felt that the impertinence of the Eltons had been "the occasion of some of its highest satisfactions," particularly in opening Harriet's eyes to Mr. Elton's true nature. The ball thus served as a turning point, strengthening the bond between Emma and Mr. Knightley, humiliating the Eltons in the eyes of the community, and beginning Harriet's gradual recovery from her infatuation.
