When I entered the restaurant downstairs last night, I spotted a man and a woman sitting together. She was dressed in black, he in red. The restaurant was bathed in orange. All of these colors stimulated my appetite.

I chose a small table by the window, not far from them. Both in their mid-20s, they looked straight into the other's eyes while chatting. I know the dishes would come slowly for a lonely diner like me, so I brought along a small book.

I was amused when Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice told Mr Bingley that Elizabeth "is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me", unawares that Elizabeth could hear them.

Suddenly, I caught my neighbor saying: "I didn't marry for the visa. If I marry, I must marry someone I love." The woman in black paused in her speech, then continued: "When I was in the States"

Back to my novel, Elizabeth "told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous".

But my dear neighbor's voice kept drifting to my ears. "My dad said My brother said I am the kind of person who always" In a brief narration about her marriage overseas that ended recently, the woman pulled out every acquaintance to support herself. Her voice reminded me of a sponge fully squeezed of water. She seemed to be making a very dry appeal.

I put a finger into my ear and tried focusing on the book. When Elizabeth and her sisters returned home from the party, they found their father Mr Bennet still up. "With a book he was regardless of time", just like me, I thought, when my soup finally arrived.

Before I enjoyed the first spoon, the woman declared: "My waist only measures" I almost dropped the spoon, but a few drops spilled on my precious book. Lady, couldn't you lower your voice? This is getting scary.

The man in red seemed fully captured, he stayed in silence. The waitresses, wearing blue uniforms with white flowers and red buttons, listened with full respect a few steps away.

She gave details of her married life. It seemed she would soon drag her unwilling listeners from the kitchen to the bedroom. Thankfully, she started on the earlier part of her life. After experiencing so much in a life of 26 years, she has become a good hunter at spotting the prey and snatching it. All of it executed without mercy.

"We have had a most delightful evening," concluded Mrs Bennet, then she related the shocking rudeness of Mr Darcy. "But I can assure you that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing."

I know that Mr Darcy would turn out to be a fine gentleman, after reading the book so many times. But I'm unsure if the man in red has made the right decision about his partner.

(China Daily April 24, 2008)