Lady Elliott wished to give a dance.

埃利奥特夫人想跳舞。

I happened to mention I was going to give a dance and she pretended to take it as a matter of course that I meant to invite her brother—at least, I thought she pretended; she may have really believed it.

我碰巧提到我要跳舞， 她假装理所当然地认为我打算邀请她的兄弟——至少， 我认为她是假装的； 她可能真的相信了。