In another moment a happier sight caught her; – Mr. Knightley leading Harriet to the set! – Never had she been more surprised, seldom more delighted, than at that instant. She was all pleasure and gratitude, both for Harriet and herself, and longed to be thanking him; and though too distant for speech, her countenance said much, as soon as she could catch his eye again.
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 38. Harriet is left without a partner at the Westons’ ball and the one man not dancing Mr. Elton snubs her by refusing to invite her onto the floor. Mr. Knightley graciously comes to the rescue to save her blushes by asking her to dance. One can see Emma’s growing affection for him in her admiring comments, wanting to “catch his eye” and longing “to be thanking him.” Foreshadowed here is the love between Emma and Knightley that they will later in the story acknowledge. We also see the gender limitations on women, who were expected to wait for a man to ask them to dance at a ball.