How long has she been such a favourite? and pray when am I to wish you

joy?”
“That is exactly the question which I expected you to ask. A lady’s

imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love

to matrimony, in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy.”
“Nay, if you are so serious about it, I shall consider the matter as

absolutely settled. You will have a charming mother-in-law, indeed, and

of course she will be always at Pemberley with you.”
He listened to her with perfect indifference, while she chose to

entertain herself in this manner; and as his composure convinced her

that all was safe, her wit flowed along.{36}

[Image unavailable.]


A note for Miss Bennet.


CHAPTER VII.

MR. BENNET’S property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two

thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed,

in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother’s

fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply

the deficiency of his. Her father had been an{37} attorney in Meryton, and

had left her four thousand pounds.
She had a sister married to a Mr. Philips, who had been a clerk to their

father and succeeded him in the business, and a brother settled in

London in a respectable line of trade.
The village of Longbourn was only one mile from Meryton; a most

convenient distance for the young ladies, who were usually tempted

thither three or four times a week, to pay their duty to their aunt, and

to a milliner’s shop just over the way. The two youngest of the family,

Catherine and Lydia, were particularly frequent in these attentions:

their minds were more vacant than their sisters’, and when nothing

better offered, a walk to Meryton was necessary to amuse their morning

hours and furnish conversation for the evening; and, however bare of

news the country in general might be, they always contrived to learn