James’s. The whole family in short were properly overjoyed on the

occasion. The younger girls formed{157} hopes of coming out a year or two

sooner than they might otherwise have done; and the boys were relieved

from their apprehension of Charlotte’s dying an old maid. Charlotte

herself was tolerably composed. She had gained her point, and had time

to consider of it. Her reflections were in general satisfactory. Mr.

Collins, to be sure, was neither sensible nor agreeable: his society was

irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would

be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony,

marriage had always been her object: it was the only honourable

provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however

uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative

from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of

twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good

luck of it. The least agreeable circumstance in the business was the

surprise it must occasion to Elizabeth Bennet, whose friendship she

valued beyond that of any other person. Elizabeth would wonder, and

probably would blame her; and though her resolution was not to be

shaken, her feelings must be hurt by such a disapprobation. She resolved

to give her the information herself; and therefore charged Mr. Collins,

when he returned to Longbourn to dinner, to drop no hint of what had

passed before any of the family. A promise of secrecy was of course very

dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty; for the

curiosity excited by his long absence burst forth in such very direct

questions on his return, as required some ingenuity to evade, and he was

at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to

publish his prosperous love.
As he was to begin his journey too early on the morrow{158} to see any of