imprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where the temptations must

be greater than at home. He heard her attentively, and then said,—
“Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public

place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little

expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present

circumstances.”
“If you were aware,” said Elizabeth, “of the very great{288} disadvantage to

us all, which must arise from the public notice of Lydia’s unguarded and

imprudent manner, nay, which has already arisen from it, I am sure you

would judge differently in the affair.”
“Already arisen!” repeated Mr. Bennet. “What! has she frightened away

some of your lovers? Poor little Lizzy! But do not be cast down. Such

squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity

are not worth a regret. Come, let me see the list of the pitiful fellows

who have been kept aloof by Lydia’s folly.”
“Indeed, you are mistaken. I have no such injuries to resent. It is not

of peculiar, but of general evils, which I am now complaining. Our

importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the

wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark

Lydia’s character. Excuse me,—for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear

father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and

of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of

her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character

will be fixed; and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt

that ever made herself and her family ridiculous;—a flirt, too, in the

worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attraction beyond

youth and a tolerable person; and, from the ignorance and emptiness of

her mind, wholly unable to ward off any portion of that universal

contempt which her rage for admiration will excite. In this danger Kitty