favour an attachment, and nothing to prevent it, am I wrong, my dearest

Jane, in indulging the hope of an event which will secure the happiness

of so many?’ What think you of this sentence, my dear Lizzy?” said

Jane, as she finished it. “Is it not clear enough? Does it not expressly

declare that Caroline neither expects nor wishes me to be her sister;

that she is perfectly convinced of her brother’s indifference; and that

if she suspects the nature of my feelings for him she means (most

kindly!) to put me on my guard. Can there be any other opinion on the

subject?”
“Yes, there can; for mine is totally different. Will you hear it?”
“Most willingly.”
“You shall have it in a few words. Miss Bingley sees that her brother is

in love with you and wants him to marry Miss Darcy. She follows him to

town in the hope of keeping him there, and tries to persuade you that he

does not care about you.”
Jane shook her head.
“Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me. No one who has ever seen you

together can doubt his affection; Miss Bingley, I am sure, cannot: she

is not such a simpleton. Could she have seen half as much love in Mr.

Darcy for herself, she would have ordered her wedding clothes. But the

case is this:—we are not rich enough or grand enough for them; and she

is{152} the more anxious to get Miss Darcy for her brother, from the notion

that when there has been one inter-marriage, she may have less trouble

in achieving a second; in which there is certainly some ingenuity, and I

dare say it would succeed if Miss de Bourgh were out of the way. But, my

dearest Jane, you cannot seriously imagine that, because Miss Bingley

tells you her brother greatly admires Miss Darcy, he is in the smallest

degree less sensible of your merit than when he took leave of you on

Tuesday; or that it will be in her power to persuade him that, instead

of being in love with you, he is very much in love with her friend.”