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'His pride,' said Miss Lucas, 'does not offend _me_ so much

as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One

cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family,

fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of

himself. If I may so express it, he has a _right_ to be proud.'

'That is very true,' replied Elizabeth, 'and I could easily

forgive _his_ pride, if he had not mortified _mine.'_

'Pride,' observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the

solidity of her reflections, 'is a very common failing, I be-

lieve. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that

it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly

prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not

cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some

quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are

different things, though the words are often used

synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain.

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity to

what we would have others think of us.'

'If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy,' cried a young Lucas,

who came with his sisters, 'I should not care how proud I

was. I would keep a pack of foxhounds, and drink a bottle

of wine every day.'

'Then you would drink a great deal more than you ought,'

said Mrs. Bennet; 'and if I were to see you at it, I should

take away your bottle directly.'

The boy protested that she should not; she continued to

declare that she would; and the argument ended only with

the visit.

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