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them, and I trust you will not esteem them unreasonable. My

brother admires her greatly already; he will have frequent

opportunity now of seeing her on the most intimate footing;

her relations all wish the connection as much as his own; and

a sister's partiality is not misleading me, I think, when I call

Charles most capable of engaging any woman's heart. With

all these circumstances to 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 na-

ture 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 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 daresay 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

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