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'I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled

too near her family. The far and the near must be relative,

and depend on many varying circumstances. Where there is

fortune to make the expense of travelling unimportant, dis-

tance becomes no evil. But that is not the case _here._ Mr.

and Mrs. Collins have a comfortable income, but not such a

one as will allow of frequent journeys -- and I am persuaded

my friend would not call herself _near_ her family under less

than _half_ the present distance.'

Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said,

_'You_ cannot have a right to such very strong local attach-

ment. _You_ cannot have been always at Longbourn.'

Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced

some change of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a news-

paper from the table, and, glancing over it, said, in a colder

voice,--

'Are you pleased with Kent?'

A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued, on

either side calm and concise -- and soon put an end to by the

entrance of Charlotte and her sister, just returned from their

walk. The _tete-a-tete_ surprised them. Mr. Darcy related the

mistake which had occasioned his intruding on Miss Bennet,

and, after sitting a few minutes longer, without saying much

to anybody, went away.

'What can be the meaning of this?' said Charlotte, as soon

as he was gone. 'My dear Eliza, he must be in love with

you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way.'

But when Elizabeth told of his silence, it did not seem very

likely, even to Charlotte's wishes, to be the case; and, after

various conjectures, they could at last only suppose his visit

to proceed from the difficulty of finding anything to do, which

was the more probable from the time of year. All field sports

were over. Within doors there was Lady Catherine, books,

and a billiard table, but gentlemen cannot be always within

doors; and in the nearness of the Parsonage, or the pleasant-

ness of the walk to it, or of the people who lived in it, the

two cousins found a temptation from this period of walking

thither almost every day. They called at various times of the

morning, sometimes separately, sometimes together, and now

and then accompanied by their aunt. It was plain to them all

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