............prev.....................next{{prxprp017.jpg}} || PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 17 ||
The ladies of Longbourn soon waited on those of Netherfield.
The visit was returned in due form. Miss Bennet's pleasing
manners grew on the goodwill of Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley;
and though the mother was found to be intolerable, and the
younger sisters not worth speaking to, a wish of being better
acquainted with them was expressed towards the two eldest. By
Jane this attention was received with the greatest pleasure; but
Elizabeth still saw superciliousness in their treatment of every body,
hardly excepting even her sister, and could not like them; though
their kindness to Jane, such as it was, had a value as arising in all
probability from the influence of their brother's admiration. It
was generally evident whenever they met, that he did admire her;
and to her it was equally evident that Jane was yielding to the
preference which she had begun to entertain for him from the
first, and was in a way to be very much in love; but she considered
with pleasure that it was not likely to be discovered by the world
in general, since Jane united with great strength of feeling, a
composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner,
which would guard her from the suspicions of the impertinent.
She mentioned this to her friend Miss Lucas.
'It may perhaps be pleasant,' replied Charlotte, 'to be able to
impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a
disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her
affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose
the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor con"
solation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so
much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it
is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all hcgin freely -- a slight
preference is natural enough: but there are very few of us who
have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.
In nine cases out often, a woman had better show more affection
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