{{prxprp157.jpg}} || PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 157 ||

she understood; he must be supposing her to be thinking of

Jane and Netherfleld, and she blushed as she answered,

'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 expenses of travelling unimportant, distance 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 attachment. You

cannot have been always at Longboum.'

Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some

change of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper

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 county 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 surprized 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 any body, 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 any thing 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 pleasantness of the walk to it,

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