เ เ 'Bennet spoke very favourably of what I had said; upon 'which my aunt burst almost into a rage, treated me with downright scurrility, called me conceited fool, abused my poor father for having taught me Latin, which, said เ she, had made me a downright coxcomb, and made me prefer myself to those who were a hundred times my superiors in knowledge. She then fell foul on the 'learned languages, declaring they were totally useless, ' and concluded that she had read all that was worth 'reading, though, she thanked heaven, she understood no 'language but her own. 'Before the end of this visit Mr. Bennet reconciled 'himself very well to my aunt, which, indeed, was no 'difficult task for him to accomplish; but from that hour 'she conceived a hatred and rancour towards me which 'I could never appease. เ 'My aunt had, from my first coming into her house, expressed great dislike to my learning. In plain truth, 'she envied me that advantage. This envy I had long ago discovered; and had taken great pains to smother 'it, carefully avoiding ever to mention a Latin word in 'her presence, and always submitting to her authority; 'for indeed I despised her ignorance too much to dispute with her. By these means I had pretty well suc'ceeded, and we lived tolerably together; but the affront 'paid to her understanding by Mr. Bennet in my favour 'was an injury never to be forgiven to me. She took me 'severely to task that very evening, and reminded me of 'going to service, in such earnest terms, as almost amounted to literally turning me out of doors; advising me, in the most insulting manner, to keep my Latin to 'myself; which, she said, was useless to any one; but ridiculous, when pretended to by a servant. 'The next visit Mr. Bennet made at our house I was 'not suffered to be present. This was much the shortest เ เ เ เ เ of all his visits; and, when he went away, he left my เ aunt in a worse humour than ever I had seen her. The 'whole was discharged on me in the usual manner by upเ braiding me with my learning, conceit, and poverty; reminding me of obligations, and insisting on my going immediately to service. With all this I was greatly 'pleased, as it assured me that Mr. Bennet had said something to her in my favour; and I would have purchased a kind expression of his at almost any price. 'I should scarce, however, have been so sanguine as to 'draw this conclusion, had I not received some hints that 'I had not unhappily placed my affections on a man who 'made me no return; for though he had scarce addressed เ a dozen sentences to me (for, indeed, he had no opporเ tunity), yet his eyes had revealed certain secrets to mine ' with which I was not displeased. 'I remained, however, in a state of anxiety near a 'month; sometimes pleasing myself with thinking Mr. 'Bennet's heart was in the same situation with my own; 'sometimes doubting that my wishes had flattered and de'ceived me; and not in the least questioning that my aunt was my rival; for I thought no woman could be proof against the charms that had subdued me. Indeed, Mrs. 'Booth, he was a charming young fellow; I must, I must pay this tribute to his memory-O, gracious heaven! why, why did I ever see him! why was I doomed to 'such misery ?'-Here she burst into a flood of tears, and remained incapable of speech for some time; during which, the gentle Amelia endeavoured all she could to sooth her; and gave sufficient marks of sympathizing in the tender affliction of her friend. เ Mrs. Bennet, at length, recovered her spirits, and proceeded, as in the next chapter. CHAPTER V. The story of Mrs. Bennet continued. 'I SCARCE know where I left off-Oh! I was, I think, 'telling you, that I esteemed my aunt as my rival; and 'it is not easy to conceive a greater degree of detestation 'than I had for her ; and what may perhaps appear strange, as she daily grew more and more civil to me, my hatred increased with her civility; for I imputed it 'all to her triumph over me, and to her having secured, 'beyond all apprehension, the heart I longed for. เ เ เ 'How was I surprised, when one day, with as much เ good-humour as she was mistress of (for her countenance was not very pleasing), she asked me, how I 'liked Mr. Bennet? The question, you will believe, Madam, threw me into great confusion; which she plainly perceived, and without waiting for my answer, 'told me, she was very well satisfied; for that it did not 'require her discernment to read my thoughts in my countenance. "Well, child," said she, "I have sus""pected this a great while, and I believe it will please you to know that I yesterday made the same discovery in lover." This I confess to you, was your 'more than I could well bear, and I begged her to say 'no more to me, at that time, on that subject. เ 6.66 666 6.66 “ Nay, child," answered she, "I must tell you all, or I should ""not act a friendly part. Mr. Bennet, I am convinced, "hath a passion for you; but it is a passion which, I "think, you should not encourage. For, to be plain "with you, I fear he is in love with your person only. "Now this is a love, child, which cannot produce that ""rational happiness which a woman of sense ought to ""expect."-In short, she ran on with a great deal of 'stuff about rational happiness, and woman of sense, and 'concluded, with assuring me, that, after the strictest scrutiny, she could not find that Mr. Bennet had an adequate opinion of my understanding; upon which she vouchsafed to make me many compliments, but ' mixed with several sarcasms concerning my learning. 'I hope, Madam, however,' said she to Amelia, ‘you have not so bad an opinion of my capacity as to imagine me dull enough to be offended with Mr. 'Bennet's sentiments; for which I presently knew so well to account. I was, indeed, charmed with his 'ingenuity, who had discovered, perhaps, the only way ' of reconciling my aunt to those inclinations, which I now assured myself he had for me. เ เ เ เ I was not long left to support my hopes by my sagacity. He soon found an opportunity of declaring his passion. He did this in so forcible, though gentle a manner, with such a profusion of fervency and tenderness at once, that his love, like a torrent, bore every 'thing before it; and I am almost ashamed to own to you, how very soon he prevailed upon me to-to-in short, to be an honest woman, and to confess to him the 'plain truth. เ When we were upon a good footing together he gave เ me a long relation of what had passed at several inter'views with my aunt, at which I had not been present. 'He said, he had discovered, that as she valued herself chiefly on her understanding, so she was extremely jealous of mine, and hated me on account of my learning. That, as he had loved me passionately from his 'first seeing me, and had thought of nothing from that 'time but of throwing himself at my feet, he saw no way 'so open to propitiate my aunt as that which he had taken, by commending my beauty; a perfection to เ 'which she had long resigned all claim, at the expence ' of my understanding, in which he lamented my defi'ciency to a degree almost of ridicule. This he imputed 'chiefly to my learning; on this occasion he advanced a sentiment, which so pleased my aunt, that she thought proper to make it her own; for I heard it afterwards more than once from her own mouth. Learning, he said, had the same effect on the mind that strong liquors have on the constitution; both tending to 'eradicate all our natural fire and energy. His flattery 'had made such a dupe of my aunt, that she assented, 'without the least suspicion of his sincerity, to all he 'said; so sure is vanity to weaken every fortress of 'the understanding, and to betray us to every attack of the enemy. เ เ 'You will believe, Madam, that I readily forgave him all he had said, not only from that motive which I have mentioned, but as I was assured he had spoke the reเ verse of his real sentiments. I was not, however, quite เ so well pleased with my aunt, who began to treat me as if I was really an idiot. Her contempt, I own, a little piqued me; and I could not help often expressing my resentment, when we were alone together, to Mr. 6 Bennet; who never failed to gratify me, by making 'her conceit the subject of his wit; a talent which he 'possessed in the most extraordinary degree. This proved of very fatal consequence: for one day, 'while we were enjoying my aunt in a very thick arbour in the garden, she stole upon us unobserved, and over'heard our whole conversation. I wish, my dear, you 'understood Latin, that I might repeat you a sentence in 'which the rage of a tigress, that hath lost her young, is 'described. No English poet, as I remember, hath come up to it; nor am I myself equal to the undertaking. She burst in upon us, open-mouthed, and after discharg เ |