صفحة 24 من 817

Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced: their

behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in

general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy

of temper than her sister, and with a judgment, too, unassailed

by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to

approve them. They were, in fact, very fine ladies; not deficient

in good-humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of being

agreeable where they chose it; but proud and conceited. They were

rather handsome; had been educated in one of the first private

seminaries in town; had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds; were

in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating

with people of rank; and were, therefore, in every respect

entitled to think well of themselves and meanly of others.