Page 434 of 817

Bingley, when questioned by Jane, had long ago asserted his

blamelessness in the affair;--that, proud and repulsive as were

his manners, she had never, in the whole course of their

acquaintance--an acquaintance which had latterly brought them

much together, and given her a sort of intimacy with his

ways--seen anything that betrayed him to be unprincipled or

unjust--anything that spoke him of irreligious or immoral

habits;--that among his own connections he was esteemed and

valued;--that even Wickham had allowed him merit as a brother,

and that she had often heard him speak so affectionately of his

sister as to prove him capable of some amiable feeling;--that had

his actions been what Wickham represented them, so gross a

violation of everything right could hardly have been concealed

from the world; and that friendship between a person capable of

it and such an amiable man as Mr. Bingley was incomprehensible.