Page 484 of 817

"Do not make yourself uneasy, my love. Wherever you and Jane are

known, you must be respected and valued; and you will not appear

to less advantage for having a couple of--or I may say,

three--very silly sisters. We shall have no peace at Longbourn if

Lydia does not go to Brighton. Let her go, then. Colonel Forster

is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any real mischief;

and she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey to anybody.

At Brighton she will be of less importance even as a common flirt

than she has been here. The officers will find women better worth

their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that her being there may

teach her her own insignificance. At any rate, she cannot grow

many degrees worse, without authorizing us to lock her up for the

rest of her life."