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Collins invited them to take a stroll in the garden, which was

large and well laid out, and to the cultivation of which he

attended himself. To work in his garden was one of his most

respectable pleasures; and Elizabeth admired the command of

countenance with which Charlotte talked of the healthfulness of

the exercise, and owned she encouraged it as much as possible.

Here, leading the way through every walk and cross walk, and

scarcely allowing them an interval to utter the praises he asked

for, every view was pointed out with a minuteness which left

beauty entirely behind. He could number the fields in every

direction, and could tell how many trees there were in the most

distant clump. But of all the views which his garden, or which

the country or the kingdom could boast, none were to be compared

with the prospect of Rosings, afforded by an opening in the trees

that bordered the park nearly opposite the front of his house.