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Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage

had always been her object: it was the only honourable provision

for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however

uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest

preservative from want. This preservative she had now obtained;

and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been

handsome, she felt all the good luck of it. The least agreeable

circumstance in the business was the surprise it must occasion to

Elizabeth Bennet, whose friendship she valued beyond that of any

other person. Elizabeth would wonder, and probably would blame

her; and though her resolution was not to be shaken, her feelings

must be hurt by such a disapprobation. She resolved to give her

the information herself; and therefore charged Mr. Collins, when

he returned to Longbourn to dinner, to drop no hint of what had

passed before any of the family.