第381页 / 共817页

He answered her in the same style, and the subject dropped. To

interrupt a silence which might make him fancy her affected with

what had passed, she soon afterwards said,--

"I imagine your cousin brought you down with him chiefly for the

sake of having somebody at his disposal. I wonder he does not

marry, to secure a lasting convenience of that kind. But,

perhaps, his sister does as well for the present; and, as she is

under his sole care, he may do what he likes with her."

"No," said Colonel Fitzwilliam, "that is an advantage which he

must divide with me. I am joined with him in the guardianship of

Miss Darcy."

"Are you, indeed? And pray what sort of a guardian do you make?

Does your charge give you much trouble? Young ladies of her age

are sometimes a little difficult to manage; and if she has the

true Darcy spirit, she may like to have her own way."