“It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment of infatuation,have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family.You may have drawn him in.”

“That will make your ladyship's situation at present more pitiable;but it will have no effect on me.”

“Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed to such language as this. I am almost the nearest relation he has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns.”

“I will not be interrupted.Hear me in silence.My daughter and my nephew are formed for each other.They are descended,on the maternal side,from the same noble line;and,on the father's,from respectable,honourable,and ancient―though untitled―families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid.They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses;and what is to divide them?The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family,connections,or fortune.Is this to be endured!But it must not,shall not be.If you were sensible of your own good,you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up.”

“Tell me once for all,are you engaged to him?”