“But it was not so bad as that, Isabella; there was no superciliousness; she was very civil.”

“Oh!  Don’t defend her!  And then the brother, he, who had appeared so attached to you!  Good heavens!  Well, some people’s feelings are incomprehensible.  And so he hardly looked once at you the whole day?”

“I do not say so; but he did not seem in good spirits.”

“How contemptible!  Of all things in the world inconstancy is my aversion.  Let me entreat you never to think of him again, my dear Catherine; indeed he is unworthy of you.”

“Unworthy!  I do not suppose he ever thinks of me.”

“That is exactly what I say; he never thinks of you.  Such fickleness!  Oh!  How different to your brother and to mine!  I really believe John has the most constant heart.”

“But as for General Tilney, I assure you it would be impossible for anybody to behave to me with greater civility and attention; it seemed to be his only care to entertain and make me happy.”

“Oh!  I know no harm of him; I do not suspect him of pride.  I believe he is a very gentleman-like man.  John thinks very well of him, and John’s judgment —­ "

“Well, I shall see how they behave to me this evening; we shall meet them at the rooms.”

“And must I go?”

“Do not you intend it?  I thought it was all settled.”

“Nay, since you make such a point of it, I can refuse you nothing.  But do not insist upon my being very agreeable, for my heart, you know, will be some forty miles off.  And as for dancing, do not mention it, I beg; that is quite out of the question.  Charles Hodges will plague me to death, I dare say; but I shall cut him very short.  Ten to one but he guesses the reason, and that is exactly what I want to avoid, so I shall insist on his keeping his conjecture to himself.”

Isabella’s opinion of the Tilneys did not influence her friend; she was sure there had been no insolence in the manners either of brother or sister; and she did not credit there being any pride in their hearts.  The evening rewarded her confidence; she was met by one with the same kindness, and by the other with the same attention, as heretofore:  Miss Tilney took pains to be near her, and Henry asked her to dance.

Having heard the day before in Milsom Street that their elder brother, Captain Tilney, was expected almost every hour, she was at no loss for the name of a very fashionable-looking, handsome young man, whom she had never seen before, and who now evidently belonged to their party.  She looked at him with great admiration, and even supposed it possible that some people might think him handsomer than his brother, though, in her eyes, his air was more assuming, and his countenance less prepossessing.  His taste and manners were beyond a doubt decidedly inferior; for, within her hearing, he not only protested against every thought of dancing himself, but even laughed