? ? ? ? After a short pause, Catherine resumed with, "Then you do not believe Isabella so very much attached to my brother?"
? ? ? ? "I can have no opinion on that subject."
? ? ? ? "But what can your brother mean? If he knows her engagement, what can he mean by his behaviour?"
? ? ? ? "You are a very close questioner."
? ? ? ? "Am I? I only ask what I want to be told."
? ? ? ? "But do you only ask what I can be expected to tell?"
? ? ? ? "Yes, I think so; for you must know your brother's heart."
? ? ? ? "My brother's heart, as you term it, on the present occasion, I assure you I can only guess at."
? ? ? ? "Well?"
? ? ? ? "Well! Nay, if it is to be guesswork, let us all guess for ourselves. To be guided by second-hand conjecture is pitiful. The premises are before you. My brother is a lively and perhaps sometimes a thoughtless young man; he has had about a week's acquaintance with your friend, and he has known her engagement almost as long as he has known her."
? ? ? ? "Well," said Catherine, after some moments' consideration, "you may be able to guess at your brother's intentions from all this; but I am sure I cannot.
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