Mrs. Bennet, all amazement, though flattered by having a guest of such high importance, received her with the utmost politeness. After sitting for a moment in silence, she said very stiffly to Elizabeth,

     "I hope you are well, Miss Bennet. That lady, I suppose, is your mother."

     Elizabeth replied very concisely that she was.

     "And that I suppose is one of your sisters."

     "Yes, madam," said Mrs. Bennet, delighted to speak to a Lady Catherine. "She is my youngest girl but one. My youngest of all is lately married, and my eldest is somewhere about the grounds, walking with a young man who, I believe, will soon become a part of the family."

     "You have a very small park here," returned Lady Catherine after a short silence.

     "It is nothing in comparison of Rosings, my lady, I dare say; but I assure you it is much larger than Sir William Lucas's."

     "This must be a most inconvenient sitting room for the evening, in summer; the windows are full west."