On this point Sir John could give more certain intelligence; and he
told them that Mr. Willoughby had no property of his own in the
country; that he resided there only while he was visiting the old lady
at Allenham Court, to whom he was related, and whose possessions he was
to inherit; adding, “Yes, yes, he is very well worth catching I can
tell you, Miss Dashwood; he has a pretty little estate of his own in
Somersetshire besides; and if I were you, I would not give him up to my
younger sister, in spite of all this tumbling down hills. Miss Marianne
must not expect to have all the men to herself. Brandon will be
jealous, if she does not take care.”

“I do not believe,” said Mrs. Dashwood, with a good humoured smile,
“that Mr. Willoughby will be incommoded by the attempts of either of
_my_ daughters towards what you call _catching him_. It is not an
employment to which they have been brought up. Men are very safe with
us, let them be ever so rich. I am glad to find, however, from what you
say, that he is a respectable young man, and one whose acquaintance
will not be ineligible.”

“He is as good a sort of fellow, I believe, as ever lived,” repeated
Sir John. “I remember last Christmas at a little hop at the park, he
danced from eight o’clock till four, without once sitting down.”

“Did he indeed?” cried Marianne with sparkling eyes, “and with
elegance, with spirit?”

“Yes; and he was up again at eight to ride to covert.”

“That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be
his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and
leave him no sense of fatigue.”

“Aye, aye, I see how it will be,” said Sir John, “I see how it will be.
You will be setting your cap at him now, and never think of poor
Brandon.”

“That is an expression, Sir John,” said Marianne, warmly, “which I
particularly dislike. I abhor every common-place phrase by which wit is
intended; and ‘setting one’s cap at a man,’ or ‘making a conquest,’ are
the most odious of all. Their tendency is gross and illiberal; and if

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