? ? ? ? "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 their construction could ever be deemed clever, time has long ago destroyed all its ingenuity."
? ? ? ? Sir John did not much understand this reproof; but he laughed as heartily as if he did, and then replied,
? ? ? ? "Ay, you will make conquests enough, I dare say, one way or other.
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