Page:Austen - Sense and Sensibility, vol. I, 1811.djvu/126

 make amends for the regard of Lady Middleton and her mother. If their praise is censure, your censure may be praise, for they are not more undiscerning, than you are prejudiced and unjust.”

“In defence of your protegé you can even be saucy.”

“My protegé, as you call him, is a sensible man; and sense will always have attractions for me. Yes, Marianne, even in a man between thirty and forty. He has seen a great deal of the world; has been abroad; has read, and has a thinking mind. I have found him capable of giving me much information on various subjects, and he has always answered my enquiries with readiness of good breeding and good nature.”

“That is to say, cried Marianne contemptuously, he has told you that in the East Indies the climate is hot, and the mosquitoes are troublesome.” “He