lf in a situation which he must know she would never
stoop to. She would learn to match him in his indifference. She would
henceforth admit his attentions without any idea beyond immediate
amusement. If _he_ could so command his affections, _hers_ should do her
no harm.

CHAPTER XXIV

Henry Crawford had quite made up his mind by the next morning to give
another fortnight to Mansfield, and having sent for his hunters, and
written a few lines of explanation to the Admiral, he looked round at
his sister as he sealed and threw the letter from him, and seeing the
coast clear of the rest of the family, said, with a smile, "And how do
you think I mean to amuse myself, Mary, on the days that I do not hunt?
I am grown too old to go out more than three times a week; but I have a
plan for the intermediate days, and what do you think it is?"

"To walk and ride with me, to be sure."

"Not exactly, though I shall be happy to do both, but _that_ would be
exercise only to my body, and I must take care of my mind. Besides,
_that_ would be all recreation and indulgence, without the wholesome
alloy of labour, and I do not like to eat the bread of idleness. No, my
plan is to make Fanny Price in love with me."

"Fanny Price! Nonsense! No, no. You ought to be satisfied with her two
cousins."

"But I cannot be satisfied without Fanny Price, without making a small
hole in Fanny Price's heart. You do not seem properly aware of her
claims to notice. When we talked of her last night, you none of you
seemed sensible of the wonderful improvement that has taken place in her
looks within the last six weeks. You see her every day, and therefore do
not notice it; but I assure you she is quite a different creature from
what she was in the autumn. She was then merely a quiet, modest, not
plain-looking girl, but she is now absolutely pretty. I used to think
she had neither complexion nor countenance; but in that soft skin of
hers, so frequently tinged with a blush as it was yesterday, there is
decided beauty; and from what I observed of her eyes and mouth, I do
not despair of their being capable of expression enough when she
has anything to express. And then, her air, her manner, her _tout_
_ensemble_, is so indescribably improved! She must be grown two inches,
at least, since October."

"Phoo! phoo! This is only because there were no tall women to compare
her with, and because she has got a new gown, and you never saw her so
well dressed bef