ney to so distant a county as Kent
feasible; and Jane, whose immediate impulse seems to have been to do
what she could for her nephews, resigned them rather unwillingly for the
time. On October 22 they went on to their grandmother and aunt at
Southampton; and then their Aunt Jane was able to devote herself
entirely to them, as her own Jane Bennet once did to her small cousins,
and to show how her 'steady sense and sweetness of temper exactly
adapted her for attending to them in every way: teaching them, playing
with them, and loving them'--words which she probably intended as a
description of what Cassandra would have done in a similar position.

Castle Square: Saturday [October 1, 1808].

MY DEAR CASSANDRA,--Your letter this morning was
quite unexpected, and it is well that it brings
such good news to counterbalance the
disappointment to me of losing my first sentence,
which I had arranged full of proper hopes about
your journey, intending to commit them to paper
to-day, and not looking for certainty till
to-morrow.

We are extremely glad to hear of the birth of the
child, and trust everything will proceed as well
as it begins. His mamma has our best wishes, and
he our second best for health and comfort--though
I suppose, unless he has our best too, we do
nothing for _her_. We are glad it was all over
before your arrival, and I am most happy to find
who the godmother is to be. My mother was some
time guessing the names.

About an hour and a half after your toils on
Wednesday ended, ours began. At seven o'clock Mrs.
Harrison, her two daughters and two visitors, with
Mr. Debary and his eldest sister, walked in.

A second pool of commerce, and all the longer by
the addition of the two girls, who during the
first had one corner of the table and spillikins
to themselves, was the ruin of us; it completed
the prosperity of Mr. Debary, however, for he won
them both.

Mr. Harrison came in late, and sat by the fire,
for which I envied him, as we had our usual luck
of having a very cold evening. It rained when our
company came, but was dry again before they left
us.

The Mi