"But, Jane, your aspirations after family ties and domestic happiness
may be realised otherwise than by the means you contemplate: you
may marry."
"Nonsense, again! Marry! I don't want to marry, and never shall
marry."
"That is saying too much: such hazardous affirmations are a proof
of the excitement under which you labour."
"It is not saying too much: I know what I feel, and how averse
are my inclinations to the bare thought of marriage. No one would
take me for love; and I will not be regarded in the light of a mere
money speculation. And I do not want a stranger -- unsympathising,
alien, different from me; I want my kindred: those with whom I
have full fellow-feeling. Say again you will be my brother: when
you uttered the words I was satisfied, happy; repeat them, if you
can, repeat them sincerely."
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