Shewouldratherdiethanownthetruth；andshehoped，byalittlereflection，tofortifyherselfbeyondbetrayingit。
“IndependentlyoftheinterestwhichMr。Crawford’s_choice_
seemedtojustify“saidSirThomas，beginningagain，andverycomposedly，“hiswishingtomarryatallsoearlyisrecommendatorytome。Iamanadvocateforearlymarriages，wheretherearemeansinproportion，andwouldhaveeveryyoungman，withasufficientincome，settleassoonafterfour-and-twentyashecan。Thisissomuchmyopinion，thatIamsorrytothinkhowlittlelikelymyowneldestson，yourcousin，Mr。Bertram，istomarryearly；butatpresent，asfarasIcanjudge，matrimonymakesnopartofhisplansorthoughts。
Iwishheweremorelikelytofix。“HerewasaglanceatFanny。“Edmund，Iconsider，fromhisdispositionsandhabits，asmuchmorelikelytomarryearlythanhisbrother。_He_，indeed，Ihavelatelythought，hasseenthewomanhecouldlove，which，Iamconvinced，myeldestsonhasnot。AmIright？Doyouagreewithme，mydear？“
“Yes，sir。“