On her side, however, Alethea Weston felt some
reluctance to become intimate with the young ladies of the New Court.
She was pleased with Emily's manners, interested by Lily's
earnestness and simplicity, and thought Jane a clever and amusing
little creature, but even their engaging qualities gave her pain, by
reminding her of the sisters she had lost, or by making her think how
they would have liked them. A country house and neighbours like
these had been the objects of many visions of their childhood, and
now all the sweet sights and sounds around her only made her think
how she should have enjoyed them a year ago. She felt almost jealous
of Marianne's liking for her new friends, lest they should steal her
heart from Emma and Lucy; but knowing that these were morbid and
unthankful feelings, she struggled against them, and though she
missed her sisters even more than when her mother and Marianne were
in greater need of her attention, she let no sign of her sorrowful
feeling appear, and seeing that Marianne was benefited in health and
spirits, by intercourse with young companions, she gave no hint of
her disinclination to join in the walks and other amusements of the
Miss Mohuns.
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