Persuasion is not at command; but pardon me, if I cannot even endeavour to persuade him. I have myself told him that Miss Thorpe is engaged. He knows what he is about, and must be his own master.'
'No, he does not know what he is about,' cried Catherine; 'he does not know the pain he is giving my brother. Not that James has ever told me so, but I am sure he is very uncomfortable.'
'And are you sure it is my brother's doing?'
'Yes, very sure.'
'Is it my brother's attention to Miss Thorpe, or Miss Thorpe's admission of them, that gives the pain?'
'Is it not the same thing?'
'I think Mr. Morland would acknowledge a difference. No man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment.

Autore: Jane Austen