Do not misunderstand me: her heroines are not mercenary--that is, not with their conscious minds. The mercenary elements in their lives are instinctive and conventional; the laws of the British leisure classes, of “gentlefolk.” These laws Jane Austen never questioned, nor does anyone of her heroines ever question them. Therefore it is possible for these ladies to be mercenary to the point of ferocity, yet at the same time to be sentimental and even charming. If you travel through the Jane Austen country you find the roads lined with hedge-rows, which bear flowers in the springtime, and are full of birds, and afford opportunity for delightful descriptions in novels; also they afford thrilling adventures, because a heroine can stand behind a hedge-row and listen to her best friend discussing her to her lover. Outside these hedge-rows walk common people of all sorts; farm laborers on their way to fourteen hours of animal-like toil; factory workers, pale and stunted; soldiers on the march; able seamen paying a visit to home; tradesmen, tourists--all sorts of persons one does not know. Behind the hedge-rows dwell the “gentlefolk,” carefully guarded by the police magistrates; and the common people never by any chance penetrate the hedge-rows, except in the capacity of servants. So the young ladies of the “gentle” family meet no men save such as have been carefully investigated and approved; so it is possible for these ladies to be full of Sensibility--that is, quivering with excitement at the male approach--and yet entirely innocent of mercenary motives, and entirely safe from the danger of making an unmercenary match. How perfectly this system works you may note in Jane Austen’s novels. There are eight heroines, and eight fortunes to be married. One of the heroines takes the risk of marrying a clergyman who has no money except his “living.” Two others marry clergymen who, in addition to their “livings,” have good financial prospects. The other five marry non-clerical gentlemen of wealth. Mostly these fortunes come from land; everywhere over the Jane Austen novel there hovers a magic presence known as the “entailed estate.” In only one case is there any hint of vulgar origin for the fortune, in a recent connection with “trade.” Of all the fortunes, only one has actually been gained by the man who possesses it and bestows it upon the heroine; and this man has gained it in a most respectable Christian way--that is to say, not by “trade,” but by killing and robbery. He has been a naval captain, and brings home his share of the prizes taken.