It happened one day that Jane, having finished her book, looked round for some other occupation; she knew that Miss Weston had walked to Broomhill; Rachael was with Lilias, and there was no amusement at hand. At last she recollected that her papa had said in the morning, that he hoped to see her and Emily in the schoolroom in the course of the day, and hoping to meet her sister, she resolved to try and get there. The room had been Mr. Mohun’s sitting-room since the beginning of their illness, and it looked so very comfortable that she was glad she had come, though she was so tired she wondered how she should get back again. Emily was not there, so she lay down on the sofa and took up a little book from the table. The title was _Susan Harvey_, _or Confirmation_, and she read it with more interest as she remembered with a pang that this was the day of the confirmation, to which she had been invited; she soon found herself shedding tears over the book, she who had never yet been known to cry at any story, however affecting. She had not finished when Mr. Devereux came in to look for Mr. Mohun, and finding her there, was going away as soon as he had congratulated her on having left her room, but she begged him to stay, and began asking questions about the confirmation. ‘Were there many people?’ ‘Three hundred.’ ‘Did the Stoney Bridge people make a disturbance?’ ‘No.’ ‘How many of our people?’ ‘Twenty-seven.’ ‘Did all the girls wear caps?’ ‘Most of them.’ Jane was rather surprised at the shortness of her cousin’s answers, but she went on, as he stood before the fire, apparently in deep thought. ‘Was Miss Burnet confirmed? She is the dullest girl I ever knew, and she is older than I am. Was she confused?’ ‘She was.’ ‘Did you give Mary Wright a ticket?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then, of course, you did not give one to Ned Long. I thought you would never succeed in making him remember which is the ninth commandment.’ ‘I did not refuse him.’ ‘Indeed! did he improve in a portentous manner?’ ‘Not particularly.’ ‘Well, you must have been more merciful than I expected.’ ‘Indeed!’ ‘Robert, you must have lost the use of your tongue, for want of us to talk to. I shall be affronted if you go into a brown study the first day of seeing me.’ He smiled in a constrained manner, and after a few minutes said, ‘I have been considering whether this is a fit time to tell you what will give you pain. You must tell me if you can bear it.’ ‘About Lily, or the little ones?’ ‘No, no! only about yourself. Your father wished me to speak to you, but I would not have done so on this first meeting, but what you have just been saying makes me think this is the best occasion.’ ‘Let me know; I do not like suspense,’ said Jane, sharply. ‘I think it right to tell you, Jane, that neither your father nor I thought it would be desirable for you to be confirmed at this time.’ ‘Do you really mean it?’ said Jane.