Northanger Abbey

Mrs. Allen takes Catherine to the theatre. Catherine and Isabella smile at one another across the room, but Catherine eagerly looks for Henry, who is not there. Catherine is disappointed that she sees Henry at neither the Pump-room nor at the theatre, and assumes he has left Bath. She confides her feelings in Isabella, who tries to reassure her, saying she is confident Henry likes Catherine too and will return eventually. Isabella then sighs heavily, confessing her preference for clergymen. Catherine notices that she sounds a little dreamy when she says it, but she does not ask Isabella to elaborate.

Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe are constantly together; Mrs. Allen always talks about fashion, and Mrs. Thorpe always talks about her children, but neither woman tries to engage the other in different topics of conversation. Meanwhile, Isabella and Catherine quickly become extremely close friends—so close, in fact, that they call one another by their first names. When the weather is good, they walk outside; when the weather is poor, they stay inside and read novels together. The narrator remarks that novels are worthwhile forms of literature, and that one should not be ashamed to read them and enjoy them.