a profession that could have easily been interchanged for another, except that he already had it secured. Today we see the clergy as being "called" to their profession (and it may have been that way among the evangelical sects in Austen's time, but not, for the most part, for C of E clergy). I agree that one would have thought at least a warning flag would have been raised for Edmund after this conversation, but HER mind was apparently the last thing on HIS mind at that point. And I do not think that unusual at that stage of their relationship -- the stage where you choose to hear what you want to hear, see what you want to see. If there are major differences, they start to intrude later, when what initially attracts now starts to annoy.