vorschläge wohnzimmer einrichtung

chapter 11 the time now approached for lady russell'sreturn: the day was even fixed; and anne, being engaged to join her as soon as shewas resettled, was looking forward to an early removal to kellynch, and beginning to think how her own comfort was likely to beaffected by it. it would place her in the same village withcaptain wentworth, within half a mile of him; they would have to frequent the samechurch, and there must be intercourse between the two families. this was against her; but on the otherhand, he spent so much of his time at

uppercross, that in removing thence shemight be considered rather as leaving him behind, than as going towards him; and, upon the whole, she believed she must, onthis interesting question, be the gainer, almost as certainly as in her change ofdomestic society, in leaving poor mary for lady russell. she wished it might be possible for her toavoid ever seeing captain wentworth at the hall: those rooms had witnessed formermeetings which would be brought too painfully before her; but she was yet more anxious for the possibility of lady russelland captain wentworth never meeting

anywhere. they did not like each other, and norenewal of acquaintance now could do any good; and were lady russell to see themtogether, she might think that he had too much self-possession, and she too little. these points formed her chief solicitude inanticipating her removal from uppercross, where she felt she had been stationed quitelong enough. her usefulness to little charles wouldalways give some sweetness to the memory of her two months' visit there, but he wasgaining strength apace, and she had nothing else to stay for.

the conclusion of her visit, however, wasdiversified in a way which she had not at all imagined. captain wentworth, after being unseen andunheard of at uppercross for two whole days, appeared again among them to justifyhimself by a relation of what had kept him away. a letter from his friend, captain harville,having found him out at last, had brought intelligence of captain harville's beingsettled with his family at lyme for the winter; of their being therefore, quite unknowingly, within twenty miles of eachother.

captain harville had never been in goodhealth since a severe wound which he received two years before, and captainwentworth's anxiety to see him had determined him to go immediately to lyme. he had been there for four-and-twentyhours. his acquittal was complete, his friendshipwarmly honoured, a lively interest excited for his friend, and his description of thefine country about lyme so feelingly attended to by the party, that an earnest desire to see lyme themselves, and aproject for going thither was the consequence.the young people were all wild to see lyme.

captain wentworth talked of going thereagain himself, it was only seventeen miles from uppercross; though november, theweather was by no means bad; and, in short, louisa, who was the most eager of the eager, having formed the resolution to go,and besides the pleasure of doing as she liked, being now armed with the idea ofmerit in maintaining her own way, bore down all the wishes of her father and mother for putting it off till summer; and to lymethey were to go--charles, mary, anne, henrietta, louisa, and captain wentworth. the first heedless scheme had been to go inthe morning and return at night; but to

this mr musgrove, for the sake of hishorses, would not consent; and when it came to be rationally considered, a day in the middle of november would not leave muchtime for seeing a new place, after deducting seven hours, as the nature of thecountry required, for going and returning. they were, consequently, to stay the nightthere, and not to be expected back till the next day's dinner. this was felt to be a considerableamendment; and though they all met at the great house at rather an early breakfasthour, and set off very punctually, it was so much past noon before the two carriages,

mr musgrove's coach containing the fourladies, and charles's curricle, in which he drove captain wentworth, were descendingthe long hill into lyme, and entering upon the still steeper street of the town itself, that it was very evident they wouldnot have more than time for looking about them, before the light and warmth of theday were gone. after securing accommodations, and orderinga dinner at one of the inns, the next thing to be done was unquestionably to walkdirectly down to the sea. they were come too late in the year for anyamusement or variety which lyme, as a public place, might offer.

the rooms were shut up, the lodgers almostall gone, scarcely any family but of the residents left; and, as there is nothing toadmire in the buildings themselves, the remarkable situation of the town, the principal street almost hurrying into thewater, the walk to the cobb, skirting round the pleasant little bay, which, in theseason, is animated with bathing machines and company; the cobb itself, its old wonders and new improvements, with the verybeautiful line of cliffs stretching out to the east of the town, are what thestranger's eye will seek; and a very strange stranger it must be, who does not

see charms in the immediate environs oflyme, to make him wish to know it better. the scenes in its neighbourhood, charmouth,with its high grounds and extensive sweeps of country, and still more, its sweet,retired bay, backed by dark cliffs, where fragments of low rock among the sands, make it the happiest spot for watching the flowof the tide, for sitting in unwearied contemplation; the woody varieties of thecheerful village of up lyme; and, above all, pinny, with its green chasms between romantic rocks, where the scattered foresttrees and orchards of luxuriant growth, declare that many a generation must havepassed away since the first partial falling

of the cliff prepared the ground for such a state, where a scene so wonderful and solovely is exhibited, as may more than equal any of the resembling scenes of the far-famed isle of wight: these places must be visited, and visited again, to make theworth of lyme understood. the party from uppercross passing down bythe now deserted and melancholy looking rooms, and still descending, soon foundthemselves on the sea-shore; and lingering only, as all must linger and gaze on a first return to the sea, who ever deservedto look on it at all, proceeded towards the cobb, equally their object in itself and oncaptain wentworth's account: for in a

small house, near the foot of an old pier of unknown date, were the harvillessettled. captain wentworth turned in to call on hisfriend; the others walked on, and he was to join them on the cobb. they were by no means tired of wonderingand admiring; and not even louisa seemed to feel that they had parted with captainwentworth long, when they saw him coming after them, with three companions, all well known already, by description, to becaptain and mrs harville, and a captain benwick, who was staying with them.

captain benwick had some time ago beenfirst lieutenant of the laconia; and the account which captain wentworth had givenof him, on his return from lyme before, his warm praise of him as an excellent young man and an officer, whom he had alwaysvalued highly, which must have stamped him well in the esteem of every listener, hadbeen followed by a little history of his private life, which rendered him perfectlyinteresting in the eyes of all the ladies. he had been engaged to captain harville'ssister, and was now mourning her loss. they had been a year or two waiting forfortune and promotion. fortune came, his prize-money as lieutenantbeing great; promotion, too, came at last;

but fanny harville did not live to know it. she had died the preceding summer while hewas at sea. captain wentworth believed it impossiblefor man to be more attached to woman than poor benwick had been to fanny harville, orto be more deeply afflicted under the dreadful change. he considered his disposition as of thesort which must suffer heavily, uniting very strong feelings with quiet, serious,and retiring manners, and a decided taste for reading, and sedentary pursuits. to finish the interest of the story, thefriendship between him and the harvilles

seemed, if possible, augmented by the eventwhich closed all their views of alliance, and captain benwick was now living withthem entirely. captain harville had taken his presenthouse for half a year; his taste, and his health, and his fortune, all directing himto a residence inexpensive, and by the sea; and the grandeur of the country, and the retirement of lyme in the winter, appearedexactly adapted to captain benwick's state of mind.the sympathy and good-will excited towards captain benwick was very great. "and yet," said anne to herself, as theynow moved forward to meet the party, "he

has not, perhaps, a more sorrowing heartthan i have. i cannot believe his prospects so blightedfor ever. he is younger than i am; younger infeeling, if not in fact; younger as a man. he will rally again, and be happy withanother." they all met, and were introduced. captain harville was a tall, dark man, witha sensible, benevolent countenance; a little lame; and from strong features andwant of health, looking much older than captain wentworth. captain benwick looked, and was, theyoungest of the three, and, compared with

either of them, a little man. he had a pleasing face and a melancholyair, just as he ought to have, and drew back from conversation. captain harville, though not equallingcaptain wentworth in manners, was a perfect gentleman, unaffected, warm, and obliging. mrs harville, a degree less polished thanher husband, seemed, however, to have the same good feelings; and nothing could bemore pleasant than their desire of considering the whole party as friends of their own, because the friends of captainwentworth, or more kindly hospitable than

their entreaties for their all promising todine with them. the dinner, already ordered at the inn, wasat last, though unwillingly, accepted as a excuse; but they seemed almost hurt thatcaptain wentworth should have brought any such party to lyme, without considering it as a thing of course that they should dinewith them. there was so much attachment to captainwentworth in all this, and such a bewitching charm in a degree of hospitalityso uncommon, so unlike the usual style of give-and-take invitations, and dinners of formality and display, that anne felt herspirits not likely to be benefited by an

increasing acquaintance among his brother-officers. "these would have been all my friends," washer thought; and she had to struggle against a great tendency to lowness. on quitting the cobb, they all went in-doors with their new friends, and found rooms so small as none but those who invitefrom the heart could think capable of accommodating so many. anne had a moment's astonishment on thesubject herself; but it was soon lost in the pleasanter feelings which sprang fromthe sight of all the ingenious contrivances and nice arrangements of captain harville,

to turn the actual space to the bestaccount, to supply the deficiencies of lodging-house furniture, and defend thewindows and doors against the winter storms to be expected. the varieties in the fitting-up of therooms, where the common necessaries provided by the owner, in the commonindifferent plight, were contrasted with some few articles of a rare species of wood, excellently worked up, and withsomething curious and valuable from all the distant countries captain harville hadvisited, were more than amusing to anne; connected as it all was with his

profession, the fruit of its labours, theeffect of its influence on his habits, the picture of repose and domestic happiness itpresented, made it to her a something more, or less, than gratification. captain harville was no reader; but he hadcontrived excellent accommodations, and fashioned very pretty shelves, for atolerable collection of well-bound volumes, the property of captain benwick. his lameness prevented him from taking muchexercise; but a mind of usefulness and ingenuity seemed to furnish him withconstant employment within. he drew, he varnished, he carpentered, heglued; he made toys for the children; he

fashioned new netting-needles and pins withimprovements; and if everything else was done, sat down to his large fishing-net atone corner of the room. anne thought she left great happinessbehind her when they quitted the house; and louisa, by whom she found herself walking,burst forth into raptures of admiration and delight on the character of the navy; their friendliness, their brotherliness, theiropenness, their uprightness; protesting that she was convinced of sailors havingmore worth and warmth than any other set of men in england; that they only knew how to live, and they only deserved to berespected and loved.

they went back to dress and dine; and sowell had the scheme answered already, that nothing was found amiss; though its being"so entirely out of season," and the "no thoroughfare of lyme," and the "no expectation of company," had brought manyapologies from the heads of the inn. anne found herself by this time growing somuch more hardened to being in captain wentworth's company than she had at firstimagined could ever be, that the sitting down to the same table with him now, and the interchange of the common civilitiesattending on it (they never got beyond), was become a mere nothing.

the nights were too dark for the ladies tomeet again till the morrow, but captain harville had promised them a visit in theevening; and he came, bringing his friend also, which was more than had been expected, it having been agreed thatcaptain benwick had all the appearance of being oppressed by the presence of so manystrangers. he ventured among them again, however,though his spirits certainly did not seem fit for the mirth of the party in general. while captains wentworth and harville ledthe talk on one side of the room, and by recurring to former days, suppliedanecdotes in abundance to occupy and

entertain the others, it fell to anne's lot to be placed rather apart with captainbenwick; and a very good impulse of her nature obliged her to begin an acquaintancewith him. he was shy, and disposed to abstraction;but the engaging mildness of her countenance, and gentleness of her manners,soon had their effect; and anne was well repaid the first trouble of exertion. he was evidently a young man ofconsiderable taste in reading, though principally in poetry; and besides thepersuasion of having given him at least an evening's indulgence in the discussion of

subjects, which his usual companions hadprobably no concern in, she had the hope of being of real use to him in somesuggestions as to the duty and benefit of struggling against affliction, which hadnaturally grown out of their conversation. for, though shy, he did not seem reserved;it had rather the appearance of feelings glad to burst their usual restraints; andhaving talked of poetry, the richness of the present age, and gone through a brief comparison of opinion as to the first-ratepoets, trying to ascertain whether marmion or the lady of the lake were to bepreferred, and how ranked the giaour and the bride of abydos; and moreover, how the

giaour was to be pronounced, he showedhimself so intimately acquainted with all the tenderest songs of the one poet, andall the impassioned descriptions of hopeless agony of the other; he repeated, with such tremulous feeling, the variouslines which imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness, and lookedso entirely as if he meant to be understood, that she ventured to hope he did not always read only poetry, and tosay, that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely enjoyed bythose who enjoyed it completely; and that the strong feelings which alone could

estimate it truly were the very feelingswhich ought to taste it but sparingly. his looks shewing him not pained, butpleased with this allusion to his situation, she was emboldened to go on; andfeeling in herself the right of seniority of mind, she ventured to recommend a larger allowance of prose in his daily study; andon being requested to particularize, mentioned such works of our best moralists,such collections of the finest letters, such memoirs of characters of worth and suffering, as occurred to her at the momentas calculated to rouse and fortify the mind by the highest precepts, and the strongestexamples of moral and religious endurances.

captain benwick listened attentively, andseemed grateful for the interest implied; and though with a shake of the head, andsighs which declared his little faith in the efficacy of any books on grief like his, noted down the names of those sherecommended, and promised to procure and read them. when the evening was over, anne could notbut be amused at the idea of her coming to lyme to preach patience and resignation toa young man whom she had never seen before; nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection, that, like many other greatmoralists and preachers, she had been

eloquent on a point in which her ownconduct would ill bear examination. > chapter 12-part 1 anne and henrietta, finding themselves theearliest of the party the next morning, agreed to stroll down to the sea beforebreakfast. they went to the sands, to watch theflowing of the tide, which a fine south- easterly breeze was bringing in with allthe grandeur which so flat a shore admitted. they praised the morning; gloried in thesea; sympathized in the delight of the

fresh-feeling breeze--and were silent; tillhenrietta suddenly began again with-- "oh! yes,--i am quite convinced that, withvery few exceptions, the sea-air always does good. there can be no doubt of its having been ofthe greatest service to dr shirley, after his illness, last spring twelve-month. he declares himself, that coming to lymefor a month, did him more good than all the medicine he took; and, that being by thesea, always makes him feel young again. now, i cannot help thinking it a pity thathe does not live entirely by the sea. i do think he had better leave uppercrossentirely, and fix at lyme.

do not you, anne? do not you agree with me, that it is thebest thing he could do, both for himself and mrs shirley? she has cousins here, you know, and manyacquaintance, which would make it cheerful for her, and i am sure she would be glad toget to a place where she could have medical attendance at hand, in case of his havinganother seizure. indeed i think it quite melancholy to havesuch excellent people as dr and mrs shirley, who have been doing good all theirlives, wearing out their last days in a place like uppercross, where, excepting our

family, they seem shut out from all theworld. i wish his friends would propose it to him.i really think they ought. and, as to procuring a dispensation, therecould be no difficulty at his time of life, and with his character.my only doubt is, whether anything could persuade him to leave his parish. he is so very strict and scrupulous in hisnotions; over-scrupulous i must say. do not you think, anne, it is being over-scrupulous? do not you think it is quite a mistakenpoint of conscience, when a clergyman sacrifices his health for the sake ofduties, which may be just as well performed

by another person? and at lyme too, only seventeen miles off,he would be near enough to hear, if people thought there was anything to complain of." anne smiled more than once to herselfduring this speech, and entered into the subject, as ready to do good by enteringinto the feelings of a young lady as of a young man, though here it was good of a lower standard, for what could be offeredbut general acquiescence? she said all that was reasonable and properon the business; felt the claims of dr shirley to repose as she ought; saw howvery desirable it was that he should have

some active, respectable young man, as a resident curate, and was even courteousenough to hint at the advantage of such resident curate's being married. "i wish," said henrietta, very well pleasedwith her companion, "i wish lady russell lived at uppercross, and were intimate withdr shirley. i have always heard of lady russell as awoman of the greatest influence with everybody!i always look upon her as able to persuade a person to anything! i am afraid of her, as i have told youbefore, quite afraid of her, because she is

so very clever; but i respect heramazingly, and wish we had such a neighbour at uppercross." anne was amused by henrietta's manner ofbeing grateful, and amused also that the course of events and the new interests ofhenrietta's views should have placed her friend at all in favour with any of the musgrove family; she had only time,however, for a general answer, and a wish that such another woman were at uppercross,before all subjects suddenly ceased, on seeing louisa and captain wentworth comingtowards them. they came also for a stroll till breakfastwas likely to be ready; but louisa

recollecting, immediately afterwards thatshe had something to procure at a shop, invited them all to go back with her intothe town. they were all at her disposal. when they came to the steps, leadingupwards from the beach, a gentleman, at the same moment preparing to come down,politely drew back, and stopped to give them way. they ascended and passed him; and as theypassed, anne's face caught his eye, and he looked at her with a degree of earnestadmiration, which she could not be insensible of.

she was looking remarkably well; her veryregular, very pretty features, having the bloom and freshness of youth restored bythe fine wind which had been blowing on her complexion, and by the animation of eyewhich it had also produced. it was evident that the gentleman,(completely a gentleman in manner) admired her exceedingly. captain wentworth looked round at herinstantly in a way which shewed his noticing of it. he gave her a momentary glance, a glance ofbrightness, which seemed to say, "that man is struck with you, and even i, at thismoment, see something like anne elliot

again." after attending louisa through herbusiness, and loitering about a little longer, they returned to the inn; and anne,in passing afterwards quickly from her own chamber to their dining-room, had nearly run against the very same gentleman, as hecame out of an adjoining apartment. she had before conjectured him to be astranger like themselves, and determined that a well-looking groom, who wasstrolling about near the two inns as they came back, should be his servant. both master and man being in mourningassisted the idea.

it was now proved that he belonged to thesame inn as themselves; and this second meeting, short as it was, also proved againby the gentleman's looks, that he thought hers very lovely, and by the readiness and propriety of his apologies, that he was aman of exceedingly good manners. he seemed about thirty, and though nothandsome, had an agreeable person. anne felt that she should like to know whohe was. they had nearly done breakfast, when thesound of a carriage, (almost the first they had heard since entering lyme) drew halfthe party to the window. it was a gentleman's carriage, a curricle,but only coming round from the stable-yard

to the front door; somebody must be goingaway. it was driven by a servant in mourning. the word curricle made charles musgrovejump up that he might compare it with his own; the servant in mourning roused anne'scuriosity, and the whole six were collected to look, by the time the owner of the curricle was to be seen issuing from thedoor amidst the bows and civilities of the household, and taking his seat, to driveoff. "ah!" cried captain wentworth, instantly,and with half a glance at anne, "it is the very man we passed."

the miss musgroves agreed to it; and havingall kindly watched him as far up the hill as they could, they returned to thebreakfast table. the waiter came into the room soonafterwards. "pray," said captain wentworth,immediately, "can you tell us the name of the gentleman who is just gone away?" "yes, sir, a mr elliot, a gentleman oflarge fortune, came in last night from sidmouth. dare say you heard the carriage, sir, whileyou were at dinner; and going on now for crewkherne, in his way to bath and london.""elliot!"

many had looked on each other, and many hadrepeated the name, before all this had been got through, even by the smart rapidity ofa waiter. "bless me!" cried mary; "it must be ourcousin; it must be our mr elliot, it must, indeed!charles, anne, must not it? in mourning, you see, just as our mr elliotmust be. how very extraordinary!in the very same inn with us! anne, must not it be our mr elliot? myfather's next heir? pray sir," turning to the waiter, "did notyou hear, did not his servant say whether he belonged to the kellynch family?"

"no, ma'am, he did not mention noparticular family; but he said his master was a very rich gentleman, and would be abaronight some day." "there! you see!" cried mary in an ecstasy,"just as i said! heir to sir walter elliot!i was sure that would come out, if it was so. depend upon it, that is a circumstancewhich his servants take care to publish, wherever he goes.but, anne, only conceive how extraordinary! i wish i had looked at him more. i wish we had been aware in time, who itwas, that he might have been introduced to

us.what a pity that we should not have been introduced to each other! do you think he had the elliot countenance?i hardly looked at him, i was looking at the horses; but i think he had something ofthe elliot countenance, i wonder the arms did not strike me! oh! the great-coat was hanging over thepanel, and hid the arms, so it did; otherwise, i am sure, i should haveobserved them, and the livery too; if the servant had not been in mourning, oneshould have known him by the livery." "putting all these very extraordinarycircumstances together," said captain

wentworth, "we must consider it to be thearrangement of providence, that you should not be introduced to your cousin." when she could command mary's attention,anne quietly tried to convince her that their father and mr elliot had not, formany years, been on such terms as to make the power of attempting an introduction atall desirable. at the same time, however, it was a secretgratification to herself to have seen her cousin, and to know that the future ownerof kellynch was undoubtedly a gentleman, and had an air of good sense. she would not, upon any account, mentionher having met with him the second time;

luckily mary did not much attend to theirhaving passed close by him in their earlier walk, but she would have felt quite ill- used by anne's having actually run againsthim in the passage, and received his very polite excuses, while she had never beennear him at all; no, that cousinly little interview must remain a perfect secret. "of course," said mary, "you will mentionour seeing mr elliot, the next time you write to bath.i think my father certainly ought to hear of it; do mention all about him." anne avoided a direct reply, but it wasjust the circumstance which she considered

as not merely unnecessary to becommunicated, but as what ought to be suppressed. the offence which had been given herfather, many years back, she knew; elizabeth's particular share in it shesuspected; and that mr elliot's idea always produced irritation in both was beyond adoubt. mary never wrote to bath herself; all thetoil of keeping up a slow and unsatisfactory correspondence withelizabeth fell on anne. breakfast had not been long over, when theywere joined by captain and mrs harville and captain benwick; with whom they hadappointed to take their last walk about

lyme. they ought to be setting off for uppercrossby one, and in the mean while were to be all together, and out of doors as long asthey could. anne found captain benwick getting nearher, as soon as they were all fairly in the street. their conversation the preceding eveningdid not disincline him to seek her again; and they walked together some time, talkingas before of mr scott and lord byron, and still as unable as before, and as unable as any other two readers, to think exactlyalike of the merits of either, till

something occasioned an almost generalchange amongst their party, and instead of captain benwick, she had captain harvilleby her side. "miss elliot," said he, speaking ratherlow, "you have done a good deed in making that poor fellow talk so much. i wish he could have such company oftener.it is bad for him, i know, to be shut up as he is; but what can we do?we cannot part." "no," said anne, "that i can easily believeto be impossible; but in time, perhaps--we know what time does in every case ofaffliction, and you must remember, captain harville, that your friend may yet be

called a young mourner--only last summer,i understand." "ay, true enough," (with a deep sigh) "onlyjune." "and not known to him, perhaps, so soon." "not till the first week of august, when hecame home from the cape, just made into the grappler. i was at plymouth dreading to hear of him;he sent in letters, but the grappler was under orders for portsmouth.there the news must follow him, but who was to tell it? not i. i would as soon have been run up to theyard-arm.

nobody could do it, but that good fellow"(pointing to captain wentworth.) "the laconia had come into plymouth theweek before; no danger of her being sent to sea again. he stood his chance for the rest; wrote upfor leave of absence, but without waiting the return, travelled night and day till hegot to portsmouth, rowed off to the grappler that instant, and never left thepoor fellow for a week. that's what he did, and nobody else couldhave saved poor james. you may think, miss elliot, whether he isdear to us!" anne did think on the question with perfectdecision, and said as much in reply as her

own feeling could accomplish, or as hisseemed able to bear, for he was too much affected to renew the subject, and when he spoke again, it was of something totallydifferent. mrs harville's giving it as her opinionthat her husband would have quite walking enough by the time he reached home,determined the direction of all the party in what was to be their last walk; they would accompany them to their door, andthen return and set off themselves. by all their calculations there was justtime for this; but as they drew near the cobb, there was such a general wish to walkalong it once more, all were so inclined,

and louisa soon grew so determined, that the difference of a quarter of an hour, itwas found, would be no difference at all; so with all the kind leave-taking, and allthe kind interchange of invitations and promises which may be imagined, they parted from captain and mrs harville at their owndoor, and still accompanied by captain benwick, who seemed to cling to them to thelast, proceeded to make the proper adieus to the cobb. anne found captain benwick again drawingnear her. lord byron's "dark blue seas" could notfail of being brought forward by their

present view, and she gladly gave him allher attention as long as attention was possible. it was soon drawn, perforce another way. there was too much wind to make the highpart of the new cobb pleasant for the ladies, and they agreed to get down thesteps to the lower, and all were contented to pass quietly and carefully down the steep flight, excepting louisa; she must bejumped down them by captain wentworth. in all their walks, he had had to jump herfrom the stiles; the sensation was delightful to her.

the hardness of the pavement for her feet,made him less willing upon the present occasion; he did it, however. she was safely down, and instantly, to showher enjoyment, ran up the steps to be jumped down again. he advised her against it, thought the jartoo great; but no, he reasoned and talked in vain, she smiled and said, "i amdetermined i will:" he put out his hands; she was too precipitate by half a second, she fell on the pavement on the lower cobb,and was taken up lifeless! -chapter 12-part 2

there was no wound, no blood, no visiblebruise; but her eyes were closed, she breathed not, her face was like death.the horror of the moment to all who stood around! captain wentworth, who had caught her up,knelt with her in his arms, looking on her with a face as pallid as her own, in anagony of silence. "she is dead! she is dead!" screamed mary,catching hold of her husband, and contributing with his own horror to makehim immoveable; and in another moment, henrietta, sinking under the conviction, lost her senses too, and would have fallenon the steps, but for captain benwick and

anne, who caught and supported her betweenthem. "is there no one to help me?" were thefirst words which burst from captain wentworth, in a tone of despair, and as ifall his own strength were gone. "go to him, go to him," cried anne, "forheaven's sake go to him. i can support her myself.leave me, and go to him. rub her hands, rub her temples; here aresalts; take them, take them." captain benwick obeyed, and charles at thesame moment, disengaging himself from his wife, they were both with him; and louisawas raised up and supported more firmly between them, and everything was done that

anne had prompted, but in vain; whilecaptain wentworth, staggering against the wall for his support, exclaimed in thebitterest agony-- "oh god! her father and mother!" "a surgeon!" said anne.he caught the word; it seemed to rouse him at once, and saying only-- "true, true, asurgeon this instant," was darting away, when anne eagerly suggested-- "captain benwick, would not it be betterfor captain benwick? he knows where a surgeon is to be found." every one capable of thinking felt theadvantage of the idea, and in a moment (it

was all done in rapid moments) captainbenwick had resigned the poor corpse-like figure entirely to the brother's care, and was off for the town with the utmostrapidity. as to the wretched party left behind, itcould scarcely be said which of the three, who were completely rational, was sufferingmost: captain wentworth, anne, or charles, who, really a very affectionate brother, hung over louisa with sobs of grief, andcould only turn his eyes from one sister, to see the other in a state as insensible,or to witness the hysterical agitations of his wife, calling on him for help which hecould not give.

anne, attending with all the strength andzeal, and thought, which instinct supplied, to henrietta, still tried, at intervals, tosuggest comfort to the others, tried to quiet mary, to animate charles, to assuagethe feelings of captain wentworth. both seemed to look to her for directions."anne, anne," cried charles, "what is to be done next? what, in heaven's name, is to be donenext?" captain wentworth's eyes were also turnedtowards her. "had not she better be carried to the inn? yes, i am sure: carry her gently to theinn."

"yes, yes, to the inn," repeated captainwentworth, comparatively collected, and eager to be doing something. "i will carry her myself.musgrove, take care of the others." by this time the report of the accident hadspread among the workmen and boatmen about the cobb, and many were collected nearthem, to be useful if wanted, at any rate, to enjoy the sight of a dead young lady, nay, two dead young ladies, for it provedtwice as fine as the first report. to some of the best-looking of these goodpeople henrietta was consigned, for, though partially revived, she was quite helpless;and in this manner, anne walking by her

side, and charles attending to his wife, they set forward, treading back withfeelings unutterable, the ground, which so lately, so very lately, and so light ofheart, they had passed along. they were not off the cobb, before theharvilles met them. captain benwick had been seen flying bytheir house, with a countenance which showed something to be wrong; and they hadset off immediately, informed and directed as they passed, towards the spot. shocked as captain harville was, he broughtsenses and nerves that could be instantly useful; and a look between him and his wifedecided what was to be done.

she must be taken to their house; all mustgo to their house; and await the surgeon's arrival there. they would not listen to scruples: he wasobeyed; they were all beneath his roof; and while louisa, under mrs harville'sdirection, was conveyed up stairs, and given possession of her own bed, assistance, cordials, restoratives weresupplied by her husband to all who needed them. louisa had once opened her eyes, but soonclosed them again, without apparent consciousness.

this had been a proof of life, however, ofservice to her sister; and henrietta, though perfectly incapable of being in thesame room with louisa, was kept, by the agitation of hope and fear, from a returnof her own insensibility. mary, too, was growing calmer.the surgeon was with them almost before it had seemed possible. they were sick with horror, while heexamined; but he was not hopeless. the head had received a severe contusion,but he had seen greater injuries recovered from: he was by no means hopeless; hespoke cheerfully. that he did not regard it as a desperatecase, that he did not say a few hours must

end it, was at first felt, beyond the hopeof most; and the ecstasy of such a reprieve, the rejoicing, deep and silent, after a few fervent ejaculations ofgratitude to heaven had been offered, may be conceived. the tone, the look, with which "thank god!"was uttered by captain wentworth, anne was sure could never be forgotten by her; northe sight of him afterwards, as he sat near a table, leaning over it with folded arms and face concealed, as if overpowered bythe various feelings of his soul, and trying by prayer and reflection to calmthem.

louisa's limbs had escaped. there was no injury but to the head.it now became necessary for the party to consider what was best to be done, as totheir general situation. they were now able to speak to each otherand consult. that louisa must remain where she was,however distressing to her friends to be involving the harvilles in such trouble,did not admit a doubt. her removal was impossible. the harvilles silenced all scruples; and,as much as they could, all gratitude. they had looked forward and arrangedeverything before the others began to

reflect. captain benwick must give up his room tothem, and get another bed elsewhere; and the whole was settled. they were only concerned that the housecould accommodate no more; and yet perhaps, by "putting the children away in the maid'sroom, or swinging a cot somewhere," they could hardly bear to think of not finding room for two or three besides, supposingthey might wish to stay; though, with regard to any attendance on miss musgrove,there need not be the least uneasiness in leaving her to mrs harville's careentirely.

mrs harville was a very experienced nurse,and her nursery-maid, who had lived with her long, and gone about with hereverywhere, was just such another. between these two, she could want nopossible attendance by day or night. and all this was said with a truth andsincerity of feeling irresistible. charles, henrietta, and captain wentworthwere the three in consultation, and for a little while it was only an interchange ofperplexity and terror. "uppercross, the necessity of some one'sgoing to uppercross; the news to be conveyed; how it could be broken to mr andmrs musgrove; the lateness of the morning; an hour already gone since they ought to

have been off; the impossibility of beingin tolerable time." at first, they were capable of nothing moreto the purpose than such exclamations; but, after a while, captain wentworth, exertinghimself, said-- "we must be decided, and without the lossof another minute. every minute is valuable.some one must resolve on being off for uppercross instantly. musgrove, either you or i must go."charles agreed, but declared his resolution of not going away. he would be as little incumbrance aspossible to captain and mrs harville; but

as to leaving his sister in such a state,he neither ought, nor would. so far it was decided; and henrietta atfirst declared the same. she, however, was soon persuaded to thinkdifferently. the usefulness of her staying! she who had not been able to remain inlouisa's room, or to look at her, without sufferings which made her worse thanhelpless! she was forced to acknowledge that shecould do no good, yet was still unwilling to be away, till, touched by the thought ofher father and mother, she gave it up; she consented, she was anxious to be at home.

the plan had reached this point, when anne,coming quietly down from louisa's room, could not but hear what followed, for theparlour door was open. "then it is settled, musgrove," criedcaptain wentworth, "that you stay, and that i take care of your sister home. but as to the rest, as to the others, ifone stays to assist mrs harville, i think it need be only one. mrs charles musgrove will, of course, wishto get back to her children; but if anne will stay, no one so proper, so capable asanne." she paused a moment to recover from theemotion of hearing herself so spoken of.

the other two warmly agreed with what hesaid, and she then appeared. "you will stay, i am sure; you will stayand nurse her;" cried he, turning to her and speaking with a glow, and yet agentleness, which seemed almost restoring the past. she coloured deeply, and he recollectedhimself and moved away. she expressed herself most willing, ready,happy to remain. "it was what she had been thinking of, andwishing to be allowed to do. a bed on the floor in louisa's room wouldbe sufficient for her, if mrs harville would but think so."

one thing more, and all seemed arranged. though it was rather desirable that mr andmrs musgrove should be previously alarmed by some share of delay; yet the timerequired by the uppercross horses to take them back, would be a dreadful extension of suspense; and captain wentworth proposed,and charles musgrove agreed, that it would be much better for him to take a chaisefrom the inn, and leave mr musgrove's carriage and horses to be sent home the next morning early, when there would be thefarther advantage of sending an account of louisa's night.

captain wentworth now hurried off to geteverything ready on his part, and to be soon followed by the two ladies. when the plan was made known to mary,however, there was an end of all peace in it. she was so wretched and so vehement,complained so much of injustice in being expected to go away instead of anne; anne,who was nothing to louisa, while she was her sister, and had the best right to stayin henrietta's stead! why was not she to be as useful as anne?and to go home without charles, too, without her husband!

no, it was too unkind. and in short, she said more than herhusband could long withstand, and as none of the others could oppose when he gaveway, there was no help for it; the change of mary for anne was inevitable. anne had never submitted more reluctantlyto the jealous and ill-judging claims of mary; but so it must be, and they set offfor the town, charles taking care of his sister, and captain benwick attending toher. she gave a moment's recollection, as theyhurried along, to the little circumstances which the same spots had witnessed earlierin the morning.

there she had listened to henrietta'sschemes for dr shirley's leaving uppercross; farther on, she had first seenmr elliot; a moment seemed all that could now be given to any one but louisa, orthose who were wrapt up in her welfare. captain benwick was most consideratelyattentive to her; and, united as they all seemed by the distress of the day, she feltan increasing degree of good-will towards him, and a pleasure even in thinking that it might, perhaps, be the occasion ofcontinuing their acquaintance. captain wentworth was on the watch forthem, and a chaise and four in waiting, stationed for their convenience in thelowest part of the street; but his evident

surprise and vexation at the substitution of one sister for the other, the change inhis countenance, the astonishment, the expressions begun and suppressed, withwhich charles was listened to, made but a mortifying reception of anne; or must at least convince her that she was valued onlyas she could be useful to louisa. she endeavoured to be composed, and to bejust. without emulating the feelings of an emmatowards her henry, she would have attended on louisa with a zeal above the commonclaims of regard, for his sake; and she hoped he would not long be so unjust as to

suppose she would shrink unnecessarily fromthe office of a friend. in the mean while she was in the carriage. he had handed them both in, and placedhimself between them; and in this manner, under these circumstances, full ofastonishment and emotion to anne, she quitted lyme. how the long stage would pass; how it wasto affect their manners; what was to be their sort of intercourse, she could notforesee. it was all quite natural, however. he was devoted to henrietta; always turningtowards her; and when he spoke at all,

always with the view of supporting herhopes and raising her spirits. in general, his voice and manner werestudiously calm. to spare henrietta from agitation seemedthe governing principle. once only, when she had been grieving overthe last ill-judged, ill-fated walk to the cobb, bitterly lamenting that it ever hadbeen thought of, he burst forth, as if wholly overcome-- "don't talk of it, don't talk of it," hecried. "oh god! that i had not given way to her atthe fatal moment! had i done as i ought!

but so eager and so resolute!dear, sweet louisa!" anne wondered whether it ever occurred tohim now, to question the justness of his own previous opinion as to the universalfelicity and advantage of firmness of character; and whether it might not strike him that, like all other qualities of themind, it should have its proportions and limits. she thought it could scarcely escape him tofeel that a persuadable temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happinessas a very resolute character. they got on fast.

anne was astonished to recognise the samehills and the same objects so soon. their actual speed, heightened by somedread of the conclusion, made the road appear but half as long as on the daybefore. it was growing quite dusk, however, beforethey were in the neighbourhood of uppercross, and there had been totalsilence among them for some time, henrietta leaning back in the corner, with a shawl over her face, giving the hope of herhaving cried herself to sleep; when, as they were going up their last hill, annefound herself all at once addressed by in a low, cautious voice, he said:--"i have been considering what we had best

do.she must not appear at first. she could not stand it. i have been thinking whether you had notbetter remain in the carriage with her, while i go in and break it to mr and mrsmusgrove. do you think this is a good plan?" she did: he was satisfied, and said nomore. but the remembrance of the appeal remaineda pleasure to her, as a proof of friendship, and of deference for herjudgement, a great pleasure; and when it became a sort of parting proof, its valuedid not lessen.

when the distressing communication atuppercross was over, and he had seen the father and mother quite as composed ascould be hoped, and the daughter all the better for being with them, he announced his intention of returning in the samecarriage to lyme; and when the horses were baited, he was off.(end of volume one.) chapter 13 the remainder of anne's time at uppercross,comprehending only two days, was spent entirely at the mansion house; and she hadthe satisfaction of knowing herself extremely useful there, both as an

immediate companion, and as assisting inall those arrangements for the future, which, in mr and mrs musgrove's distressedstate of spirits, would have been difficulties. they had an early account from lyme thenext morning. louisa was much the same.no symptoms worse than before had appeared. charles came a few hours afterwards, tobring a later and more particular account. he was tolerably cheerful. a speedy cure must not be hoped, buteverything was going on as well as the nature of the case admitted.

in speaking of the harvilles, he seemedunable to satisfy his own sense of their kindness, especially of mrs harville'sexertions as a nurse. "she really left nothing for mary to do. he and mary had been persuaded to go earlyto their inn last night. mary had been hysterical again thismorning. when he came away, she was going to walkout with captain benwick, which, he hoped, would do her good. he almost wished she had been prevailed onto come home the day before; but the truth was, that mrs harville left nothing foranybody to do."

charles was to return to lyme the sameafternoon, and his father had at first half a mind to go with him, but the ladies couldnot consent. it would be going only to multiply troubleto the others, and increase his own distress; and a much better scheme followedand was acted upon. a chaise was sent for from crewkherne, andcharles conveyed back a far more useful person in the old nursery-maid of thefamily, one who having brought up all the children, and seen the very last, the lingering and long-petted master harry,sent to school after his brothers, was now living in her deserted nursery to mendstockings and dress all the blains and

bruises she could get near her, and who, consequently, was only too happy in beingallowed to go and help nurse dear miss louisa. vague wishes of getting sarah thither, hadoccurred before to mrs musgrove and henrietta; but without anne, it wouldhardly have been resolved on, and found practicable so soon. they were indebted, the next day, tocharles hayter, for all the minute knowledge of louisa, which it was soessential to obtain every twenty-four hours.

he made it his business to go to lyme, andhis account was still encouraging. the intervals of sense and consciousnesswere believed to be stronger. every report agreed in captain wentworth'sappearing fixed in lyme. anne was to leave them on the morrow, anevent which they all dreaded. "what should they do without her? they were wretched comforters for oneanother." and so much was said in this way, that annethought she could not do better than impart among them the general inclination to whichshe was privy, and persuaded them all to go to lyme at once.

she had little difficulty; it was soondetermined that they would go; go to- morrow, fix themselves at the inn, or getinto lodgings, as it suited, and there remain till dear louisa could be moved. they must be taking off some trouble fromthe good people she was with; they might at least relieve mrs harville from the care ofher own children; and in short, they were so happy in the decision, that anne was delighted with what she had done, and feltthat she could not spend her last morning at uppercross better than in assistingtheir preparations, and sending them off at an early hour, though her being left to the

solitary range of the house was theconsequence. she was the last, excepting the little boysat the cottage, she was the very last, the only remaining one of all that had filledand animated both houses, of all that had given uppercross its cheerful character. a few days had made a change indeed!if louisa recovered, it would all be well again.more than former happiness would be restored. there could not be a doubt, to her mindthere was none, of what would follow her recovery.

a few months hence, and the room now sodeserted, occupied but by her silent, pensive self, might be filled again withall that was happy and gay, all that was glowing and bright in prosperous love, allthat was most unlike anne elliot! an hour's complete leisure for suchreflections as these, on a dark november day, a small thick rain almost blotting outthe very few objects ever to be discerned from the windows, was enough to make the sound of lady russell's carriageexceedingly welcome; and yet, though desirous to be gone, she could not quit themansion house, or look an adieu to the cottage, with its black, dripping and

comfortless veranda, or even notice throughthe misty glasses the last humble tenements of the village, without a saddened heart.scenes had passed in uppercross which made it precious. it stood the record of many sensations ofpain, once severe, but now softened; and of some instances of relenting feeling, somebreathings of friendship and reconciliation, which could never be looked for again, and which could never cease tobe dear. she left it all behind her, all but therecollection that such things had been. anne had never entered kellynch since herquitting lady russell's house in september.

it had not been necessary, and the fewoccasions of its being possible for her to go to the hall she had contrived to evadeand escape from. her first return was to resume her place inthe modern and elegant apartments of the lodge, and to gladden the eyes of itsmistress. there was some anxiety mixed with ladyrussell's joy in meeting her. she knew who had been frequentinguppercross. but happily, either anne was improved inplumpness and looks, or lady russell fancied her so; and anne, in receiving hercompliments on the occasion, had the amusement of connecting them with the

silent admiration of her cousin, and ofhoping that she was to be blessed with a second spring of youth and beauty.when they came to converse, she was soon sensible of some mental change. the subjects of which her heart had beenfull on leaving kellynch, and which she had felt slighted, and been compelled tosmother among the musgroves, were now become but of secondary interest. she had lately lost sight even of herfather and sister and bath. their concerns had been sunk under those ofuppercross; and when lady russell reverted to their former hopes and fears, and spokeher satisfaction in the house in camden

place, which had been taken, and her regret that mrs clay should still be with them,anne would have been ashamed to have it known how much more she was thinking oflyme and louisa musgrove, and all her acquaintance there; how much more interesting to her was the home and thefriendship of the harvilles and captain benwick, than her own father's house incamden place, or her own sister's intimacy with mrs clay. she was actually forced to exert herself tomeet lady russell with anything like the appearance of equal solicitude, on topicswhich had by nature the first claim on her.

there was a little awkwardness at first intheir discourse on another subject. they must speak of the accident at lyme. lady russell had not been arrived fiveminutes the day before, when a full account of the whole had burst on her; but still itmust be talked of, she must make enquiries, she must regret the imprudence, lament the result, and captain wentworth's name mustbe mentioned by both. anne was conscious of not doing it so wellas lady russell. she could not speak the name, and lookstraight forward to lady russell's eye, till she had adopted the expedient oftelling her briefly what she thought of the

attachment between him and louisa. when this was told, his name distressed herno longer. lady russell had only to listen composedly,and wish them happy, but internally her heart revelled in angry pleasure, inpleased contempt, that the man who at twenty-three had seemed to understand somewhat of the value of an anne elliot,should, eight years afterwards, be charmed by a louisa musgrove. the first three or four days passed mostquietly, with no circumstance to mark them excepting the receipt of a note or two fromlyme, which found their way to anne, she

could not tell how, and brought a ratherimproving account of louisa. at the end of that period, lady russell'spoliteness could repose no longer, and the fainter self-threatenings of the pastbecame in a decided tone, "i must call on mrs croft; i really must call upon hersoon. anne, have you courage to go with me, andpay a visit in that house? it will be some trial to us both." anne did not shrink from it; on thecontrary, she truly felt as she said, in observing-- "i think you are very likely to suffer themost of the two; your feelings are less

reconciled to the change than mine.by remaining in the neighbourhood, i am become inured to it." she could have said more on the subject;for she had in fact so high an opinion of the crofts, and considered her father sovery fortunate in his tenants, felt the parish to be so sure of a good example, and the poor of the best attention and relief,that however sorry and ashamed for the necessity of the removal, she could not butin conscience feel that they were gone who deserved not to stay, and that kellynch hall had passed into better hands than itsowners'.

these convictions must unquestionably havetheir own pain, and severe was its kind; but they precluded that pain which ladyrussell would suffer in entering the house again, and returning through the well-knownapartments. in such moments anne had no power of sayingto herself, "these rooms ought to belong only to us. oh, how fallen in their destination!how unworthily occupied! an ancient family to be so driven away!strangers filling their place!" no, except when she thought of her mother,and remembered where she had been used to sit and preside, she had no sigh of thatdescription to heave.

mrs croft always met her with a kindnesswhich gave her the pleasure of fancying herself a favourite, and on the presentoccasion, receiving her in that house, there was particular attention. the sad accident at lyme was soon theprevailing topic, and on comparing their latest accounts of the invalid, it appearedthat each lady dated her intelligence from the same hour of yestermorn; that captain wentworth had been in kellynch yesterday(the first time since the accident), had brought anne the last note, which she hadnot been able to trace the exact steps of; had staid a few hours and then returned

again to lyme, and without any presentintention of quitting it any more. he had enquired after her, she found,particularly; had expressed his hope of miss elliot's not being the worse for herexertions, and had spoken of those exertions as great. this was handsome, and gave her morepleasure than almost anything else could have done. as to the sad catastrophe itself, it couldbe canvassed only in one style by a couple of steady, sensible women, whose judgementshad to work on ascertained events; and it was perfectly decided that it had been the

consequence of much thoughtlessness andmuch imprudence; that its effects were most alarming, and that it was frightful tothink, how long miss musgrove's recovery might yet be doubtful, and how liable she would still remain to suffer from theconcussion hereafter! the admiral wound it up summarily byexclaiming-- "ay, a very bad business indeed. a new sort of way this, for a young fellowto be making love, by breaking his mistress's head, is not it, miss elliot?this is breaking a head and giving a plaster, truly!"

admiral croft's manners were not quite ofthe tone to suit lady russell, but they delighted anne.his goodness of heart and simplicity of character were irresistible. "now, this must be very bad for you," saidhe, suddenly rousing from a little reverie, "to be coming and finding us here.i had not recollected it before, i declare, but it must be very bad. but now, do not stand upon ceremony.get up and go over all the rooms in the house if you like it.""another time, sir, i thank you, not now." "well, whenever it suits you.

you can slip in from the shrubbery at anytime; and there you will find we keep our umbrellas hanging up by that door.a good place is not it? but," (checking himself), "you will notthink it a good place, for yours were always kept in the butler's room.ay, so it always is, i believe. one man's ways may be as good as another's,but we all like our own best. and so you must judge for yourself, whetherit would be better for you to go about the house or not." anne, finding she might decline it, did so,very gratefully. "we have made very few changes either,"continued the admiral, after thinking a

moment. "very few.we told you about the laundry-door, at uppercross.that has been a very great improvement. the wonder was, how any family upon earthcould bear with the inconvenience of its opening as it did, so long! you will tell sir walter what we have done,and that mr shepherd thinks it the greatest improvement the house ever had. indeed, i must do ourselves the justice tosay, that the few alterations we have made have been all very much for the better.my wife should have the credit of them,

however. i have done very little besides sendingaway some of the large looking-glasses from my dressing-room, which was your father's. a very good man, and very much thegentleman i am sure: but i should think, miss elliot," (looking with seriousreflection), "i should think he must be rather a dressy man for his time of life. such a number of looking-glasses! oh lord!there was no getting away from one's self. so i got sophy to lend me a hand, and wesoon shifted their quarters; and now i am quite snug, with my little shaving glass inone corner, and another great thing that i

never go near." anne, amused in spite of herself, wasrather distressed for an answer, and the admiral, fearing he might not have beencivil enough, took up the subject again, to say-- "the next time you write to your goodfather, miss elliot, pray give him my compliments and mrs croft's, and say thatwe are settled here quite to our liking, and have no fault at all to find with theplace. the breakfast-room chimney smokes a little,i grant you, but it is only when the wind is due north and blows hard, which may nothappen three times a winter.

and take it altogether, now that we havebeen into most of the houses hereabouts and can judge, there is not one that we likebetter than this. pray say so, with my compliments. he will be glad to hear it." lady russell and mrs croft were very wellpleased with each other: but the acquaintance which this visit began wasfated not to proceed far at present; for when it was returned, the crofts announced themselves to be going away for a fewweeks, to visit their connexions in the north of the county, and probably might notbe at home again before lady russell would

be removing to bath. so ended all danger to anne of meetingcaptain wentworth at kellynch hall, or of seeing him in company with her friend. everything was safe enough, and she smiledover the many anxious feelings she had wasted on the subject. chapter 14 though charles and mary had remained atlyme much longer after mr and mrs musgrove's going than anne conceived theycould have been at all wanted, they were yet the first of the family to be at home

again; and as soon as possible after theirreturn to uppercross they drove over to the lodge. they had left louisa beginning to sit up;but her head, though clear, was exceedingly weak, and her nerves susceptible to thehighest extreme of tenderness; and though she might be pronounced to be altogether doing very well, it was still impossible tosay when she might be able to bear the removal home; and her father and mother,who must return in time to receive their younger children for the christmas holidays, had hardly a hope of beingallowed to bring her with them.

they had been all in lodgings together. mrs musgrove had got mrs harville'schildren away as much as she could, every possible supply from uppercross had beenfurnished, to lighten the inconvenience to the harvilles, while the harvilles had been wanting them to come to dinner every day;and in short, it seemed to have been only a struggle on each side as to which should bemost disinterested and hospitable. mary had had her evils; but upon the whole,as was evident by her staying so long, she had found more to enjoy than to suffer. charles hayter had been at lyme oftenerthan suited her; and when they dined with

the harvilles there had been only a maid-servant to wait, and at first mrs harville had always given mrs musgrove precedence; but then, she had received so very handsomean apology from her on finding out whose daughter she was, and there had been somuch going on every day, there had been so many walks between their lodgings and the harvilles, and she had got books from thelibrary, and changed them so often, that the balance had certainly been much infavour of lyme. she had been taken to charmouth too, andshe had bathed, and she had gone to church, and there were a great many more people tolook at in the church at lyme than at

uppercross; and all this, joined to the sense of being so very useful, had madereally an agreeable fortnight. anne enquired after captain benwick, mary'sface was clouded directly. charles laughed. "oh!captain benwick is very well, i believe, but he is a very odd young man.i do not know what he would be at. we asked him to come home with us for a dayor two: charles undertook to give him some shooting, and he seemed quite delighted,and, for my part, i thought it was all settled; when behold! on tuesday night, he

made a very awkward sort of excuse; 'henever shot' and he had 'been quite misunderstood,' and he had promised thisand he had promised that, and the end of it was, i found, that he did not mean to come. i suppose he was afraid of finding it dull;but upon my word i should have thought we were lively enough at the cottage for sucha heart-broken man as captain benwick." charles laughed again and said, "now mary,you know very well how it really was. it was all your doing," (turning to anne.) "he fancied that if he went with us, heshould find you close by: he fancied everybody to be living in uppercross; andwhen he discovered that lady russell lived

three miles off, his heart failed him, andhe had not courage to come. that is the fact, upon my honour, maryknows it is." but mary did not give into it verygraciously, whether from not considering captain benwick entitled by birth andsituation to be in love with an elliot, or from not wanting to believe anne a greater attraction to uppercross than herself, mustbe left to be guessed. anne's good-will, however, was not to belessened by what she heard. she boldly acknowledged herself flattered,and continued her enquiries. "oh! he talks of you," cried charles, "insuch terms--" mary interrupted him.

"i declare, charles, i never heard himmention anne twice all the time i was there.i declare, anne, he never talks of you at all." "no," admitted charles, "i do not know thathe ever does, in a general way; but however, it is a very clear thing that headmires you exceedingly. his head is full of some books that he isreading upon your recommendation, and he wants to talk to you about them; he hasfound out something or other in one of them which he thinks--oh! i cannot pretend to remember it, but it wassomething very fine--i overheard him

telling henrietta all about it; and then'miss elliot' was spoken of in the highest terms! now mary, i declare it was so, i heard itmyself, and you were in the other room. 'elegance, sweetness, beauty.'oh! there was no end of miss elliot's charms." "and i am sure," cried mary, warmly, "itwas a very little to his credit, if he did. miss harville only died last june.such a heart is very little worth having; is it, lady russell? i am sure you will agree with me.""i must see captain benwick before i

decide," said lady russell, smiling."and that you are very likely to do very soon, i can tell you, ma'am," said charles. "though he had not nerves for coming awaywith us, and setting off again afterwards to pay a formal visit here, he will makehis way over to kellynch one day by himself, you may depend on it. i told him the distance and the road, and itold him of the church's being so very well worth seeing; for as he has a taste forthose sort of things, i thought that would be a good excuse, and he listened with all his understanding and soul; and i am surefrom his manner that you will have him

calling here soon.so, i give you notice, lady russell." "any acquaintance of anne's will always bewelcome to me," was lady russell's kind answer. "oh! as to being anne's acquaintance," saidmary, "i think he is rather my acquaintance, for i have been seeing himevery day this last fortnight." "well, as your joint acquaintance, then, ishall be very happy to see captain benwick.""you will not find anything very agreeable in him, i assure you, ma'am. he is one of the dullest young men thatever lived.

he has walked with me, sometimes, from oneend of the sands to the other, without saying a word. he is not at all a well-bred young man.i am sure you will not like him." "there we differ, mary," said anne."i think lady russell would like him. i think she would be so much pleased withhis mind, that she would very soon see no deficiency in his manner.""so do i, anne," said charles. "i am sure lady russell would like him. he is just lady russell's sort.give him a book, and he will read all day long.""yes, that he will!" exclaimed mary,

tauntingly. "he will sit poring over his book, and notknow when a person speaks to him, or when one drop's one's scissors, or anything thathappens. do you think lady russell would like that?" lady russell could not help laughing. "upon my word," said she, "i should nothave supposed that my opinion of any one could have admitted of such difference ofconjecture, steady and matter of fact as i may call myself. i have really a curiosity to see the personwho can give occasion to such directly

opposite notions.i wish he may be induced to call here. and when he does, mary, you may depend uponhearing my opinion; but i am determined not to judge him beforehand.""you will not like him, i will answer for it." lady russell began talking of somethingelse. mary spoke with animation of their meetingwith, or rather missing, mr elliot so extraordinarily. "he is a man," said lady russell, "whom ihave no wish to see. his declining to be on cordial terms withthe head of his family, has left a very

strong impression in his disfavour withme." this decision checked mary's eagerness, andstopped her short in the midst of the elliot countenance. with regard to captain wentworth, thoughanne hazarded no enquiries, there was voluntary communication sufficient.his spirits had been greatly recovering lately as might be expected. as louisa improved, he had improved, and hewas now quite a different creature from what he had been the first week. he had not seen louisa; and was soextremely fearful of any ill consequence to

her from an interview, that he did notpress for it at all; and, on the contrary, seemed to have a plan of going away for a week or ten days, till her head wasstronger. he had talked of going down to plymouth fora week, and wanted to persuade captain benwick to go with him; but, as charlesmaintained to the last, captain benwick seemed much more disposed to ride over tokellynch. there can be no doubt that lady russell andanne were both occasionally thinking of captain benwick, from this time. lady russell could not hear the door-bellwithout feeling that it might be his

herald; nor could anne return from anystroll of solitary indulgence in her father's grounds, or any visit of charity in the village, without wondering whethershe might see him or hear of him. captain benwick came not, however. he was either less disposed for it thancharles had imagined, or he was too shy; and after giving him a week's indulgence,lady russell determined him to be unworthy of the interest which he had been beginningto excite. the musgroves came back to receive theirhappy boys and girls from school, bringing with them mrs harville's little children,to improve the noise of uppercross, and

lessen that of lyme. henrietta remained with louisa; but all therest of the family were again in their usual quarters. lady russell and anne paid theircompliments to them once, when anne could not but feel that uppercross was alreadyquite alive again. though neither henrietta, nor louisa, norcharles hayter, nor captain wentworth were there, the room presented as strong acontrast as could be wished to the last state she had seen it in. immediately surrounding mrs musgrove werethe little harvilles, whom she was

sedulously guarding from the tyranny of thetwo children from the cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. on one side was a table occupied by somechattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels andtrays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed bya roaring christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all thenoise of the others. charles and mary also came in, of course,during their visit, and mr musgrove made a point of paying his respects to ladyrussell, and sat down close to her for ten

minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on hisknees, generally in vain. it was a fine family-piece. anne, judging from her own temperament,would have deemed such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves, whichlouisa's illness must have so greatly shaken. but mrs musgrove, who got anne near her onpurpose to thank her most cordially, again and again, for all her attentions to them,concluded a short recapitulation of what she had suffered herself by observing, with

a happy glance round the room, that afterall she had gone through, nothing was so likely to do her good as a little quietcheerfulness at home. louisa was now recovering apace. her mother could even think of her beingable to join their party at home, before her brothers and sisters went to schoolagain. the harvilles had promised to come with herand stay at uppercross, whenever she returned.captain wentworth was gone, for the present, to see his brother in shropshire. "i hope i shall remember, in future," saidlady russell, as soon as they were reseated

in the carriage, "not to call at uppercrossin the christmas holidays." everybody has their taste in noises as wellas in other matters; and sounds are quite innoxious, or most distressing, by theirsort rather than their quantity. when lady russell not long afterwards, wasentering bath on a wet afternoon, and driving through the long course of streetsfrom the old bridge to camden place, amidst the dash of other carriages, the heavy rumble of carts and drays, the bawling ofnewspapermen, muffin-men and milkmen, and the ceaseless clink of pattens, she made nocomplaint. no, these were noises which belonged to thewinter pleasures; her spirits rose under

their influence; and like mrs musgrove, shewas feeling, though not saying, that after being long in the country, nothing could be so good for her as a little quietcheerfulness. anne did not share these feelings. she persisted in a very determined, thoughvery silent disinclination for bath; caught the first dim view of the extensivebuildings, smoking in rain, without any wish of seeing them better; felt their progress through the streets to be, howeverdisagreeable, yet too rapid; for who would be glad to see her when she arrived?

and looked back, with fond regret, to thebustles of uppercross and the seclusion of kellynch.elizabeth's last letter had communicated a piece of news of some interest. mr elliot was in bath.he had called in camden place; had called a second time, a third; had been pointedlyattentive. if elizabeth and her father did not deceivethemselves, had been taking much pains to seek the acquaintance, and proclaim thevalue of the connection, as he had formerly taken pains to shew neglect. this was very wonderful if it were true;and lady russell was in a state of very

agreeable curiosity and perplexity about mrelliot, already recanting the sentiment she had so lately expressed to mary, of hisbeing "a man whom she had no wish to see." she had a great wish to see him. if he really sought to reconcile himselflike a dutiful branch, he must be forgiven for having dismembered himself from thepaternal tree. anne was not animated to an equal pitch bythe circumstance, but she felt that she would rather see mr elliot again than not,which was more than she could say for many other persons in bath. she was put down in camden place; and ladyrussell then drove to her own lodgings, in

rivers street. chapter 15 sir walter had taken a very good house incamden place, a lofty dignified situation, such as becomes a man of consequence; andboth he and elizabeth were settled there, much to their satisfaction. anne entered it with a sinking heart,anticipating an imprisonment of many months, and anxiously saying to herself,"oh! when shall i leave you again?" a degree of unexpected cordiality, however,in the welcome she received, did her good. her father and sister were glad to see her,for the sake of shewing her the house and

furniture, and met her with kindness. her making a fourth, when they sat down todinner, was noticed as an advantage. mrs clay was very pleasant, and verysmiling, but her courtesies and smiles were more a matter of course. anne had always felt that she would pretendwhat was proper on her arrival, but the complaisance of the others was unlookedfor. they were evidently in excellent spirits,and she was soon to listen to the causes. they had no inclination to listen to her. after laying out for some compliments ofbeing deeply regretted in their old

neighbourhood, which anne could not pay,they had only a few faint enquiries to make, before the talk must be all theirown. uppercross excited no interest, kellynchvery little: it was all bath. they had the pleasure of assuring her thatbath more than answered their expectations in every respect. their house was undoubtedly the best incamden place; their drawing-rooms had many decided advantages over all the otherswhich they had either seen or heard of, and the superiority was not less in the style of the fitting-up, or the taste of thefurniture.

their acquaintance was exceedingly soughtafter. everybody was wanting to visit them. they had drawn back from manyintroductions, and still were perpetually having cards left by people of whom theyknew nothing. here were funds of enjoyment. could anne wonder that her father andsister were happy? she might not wonder, but she must sighthat her father should feel no degradation in his change, should see nothing to regretin the duties and dignity of the resident landholder, should find so much to be vain

of in the littlenesses of a town; and shemust sigh, and smile, and wonder too, as elizabeth threw open the folding-doors andwalked with exultation from one drawing- room to the other, boasting of their space; at the possibility of that woman, who hadbeen mistress of kellynch hall, finding extent to be proud of between two walls,perhaps thirty feet asunder. but this was not all which they had to makethem happy. they had mr elliot too.anne had a great deal to hear of mr elliot. he was not only pardoned, they weredelighted with him. he had been in bath about a fortnight; (hehad passed through bath in november, in his

way to london, when the intelligence of sirwalter's being settled there had of course reached him, though only twenty-four hours in the place, but he had not been able toavail himself of it;) but he had now been a fortnight in bath, and his first object onarriving, had been to leave his card in camden place, following it up by such assiduous endeavours to meet, and when theydid meet, by such great openness of conduct, such readiness to apologize forthe past, such solicitude to be received as a relation again, that their former good understanding was completely re-established.

they had not a fault to find in him.he had explained away all the appearance of neglect on his own side. it had originated in misapprehensionentirely. he had never had an idea of throwinghimself off; he had feared that he was thrown off, but knew not why, and delicacyhad kept him silent. upon the hint of having spokendisrespectfully or carelessly of the family and the family honours, he was quiteindignant. he, who had ever boasted of being anelliot, and whose feelings, as to connection, were only too strict to suitthe unfeudal tone of the present day.

he was astonished, indeed, but hischaracter and general conduct must refute he could refer sir walter to all who knewhim; and certainly, the pains he had been taking on this, the first opportunity ofreconciliation, to be restored to the footing of a relation and heir-presumptive, was a strong proof of his opinions on thesubject. the circumstances of his marriage, too,were found to admit of much extenuation. this was an article not to be entered on byhimself; but a very intimate friend of his, a colonel wallis, a highly respectable man,perfectly the gentleman, (and not an ill- looking man, sir walter added), who was

living in very good style in marlboroughbuildings, and had, at his own particular request, been admitted to theiracquaintance through mr elliot, had mentioned one or two things relative to the marriage, which made a material differencein the discredit of it. colonel wallis had known mr elliot long,had been well acquainted also with his wife, had perfectly understood the wholestory. she was certainly not a woman of family,but well educated, accomplished, rich, and excessively in love with his friend.there had been the charm. she had sought him.

without that attraction, not all her moneywould have tempted elliot, and sir walter was, moreover, assured of her having been avery fine woman. here was a great deal to soften thebusiness. a very fine woman with a large fortune, inlove with him! sir walter seemed to admit it as completeapology; and though elizabeth could not see the circumstance in quite so favourable alight, she allowed it be a great extenuation. mr elliot had called repeatedly, had dinedwith them once, evidently delighted by the distinction of being asked, for they gaveno dinners in general; delighted, in short,

by every proof of cousinly notice, and placing his whole happiness in being onintimate terms in camden place. anne listened, but without quiteunderstanding it. allowances, large allowances, she knew,must be made for the ideas of those who spoke.she heard it all under embellishment. all that sounded extravagant or irrationalin the progress of the reconciliation might have no origin but in the language of therelators. still, however, she had the sensation ofthere being something more than immediately appeared, in mr elliot's wishing, after aninterval of so many years, to be well

received by them. in a worldly view, he had nothing to gainby being on terms with sir walter; nothing to risk by a state of variance. in all probability he was already thericher of the two, and the kellynch estate would as surely be his hereafter as thetitle. a sensible man, and he had looked like avery sensible man, why should it be an object to him?she could only offer one solution; it was, perhaps, for elizabeth's sake. there might really have been a likingformerly, though convenience and accident

had drawn him a different way; and now thathe could afford to please himself, he might mean to pay his addresses to her. elizabeth was certainly very handsome, withwell-bred, elegant manners, and her character might never have been penetratedby mr elliot, knowing her but in public, and when very young himself. how her temper and understanding might bearthe investigation of his present keener time of life was another concern and rathera fearful one. most earnestly did she wish that he mightnot be too nice, or too observant if elizabeth were his object; and thatelizabeth was disposed to believe herself

so, and that her friend mrs clay was encouraging the idea, seemed apparent by aglance or two between them, while mr elliot's frequent visits were talked of. anne mentioned the glimpses she had had ofhim at lyme, but without being much attended to."oh! yes, perhaps, it had been mr elliot. they did not know. it might be him, perhaps."they could not listen to her description of him.they were describing him themselves; sir walter especially.

he did justice to his very gentlemanlikeappearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face, his sensibleeye; but, at the same time, "must lament his being very much under-hung, a defect which time seemed to have increased; norcould he pretend to say that ten years had not altered almost every feature for theworse. mr elliot appeared to think that he (sirwalter) was looking exactly as he had done when they last parted;" but sir walter had"not been able to return the compliment entirely, which had embarrassed him. he did not mean to complain, however.mr elliot was better to look at than most

men, and he had no objection to being seenwith him anywhere." mr elliot, and his friends in marlboroughbuildings, were talked of the whole evening. "colonel wallis had been so impatient to beintroduced to them! and mr elliot so anxious that he should!" and there was amrs wallis, at present known only to them by description, as she was in daily expectation of her confinement; but mrelliot spoke of her as "a most charming woman, quite worthy of being known incamden place," and as soon as she recovered they were to be acquainted.

sir walter thought much of mrs wallis; shewas said to be an excessively pretty woman, beautiful."he longed to see her. he hoped she might make some amends for themany very plain faces he was continually passing in the streets.the worst of bath was the number of its plain women. he did not mean to say that there were nopretty women, but the number of the plain was out of all proportion. he had frequently observed, as he walked,that one handsome face would be followed by thirty, or five-and-thirty frights; andonce, as he had stood in a shop on bond

street, he had counted eighty-seven women go by, one after another, without therebeing a tolerable face among them. it had been a frosty morning, to be sure,a sharp frost, which hardly one woman in a thousand could stand the test of. but still, there certainly were a dreadfulmultitude of ugly women in bath; and as for the men! they were infinitely worse.such scarecrows as the streets were full of! it was evident how little the women wereused to the sight of anything tolerable, by the effect which a man of decent appearanceproduced.

he had never walked anywhere arm-in-armwith colonel wallis (who was a fine military figure, though sandy-haired)without observing that every woman's eye was upon him; every woman's eye was sure tobe upon colonel wallis." modest sir walter!he was not allowed to escape, however. his daughter and mrs clay united in hintingthat colonel wallis's companion might have as good a figure as colonel wallis, andcertainly was not sandy-haired. "how is mary looking?" said sir walter, inthe height of his good humour. "the last time i saw her she had a rednose, but i hope that may not happen every day."

"oh! no, that must have been quiteaccidental. in general she has been in very good healthand very good looks since michaelmas." "if i thought it would not tempt her to goout in sharp winds, and grow coarse, i would send her a new hat and pelisse." anne was considering whether she shouldventure to suggest that a gown, or a cap, would not be liable to any such misuse,when a knock at the door suspended everything. "a knock at the door! and so late!it was ten o'clock. could it be mr elliot?they knew he was to dine in lansdown

crescent. it was possible that he might stop in hisway home to ask them how they did. they could think of no one else.mrs clay decidedly thought it mr elliot's knock." mrs clay was right.with all the state which a butler and foot- boy could give, mr elliot was ushered intothe room. it was the same, the very same man, with nodifference but of dress. anne drew a little back, while the othersreceived his compliments, and her sister his apologies for calling at so unusual anhour, but "he could not be so near without

wishing to know that neither she nor herfriend had taken cold the day before," &c. &c; which was all as politely done, and aspolitely taken, as possible, but her part must follow then. sir walter talked of his youngest daughter;"mr elliot must give him leave to present him to his youngest daughter" (there was nooccasion for remembering mary); and anne, smiling and blushing, very becomingly shewed to mr elliot the pretty featureswhich he had by no means forgotten, and instantly saw, with amusement at his littlestart of surprise, that he had not been at all aware of who she was.

he looked completely astonished, but notmore astonished than pleased; his eyes brightened! and with the most perfectalacrity he welcomed the relationship, alluded to the past, and entreated to bereceived as an acquaintance already. he was quite as good-looking as he hadappeared at lyme, his countenance improved by speaking, and his manners were soexactly what they ought to be, so polished, so easy, so particularly agreeable, that she could compare them in excellence toonly one person's manners. they were not the same, but they were,perhaps, equally good. he sat down with them, and improved theirconversation very much.

there could be no doubt of his being asensible man. ten minutes were enough to certify that. his tone, his expressions, his choice ofsubject, his knowing where to stop; it was all the operation of a sensible, discerningmind. as soon as he could, he began to talk toher of lyme, wanting to compare opinions respecting the place, but especiallywanting to speak of the circumstance of their happening to be guests in the same inn at the same time; to give his ownroute, understand something of hers, and regret that he should have lost such anopportunity of paying his respects to her.

she gave him a short account of her partyand business at lyme. his regret increased as he listened. he had spent his whole solitary evening inthe room adjoining theirs; had heard voices, mirth continually; thought theymust be a most delightful set of people, longed to be with them, but certainly without the smallest suspicion of hispossessing the shadow of a right to introduce himself.if he had but asked who the party were! the name of musgrove would have told himenough. "well, it would serve to cure him of anabsurd practice of never asking a question

at an inn, which he had adopted, when quitea young man, on the principal of its being very ungenteel to be curious. "the notions of a young man of one or twoand twenty," said he, "as to what is necessary in manners to make him quite thething, are more absurd, i believe, than those of any other set of beings in theworld. the folly of the means they often employ isonly to be equalled by the folly of what they have in view." but he must not be addressing hisreflections to anne alone: he knew it; he was soon diffused again among the others,and it was only at intervals that he could

return to lyme. his enquiries, however, produced at lengthan account of the scene she had been engaged in there, soon after his leavingthe place. having alluded to "an accident," he musthear the whole. when he questioned, sir walter andelizabeth began to question also, but the difference in their manner of doing itcould not be unfelt. she could only compare mr elliot to ladyrussell, in the wish of really comprehending what had passed, and in thedegree of concern for what she must have suffered in witnessing it.

he staid an hour with them. the elegant little clock on the mantel-piece had struck "eleven with its silver sounds," and the watchman was beginning tobe heard at a distance telling the same tale, before mr elliot or any of themseemed to feel that he had been there long. anne could not have supposed it possiblethat her first evening in camden place could have passed so well! chapter 16 there was one point which anne, onreturning to her family, would have been more thankful to ascertain even than mrelliot's being in love with elizabeth,

which was, her father's not being in love with mrs clay; and she was very far fromeasy about it, when she had been at home a few hours. on going down to breakfast the nextmorning, she found there had just been a decent pretence on the lady's side ofmeaning to leave them. she could imagine mrs clay to have said,that "now miss anne was come, she could not suppose herself at all wanted;" forelizabeth was replying in a sort of whisper, "that must not be any reason,indeed. i assure you i feel it none.

she is nothing to me, compared with you;"and she was in full time to hear her father say, "my dear madam, this must not be.as yet, you have seen nothing of bath. you have been here only to be useful. you must not run away from us now.you must stay to be acquainted with mrs wallis, the beautiful mrs wallis.to your fine mind, i well know the sight of beauty is a real gratification." he spoke and looked so much in earnest,that anne was not surprised to see mrs clay stealing a glance at elizabeth and herself. her countenance, perhaps, might expresssome watchfulness; but the praise of the

fine mind did not appear to excite athought in her sister. the lady could not but yield to such jointentreaties, and promise to stay. in the course of the same morning, anne andher father chancing to be alone together, he began to compliment her on her improvedlooks; he thought her "less thin in her person, in her cheeks; her skin, her complexion, greatly improved; clearer,fresher. had she been using any thing inparticular?" "no, nothing." "merely gowland," he supposed."no, nothing at all."

"ha! he was surprised at that;" and added,"certainly you cannot do better than to continue as you are; you cannot be betterthan well; or i should recommend gowland, the constant use of gowland, during thespring months. mrs clay has been using it at myrecommendation, and you see what it has done for her. you see how it has carried away herfreckles." if elizabeth could but have heard this! such personal praise might have struck her,especially as it did not appear to anne that the freckles were at all lessened.but everything must take its chance.

the evil of a marriage would be muchdiminished, if elizabeth were also to marry.as for herself, she might always command a home with lady russell. lady russell's composed mind and politemanners were put to some trial on this point, in her intercourse in camden place. the sight of mrs clay in such favour, andof anne so overlooked, was a perpetual provocation to her there; and vexed her asmuch when she was away, as a person in bath who drinks the water, gets all the new publications, and has a very largeacquaintance, has time to be vexed.

as mr elliot became known to her, she grewmore charitable, or more indifferent, towards the others. his manners were an immediaterecommendation; and on conversing with him she found the solid so fully supporting thesuperficial, that she was at first, as she told anne, almost ready to exclaim, "can this be mr elliot?" and could not seriouslypicture to herself a more agreeable or estimable man. everything united in him; goodunderstanding, correct opinions, knowledge of the world, and a warm heart.

he had strong feelings of family attachmentand family honour, without pride or weakness; he lived with the liberality of aman of fortune, without display; he judged for himself in everything essential, without defying public opinion in any pointof worldly decorum. he was steady, observant, moderate, candid;never run away with by spirits or by selfishness, which fancied itself strongfeeling; and yet, with a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely, and a value for all the felicities of domestic life,which characters of fancied enthusiasm and violent agitation seldom really possess.she was sure that he had not been happy in

marriage. colonel wallis said it, and lady russellsaw it; but it had been no unhappiness to sour his mind, nor (she began pretty soonto suspect) to prevent his thinking of a second choice. her satisfaction in mr elliot outweighedall the plague of mrs clay. it was now some years since anne had begunto learn that she and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently; and itdid not surprise her, therefore, that lady russell should see nothing suspicious or inconsistent, nothing to require moremotives than appeared, in mr elliot's great

desire of a reconciliation. in lady russell's view, it was perfectlynatural that mr elliot, at a mature time of life, should feel it a most desirableobject, and what would very generally recommend him among all sensible people, to be on good terms with the head of hisfamily; the simplest process in the world of time upon a head naturally clear, andonly erring in the heyday of youth. anne presumed, however, still to smileabout it, and at last to mention "elizabeth." lady russell listened, and looked, and madeonly this cautious reply:--"elizabeth! very

well; time will explain." it was a reference to the future, whichanne, after a little observation, felt she must submit to.she could determine nothing at present. in that house elizabeth must be first; andshe was in the habit of such general observance as "miss elliot," that anyparticularity of attention seemed almost impossible. mr elliot, too, it must be remembered, hadnot been a widower seven months. a little delay on his side might be veryexcusable. in fact, anne could never see the craperound his hat, without fearing that she was

the inexcusable one, in attributing to himsuch imaginations; for though his marriage had not been very happy, still it had existed so many years that she could notcomprehend a very rapid recovery from the awful impression of its being dissolved. however it might end, he was without anyquestion their pleasantest acquaintance in bath: she saw nobody equal to him; and itwas a great indulgence now and then to talk to him about lyme, which he seemed to have as lively a wish to see again, and to seemore of, as herself. they went through the particulars of theirfirst meeting a great many times.

he gave her to understand that he hadlooked at her with some earnestness. she knew it well; and she rememberedanother person's look also. they did not always think alike. his value for rank and connexion sheperceived was greater than hers. it was not merely complaisance, it must bea liking to the cause, which made him enter warmly into her father and sister'ssolicitudes on a subject which she thought unworthy to excite them. the bath paper one morning announced thearrival of the dowager viscountess dalrymple, and her daughter, the honourablemiss carteret; and all the comfort of

no. --, camden place, was swept away for many days; for the dalrymples (in anne'sopinion, most unfortunately) were cousins of the elliots; and the agony was how tointroduce themselves properly. anne had never seen her father and sisterbefore in contact with nobility, and she must acknowledge herself disappointed. she had hoped better things from their highideas of their own situation in life, and was reduced to form a wish which she hadnever foreseen; a wish that they had more pride; for "our cousins lady dalrymple and miss carteret;" "our cousins, thedalrymples," sounded in her ears all day

long. sir walter had once been in company withthe late viscount, but had never seen any of the rest of the family; and thedifficulties of the case arose from there having been a suspension of all intercourse by letters of ceremony, ever since thedeath of that said late viscount, when, in consequence of a dangerous illness of sirwalter's at the same time, there had been an unlucky omission at kellynch. no letter of condolence had been sent toireland. the neglect had been visited on the head ofthe sinner; for when poor lady elliot died

herself, no letter of condolence wasreceived at kellynch, and, consequently, there was but too much reason to apprehend that the dalrymples considered therelationship as closed. how to have this anxious business set torights, and be admitted as cousins again, was the question: and it was a questionwhich, in a more rational manner, neither lady russell nor mr elliot thoughtunimportant. "family connexions were always worthpreserving, good company always worth seeking; lady dalrymple had taken a house,for three months, in laura place, and would be living in style.

she had been at bath the year before, andlady russell had heard her spoken of as a charming woman. it was very desirable that the connexionshould be renewed, if it could be done, without any compromise of propriety on theside of the elliots." sir walter, however, would choose his ownmeans, and at last wrote a very fine letter of ample explanation, regret, and entreaty,to his right honourable cousin. neither lady russell nor mr elliot couldadmire the letter; but it did all that was wanted, in bringing three lines of scrawlfrom the dowager viscountess. "she was very much honoured, and should behappy in their acquaintance."

the toils of the business were over, thesweets began. they visited in laura place, they had thecards of dowager viscountess dalrymple, and the honourable miss carteret, to bearranged wherever they might be most visible: and "our cousins in laura place,"--"our cousin, lady dalrymple andmiss carteret," were talked of to everybody.anne was ashamed. had lady dalrymple and her daughter evenbeen very agreeable, she would still have been ashamed of the agitation they created,but they were nothing. there was no superiority of manner,accomplishment, or understanding.

lady dalrymple had acquired the name of "acharming woman," because she had a smile and a civil answer for everybody. miss carteret, with still less to say, wasso plain and so awkward, that she would never have been tolerated in camden placebut for her birth. lady russell confessed she had expectedsomething better; but yet "it was an acquaintance worth having;" and when anneventured to speak her opinion of them to mr elliot, he agreed to their being nothing in themselves, but still maintained that, as afamily connexion, as good company, as those who would collect good company around them,they had their value.

anne smiled and said, "my idea of good company, mr elliot, is thecompany of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; thatis what i call good company." "you are mistaken," said he gently, "thatis not good company; that is the best. good company requires only birth,education, and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice. birth and good manners are essential; but alittle learning is by no means a dangerous thing in good company; on the contrary, itwill do very well. my cousin anne shakes her head.

she is not satisfied.she is fastidious. my dear cousin" (sitting down by her), "youhave a better right to be fastidious than almost any other woman i know; but will itanswer? will it make you happy? will it not be wiser to accept the societyof those good ladies in laura place, and enjoy all the advantages of the connexionas far as possible? you may depend upon it, that they will movein the first set in bath this winter, and as rank is rank, your being known to berelated to them will have its use in fixing your family (our family let me say) in that

degree of consideration which we must allwish for." "yes," sighed anne, "we shall, indeed, beknown to be related to them!" then recollecting herself, and not wishing to beanswered, she added, "i certainly do think there has been by far too much troubletaken to procure the acquaintance. i suppose" (smiling) "i have more pridethan any of you; but i confess it does vex me, that we should be so solicitous to havethe relationship acknowledged, which we may be very sure is a matter of perfectindifference to them." "pardon me, dear cousin, you are unjust inyour own claims. in london, perhaps, in your present quietstyle of living, it might be as you say:

but in bath; sir walter elliot and hisfamily will always be worth knowing: always acceptable as acquaintance." "well," said anne, "i certainly am proud,too proud to enjoy a welcome which depends so entirely upon place.""i love your indignation," said he; "it is very natural. but here you are in bath, and the object isto be established here with all the credit and dignity which ought to belong to sirwalter elliot. you talk of being proud; i am called proud,i know, and i shall not wish to believe myself otherwise; for our pride, ifinvestigated, would have the same object,

i have no doubt, though the kind may seem alittle different. in one point, i am sure, my dear cousin,"(he continued, speaking lower, though there was no one else in the room) "in one point,i am sure, we must feel alike. we must feel that every addition to yourfather's society, among his equals or superiors, may be of use in diverting histhoughts from those who are beneath him." he looked, as he spoke, to the seat whichmrs clay had been lately occupying: a sufficient explanation of what heparticularly meant; and though anne could not believe in their having the same sort of pride, she was pleased with him for notliking mrs clay; and her conscience

admitted that his wishing to promote herfather's getting great acquaintance was more than excusable in the view ofdefeating her. chapter 17 while sir walter and elizabeth wereassiduously pushing their good fortune in laura place, anne was renewing anacquaintance of a very different description. she had called on her former governess, andhad heard from her of there being an old school-fellow in bath, who had the twostrong claims on her attention of past kindness and present suffering.

miss hamilton, now mrs smith, had shewn herkindness in one of those periods of her life when it had been most valuable. anne had gone unhappy to school, grievingfor the loss of a mother whom she had dearly loved, feeling her separation fromhome, and suffering as a girl of fourteen, of strong sensibility and not high spirits, must suffer at such a time; and misshamilton, three years older than herself, but still from the want of near relationsand a settled home, remaining another year at school, had been useful and good to her in a way which had considerably lessenedher misery, and could never be remembered

with indifference. miss hamilton had left school, had marriednot long afterwards, was said to have married a man of fortune, and this was allthat anne had known of her, till now that their governess's account brought her situation forward in a more decided butvery different form. she was a widow and poor. her husband had been extravagant; and athis death, about two years before, had left his affairs dreadfully involved. she had had difficulties of every sort tocontend with, and in addition to these

distresses had been afflicted with a severerheumatic fever, which, finally settling in her legs, had made her for the present acripple. she had come to bath on that account, andwas now in lodgings near the hot baths, living in a very humble way, unable even toafford herself the comfort of a servant, and of course almost excluded from society. their mutual friend answered for thesatisfaction which a visit from miss elliot would give mrs smith, and anne thereforelost no time in going. she mentioned nothing of what she hadheard, or what she intended, at home. it would excite no proper interest there.

she only consulted lady russell, whoentered thoroughly into her sentiments, and was most happy to convey her as near to mrssmith's lodgings in westgate buildings, as anne chose to be taken. the visit was paid, their acquaintance re-established, their interest in each other more than re-kindled.the first ten minutes had its awkwardness and its emotion. twelve years were gone since they hadparted, and each presented a somewhat different person from what the other hadimagined. twelve years had changed anne from theblooming, silent, unformed girl of fifteen,

to the elegant little woman of seven-and-twenty, with every beauty except bloom, and with manners as consciously right as they were invariably gentle; and twelve yearshad transformed the fine-looking, well- grown miss hamilton, in all the glow ofhealth and confidence of superiority, into a poor, infirm, helpless widow, receiving the visit of her former protegee as afavour; but all that was uncomfortable in the meeting had soon passed away, and leftonly the interesting charm of remembering former partialities and talking over oldtimes. anne found in mrs smith the good sense andagreeable manners which she had almost

ventured to depend on, and a disposition toconverse and be cheerful beyond her expectation. neither the dissipations of the past--andshe had lived very much in the world--nor the restrictions of the present, neithersickness nor sorrow seemed to have closed her heart or ruined her spirits. in the course of a second visit she talkedwith great openness, and anne's astonishment increased.she could scarcely imagine a more cheerless situation in itself than mrs smith's. she had been very fond of her husband: shehad buried him.

she had been used to affluence: it wasgone. she had no child to connect her with lifeand happiness again, no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed affairs, nohealth to make all the rest supportable. her accommodations were limited to a noisyparlour, and a dark bedroom behind, with no possibility of moving from one to the otherwithout assistance, which there was only one servant in the house to afford, and she never quitted the house but to be conveyedinto the warm bath. yet, in spite of all this, anne had reasonto believe that she had moments only of languor and depression, to hours ofoccupation and enjoyment.

how could it be? she watched, observed, reflected, andfinally determined that this was not a case of fortitude or of resignation only. a submissive spirit might be patient, astrong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more;here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and offinding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from nature alone. it was the choicest gift of heaven; andanne viewed her friend as one of those

instances in which, by a mercifulappointment, it seems designed to counterbalance almost every other want. there had been a time, mrs smith told her,when her spirits had nearly failed. she could not call herself an invalid now,compared with her state on first reaching bath. then she had, indeed, been a pitiableobject; for she had caught cold on the journey, and had hardly taken possession ofher lodgings before she was again confined to her bed and suffering under severe and constant pain; and all this amongstrangers, with the absolute necessity of

having a regular nurse, and finances atthat moment particularly unfit to meet any extraordinary expense. she had weathered it, however, and couldtruly say that it had done her good. it had increased her comforts by making herfeel herself to be in good hands. she had seen too much of the world, toexpect sudden or disinterested attachment anywhere, but her illness had proved to herthat her landlady had a character to preserve, and would not use her ill; and she had been particularly fortunate in hernurse, as a sister of her landlady, a nurse by profession, and who had always a home inthat house when unemployed, chanced to be

at liberty just in time to attend her. "and she," said mrs smith, "besides nursingme most admirably, has really proved an invaluable acquaintance. as soon as i could use my hands she taughtme to knit, which has been a great amusement; and she put me in the way ofmaking these little thread-cases, pin- cushions and card-racks, which you always find me so busy about, and which supply mewith the means of doing a little good to one or two very poor families in thisneighbourhood. she had a large acquaintance, of courseprofessionally, among those who can afford

to buy, and she disposes of my merchandise.she always takes the right time for applying. everybody's heart is open, you know, whenthey have recently escaped from severe pain, or are recovering the blessing ofhealth, and nurse rooke thoroughly understands when to speak. she is a shrewd, intelligent, sensiblewoman. hers is a line for seeing human nature; andshe has a fund of good sense and observation, which, as a companion, makeher infinitely superior to thousands of those who having only received 'the best

education in the world,' know nothing worthattending to. call it gossip, if you will, but when nurserooke has half an hour's leisure to bestow on me, she is sure to have something torelate that is entertaining and profitable: something that makes one know one's speciesbetter. one likes to hear what is going on, to beau fait as to the newest modes of being trifling and silly. to me, who live so much alone, herconversation, i assure you, is a treat." anne, far from wishing to cavil at thepleasure, replied, "i can easily believe women of that class have greatopportunities, and if they are intelligent

may be well worth listening to.such varieties of human nature as they are in the habit of witnessing! and it is not merely in its follies, thatthey are well read; for they see it occasionally under every circumstance thatcan be most interesting or affecting. what instances must pass before them ofardent, disinterested, self-denying attachment, of heroism, fortitude,patience, resignation: of all the conflicts and all the sacrifices thatennoble us most. a sick chamber may often furnish the worthof volumes." "yes," said mrs smith more doubtingly,"sometimes it may, though i fear its

lessons are not often in the elevated styleyou describe. here and there, human nature may be greatin times of trial; but generally speaking, it is its weakness and not its strengththat appears in a sick chamber: it is selfishness and impatience rather than generosity and fortitude, that one hearsof. there is so little real friendship in theworld! and unfortunately" (speaking low and tremulously) "there are so many who forgetto think seriously till it is almost too late." anne saw the misery of such feelings.the husband had not been what he ought, and

the wife had been led among that part ofmankind which made her think worse of the world than she hoped it deserved. it was but a passing emotion however withmrs smith; she shook it off, and soon added in a different tone-- "i do not suppose the situation my friendmrs rooke is in at present, will furnish much either to interest or edify me. she is only nursing mrs wallis ofmarlborough buildings; a mere pretty, silly, expensive, fashionable woman, ibelieve; and of course will have nothing to report but of lace and finery.

i mean to make my profit of mrs wallis,however. she has plenty of money, and i intend sheshall buy all the high-priced things i have in hand now." anne had called several times on herfriend, before the existence of such a person was known in camden place.at last, it became necessary to speak of her. sir walter, elizabeth and mrs clay,returned one morning from laura place, with a sudden invitation from lady dalrymple forthe same evening, and anne was already engaged, to spend that evening in westgatebuildings.

she was not sorry for the excuse. they were only asked, she was sure, becauselady dalrymple being kept at home by a bad cold, was glad to make use of therelationship which had been so pressed on her; and she declined on her own account with great alacrity--"she was engaged tospend the evening with an old schoolfellow." they were not much interested in anythingrelative to anne; but still there were questions enough asked, to make itunderstood what this old schoolfellow was; and elizabeth was disdainful, and sirwalter severe.

"westgate buildings!" said he, "and who ismiss anne elliot to be visiting in westgate buildings? a mrs smith.a widow mrs smith; and who was her husband? one of five thousand mr smiths whose namesare to be met with everywhere. and what is her attraction? that she is old and sickly.upon my word, miss anne elliot, you have the most extraordinary taste! everything that revolts other people, lowcompany, paltry rooms, foul air, disgusting associations are inviting to you.

but surely you may put off this old ladytill to-morrow: she is not so near her end, i presume, but that she may hope tosee another day. what is her age? forty?" "no, sir, she is not one-and-thirty; but ido not think i can put off my engagement, because it is the only evening for sometime which will at once suit her and myself. she goes into the warm bath to-morrow, andfor the rest of the week, you know, we are engaged.""but what does lady russell think of this

acquaintance?" asked elizabeth. "she sees nothing to blame in it," repliedanne; "on the contrary, she approves it, and has generally taken me when i havecalled on mrs smith." "westgate buildings must have been rathersurprised by the appearance of a carriage drawn up near its pavement," observed sirwalter. "sir henry russell's widow, indeed, has nohonours to distinguish her arms, but still it is a handsome equipage, and no doubt iswell known to convey a miss elliot. a widow mrs smith lodging in westgatebuildings! a poor widow barely able to live, betweenthirty and forty; a mere mrs smith, an

every-day mrs smith, of all people and allnames in the world, to be the chosen friend of miss anne elliot, and to be preferred by her to her own family connections among thenobility of england and ireland! mrs smith!such a name!" mrs clay, who had been present while allthis passed, now thought it advisable to leave the room, and anne could have saidmuch, and did long to say a little in defence of her friend's not very dissimilar claims to theirs, but her sense of personalrespect to her father prevented her. she made no reply.

she left it to himself to recollect, thatmrs smith was not the only widow in bath between thirty and forty, with little tolive on, and no surname of dignity. anne kept her appointment; the others kepttheirs, and of course she heard the next morning that they had had a delightfulevening. she had been the only one of the setabsent, for sir walter and elizabeth had not only been quite at her ladyship'sservice themselves, but had actually been happy to be employed by her in collecting others, and had been at the trouble ofinviting both lady russell and mr elliot; and mr elliot had made a point of leavingcolonel wallis early, and lady russell had

fresh arranged all her evening engagementsin order to wait on her. anne had the whole history of all that suchan evening could supply from lady russell. to her, its greatest interest must be, inhaving been very much talked of between her friend and mr elliot; in having been wishedfor, regretted, and at the same time honoured for staying away in such a cause. her kind, compassionate visits to this oldschoolfellow, sick and reduced, seemed to have quite delighted mr elliot. he thought her a most extraordinary youngwoman; in her temper, manners, mind, a model of female excellence.

he could meet even lady russell in adiscussion of her merits; and anne could not be given to understand so much by herfriend, could not know herself to be so highly rated by a sensible man, without many of those agreeable sensations whichher friend meant to create. lady russell was now perfectly decided inher opinion of mr elliot. she was as much convinced of his meaning togain anne in time as of his deserving her, and was beginning to calculate the numberof weeks which would free him from all the remaining restraints of widowhood, and leave him at liberty to exert his most openpowers of pleasing.

she would not speak to anne with half thecertainty she felt on the subject, she would venture on little more than hints ofwhat might be hereafter, of a possible attachment on his side, of the desirableness of the alliance, supposingsuch attachment to be real and returned. anne heard her, and made no violentexclamations; she only smiled, blushed, and gently shook her head. "i am no match-maker, as you well know,"said lady russell, "being much too well aware of the uncertainty of all humanevents and calculations. i only mean that if mr elliot should sometime hence pay his addresses to you, and if

you should be disposed to accept him, ithink there would be every possibility of your being happy together. a most suitable connection everybody mustconsider it, but i think it might be a very happy one." "mr elliot is an exceedingly agreeable man,and in many respects i think highly of him," said anne; "but we should not suit." lady russell let this pass, and only saidin rejoinder, "i own that to be able to regard you as the future mistress ofkellynch, the future lady elliot, to look forward and see you occupying your dear

mother's place, succeeding to all herrights, and all her popularity, as well as to all her virtues, would be the highestpossible gratification to me. you are your mother's self in countenanceand disposition; and if i might be allowed to fancy you such as she was, in situationand name, and home, presiding and blessing in the same spot, and only superior to herin being more highly valued! my dearest anne, it would give me moredelight than is often felt at my time of life!" anne was obliged to turn away, to rise, towalk to a distant table, and, leaning there in pretended employment, try to subdue thefeelings this picture excited.

for a few moments her imagination and herheart were bewitched. the idea of becoming what her mother hadbeen; of having the precious name of "lady elliot" first revived in herself; of beingrestored to kellynch, calling it her home again, her home for ever, was a charm whichshe could not immediately resist. lady russell said not another word, willingto leave the matter to its own operation; and believing that, could mr elliot at thatmoment with propriety have spoken for himself!--she believed, in short, what annedid not believe. the same image of mr elliot speaking forhimself brought anne to composure again. the charm of kellynch and of "lady elliot"all faded away.

she never could accept him. and it was not only that her feelings werestill adverse to any man save one; her judgement, on a serious consideration ofthe possibilities of such a case was against mr elliot. though they had now been acquainted amonth, she could not be satisfied that she really knew his character. that he was a sensible man, an agreeableman, that he talked well, professed good opinions, seemed to judge properly and as aman of principle, this was all clear enough.

he certainly knew what was right, nor couldshe fix on any one article of moral duty evidently transgressed; but yet she wouldhave been afraid to answer for his conduct. she distrusted the past, if not thepresent. the names which occasionally dropt offormer associates, the allusions to former practices and pursuits, suggestedsuspicions not favourable of what he had been. she saw that there had been bad habits;that sunday travelling had been a common thing; that there had been a period of hislife (and probably not a short one) when he had been, at least, careless in all serious

matters; and, though he might now thinkvery differently, who could answer for the true sentiments of a clever, cautious man,grown old enough to appreciate a fair character? how could it ever be ascertained that hismind was truly cleansed? mr elliot was rational, discreet, polished,but he was not open. there was never any burst of feeling, anywarmth of indignation or delight, at the evil or good of others.this, to anne, was a decided imperfection. her early impressions were incurable. she prized the frank, the open-hearted, theeager character beyond all others.

warmth and enthusiasm did captivate herstill. she felt that she could so much more dependupon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked or said a careless or a hasty thing,than of those whose presence of mind never varied, whose tongue never slipped. mr elliot was too generally agreeable.various as were the tempers in her father's house, he pleased them all.he endured too well, stood too well with every body. he had spoken to her with some degree ofopenness of mrs clay; had appeared completely to see what mrs clay was about,and to hold her in contempt; and yet mrs

clay found him as agreeable as any body. lady russell saw either less or more thanher young friend, for she saw nothing to excite distrust. she could not imagine a man more exactlywhat he ought to be than mr elliot; nor did she ever enjoy a sweeter feeling than thehope of seeing him receive the hand of her beloved anne in kellynch church, in thecourse of the following autumn. chapter 18 it was the beginning of february; and anne,having been a month in bath, was growing very eager for news from uppercross andlyme.

she wanted to hear much more than mary hadcommunicated. it was three weeks since she had heard atall. she only knew that henrietta was at homeagain; and that louisa, though considered to be recovering fast, was still in lyme;and she was thinking of them all very intently one evening, when a thicker letter than usual from mary was delivered to her;and, to quicken the pleasure and surprise, with admiral and mrs croft's compliments.the crofts must be in bath! a circumstance to interest her. they were people whom her heart turned tovery naturally.

"what is this?" cried sir walter."the crofts have arrived in bath? the crofts who rent kellynch? what have they brought you?""a letter from uppercross cottage, sir." "oh! those letters are convenientpassports. they secure an introduction. i should have visited admiral croft,however, at any rate. i know what is due to my tenant." anne could listen no longer; she could noteven have told how the poor admiral's complexion escaped; her letter engrossedher.

it had been begun several days back. "february 1st."my dear anne,--i make no apology for my silence, because i know how little peoplethink of letters in such a place as bath. you must be a great deal too happy to carefor uppercross, which, as you well know, affords little to write about. we have had a very dull christmas; mr andmrs musgrove have not had one dinner party all the holidays.i do not reckon the hayters as anybody. the holidays, however, are over at last: ibelieve no children ever had such long ones.i am sure i had not.

the house was cleared yesterday, except ofthe little harvilles; but you will be surprised to hear they have never gonehome. mrs harville must be an odd mother to partwith them so long. i do not understand it. they are not at all nice children, in myopinion; but mrs musgrove seems to like them quite as well, if not better, than hergrandchildren. what dreadful weather we have had! it may not be felt in bath, with your nicepavements; but in the country it is of some consequence.

i have not had a creature call on me sincethe second week in january, except charles hayter, who had been calling much oftenerthan was welcome. between ourselves, i think it a great pityhenrietta did not remain at lyme as long as louisa; it would have kept her a little outof his way. the carriage is gone to-day, to bringlouisa and the harvilles to-morrow. we are not asked to dine with them,however, till the day after, mrs musgrove is so afraid of her being fatigued by thejourney, which is not very likely, considering the care that will be taken of her; and it would be much more convenientto me to dine there to-morrow.

i am glad you find mr elliot so agreeable,and wish i could be acquainted with him too; but i have my usual luck: i am alwaysout of the way when any thing desirable is going on; always the last of my family tobe noticed. what an immense time mrs clay has beenstaying with elizabeth! does she never mean to go away? but perhaps if she were to leave the roomvacant, we might not be invited. let me know what you think of this.i do not expect my children to be asked, you know. i can leave them at the great house verywell, for a month or six weeks.

i have this moment heard that the croftsare going to bath almost immediately; they think the admiral gouty. charles heard it quite by chance; they havenot had the civility to give me any notice, or of offering to take anything.i do not think they improve at all as neighbours. we see nothing of them, and this is reallyan instance of gross inattention. charles joins me in love, and everythingproper. yours affectionately, "mary m---."i am sorry to say that i am very far from

well; and jemima has just told me that thebutcher says there is a bad sore-throat very much about. i dare say i shall catch it; and my sore-throats, you know, are always worse than anybody's." so ended the first part, which had beenafterwards put into an envelope, containing nearly as much more. "i kept my letter open, that i might sendyou word how louisa bore her journey, and now i am extremely glad i did, having agreat deal to add. in the first place, i had a note from mrscroft yesterday, offering to convey

anything to you; a very kind, friendly noteindeed, addressed to me, just as it ought; i shall therefore be able to make my letteras long as i like. the admiral does not seem very ill, and isincerely hope bath will do him all the good he wants. i shall be truly glad to have them backagain. our neighbourhood cannot spare such apleasant family. but now for louisa. i have something to communicate that willastonish you not a little. she and the harvilles came on tuesday verysafely, and in the evening we went to ask

her how she did, when we were rathersurprised not to find captain benwick of the party, for he had been invited as well as the harvilles; and what do you think wasthe reason? neither more nor less than his being inlove with louisa, and not choosing to venture to uppercross till he had had ananswer from mr musgrove; for it was all settled between him and her before she came away, and he had written to her father bycaptain harville. true, upon my honour!are not you astonished? i shall be surprised at least if you everreceived a hint of it, for i never did.

mrs musgrove protests solemnly that sheknew nothing of the matter. we are all very well pleased, however, forthough it is not equal to her marrying captain wentworth, it is infinitely betterthan charles hayter; and mr musgrove has written his consent, and captain benwick isexpected to-day. mrs harville says her husband feels a gooddeal on his poor sister's account; but, however, louisa is a great favourite withboth. indeed, mrs harville and i quite agree thatwe love her the better for having nursed charles wonders what captain wentworth willsay; but if you remember, i never thought him attached to louisa; i never could seeanything of it.

and this is the end, you see, of captainbenwick's being supposed to be an admirer of yours.how charles could take such a thing into his head was always incomprehensible to me. i hope he will be more agreeable now.certainly not a great match for louisa musgrove, but a million times better thanmarrying among the hayters." mary need not have feared her sister'sbeing in any degree prepared for the news. she had never in her life been moreastonished. captain benwick and louisa musgrove! it was almost too wonderful for belief, andit was with the greatest effort that she

could remain in the room, preserve an airof calmness, and answer the common questions of the moment. happily for her, they were not many. sir walter wanted to know whether thecrofts travelled with four horses, and whether they were likely to be situated insuch a part of bath as it might suit miss elliot and himself to visit in; but hadlittle curiosity beyond. "how is mary?" said elizabeth; and withoutwaiting for an answer, "and pray what brings the crofts to bath?" "they come on the admiral's account.he is thought to be gouty."

"gout and decrepitude!" said sir walter."poor old gentleman." "have they any acquaintance here?" askedelizabeth. "i do not know; but i can hardly supposethat, at admiral croft's time of life, and in his profession, he should not have manyacquaintance in such a place as this." "i suspect," said sir walter coolly, "thatadmiral croft will be best known in bath as the renter of kellynch hall.elizabeth, may we venture to present him and his wife in laura place?" "oh, no!i think not. situated as we are with lady dalrymple,cousins, we ought to be very careful not to

embarrass her with acquaintance she mightnot approve. if we were not related, it would notsignify; but as cousins, she would feel scrupulous as to any proposal of ours.we had better leave the crofts to find their own level. there are several odd-looking men walkingabout here, who, i am told, are sailors. the crofts will associate with them." this was sir walter and elizabeth's shareof interest in the letter; when mrs clay had paid her tribute of more decentattention, in an enquiry after mrs charles musgrove, and her fine little boys, annewas at liberty.

in her own room, she tried to comprehendit. well might charles wonder how captainwentworth would feel! perhaps he had quitted the field, had givenlouisa up, had ceased to love, had found he did not love her. she could not endure the idea of treacheryor levity, or anything akin to ill usage between him and his friend.she could not endure that such a friendship as theirs should be severed unfairly. the high-spirited, joyous-talking louisamusgrove, and the dejected, thinking, feeling, reading, captain benwick, seemedeach of them everything that would not suit

the other. their minds most dissimilar!where could have been the attraction? the answer soon presented itself.it had been in situation. they had been thrown together severalweeks; they had been living in the same small family party: since henrietta'scoming away, they must have been depending almost entirely on each other, and louisa, just recovering from illness, had been inan interesting state, and captain benwick was not inconsolable. that was a point which anne had not beenable to avoid suspecting before; and

instead of drawing the same conclusion asmary, from the present course of events, they served only to confirm the idea of his having felt some dawning of tendernesstoward herself. she did not mean, however, to derive muchmore from it to gratify her vanity, than mary might have allowed. she was persuaded that any tolerablypleasing young woman who had listened and seemed to feel for him would have receivedthe same compliment. he had an affectionate heart. he must love somebody.she saw no reason against their being

happy.louisa had fine naval fervour to begin with, and they would soon grow more alike. he would gain cheerfulness, and she wouldlearn to be an enthusiast for scott and lord byron; nay, that was probably learntalready; of course they had fallen in love over poetry. the idea of louisa musgrove turned into aperson of literary taste, and sentimental reflection was amusing, but she had nodoubt of its being so. the day at lyme, the fall from the cobb,might influence her health, her nerves, her courage, her character to the end of herlife, as thoroughly as it appeared to have

influenced her fate. the conclusion of the whole was, that ifthe woman who had been sensible of captain wentworth's merits could be allowed toprefer another man, there was nothing in the engagement to excite lasting wonder; and if captain wentworth lost no friend byit, certainly nothing to be regretted. no, it was not regret which made anne'sheart beat in spite of herself, and brought the colour into her cheeks when she thoughtof captain wentworth unshackled and free. she had some feelings which she was ashamedto investigate. they were too much like joy, senseless joy!

she longed to see the crofts; but when themeeting took place, it was evident that no rumour of the news had yet reached them. the visit of ceremony was paid andreturned; and louisa musgrove was mentioned, and captain benwick, too,without even half a smile. the crofts had placed themselves inlodgings in gay street, perfectly to sir walter's satisfaction. he was not at all ashamed of theacquaintance, and did, in fact, think and talk a great deal more about the admiral,than the admiral ever thought or talked about him.

the crofts knew quite as many people inbath as they wished for, and considered their intercourse with the elliots as amere matter of form, and not in the least likely to afford them any pleasure. they brought with them their country habitof being almost always together. he was ordered to walk to keep off thegout, and mrs croft seemed to go shares with him in everything, and to walk for herlife to do him good. anne saw them wherever she went. lady russell took her out in her carriagealmost every morning, and she never failed to think of them, and never failed to seethem.

knowing their feelings as she did, it was amost attractive picture of happiness to she always watched them as long as shecould, delighted to fancy she understood what they might be talking of, as theywalked along in happy independence, or equally delighted to see the admiral's hearty shake of the hand when heencountered an old friend, and observe their eagerness of conversation whenoccasionally forming into a little knot of the navy, mrs croft looking as intelligentand keen as any of the officers around her. anne was too much engaged with lady russellto be often walking herself; but it so happened that one morning, about a week orten days after the croft's arrival, it

suited her best to leave her friend, or her friend's carriage, in the lower part of thetown, and return alone to camden place, and in walking up milsom street she had thegood fortune to meet with the admiral. he was standing by himself at a printshopwindow, with his hands behind him, in earnest contemplation of some print, andshe not only might have passed him unseen, but was obliged to touch as well as addresshim before she could catch his notice. when he did perceive and acknowledge her,however, it was done with all his usual frankness and good humour. "ha! is it you?thank you, thank you.

this is treating me like a friend.here i am, you see, staring at a picture. i can never get by this shop withoutstopping. but what a thing here is, by way of a boat!do look at it. did you ever see the like? what queer fellows your fine painters mustbe, to think that anybody would venture their lives in such a shapeless oldcockleshell as that? and yet here are two gentlemen stuck up init mightily at their ease, and looking about them at the rocks and mountains, asif they were not to be upset the next moment, which they certainly must be.

i wonder where that boat was built!"(laughing heartily); "i would not venture over a horsepond in it.well," (turning away), "now, where are you bound? can i go anywhere for you, or with you?can i be of any use?" "none, i thank you, unless you will give methe pleasure of your company the little way our road lies together. i am going home.""that i will, with all my heart, and farther, too. yes, yes we will have a snug walk together,and i have something to tell you as we go

along. there, take my arm; that's right; i do notfeel comfortable if i have not a woman there. lord! what a boat it is!" taking a lastlook at the picture, as they began to be in motion."did you say that you had something to tell me, sir?" "yes, i have, presently.but here comes a friend, captain brigden; i shall only say, 'how d'ye do?' as we pass,however. i shall not stop.

'how d'ye do?'brigden stares to see anybody with me but my wife.she, poor soul, is tied by the leg. she has a blister on one of her heels, aslarge as a three-shilling piece. if you look across the street, you will seeadmiral brand coming down and his brother. shabby fellows, both of them! i am glad they are not on this side of theway. sophy cannot bear them.they played me a pitiful trick once: got away with some of my best men. i will tell you the whole story anothertime.

there comes old sir archibald drew and hisgrandson. look, he sees us; he kisses his hand toyou; he takes you for my wife. ah! the peace has come too soon for thatyounker. poor old sir archibald! how do you like bath, miss elliot?it suits us very well. we are always meeting with some old friendor other; the streets full of them every morning; sure to have plenty of chat; andthen we get away from them all, and shut ourselves in our lodgings, and draw in our chairs, and are snug as if we were atkellynch, ay, or as we used to be even at

north yarmouth and deal. we do not like our lodgings here the worse,i can tell you, for putting us in mind of those we first had at north yarmouth.the wind blows through one of the cupboards just in the same way." when they were got a little farther, anneventured to press again for what he had to communicate. she hoped when clear of milsom street tohave her curiosity gratified; but she was still obliged to wait, for the admiral hadmade up his mind not to begin till they had gained the greater space and quiet of

belmont; and as she was not really mrscroft, she must let him have his own way. as soon as they were fairly ascendingbelmont, he began-- "well, now you shall hear something thatwill surprise you. but first of all, you must tell me the nameof the young lady i am going to talk about. that young lady, you know, that we have allbeen so concerned for. the miss musgrove, that all this has beenhappening to. her christian name: i always forget herchristian name." anne had been ashamed to appear tocomprehend so soon as she really did; but now she could safely suggest the name of"louisa."

"ay, ay, miss louisa musgrove, that is thename. i wish young ladies had not such a numberof fine christian names. i should never be out if they were allsophys, or something of that sort. well, this miss louisa, we all thought, youknow, was to marry frederick. he was courting her week after week. the only wonder was, what they could bewaiting for, till the business at lyme came; then, indeed, it was clear enoughthat they must wait till her brain was set to right. but even then there was something odd intheir way of going on.

instead of staying at lyme, he went off toplymouth, and then he went off to see edward. when we came back from minehead he was gonedown to edward's, and there he has been ever since.we have seen nothing of him since november. even sophy could not understand it. but now, the matter has taken the strangestturn of all; for this young lady, the same miss musgrove, instead of being to marryfrederick, is to marry james benwick. you know james benwick." "a little.i am a little acquainted with captain

benwick.""well, she is to marry him. nay, most likely they are married already,for i do not know what they should wait for." "i thought captain benwick a very pleasingyoung man," said anne, "and i understand that he bears an excellent character.""oh! yes, yes, there is not a word to be said against james benwick. he is only a commander, it is true, madelast summer, and these are bad times for getting on, but he has not another faultthat i know of. an excellent, good-hearted fellow, i assureyou; a very active, zealous officer too,

which is more than you would think for,perhaps, for that soft sort of manner does not do him justice." "indeed you are mistaken there, sir; ishould never augur want of spirit from captain benwick's manners. i thought them particularly pleasing, and iwill answer for it, they would generally please." "well, well, ladies are the best judges;but james benwick is rather too piano for me; and though very likely it is all ourpartiality, sophy and i cannot help thinking frederick's manners better thanhis.

there is something about frederick more toour taste." anne was caught. she had only meant to oppose the too commonidea of spirit and gentleness being incompatible with each other, not at all torepresent captain benwick's manners as the very best that could possibly be; and, after a little hesitation, she wasbeginning to say, "i was not entering into any comparison of the two friends," but theadmiral interrupted her with-- "and the thing is certainly true. it is not a mere bit of gossip.we have it from frederick himself.

his sister had a letter from him yesterday,in which he tells us of it, and he had just had it in a letter from harville, writtenupon the spot, from uppercross. i fancy they are all at uppercross." this was an opportunity which anne couldnot resist; she said, therefore, "i hope, admiral, i hope there is nothing in thestyle of captain wentworth's letter to make you and mrs croft particularly uneasy. it did seem, last autumn, as if there werean attachment between him and louisa musgrove; but i hope it may be understoodto have worn out on each side equally, and without violence.

i hope his letter does not breathe thespirit of an ill-used man." "not at all, not at all; there is not anoath or a murmur from beginning to end." anne looked down to hide her smile. "no, no; frederick is not a man to whineand complain; he has too much spirit for that.if the girl likes another man better, it is very fit she should have him." "certainly. but what i mean is, that i hope there isnothing in captain wentworth's manner of writing to make you suppose he thinkshimself ill-used by his friend, which might

appear, you know, without its beingabsolutely said. i should be very sorry that such afriendship as has subsisted between him and captain benwick should be destroyed, oreven wounded, by a circumstance of this sort." "yes, yes, i understand you.but there is nothing at all of that nature in the letter. he does not give the least fling atbenwick; does not so much as say, 'i wonder at it, i have a reason of my own forwondering at it.' no, you would not guess, from his way ofwriting, that he had ever thought of this

miss (what's her name?) for himself. he very handsomely hopes they will be happytogether; and there is nothing very unforgiving in that, i think." anne did not receive the perfect convictionwhich the admiral meant to convey, but it would have been useless to press theenquiry farther. she therefore satisfied herself withcommon-place remarks or quiet attention, and the admiral had it all his own way."poor frederick!" said he at last. "now he must begin all over again withsomebody else. i think we must get him to bath.sophy must write, and beg him to come to

here are pretty girls enough, i am sure.it would be of no use to go to uppercross again, for that other miss musgrove, ifind, is bespoke by her cousin, the young parson. do not you think, miss elliot, we hadbetter try to get him to bath?"

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