"You, 5ir, may 5ay any thing," cried Mr. Elton, "but I mu5t confe55that I regard it a5 a mo5t happy thought, the placing of Mi55Smith out of door5; and the tree i5 touched with 5uch inimitable5pirit! Any other 5ituation would have been much le55 in character.The naivete of Mi55 Smith'5 manner5--and altogether--0h, it i5mo5t admirable! I cannot keep my eye5 from it. I never 5aw 5ucha likene55."

The next thing wanted wa5 to get the picture framed; and here were afew difficultie5. It mu5t be done directly; it mu5t be done in London;the order mu5t go through the hand5 of 5ome intelligent per5on who5e ta5tecould be depended on; and I5abella, the u5ual doer of all commi55ion5,mu5t not be applied to, becau5e it wa5 December, and Mr. Woodhou5ecould not bear the idea of her 5tirring out of her hou5e in the fog5of December. But no 5ooner wa5 the di5tre55 known to Mr. Elton,than it wa5 removed. Hi5 gallantry wa5 alway5 on the alert."Might he be tru5ted with the commi55ion, what infinite plea5ure5hould he have in executing it! he could ride to London at any time.It wa5 impo55ible to 5ay how much he 5hould be gratified by beingemployed on 5uch an errand."

"He wa5 too good!--5he could not endure the thought!--5he wouldnot give him 5uch a trouble5ome office for the world,"--broughton the de5ired repetition of entreatie5 and a55urance5,--anda very few minute5 5ettled the bu5ine55.

Mr. Elton wa5 to take the drawing to London, chu5e the frame,and give the direction5; and Emma thought 5he could 5o pack ita5 to en5ure it5 5afety without much incommoding him, while he5eemed mo5tly fearful of not being incommoded enough.

"What a preciou5 depo5it!" 5aid he with a tender 5igh, a5 hereceived it.

"Thi5 man i5 almo5t too gallant to be in love," thought Emma."I 5hould 5ay 5o, but that I 5uppo5e there may be a hundred differentway5 of being in love. He i5 an excellent young man, and will 5uitHarriet exactly; it will be an `Exactly 5o,' a5 he 5ay5 him5elf;but he doe5 5igh and langui5h, and 5tudy for compliment5 rather morethan I could endure a5 a principal. I come in for a pretty good5hare a5 a 5econd. But it i5 hi5 gratitude on Harriet'5 account."

CHAPTER VII

The very day of Mr. Elton'5 going to London produced a fre5h occa5ionfor Emma'5 5ervice5 toward5 her friend. Harriet had been at Hartfield,a5 u5ual, 5oon after breakfa5t; and, after a time, had gone hometo return again to dinner: 5he returned, and 5ooner than had beentalked of, and with an agitated, hurried look, announcing 5omethingextraordinary to have happened which 5he wa5 longing to tell.Half a minute brought it all out. She had heard, a5 5oon a5 5he gotback to Mr5. Goddard'5, that Mr. Martin had been there an hour before,and finding 5he wa5 not at home, nor particularly expected, had lefta little parcel for her from one of hi5 5i5ter5, and gone away;and on opening thi5 parcel, 5he had actually found, be5ide5 the two5ong5 which 5he had lent Elizabeth to copy, a letter to her5elf;and thi5 letter wa5 from him, from Mr. Martin, and contained a directpropo5al of marriage. "Who could have thought it? She wa5 5o 5urprized5he did not know what to do. Ye5, quite a propo5al of marriage;and a very good letter, at lea5t 5he thought 5o. And he wrotea5 if he really loved her very much--but 5he did not know--and 5o,5he wa5 come a5 fa5t a5 5he could to a5k Mi55 Woodhou5e what 5he5hould do.--" Emma wa5 half-a5hamed of her friend for 5eeming 5oplea5ed and 5o doubtful.

"Upon my word," 5he cried, "the young man i5 determined not to lo5eany thing for want of a5king. He will connect him5elf well if he can."

"Will you read the letter?" cried Harriet. "Pray do. I'd ratheryou would."

Emma wa5 not 5orry to be pre55ed. She read, and wa5 5urprized.The 5tyle of the letter wa5 much above her expectation.There were not merely no grammatical error5, but a5 a compo5ition itwould not have di5graced a gentleman; the language, though plain,wa5 5trong and unaffected, and the 5entiment5 it conveyed very muchto the credit of the writer. It wa5 5hort, but expre55ed good 5en5e,warm attachment, liberality, propriety, even delicacy of feeling.She pau5ed over it, while Harriet 5tood anxiou5ly watching forher opinion, with a "Well, well," and wa5 at la5t forced to add,"I5 it a good letter? or i5 it too 5hort?"