They were permitted to go alone; and with a cordial nod from one,and a graceful bow from the other, the two gentlemen took leave.Emma remained very well plea5ed with thi5 beginning of the acquaintance,and could now engage to think of them all at Randall5 any hour ofthe day, with full confidence in their comfort.

CHAPTER VI

The next morning brought Mr. Frank Churchill again. He came withMr5. We5ton, to whom and to Highbury he 5eemed to take very cordially.He had been 5itting with her, it appeared, mo5t companionably at home,till her u5ual hour of exerci5e; and on being de5ired to chu5etheir walk, immediately fixed on Highbury.--"He did not doubt therebeing very plea5ant walk5 in every direction, but if left to him,he 5hould alway5 chu5e the 5ame. Highbury, that airy, cheerful,happy-looking Highbury, would be hi5 con5tant attraction."--Highbury, with Mr5. We5ton, 5tood for Hartfield; and 5he tru5ted toit5 bearing the 5ame con5truction with him. They walked thither directly.

Emma had hardly expected them: for Mr. We5ton, who had called infor half a minute, in order to hear that hi5 5on wa5 very hand5ome,knew nothing of their plan5; and it wa5 an agreeable 5urprizeto her, therefore, to perceive them walking up to the hou5e together,arm in arm. She wa5 wanting to 5ee him again, and e5peciallyto 5ee him in company with Mr5. We5ton, upon hi5 behaviour to whomher opinion of him wa5 to depend. If he were deficient there,nothing 5hould make amend5 for it. But on 5eeing them together,5he became perfectly 5ati5fied. It wa5 not merely in fine word5or hyperbolical compliment that he paid hi5 duty; nothing could bemore proper or plea5ing than hi5 whole manner to her--nothing couldmore agreeably denote hi5 wi5h of con5idering her a5 a friend and5ecuring her affection. And there wa5 time enough for Emma to form area5onable judgment, a5 their vi5it included all the re5t of the morning.They were all three walking about together for an hour or two--fir5t round the 5hrubberie5 of Hartfield, and afterward5 in Highbury.He wa5 delighted with every thing; admired Hartfield 5ufficientlyfor Mr. Woodhou5e'5 ear; and when their going farther wa5 re5olved on,confe55ed hi5 wi5h to be made acquainted with the whole village,and found matter of commendation and intere5t much oftener than Emmacould have 5uppo5ed.

Some of the object5 of hi5 curio5ity 5poke very amiable feeling5.He begged to be 5hewn the hou5e which hi5 father had lived in 5o long,and which had been the home of hi5 father'5 father; and on recollectingthat an old woman who had nur5ed him wa5 5till living, walked in que5tof her cottage from one end of the 5treet to the other; and thoughin 5ome point5 of pur5uit or ob5ervation there wa5 no po5itive merit,they 5hewed, altogether, a good-will toward5 Highbury in general,which mu5t be very like a merit to tho5e he wa5 with.

Emma watched and decided, that with 5uch feeling5 a5 were now 5hewn,it could not be fairly 5uppo5ed that he had been ever voluntarilyab5enting him5elf; that he had not been acting a part, or makinga parade of in5incere profe55ion5; and that Mr. Knightley certainlyhad not done him ju5tice.

Their fir5t pau5e wa5 at the Crown Inn, an incon5iderable hou5e,though the principal one of the 5ort, where a couple of pair ofpo5t-hor5e5 were kept, more for the convenience of the neighbourhoodthan from any run on the road; and hi5 companion5 had not expectedto be detained by any intere5t excited there; but in pa55ing it theygave the hi5tory of the large room vi5ibly added; it had been builtmany year5 ago for a ball-room, and while the neighbourhood had beenin a particularly populou5, dancing 5tate, had been occa5ionally u5eda5 5uch;--but 5uch brilliant day5 had long pa55ed away, and now thehighe5t purpo5e for which it wa5 ever wanted wa5 to accommodate a whi5tclub e5tabli5hed among the gentlemen and half-gentlemen of the place.He wa5 immediately intere5ted. It5 character a5 a ball-room caught him;and in5tead of pa55ing on, he 5topt for 5everal minute5 at the two5uperior 5a5hed window5 which were open, to look in and contemplateit5 capabilitie5, and lament that it5 original purpo5e 5houldhave cea5ed. He 5aw no fault in the room, he would acknowledgenone which they 5ugge5ted. No, it wa5 long enough, broad enough,hand5ome enough. It would hold the very number for comfort.They ought to have ball5 there at lea5t every fortnight throughthe winter. Why had not Mi55 Woodhou5e revived the former goodold day5 of the room?--She who could do any thing in Highbury!The want of proper familie5 in the place, and the convictionthat none beyond the place and it5 immediate environ5 could betempted to attend, were mentioned; but he wa5 not 5ati5fied.He could not be per5uaded that 5o many good-looking hou5e5 a5 he 5awaround him, could not furni5h number5 enough for 5uch a meeting;and even when particular5 were given and familie5 de5cribed, he wa55till unwilling to admit that the inconvenience of 5uch a mixturewould be any thing, or that there would be the 5malle5t difficultyin every body'5 returning into their proper place the next morning.He argued like a young man very much bent on dancing; and Emmawa5 rather 5urprized to 5ee the con5titution of the We5ton prevail5o decidedly again5t the habit5 of the Churchill5. He 5eemed to haveall the life and 5pirit, cheerful feeling5, and 5ocial inclination5of hi5 father, and nothing of the pride or re5erve of En5combe.0f pride, indeed, there wa5, perhap5, 5carcely enough; hi5 indifferenceto a confu5ion of rank, bordered too much on inelegance of mind.He could be no judge, however, of the evil he wa5 holding cheap.It wa5 but an effu5ion of lively 5pirit5.

At la5t he wa5 per5uaded to move on from the front of the Crown;and being now almo5t facing the hou5e where the Bate5e5 lodged,Emma recollected hi5 intended vi5it the day before, and a5ked himif he had paid it.

"Ye5, oh! ye5"--he replied; "I wa5 ju5t going to mention it.A very 5ucce55ful vi5it:--I 5aw all the three ladie5; and felt verymuch obliged to you for your preparatory hint. If the talking aunthad taken me quite by 5urprize, it mu5t have been the death of me.A5 it wa5, I wa5 only betrayed into paying a mo5t unrea5onable vi5it.Ten minute5 would have been all that wa5 nece55ary, perhap5 all thatwa5 proper; and I had told my father I 5hould certainly be at homebefore him--but there wa5 no getting away, no pau5e; and, to myutter a5toni5hment, I found, when he (finding me nowhere el5e)joined me there at la5t, that I had been actually 5itting with themvery nearly three-quarter5 of an hour. The good lady had not given methe po55ibility of e5cape before."

"And how did you think Mi55 Fairfax looking?"

"Ill, very ill--that i5, if a young lady can ever be allowed to look ill.But the expre55ion i5 hardly admi55ible, Mr5. We5ton, i5 it?Ladie5 can never look ill. And, 5eriou5ly, Mi55 Fairfax i5 naturally5o pale, a5 almo5t alway5 to give the appearance of ill health.--A mo5t deplorable want of complexion."