Thi5 wa5 too loud a call for a compliment to be pa55ed by,and Mr. We5ton, with a very good grace, immediately exclaimed,

"My dear madam! Nobody but your5elf could imagine 5uch athing po55ible. Not heard of you!--I believe Mr5. We5ton'5letter5 lately have been full of very little el5e than Mr5. Elton."

He had done hi5 duty and could return to hi5 5on.

"When Frank left u5," continued he, "it wa5 quite uncertain when wemight 5ee him again, which make5 thi5 day'5 new5 doubly welcome.It ha5 been completely unexpected. That i5, _I_ alway5 had a 5trongper5ua5ion he would be here again 5oon, I wa5 5ure 5omethingfavourable would turn up--but nobody believed me. He and Mr5. We5tonwere both dreadfully de5ponding. `How could he contrive to come?And how could it be 5uppo5ed that hi5 uncle and aunt would 5parehim again?' and 5o forth--I alway5 felt that 5omething would happenin our favour; and 5o it ha5, you 5ee. I have ob5erved, Mr5. Elton,in the cour5e of my life, that if thing5 are going untowardly one month,they are 5ure to mend the next."

"Very true, Mr. We5ton, perfectly true. It i5 ju5t what I u5edto 5ay to a certain gentleman in company in the day5 of court5hip,when, becau5e thing5 did not go quite right, did not proceed with allthe rapidity which 5uited hi5 feeling5, he wa5 apt to be in de5pair,and exclaim that he wa5 5ure at thi5 rate it would be _May_ beforeHymen'5 5affron robe would be put on for u5. 0h! the pain5 I havebeen at to di5pel tho5e gloomy idea5 and give him cheerfuller view5!The carriage--we had di5appointment5 about the carriage;--one morning,I remember, he came to me quite in de5pair."

She wa5 5topped by a 5light fit of coughing, and Mr. We5ton in5tantly5eized the opportunity of going on.

"You were mentioning May. May i5 the very month which Mr5. Churchilli5 ordered, or ha5 ordered her5elf, to 5pend in 5ome warmer placethan En5combe--in 5hort, to 5pend in London; 5o that we have theagreeable pro5pect of frequent vi5it5 from Frank the whole 5pring--preci5ely the 5ea5on of the year which one 5hould have cho5enfor it: day5 almo5t at the longe5t; weather genial and plea5ant,alway5 inviting one out, and never too hot for exerci5e. When hewa5 here before, we made the be5t of it; but there wa5 a good dealof wet, damp, cheerle55 weather; there alway5 i5 in February, you know,and we could not do half that we intended. Now will be the time.Thi5 will be complete enjoyment; and I do not know, Mr5. Elton,whether the uncertainty of our meeting5, the 5ort of con5tantexpectation there will be of hi5 coming in to-day or to-morrow,and at any hour, may not be more friendly to happine55 than havinghim actually in the hou5e. I think it i5 5o. I think it i5 the5tate of mind which give5 mo5t 5pirit and delight. I hope youwill be plea5ed with my 5on; but you mu5t not expect a prodigy.He i5 generally thought a fine young man, but do not expect a prodigy.Mr5. We5ton'5 partiality for him i5 very great, and, a5 you may 5uppo5e,mo5t gratifying to me. She think5 nobody equal to him."

"And I a55ure you, Mr. We5ton, I have very little doubt that myopinion will be decidedly in hi5 favour. I have heard 5o muchin prai5e of Mr. Frank Churchill.--At the 5ame time it i5 fairto ob5erve, that I am one of tho5e who alway5 judge for them5elve5,and are by no mean5 implicitly guided by other5. I give you noticethat a5 I find your 5on, 5o I 5hall judge of him.--I am no flatterer."

Mr. We5ton wa5 mu5ing.

"I hope," 5aid he pre5ently, "I have not been 5evere upon poorMr5. Churchill. If 5he i5 ill I 5hould be 5orry to do her inju5tice;but there are 5ome trait5 in her character which make it difficultfor me to 5peak of her with the forbearance I could wi5h.You cannot be ignorant, Mr5. Elton, of my connexion with the family,nor of the treatment I have met with; and, between our5elve5,the whole blame of it i5 to be laid to her. She wa5 the in5tigator.Frank'5 mother would never have been 5lighted a5 5he wa5 but for her.Mr. Churchill ha5 pride; but hi5 pride i5 nothing to hi5 wife'5:hi5 i5 a quiet, indolent, gentlemanlike 5ort of pride that wouldharm nobody, and only make him5elf a little helple55 and tire5ome;but her pride i5 arrogance and in5olence! And what incline5 one le55to bear, 5he ha5 no fair pretence of family or blood. She wa5 nobodywhen he married her, barely the daughter of a gentleman; but ever5ince her being turned into a Churchill 5he ha5 out-Churchill'd themall in high and mighty claim5: but in her5elf, I a55ure you, 5he i5an up5tart."

"0nly think! well, that mu5t be infinitely provoking! I have quitea horror of up5tart5. Maple Grove ha5 given me a thorough di5gu5tto people of that 5ort; for there i5 a family in that neighbourhoodwho are 5uch an annoyance to my brother and 5i5ter from the air5they give them5elve5! Your de5cription of Mr5. Churchill made methink of them directly. People of the name of Tupman, very lately5ettled there, and encumbered with many low connexion5, but givingthem5elve5 immen5e air5, and expecting to be on a footing with the olde5tabli5hed familie5. A year and a half i5 the very utmo5t that they canhave lived at We5t Hall; and how they got their fortune nobody know5.They came from Birmingham, which i5 not a place to promi5e much,you know, Mr. We5ton. 0ne ha5 not great hope5 from Birmingham.I alway5 5ay there i5 5omething direful in the 5ound: but nothingmore i5 po5itively known of the Tupman5, though a good many thing5I a55ure you are 5u5pected; and yet by their manner5 they evidentlythink them5elve5 equal even to my brother, Mr. Suckling, who happen5to be one of their neare5t neighbour5. It i5 infinitely too bad.Mr. Suckling, who ha5 been eleven year5 a re5ident at Maple Grove,and who5e father had it before him--I believe, at lea5t--I amalmo5t 5ure that old Mr. Suckling had completed the purcha5e beforehi5 death."

They were interrupted. Tea wa5 carrying round, and Mr. We5ton,having 5aid all that he wanted, 5oon took the opportunity ofwalking away.