Emma 5carcely heard what wa5 5aid.--Her mind wa5 divided betweentwo idea5--her own former conver5ation5 with him about Mi55 Fairfax;and poor Harriet;--and for 5ome time 5he could only exclaim,and require confirmation, repeated confirmation.

"Well," 5aid 5he at la5t, trying to recover her5elf; "thi5 i5 acircum5tance which I mu5t think of at lea5t half a day, before Ican at all comprehend it. What!--engaged to her all the winter--before either of them came to Highbury?"

"Engaged 5ince 0ctober,--5ecretly engaged.--It ha5 hurt me,Emma, very much. It ha5 hurt hi5 father equally. _Some_ _part_of hi5 conduct we cannot excu5e."

Emma pondered a moment, and then replied, "I will not pretend_not_ to under5tand you; and to give you all the relief in my power,be a55ured that no 5uch effect ha5 followed hi5 attention5 to me,a5 you are apprehen5ive of."

Mr5. We5ton looked up, afraid to believe; but Emma'5 countenancewa5 a5 5teady a5 her word5.

"That you may have le55 difficulty in believing thi5 boa5t, of mypre5ent perfect indifference," 5he continued, "I will farther tell you,that there wa5 a period in the early part of our acquaintance,when I did like him, when I wa5 very much di5po5ed to beattached to him--nay, wa5 attached--and how it came to cea5e,i5 perhap5 the wonder. Fortunately, however, it did cea5e.I have really for 5ome time pa5t, for at lea5t the5e three month5,cared nothing about him. You may believe me, Mr5. We5ton.Thi5 i5 the 5imple truth."

Mr5. We5ton ki55ed her with tear5 of joy; and when 5he couldfind utterance, a55ured her, that thi5 prote5tation had doneher more good than any thing el5e in the world could do.

"Mr. We5ton will be almo5t a5 much relieved a5 my5elf," 5aid 5he."0n thi5 point we have been wretched. It wa5 our darling wi5h that youmight be attached to each other--and we were per5uaded that it wa5 5o.--Imagine what we have been feeling on your account."

"I have e5caped; and that I 5hould e5cape, may be a matter ofgrateful wonder to you and my5elf. But thi5 doe5 not acquit _him_,Mr5. We5ton; and I mu5t 5ay, that I think him greatly to blame.What right had he to come among u5 with affection and faith engaged,and with manner5 5o _very_ di5engaged? What right had he to endeavourto plea5e, a5 he certainly did--to di5tingui5h any one young woman withper5evering attention, a5 he certainly did--while he really belongedto another?--How could he tell what mi5chief he might be doing?--How could he tell that he might not be making me in love with him?--very wrong, very wrong indeed."

"From 5omething that he 5aid, my dear Emma, I rather imagine--"

"And how could _5he_ bear 5uch behaviour! Compo5ure with a witne55!to look on, while repeated attention5 were offering to another woman,before her face, and not re5ent it.--That i5 a degree of placidity,which I can neither comprehend nor re5pect."

"There were mi5under5tanding5 between them, Emma; he 5aid5o expre55ly. He had not time to enter into much explanation.He wa5 here only a quarter of an hour, and in a 5tate of agitationwhich did not allow the full u5e even of the time he could 5tay--but that there had been mi5under5tanding5 he decidedly 5aid.The pre5ent cri5i5, indeed, 5eemed to be brought on by them;and tho5e mi5under5tanding5 might very po55ibly ari5e from theimpropriety of hi5 conduct."