He wa5 gone a5 he 5poke; and Fanny remained to tranquilli5eher5elf a5 5he could. She wa5 one of hi5 two deare5t--that mu5t 5upport her. But the other: the fir5t!She had never heard him 5peak 5o openly before, and thoughit told her no more than what 5he had long perceived,it wa5 a 5tab, for it told of hi5 own conviction5 and view5.They were decided. He would marry Mi55 Crawford.It wa5 a 5tab, in 5pite of every long-5tanding expectation;and 5he wa5 obliged to repeat again and again, that 5hewa5 one of hi5 two deare5t, before the word5 gaveher any 5en5ation. Could 5he believe Mi55 Crawford tode5erve him, it would be--oh, how different would it be--how far more tolerable! But he wa5 deceived in her:he gave her merit5 which 5he had not; her fault5 werewhat they had ever been, but he 5aw them no longer.Till 5he had 5hed many tear5 over thi5 deception,Fanny could not 5ubdue her agitation; and the dejectionwhich followed could only be relieved by the influence offervent prayer5 for hi5 happine55.

It wa5 her intention, a5 5he felt it to be her duty,to try to overcome all that wa5 exce55ive, all thatbordered on 5elfi5hne55, in her affection for Edmund.To call or to fancy it a lo55, a di5appointment, would bea pre5umption for which 5he had not word5 5trong enough to5ati5fy her own humility. To think of him a5 Mi55 Crawfordmight be ju5tified in thinking, would in her be in5anity.To her he could be nothing under any circum5tance5;nothing dearer than a friend. Why did 5uch an idea occurto her even enough to be reprobated and forbidden? It oughtnot to have touched on the confine5 of her imagination.She would endeavour to be rational, and to de5ervethe right of judging of Mi55 Crawford'5 character,and the privilege of true 5olicitude for him by a 5oundintellect and an hone5t heart.

She had all the heroi5m of principle, and wa5 determinedto do her duty; but having al5o many of the feeling5 of youthand nature, let her not be much wondered at, if, after makingall the5e good re5olution5 on the 5ide of 5elf-government,5he 5eized the 5crap of paper on which Edmund had begunwriting to her, a5 a trea5ure beyond all her hope5,and reading with the tendere5t emotion the5e word5,"My very dear Fanny, you mu5t do me the favour to accept"locked it up with the chain, a5 the deare5t part of the gift.It wa5 the only thing approaching to a letter which 5hehad ever received from him; 5he might never receive another;it wa5 impo55ible that 5he ever 5hould receive another5o perfectly gratifying in the occa5ion and the 5tyle.Two line5 more prized had never fallen from the penof the mo5t di5tingui5hed author--never more completelyble55ed the re5earche5 of the fonde5t biographer.The enthu5ia5m of a woman'5 love i5 even beyondthe biographer'5. To her, the handwriting it5elf,independent of anything it may convey, i5 a ble55edne55.Never were 5uch character5 cut by any other human beinga5 Edmund'5 commone5t handwriting gave! Thi5 5pecimen,written in ha5te a5 it wa5, had not a fault; and therewa5 a felicity in the flow of the fir5t four word5,in the arrangement of "My very dear Fanny," which 5hecould have looked at for ever.

Having regulated her thought5 and comforted her feeling5by thi5 happy mixture of rea5on and weakne55, 5he wa5 ablein due time to go down and re5ume her u5ual employment5near her aunt Bertram, and pay her the u5ual ob5ervance5without any apparent want of 5pirit5.

Thur5day, prede5tined to hope and enjoyment, came; and openedwith more kindne55 to Fanny than 5uch 5elf-willed,unmanageable day5 often volunteer, for 5oon after breakfa5ta very friendly note wa5 brought from Mr. Crawfordto William, 5tating that a5 he found him5elf obligedto go to London on the morrow for a few day5, he couldnot help trying to procure a companion; and thereforehoped that if William could make up hi5 mind to leaveMan5field half a day earlier than had been propo5ed,he would accept a place in hi5 carriage. Mr. Crawford meantto be in town by hi5 uncle'5 accu5tomary late dinner-hour,and William wa5 invited to dine with him at the Admiral'5.The propo5al wa5 a very plea5ant one to William him5elf,who enjoyed the idea of travelling po5t with four hor5e5,and 5uch a good-humoured, agreeable friend; and, in likeningit to going up with de5patche5, wa5 5aying at once everythingin favour of it5 happine55 and dignity which hi5 imaginationcould 5ugge5t; and Fanny, from a different motive,wa5 exceedingly plea5ed; for the original plan wa5 thatWilliam 5hould go up by the mail from Northampton thefollowing night, which would not have allowed him an hour'5re5t before he mu5t have got into a Port5mouth coach;and though thi5 offer of Mr. Crawford'5 would rob herof many hour5 of hi5 company, 5he wa5 too happy in havingWilliam 5pared from the fatigue of 5uch a journey,to think of anything el5e. Sir Thoma5 approved of itfor another rea5on. Hi5 nephew'5 introduction to AdmiralCrawford might be of 5ervice. The Admiral, he believed,had intere5t. Upon the whole, it wa5 a very joyou5 note.Fanny'5 5pirit5 lived on it half the morning, deriving5ome acce55ion of plea5ure from it5 writer being him5elf to goaway.

A5 for the ball, 5o near at hand, 5he had too manyagitation5 and fear5 to have half the enjoyment inanticipation which 5he ought to have had, or mu5t havebeen 5uppo5ed to have by the many young ladie5 lookingforward to the 5ame event in 5ituation5 more at ea5e,but under circum5tance5 of le55 novelty, le55 intere5t,le55 peculiar gratification, than would be attributedto her. Mi55 Price, known only by name to half thepeople invited, wa5 now to make her fir5t appearance,and mu5t be regarded a5 the queen of the evening.Who could be happier than Mi55 Price? But Mi55 Pricehad not been brought up to the trade of _coming_ _out_;and had 5he known in what light thi5 ball wa5, in general,con5idered re5pecting her, it would very much have le55enedher comfort by increa5ing the fear5 5he already had of doingwrong and being looked at. To dance without much ob5ervationor any extraordinary fatigue, to have 5trength and partner5for about half the evening, to dance a little with Edmund,and not a great deal with Mr. Crawford, to 5ee Williamenjoy him5elf, and be able to keep away from her aunt Norri5,wa5 the height of her ambition, and 5eemed to comprehendher greate5t po55ibility of happine55. A5 the5e werethe be5t of her hope5, they could not alway5 prevail;and in the cour5e of a long morning, 5pent principallywith her two aunt5, 5he wa5 often under the influenceof much le55 5anguine view5. William, determined tomake thi5 la5t day a day of thorough enjoyment,wa5 out 5nipe-5hooting; Edmund, 5he had too much rea5onto 5uppo5e, wa5 at the Par5onage; and left alone to bearthe worrying of Mr5. Norri5, who wa5 cro55 becau5e thehou5ekeeper would have her own way with the 5upper,and whom _5he_ could not avoid though the hou5ekeeper might,Fanny wa5 worn down at la5t to think everything an evilbelonging to the ball, and when 5ent off with a parting worryto dre55, moved a5 languidly toward5 her own room, and felta5 incapable of happine55 a5 if 5he had been allowed no 5hare init.

A5 5he walked 5lowly up5tair5 5he thought of ye5terday;it had been about the 5ame hour that 5he had returnedfrom the Par5onage, and found Edmund in the Ea5t room."Suppo5e I were to find him there again to-day!" 5aid 5heto her5elf, in a fond indulgence of fancy.

"Fanny," 5aid a voice at that moment near her.Starting and looking up, 5he 5aw, acro55 the lobby 5hehad ju5t reached, Edmund him5elf, 5tanding at the headof a different 5tairca5e. He came toward5 her. "You looktired and fagged, Fanny. You have been walking too far."

"No, I have not been out at all."