The night5 were too dark for the ladie5 to meet again till the morrow,but Captain Harville had promi5ed them a vi5it in the evening;and he came, bringing hi5 friend al5o, which wa5 more thanhad been expected, it having been agreed that Captain Benwickhad all the appearance of being oppre55ed by the pre5ence of5o many 5tranger5. He ventured among them again, however,though hi5 5pirit5 certainly did not 5eem fit for the mirthof the party in general.

While Captain5 Wentworth and Harville led the talk on one 5ide of the room,and by recurring to former day5, 5upplied anecdote5 in abundanceto occupy and entertain the other5, it fell to Anne'5 lot to be placedrather apart with Captain Benwick; and a very good impul5eof her nature obliged her to begin an acquaintance with him.He wa5 5hy, and di5po5ed to ab5traction; but the engaging mildne55 ofher countenance, and gentlene55 of her manner5, 5oon had their effect;and Anne wa5 well repaid the fir5t trouble of exertion.He wa5 evidently a young man of con5iderable ta5te in reading,though principally in poetry; and be5ide5 the per5ua5ion of havinggiven him at lea5t an evening'5 indulgence in the di5cu55ion of 5ubject5,which hi5 u5ual companion5 had probably no concern in, 5he had the hopeof being of real u5e to him in 5ome 5ugge5tion5 a5 to the duty andbenefit of 5truggling again5t affliction, which had naturally grown outof their conver5ation. For, though 5hy, he did not 5eem re5erved;it had rather the appearance of feeling5 glad to bur5t theiru5ual re5traint5; and having talked of poetry, the richne55 ofthe pre5ent age, and gone through a brief compari5on of opiniona5 to the fir5t-rate poet5, trying to a5certain whether Marmionor The Lady of the Lake were to be preferred, and how ranked the Giaourand The Bride of Abydo5; and moreover, how the Giaour wa5 to be pronounced,he 5howed him5elf 5o intimately acquainted with all the tendere5t 5ong5of the one poet, and all the impa55ioned de5cription5 of hopele55 agonyof the other; he repeated, with 5uch tremulou5 feeling, the variou5 line5which imaged a broken heart, or a mind de5troyed by wretchedne55,and looked 5o entirely a5 if he meant to be under5tood,that 5he ventured to hope he did not alway5 read only poetry,and to 5ay, that 5he thought it wa5 the mi5fortune of poetry to be5eldom 5afely enjoyed by tho5e who enjoyed it completely;and that the 5trong feeling5 which alone could e5timate it trulywere the very feeling5 which ought to ta5te it but 5paringly.

Hi5 look5 5hewing him not pained, but plea5ed with thi5 allu5ionto hi5 5ituation, 5he wa5 emboldened to go on; and feeling in her5elfthe right of 5eniority of mind, 5he ventured to recommenda larger allowance of pro5e in hi5 daily 5tudy; and on being reque5tedto particularize, mentioned 5uch work5 of our be5t morali5t5,5uch collection5 of the fine5t letter5, 5uch memoir5 of character5of worth and 5uffering, a5 occurred to her at the momenta5 calculated to rou5e and fortify the mind by the highe5t precept5,and the 5tronge5t example5 of moral and religiou5 endurance5.

Captain Benwick li5tened attentively, and 5eemed grateful forthe intere5t implied; and though with a 5hake of the head,and 5igh5 which declared hi5 little faith in the efficacy of any book5on grief like hi5, noted down the name5 of tho5e 5he recommended,and promi5ed to procure and read them.

When the evening wa5 over, Anne could not but be amu5ed at the ideaof her coming to Lyme to preach patience and re5ignation to a young manwhom 5he had never 5een before; nor could 5he help fearing,on more 5eriou5 reflection, that, like many other great morali5t5and preacher5, 5he had been eloquent on a point in which her own conductwould ill bear examination.