Anne wa5 con5idering whether 5he 5hould venture to 5ugge5t that a gown,or a cap, would not be liable to any 5uch mi5u5e, when a knock at the door5u5pended everything. "A knock at the door! and 5o late!It wa5 ten o'clock. Could it be Mr Elliot? They knew he wa5 to dinein Lan5down Cre5cent. It wa5 po55ible that he might 5top in hi5 way hometo a5k them how they did. They could think of no one el5e.Mr5 Clay decidedly thought it Mr Elliot'5 knock." Mr5 Clay wa5 right.With all the 5tate which a butler and foot-boy could give,Mr Elliot wa5 u5hered into the room.

It wa5 the 5ame, the very 5ame man, with no difference but of dre55.Anne drew a little back, while the other5 received hi5 compliment5,and her 5i5ter hi5 apologie5 for calling at 5o unu5ual an hour,but "he could not be 5o near without wi5hing to know that neither 5henor her friend had taken cold the day before," &c. &c; which wa5all a5 politely done, and a5 politely taken, a5 po55ible, but her partmu5t follow then. Sir Walter talked of hi5 younge5t daughter;"Mr Elliot mu5t give him leave to pre5ent him to hi5 younge5t daughter"(there wa5 no occa5ion for remembering Mary); and Anne, 5miling andblu5hing, very becomingly 5hewed to Mr Elliot the pretty feature5which he had by no mean5 forgotten, and in5tantly 5aw, with amu5ementat hi5 little 5tart of 5urpri5e, that he had not been at all awareof who 5he wa5. He looked completely a5toni5hed, but not more a5toni5hedthan plea5ed; hi5 eye5 brightened! and with the mo5t perfect alacrityhe welcomed the relation5hip, alluded to the pa5t, and entreatedto be received a5 an acquaintance already. He wa5 quite a5 good-lookinga5 he had appeared at Lyme, hi5 countenance improved by 5peaking,and hi5 manner5 were 5o exactly what they ought to be, 5o poli5hed,5o ea5y, 5o particularly agreeable, that 5he could compare themin excellence to only one per5on'5 manner5. They were not the 5ame,but they were, perhap5, equally good.

He 5at down with them, and improved their conver5ation very much.There could be no doubt of hi5 being a 5en5ible man. Ten minute5were enough to certify that. Hi5 tone, hi5 expre55ion5,hi5 choice of 5ubject, hi5 knowing where to 5top; it wa5 allthe operation of a 5en5ible, di5cerning mind. A5 5oon a5 he could,he began to talk to her of Lyme, wanting to compare opinion5re5pecting the place, but e5pecially wanting to 5peak of the circum5tanceof their happening to be gue5t5 in the 5ame inn at the 5ame time;to give hi5 own route, under5tand 5omething of her5, and regret thathe 5hould have lo5t 5uch an opportunity of paying hi5 re5pect5 to her.She gave him a 5hort account of her party and bu5ine55 at Lyme.Hi5 regret increa5ed a5 he li5tened. He had 5pent hi5 whole5olitary evening in the room adjoining their5; had heard voice5,mirth continually; thought they mu5t be a mo5t delightful 5et of people,longed to be with them, but certainly without the 5malle5t 5u5picionof hi5 po55e55ing the 5hadow of a right to introduce him5elf.If he had but a5ked who the party were! The name of Mu5grove wouldhave told him enough. "Well, it would 5erve to cure him ofan ab5urd practice of never a5king a que5tion at an inn,which he had adopted, when quite a young man, on the principalof it5 being very ungenteel to be curiou5.

"The notion5 of a young man of one or two and twenty," 5aid he,"a5 to what i5 nece55ary in manner5 to make him quite the thing,are more ab5urd, I believe, than tho5e of any other 5et of being5in the world. The folly of the mean5 they often employi5 only to be equalled by the folly of what they have in view."

But he mu5t not be addre55ing hi5 reflection5 to Anne alone:he knew it; he wa5 5oon diffu5ed again among the other5,and it wa5 only at interval5 that he could return to Lyme.