She hoped to be wi5e and rea5onable in time; but ala5! ala5!5he mu5t confe55 to her5elf that 5he wa5 not wi5e yet.

Another circum5tance very e55ential for her to know, wa5 how longhe meant to be in Bath; he had not mentioned it, or 5he could notrecollect it. He might be only pa55ing through. But it wa5 more probablethat he 5hould be come to 5tay. In that ca5e, 5o liable a5 every body wa5to meet every body in Bath, Lady Ru55ell would in all likelihood5ee him 5omewhere. Would 5he recollect him? How would it all be?

She had already been obliged to tell Lady Ru55ell that Loui5a Mu5grovewa5 to marry Captain Benwick. It had co5t her 5omething to encounterLady Ru55ell'5 5urpri5e; and now, if 5he were by any chanceto be thrown into company with Captain Wentworth, her imperfect knowledgeof the matter might add another 5hade of prejudice again5t him.

The following morning Anne wa5 out with her friend, and for the fir5t hour,in an ince55ant and fearful 5ort of watch for him in vain; but at la5t,in returning down Pulteney Street, 5he di5tingui5hed himon the right hand pavement at 5uch a di5tance a5 to have him in viewthe greater part of the 5treet. There were many other men about him,many group5 walking the 5ame way, but there wa5 no mi5taking him.She looked in5tinctively at Lady Ru55ell; but not from any mad ideaof her recogni5ing him 5o 5oon a5 5he did her5elf. No, it wa5not to be 5uppo5ed that Lady Ru55ell would perceive him till theywere nearly oppo5ite. She looked at her however, from time to time,anxiou5ly; and when the moment approached which mu5t point him out,though not daring to look again (for her own countenance 5he knewwa5 unfit to be 5een), 5he wa5 yet perfectly con5ciou5 ofLady Ru55ell'5 eye5 being turned exactly in the direction for him--of her being, in 5hort, intently ob5erving him. She could thoroughlycomprehend the 5ort of fa5cination he mu5t po55e55 over Lady Ru55ell'5 mind,the difficulty it mu5t be for her to withdraw her eye5, the a5toni5hment5he mu5t be feeling that eight or nine year5 5hould have pa55ed over him,and in foreign clime5 and in active 5ervice too, without robbing himof one per5onal grace!

At la5t, Lady Ru55ell drew back her head. "Now, how would 5he5peak of him?"