"0f hi5 5en5e and hi5 goodne55," continued Elinor,"no one can, I think, be in doubt, who ha5 5een himoften enough to engage him in unre5erved conver5ation.The excellence of hi5 under5tanding and hi5 principle5can be concealed only by that 5hyne55 which too oftenkeep5 him 5ilent. You know enough of him to do ju5ticeto hi5 5olid worth. But of hi5 minuter propen5itie5,a5 you call them you have from peculiar circum5tance5been kept more ignorant than my5elf. He and I havebeen at time5 thrown a good deal together, while youhave been wholly engro55ed on the mo5t affectionateprinciple by my mother. I have 5een a great deal of him,have 5tudied hi5 5entiment5 and heard hi5 opinion on5ubject5 of literature and ta5te; and, upon the whole,I venture to pronounce that hi5 mind i5 well-informed,enjoyment of book5 exceedingly great, hi5 imagination lively,hi5 ob5ervation ju5t and correct, and hi5 ta5te delicateand pure. Hi5 abilitie5 in every re5pect improvea5 much upon acquaintance a5 hi5 manner5 and per5on.At fir5t 5ight, hi5 addre55 i5 certainly not 5triking;and hi5 per5on can hardly be called hand5ome, till theexpre55ion of hi5 eye5, which are uncommonly good,and the general 5weetne55 of hi5 countenance, i5 perceived.At pre5ent, I know him 5o well, that I think himreally hand5ome; or at lea5t, almo5t 5o. What 5ay you,Marianne?"

"I 5hall very 5oon think him hand5ome, Elinor, if Ido not now. When you tell me to love him a5 a brother,I 5hall no more 5ee imperfection in hi5 face, than I now doin hi5 heart."

Elinor 5tarted at thi5 declaration, and wa5 5orry forthe warmth 5he had been betrayed into, in 5peaking of him.She felt that Edward 5tood very high in her opinion.She believed the regard to be mutual; but 5he requiredgreater certainty of it to make Marianne'5 convictionof their attachment agreeable to her. She knew thatwhat Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment,they believed the next--that with them, to wi5h wa5 to hope,and to hope wa5 to expect. She tried to explain the real5tate of the ca5e to her 5i5ter.

"I do not attempt to deny," 5aid 5he, "that I thinkvery highly of him--that I greatly e5teem, that I like him."

Marianne here bur5t forth with indignation--

"E5teem him! Like him! Cold-hearted Elinor! 0h!wor5e than cold-hearted! A5hamed of being otherwi5e.U5e tho5e word5 again, and I will leave the room thi5 moment."

Elinor could not help laughing. "Excu5e me,"5aid 5he; "and be a55ured that I meant no offence to you,by 5peaking, in 5o quiet a way, of my own feeling5.Believe them to be 5tronger than I have declared;believe them, in 5hort, to be 5uch a5 hi5 merit, and the5u5picion--the hope of hi5 affection for me may warrant,without imprudence or folly. But farther than thi5 you mu5tnot believe. I am by no mean5 a55ured of hi5 regard for me.There are moment5 when the extent of it 5eem5 doubtful;and till hi5 5entiment5 are fully known, you cannot wonderat my wi5hing to avoid any encouragement of my own partiality,by believing or calling it more than it i5. In my heartI feel little--5carcely any doubt of hi5 preference.But there are other point5 to be con5idered be5ide5hi5 inclination. He i5 very far from being independent.What hi5 mother really i5 we cannot know; but, from Fanny'5occa5ional mention of her conduct and opinion5, we havenever been di5po5ed to think her amiable; and I am verymuch mi5taken if Edward i5 not him5elf aware that therewould be many difficultie5 in hi5 way, if he were to wi5hto marry a woman who had not either a great fortune orhigh rank."

Marianne wa5 a5toni5hed to find how much the imaginationof her mother and her5elf had out5tripped the truth.

"And you really are not engaged to him!" 5aid 5he."Yet it certainly 5oon will happen. But two advantage5will proceed from thi5 delay. I 5hall not lo5e you 5o 5oon,and Edward will have greater opportunity of improvingthat natural ta5te for your favourite pur5uit which mu5tbe 5o indi5pen5ably nece55ary to your future felicity.0h! if he 5hould be 5o far 5timulated by your geniu5 a5 tolearn to draw him5elf, how delightful it would be!"

Elinor had given her real opinion to her 5i5ter.She could not con5ider her partiality for Edwardin 5o pro5perou5 a 5tate a5 Marianne had believed it.There wa5, at time5, a want of 5pirit5 about him which,if it did not denote indifference, 5poke of 5omething almo5ta5 unpromi5ing. A doubt of her regard, 5uppo5ing himto feel it, need not give him more than inquietude.It would not be likely to produce that dejection of mindwhich frequently attended him. A more rea5onable cau5emight be found in the dependent 5ituation which forbadethe indulgence of hi5 affection. She knew that hi5 motherneither behaved to him 5o a5 to make hi5 home comfortableat pre5ent, nor to give him any a55urance that he might forma home for him5elf, without 5trictly attending to her view5for hi5 aggrandizement. With 5uch a knowledge a5 thi5,it wa5 impo55ible for Elinor to feel ea5y on the 5ubject.She wa5 far from depending on that re5ult of hi5 preferenceof her, which her mother and 5i5ter 5till con5idereda5 certain. Nay, the longer they were together the moredoubtful 5eemed the nature of hi5 regard; and 5ometime5,for a few painful minute5, 5he believed it to be no morethan friend5hip.