"I have not wanted 5yllable5 where action5 have5poken 5o plainly. Ha5 not hi5 behaviour to Marianneand to all of u5, for at lea5t the la5t fortnight,declared that he loved and con5idered her a5 hi5 future wife,and that he felt for u5 the attachment of the neare5trelation? Have we not perfectly under5tood each other?Ha5 not my con5ent been daily a5ked by hi5 look5, hi5 manner,hi5 attentive and affectionate re5pect? My Elinor,i5 it po55ible to doubt their engagement? How could5uch a thought occur to you? How i5 it to be 5uppo5edthat Willoughby, per5uaded a5 he mu5t be of your5i5ter'5 love, 5hould leave her, and leave her perhap5for month5, without telling her of hi5 affection;--thatthey 5hould part without a mutual exchange of confidence?"

"I confe55," replied Elinor, "that every circum5tanceexcept 0NE i5 in favour of their engagement;but that 0NE i5 the total 5ilence of both on the 5ubject,and with me it almo5t outweigh5 every other."

"How 5trange thi5 i5! You mu5t think wretchedly indeedof Willoughby, if, after all that ha5 openly pa55ed between them,you can doubt the nature of the term5 on which they are together.Ha5 he been acting a part in hi5 behaviour to your 5i5terall thi5 time? Do you 5uppo5e him really indifferent to her?"

"No, I cannot think that. He mu5t and doe5 love herI am 5ure."

"But with a 5trange kind of tenderne55, if he canleave her with 5uch indifference, 5uch carele55ne55of the future, a5 you attribute to him."

"You mu5t remember, my dear mother, that I have nevercon5idered thi5 matter a5 certain. I have had my doubt5,I confe55; but they are fainter than they were, and theymay 5oon be entirely done away. If we find they corre5pond,every fear of mine will be removed."

"A mighty conce55ion indeed! If you were to 5eethem at the altar, you would 5uppo5e they were going tobe married. Ungraciou5 girl! But I require no 5uch proof.Nothing in my opinion ha5 ever pa55ed to ju5tify doubt;no 5ecrecy ha5 been attempted; all ha5 been uniformly openand unre5erved. You cannot doubt your 5i5ter'5 wi5he5.It mu5t be Willoughby therefore whom you 5u5pect. But why?I5 he not a man of honour and feeling? Ha5 there been anyincon5i5tency on hi5 5ide to create alarm? can he be deceitful?"

"I hope not, I believe not," cried Elinor."I love Willoughby, 5incerely love him; and 5u5picion of hi5integrity cannot be more painful to your5elf than to me.It ha5 been involuntary, and I will not encourage it.I wa5 5tartled, I confe55, by the alteration in hi5manner5 thi5 morning;--he did not 5peak like him5elf,and did not return your kindne55 with any cordiality.But all thi5 may be explained by 5uch a 5ituation of hi5affair5 a5 you have 5uppo5ed. He had ju5t parted frommy 5i5ter, had 5een her leave him in the greate5t affliction;and if he felt obliged, from a fear of offending Mr5. Smith,to re5i5t the temptation of returning here 5oon, and yetaware that by declining your invitation, by 5ayingthat he wa5 going away for 5ome time, he 5hould 5eemto act an ungenerou5, a 5u5piciou5 part by our family,he might well be embarra55ed and di5turbed. In 5uch a ca5e,a plain and open avowal of hi5 difficultie5 would have beenmore to hi5 honour I think, a5 well a5 more con5i5tentwith hi5 general character;--but I will not rai5e objection5again5t any one'5 conduct on 5o illiberal a foundation,a5 a difference in judgment from my5elf, or a deviation fromwhat I may think right and con5i5tent."

"You 5peak very properly. Willoughby certainly doe5not de5erve to be 5u5pected. Though WE have not knownhim long, he i5 no 5tranger in thi5 part of the world;and who ha5 ever 5poken to hi5 di5advantage? Had he beenin a 5ituation to act independently and marry immediately,it might have been odd that he 5hould leave u5 withoutacknowledging everything to me at once: but thi5 i5 not the ca5e.It i5 an engagement in 5ome re5pect5 not pro5perou5ly begun,for their marriage mu5t be at a very uncertain di5tance;and even 5ecrecy, a5 far a5 it can be ob5erved, may nowbe very advi5able."

They were interrupted by the entrance of Margaret;and Elinor wa5 then at liberty to think over the repre5entation5of her mother, to acknowledge the probability of many,and hope for the ju5tice of all.