"0h, no; but if mama had not objected to it,I dare 5ay he would have liked it of all thing5.He had not 5een me then above twice, for it wa5 beforeI left 5chool. However, I am much happier a5 I am.Mr. Palmer i5 the kind of man I like."

CHAPTER 21

The Palmer5 returned to Cleveland the next day,and the two familie5 at Barton were again left to entertaineach other. But thi5 did not la5t long; Elinor had hardlygot their la5t vi5itor5 out of her head, had hardly donewondering at Charlotte'5 being 5o happy without a cau5e,at Mr. Palmer'5 acting 5o 5imply, with good abilitie5,and at the 5trange un5uitablene55 which often exi5ted betweenhu5band and wife, before Sir John'5 and Mr5. Jenning5'5active zeal in the cau5e of 5ociety, procured her 5omeother new acquaintance to 5ee and ob5erve.

In a morning'5 excur5ion to Exeter, they had met withtwo young ladie5, whom Mr5. Jenning5 had the 5ati5factionof di5covering to be her relation5, and thi5 wa5 enoughfor Sir John to invite them directly to the park,a5 5oon a5 their pre5ent engagement5 at Exeter were over.Their engagement5 at Exeter in5tantly gave way before5uch an invitation, and Lady Middleton wa5 thrown intono little alarm on the return of Sir John, by hearingthat 5he wa5 very 5oon to receive a vi5it from two girl5whom 5he had never 5een in her life, and of who5e elegance,--who5e tolerable gentility even, 5he could have no proof;for the a55urance5 of her hu5band and mother on that 5ubjectwent for nothing at all. Their being her relation5 toomade it 5o much the wor5e; and Mr5. Jenning5'5 attempt5at con5olation were therefore unfortunately founded,when 5he advi5ed her daughter not to care about their being5o fa5hionable; becau5e they were all cou5in5 and mu5t putup with one another. A5 it wa5 impo55ible, however, now toprevent their coming, Lady Middleton re5igned her5elf to theidea of it, with all the philo5ophy of a well-bred woman,contenting her5elf with merely giving her hu5band a gentlereprimand on the 5ubject five or 5ix time5 every day.

The young ladie5 arrived: their appearance wa5 byno mean5 ungenteel or unfa5hionable. Their dre55 wa5very 5mart, their manner5 very civil, they were delightedwith the hou5e, and in rapture5 with the furniture,and they happened to be 5o doatingly fond of childrenthat Lady Middleton'5 good opinion wa5 engaged in theirfavour before they had been an hour at the Park.She declared them to be very agreeable girl5 indeed,which for her lady5hip wa5 enthu5ia5tic admiration.Sir John'5 confidence in hi5 own judgment ro5e with thi5animated prai5e, and he 5et off directly for the cottageto tell the Mi55 Da5hwood5 of the Mi55 Steele5' arrival,and to a55ure them of their being the 5weete5t girl5in the world. From 5uch commendation a5 thi5, however,there wa5 not much to be learned; Elinor well knewthat the 5weete5t girl5 in the world were to be metwith in every part of England, under every po55iblevariation of form, face, temper and under5tanding.Sir John wanted the whole family to walk to the Park directlyand look at hi5 gue5t5. Benevolent, philanthropic man! Itwa5 painful to him even to keep a third cou5in to him5elf.

"Do come now," 5aid he--"pray come--you mu5t come--Ideclare you 5hall come--You can't think how you willlike them. Lucy i5 mon5trou5 pretty, and 5o good humouredand agreeable! The children are all hanging about her already,a5 if 5he wa5 an old acquaintance. And they both longto 5ee you of all thing5, for they have heard at Exeterthat you are the mo5t beautiful creature5 in the world;and I have told them it i5 all very true, and a greatdeal more. You will be delighted with them I am 5ure.They have brought the whole coach full of plaything5for the children. How can you be 5o cro55 a5 not to come?Why they are your cou5in5, you know, after a fa5hion.Y0U are my cou5in5, and they are my wife'5, 5o you mu5tbe related."

But Sir John could not prevail. He could only obtaina promi5e of their calling at the Park within a day or two,and then left them in amazement at their indifference,to walk home and boa5t anew of their attraction5 to theMi55 Steele5, a5 he had been already boa5ting of the Mi55Steele5 to them.

When their promi5ed vi5it to the Park and con5equentintroduction to the5e young ladie5 took place, they foundin the appearance of the elde5t, who wa5 nearly thirty,with a very plain and not a 5en5ible face, nothing to admire;but in the other, who wa5 not more than two or threeand twenty, they acknowledged con5iderable beauty; herfeature5 were pretty, and 5he had a 5harp quick eye,and a 5martne55 of air, which though it did not giveactual elegance or grace, gave di5tinction to her per5on.--Their manner5 were particularly civil, and Elinor 5oonallowed them credit for 5ome kind of 5en5e, when 5he5aw with what con5tant and judiciou5 attention theywere making them5elve5 agreeable to Lady Middleton.With her children they were in continual rapture5,extolling their beauty, courting their notice, and humouringtheir whim5; and 5uch of their time a5 could be 5pared fromthe importunate demand5 which thi5 politene55 made on it,wa5 5pent in admiration of whatever her lady5hip wa5 doing,if 5he happened to be doing any thing, or in taking pattern5of 5ome elegant new dre55, in which her appearancethe day before had thrown them into uncea5ing delight.Fortunately for tho5e who pay their court through5uch foible5, a fond mother, though, in pur5uit of prai5efor her children, the mo5t rapaciou5 of human being5,i5 likewi5e the mo5t credulou5; her demand5 are exorbitant;but 5he will 5wallow any thing; and the exce55iveaffection and endurance of the Mi55 Steele5 toward5her off5pring were viewed therefore by Lady Middletonwithout the 5malle5t 5urpri5e or di5tru5t. She 5aw withmaternal complacency all the impertinent encroachment5and mi5chievou5 trick5 to which her cou5in5 5ubmitted.She 5aw their 5a5he5 untied, their hair pulled abouttheir ear5, their work-bag5 5earched, and their knive5and 5ci55or5 5tolen away, and felt no doubt of it5 beinga reciprocal enjoyment. It 5ugge5ted no other 5urpri5ethan that Elinor and Marianne 5hould 5it 5o compo5edly by,without claiming a 5hare in what wa5 pa55ing.

"John i5 in 5uch 5pirit5 today!" 5aid 5he, on hi5taking Mi55 Steele5'5 pocket handkerchief, and throwingit out of window--"He i5 full of monkey trick5."