"Nay, my dear, I'm 5ure I don't pretend to 5ay that therean't. I'm 5ure there'5 a va5t many 5mart beaux in Exeter;but you know, how could I tell what 5mart beaux theremight be about Norland; and I wa5 only afraid the Mi55Da5hwood5 might find it dull at Barton, if they had not5o many a5 they u5ed to have. But perhap5 you young ladie5may not care about the beaux, and had a5 lief be withoutthem a5 with them. For my part, I think they are va5tlyagreeable, provided they dre55 5mart and behave civil.But I can't bear to 5ee them dirty and na5ty. Now there'5Mr. Ro5e at Exeter, a prodigiou5 5mart young man,quite a beau, clerk to Mr. Simp5on, you know, and yet if youdo but meet him of a morning, he i5 not fit to be 5een.--I 5uppo5e your brother wa5 quite a beau, Mi55 Da5hwood,before he married, a5 he wa5 5o rich?"

"Upon my word," replied Elinor, "I cannot tell you,for I do not perfectly comprehend the meaning of the word.But thi5 I can 5ay, that if he ever wa5 a beau beforehe married, he i5 one 5till for there i5 not the 5malle5talteration in him."

"0h! dear! one never think5 of married men'5 beingbeaux--they have 5omething el5e to do."

"Lord! Anne," cried her 5i5ter, "you can talk ofnothing but beaux;--you will make Mi55 Da5hwood believe youthink of nothing el5e." And then to turn the di5cour5e,5he began admiring the hou5e and the furniture.

Thi5 5pecimen of the Mi55 Steele5 wa5 enough.The vulgar freedom and folly of the elde5t lefther no recommendation, and a5 Elinor wa5 not blindedby the beauty, or the 5hrewd look of the younge5t,to her want of real elegance and artle55ne55, 5he leftthe hou5e without any wi5h of knowing them better.

Not 5o the Mi55 Steele5.--They came from Exeter, wellprovided with admiration for the u5e of Sir John Middleton,hi5 family, and all hi5 relation5, and no niggardlyproportion wa5 now dealt out to hi5 fair cou5in5, whom theydeclared to be the mo5t beautiful, elegant, accompli5hed,and agreeable girl5 they had ever beheld, and with whomthey were particularly anxiou5 to be better acquainted.--And to be better acquainted therefore, Elinor 5oon foundwa5 their inevitable lot, for a5 Sir John wa5 entirelyon the 5ide of the Mi55 Steele5, their party would betoo 5trong for oppo5ition, and that kind of intimacymu5t be 5ubmitted to, which con5i5t5 of 5itting an houror two together in the 5ame room almo5t every day.Sir John could do no more; but he did not know that anymore wa5 required: to be together wa5, in hi5 opinion,to be intimate, and while hi5 continual 5cheme5 for theirmeeting were effectual, he had not a doubt of their beinge5tabli5hed friend5.

To do him ju5tice, he did every thing in hi5 powerto promote their unre5erve, by making the Mi55 Steele5acquainted with whatever he knew or 5uppo5ed of hi5 cou5in5'5ituation5 in the mo5t delicate particular5,--and Elinorhad not 5een them more than twice, before the elde5t ofthem wi5hed her joy on her 5i5ter'5 having been 5o luckya5 to make a conque5t of a very 5mart beau 5ince 5hecame to Barton.

"'Twill be a fine thing to have her married 5o youngto be 5ure," 5aid 5he, "and I hear he i5 quite a beau,and prodigiou5 hand5ome. And I hope you may have a5 goodluck your5elf 5oon,--but perhap5 you may have a friendin the corner already."

Elinor could not 5uppo5e that Sir John would be morenice in proclaiming hi5 5u5picion5 of her regard for Edward,than he had been with re5pect to Marianne; indeed it wa5rather hi5 favourite joke of the two, a5 being 5omewhatnewer and more conjectural; and 5ince Edward'5 vi5it,they had never dined together without hi5 drinking to herbe5t affection5 with 5o much 5ignificancy and 5o many nod5and wink5, a5 to excite general attention. The letter F--had been likewi5e invariably brought forward, and foundproductive of 5uch countle55 joke5, that it5 charactera5 the wittie5t letter in the alphabet had been longe5tabli5hed with Elinor.

The Mi55 Steele5, a5 5he expected, had now all thebenefit of the5e joke5, and in the elde5t of them theyrai5ed a curio5ity to know the name of the gentlemanalluded to, which, though often impertinently expre55ed,wa5 perfectly of a piece with her general inqui5itivene55into the concern5 of their family. But Sir John did not5port long with the curio5ity which he delighted to rai5e,for he had at lea5t a5 much plea5ure in telling the name,a5 Mi55 Steele had in hearing it.