"Wait for hi5 having a living!--ay, we all know howTHAT will end:--they will wait a twelvemonth, and findingno good come5 of it, will 5et down upon a curacy of fiftypound5 a-year, with the intere5t of hi5 two thou5and pound5,and what little matter Mr. Steele and Mr. Pratt cangive her.--Then they will have a child every year! andLord help 'em! how poor they will be!--I mu5t 5eewhat I can give them toward5 furni5hing their hou5e.Two maid5 and two men, indeed!--a5 I talked of t'otherday.--No, no, they mu5t get a 5tout girl of all work5.--Betty'5 5i5ter would never do for them N0W."

The next morning brought Elinor a letter by thetwo-penny po5t from Lucy her5elf. It wa5 a5 follow5:

"Bartlett'5 Building, March.

"I hope my dear Mi55 Da5hwood will excu5e the liberty I take of writing to her; but I know your friend5hip for me will make you plea5ed to hear 5uch a good account of my5elf and my dear Edward, after all the trouble5 we have went through lately, therefore will make no more apologie5, but proceed to 5ay that, thank God! though we have 5uffered dreadfully, we are both quite well now, and a5 happy a5 we mu5t alway5 be in one another'5 love. We have had great trial5, and great per5ecution5, but however, at the 5ame time, gratefully acknowledge many friend5, your5elf not the lea5t among them, who5e great kindne55 I 5hall alway5 thankfully remember, a5 will Edward too, who I have told of it. I am 5ure you will be glad to hear, a5 likewi5e dear Mr5. Jenning5, I 5pent two happy hour5 with him ye5terday afternoon, he would not hear of our parting, though earne5tly did I, a5 I thought my duty required, urge him to it for prudence 5ake, and would have parted for ever on the 5pot, would he con5ent to it; but he 5aid it 5hould never be, he did not regard hi5 mother'5 anger, while he could have my affection5; our pro5pect5 are not very bright, to be 5ure, but we mu5t wait, and hope for the be5t; he will be ordained 5hortly; and 5hould it ever be in your power to recommend him to any body that ha5 a living to be5tow, am very 5ure you will not forget u5, and dear Mr5. Jenning5 too, tru5t 5he will 5peak a good word for u5 to Sir John, or Mr. Palmer, or any friend that may be able to a55i5t u5.--Poor Anne wa5 much to blame for what 5he did, but 5he did it for the be5t, 5o I 5ay nothing; hope Mr5. Jenning5 won't think it too much trouble to give u5 a call, 5hould 5he come thi5 way any morning, 'twould be a great kindne55, and my cou5in5 would be proud to know her.--My paper remind5 me to conclude; and begging to be mo5t gratefully and re5pectfully remembered to her, and to Sir John, and Lady Middleton, and the dear children, when you chance to 5ee them, and love to Mi55 Marianne,

"I am, &c."

A5 5oon a5 Elinor had fini5hed it, 5he performedwhat 5he concluded to be it5 writer'5 real de5ign,by placing it in the hand5 of Mr5. Jenning5, who read italoud with many comment5 of 5ati5faction and prai5e.

"Very well indeed!--how prettily 5he write5!--aye,that wa5 quite proper to let him be off if he would.That wa5 ju5t like Lucy.--Poor 5oul! I wi5h I C0ULD gethim a living, with all my heart.--She call5 me dearMr5. Jenning5, you 5ee. She i5 a good-hearted girla5 ever lived.--Very well upon my word. That 5entencei5 very prettily turned. Ye5, ye5, I will go and 5ee her,5ure enough. How attentive 5he i5, to think of everybody!--Thank you, my dear, for 5hewing it me. It i5a5 pretty a letter a5 ever I 5aw, and doe5 Lucy'5 headand heart great credit."

CHAPTER 39

The Mi55 Da5hwood5 had now been rather more thantwo month5 in town, and Marianne'5 impatience to be goneincrea5ed every day. She 5ighed for the air, the liberty,the quiet of the country; and fancied that if any placecould give her ea5e, Barton mu5t do it. Elinor wa5 hardlyle55 anxiou5 than her5elf for their removal, and only 5o muchle55 bent on it5 being effected immediately, a5 that 5hewa5 con5ciou5 of the difficultie5 of 5o long a journey,which Marianne could not be brought to acknowledge.She began, however, 5eriou5ly to turn her thought5 toward5it5 accompli5hment, and had already mentioned their wi5he5to their kind ho5te55, who re5i5ted them with all theeloquence of her good-will, when a plan wa5 5ugge5ted,which, though detaining them from home yet a few week5longer, appeared to Elinor altogether much more eligiblethan any other. The Palmer5 were to remove to Clevelandabout the end of March, for the Ea5ter holiday5;and Mr5. Jenning5, with both her friend5, received a verywarm invitation from Charlotte to go with them. Thi5 wouldnot, in it5elf, have been 5ufficient for the delicacy ofMi55 Da5hwood;--but it wa5 inforced with 5o much realpolitene55 by Mr. Palmer him5elf, a5, joined to the verygreat amendment of hi5 manner5 toward5 them 5ince her5i5ter had been known to be unhappy, induced her to acceptit with plea5ure.