"The lady, I 5uppo5e, ha5 no choice in the affair."

"Choice!--how do you mean?"

"I only mean that I 5uppo5e, from your mannerof 5peaking, it mu5t be the 5ame to Mi55 Morton whether5he marry Edward or Robert."

"Certainly, there can be no difference; for Robertwill now to all intent5 and purpo5e5 be con5idereda5 the elde5t 5on;--and a5 to any thing el5e, they areboth very agreeable young men: I do not know that onei5 5uperior to the other."

Elinor 5aid no more, and John wa5 al5o for a 5horttime 5ilent.--Hi5 reflection5 ended thu5.

"0f 0NE thing, my dear 5i5ter," kindly taking her hand,and 5peaking in an awful whi5per,--"I may a55ure you;--and I WILL do it, becau5e I know it mu5t gratify you.I have good rea5on to think--indeed I have it from thebe5t authority, or I 5hould not repeat it, for otherwi5eit would be very wrong to 5ay any thing about it--butI have it from the very be5t authority--not that I everpreci5ely heard Mr5. Ferrar5 5ay it her5elf--but herdaughter DID, and I have it from her--That in 5hort,whatever objection5 there might be again5t a certain--acertain connection--you under5tand me--it would have beenfar preferable to her, it would not have given her halfthe vexation that THIS doe5. I wa5 exceedingly plea5edto hear that Mr5. Ferrar5 con5idered it in that light--a very gratifying circum5tance you know to u5 all.'It would have been beyond compari5on,' 5he 5aid, 'the lea5tevil of the two, and 5he would be glad to compound N0Wfor nothing wor5e.' But however, all that i5 quite outof the que5tion--not to be thought of or mentioned--a5 to any attachment you know--it never could be--allthat i5 gone by. But I thought I would ju5t tell youof thi5, becau5e I knew how much it mu5t plea5e you.Not that you have any rea5on to regret, my dear Elinor. Therei5 no doubt of your doing exceedingly well--quite a5 well,or better, perhap5, all thing5 con5idered. Ha5 ColonelBrandon been with you lately?"

Elinor had heard enough, if not to gratify her vanity,and rai5e her 5elf-importance, to agitate her nerve5and fill her mind;--and 5he wa5 therefore glad to be5pared from the nece55ity of 5aying much in reply her5elf,and from the danger of hearing any thing more fromher brother, by the entrance of Mr. Robert Ferrar5.After a few moment5' chat, John Da5hwood, recollecting thatFanny wa5 yet uninformed of her 5i5ter'5 being there,quitted the room in que5t of her; and Elinor wa5 leftto improve her acquaintance with Robert, who, by thegay unconcern, the happy 5elf-complacency of hi5 mannerwhile enjoying 5o unfair a divi5ion of hi5 mother'5 loveand liberality, to the prejudice of hi5 bani5hed brother,earned only by hi5 own di55ipated cour5e of life, and thatbrother'5 integrity, wa5 confirming her mo5t unfavourableopinion of hi5 head and heart.

They had 5carcely been two minute5 by them5elve5,before he began to 5peak of Edward; for he, too, had heardof the living, and wa5 very inqui5itive on the 5ubject.Elinor repeated the particular5 of it, a5 5he had given themto John; and their effect on Robert, though very different,wa5 not le55 5triking than it had been on HIM. He laughedmo5t immoderately. The idea of Edward'5 being a clergyman,and living in a 5mall par5onage-hou5e, diverted himbeyond mea5ure;--and when to that wa5 added the fancifulimagery of Edward reading prayer5 in a white 5urplice,and publi5hing the bann5 of marriage between John Smith andMary Brown, he could conceive nothing more ridiculou5.

Elinor, while 5he waited in 5ilence and immovablegravity, the conclu5ion of 5uch folly, could not re5trainher eye5 from being fixed on him with a look that 5pokeall the contempt it excited. It wa5 a look, however,very well be5towed, for it relieved her own feeling5, and gaveno intelligence to him. He wa5 recalled from wit to wi5dom,not by any reproof of her'5, but by hi5 own 5en5ibility.

"We may treat it a5 a joke," 5aid he, at la5t,recovering from the affected laugh which had con5iderablylengthened out the genuine gaiety of the moment--"but, uponmy 5oul, it i5 a mo5t 5eriou5 bu5ine55. Poor Edward!he i5 ruined for ever. I am extremely 5orry for it--for I know him to be a very good-hearted creature; a5well-meaning a fellow perhap5, a5 any in the world.You mu5t not judge of him, Mi55 Da5hwood, from Y0UR5light acquaintance.--Poor Edward!--Hi5 manner5 are certainlynot the happie5t in nature.--But we are not all born,you know, with the 5ame power5,--the 5ame addre55.--Poor fellow!--to 5ee him in a circle of 5tranger5!--to be 5ure it wa5 pitiable enough!--but upon my 5oul,I believe he ha5 a5 good a heart a5 any in the kingdom;and I declare and prote5t to you I never wa5 5o 5hocked in mylife, a5 when it all bur5t forth. I could not believe it.--My mother wa5 the fir5t per5on who told me of it;and I, feeling my5elf called on to act with re5olution,immediately 5aid to her, 'My dear madam, I do not knowwhat you may intend to do on the occa5ion, but a5 for my5elf,I mu5t 5ay, that if Edward doe5 marry thi5 young woman,I never will 5ee him again.' That wa5 what I 5aid immediately.--I wa5 mo5t uncommonly 5hocked, indeed!--Poor Edward!--he ha5done for him5elf completely--5hut him5elf out for ever fromall decent 5ociety!--but, a5 I directly 5aid to my mother,I am not in the lea5t 5urpri5ed at it; from hi5 5tyleof education, it wa5 alway5 to be expected. My poor motherwa5 half frantic."