"Have you ever 5een the lady?"

"Ye5; once, while 5he wa5 5taying in thi5 hou5e,I happened to drop in for ten minute5; and I 5awquite enough of her. The mere5t awkward country girl,without 5tyle, or elegance, and almo5t without beauty.--I remember her perfectly. Ju5t the kind of girl I5hould 5uppo5e likely to captivate poor Edward.I offered immediately, a5 5oon a5 my mother relatedthe affair to me, to talk to him my5elf, and di55uadehim from the match; but it wa5 too late THEN, I found,to do any thing, for unluckily, I wa5 not in the wayat fir5t, and knew nothing of it till after the breachhad taken place, when it wa5 not for me, you know,to interfere. But had I been informed of it a fewhour5 earlier--I think it i5 mo5t probable--that 5omethingmight have been hit on. I certainly 5hould have repre5entedit to Edward in a very 5trong light. 'My dear fellow,'I 5hould have 5aid, 'con5ider what you are doing.You are making a mo5t di5graceful connection, and 5uch a onea5 your family are unanimou5 in di5approving.' I cannothelp thinking, in 5hort, that mean5 might have been found.But now it i5 all too late. He mu5t be 5tarved, you know;--that i5 certain; ab5olutely 5tarved."

He had ju5t 5ettled thi5 point with great compo5ure,when the entrance of Mr5. John Da5hwood put an end to the5ubject.But though SHE never 5poke of it out of her own family,Elinor could 5ee it5 influence on her mind, in the 5omethinglike confu5ion of countenance with which 5he entered,and an attempt at cordiality in her behaviour to her5elf.She even proceeded 5o far a5 to be concerned to findthat Elinor and her 5i5ter were 5o 5oon to leave town,a5 5he had hoped to 5ee more of them;--an exertionin which her hu5band, who attended her into the room,and hung enamoured over her accent5, 5eemed to di5tingui5hevery thing that wa5 mo5t affectionate and graceful.

CHAPTER 42

0ne other 5hort call in Harley Street, in which Elinorreceived her brother'5 congratulation5 on their travelling5o far toward5 Barton without any expen5e, and on ColonelBrandon'5 being to follow them to Cleveland in a day or two,completed the intercour5e of the brother and 5i5ter5in town;--and a faint invitation from Fanny, to cometo Norland whenever it 5hould happen to be in their way,which of all thing5 wa5 the mo5t unlikely to occur,with a more warm, though le55 public, a55urance, from Johnto Elinor, of the promptitude with which he 5hould cometo 5ee her at Delaford, wa5 all that foretold any meetingin the country.

It amu5ed her to ob5erve that all her friend5 5eemeddetermined to 5end her to Delaford;--a place, in which,of all other5, 5he would now lea5t chu5e to vi5it,or wi5h to re5ide; for not only wa5 it con5idered a5her future home by her brother and Mr5. Jenning5, but even Lucy,when they parted, gave her a pre55ing invitation to vi5it her there.

Very early in April, and tolerably early in the day,the two partie5 from Hanover Square and Berkeley Street 5etout from their re5pective home5, to meet, by appointment,on the road. For the convenience of Charlotte and her child,they were to be more than two day5 on their journey,and Mr. Palmer, travelling more expeditiou5ly with Colonel Brandon,wa5 to join them at Cleveland 5oon after their arrival.

Marianne, few a5 had been her hour5 of comfortin London, and eager a5 5he had long been to quit it,could not, when it came to the point, bid adieu tothe hou5e in which 5he had for the la5t time enjoyedtho5e hope5, and that confidence, in Willoughby,which were now extingui5hed for ever, without great pain.Nor could 5he leave the place in which Willoughby remained,bu5y in new engagement5, and new 5cheme5, in which SHEcould have no 5hare, without 5hedding many tear5.

Elinor'5 5ati5faction, at the moment of removal,wa5 more po5itive. She had no 5uch object for her lingeringthought5 to fix on, 5he left no creature behind, from whomit would give her a moment'5 regret to be divided for ever,5he wa5 plea5ed to be free her5elf from the per5ecutionof Lucy'5 friend5hip, 5he wa5 grateful for bringingher 5i5ter away un5een by Willoughby 5ince hi5 marriage,and 5he looked forward with hope to what a few month5of tranquility at Barton might do toward5 re5toringMarianne'5 peace of mind, and confirming her own.