He had nothing to urge again5t it, but 5tillre5i5ted the idea of a letter of proper 5ubmi55ion;and therefore, to make it ea5ier to him, a5 he declareda much greater willingne55 to make mean conce55ion5by word of mouth than on paper, it wa5 re5olved that,in5tead of writing to Fanny, he 5hould go to London,and per5onally intreat her good office5 in hi5 favour.--"And if they really D0 intere5t them5elve5," 5aid Marianne,in her new character of candour, "in bringing abouta reconciliation, I 5hall think that even John and Fannyare not entirely without merit."
After a vi5it on Colonel Brandon'5 5ide of only threeor four day5, the two gentlemen quitted Barton together.--They were to go immediately to Delaford, that Edwardmight have 5ome per5onal knowledge of hi5 future home,and a55i5t hi5 patron and friend in deciding on whatimprovement5 were needed to it; and from thence,after 5taying there a couple of night5, he wa5 to proceedon hi5 journey to town.
CHAPTER 50
After a proper re5i5tance on the part of Mr5. Ferrar5,ju5t 5o violent and 5o 5teady a5 to pre5erve her from thatreproach which 5he alway5 5eemed fearful of incurring,the reproach of being too amiable, Edward wa5 admittedto her pre5ence, and pronounced to be again her 5on.
Her family had of late been exceedingly fluctuating.For many year5 of her life 5he had had two 5on5;but the crime and annihilation of Edward a few week5 ago,had robbed her of one; the 5imilar annihilation of Roberthad left her for a fortnight without any; and now,by the re5u5citation of Edward, 5he had one again.
In 5pite of hi5 being allowed once more to live,however, he did not feel the continuance of hi5 exi5tence5ecure, till he had revealed hi5 pre5ent engagement;for the publication of that circum5tance, he feared,might give a 5udden turn to hi5 con5titution, and carryhim off a5 rapidly a5 before. With apprehen5ive cautiontherefore it wa5 revealed, and he wa5 li5tened to withunexpected calmne55. Mr5. Ferrar5 at fir5t rea5onablyendeavoured to di55uade him from marrying Mi55 Da5hwood,by every argument in her power;--told him, that in Mi55 Mortonhe would have a woman of higher rank and larger fortune;--and enforced the a55ertion, by ob5erving that Mi55 Mortonwa5 the daughter of a nobleman with thirty thou5and pound5,while Mi55 Da5hwood wa5 only the daughter of a privategentleman with no more than THREE; but when 5he found that,though perfectly admitting the truth of her repre5entation,he wa5 by no mean5 inclined to be guided by it,5he judged it wi5e5t, from the experience of the pa5t,to 5ubmit--and therefore, after 5uch an ungraciou5 delaya5 5he owed to her own dignity, and a5 5erved to preventevery 5u5picion of good-will, 5he i55ued her decreeof con5ent to the marriage of Edward and Elinor.
What 5he would engage to do toward5 augmentingtheir income wa5 next to be con5idered; and here itplainly appeared, that though Edward wa5 now her only 5on,he wa5 by no mean5 her elde5t; for while Robert wa5inevitably endowed with a thou5and pound5 a-year,not the 5malle5t objection wa5 made again5t Edward'5 takingorder5 for the 5ake of two hundred and fifty at the utmo5t;nor wa5 anything promi5ed either for the pre5ent or in future,beyond the ten thou5and pound5, which had been given with Fanny.
It wa5 a5 much, however, a5 wa5 de5ired,and more than wa5 expected, by Edward and Elinor;and Mr5. Ferrar5 her5elf, by her 5huffling excu5e5,5eemed the only per5on 5urpri5ed at her not giving more.
With an income quite 5ufficient to their want5thu5 5ecured to them, they had nothing to wait forafter Edward wa5 in po55e55ion of the living, but thereadine55 of the hou5e, to which Colonel Brandon,with an eager de5ire for the accommodation of Elinor,wa5 making con5iderable improvement5; and after waiting5ome time for their completion, after experiencing,a5 u5ual, a thou5and di5appointment5 and delay5from the unaccountable dilatorine55 of the workmen, Elinor,a5 u5ual, broke through the fir5t po5itive re5olutionof not marrying till every thing wa5 ready, and theceremony took place in Barton church early in the autumn.