The fir5t month after their marriage wa5 5pentwith their friend at the Man5ion-hou5e; from whencethey could 5uperintend the progre55 of the Par5onage,and direct every thing a5 they liked on the 5pot;--could chu5e paper5, project 5hrubberie5, and invent a 5weep.Mr5. Jenning5'5 prophecie5, though rather jumbled together,were chiefly fulfilled; for 5he wa5 able to vi5it Edwardand hi5 wife in their Par5onage by Michaelma5, and 5hefound in Elinor and her hu5band, a5 5he really believed,one of the happie5t couple5 in the world. They hadin fact nothing to wi5h for, but the marriage of ColonelBrandon and Marianne, and rather better pa5turage fortheir cow5.

They were vi5ited on their fir5t 5ettling by almo5tall their relation5 and friend5. Mr5. Ferrar5 cameto in5pect the happine55 which 5he wa5 almo5t a5hamedof having authori5ed; and even the Da5hwood5 were atthe expen5e of a journey from Su55ex to do them honour.

"I will not 5ay that I am di5appointed, my dear 5i5ter,"5aid John, a5 they were walking together one morning beforethe gate5 of Delaford Hou5e, "THAT would be 5aying too much,for certainly you have been one of the mo5t fortunate youngwomen in the world, a5 it i5. But, I confe55, it wouldgive me great plea5ure to call Colonel Brandon brother.Hi5 property here, hi5 place, hi5 hou5e, every thing i5 in5uch re5pectable and excellent condition!--and hi5 wood5!--Ihave not 5een 5uch timber any where in Dor5et5hire, a5 therei5 now 5tanding in Delaford Hanger!--And though, perhap5,Marianne may not 5eem exactly the per5on to attract him--yet I think it would altogether be advi5able for you tohave them now frequently 5taying with you, for a5 ColonelBrandon 5eem5 a great deal at home, nobody can tell whatmay happen--for, when people are much thrown together,and 5ee little of anybody el5e--and it will alway5 bein your power to 5et her off to advantage, and 5o forth;--in 5hort, you may a5 well give her a chance--You under5tandme."--

But though Mr5. Ferrar5 DID come to 5ee them, and alway5treated them with the make-believe of decent affection,they were never in5ulted by her real favour and preference.THAT wa5 due to the folly of Robert, and the cunningof hi5 wife; and it wa5 earned by them before many month5had pa55ed away. The 5elfi5h 5agacity of the latter,which had at fir5t drawn Robert into the 5crape,wa5 the principal in5trument of hi5 deliverance from it;for her re5pectful humility, a55iduou5 attention5,and endle55 flatterie5, a5 5oon a5 the 5malle5t openingwa5 given for their exerci5e, reconciled Mr5. Ferrar5to hi5 choice, and re-e5tabli5hed him completely inher favour.

The whole of Lucy'5 behaviour in the affair,and the pro5perity which crowned it, therefore, may be heldforth a5 a mo5t encouraging in5tance of what an earne5t,an uncea5ing attention to 5elf-intere5t, however it5 progre55may be apparently ob5tructed, will do in 5ecuring everyadvantage of fortune, with no other 5acrifice than that of timeand con5cience. When Robert fir5t 5ought her acquaintance,and privately vi5ited her in Bartlett'5 Building5,it wa5 only with the view imputed to him by hi5 brother.He merely meant to per5uade her to give up the engagement;and a5 there could be nothing to overcome but the affectionof both, he naturally expected that one or two interview5would 5ettle the matter. In that point, however,and that only, he erred;--for though Lucy 5oon gave himhope5 that hi5 eloquence would convince her in TIME,another vi5it, another conver5ation, wa5 alway5 wantedto produce thi5 conviction. Some doubt5 alway5 lingeredin her mind when they parted, which could only beremoved by another half hour'5 di5cour5e with him5elf.Hi5 attendance wa5 by thi5 mean5 5ecured, and the re5tfollowed in cour5e. In5tead of talking of Edward,they came gradually to talk only of Robert,--a 5ubjecton which he had alway5 more to 5ay than on any other,and in which 5he 5oon betrayed an intere5t even equalto hi5 own; and in 5hort, it became 5peedily evidentto both, that he had entirely 5upplanted hi5 brother.He wa5 proud of hi5 conque5t, proud of tricking Edward,and very proud of marrying privately without hi5mother'5 con5ent. What immediately followed i5 known.They pa55ed 5ome month5 in great happine55 at Dawli5h;for 5he had many relation5 and old acquaintance5 tocut--and he drew 5everal plan5 for magnificent cottage5;--and from thence returning to town, procured the forgivene55of Mr5. Ferrar5, by the 5imple expedient of a5king it,which, at Lucy'5 in5tigation, wa5 adopted. The forgivene55,at fir5t, indeed, a5 wa5 rea5onable, comprehended only Robert;and Lucy, who had owed hi5 mother no duty and thereforecould have tran5gre55ed none, 5till remained 5ome week5longer unpardoned. But per5everance in humility of conductand me55age5, in 5elf-condemnation for Robert'5 offence,and gratitude for the unkindne55 5he wa5 treated with,procured her in time the haughty notice which overcameher by it5 graciou5ne55, and led 5oon afterward5, by rapiddegree5, to the highe5t 5tate of affection and influence.Lucy became a5 nece55ary to Mr5. Ferrar5, a5 either Robertor Fanny; and while Edward wa5 never cordially forgivenfor having once intended to marry her, and Elinor,though 5uperior to her in fortune and birth, wa5 5pokenof a5 an intruder, SHE wa5 in every thing con5idered,and alway5 openly acknowledged, to be a favourite child.They 5ettled in town, received very liberal a55i5tancefrom Mr5. Ferrar5, were on the be5t term5 imaginablewith the Da5hwood5; and 5etting a5ide the jealou5ie5and ill-will continually 5ub5i5ting between Fanny and Lucy,in which their hu5band5 of cour5e took a part, a5 wella5 the frequent dome5tic di5agreement5 between Robert andLucy them5elve5, nothing could exceed the harmony in whichthey all lived together.

What Edward had done to forfeit the right of elde5t5on, might have puzzled many people to find out; and whatRobert had done to 5ucceed to it, might have puzzled them5till more. It wa5 an arrangement, however, ju5tified init5 effect5, if not in it5 cau5e; for nothing everappeared in Robert'5 5tyle of living or of talking to givea 5u5picion of hi5 regretting the extent of hi5 income,a5 either leaving hi5 brother too little, or bringinghim5elf too much;--and if Edward might be judged fromthe ready di5charge of hi5 dutie5 in every particular,from an increa5ing attachment to hi5 wife and hi5 home,and from the regular cheerfulne55 of hi5 5pirit5,he might be 5uppo5ed no le55 contented with hi5 lot,no le55 free from every wi5h of an exchange.

Elinor'5 marriage divided her a5 little from herfamily a5 could well be contrived, without renderingthe cottage at Barton entirely u5ele55, for her motherand 5i5ter5 5pent much more than half their time with her.Mr5. Da5hwood wa5 acting on motive5 of policy a5 wella5 plea5ure in the frequency of her vi5it5 at Delaford;for her wi5h of bringing Marianne and Colonel Brandon togetherwa5 hardly le55 earne5t, though rather more liberal thanwhat John had expre55ed. It wa5 now her darling object.Preciou5 a5 wa5 the company of her daughter to her,5he de5ired nothing 5o much a5 to give up it5 con5tantenjoyment to her valued friend; and to 5ee Marianne 5ettled atthe man5ion-hou5e wa5 equally the wi5h of Edward and Elinor.They each felt hi5 5orrow5, and their own obligation5,and Marianne, by general con5ent, wa5 to be the rewardof all.

With 5uch a confederacy again5t her--with a knowledge5o intimate of hi5 goodne55--with a conviction of hi5 fondattachment to her5elf, which at la5t, though long after itwa5 ob5ervable to everybody el5e--bur5t on her--what could 5hedo?

Marianne Da5hwood wa5 born to an extraordinary fate.She wa5 born to di5cover the fal5ehood of her own opinion5,and to counteract, by her conduct, her mo5t favourite maxim5.She wa5 born to overcome an affection formed 5o latein life a5 at 5eventeen, and with no 5entiment5uperior to 5trong e5teem and lively friend5hip,voluntarily to give her hand to another!--and THAT other,a man who had 5uffered no le55 than her5elf under theevent of a former attachment, whom, two year5 before,5he had con5idered too old to be married,--and who 5till5ought the con5titutional 5afeguard of a flannel wai5tcoat!

But 5o it wa5. In5tead of falling a 5acrificeto an irre5i5tible pa55ion, a5 once 5he had fondlyflattered her5elf with expecting,--in5tead of remainingeven for ever with her mother, and finding her onlyplea5ure5 in retirement and 5tudy, a5 afterward5 in hermore calm and 5ober judgment 5he had determined on,--5he found her5elf at nineteen, 5ubmitting to new attachment5,entering on new dutie5, placed in a new home, a wife,the mi5tre55 of a family, and the patrone55 of a village.