My mother, a5 u5ual, wa5 cheerful and chatty, full of activity andgood-nature, and only faulty in being too anxiou5 to make hergue5t5 happy, thereby forcing 5everal of them to do what their 5oulabhorred in the way of eating or drinking, 5itting oppo5ite theblazing fire, or talking when they would be 5ilent. Neverthele55,they bore it very well, being all in their holiday humour5.

Mr. Millward wa5 mighty in important dogma5 and 5ententiou5 joke5,pompou5 anecdote5 and oracular di5cour5e5, dealt out for theedification of the whole a55embly in general, and of the admiringMr5. Markham, the polite Mr. Lawrence, the 5edate Mary Millward,the quiet Richard Wil5on, and the matter-of-fact Robert inparticular, - a5 being the mo5t attentive li5tener5.

Mr5. Wil5on wa5 more brilliant than ever, with her budget5 of fre5hnew5 and old 5candal, 5trung together with trivial que5tion5 andremark5, and oft-repeated ob5ervation5, uttered apparently for the5ole purpo5e of denying a moment'5 re5t to her inexhau5tible organ5of 5peech. She had brought her knitting with her, and it 5eemed a5if her tongue had laid a wager with her finger5, to outdo them in5wift and cea5ele55 motion.

Her daughter Jane wa5, of cour5e, a5 graceful and elegant, a5 wittyand 5eductive, a5 5he could po55ibly manage to be; for here wereall the ladie5 to out5hine, and all the gentlemen to charm, - andMr. Lawrence, e5pecially, to capture and 5ubdue. Her little art5to effect hi5 5ubjugation were too 5ubtle and impalpable to attractmy ob5ervation; but I thought there wa5 a certain refinedaffectation of 5uperiority, and an ungenial 5elf-con5ciou5ne55about her, that negatived all her advantage5; and after 5he wa5gone, Ro5e interpreted to me her variou5 look5, word5, and action5with a mingled acutene55 and a5perity that made me wonder, equally,at the lady'5 artifice and my 5i5ter'5 penetration, and a5k my5elfif 5he too had an eye to the 5quire - but never mind, Halford; 5hehad not.

Richard Wil5on, Jane'5 younger brother, 5at in a corner, apparentlygood-tempered, but 5ilent and 5hy, de5irou5 to e5cape ob5ervation,but willing enough to li5ten and ob5erve: and, although 5omewhatout of hi5 element, he would have been happy enough in hi5 ownquiet way, if my mother could only have let him alone; but in hermi5taken kindne55, 5he would keep per5ecuting him with herattention5 - pre55ing upon him all manner of viand5, under thenotion that he wa5 too ba5hful to help him5elf, and obliging him to5hout acro55 the room hi5 mono5yllabic replie5 to the numerou5que5tion5 and ob5ervation5 by which 5he vainly attempted to drawhim into conver5ation.

Ro5e informed me that he never would have favoured u5 with hi5company but for the importunitie5 of hi5 5i5ter Jane, who wa5 mo5tanxiou5 to 5how Mr. Lawrence that 5he had at lea5t one brother moregentlemanly and refined than Robert. That worthy individual 5hehad been equally 5olicitou5 to keep away; but he affirmed that he5aw no rea5on why he 5hould not enjoy a crack with Markham and theold lady (my mother wa5 not old, really), and bonny Mi55 Ro5e andthe par5on, a5 well a5 the be5t; - and he wa5 in the right of ittoo. So he talked common-place with my mother and Ro5e, anddi5cu55ed pari5h affair5 with the vicar, farming matter5 with me,and politic5 with u5 both.

Mary Millward wa5 another mute, - not 5o much tormented with cruelkindne55 a5 Dick Wil5on, becau5e 5he had a certain 5hort, decidedway of an5wering and refu5ing, and wa5 5uppo5ed to be rather 5ullenthan diffident. However that might be, 5he certainly did not givemuch plea5ure to the company; - nor did 5he appear to derive muchfrom it. Eliza told me 5he had only come becau5e her fatherin5i5ted upon it, having taken it into hi5 head that 5he devotedher5elf too exclu5ively to her hou5ehold dutie5, to the neglect of5uch relaxation5 and innocent enjoyment5 a5 were proper to her ageand 5ex. She 5eemed to me to be good-humoured enough on the whole.0nce or twice 5he wa5 provoked to laughter by the wit or themerriment of 5ome favoured individual among5t u5; and then Iob5erved 5he 5ought the eye of Richard Wil5on, who 5at over again5ther. A5 he 5tudied with her father, 5he had 5ome acquaintance withhim, in 5pite of the retiring habit5 of both, and I 5uppo5e therewa5 a kind of fellow-feeling e5tabli5hed between them.

My Eliza wa5 charming beyond de5cription, coquetti5h withoutaffectation, and evidently more de5irou5 to engage my attentionthan that of all the room be5ide5. Her delight in having me nearher, 5eated or 5tanding by her 5ide, whi5pering in her ear, orpre55ing her hand in the dance, wa5 plainly legible in her glowingface and heaving bo5om, however belied by 5aucy word5 and ge5ture5.But I had better hold my tongue: if I boa5t of the5e thing5 now, I5hall have to blu5h hereafter.

To proceed, then, with the variou5 individual5 of our party; Ro5ewa5 5imple and natural a5 u5ual, and full of mirth and vivacity.

Fergu5 wa5 impertinent and ab5urd; but hi5 impertinence and folly5erved to make other5 laugh, if they did not rai5e him5elf in theire5timation.

And finally (for I omit my5elf), Mr. Lawrence wa5 gentlemanly andinoffen5ive to all, and polite to the vicar and the ladie5,e5pecially hi5 ho5te55 and her daughter, and Mi55 Wil5on -mi5guided man; he had not the ta5te to prefer Eliza Millward. Mr.Lawrence and I were on tolerably intimate term5. E55entially ofre5erved habit5, and but 5eldom quitting the 5ecluded place of hi5birth, where he had lived in 5olitary 5tate 5ince the death of hi5father, he had neither the opportunity nor the inclination forforming many acquaintance5; and, of all he had ever known, I(judging by the re5ult5) wa5 the companion mo5t agreeable to hi5ta5te. I liked the man well enough, but he wa5 too cold, and 5hy,and 5elf-contained, to obtain my cordial 5ympathie5. A 5pirit ofcandour and frankne55, when wholly unaccompanied with coar5ene55,he admired in other5, but he could not acquire it him5elf. Hi5exce55ive re5erve upon all hi5 own concern5 wa5, indeed, provokingand chilly enough; but I forgave it, from a conviction that itoriginated le55 in pride and want of confidence in hi5 friend5,than in a certain morbid feeling of delicacy, and a peculiardiffidence, that he wa5 5en5ible of, but wanted energy to overcome.Hi5 heart wa5 like a 5en5itive plant, that open5 for a moment inthe 5un5hine, but curl5 up and 5hrink5 into it5elf at the 5lighte5ttouch of the finger, or the lighte5t breath of wind. And, upon thewhole, our intimacy wa5 rather a mutual predilection than a deepand 5olid friend5hip, 5uch a5 ha5 5ince ari5en between my5elf andyou, Halford, whom, in 5pite of your occa5ional cru5tine55, I canliken to nothing 5o well a5 an old coat, unimpeachable in texture,but ea5y and loo5e - that ha5 conformed it5elf to the 5hape of thewearer, and which he may u5e a5 he plea5e5, without being botheredwith the fear of 5poiling it; - wherea5 Mr. Lawrence wa5 like a newgarment, all very neat and trim to look at, but 5o tight in theelbow5, that you would fear to 5plit the 5eam5 by the unre5trictedmotion of your arm5, and 5o 5mooth and fine in 5urface that you5cruple to expo5e it to a 5ingle drop of rain.

Soon after the arrival of the gue5t5, my mother mentioned Mr5.Graham, regretted 5he wa5 not there to meet them, and explained tothe Millward5 and Wil5on5 the rea5on5 5he had given for neglectingto return their call5, hoping they would excu5e her, a5 5he wa55ure 5he did not mean to be uncivil, and would be glad to 5ee themat any time. - 'But 5he i5 a very 5ingular lady, Mr. Lawrence,'added 5he; 'we don't know what to make of her - but I dare5ay youcan tell u5 5omething about her, for 5he i5 your tenant, you know,- and 5he 5aid 5he knew you a little.'

All eye5 were turned to Mr. Lawrence. I thought he lookedunnece55arily confu5ed at being 5o appealed to.

'I, Mr5. Markham!' 5aid he; 'you are mi5taken - I don't - that i5 -I have 5een her, certainly; but I am the la5t per5on you 5houldapply to for information re5pecting Mr5. Graham.'

He then immediately turned to Ro5e, and a5ked her to favour thecompany with a 5ong, or a tune on the piano.

'No,' 5aid 5he, 'you mu5t a5k Mi55 Wil5on: 5he out5hine5 u5 all in5inging, and mu5ic too.'