Austen Said:

could not be put up with, were not to be borne.

nothing would be done without a change of abode.

he could not be trusted in London,

It was a much safer place for a gentleman in his predicament: he might there be important at comparatively little expense.

spurned the idea of its being offered in any manner; forbad the slightest hint being dropped of his having such an intention; and it was only on the supposition of his being spontaneously solicited by some most unexceptionable applicant, on his own terms, and as a great favour, that he would let it at all.

Admiral Croft was a native of Somersetshire, who having acquired a very handsome fortune, was wishing to settle in his own country, and had come down to Taunton in order to look at some advertised places in that immediate neighbourhood, which, however, had not suited him; that accidentally hearing

--(it was just as he had foretold,

Sir Walter's concerns could not be kept a secret,)

-- accidentally hearing of the possibility of Kellynch Hall being to let, and understanding his (Mr Shepherd's) connection with the owner, he had introduced himself to him in order to make particular inquiries, and had, in the course of a pretty long conference, expressed as strong an inclination for the place as a man who knew it only by description could feel; and given Mr Shepherd, in his explicit account of himself, every proof of his being a most responsible, eligible tenant.

his being of a gentleman's family,

Admiral Croft was a very hale, hearty, well-looking man, a little weather-beaten, to be sure, but not much, and quite the gentleman in all his notions and behaviour; not likely to make the smallest difficulty about terms, only wanted a comfortable home, and to get into it as soon as possible; knew he must pay for his convenience; knew what rent a ready-furnished house of that consequence might fetch; should not have been surprised if Sir Walter had asked more; had inquired about the manor; would be glad of the deputation, certainly, but made no great point of it; said he sometimes took out a gun, but never killed; quite the gentleman.

all the circumstances of the Admiral's family, which made him peculiarly desirable as a tenant.

He was a married man, and without children; the very state to be wished for. A house was never taken good care of,

without a lady: he did not know, whether furniture might not be in danger of suffering as much where there was no lady, as where there were many children. A lady, without a family, was the very best preserver of furniture in the world. He had seen Mrs Croft, too; she was at Taunton with the admiral, and had been present almost all the time they were talking the matter over.

a more unobjectionable tenant, in all essentials, than Admiral Croft bid fair to be, could hardly offer.

"I have let my house to Admiral Croft," would sound extremely well; very much better than to any mere Mr -- a Mr (save, perhaps, some half dozen in the nation,) always needs a note of explanation. An admiral speaks his own consequence, and, at the same time, can never make a baronet look small. In all their dealings and intercourse, Sir Walter Elliot must ever have the precedence.

a very degrading alliance;

of his being known, by report, to the Admiral, as a model of good breeding.

the Admiral to be the best-looking sailor he had ever met with,

if his own man might have had the arranging of his hair, he should not be ashamed of being seen with him any where;

hope there would be now no occasion for putting Captain Wentworth off, and only be sorry to think that the cottage party, probably, would not like to leave the little boy, to give him the meeting.

(and not an ill-looking man,

A very fine woman with a large fortune, in love with him!

his very gentlemanlike appearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face, his sensible eye; but, at the same time,

but Sir Walter had

she was said to be an excessively pretty woman, beautiful.

whether the Crofts travelled with four horses, and whether they were likely to be situated in such a part of Bath as it might suit Miss Elliot and himself to visit in;

Mary and Henrietta, too impatient to wait, had gone out the moment it had cleared, but would be back again soon,

his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against her superiority of rank;

wedding-cake might certainly disagree with many— perhaps with most people, unless taken moderately.

as he was coming back yesterday from Clayton Park, he had met Mr. Elton, and found to his great surprize, that Mr. Elton was actually on his road to London, and not meaning to return till the morrow, though it was the whist-club night, which he had been never known to miss before; and Mr. Perry had remonstrated with him about it, and told him how shabby it was in him, their best player, to absent himself, and tried very much to persuade him to put off his journey only one day; but it would not do; Mr. Elton had been determined to go on, and had said in a very particular way indeed, that

did not at present recollect any thing of the riddle kind;

she was suffering under severe headaches, and a nervous fever to a degree, which made him doubt the possibility of her going to Mrs. Smallridge's at the time proposed. Her health seemed for the moment completely deranged —appetite quite gone— and though there were no absolutely alarming symptoms, nothing touching the pulmonary complaint, which was the standing apprehension of the family, Mr. Perry was uneasy about her. He thought she had undertaken more than she was equal to, and that she felt it so herself, though she would not own it. Her spirits seemed overcome. Her present home, he could not but observe, was unfavourable to a nervous disorder:—confined always to one room;—he could have wished it otherwise— and her good aunt, though his very old friend, he must acknowledge to be not the best companion for an invalid of that description. Her care and attention could not be questioned; they were, in fact, only too great. He very much feared that Miss Fairfax derived more evil than good from them.

it was a serious charge;—a girl so brought up must be adequately provided for, or there would be cruelty instead of kindness in taking her from her family.

His daughters, he felt, while they retained the name of Bertram, must be giving it new grace, and in quitting it, he trusted, would extend its respectable alliances; and the character of Edmund, his strong good sense and uprightness of mind, bid most fairly for utility, honour, and happiness to himself and all his connexions.

he hoped she might see William again in the course of the ensuing winter, and had charged her to write and invite him to Mansfield as soon as the squadron to which he belonged should be known to be in England.

the marriage should not take place before his return, which he was again looking eagerly forward to.

had strong hopes of settling everything to his entire satisfaction, and leaving Antigua before the end of the summer.

feeling no disinclination to the state herself.

his dear Fanny,

how much she was grown!

he need not inquire, for her appearance spoke sufficiently on that point.

His business in Antigua had latterly been prosperously rapid, and he came directly from Liverpool, having had an opportunity of making his passage thither in a private vessel, instead of waiting for the packet;

his good fortune in finding them all at home— coming unexpectedly as he did— all collected together exactly as he could have wished, but dared not depend on.

he found that he could not be any longer in the house without just looking into his own dear room,

Some one was talking there in a very loud accent; he did not know the voice —more than talking— almost hallooing.

making part of a ridiculous exhibition in the midst of theatrical nonsense,

The young people had been very inconsiderate in forming the plan; they ought to have been capable of a better decision themselves; but they were young; and, excepting Edmund, he believed, of unsteady characters; and with greater surprise, therefore, he must regard her acquiescence in their wrong measures, her countenance of their unsafe amusements, than that such measures and such amusements should have been suggested.

where the present pleasure of those she loved was at stake, her kindness did sometimes overpower her judgment.

of his being then at least as far off as Northampton.