Austen Said:

a little improvement to the figure, to give a little more height, and considerably more elegance,

its being in every way a pretty drawing at last, and

its filling its destined place with credit to them both —a standing memorial of the beauty of one, the skill of the other, and the friendship of both; with as many other agreeable associations as Mr. Elton's very promising attachment was likely to add.

"Might he be trusted with the commission, what infinite pleasure should he have in executing it! he could ride to London at any time. It was impossible to say how much he should be gratified by being employed on such an errand."

"He was too good!—she could not endure the thought!—she would not give him such a troublesome office for the world,"—

she could so pack it as to ensure its safety without much incommoding him,

'Exactly so,'

Mr. Martin had been there an hour before, and finding she was not at home, nor particularly expected, had left a little parcel for her from one of his sisters, and gone away; and on opening this parcel, she had actually found, besides the two songs which she had lent Elizabeth to copy, a letter to herself; and this letter was from him, from Mr. Martin, and contained a direct proposal of marriage.

"Who could have thought it? She was so surprized she did not know what to do. Yes, quite a proposal of marriage; and a very good letter, at least she thought so. And he wrote as if he really loved her very much— but she did not know —and so, she was come as fast as she could to ask Miss Woodhouse what she should do.—"

The style of the letter was much above her expectation. There were not merely no grammatical errors, but as a composition it would not have disgraced a gentleman; the language, though plain, was strong and unaffected, and the sentiments it conveyed very much to the credit of the writer. It was short, but expressed good sense, warm attachment, liberality, propriety, even delicacy of feeling.

the bewitching flattery of that letter might be too powerful, she thought it best to say,

"very true; and it would be a small consolation to her, for the clownish manner which might be offending her every hour of the day, to know that her husband could write a good letter."

there would be no difficulty in the answer,

its being written directly,

the idea of making him unhappy,

what his mother and sisters would think and say,

they should not fancy her ungrateful,

if the young man had come in her way at that moment, he would have been accepted after all.

The business was finished, and Harriet safe.

wondering that people should like her so much.

it best in every respect, safest and kindest, to keep her with them as much as possible just at present.

whether I thought it would be imprudent in him to settle so early; whether I thought her too young:

whether I approved his choice altogether; having some apprehension perhaps of her being considered (especially since your making so much of her) as in a line of society above him.

herself a better judge of such a point of female right and refinement than he could be;

a large family of young ladies that his sisters are intimate with, who have all twenty thousand pounds apiece."

The possibility of the young man's coming to Mrs. Goddard's that morning, and meeting with Harriet and pleading his own cause,

let Mr. Knightley think or say what he would, she had done nothing which woman's friendship and woman's feelings would not justify.

Mr. Knightley could not have observed him as she had done, neither with the interest, nor (she must be allowed to tell herself, in spite of Mr. Knightley's pretensions) with the skill of such an observer on such a question as herself,

he had spoken it hastily and in anger, she was able to believe, that he had rather said what he wished resentfully to be true, than what he knew any thing about.

He certainly might have heard Mr. Elton speak with more unreserve than she had ever done, and Mr. Elton might not be of an imprudent, inconsiderate disposition as to money matters; he might naturally be rather attentive than otherwise to them; but then, Mr. Knightley did not make due allowance for the influence of a strong passion at war with all interested motives. Mr. Knightley saw no such passion, and of course thought nothing of its effects; but she saw too much of it to feel a doubt of its overcoming any hesitations that a reasonable prudence might originally suggest; and more than a reasonable, becoming degree of prudence, she was very sure did not belong to Mr. Elton.

Mr. Perry had been to Mrs. Goddard's to attend a sick child, and Miss Nash had seen him, and he had told Miss Nash, that

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

he was going on business which he would not put off for any inducement in the world; and something about a very enviable commission, and being the bearer of something exceedingly precious. Mr. Perry could not quite understand him, but he was very sure there must be a lady in the case, and he told him so; and Mr. Elton only looked very conscious and smiling, and rode off in great spirits.

Miss Nash had told her all this, and had talked a great deal more about Mr. Elton; and said, looking so very significantly at her,

"that she did not pretend to understand what his business might be, but she only knew that any woman whom Mr. Elton could prefer, she should think the luckiest woman in the world; for, beyond a doubt, Mr. Elton had not his equal for beauty or agreeableness."

Mr. Martin's being no otherwise remembered, than as he furnished a contrast with Mr. Elton, of the utmost advantage to the latter.

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

Perry to be upon the watch,

and as he went about so much, something,

might come from that quarter.

to contribute any really good enigmas, charades, or conundrums that he might recollect;

they had transcribed it some pages ago already.

containing,

a charade, which a friend of his had addressed to a young lady, the object of his admiration,

There was deep consciousness about him, and he found it easier to meet her eye than her friend's.

'Grandpapa, can you give me a bit of string?'

the consciousness of having made a push —of having thrown a die;

he was come to see how it might turn up.

whether Mr. Woodhouse's party could be made up in the evening without him, or whether he should be in the smallest degree necessary at Hartfield. If he were, every thing else must give way; but otherwise his friend Cole had been saying so much about his dining with him— had made such a point of it, that he had promised him conditionally to come.

thanked him, but could not allow of his disappointing his friend on their account; her father was sure of his rubber.