The Miss Dashwoods had now been rather more than two months in town, and Marianne's impatience to be gone increased every day. She sighedfor the air, the liberty, the quiet of the country; and fancied that ifany place could give her ease, Barton must do it. Elinor was hardlyless anxious than herself for their removal, and only so much less benton its being effected immediately, as that she was conscious of thedifficulties of so long a journey, which Marianne could not be broughtto acknowledge. She began, however, seriously to turn her thoughtstowards its accomplishment, and had already mentioned their wishes totheir kind hostess, who resisted them with all the eloquence of hergood-will, when a plan was suggested, which, though detaining them fromhome yet a few weeks longer, appeared to Elinor altogether much moreeligible than any other. The Palmers were to remove to Cleveland aboutthe end of March, for the Easter holidays; and Mrs. Jennings, with bothher friends, received a very warm invitation from Charlotte to go withthem. This would not, in itself, have been sufficient for the delicacyof Miss Dashwood; -- but it was inforced with so much real politeness byMr. Palmer himself, as, joined to the very great amendment of hismanners towards them since her sister had been known to be unhappy, induced her to accept it with pleasure.

When she told Marianne what she had done, however, her first reply wasnot very auspicious.

"Cleveland!" -- she cried, with great agitation. "No, I cannot go toCleveland." --

"You forget," said Elinor gently, "that its situation is not... that itis not in the neighbourhood of..."

"But it is in Somersetshire. -- I cannot go into Somersetshire. -- There, where I looked forward to going... No, Elinor, you cannot expect me togo there."

Elinor would not argue upon the propriety of overcoming suchfeelings; -- she only endeavoured to counteract them by working onothers; -- represented it, therefore, as a measure which would fix thetime of her returning to that dear mother, whom she so much wished tosee, in a more eligible, more comfortable manner, than any other plancould do, and perhaps without any greater delay. From Cleveland, whichwas within a few miles of Bristol, the distance to Barton was notbeyond one day, though a long day's journey; and their mother's servantmight easily come there to attend them down; and as there could be nooccasion of their staying above a week at Cleveland, they might now beat home in little more than three weeks' time. As Marianne's affectionfor her mother was sincere, it must triumph with little difficulty, over the imaginary evils she had started.

"Ah! Colonel, I do not know what you and I shall do without the MissDashwoods;" -- was Mrs. Jennings's address to him when he first called onher, after their leaving her was settled --"for they are quite resolvedupon going home from the Palmers; -- and how forlorn we shall be, when Icome back! -- Lord! we shall sit and gape at one another as dull as twocats."

Mrs. Jennings was so far from being weary of her guests, that shepressed them very earnestly to return with her again from Cleveland. Elinor was grateful for the attention, but it could not alter herdesign; and their mother's concurrence being readily gained, everything relative to their return was arranged as far as it could be; -- andMarianne found some relief in drawing up a statement of the hours thatwere yet to divide her from Barton.

Perhaps Mrs. Jennings was in hopes, by this vigorous sketch of their future ennui, to provoke him to make that offer, which might givehimself an escape from it; -- and if so, she had soon afterwards good reason to think her object gained; for, on Elinor's moving to the window to take more expeditiously the dimensions of a print, which she was going to copy for her friend, he followed her to it with a look ofparticular meaning, and conversed with her there for several minutes.

The effect of his discourse on the lady too, could not escape her observation, for though she was too honorable to listen, and had evenchanged her seat, on purpose that she might NOT hear, to one close by the piano forte on which Marianne was playing, she could not keep herself from seeing that Elinor changed colour, attended withagitation, and was too intent on what he said to pursue her employment. -- Still farther in confirmation of her hopes, in theinterval of Marianne's turning from one lesson to another, some words of the Colonel's inevitably reached her ear, in which he seemed to beapologising for the badness of his house. This set the matter beyond adoubt. She wondered, indeed, at his thinking it necessary to do so; but supposed it to be the proper etiquette.

What Elinor said in reply she could not distinguish, but judged from the motion of her lips, thatshe did not think THAT any material objection; -- and Mrs. Jenningscommended her in her heart for being so honest. They then talked on for a few minutes longer without her catching a syllable, when anotherl ucky stop in Marianne's performance brought her these words in theColonel's calm voice, --

Mrs. Jennings was delighted with her gratitude, and only wondered thatafter hearing such a sentence, the Colonel should be able to take leaveof them, as he immediately did, with the utmost sang-froid, and go awaywithout making her any reply! -- She had not thought her old friend couldhave made so indifferent a suitor.

"I am afraid it cannot take place very soon."

Astonished and shocked at so unlover-like a speech, she was almostready to cry out, "Lord! what should hinder it?" -- but checking herdesire, confined herself to this silent ejaculation.

"This is very strange! -- sure he need not wait to be older."

"I shall always think myself very much obliged to you."

What had really passed between them was to this effect.

This delay on the Colonel's side, however, did not seem to offend ormortify his fair companion in the least, for on their breaking up theconference soon afterwards, and moving different ways, Mrs. Jenningsvery plainly heard Elinor say, and with a voice which shewed her tofeel what she said,

Elinor told him that it was.

"The cruelty, the impolitic cruelty," -- he replied, with greatfeeling, --"of dividing, or attempting to divide, two young people longattached to each other, is terrible. -- Mrs. Ferrars does not know whatshe may be doing-what she may drive her son to. I have seen Mr. Ferrars two or three times in Harley Street, and am much pleased withhim. He is not a young man with whom one can be intimately acquaintedin a short time, but I have seen enough of him to wish him well for hisown sake, and as a friend of yours, I wish it still more. I understandthat he intends to take orders. Will you be so good as to tell himthat the living of Delaford, now just vacant, as I am informed by thisday's post, is his, if he think it worth his acceptance-but THAT, perhaps, so unfortunately circumstanced as he is now, it may benonsense to appear to doubt; I only wish it were more valuable. -- Itis a rectory, but a small one; the late incumbent, I believe, did notmake more than 200 L per annum, and though it is certainly capable ofimprovement, I fear, not to such an amount as to afford him a verycomfortable income. Such as it is, however, my pleasure in presentinghim to it, will be very great. Pray assure him of it."

"I have heard," said he, with great compassion, "of the injustice yourfriend Mr. Ferrars has suffered from his family; for if I understandthe matter right, he has been entirely cast off by them for perseveringin his engagement with a very deserving young woman. -- Have I beenrightly informed? -- Is it so? --"

Elinor's astonishment at this commission could hardly have beengreater, had the Colonel been really making her an offer of his hand. The preferment, which only two days before she had considered ashopeless for Edward, was already provided to enable him to marry; -- andSHE, of all people in the world, was fixed on to bestow it! -- Heremotion was such as Mrs. Jennings had attributed to a very differentcause; -- but whatever minor feelings less pure, less pleasing, mighthave a share in that emotion, her esteem for the general benevolence, and her gratitude for the particular friendship, which togetherprompted Colonel Brandon to this act, were strongly felt, and warmlyexpressed. She thanked him for it with all her heart, spoke ofEdward's principles and disposition with that praise which she knewthem to deserve; and promised to undertake the commission withpleasure, if it were really his wish to put off so agreeable an officeto another. But at the same time, she could not help thinking that noone could so well perform it as himself. It was an office in short, from which, unwilling to give Edward the pain of receiving anobligation from HER, she would have been very glad to be sparedherself; -- but Colonel Brandon, on motives of equal delicacy, decliningit likewise, still seemed so desirous of its being given through hermeans, that she would not on any account make farther opposition. Edward, she believed, was still in town, and fortunately she had heardhis address from Miss Steele. She could undertake therefore to informhim of it, in the course of the day. After this had been settled, Colonel Brandon began to talk of his own advantage in securing sorespectable and agreeable a neighbour, and THEN it was that hementioned with regret, that the house was small and indifferent; -- anevil which Elinor, as Mrs. Jennings had supposed her to do, made verylight of, at least as far as regarded its size.

"This little rectory CAN do no more than make Mr. Ferrars comfortableas a bachelor; it cannot enable him to marry. I am sorry to say thatmy patronage ends with this; and my interest is hardly more extensive. If, however, by an unforeseen chance it should be in my power to servehim farther, I must think very differently of him from what I now do, if I am not as ready to be useful to him then as I sincerely wish Icould be at present. What I am now doing indeed, seems nothing at all, since it can advance him so little towards what must be his principal, his only object of happiness. His marriage must still be a distantgood; -- at least, I am afraid it cannot take place very soon. --"

By which the Colonel was surprised to find that SHE was considering Mr. Ferrars's marriage as the certain consequence of the presentation; forhe did not suppose it possible that Delaford living could supply suchan income, as anybody in his style of life would venture to settleon-and he said so.

"The smallness of the house," said she, "I cannot imagine anyinconvenience to them, for it will be in proportion to their family andincome."

Such was the sentence which, when misunderstood, so justly offended thedelicate feelings of Mrs. Jennings; but after this narration of whatreally passed between Colonel Brandon and Elinor, while they stood atthe window, the gratitude expressed by the latter on their parting, mayperhaps appear in general, not less reasonably excited, nor lessproperly worded than if it had arisen from an offer of marriage.