Page 2 (1/2)

(1818)

Chapter 1

Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own ae; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into ad the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcoed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed This was the page at which the favourite volume always opened:

"ELLIOT OF KELLYNCH HALL

"Walter Elliot, born March 1, 1760, hter of James Stevenson, Esq of South Park, in the county of Gloucester, by which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth, born June 1, 1785; Anne, born August 9, 1787; a still-born son, November 5, 1789; Mary, born November 20, 1791"

Precisely such had the paragraph originally stood from the printer's hands; but Sir Walter had i, for the information of himself and his family, these words, after the date of Mary's birth-"Married, Decerove, Esq of Uppercross, in the county of So most accurately the day of the month on which he had lost his wife

Then followed the history and rise of the ancient and respectable family, in the usual terms; how it had been first settled in Cheshire; how h sheriff, representing a borough in three successive parlianity of baronet, in the first year of Charles II, with all the Marys and Elizabeths they had es, and concluding with the arms and motto:-"Principal seat, Kellynch Hall, in the county of Soain in this finale:-"Heir presurandson of the second Sir Walter"

Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man

Feomen could think more of their personal appearance than he did, nor could the valet of any new hted with the place he held in society He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion

His good looks and his rank had one fair claim on his attachment; since to them hedeserved by his own Lady Elliot had been an excellent woeht be pardoned the youthful infatuation which ence afterwards-She had hus, and proh not the very happiest being in the world herself, had found enough in her duties, her friends, and her children, to attach her to life, and make it no matter of indifference to her when she was called on to quit them

– Three girls, the two eldest sixteen and fourteen, was an awful legacy for a e rather, to confide to the authority and guidance of a conceited, silly father

She had, however, one very intiht, by strong attache of Kellynch; and on her kindness and advice, Lady Elliot ood principles and instruction which she had been anxiously giving her daughters

This friend, and Sir Walter, did not ht have been anticipated on that head by their acquaintance Thirteen years had passed away since Lady Elliot's death, and they were still near neighbours and intimate friends, and one remained a er, the other a

That Lady Russell, of steady age and character, and extreht of a second y to the public, which is rather apt to be unreasonably discontented when a woain, than when she does not; but Sir Walter's continuing in singleness requires explanation

Be it known then, that Sir Walter, like a good father, (having met with one or two private disappointments in very unreasonable applications), prided hihters' sake

For one daughter, his eldest, he would really have given up any thing, which he had not been very much tempted to do Elizabeth had succeeded, at sixteen, to all that was possible, of hervery handsoreat, and they had gone on together most happily His two other children were of very inferior value

Mary had acquired a little artificial irove; but Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, which h with any people of real understanding, was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way-she was only Anne

To Lady Russell, indeed, she was a hter, favourite, and friend Lady Russell loved them all; but it was only in Anne that she could fancy the ain

A few years before, Anne Elliot had been a very pretty girl, but her blooht, her father had found little to admire in her, (so totally different were her delicate features andin them, now that she was faded and thin, to excite his esteeedher nae of his favourite work

All equality of alliance must rest with Elizabeth, for Mary had merely connected herself with an old country faiven all the honour and received none:

Elizabeth would, one day or other, marry suitably