HE was not a man to be led by others, in the choice of a wife.
Jane might be a beauty--no doubt she was--but he had no such
extravagant admiration for mere beauty. There was Elinor, for
instance; she was a very different girl, though without any
beauty; she was just the kind of person he liked. She was so
warm-hearted and generous in her feelings--without a bit of
nonsense; she was so clever--could catch a thought in a moment,
and always understood and enjoyed a good thing. Then her manners,
too, were charming, so simple and natural; while Jane had no
manners at all. Then, everybody said she was remarkably graceful,
in a perfectly natural way;--how well she rode! Jane was even
afraid to mount. And how pleasantly Elinor sang--and he was so
fond of music. Jane would do very well to sit and look at all day
long; but, for walking, talking, riding, singing--ay, for
thinking and feeling, Elinor would make precisely such a
companion as a man of sense would wish for. By dint of dwelling
on Elinor's good qualities, and on what he fancied the plans of
his brother and sister-in-law, he came to the conclusion that the
only thing to be done, under the circumstances, by a man of any
character--by a man who had an opinion of his own, was to go
immediately to Mr. Wyllys, and request his permission to address
Elinor.

Harry was a great favourite with his uncle--from a child the
young man had always given this title to Mr. Wyllys--and he had
more than once expressed to his daughter, a wish that Hazlehurst
and Elinor might, some years thence, take a fancy for each other.
In the mean time he seemed to look upon them as children, and
left matters to take care of themselves. Harry's proposal was,
therefore, quite unexpected at the moment, and took him by