were attached to any one--had you, Robert?"

"Not I! It must be somebody at Longbridge--he has been there more
than half his time lately. Come, tell us, Harry, like a man; who
is it?" asked Robert Hazlehurst, naturally feeling interested in
his younger brother's choice.

"No one precisely at Longbridge," said Harry, smiling.

"Who can it be?--And actually engaged?" added Mrs. Hazlehurst,
who saw that Harry would not explain himself without being
questioned.

"Engaged, very decidedly, and positively, I am happy to say. Is
there anything so very wonderful in my having declared an
attachment to Elinor; I am sure I have liked her better than any
one else all my life."

"Engaged to Elinor!" exclaimed Robert Hazlehurst, much relieved.
"I am delighted to hear it. It is a wiser step than one would
always expect from a young gentleman of your years."

"Engaged to Elinor! I wish you joy with all my heart," repeated
his sister-in-law. "It had not occurred to me to think of any one
so near and dear to us already; you could not have done better,
Harry," she added, with a perfectly frank, open smile.

To tell the truth, Hazlehurst was not a little surprised, and
rather mortified by this decided approbation--since it proved he
had been unjust, and that he had deceived himself as to what he