Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/196

 is an intensely conceited man, of an ancient family, very handsome, even in middle life, and inordinately vain both of his birth and his looks. His eldest daughter, Elisabeth, is himself over again; and the youngest daughter, Mary, is a common-place, self-engrossed woman. There is no son, and the title and estate will, at Sir Walter's death, devolve upon a cousin whom Elizabeth always intended to marry, but who, having chosen to make a mésalliance for the sake of money, has been ignored by the Kellynch Hall family ever since, although he has lately become a widower. From such a father and such sisters it is clear that Anne Elliot, cultivated, thoughtful, and refined, can gain no pleasant companionship, and, in fact, the only real companion she has is a very intimate friend of her mother who has settled near them. Lady Russell is sensible, right-minded, and a little prosaic; she is not Anne's equal intellectually, but she loves her for her mother's sake and for her own; and Anne is thankful to be loved at all.

Frederick Wentworth makes the acquaintance of this attractive and neglected girl when she is nineteen, and in the full bloom of her beauty. He is a few years older, a young naval officer, full of spirit, energy, and brightness. The natural consequences ensue, and for a short time the young people are rapturously happy; but both Sir Walter Elliot and Lady Russell regard the engagement with strong disfavour. He considers any untitled marriage as beneath his daughter's acceptance, whilst Lady Russell objects to a long engagement, dislikes the uncertainty of the naval profession, and does not believe that Captain Wentworth will ever make a fortune.

"Such opposition as these feelings produced was