be obedient it is naturally a satisfaction to me that the prospect of a marriage for advantageous in the highest degree � has presented itself so early i do not know exactly what has passed between you and mr but i presume there can � daniel be little doubt from the way in which he has you that he desires to make you his wife did not speak immediately and her uncle said with more emphasis � have you any doubt of that yourself my dear i suppose that is what he has been thinking of but he may have changed his mind to morrow said why to morrow has he made advances which you have discouraged i think he meant � he began to make advances � but i did not encourage them i turned the conversation will you confide in me so far as to tell me your reasons i am not sure that i had any reasons uncle laughed rather you are quite capable of reflecting you are aware that this is not a trivial occasion and it concerns your establishment fat life under circumstances which may not occur again you have a duty here both to yourself and your family i wish to understand whether you have any ground for hesitating as to your acceptance of mr book � meeting streams i suppose i hesitate without grounds spoke rather and her uncle grew suspicious is he disagreeable to you personally no have you heard anything of him which has affected you the thought it impossible that could have heard the gossip he had heard but in any case he must endeavour to put all things in the right light for her i have heard nothing about him except that he is a great match said with some and that affects me very agreeably then my dear i have nothing further to say than this you hold your fortune in your own hands � a fortune such as rarely happens to a girl in your circumstances � a fortune in fact which almost takes the question out of the range of mere personal feeling and makes your acceptance of it a duty if providence offers you power and especially when by any conditions that are to you � your course is one of responsibility into which caprice must not enter a man does not like to have his attachment with he may not be at once � these are matters of individual daniel disposition but the trifling may be carried too far and i must point out to you that in case mr were without your having refused him � without your having intended ultimately to refuse him your situation would be a humiliating and painful one i for my part should regard you with severe as the victim of nothing else than your own and folly became pallid as she listened to this speech the ideas it raised bad the force of sensations her courage would not help her here because her uncle was not urging her against her own resolve he was pressing upon her the motives of dread which she already felt he was making her more conscious of the risks that lay within herself she was silent and the observed that he had produced some strong effect i mean this in kindness my dear his tone had softened i am aware of that uncle said rising and shaking her head back as if to rouse herself out of painful i am not foolish i know that i must be married some time � before it is too late and i don t see how i could do better than marry mr i book n � meeting streams mean to accept him if possible she felt as if she were herself by speaking with this to her uncle but the was a little startled by so bare a version of his own meaning from those lips he wished that in her mind his advice should be taken in an of sentiments proper to a girl and such as are in the advice of a clergyman although he may not consider them always appropriate to be put forward he wished his niece carriages a everything that would make this world a pleasant abode but he wished her not to be cynical � to be on the contrary dutiful and have warm domestic affections my dear he said rising also and speaking with gravity i trust that you will find in marriage a new fountain of duty and affection marriage is the only true and satisfactory sphere of a woman and if your marriage with mr should be happily decided upon you will have probably an increasing power both of rank and wealth which maybe used for the benefit of others these considerations are something higher than romance you are fitted by natural gifts for a position which considering your birth and early prospects could vol i b daniel hardly be looked forward to as in tlie ordinary of things and i trust that you will grace it not only by those personal gifts but by a good and consistent life i hope mamma will be the happier said in a more cheerful way lifting her hands backward to her neck and moving towards the door she wanted to those higher considerations mr felt that he had come to a satisfactory understanding with his niece and had her happy settlement in life by her engagement to meanwhile there was another person to whom the contemplation of that issue had been a motive for some activity and who believed that he too on this particular day had done something towards bringing about a favourable decision in ma sense � which happened to be the reverse of the s mr s absence from during s visit had been due not to any fear on his part of meeting that young lady or of being abashed by her frank 