rties of our friends as I hope to see often collected here; and I
have some thoughts of throwing the passage into one of them with
perhaps a part of the other, and so leave the remainder of that other
for an entrance; this, with a new drawing room which may be easily
added, and a bed-chamber and garret above, will make it a very snug
little cottage. I could wish the stairs were handsome. But one must
not expect every thing; though I suppose it would be no difficult
matter to widen them. I shall see how much I am before-hand with the
world in the spring, and we will plan our improvements accordingly."

In the mean time, till all these alterations could be made from the
savings of an income of five hundred a-year by a woman who never
saved in her life, they were wise enough to be contented with the
house as it was; and each of them was busy in arranging their
particular concerns, and endeavoring, by placing around them books and
other possessions, to form themselves a home. Marianne's pianoforte
was unpacked and properly disposed of; and Elinor's drawings were
affixed to the walls of their sitting room.

In such employments as these they were interrupted soon after
breakfast the next day by the entrance of their landlord, who called
to welcome them to Barton, and to offer them every accommodation from
his own house and garden in which theirs might at present be
deficient. Sir John Middleton was a good looking man about forty. He
had formerly visited at Stanhill, but it was too long for his young
cousins to remember him. His countenance was thoroughly good-humoured;
and his manners were as friendly as the style of his letter. Their
arrival seemed to afford him real satisfaction, and their comfort to
be an object of real solicitude to him. He said much of his earnest
desire of their living in the most sociable terms with his family, and
pressed them so cordially to dine at Barton Park every day till they
were better settled at home, that, though his entreaties were carried
to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they could not give
offence. His kindness was not confined to words; for within an hour
after he left them, a large basket full of garden stuff and fruit
arrived from the park, which was followed before the end of the day by
a present of game. He insisted, moreover, on conveying all their
letters to and from the post for them, and would not be denied the
satisfaction of sending them his newspaper every day.