She had seen him; they had met.  They had been once more in the same room.  Now, how were his sentiments to be read?  On one question she was soon spared all suspense; for, after the Miss Musgroves had returned and finished their visit at the Cottage, she had this spontaneous information from Mary:  “Captain Wentworth is not very gallant by you, Anne, though he was so attentive to me.  Henrietta asked him what he thought of you.  ’You were so altered he should not have known you again,’ he said.”

Doubtless it was so; and she could take no revenge, for he was not altered, or not for the worse.  No; the years which had destroyed her bloom had only given him a more glowing, manly, open look, in no respect lessening his personal advantages.

“Altered beyond his knowledge.”  Frederick Wentworth had used such words, or something like them, but without an idea that they would be carried round to her.  He had thought her wretchedly altered, and, in the first moment of appeal, had spoken as he felt.  He had not forgiven Anne Elliot.  She had used him ill—­deserted and disappointed him; and worse, in doing so had shown weakness and timidity.  He had been most warmly attached to her, and had never seen a woman since whom he thought her equal.  It was now his object to marry.  He was rich, and, being turned on shore, intended to settle as soon as he could be tempted.  “Yes, here I am, Sophia,” he said to his sister, “quite ready to make a foolish match.  Anybody between fifteen and thirty may have me for the asking.  A little beauty, and a few smiles, and a few compliments to the navy, and I am a lost man.”

It looked, indeed, as if he would soon be lost, either to Louisa or to Henrietta.  It was soon Uppercross with him almost every day.  The Musgroves could hardly be more ready to invite than he to come; and as for Henrietta and Louisa, they both seemed so entirely occupied by him that nothing but the continued appearance of the most perfect goodwill between themselves could have made it credible that they were not decided rivals.  Indeed, Mr. Charles Hayter, a young curate with some expectations, who was a cousin of the Musgroves, began to get uneasy.  Previous to Captain Wentworth’s introduction, there had been a considerable appearance of attachment between Henrietta and himself; but now he seemed to be very much forgotten.

III.—­Love-making at Lyme Regis

At this interesting juncture the scene of action was changed from Uppercross to Lyme Regis, owing to Captain Wentworth’s receipt of a letter from his old friend Captain Harville, announcing his being settled at this latter place.  Captain Wentworth, after a visit to Lyme Regis, gave so interesting an account of the adjacent country that the young people were all wild to see it.  Accordingly, it was agreed to stay the night there, and not to be expected back till the next day’s dinner.