Mr Elliot was rational, discreet, polished, but he was not open.  There was never any burst of feeling, any warmth of indignation or delight, at the evil or good of others.  This, to Anne, was a decided imperfection.  Her early impressions were incurable.  She prized the frank, the open-hearted, the eager character beyond all others.  Warmth and enthusiasm did captivate her still.  She felt that she could so much more depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked or said a careless or a hasty thing, than of those whose presence of mind never varied, whose tongue never slipped.

Mr Elliot was too generally agreeable.  Various as were the tempers in her father’s house, he pleased them all.  He endured too well, stood too well with every body.  He had spoken to her with some degree of openness of Mrs Clay; had appeared completely to see what Mrs Clay was about, and to hold her in contempt; and yet Mrs Clay found him as agreeable as any body.

Lady Russell saw either less or more than her young friend, for she saw nothing to excite distrust.  She could not imagine a man more exactly what he ought to be than Mr Elliot; nor did she ever enjoy a sweeter feeling than the hope of seeing him receive the hand of her beloved Anne in Kellynch church, in the course of the following autumn.

Chapter 18

It was the beginning of February; and Anne, having been a month in Bath, was growing very eager for news from Uppercross and Lyme.  She wanted to hear much more than Mary had communicated.  It was three weeks since she had heard at all.  She only knew that Henrietta was at home again; and that Louisa, though considered to be recovering fast, was still in Lyme; and she was thinking of them all very intently one evening, when a thicker letter than usual from Mary was delivered to her; and, to quicken the pleasure and surprise, with Admiral and Mrs Croft’s compliments.

The Crofts must be in Bath!  A circumstance to interest her.  They were people whom her heart turned to very naturally.

“What is this?” cried Sir Walter.  “The Crofts have arrived in Bath?  The Crofts who rent Kellynch?  What have they brought you?”

“A letter from Uppercross Cottage, Sir.”

“Oh! those letters are convenient passports.  They secure an introduction. 
I should have visited Admiral Croft, however, at any rate. 
I know what is due to my tenant.”

Anne could listen no longer; she could not even have told how the poor Admiral’s complexion escaped; her letter engrossed her.  It had been begun several days back.

“February 1st.