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reasoning
Sir
Walter
Elliot
,
of
Kellynch
Hall
,
in
Somersetshire
,
was
a
man
who
,
for
his
own
amusement
,
never
took
up
any
book
but
the
Baronetage
;
there
he
found
occupation
for
an
idle
hour
,
and
consolation
in
a
distressed
one
;
there
his
faculties
were
roused
into
admiration
and
respect
,
by
contemplating
the
limited
remnant
of
the
earliest
patents
;
there
any
unwelcome
sensations
,
arising
from
domestic
affairs
changed
naturally
into
pity
and
contempt
as
he
turned
over
the
almost
endless
creations
of
the
last
century
;
and
there
,
if
every
other
leaf
were
powerless
,
he
could
read
his
own
history
with
an
interest
which
never
failed
.
This
was
the
page
at
which
the
favourite
volume
always
opened
:
"
ELLIOT
OF
KELLYNCH
HALL
.
"
Walter
Elliot
,
born
March
1
,
1760
,
married
,
July
15
,
1784
,
Elizabeth
,
daughter
of
James
Stevenson
,
Esq.
of
South
Park
,
in
the
county
of
Gloucester
,
by
which
lady
(
who
died
1800
)
he
has
issue
Elizabeth
,
born
June
1
,
1785
;
Anne
,
born
August
9
,
1787
;
a
still-born
son
,
November
5
,
1789
;
Mary
,
born
November
20
,
1791
.
"
Precisely
such
had
the
paragraph
originally
stood
from
the
printer
's
hands
;
but
Sir
Walter
had
improved
it
by
adding
,
for
the
information
of
himself
and
his
family
,
these
words
,
after
the
date
of
Mary
's
birth
--
"
Married
,
December
16
,
1810
,
Charles
,
son
and
heir
of
Charles
Musgrove
,
Esq.
of
Uppercross
,
in
the
county
of
Somerset
,
"
and
by
inserting
most
accurately
the
day
of
the
month
on
which
he
had
lost
his
wife
.
Then
followed
the
history
and
rise
of
the
ancient
and
respectable
family
,
in
the
usual
terms
;
how
it
had
been
first
settled
in
Cheshire
;
how
mentioned
in
Dugdale
,
serving
the
office
of
high
sheriff
,
representing
a
borough
in
three
successive
parliaments
,
exertions
of
loyalty
,
and
dignity
of
baronet
,
in
the
first
year
of
Charles
II
,
with
all
the
Marys
and
Elizabeths
they
had
married
;
forming
altogether
two
handsome
duodecimo
pages
,
and
concluding
with
the
arms
and
motto
:
--
"
Principal
seat
,
Kellynch
Hall
,
in
the
county
of
Somerset
,
"
and
Sir
Walter
's
handwriting
again
in
this
finale
:
--
"
Heir
presumptive
,
William
Walter
Elliot
,
Esq.
,
great
grandson
of
the
second
Sir
Walter
.
"
Vanity
was
the
beginning
and
the
end
of
Sir
Walter
Elliot
's
character
;
vanity
of
person
and
of
situation
.
He
had
been
remarkably
handsome
in
his
youth
;
and
,
at
fifty-four
,
was
still
a
very
fine
man
.
Few
women
could
think
more
of
their
personal
appearance
than
he
did
,
nor
could
the
valet
of
any
new
made
lord
be
more
delighted
with
the
place
he
held
in
society
.
He
considered
the
blessing
of
beauty
as
inferior
only
to
the
blessing
of
a
baronetcy
;
and
the
Sir
Walter
Elliot
,
who
united
these
gifts
,
was
the
constant
object
of
his
warmest
respect
and
devotion
.
His
good
looks
and
his
rank
had
one
fair
claim
on
his
attachment
;
since
to
them
he
must
have
owed
a
wife
of
very
superior
character
to
any
thing
deserved
by
his
own
.
Lady
Elliot
had
been
an
excellent
woman
,
sensible
and
amiable
;
whose
judgement
and
conduct
,
if
they
might
be
pardoned
the
youthful
infatuation
which
made
her
Lady
Elliot
,
had
never
required
indulgence
afterwards
.
--
She
had
humoured
,
or
softened
,
or
concealed
his
failings
,
and
promoted
his
real
respectability
for
seventeen
years
;
and
though
not
the
very
happiest
being
in
the
world
herself
,
had
found
enough
in
her
duties
,
her
friends
,
and
her
children
,
to
attach
her
to
life
,
and
make
it
no
matter
of
indifference
to
her
when
she
was
called
on
to
quit
them
.
--
Three
girls
,
the
two
eldest
sixteen
and
fourteen
,
was
an
awful
legacy
for
a
mother
to
bequeath
,
an
awful
charge
rather
,
to
confide
to
the
authority
and
guidance
of
a
conceited
,
silly
father
.
She
had
,
however
,
one
very
intimate
friend
,
a
sensible
,
deserving
woman
,
who
had
been
brought
,
by
strong
attachment
to
herself
,
to
settle
close
by
her
,
in
the
village
of
Kellynch
;
and
on
her
kindness
and
advice
,
Lady
Elliot
mainly
relied
for
the
best
help
and
maintenance
of
the
good
principles
and
instruction
which
she
had
been
anxiously
giving
her
daughters
.
This
friend
,
and
Sir
Walter
,
did
not
marry
,
whatever
might
have
been
anticipated
on
that
head
by
their
acquaintance
.
Thirteen
years
had
passed
away
since
Lady
Elliot
's
death
,
and
they
were
still
near
neighbours
and
intimate
friends
,
and
one
remained
a
widower
,
the
other
a
widow
.
