 He seemed to have all the life
and spirit, cheerful feelings, and social inclinations of his father, and
nothing of the pride or reserve of Enscombe. Of pride, indeed, there was,
perhaps, scarcely enough; his indifference to a confusion of rank, bordered too
much on inelegance of mind. He could be no judge, however, of the evil he was
holding cheap. It was but an effusion of lively spirits.
    At last he was persuaded to move on from the front of the Crown; and being
now almost facing the house where the Bateses lodged, Emma recollected his
intended visit the day before, and asked him if he had paid it.
    »Yes, oh! yes - he replied; I was just going to mention it. A very
successful visit: - I saw all the three ladies; and felt very much obliged to
you for your preparatory hint. If the talking aunt had taken me quite by
surprize, it must have been the death of me. As it was, I was only betrayed into
paying a most unreasonable visit. Ten minutes would have been all that was
necessary, perhaps all that was proper; and I had told my father I should
certainly be at home before him - but there was no getting away, no pause; and,
to my utter astonishment, I found, when he (finding me no where else) joined me
there at last, that I had been actually sitting with them very nearly three
quarters of an hour. The good lady had not given me the possibility of escape
before.«
    »And how did you think Miss Fairfax looking?«
    »Ill, very ill - that is, if a young lady can ever be allowed to look ill.
But the expression is hardly admissible, Mrs. Weston, is it? Ladies can never
look ill. And, seriously, Miss Fairfax is naturally so pale, as almost always to
give the appearance of ill health. - A most deplorable want of complexion.«
    Emma would not agree to this, and began a warm defence of Miss Fairfax's
complexion. »It was certainly never brilliant, but she would not allow it to
have a sickly hue in general; and there was a softness and delicacy in her skin
which gave peculiar elegance to the character of her face.« He listened with all
due deference; acknowledged that he had heard many people say the same - but yet
he must confess, that to him nothing could make amends for the want of the fine
glow of health. Where features were indifferent, a fine complexion gave beauty
to
