Anne kept her appointment; the others kept theirs,and of course she heard the next morning that they had had a delightful evening. She had been the only one of the set absent, for Sir Walter and Elizabeth had not only been quite at her ladyship's service themselves,but had actually been happy to be employed by her in collecting others, and had been at the trouble of inviting both Lady russell and Mr Elliot; and Mr Elliot had made a point of leaving Colonel Wallis early, and Lady russell had fresh arranged all her evening engagements in order to wait on her. Anne had the whole history of all that such an evening could supply from Lady russell. To her, its greatest interest must be, in having been very much talked of between her friend and Mr Elliot; in having been wished for,regretted, and at the same time honoured for staying away in such a cause. Her kind, compassionate visits to this old schoolfellow, sick and reduced, seemed to have quite delighted Mr Elliot. He thought her a most extraordinary young woman; in her temper, manners,mind, a model of female excellence. He could meet even Lady russell in a discussion of her merits; and Anne could not be given to understand so much by her friend, could not know herself to be so highly rated by a sensible man, without many of those agreeable sensations which her friend meant to create.