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The Complete Novel with Illustrations
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The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their
estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the
centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived
in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of
their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a
single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of
his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But
her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great
alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received
into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal
inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to
bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and niece, and their
children, the old Gentleman's days were comfortably spent. His
attachment to them all increased. The constant attention of Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Dashwood to his wishes, which proceeded not merely from
interest, but from goodness of heart, gave him every degree of solid
comfort which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness of the
children added a relish to his existence.
—Chapter 1 excerpt, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
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