Taunton

Taunton, the principal market town of Somersetshire, is the place where the crucial business of letting Kellynch Hall is set in motion. It is at the quarter sessions in Taunton that Mr. Shepherd, Sir Walter Elliot's agent, first falls into company with Admiral Croft, who has come down expressly to look at advertised properties in the immediate neighbourhood. The Admiral, a native of Somersetshire who has acquired a very handsome fortune and wishes to settle in his own country, had not found any of the advertised places to suit him, but accidentally hearing of the possibility of Kellynch Hall being to let, he introduces himself to Mr. Shepherd in order to make particular inquiries. This meeting, which Mr. Shepherd hastens over to Kellynch to report, proves decisive: the Admiral expresses as strong an inclination for the place as a man who knew it only by description could feel, and gives every proof of being a most responsible, eligible tenant. Mr. Shepherd is eloquent on the subject, pointing out that Admiral Croft is a very hale, hearty, well-looking man, a little weather-beaten but not much, and quite the gentleman in all his notions and behaviour; he is a married man without children, the very state to be wished for, and his wife, who is present at Taunton almost all the time they are talking the matter over, is described as a very well-spoken, genteel, shrewd lady who asks more questions about the house, terms, and taxes than the Admiral himself. Sir Walter, though cold and suspicious at first, is eventually talked into allowing Mr. Shepherd to proceed in the treaty and to fix a day for the house being seen, and the whole business is decided at Kellynch Hall itself shortly afterwards. Taunton thus functions as the neutral ground where the practicalities of the Elliots' retrenchment are first broached and where the Crofts' suitability as tenants is established, a role that underscores the town's importance as a centre of legal and commercial activity in the county.