He was suffering from disappointment and regret, grieving over what was, and wishing for what could never be.

She knew it was so, and was sorry; but it was with a sorrow so founded on satisfaction, so tending to ease, and so much in harmony with every dearest sensation, that there are few who might not have been glad to exchange their greatest gaiety for it.
Sir Thomas, poor Sir Thomas, a parent, and conscious of errors in his own conduct as a parent, was the longest to suffer.

He felt that he ought not to have allowed the marriage; that his daughter's sentiments had been sufficiently known to him to render him culpable in authorising it; that in so doing he had sacrificed the right to the expedient, and been governed by motives of selfishness and worldly wisdom.

These were reflections that required some time to soften; but time will do almost everything; and though little comfort arose on Mrs.Rushworth's side for the misery she had occasioned, comfort was to be found greater than he had supposed in his other children.

Julia's match became a less desperate business than he had considered it at first.