scarcely had he done regretting mary crawford , and observing to fanny how impossible it was that he should ever meet with such another woman , before it began to strike him whether a very different kind of woman might not do just as well , or a great deal better : whether fanny herself were not growing as dear to him as mary crawford had ever been ; and whether it might not be possible to persuade her that her warm and sisterly regard for him would be foundation enough for wedded love .