"There are plenty of other nasty things to blame Mr Elliot for later on in the chapter, but I can't really fault him in his behavior toward Sir Walter and Elizabeth in years past. Now, if we want to talk about how his poor wife fared in all this - that's a different matter! But I have no condemnation for his actions toward the Kellynch Elliots. How about you? ;-)"

I agree. I actually admire that stance to a certan degree. His judgement on the Sir Walter and Elizabeth is essentially correct.

Yet even here he is hypocritical, because he acts as if he had high princials, but what really motivates him is greed. He doesn't want to "throw himself away" on a poor honorable when he has the chance to catch someone richer. No matter what the motivation, I don't blame him for not wanting to get sucked into Sir Walter's schemes for he and Elizabeth. Yuck.