+\r
+MANSFIELD PARK\r
+\r
+(1814)\r
+\r
+\r
+By Jane Austen\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER I\r
+\r
+About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven\r
+thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of\r
+Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised\r
+to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences\r
+of an handsome house and large income. All Huntingdon exclaimed on the\r
+greatness of the match, and her uncle, the lawyer, himself, allowed her\r
+to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it.\r
+She had two sisters to be benefited by her elevation; and such of their\r
+acquaintance as thought Miss Ward and Miss Frances quite as handsome as\r
+Miss Maria, did not scruple to predict their marrying with almost equal\r
+advantage. But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in\r
+the world as there are pretty women to deserve them. Miss Ward, at the\r
+end of half a dozen years, found herself obliged to be attached to\r
+the Rev. Mr. Norris, a friend of her brother-in-law, with scarcely any\r
+private fortune, and Miss Frances fared yet worse. Miss Ward's match,\r
+indeed, when it came to the point, was not contemptible: Sir Thomas\r
+being happily able to give his friend an income in the living of\r
+Mansfield; and Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal\r
+felicity with very little less than a thousand a year. But Miss Frances\r
+married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on\r
+a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did\r
+it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice.\r
+Sir Thomas Bertram had interest, which, from principle as well as\r
+pride--from a general wish of doing right, and a desire of seeing all\r
+that were connected with him in situations of respectability, he would\r
+have been glad to exert for the advantage of Lady Bertram's sister; but\r
+her husband's profession was such as no interest could reach; and before\r
+he had time to devise any other method of assisting them, an absolute\r
+breach between the sisters had taken place. It was the natural result of\r
+the conduct of each party, and such as a very imprudent marriage almost\r
+always produces. To save herself from useless remonstrance, Mrs. Price\r
+never wrote to her family on the subject till actually married. Lady\r
+Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings, and a temper\r
+remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely\r
+giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter; but Mrs.\r
+Norris had a spirit of activity, which could not be satisfied till she\r
+had written a long and angry letter to Fanny, to point out the folly of\r
+her conduct, and threaten her with all its possible ill consequences.\r
+Mrs. Price, in her turn, was injured and angry; and an answer, which\r
+comprehended each sister in its bitterness, and bestowed such very\r
+disrespectful reflections on the pride of Sir Thomas as Mrs. Norris\r
+could not possibly keep to herself, put an end to all intercourse\r
+between them for a considerable period.\r
+\r
+Their homes were so distant, and the circles in which they moved so\r
+distinct, as almost to preclude the means of ever hearing of each\r
+other's existence during the eleven following years, or, at least, to\r
+make it very wonderful to Sir Thomas that Mrs. Norris should ever have\r
+it in her power to tell them, as she now and then did, in an angry\r
+voice, that Fanny had got another child. By the end of eleven years,\r
+however, Mrs. Price could no longer afford to cherish pride or\r
+resentment, or to lose one connexion that might possibly assist her.\r
+A large and still increasing family, an husband disabled for active\r
+service, but not the less equal to company and good liquor, and a very\r
+small income to supply their wants, made her eager to regain the friends\r
+she had so carelessly sacrificed; and she addressed Lady Bertram in\r
+a letter which spoke so much contrition and despondence, such a\r
+superfluity of children, and such a want of almost everything else, as\r
+could not but dispose them all to a reconciliation. She was preparing\r
+for her ninth lying-in; and after bewailing the circumstance, and\r
+imploring their countenance as sponsors to the expected child, she\r
+could not conceal how important she felt they might be to the future\r
+maintenance of the eight already in being. Her eldest was a boy of ten\r
+years old, a fine spirited fellow, who longed to be out in the world;\r
+but what could she do? Was there any chance of his being hereafter\r
+useful to Sir Thomas in the concerns of his West Indian property?\r
+No situation would be beneath him; or what did Sir Thomas think of\r
+Woolwich? or how could a boy be sent out to the East?\r
+\r
+The letter was not unproductive. It re-established peace and kindness.\r
+Sir Thomas sent friendly advice and professions, Lady Bertram dispatched\r
+money and baby-linen, and Mrs. Norris wrote the letters.\r
+\r
+Such were its immediate effects, and within a twelvemonth a more\r
+important advantage to Mrs. Price resulted from it. Mrs. Norris was\r
+often observing to the others that she could not get her poor sister and\r
+her family out of her head, and that, much as they had all done for her,\r
+she seemed to be wanting to do more; and at length she could not but\r
+own it to be her wish that poor Mrs. Price should be relieved from the\r
+charge and expense of one child entirely out of her great number. "What\r
+if they were among them to undertake the care of her eldest daughter,\r
+a girl now nine years old, of an age to require more attention than her\r
+poor mother could possibly give? The trouble and expense of it to them\r
+would be nothing, compared with the benevolence of the action." Lady\r
+Bertram agreed with her instantly. "I think we cannot do better," said\r
+she; "let us send for the child."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas could not give so instantaneous and unqualified a consent. He\r
+debated and hesitated;--it was a serious charge;--a girl so brought up\r
+must be adequately provided for, or there would be cruelty instead\r
+of kindness in taking her from her family. He thought of his own four\r
+children, of his two sons, of cousins in love, etc.;--but no sooner\r
+had he deliberately begun to state his objections, than Mrs. Norris\r
+interrupted him with a reply to them all, whether stated or not.\r
+\r
+"My dear Sir Thomas, I perfectly comprehend you, and do justice to the\r
+generosity and delicacy of your notions, which indeed are quite of a\r
+piece with your general conduct; and I entirely agree with you in\r
+the main as to the propriety of doing everything one could by way of\r
+providing for a child one had in a manner taken into one's own hands;\r
+and I am sure I should be the last person in the world to withhold my\r
+mite upon such an occasion. Having no children of my own, who should I\r
+look to in any little matter I may ever have to bestow, but the children\r
+of my sisters?--and I am sure Mr. Norris is too just--but you know I am\r
+a woman of few words and professions. Do not let us be frightened from\r
+a good deed by a trifle. Give a girl an education, and introduce\r
+her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of\r
+settling well, without farther expense to anybody. A niece of ours, Sir\r
+Thomas, I may say, or at least of _yours_, would not grow up in this\r
+neighbourhood without many advantages. I don't say she would be so\r
+handsome as her cousins. I dare say she would not; but she would be\r
+introduced into the society of this country under such very favourable\r
+circumstances as, in all human probability, would get her a creditable\r
+establishment. You are thinking of your sons--but do not you know that,\r
+of all things upon earth, _that_ is the least likely to happen, brought\r
+up as they would be, always together like brothers and sisters? It is\r
+morally impossible. I never knew an instance of it. It is, in fact, the\r
+only sure way of providing against the connexion. Suppose her a pretty\r
+girl, and seen by Tom or Edmund for the first time seven years hence,\r
+and I dare say there would be mischief. The very idea of her having been\r
+suffered to grow up at a distance from us all in poverty and neglect,\r
+would be enough to make either of the dear, sweet-tempered boys in love\r
+with her. But breed her up with them from this time, and suppose her\r
+even to have the beauty of an angel, and she will never be more to\r
+either than a sister."\r
+\r
+"There is a great deal of truth in what you say," replied Sir Thomas,\r
+"and far be it from me to throw any fanciful impediment in the way of a\r
+plan which would be so consistent with the relative situations of each.\r
+I only meant to observe that it ought not to be lightly engaged in,\r
+and that to make it really serviceable to Mrs. Price, and creditable to\r
+ourselves, we must secure to the child, or consider ourselves engaged to\r
+secure to her hereafter, as circumstances may arise, the provision of\r
+a gentlewoman, if no such establishment should offer as you are so\r
+sanguine in expecting."\r
+\r
+"I thoroughly understand you," cried Mrs. Norris, "you are everything\r
+that is generous and considerate, and I am sure we shall never disagree\r
+on this point. Whatever I can do, as you well know, I am always ready\r
+enough to do for the good of those I love; and, though I could never\r
+feel for this little girl the hundredth part of the regard I bear your\r
+own dear children, nor consider her, in any respect, so much my own,\r
+I should hate myself if I were capable of neglecting her. Is not she a\r
+sister's child? and could I bear to see her want while I had a bit of\r
+bread to give her? My dear Sir Thomas, with all my faults I have a warm\r
+heart; and, poor as I am, would rather deny myself the necessaries of\r
+life than do an ungenerous thing. So, if you are not against it, I will\r
+write to my poor sister tomorrow, and make the proposal; and, as soon\r
+as matters are settled, _I_ will engage to get the child to Mansfield;\r
+_you_ shall have no trouble about it. My own trouble, you know, I never\r
+regard. I will send Nanny to London on purpose, and she may have a bed\r
+at her cousin the saddler's, and the child be appointed to meet her\r
+there. They may easily get her from Portsmouth to town by the coach,\r
+under the care of any creditable person that may chance to be going. I\r
+dare say there is always some reputable tradesman's wife or other going\r
+up."\r
+\r
+Except to the attack on Nanny's cousin, Sir Thomas no longer made any\r
+objection, and a more respectable, though less economical rendezvous\r
+being accordingly substituted, everything was considered as settled,\r
+and the pleasures of so benevolent a scheme were already enjoyed. The\r
+division of gratifying sensations ought not, in strict justice, to\r
+have been equal; for Sir Thomas was fully resolved to be the real and\r
+consistent patron of the selected child, and Mrs. Norris had not the\r
+least intention of being at any expense whatever in her maintenance.\r
+As far as walking, talking, and contriving reached, she was thoroughly\r
+benevolent, and nobody knew better how to dictate liberality to others;\r
+but her love of money was equal to her love of directing, and she knew\r
+quite as well how to save her own as to spend that of her friends.\r
+Having married on a narrower income than she had been used to look\r
+forward to, she had, from the first, fancied a very strict line of\r
+economy necessary; and what was begun as a matter of prudence, soon grew\r
+into a matter of choice, as an object of that needful solicitude which\r
+there were no children to supply. Had there been a family to provide\r
+for, Mrs. Norris might never have saved her money; but having no care\r
+of that kind, there was nothing to impede her frugality, or lessen the\r
+comfort of making a yearly addition to an income which they had never\r
+lived up to. Under this infatuating principle, counteracted by no real\r
+affection for her sister, it was impossible for her to aim at more than\r
+the credit of projecting and arranging so expensive a charity; though\r
+perhaps she might so little know herself as to walk home to the\r
+Parsonage, after this conversation, in the happy belief of being the\r
+most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world.\r
+\r
+When the subject was brought forward again, her views were more fully\r
+explained; and, in reply to Lady Bertram's calm inquiry of "Where shall\r
+the child come to first, sister, to you or to us?" Sir Thomas heard with\r
+some surprise that it would be totally out of Mrs. Norris's power to\r
+take any share in the personal charge of her. He had been considering\r
+her as a particularly welcome addition at the Parsonage, as a desirable\r
+companion to an aunt who had no children of her own; but he found\r
+himself wholly mistaken. Mrs. Norris was sorry to say that the little\r
+girl's staying with them, at least as things then were, was quite out of\r
+the question. Poor Mr. Norris's indifferent state of health made it an\r
+impossibility: he could no more bear the noise of a child than he could\r
+fly; if, indeed, he should ever get well of his gouty complaints, it\r
+would be a different matter: she should then be glad to take her turn,\r
+and think nothing of the inconvenience; but just now, poor Mr. Norris\r
+took up every moment of her time, and the very mention of such a thing\r
+she was sure would distract him.\r
+\r
+"Then she had better come to us," said Lady Bertram, with the utmost\r
+composure. After a short pause Sir Thomas added with dignity, "Yes, let\r
+her home be in this house. We will endeavour to do our duty by her, and\r
+she will, at least, have the advantage of companions of her own age, and\r
+of a regular instructress."\r
+\r
+"Very true," cried Mrs. Norris, "which are both very important\r
+considerations; and it will be just the same to Miss Lee whether she has\r
+three girls to teach, or only two--there can be no difference. I only\r
+wish I could be more useful; but you see I do all in my power. I am not\r
+one of those that spare their own trouble; and Nanny shall fetch her,\r
+however it may put me to inconvenience to have my chief counsellor away\r
+for three days. I suppose, sister, you will put the child in the little\r
+white attic, near the old nurseries. It will be much the best place\r
+for her, so near Miss Lee, and not far from the girls, and close by the\r
+housemaids, who could either of them help to dress her, you know, and\r
+take care of her clothes, for I suppose you would not think it fair to\r
+expect Ellis to wait on her as well as the others. Indeed, I do not see\r
+that you could possibly place her anywhere else."\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram made no opposition.\r
+\r
+"I hope she will prove a well-disposed girl," continued Mrs. Norris,\r
+"and be sensible of her uncommon good fortune in having such friends."\r
+\r
+"Should her disposition be really bad," said Sir Thomas, "we must not,\r
+for our own children's sake, continue her in the family; but there is\r
+no reason to expect so great an evil. We shall probably see much to wish\r
+altered in her, and must prepare ourselves for gross ignorance, some\r
+meanness of opinions, and very distressing vulgarity of manner; but\r
+these are not incurable faults; nor, I trust, can they be dangerous for\r
+her associates. Had my daughters been _younger_ than herself, I should\r
+have considered the introduction of such a companion as a matter of very\r
+serious moment; but, as it is, I hope there can be nothing to fear for\r
+_them_, and everything to hope for _her_, from the association."\r
+\r
+"That is exactly what I think," cried Mrs. Norris, "and what I was\r
+saying to my husband this morning. It will be an education for the\r
+child, said I, only being with her cousins; if Miss Lee taught her\r
+nothing, she would learn to be good and clever from _them_."\r
+\r
+"I hope she will not tease my poor pug," said Lady Bertram; "I have but\r
+just got Julia to leave it alone."\r
+\r
+"There will be some difficulty in our way, Mrs. Norris," observed Sir\r
+Thomas, "as to the distinction proper to be made between the girls\r
+as they grow up: how to preserve in the minds of my _daughters_ the\r
+consciousness of what they are, without making them think too lowly of\r
+their cousin; and how, without depressing her spirits too far, to make\r
+her remember that she is not a _Miss Bertram_. I should wish to see them\r
+very good friends, and would, on no account, authorise in my girls the\r
+smallest degree of arrogance towards their relation; but still they\r
+cannot be equals. Their rank, fortune, rights, and expectations will\r
+always be different. It is a point of great delicacy, and you must\r
+assist us in our endeavours to choose exactly the right line of\r
+conduct."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was quite at his service; and though she perfectly agreed\r
+with him as to its being a most difficult thing, encouraged him to hope\r
+that between them it would be easily managed.\r
+\r
+It will be readily believed that Mrs. Norris did not write to her sister\r
+in vain. Mrs. Price seemed rather surprised that a girl should be\r
+fixed on, when she had so many fine boys, but accepted the offer most\r
+thankfully, assuring them of her daughter's being a very well-disposed,\r
+good-humoured girl, and trusting they would never have cause to throw\r
+her off. She spoke of her farther as somewhat delicate and puny, but was\r
+sanguine in the hope of her being materially better for change of air.\r
+Poor woman! she probably thought change of air might agree with many of\r
+her children.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER II\r
+\r
+The little girl performed her long journey in safety; and at Northampton\r
+was met by Mrs. Norris, who thus regaled in the credit of being foremost\r
+to welcome her, and in the importance of leading her in to the others,\r
+and recommending her to their kindness.\r
+\r
+Fanny Price was at this time just ten years old, and though there might\r
+not be much in her first appearance to captivate, there was, at least,\r
+nothing to disgust her relations. She was small of her age, with no glow\r
+of complexion, nor any other striking beauty; exceedingly timid and shy,\r
+and shrinking from notice; but her air, though awkward, was not vulgar,\r
+her voice was sweet, and when she spoke her countenance was pretty. Sir\r
+Thomas and Lady Bertram received her very kindly; and Sir Thomas,\r
+seeing how much she needed encouragement, tried to be all that was\r
+conciliating: but he had to work against a most untoward gravity of\r
+deportment; and Lady Bertram, without taking half so much trouble, or\r
+speaking one word where he spoke ten, by the mere aid of a good-humoured\r
+smile, became immediately the less awful character of the two.\r
+\r
+The young people were all at home, and sustained their share in the\r
+introduction very well, with much good humour, and no embarrassment, at\r
+least on the part of the sons, who, at seventeen and sixteen, and tall\r
+of their age, had all the grandeur of men in the eyes of their little\r
+cousin. The two girls were more at a loss from being younger and in\r
+greater awe of their father, who addressed them on the occasion with\r
+rather an injudicious particularity. But they were too much used to\r
+company and praise to have anything like natural shyness; and their\r
+confidence increasing from their cousin's total want of it, they were\r
+soon able to take a full survey of her face and her frock in easy\r
+indifference.\r
+\r
+They were a remarkably fine family, the sons very well-looking, the\r
+daughters decidedly handsome, and all of them well-grown and forward of\r
+their age, which produced as striking a difference between the cousins\r
+in person, as education had given to their address; and no one would\r
+have supposed the girls so nearly of an age as they really were. There\r
+were in fact but two years between the youngest and Fanny. Julia\r
+Bertram was only twelve, and Maria but a year older. The little visitor\r
+meanwhile was as unhappy as possible. Afraid of everybody, ashamed of\r
+herself, and longing for the home she had left, she knew not how to look\r
+up, and could scarcely speak to be heard, or without crying. Mrs. Norris\r
+had been talking to her the whole way from Northampton of her wonderful\r
+good fortune, and the extraordinary degree of gratitude and good\r
+behaviour which it ought to produce, and her consciousness of misery was\r
+therefore increased by the idea of its being a wicked thing for her\r
+not to be happy. The fatigue, too, of so long a journey, became soon no\r
+trifling evil. In vain were the well-meant condescensions of Sir Thomas,\r
+and all the officious prognostications of Mrs. Norris that she would be\r
+a good girl; in vain did Lady Bertram smile and make her sit on the sofa\r
+with herself and pug, and vain was even the sight of a gooseberry tart\r
+towards giving her comfort; she could scarcely swallow two mouthfuls\r
+before tears interrupted her, and sleep seeming to be her likeliest\r
+friend, she was taken to finish her sorrows in bed.\r
+\r
+"This is not a very promising beginning," said Mrs. Norris, when Fanny\r
+had left the room. "After all that I said to her as we came along, I\r
+thought she would have behaved better; I told her how much might depend\r
+upon her acquitting herself well at first. I wish there may not be a\r
+little sulkiness of temper--her poor mother had a good deal; but we must\r
+make allowances for such a child--and I do not know that her being sorry\r
+to leave her home is really against her, for, with all its faults,\r
+it _was_ her home, and she cannot as yet understand how much she has\r
+changed for the better; but then there is moderation in all things."\r
+\r
+It required a longer time, however, than Mrs. Norris was inclined to\r
+allow, to reconcile Fanny to the novelty of Mansfield Park, and the\r
+separation from everybody she had been used to. Her feelings were very\r
+acute, and too little understood to be properly attended to. Nobody\r
+meant to be unkind, but nobody put themselves out of their way to secure\r
+her comfort.\r
+\r
+The holiday allowed to the Miss Bertrams the next day, on purpose to\r
+afford leisure for getting acquainted with, and entertaining their young\r
+cousin, produced little union. They could not but hold her cheap on\r
+finding that she had but two sashes, and had never learned French; and\r
+when they perceived her to be little struck with the duet they were so\r
+good as to play, they could do no more than make her a generous present\r
+of some of their least valued toys, and leave her to herself, while\r
+they adjourned to whatever might be the favourite holiday sport of the\r
+moment, making artificial flowers or wasting gold paper.\r
+\r
+Fanny, whether near or from her cousins, whether in the schoolroom, the\r
+drawing-room, or the shrubbery, was equally forlorn, finding something\r
+to fear in every person and place. She was disheartened by Lady\r
+Bertram's silence, awed by Sir Thomas's grave looks, and quite overcome\r
+by Mrs. Norris's admonitions. Her elder cousins mortified her by\r
+reflections on her size, and abashed her by noticing her shyness: Miss\r
+Lee wondered at her ignorance, and the maid-servants sneered at her\r
+clothes; and when to these sorrows was added the idea of the brothers\r
+and sisters among whom she had always been important as playfellow,\r
+instructress, and nurse, the despondence that sunk her little heart was\r
+severe.\r
+\r
+The grandeur of the house astonished, but could not console her. The\r
+rooms were too large for her to move in with ease: whatever she touched\r
+she expected to injure, and she crept about in constant terror of\r
+something or other; often retreating towards her own chamber to cry; and\r
+the little girl who was spoken of in the drawing-room when she left it\r
+at night as seeming so desirably sensible of her peculiar good fortune,\r
+ended every day's sorrows by sobbing herself to sleep. A week had\r
+passed in this way, and no suspicion of it conveyed by her quiet\r
+passive manner, when she was found one morning by her cousin Edmund, the\r
+youngest of the sons, sitting crying on the attic stairs.\r
+\r
+"My dear little cousin," said he, with all the gentleness of an\r
+excellent nature, "what can be the matter?" And sitting down by her,\r
+he was at great pains to overcome her shame in being so surprised, and\r
+persuade her to speak openly. Was she ill? or was anybody angry with\r
+her? or had she quarrelled with Maria and Julia? or was she puzzled\r
+about anything in her lesson that he could explain? Did she, in short,\r
+want anything he could possibly get her, or do for her? For a long while\r
+no answer could be obtained beyond a "no, no--not at all--no, thank\r
+you"; but he still persevered; and no sooner had he begun to revert\r
+to her own home, than her increased sobs explained to him where the\r
+grievance lay. He tried to console her.\r
+\r
+"You are sorry to leave Mama, my dear little Fanny," said he, "which\r
+shows you to be a very good girl; but you must remember that you are\r
+with relations and friends, who all love you, and wish to make you\r
+happy. Let us walk out in the park, and you shall tell me all about your\r
+brothers and sisters."\r
+\r
+On pursuing the subject, he found that, dear as all these brothers and\r
+sisters generally were, there was one among them who ran more in her\r
+thoughts than the rest. It was William whom she talked of most, and\r
+wanted most to see. William, the eldest, a year older than herself, her\r
+constant companion and friend; her advocate with her mother (of whom\r
+he was the darling) in every distress. "William did not like she should\r
+come away; he had told her he should miss her very much indeed." "But\r
+William will write to you, I dare say." "Yes, he had promised he would,\r
+but he had told _her_ to write first." "And when shall you do it?" She\r
+hung her head and answered hesitatingly, "she did not know; she had not\r
+any paper."\r
+\r
+"If that be all your difficulty, I will furnish you with paper and every\r
+other material, and you may write your letter whenever you choose. Would\r
+it make you happy to write to William?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, very."\r
+\r
+"Then let it be done now. Come with me into the breakfast-room, we shall\r
+find everything there, and be sure of having the room to ourselves."\r
+\r
+"But, cousin, will it go to the post?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, depend upon me it shall: it shall go with the other letters; and,\r
+as your uncle will frank it, it will cost William nothing."\r
+\r
+"My uncle!" repeated Fanny, with a frightened look.\r
+\r
+"Yes, when you have written the letter, I will take it to my father to\r
+frank."\r
+\r
+Fanny thought it a bold measure, but offered no further resistance; and\r
+they went together into the breakfast-room, where Edmund prepared her\r
+paper, and ruled her lines with all the goodwill that her brother\r
+could himself have felt, and probably with somewhat more exactness. He\r
+continued with her the whole time of her writing, to assist her with his\r
+penknife or his orthography, as either were wanted; and added to these\r
+attentions, which she felt very much, a kindness to her brother which\r
+delighted her beyond all the rest. He wrote with his own hand his\r
+love to his cousin William, and sent him half a guinea under the seal.\r
+Fanny's feelings on the occasion were such as she believed herself\r
+incapable of expressing; but her countenance and a few artless words\r
+fully conveyed all their gratitude and delight, and her cousin began\r
+to find her an interesting object. He talked to her more, and, from all\r
+that she said, was convinced of her having an affectionate heart, and\r
+a strong desire of doing right; and he could perceive her to be farther\r
+entitled to attention by great sensibility of her situation, and great\r
+timidity. He had never knowingly given her pain, but he now felt that\r
+she required more positive kindness; and with that view endeavoured,\r
+in the first place, to lessen her fears of them all, and gave her\r
+especially a great deal of good advice as to playing with Maria and\r
+Julia, and being as merry as possible.\r
+\r
+From this day Fanny grew more comfortable. She felt that she had a\r
+friend, and the kindness of her cousin Edmund gave her better spirits\r
+with everybody else. The place became less strange, and the people less\r
+formidable; and if there were some amongst them whom she could not cease\r
+to fear, she began at least to know their ways, and to catch the best\r
+manner of conforming to them. The little rusticities and awkwardnesses\r
+which had at first made grievous inroads on the tranquillity of all,\r
+and not least of herself, necessarily wore away, and she was no longer\r
+materially afraid to appear before her uncle, nor did her aunt Norris's\r
+voice make her start very much. To her cousins she became occasionally\r
+an acceptable companion. Though unworthy, from inferiority of age and\r
+strength, to be their constant associate, their pleasures and schemes\r
+were sometimes of a nature to make a third very useful, especially when\r
+that third was of an obliging, yielding temper; and they could not but\r
+own, when their aunt inquired into her faults, or their brother Edmund\r
+urged her claims to their kindness, that "Fanny was good-natured\r
+enough."\r
+\r
+Edmund was uniformly kind himself; and she had nothing worse to endure\r
+on the part of Tom than that sort of merriment which a young man of\r
+seventeen will always think fair with a child of ten. He was just\r
+entering into life, full of spirits, and with all the liberal\r
+dispositions of an eldest son, who feels born only for expense and\r
+enjoyment. His kindness to his little cousin was consistent with his\r
+situation and rights: he made her some very pretty presents, and laughed\r
+at her.\r
+\r
+As her appearance and spirits improved, Sir Thomas and Mrs. Norris\r
+thought with greater satisfaction of their benevolent plan; and it\r
+was pretty soon decided between them that, though far from clever, she\r
+showed a tractable disposition, and seemed likely to give them little\r
+trouble. A mean opinion of her abilities was not confined to _them_.\r
+Fanny could read, work, and write, but she had been taught nothing more;\r
+and as her cousins found her ignorant of many things with which they had\r
+been long familiar, they thought her prodigiously stupid, and for the\r
+first two or three weeks were continually bringing some fresh report of\r
+it into the drawing-room. "Dear mama, only think, my cousin cannot\r
+put the map of Europe together--or my cousin cannot tell the principal\r
+rivers in Russia--or, she never heard of Asia Minor--or she does\r
+not know the difference between water-colours and crayons!--How\r
+strange!--Did you ever hear anything so stupid?"\r
+\r
+"My dear," their considerate aunt would reply, "it is very bad, but\r
+you must not expect everybody to be as forward and quick at learning as\r
+yourself."\r
+\r
+"But, aunt, she is really so very ignorant!--Do you know, we asked her\r
+last night which way she would go to get to Ireland; and she said, she\r
+should cross to the Isle of Wight. She thinks of nothing but the Isle of\r
+Wight, and she calls it _the_ _Island_, as if there were no other island\r
+in the world. I am sure I should have been ashamed of myself, if I had\r
+not known better long before I was so old as she is. I cannot remember\r
+the time when I did not know a great deal that she has not the least\r
+notion of yet. How long ago it is, aunt, since we used to repeat the\r
+chronological order of the kings of England, with the dates of their\r
+accession, and most of the principal events of their reigns!"\r
+\r
+"Yes," added the other; "and of the Roman emperors as low as Severus;\r
+besides a great deal of the heathen mythology, and all the metals,\r
+semi-metals, planets, and distinguished philosophers."\r
+\r
+"Very true indeed, my dears, but you are blessed with wonderful\r
+memories, and your poor cousin has probably none at all. There is a\r
+vast deal of difference in memories, as well as in everything else,\r
+and therefore you must make allowance for your cousin, and pity her\r
+deficiency. And remember that, if you are ever so forward and clever\r
+yourselves, you should always be modest; for, much as you know already,\r
+there is a great deal more for you to learn."\r
+\r
+"Yes, I know there is, till I am seventeen. But I must tell you another\r
+thing of Fanny, so odd and so stupid. Do you know, she says she does not\r
+want to learn either music or drawing."\r
+\r
+"To be sure, my dear, that is very stupid indeed, and shows a great\r
+want of genius and emulation. But, all things considered, I do not know\r
+whether it is not as well that it should be so, for, though you know\r
+(owing to me) your papa and mama are so good as to bring her up with\r
+you, it is not at all necessary that she should be as accomplished as\r
+you are;--on the contrary, it is much more desirable that there should\r
+be a difference."\r
+\r
+Such were the counsels by which Mrs. Norris assisted to form her nieces'\r
+minds; and it is not very wonderful that, with all their promising\r
+talents and early information, they should be entirely deficient in the\r
+less common acquirements of self-knowledge, generosity and humility. In\r
+everything but disposition they were admirably taught. Sir Thomas did\r
+not know what was wanting, because, though a truly anxious father, he\r
+was not outwardly affectionate, and the reserve of his manner repressed\r
+all the flow of their spirits before him.\r
+\r
+To the education of her daughters Lady Bertram paid not the smallest\r
+attention. She had not time for such cares. She was a woman who spent\r
+her days in sitting, nicely dressed, on a sofa, doing some long piece of\r
+needlework, of little use and no beauty, thinking more of her pug than\r
+her children, but very indulgent to the latter when it did not put\r
+herself to inconvenience, guided in everything important by Sir Thomas,\r
+and in smaller concerns by her sister. Had she possessed greater leisure\r
+for the service of her girls, she would probably have supposed it\r
+unnecessary, for they were under the care of a governess, with proper\r
+masters, and could want nothing more. As for Fanny's being stupid at\r
+learning, "she could only say it was very unlucky, but some people\r
+_were_ stupid, and Fanny must take more pains: she did not know what\r
+else was to be done; and, except her being so dull, she must add she saw\r
+no harm in the poor little thing, and always found her very handy and\r
+quick in carrying messages, and fetching what she wanted."\r
+\r
+Fanny, with all her faults of ignorance and timidity, was fixed at\r
+Mansfield Park, and learning to transfer in its favour much of her\r
+attachment to her former home, grew up there not unhappily among her\r
+cousins. There was no positive ill-nature in Maria or Julia; and though\r
+Fanny was often mortified by their treatment of her, she thought too\r
+lowly of her own claims to feel injured by it.\r
+\r
+From about the time of her entering the family, Lady Bertram, in\r
+consequence of a little ill-health, and a great deal of indolence, gave\r
+up the house in town, which she had been used to occupy every spring,\r
+and remained wholly in the country, leaving Sir Thomas to attend his\r
+duty in Parliament, with whatever increase or diminution of comfort\r
+might arise from her absence. In the country, therefore, the Miss\r
+Bertrams continued to exercise their memories, practise their duets,\r
+and grow tall and womanly: and their father saw them becoming in person,\r
+manner, and accomplishments, everything that could satisfy his anxiety.\r
+His eldest son was careless and extravagant, and had already given him\r
+much uneasiness; but his other children promised him nothing but good.\r
+His daughters, he felt, while they retained the name of Bertram, must\r
+be giving it new grace, and in quitting it, he trusted, would extend\r
+its respectable alliances; and the character of Edmund, his strong good\r
+sense and uprightness of mind, bid most fairly for utility, honour, and\r
+happiness to himself and all his connexions. He was to be a clergyman.\r
+\r
+Amid the cares and the complacency which his own children suggested,\r
+Sir Thomas did not forget to do what he could for the children of Mrs.\r
+Price: he assisted her liberally in the education and disposal of her\r
+sons as they became old enough for a determinate pursuit; and Fanny,\r
+though almost totally separated from her family, was sensible of the\r
+truest satisfaction in hearing of any kindness towards them, or of\r
+anything at all promising in their situation or conduct. Once, and once\r
+only, in the course of many years, had she the happiness of being with\r
+William. Of the rest she saw nothing: nobody seemed to think of her ever\r
+going amongst them again, even for a visit, nobody at home seemed to\r
+want her; but William determining, soon after her removal, to be a\r
+sailor, was invited to spend a week with his sister in Northamptonshire\r
+before he went to sea. Their eager affection in meeting, their exquisite\r
+delight in being together, their hours of happy mirth, and moments of\r
+serious conference, may be imagined; as well as the sanguine views and\r
+spirits of the boy even to the last, and the misery of the girl when he\r
+left her. Luckily the visit happened in the Christmas holidays, when she\r
+could directly look for comfort to her cousin Edmund; and he told her\r
+such charming things of what William was to do, and be hereafter, in\r
+consequence of his profession, as made her gradually admit that the\r
+separation might have some use. Edmund's friendship never failed her:\r
+his leaving Eton for Oxford made no change in his kind dispositions, and\r
+only afforded more frequent opportunities of proving them. Without any\r
+display of doing more than the rest, or any fear of doing too much,\r
+he was always true to her interests, and considerate of her feelings,\r
+trying to make her good qualities understood, and to conquer the\r
+diffidence which prevented their being more apparent; giving her advice,\r
+consolation, and encouragement.\r
+\r
+Kept back as she was by everybody else, his single support could not\r
+bring her forward; but his attentions were otherwise of the highest\r
+importance in assisting the improvement of her mind, and extending its\r
+pleasures. He knew her to be clever, to have a quick apprehension\r
+as well as good sense, and a fondness for reading, which, properly\r
+directed, must be an education in itself. Miss Lee taught her French,\r
+and heard her read the daily portion of history; but he recommended\r
+the books which charmed her leisure hours, he encouraged her taste, and\r
+corrected her judgment: he made reading useful by talking to her of what\r
+she read, and heightened its attraction by judicious praise. In return\r
+for such services she loved him better than anybody in the world except\r
+William: her heart was divided between the two.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER III\r
+\r
+The first event of any importance in the family was the death of Mr.\r
+Norris, which happened when Fanny was about fifteen, and necessarily\r
+introduced alterations and novelties. Mrs. Norris, on quitting the\r
+Parsonage, removed first to the Park, and afterwards to a small house\r
+of Sir Thomas's in the village, and consoled herself for the loss of her\r
+husband by considering that she could do very well without him; and for\r
+her reduction of income by the evident necessity of stricter economy.\r
+\r
+The living was hereafter for Edmund; and, had his uncle died a few years\r
+sooner, it would have been duly given to some friend to hold till he\r
+were old enough for orders. But Tom's extravagance had, previous to\r
+that event, been so great as to render a different disposal of the next\r
+presentation necessary, and the younger brother must help to pay for the\r
+pleasures of the elder. There was another family living actually held\r
+for Edmund; but though this circumstance had made the arrangement\r
+somewhat easier to Sir Thomas's conscience, he could not but feel it to\r
+be an act of injustice, and he earnestly tried to impress his eldest son\r
+with the same conviction, in the hope of its producing a better effect\r
+than anything he had yet been able to say or do.\r
+\r
+"I blush for you, Tom," said he, in his most dignified manner; "I blush\r
+for the expedient which I am driven on, and I trust I may pity your\r
+feelings as a brother on the occasion. You have robbed Edmund for ten,\r
+twenty, thirty years, perhaps for life, of more than half the income\r
+which ought to be his. It may hereafter be in my power, or in yours\r
+(I hope it will), to procure him better preferment; but it must not\r
+be forgotten that no benefit of that sort would have been beyond his\r
+natural claims on us, and that nothing can, in fact, be an equivalent\r
+for the certain advantage which he is now obliged to forego through the\r
+urgency of your debts."\r
+\r
+Tom listened with some shame and some sorrow; but escaping as quickly as\r
+possible, could soon with cheerful selfishness reflect, firstly, that he\r
+had not been half so much in debt as some of his friends; secondly, that\r
+his father had made a most tiresome piece of work of it; and,\r
+thirdly, that the future incumbent, whoever he might be, would, in all\r
+probability, die very soon.\r
+\r
+On Mr. Norris's death the presentation became the right of a Dr. Grant,\r
+who came consequently to reside at Mansfield; and on proving to be a\r
+hearty man of forty-five, seemed likely to disappoint Mr. Bertram's\r
+calculations. But "no, he was a short-necked, apoplectic sort of fellow,\r
+and, plied well with good things, would soon pop off."\r
+\r
+He had a wife about fifteen years his junior, but no children; and\r
+they entered the neighbourhood with the usual fair report of being very\r
+respectable, agreeable people.\r
+\r
+The time was now come when Sir Thomas expected his sister-in-law to\r
+claim her share in their niece, the change in Mrs. Norris's situation,\r
+and the improvement in Fanny's age, seeming not merely to do away any\r
+former objection to their living together, but even to give it the most\r
+decided eligibility; and as his own circumstances were rendered less\r
+fair than heretofore, by some recent losses on his West India estate, in\r
+addition to his eldest son's extravagance, it became not undesirable\r
+to himself to be relieved from the expense of her support, and the\r
+obligation of her future provision. In the fullness of his belief that\r
+such a thing must be, he mentioned its probability to his wife; and the\r
+first time of the subject's occurring to her again happening to be when\r
+Fanny was present, she calmly observed to her, "So, Fanny, you are going\r
+to leave us, and live with my sister. How shall you like it?"\r
+\r
+Fanny was too much surprised to do more than repeat her aunt's words,\r
+"Going to leave you?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, my dear; why should you be astonished? You have been five years\r
+with us, and my sister always meant to take you when Mr. Norris died.\r
+But you must come up and tack on my patterns all the same."\r
+\r
+The news was as disagreeable to Fanny as it had been unexpected. She had\r
+never received kindness from her aunt Norris, and could not love her.\r
+\r
+"I shall be very sorry to go away," said she, with a faltering voice.\r
+\r
+"Yes, I dare say you will; _that's_ natural enough. I suppose you have\r
+had as little to vex you since you came into this house as any creature\r
+in the world."\r
+\r
+"I hope I am not ungrateful, aunt," said Fanny modestly.\r
+\r
+"No, my dear; I hope not. I have always found you a very good girl."\r
+\r
+"And am I never to live here again?"\r
+\r
+"Never, my dear; but you are sure of a comfortable home. It can make\r
+very little difference to you, whether you are in one house or the\r
+other."\r
+\r
+Fanny left the room with a very sorrowful heart; she could not feel the\r
+difference to be so small, she could not think of living with her aunt\r
+with anything like satisfaction. As soon as she met with Edmund she told\r
+him her distress.\r
+\r
+"Cousin," said she, "something is going to happen which I do not like\r
+at all; and though you have often persuaded me into being reconciled to\r
+things that I disliked at first, you will not be able to do it now. I am\r
+going to live entirely with my aunt Norris."\r
+\r
+"Indeed!"\r
+\r
+"Yes; my aunt Bertram has just told me so. It is quite settled. I am to\r
+leave Mansfield Park, and go to the White House, I suppose, as soon as\r
+she is removed there."\r
+\r
+"Well, Fanny, and if the plan were not unpleasant to you, I should call\r
+it an excellent one."\r
+\r
+"Oh, cousin!"\r
+\r
+"It has everything else in its favour. My aunt is acting like a sensible\r
+woman in wishing for you. She is choosing a friend and companion exactly\r
+where she ought, and I am glad her love of money does not interfere.\r
+You will be what you ought to be to her. I hope it does not distress you\r
+very much, Fanny?"\r
+\r
+"Indeed it does: I cannot like it. I love this house and everything in\r
+it: I shall love nothing there. You know how uncomfortable I feel with\r
+her."\r
+\r
+"I can say nothing for her manner to you as a child; but it was the\r
+same with us all, or nearly so. She never knew how to be pleasant to\r
+children. But you are now of an age to be treated better; I think she is\r
+behaving better already; and when you are her only companion, you _must_\r
+be important to her."\r
+\r
+"I can never be important to any one."\r
+\r
+"What is to prevent you?"\r
+\r
+"Everything. My situation, my foolishness and awkwardness."\r
+\r
+"As to your foolishness and awkwardness, my dear Fanny, believe me, you\r
+never have a shadow of either, but in using the words so improperly.\r
+There is no reason in the world why you should not be important where\r
+you are known. You have good sense, and a sweet temper, and I am sure\r
+you have a grateful heart, that could never receive kindness without\r
+wishing to return it. I do not know any better qualifications for a\r
+friend and companion."\r
+\r
+"You are too kind," said Fanny, colouring at such praise; "how shall I\r
+ever thank you as I ought, for thinking so well of me. Oh! cousin, if I\r
+am to go away, I shall remember your goodness to the last moment of my\r
+life."\r
+\r
+"Why, indeed, Fanny, I should hope to be remembered at such a distance\r
+as the White House. You speak as if you were going two hundred miles\r
+off instead of only across the park; but you will belong to us almost\r
+as much as ever. The two families will be meeting every day in the\r
+year. The only difference will be that, living with your aunt, you will\r
+necessarily be brought forward as you ought to be. _Here_ there are\r
+too many whom you can hide behind; but with _her_ you will be forced to\r
+speak for yourself."\r
+\r
+"Oh! I do not say so."\r
+\r
+"I must say it, and say it with pleasure. Mrs. Norris is much better\r
+fitted than my mother for having the charge of you now. She is of a\r
+temper to do a great deal for anybody she really interests herself\r
+about, and she will force you to do justice to your natural powers."\r
+\r
+Fanny sighed, and said, "I cannot see things as you do; but I ought to\r
+believe you to be right rather than myself, and I am very much obliged\r
+to you for trying to reconcile me to what must be. If I could suppose\r
+my aunt really to care for me, it would be delightful to feel myself of\r
+consequence to anybody. _Here_, I know, I am of none, and yet I love the\r
+place so well."\r
+\r
+"The place, Fanny, is what you will not quit, though you quit the house.\r
+You will have as free a command of the park and gardens as ever. Even\r
+_your_ constant little heart need not take fright at such a nominal\r
+change. You will have the same walks to frequent, the same library to\r
+choose from, the same people to look at, the same horse to ride."\r
+\r
+"Very true. Yes, dear old grey pony! Ah! cousin, when I remember how\r
+much I used to dread riding, what terrors it gave me to hear it talked\r
+of as likely to do me good (oh! how I have trembled at my uncle's\r
+opening his lips if horses were talked of), and then think of the kind\r
+pains you took to reason and persuade me out of my fears, and convince\r
+me that I should like it after a little while, and feel how right you\r
+proved to be, I am inclined to hope you may always prophesy as well."\r
+\r
+"And I am quite convinced that your being with Mrs. Norris will be as\r
+good for your mind as riding has been for your health, and as much for\r
+your ultimate happiness too."\r
+\r
+So ended their discourse, which, for any very appropriate service it\r
+could render Fanny, might as well have been spared, for Mrs. Norris had\r
+not the smallest intention of taking her. It had never occurred to her,\r
+on the present occasion, but as a thing to be carefully avoided. To\r
+prevent its being expected, she had fixed on the smallest habitation\r
+which could rank as genteel among the buildings of Mansfield parish,\r
+the White House being only just large enough to receive herself and her\r
+servants, and allow a spare room for a friend, of which she made a\r
+very particular point. The spare rooms at the Parsonage had never been\r
+wanted, but the absolute necessity of a spare room for a friend was now\r
+never forgotten. Not all her precautions, however, could save her from\r
+being suspected of something better; or, perhaps, her very display of\r
+the importance of a spare room might have misled Sir Thomas to suppose\r
+it really intended for Fanny. Lady Bertram soon brought the matter to a\r
+certainty by carelessly observing to Mrs. Norris--\r
+\r
+"I think, sister, we need not keep Miss Lee any longer, when Fanny goes\r
+to live with you."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris almost started. "Live with me, dear Lady Bertram! what do\r
+you mean?"\r
+\r
+"Is she not to live with you? I thought you had settled it with Sir\r
+Thomas."\r
+\r
+"Me! never. I never spoke a syllable about it to Sir Thomas, nor he to\r
+me. Fanny live with me! the last thing in the world for me to think\r
+of, or for anybody to wish that really knows us both. Good heaven! what\r
+could I do with Fanny? Me! a poor, helpless, forlorn widow, unfit for\r
+anything, my spirits quite broke down; what could I do with a girl at\r
+her time of life? A girl of fifteen! the very age of all others to need\r
+most attention and care, and put the cheerfullest spirits to the test!\r
+Sure Sir Thomas could not seriously expect such a thing! Sir Thomas is\r
+too much my friend. Nobody that wishes me well, I am sure, would propose\r
+it. How came Sir Thomas to speak to you about it?"\r
+\r
+"Indeed, I do not know. I suppose he thought it best."\r
+\r
+"But what did he say? He could not say he _wished_ me to take Fanny. I\r
+am sure in his heart he could not wish me to do it."\r
+\r
+"No; he only said he thought it very likely; and I thought so too. We\r
+both thought it would be a comfort to you. But if you do not like it,\r
+there is no more to be said. She is no encumbrance here."\r
+\r
+"Dear sister, if you consider my unhappy state, how can she be any\r
+comfort to me? Here am I, a poor desolate widow, deprived of the best of\r
+husbands, my health gone in attending and nursing him, my spirits still\r
+worse, all my peace in this world destroyed, with hardly enough to\r
+support me in the rank of a gentlewoman, and enable me to live so as not\r
+to disgrace the memory of the dear departed--what possible comfort could\r
+I have in taking such a charge upon me as Fanny? If I could wish it for\r
+my own sake, I would not do so unjust a thing by the poor girl. She\r
+is in good hands, and sure of doing well. I must struggle through my\r
+sorrows and difficulties as I can."\r
+\r
+"Then you will not mind living by yourself quite alone?"\r
+\r
+"Lady Bertram, I do not complain. I know I cannot live as I have done,\r
+but I must retrench where I can, and learn to be a better manager. I\r
+_have_ _been_ a liberal housekeeper enough, but I shall not be ashamed\r
+to practise economy now. My situation is as much altered as my income.\r
+A great many things were due from poor Mr. Norris, as clergyman of the\r
+parish, that cannot be expected from me. It is unknown how much was\r
+consumed in our kitchen by odd comers and goers. At the White House,\r
+matters must be better looked after. I _must_ live within my income, or\r
+I shall be miserable; and I own it would give me great satisfaction to\r
+be able to do rather more, to lay by a little at the end of the year."\r
+\r
+"I dare say you will. You always do, don't you?"\r
+\r
+"My object, Lady Bertram, is to be of use to those that come after me.\r
+It is for your children's good that I wish to be richer. I have nobody\r
+else to care for, but I should be very glad to think I could leave a\r
+little trifle among them worth their having."\r
+\r
+"You are very good, but do not trouble yourself about them. They are\r
+sure of being well provided for. Sir Thomas will take care of that."\r
+\r
+"Why, you know, Sir Thomas's means will be rather straitened if the\r
+Antigua estate is to make such poor returns."\r
+\r
+"Oh! _that_ will soon be settled. Sir Thomas has been writing about it,\r
+I know."\r
+\r
+"Well, Lady Bertram," said Mrs. Norris, moving to go, "I can only say\r
+that my sole desire is to be of use to your family: and so, if Sir\r
+Thomas should ever speak again about my taking Fanny, you will be able\r
+to say that my health and spirits put it quite out of the question;\r
+besides that, I really should not have a bed to give her, for I must\r
+keep a spare room for a friend."\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram repeated enough of this conversation to her husband to\r
+convince him how much he had mistaken his sister-in-law's views; and\r
+she was from that moment perfectly safe from all expectation, or the\r
+slightest allusion to it from him. He could not but wonder at her\r
+refusing to do anything for a niece whom she had been so forward to\r
+adopt; but, as she took early care to make him, as well as Lady Bertram,\r
+understand that whatever she possessed was designed for their family,\r
+he soon grew reconciled to a distinction which, at the same time that it\r
+was advantageous and complimentary to them, would enable him better to\r
+provide for Fanny himself.\r
+\r
+Fanny soon learnt how unnecessary had been her fears of a removal;\r
+and her spontaneous, untaught felicity on the discovery, conveyed some\r
+consolation to Edmund for his disappointment in what he had expected to\r
+be so essentially serviceable to her. Mrs. Norris took possession of the\r
+White House, the Grants arrived at the Parsonage, and these events over,\r
+everything at Mansfield went on for some time as usual.\r
+\r
+The Grants showing a disposition to be friendly and sociable, gave great\r
+satisfaction in the main among their new acquaintance. They had their\r
+faults, and Mrs. Norris soon found them out. The Doctor was very fond of\r
+eating, and would have a good dinner every day; and Mrs. Grant, instead\r
+of contriving to gratify him at little expense, gave her cook as high\r
+wages as they did at Mansfield Park, and was scarcely ever seen in her\r
+offices. Mrs. Norris could not speak with any temper of such grievances,\r
+nor of the quantity of butter and eggs that were regularly consumed\r
+in the house. "Nobody loved plenty and hospitality more than herself;\r
+nobody more hated pitiful doings; the Parsonage, she believed, had never\r
+been wanting in comforts of any sort, had never borne a bad character\r
+in _her_ _time_, but this was a way of going on that she could not\r
+understand. A fine lady in a country parsonage was quite out of place.\r
+_Her_ store-room, she thought, might have been good enough for Mrs.\r
+Grant to go into. Inquire where she would, she could not find out that\r
+Mrs. Grant had ever had more than five thousand pounds."\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram listened without much interest to this sort of invective.\r
+She could not enter into the wrongs of an economist, but she felt all\r
+the injuries of beauty in Mrs. Grant's being so well settled in life\r
+without being handsome, and expressed her astonishment on that point\r
+almost as often, though not so diffusely, as Mrs. Norris discussed the\r
+other.\r
+\r
+These opinions had been hardly canvassed a year before another event\r
+arose of such importance in the family, as might fairly claim some place\r
+in the thoughts and conversation of the ladies. Sir Thomas found it\r
+expedient to go to Antigua himself, for the better arrangement of his\r
+affairs, and he took his eldest son with him, in the hope of detaching\r
+him from some bad connexions at home. They left England with the\r
+probability of being nearly a twelvemonth absent.\r
+\r
+The necessity of the measure in a pecuniary light, and the hope of its\r
+utility to his son, reconciled Sir Thomas to the effort of quitting the\r
+rest of his family, and of leaving his daughters to the direction of\r
+others at their present most interesting time of life. He could not\r
+think Lady Bertram quite equal to supply his place with them, or rather,\r
+to perform what should have been her own; but, in Mrs. Norris's watchful\r
+attention, and in Edmund's judgment, he had sufficient confidence to\r
+make him go without fears for their conduct.\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram did not at all like to have her husband leave her; but she\r
+was not disturbed by any alarm for his safety, or solicitude for his\r
+comfort, being one of those persons who think nothing can be dangerous,\r
+or difficult, or fatiguing to anybody but themselves.\r
+\r
+The Miss Bertrams were much to be pitied on the occasion: not for their\r
+sorrow, but for their want of it. Their father was no object of love to\r
+them; he had never seemed the friend of their pleasures, and his absence\r
+was unhappily most welcome. They were relieved by it from all restraint;\r
+and without aiming at one gratification that would probably have been\r
+forbidden by Sir Thomas, they felt themselves immediately at their\r
+own disposal, and to have every indulgence within their reach. Fanny's\r
+relief, and her consciousness of it, were quite equal to her cousins';\r
+but a more tender nature suggested that her feelings were ungrateful,\r
+and she really grieved because she could not grieve. "Sir Thomas, who\r
+had done so much for her and her brothers, and who was gone perhaps\r
+never to return! that she should see him go without a tear! it was a\r
+shameful insensibility." He had said to her, moreover, on the very last\r
+morning, that he hoped she might see William again in the course of the\r
+ensuing winter, and had charged her to write and invite him to Mansfield\r
+as soon as the squadron to which he belonged should be known to be\r
+in England. "This was so thoughtful and kind!" and would he only have\r
+smiled upon her, and called her "my dear Fanny," while he said it, every\r
+former frown or cold address might have been forgotten. But he had ended\r
+his speech in a way to sink her in sad mortification, by adding, "If\r
+William does come to Mansfield, I hope you may be able to convince him\r
+that the many years which have passed since you parted have not been\r
+spent on your side entirely without improvement; though, I fear, he must\r
+find his sister at sixteen in some respects too much like his sister at\r
+ten." She cried bitterly over this reflection when her uncle was\r
+gone; and her cousins, on seeing her with red eyes, set her down as a\r
+hypocrite.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER IV\r
+\r
+Tom Bertram had of late spent so little of his time at home that he\r
+could be only nominally missed; and Lady Bertram was soon astonished\r
+to find how very well they did even without his father, how well Edmund\r
+could supply his place in carving, talking to the steward, writing to\r
+the attorney, settling with the servants, and equally saving her\r
+from all possible fatigue or exertion in every particular but that of\r
+directing her letters.\r
+\r
+The earliest intelligence of the travellers' safe arrival at Antigua,\r
+after a favourable voyage, was received; though not before Mrs. Norris\r
+had been indulging in very dreadful fears, and trying to make Edmund\r
+participate them whenever she could get him alone; and as she depended\r
+on being the first person made acquainted with any fatal catastrophe,\r
+she had already arranged the manner of breaking it to all the others,\r
+when Sir Thomas's assurances of their both being alive and well made it\r
+necessary to lay by her agitation and affectionate preparatory speeches\r
+for a while.\r
+\r
+The winter came and passed without their being called for; the accounts\r
+continued perfectly good; and Mrs. Norris, in promoting gaieties for her\r
+nieces, assisting their toilets, displaying their accomplishments,\r
+and looking about for their future husbands, had so much to do as, in\r
+addition to all her own household cares, some interference in those of\r
+her sister, and Mrs. Grant's wasteful doings to overlook, left her very\r
+little occasion to be occupied in fears for the absent.\r
+\r
+The Miss Bertrams were now fully established among the belles of the\r
+neighbourhood; and as they joined to beauty and brilliant acquirements\r
+a manner naturally easy, and carefully formed to general civility and\r
+obligingness, they possessed its favour as well as its admiration. Their\r
+vanity was in such good order that they seemed to be quite free from it,\r
+and gave themselves no airs; while the praises attending such behaviour,\r
+secured and brought round by their aunt, served to strengthen them in\r
+believing they had no faults.\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram did not go into public with her daughters. She was too\r
+indolent even to accept a mother's gratification in witnessing their\r
+success and enjoyment at the expense of any personal trouble, and the\r
+charge was made over to her sister, who desired nothing better than a\r
+post of such honourable representation, and very thoroughly relished\r
+the means it afforded her of mixing in society without having horses to\r
+hire.\r
+\r
+Fanny had no share in the festivities of the season; but she enjoyed\r
+being avowedly useful as her aunt's companion when they called away the\r
+rest of the family; and, as Miss Lee had left Mansfield, she naturally\r
+became everything to Lady Bertram during the night of a ball or a party.\r
+She talked to her, listened to her, read to her; and the tranquillity\r
+of such evenings, her perfect security in such a _tete-a-tete_ from any\r
+sound of unkindness, was unspeakably welcome to a mind which had seldom\r
+known a pause in its alarms or embarrassments. As to her cousins'\r
+gaieties, she loved to hear an account of them, especially of the\r
+balls, and whom Edmund had danced with; but thought too lowly of her\r
+own situation to imagine she should ever be admitted to the same, and\r
+listened, therefore, without an idea of any nearer concern in them. Upon\r
+the whole, it was a comfortable winter to her; for though it brought\r
+no William to England, the never-failing hope of his arrival was worth\r
+much.\r
+\r
+The ensuing spring deprived her of her valued friend, the old grey pony;\r
+and for some time she was in danger of feeling the loss in her health as\r
+well as in her affections; for in spite of the acknowledged importance\r
+of her riding on horse-back, no measures were taken for mounting her\r
+again, "because," as it was observed by her aunts, "she might ride one\r
+of her cousin's horses at any time when they did not want them," and as\r
+the Miss Bertrams regularly wanted their horses every fine day, and had\r
+no idea of carrying their obliging manners to the sacrifice of any real\r
+pleasure, that time, of course, never came. They took their cheerful\r
+rides in the fine mornings of April and May; and Fanny either sat at\r
+home the whole day with one aunt, or walked beyond her strength at\r
+the instigation of the other: Lady Bertram holding exercise to be as\r
+unnecessary for everybody as it was unpleasant to herself; and Mrs.\r
+Norris, who was walking all day, thinking everybody ought to walk\r
+as much. Edmund was absent at this time, or the evil would have\r
+been earlier remedied. When he returned, to understand how Fanny was\r
+situated, and perceived its ill effects, there seemed with him but one\r
+thing to be done; and that "Fanny must have a horse" was the resolute\r
+declaration with which he opposed whatever could be urged by the\r
+supineness of his mother, or the economy of his aunt, to make it appear\r
+unimportant. Mrs. Norris could not help thinking that some steady old\r
+thing might be found among the numbers belonging to the Park that would\r
+do vastly well; or that one might be borrowed of the steward; or that\r
+perhaps Dr. Grant might now and then lend them the pony he sent to the\r
+post. She could not but consider it as absolutely unnecessary, and even\r
+improper, that Fanny should have a regular lady's horse of her own, in\r
+the style of her cousins. She was sure Sir Thomas had never intended it:\r
+and she must say that, to be making such a purchase in his absence, and\r
+adding to the great expenses of his stable, at a time when a large part\r
+of his income was unsettled, seemed to her very unjustifiable. "Fanny\r
+must have a horse," was Edmund's only reply. Mrs. Norris could not see\r
+it in the same light. Lady Bertram did: she entirely agreed with her son\r
+as to the necessity of it, and as to its being considered necessary by\r
+his father; she only pleaded against there being any hurry; she only\r
+wanted him to wait till Sir Thomas's return, and then Sir Thomas might\r
+settle it all himself. He would be at home in September, and where would\r
+be the harm of only waiting till September?\r
+\r
+Though Edmund was much more displeased with his aunt than with his\r
+mother, as evincing least regard for her niece, he could not help paying\r
+more attention to what she said; and at length determined on a method of\r
+proceeding which would obviate the risk of his father's thinking he\r
+had done too much, and at the same time procure for Fanny the immediate\r
+means of exercise, which he could not bear she should be without. He had\r
+three horses of his own, but not one that would carry a woman. Two\r
+of them were hunters; the third, a useful road-horse: this third he\r
+resolved to exchange for one that his cousin might ride; he knew where\r
+such a one was to be met with; and having once made up his mind, the\r
+whole business was soon completed. The new mare proved a treasure; with\r
+a very little trouble she became exactly calculated for the purpose,\r
+and Fanny was then put in almost full possession of her. She had not\r
+supposed before that anything could ever suit her like the old grey\r
+pony; but her delight in Edmund's mare was far beyond any former\r
+pleasure of the sort; and the addition it was ever receiving in the\r
+consideration of that kindness from which her pleasure sprung, was\r
+beyond all her words to express. She regarded her cousin as an example\r
+of everything good and great, as possessing worth which no one but\r
+herself could ever appreciate, and as entitled to such gratitude from\r
+her as no feelings could be strong enough to pay. Her sentiments towards\r
+him were compounded of all that was respectful, grateful, confiding, and\r
+tender.\r
+\r
+As the horse continued in name, as well as fact, the property of Edmund,\r
+Mrs. Norris could tolerate its being for Fanny's use; and had Lady\r
+Bertram ever thought about her own objection again, he might have\r
+been excused in her eyes for not waiting till Sir Thomas's return in\r
+September, for when September came Sir Thomas was still abroad, and\r
+without any near prospect of finishing his business. Unfavourable\r
+circumstances had suddenly arisen at a moment when he was beginning to\r
+turn all his thoughts towards England; and the very great uncertainty\r
+in which everything was then involved determined him on sending home his\r
+son, and waiting the final arrangement by himself. Tom arrived safely,\r
+bringing an excellent account of his father's health; but to very little\r
+purpose, as far as Mrs. Norris was concerned. Sir Thomas's sending away\r
+his son seemed to her so like a parent's care, under the influence of a\r
+foreboding of evil to himself, that she could not help feeling dreadful\r
+presentiments; and as the long evenings of autumn came on, was so\r
+terribly haunted by these ideas, in the sad solitariness of her cottage,\r
+as to be obliged to take daily refuge in the dining-room of the Park.\r
+The return of winter engagements, however, was not without its effect;\r
+and in the course of their progress, her mind became so pleasantly\r
+occupied in superintending the fortunes of her eldest niece, as\r
+tolerably to quiet her nerves. "If poor Sir Thomas were fated never to\r
+return, it would be peculiarly consoling to see their dear Maria well\r
+married," she very often thought; always when they were in the company\r
+of men of fortune, and particularly on the introduction of a young man\r
+who had recently succeeded to one of the largest estates and finest\r
+places in the country.\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth was from the first struck with the beauty of Miss Bertram,\r
+and, being inclined to marry, soon fancied himself in love. He was\r
+a heavy young man, with not more than common sense; but as there was\r
+nothing disagreeable in his figure or address, the young lady was well\r
+pleased with her conquest. Being now in her twenty-first year, Maria\r
+Bertram was beginning to think matrimony a duty; and as a marriage with\r
+Mr. Rushworth would give her the enjoyment of a larger income than her\r
+father's, as well as ensure her the house in town, which was now a prime\r
+object, it became, by the same rule of moral obligation, her evident\r
+duty to marry Mr. Rushworth if she could. Mrs. Norris was most zealous\r
+in promoting the match, by every suggestion and contrivance likely to\r
+enhance its desirableness to either party; and, among other means, by\r
+seeking an intimacy with the gentleman's mother, who at present lived\r
+with him, and to whom she even forced Lady Bertram to go through ten\r
+miles of indifferent road to pay a morning visit. It was not long before\r
+a good understanding took place between this lady and herself. Mrs.\r
+Rushworth acknowledged herself very desirous that her son should marry,\r
+and declared that of all the young ladies she had ever seen, Miss\r
+Bertram seemed, by her amiable qualities and accomplishments, the best\r
+adapted to make him happy. Mrs. Norris accepted the compliment,\r
+and admired the nice discernment of character which could so well\r
+distinguish merit. Maria was indeed the pride and delight of them\r
+all--perfectly faultless--an angel; and, of course, so surrounded by\r
+admirers, must be difficult in her choice: but yet, as far as Mrs.\r
+Norris could allow herself to decide on so short an acquaintance, Mr.\r
+Rushworth appeared precisely the young man to deserve and attach her.\r
+\r
+After dancing with each other at a proper number of balls, the young\r
+people justified these opinions, and an engagement, with a due reference\r
+to the absent Sir Thomas, was entered into, much to the satisfaction\r
+of their respective families, and of the general lookers-on of the\r
+neighbourhood, who had, for many weeks past, felt the expediency of Mr.\r
+Rushworth's marrying Miss Bertram.\r
+\r
+It was some months before Sir Thomas's consent could be received; but,\r
+in the meanwhile, as no one felt a doubt of his most cordial pleasure\r
+in the connexion, the intercourse of the two families was carried\r
+on without restraint, and no other attempt made at secrecy than Mrs.\r
+Norris's talking of it everywhere as a matter not to be talked of at\r
+present.\r
+\r
+Edmund was the only one of the family who could see a fault in the\r
+business; but no representation of his aunt's could induce him to find\r
+Mr. Rushworth a desirable companion. He could allow his sister to be\r
+the best judge of her own happiness, but he was not pleased that her\r
+happiness should centre in a large income; nor could he refrain from\r
+often saying to himself, in Mr. Rushworth's company--"If this man had\r
+not twelve thousand a year, he would be a very stupid fellow."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, however, was truly happy in the prospect of an alliance\r
+so unquestionably advantageous, and of which he heard nothing but the\r
+perfectly good and agreeable. It was a connexion exactly of the right\r
+sort--in the same county, and the same interest--and his most hearty\r
+concurrence was conveyed as soon as possible. He only conditioned that\r
+the marriage should not take place before his return, which he was again\r
+looking eagerly forward to. He wrote in April, and had strong hopes\r
+of settling everything to his entire satisfaction, and leaving Antigua\r
+before the end of the summer.\r
+\r
+Such was the state of affairs in the month of July; and Fanny had just\r
+reached her eighteenth year, when the society of the village received\r
+an addition in the brother and sister of Mrs. Grant, a Mr. and Miss\r
+Crawford, the children of her mother by a second marriage. They were\r
+young people of fortune. The son had a good estate in Norfolk, the\r
+daughter twenty thousand pounds. As children, their sister had been\r
+always very fond of them; but, as her own marriage had been soon\r
+followed by the death of their common parent, which left them to the\r
+care of a brother of their father, of whom Mrs. Grant knew nothing, she\r
+had scarcely seen them since. In their uncle's house they had found a\r
+kind home. Admiral and Mrs. Crawford, though agreeing in nothing else,\r
+were united in affection for these children, or, at least, were no\r
+farther adverse in their feelings than that each had their favourite, to\r
+whom they showed the greatest fondness of the two. The Admiral delighted\r
+in the boy, Mrs. Crawford doted on the girl; and it was the lady's death\r
+which now obliged her _protegee_, after some months' further trial at\r
+her uncle's house, to find another home. Admiral Crawford was a man of\r
+vicious conduct, who chose, instead of retaining his niece, to bring his\r
+mistress under his own roof; and to this Mrs. Grant was indebted for her\r
+sister's proposal of coming to her, a measure quite as welcome on one\r
+side as it could be expedient on the other; for Mrs. Grant, having by\r
+this time run through the usual resources of ladies residing in the\r
+country without a family of children--having more than filled her\r
+favourite sitting-room with pretty furniture, and made a choice\r
+collection of plants and poultry--was very much in want of some variety\r
+at home. The arrival, therefore, of a sister whom she had always loved,\r
+and now hoped to retain with her as long as she remained single, was\r
+highly agreeable; and her chief anxiety was lest Mansfield should not\r
+satisfy the habits of a young woman who had been mostly used to London.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford was not entirely free from similar apprehensions, though\r
+they arose principally from doubts of her sister's style of living and\r
+tone of society; and it was not till after she had tried in vain to\r
+persuade her brother to settle with her at his own country house,\r
+that she could resolve to hazard herself among her other relations. To\r
+anything like a permanence of abode, or limitation of society, Henry\r
+Crawford had, unluckily, a great dislike: he could not accommodate his\r
+sister in an article of such importance; but he escorted her, with the\r
+utmost kindness, into Northamptonshire, and as readily engaged to fetch\r
+her away again, at half an hour's notice, whenever she were weary of the\r
+place.\r
+\r
+The meeting was very satisfactory on each side. Miss Crawford found a\r
+sister without preciseness or rusticity, a sister's husband who looked\r
+the gentleman, and a house commodious and well fitted up; and Mrs. Grant\r
+received in those whom she hoped to love better than ever a young man\r
+and woman of very prepossessing appearance. Mary Crawford was remarkably\r
+pretty; Henry, though not handsome, had air and countenance; the manners\r
+of both were lively and pleasant, and Mrs. Grant immediately gave them\r
+credit for everything else. She was delighted with each, but Mary was\r
+her dearest object; and having never been able to glory in beauty of her\r
+own, she thoroughly enjoyed the power of being proud of her sister's.\r
+She had not waited her arrival to look out for a suitable match for her:\r
+she had fixed on Tom Bertram; the eldest son of a baronet was not too\r
+good for a girl of twenty thousand pounds, with all the elegance\r
+and accomplishments which Mrs. Grant foresaw in her; and being a\r
+warm-hearted, unreserved woman, Mary had not been three hours in the\r
+house before she told her what she had planned.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford was glad to find a family of such consequence so very near\r
+them, and not at all displeased either at her sister's early care, or\r
+the choice it had fallen on. Matrimony was her object, provided she\r
+could marry well: and having seen Mr. Bertram in town, she knew that\r
+objection could no more be made to his person than to his situation in\r
+life. While she treated it as a joke, therefore, she did not forget to\r
+think of it seriously. The scheme was soon repeated to Henry.\r
+\r
+"And now," added Mrs. Grant, "I have thought of something to make it\r
+complete. I should dearly love to settle you both in this country; and\r
+therefore, Henry, you shall marry the youngest Miss Bertram, a nice,\r
+handsome, good-humoured, accomplished girl, who will make you very\r
+happy."\r
+\r
+Henry bowed and thanked her.\r
+\r
+"My dear sister," said Mary, "if you can persuade him into anything\r
+of the sort, it will be a fresh matter of delight to me to find myself\r
+allied to anybody so clever, and I shall only regret that you have\r
+not half a dozen daughters to dispose of. If you can persuade Henry\r
+to marry, you must have the address of a Frenchwoman. All that English\r
+abilities can do has been tried already. I have three very particular\r
+friends who have been all dying for him in their turn; and the pains\r
+which they, their mothers (very clever women), as well as my dear aunt\r
+and myself, have taken to reason, coax, or trick him into marrying, is\r
+inconceivable! He is the most horrible flirt that can be imagined. If\r
+your Miss Bertrams do not like to have their hearts broke, let them\r
+avoid Henry."\r
+\r
+"My dear brother, I will not believe this of you."\r
+\r
+"No, I am sure you are too good. You will be kinder than Mary. You\r
+will allow for the doubts of youth and inexperience. I am of a cautious\r
+temper, and unwilling to risk my happiness in a hurry. Nobody can\r
+think more highly of the matrimonial state than myself. I consider the\r
+blessing of a wife as most justly described in those discreet lines of\r
+the poet--'Heaven's _last_ best gift.'"\r
+\r
+"There, Mrs. Grant, you see how he dwells on one word, and only look\r
+at his smile. I assure you he is very detestable; the Admiral's lessons\r
+have quite spoiled him."\r
+\r
+"I pay very little regard," said Mrs. Grant, "to what any young person\r
+says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for\r
+it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person."\r
+\r
+Dr. Grant laughingly congratulated Miss Crawford on feeling no\r
+disinclination to the state herself.\r
+\r
+"Oh yes! I am not at all ashamed of it. I would have everybody marry if\r
+they can do it properly: I do not like to have people throw themselves\r
+away; but everybody should marry as soon as they can do it to\r
+advantage."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER V\r
+\r
+The young people were pleased with each other from the first. On each\r
+side there was much to attract, and their acquaintance soon promised as\r
+early an intimacy as good manners would warrant. Miss Crawford's beauty\r
+did her no disservice with the Miss Bertrams. They were too handsome\r
+themselves to dislike any woman for being so too, and were almost as\r
+much charmed as their brothers with her lively dark eye, clear brown\r
+complexion, and general prettiness. Had she been tall, full formed, and\r
+fair, it might have been more of a trial: but as it was, there could be\r
+no comparison; and she was most allowably a sweet, pretty girl, while\r
+they were the finest young women in the country.\r
+\r
+Her brother was not handsome: no, when they first saw him he was\r
+absolutely plain, black and plain; but still he was the gentleman, with\r
+a pleasing address. The second meeting proved him not so very plain:\r
+he was plain, to be sure, but then he had so much countenance, and his\r
+teeth were so good, and he was so well made, that one soon forgot he was\r
+plain; and after a third interview, after dining in company with him at\r
+the Parsonage, he was no longer allowed to be called so by anybody. He\r
+was, in fact, the most agreeable young man the sisters had ever known,\r
+and they were equally delighted with him. Miss Bertram's engagement made\r
+him in equity the property of Julia, of which Julia was fully aware; and\r
+before he had been at Mansfield a week, she was quite ready to be fallen\r
+in love with.\r
+\r
+Maria's notions on the subject were more confused and indistinct. She\r
+did not want to see or understand. "There could be no harm in her liking\r
+an agreeable man--everybody knew her situation--Mr. Crawford must take\r
+care of himself." Mr. Crawford did not mean to be in any danger! the\r
+Miss Bertrams were worth pleasing, and were ready to be pleased; and he\r
+began with no object but of making them like him. He did not want them\r
+to die of love; but with sense and temper which ought to have made him\r
+judge and feel better, he allowed himself great latitude on such points.\r
+\r
+"I like your Miss Bertrams exceedingly, sister," said he, as he returned\r
+from attending them to their carriage after the said dinner visit; "they\r
+are very elegant, agreeable girls."\r
+\r
+"So they are indeed, and I am delighted to hear you say it. But you like\r
+Julia best."\r
+\r
+"Oh yes! I like Julia best."\r
+\r
+"But do you really? for Miss Bertram is in general thought the\r
+handsomest."\r
+\r
+"So I should suppose. She has the advantage in every feature, and I\r
+prefer her countenance; but I like Julia best; Miss Bertram is certainly\r
+the handsomest, and I have found her the most agreeable, but I shall\r
+always like Julia best, because you order me."\r
+\r
+"I shall not talk to you, Henry, but I know you _will_ like her best at\r
+last."\r
+\r
+"Do not I tell you that I like her best _at_ _first_?"\r
+\r
+"And besides, Miss Bertram is engaged. Remember that, my dear brother.\r
+Her choice is made."\r
+\r
+"Yes, and I like her the better for it. An engaged woman is always more\r
+agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares\r
+are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing\r
+without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged: no harm can be\r
+done."\r
+\r
+"Why, as to that, Mr. Rushworth is a very good sort of young man, and it\r
+is a great match for her."\r
+\r
+"But Miss Bertram does not care three straws for him; _that_ is your\r
+opinion of your intimate friend. _I_ do not subscribe to it. I am sure\r
+Miss Bertram is very much attached to Mr. Rushworth. I could see it in\r
+her eyes, when he was mentioned. I think too well of Miss Bertram to\r
+suppose she would ever give her hand without her heart."\r
+\r
+"Mary, how shall we manage him?"\r
+\r
+"We must leave him to himself, I believe. Talking does no good. He will\r
+be taken in at last."\r
+\r
+"But I would not have him _taken_ _in_; I would not have him duped; I\r
+would have it all fair and honourable."\r
+\r
+"Oh dear! let him stand his chance and be taken in. It will do just as\r
+well. Everybody is taken in at some period or other."\r
+\r
+"Not always in marriage, dear Mary."\r
+\r
+"In marriage especially. With all due respect to such of the present\r
+company as chance to be married, my dear Mrs. Grant, there is not one in\r
+a hundred of either sex who is not taken in when they marry. Look where\r
+I will, I see that it _is_ so; and I feel that it _must_ be so, when I\r
+consider that it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect\r
+most from others, and are least honest themselves."\r
+\r
+"Ah! You have been in a bad school for matrimony, in Hill Street."\r
+\r
+"My poor aunt had certainly little cause to love the state; but,\r
+however, speaking from my own observation, it is a manoeuvring business.\r
+I know so many who have married in the full expectation and confidence\r
+of some one particular advantage in the connexion, or accomplishment, or\r
+good quality in the person, who have found themselves entirely deceived,\r
+and been obliged to put up with exactly the reverse. What is this but a\r
+take in?"\r
+\r
+"My dear child, there must be a little imagination here. I beg your\r
+pardon, but I cannot quite believe you. Depend upon it, you see but\r
+half. You see the evil, but you do not see the consolation. There will\r
+be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to\r
+expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human\r
+nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make\r
+a second better: we find comfort somewhere--and those evil-minded\r
+observers, dearest Mary, who make much of a little, are more taken in\r
+and deceived than the parties themselves."\r
+\r
+"Well done, sister! I honour your _esprit_ _du_ _corps_. When I am a\r
+wife, I mean to be just as staunch myself; and I wish my friends in\r
+general would be so too. It would save me many a heartache."\r
+\r
+"You are as bad as your brother, Mary; but we will cure you both.\r
+Mansfield shall cure you both, and without any taking in. Stay with us,\r
+and we will cure you."\r
+\r
+The Crawfords, without wanting to be cured, were very willing to stay.\r
+Mary was satisfied with the Parsonage as a present home, and Henry\r
+equally ready to lengthen his visit. He had come, intending to spend\r
+only a few days with them; but Mansfield promised well, and there was\r
+nothing to call him elsewhere. It delighted Mrs. Grant to keep them both\r
+with her, and Dr. Grant was exceedingly well contented to have it so: a\r
+talking pretty young woman like Miss Crawford is always pleasant society\r
+to an indolent, stay-at-home man; and Mr. Crawford's being his guest was\r
+an excuse for drinking claret every day.\r
+\r
+The Miss Bertrams' admiration of Mr. Crawford was more rapturous than\r
+anything which Miss Crawford's habits made her likely to feel. She\r
+acknowledged, however, that the Mr. Bertrams were very fine young men,\r
+that two such young men were not often seen together even in London, and\r
+that their manners, particularly those of the eldest, were very good.\r
+_He_ had been much in London, and had more liveliness and gallantry than\r
+Edmund, and must, therefore, be preferred; and, indeed, his being the\r
+eldest was another strong claim. She had felt an early presentiment that\r
+she _should_ like the eldest best. She knew it was her way.\r
+\r
+Tom Bertram must have been thought pleasant, indeed, at any rate; he was\r
+the sort of young man to be generally liked, his agreeableness was of\r
+the kind to be oftener found agreeable than some endowments of a higher\r
+stamp, for he had easy manners, excellent spirits, a large acquaintance,\r
+and a great deal to say; and the reversion of Mansfield Park, and a\r
+baronetcy, did no harm to all this. Miss Crawford soon felt that he and\r
+his situation might do. She looked about her with due consideration, and\r
+found almost everything in his favour: a park, a real park, five miles\r
+round, a spacious modern-built house, so well placed and well screened\r
+as to deserve to be in any collection of engravings of gentlemen's\r
+seats in the kingdom, and wanting only to be completely new\r
+furnished--pleasant sisters, a quiet mother, and an agreeable man\r
+himself--with the advantage of being tied up from much gaming at present\r
+by a promise to his father, and of being Sir Thomas hereafter. It\r
+might do very well; she believed she should accept him; and she began\r
+accordingly to interest herself a little about the horse which he had to\r
+run at the B---- races.\r
+\r
+These races were to call him away not long after their acquaintance\r
+began; and as it appeared that the family did not, from his usual goings\r
+on, expect him back again for many weeks, it would bring his passion to\r
+an early proof. Much was said on his side to induce her to attend the\r
+races, and schemes were made for a large party to them, with all the\r
+eagerness of inclination, but it would only do to be talked of.\r
+\r
+And Fanny, what was _she_ doing and thinking all this while? and what\r
+was _her_ opinion of the newcomers? Few young ladies of eighteen could\r
+be less called on to speak their opinion than Fanny. In a quiet way,\r
+very little attended to, she paid her tribute of admiration to Miss\r
+Crawford's beauty; but as she still continued to think Mr. Crawford\r
+very plain, in spite of her two cousins having repeatedly proved the\r
+contrary, she never mentioned _him_. The notice, which she excited\r
+herself, was to this effect. "I begin now to understand you all,\r
+except Miss Price," said Miss Crawford, as she was walking with the Mr.\r
+Bertrams. "Pray, is she out, or is she not? I am puzzled. She dined at\r
+the Parsonage, with the rest of you, which seemed like being _out_; and\r
+yet she says so little, that I can hardly suppose she _is_."\r
+\r
+Edmund, to whom this was chiefly addressed, replied, "I believe I know\r
+what you mean, but I will not undertake to answer the question. My\r
+cousin is grown up. She has the age and sense of a woman, but the outs\r
+and not outs are beyond me."\r
+\r
+"And yet, in general, nothing can be more easily ascertained. The\r
+distinction is so broad. Manners as well as appearance are, generally\r
+speaking, so totally different. Till now, I could not have supposed it\r
+possible to be mistaken as to a girl's being out or not. A girl not out\r
+has always the same sort of dress: a close bonnet, for instance; looks\r
+very demure, and never says a word. You may smile, but it is so, I\r
+assure you; and except that it is sometimes carried a little too far,\r
+it is all very proper. Girls should be quiet and modest. The most\r
+objectionable part is, that the alteration of manners on being\r
+introduced into company is frequently too sudden. They sometimes pass in\r
+such very little time from reserve to quite the opposite--to confidence!\r
+_That_ is the faulty part of the present system. One does not like to\r
+see a girl of eighteen or nineteen so immediately up to every thing--and\r
+perhaps when one has seen her hardly able to speak the year before. Mr.\r
+Bertram, I dare say _you_ have sometimes met with such changes."\r
+\r
+"I believe I have, but this is hardly fair; I see what you are at. You\r
+are quizzing me and Miss Anderson."\r
+\r
+"No, indeed. Miss Anderson! I do not know who or what you mean. I am\r
+quite in the dark. But I _will_ quiz you with a great deal of pleasure,\r
+if you will tell me what about."\r
+\r
+"Ah! you carry it off very well, but I cannot be quite so far imposed\r
+on. You must have had Miss Anderson in your eye, in describing an\r
+altered young lady. You paint too accurately for mistake. It was exactly\r
+so. The Andersons of Baker Street. We were speaking of them the other\r
+day, you know. Edmund, you have heard me mention Charles Anderson.\r
+The circumstance was precisely as this lady has represented it. When\r
+Anderson first introduced me to his family, about two years ago, his\r
+sister was not _out_, and I could not get her to speak to me. I sat\r
+there an hour one morning waiting for Anderson, with only her and a\r
+little girl or two in the room, the governess being sick or run away,\r
+and the mother in and out every moment with letters of business, and I\r
+could hardly get a word or a look from the young lady--nothing like a\r
+civil answer--she screwed up her mouth, and turned from me with such an\r
+air! I did not see her again for a twelvemonth. She was then _out_. I\r
+met her at Mrs. Holford's, and did not recollect her. She came up to me,\r
+claimed me as an acquaintance, stared me out of countenance; and talked\r
+and laughed till I did not know which way to look. I felt that I must\r
+be the jest of the room at the time, and Miss Crawford, it is plain, has\r
+heard the story."\r
+\r
+"And a very pretty story it is, and with more truth in it, I dare say,\r
+than does credit to Miss Anderson. It is too common a fault. Mothers\r
+certainly have not yet got quite the right way of managing their\r
+daughters. I do not know where the error lies. I do not pretend to set\r
+people right, but I do see that they are often wrong."\r
+\r
+"Those who are showing the world what female manners _should_ be," said\r
+Mr. Bertram gallantly, "are doing a great deal to set them right."\r
+\r
+"The error is plain enough," said the less courteous Edmund; "such girls\r
+are ill brought up. They are given wrong notions from the beginning.\r
+They are always acting upon motives of vanity, and there is no more\r
+real modesty in their behaviour _before_ they appear in public than\r
+afterwards."\r
+\r
+"I do not know," replied Miss Crawford hesitatingly. "Yes, I cannot\r
+agree with you there. It is certainly the modestest part of the\r
+business. It is much worse to have girls not out give themselves the\r
+same airs and take the same liberties as if they were, which I have seen\r
+done. That is worse than anything--quite disgusting!"\r
+\r
+"Yes, _that_ is very inconvenient indeed," said Mr. Bertram. "It leads\r
+one astray; one does not know what to do. The close bonnet and demure\r
+air you describe so well (and nothing was ever juster), tell one what\r
+is expected; but I got into a dreadful scrape last year from the want of\r
+them. I went down to Ramsgate for a week with a friend last September,\r
+just after my return from the West Indies. My friend Sneyd--you have\r
+heard me speak of Sneyd, Edmund--his father, and mother, and sisters,\r
+were there, all new to me. When we reached Albion Place they were out;\r
+we went after them, and found them on the pier: Mrs. and the two Miss\r
+Sneyds, with others of their acquaintance. I made my bow in form; and\r
+as Mrs. Sneyd was surrounded by men, attached myself to one of her\r
+daughters, walked by her side all the way home, and made myself as\r
+agreeable as I could; the young lady perfectly easy in her manners, and\r
+as ready to talk as to listen. I had not a suspicion that I could be\r
+doing anything wrong. They looked just the same: both well-dressed, with\r
+veils and parasols like other girls; but I afterwards found that I had\r
+been giving all my attention to the youngest, who was not _out_, and\r
+had most excessively offended the eldest. Miss Augusta ought not to have\r
+been noticed for the next six months; and Miss Sneyd, I believe, has\r
+never forgiven me."\r
+\r
+"That was bad indeed. Poor Miss Sneyd. Though I have no younger\r
+sister, I feel for her. To be neglected before one's time must be very\r
+vexatious; but it was entirely the mother's fault. Miss Augusta should\r
+have been with her governess. Such half-and-half doings never prosper.\r
+But now I must be satisfied about Miss Price. Does she go to balls? Does\r
+she dine out every where, as well as at my sister's?"\r
+\r
+"No," replied Edmund; "I do not think she has ever been to a ball. My\r
+mother seldom goes into company herself, and dines nowhere but with Mrs.\r
+Grant, and Fanny stays at home with _her_."\r
+\r
+"Oh! then the point is clear. Miss Price is not out."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER VI\r
+\r
+Mr. Bertram set off for--------, and Miss Crawford was prepared to\r
+find a great chasm in their society, and to miss him decidedly in the\r
+meetings which were now becoming almost daily between the families;\r
+and on their all dining together at the Park soon after his going, she\r
+retook her chosen place near the bottom of the table, fully expecting to\r
+feel a most melancholy difference in the change of masters. It would\r
+be a very flat business, she was sure. In comparison with his brother,\r
+Edmund would have nothing to say. The soup would be sent round in a most\r
+spiritless manner, wine drank without any smiles or agreeable trifling,\r
+and the venison cut up without supplying one pleasant anecdote of any\r
+former haunch, or a single entertaining story, about "my friend such a\r
+one." She must try to find amusement in what was passing at the upper\r
+end of the table, and in observing Mr. Rushworth, who was now making his\r
+appearance at Mansfield for the first time since the Crawfords' arrival.\r
+He had been visiting a friend in the neighbouring county, and that\r
+friend having recently had his grounds laid out by an improver, Mr.\r
+Rushworth was returned with his head full of the subject, and very eager\r
+to be improving his own place in the same way; and though not saying\r
+much to the purpose, could talk of nothing else. The subject had\r
+been already handled in the drawing-room; it was revived in the\r
+dining-parlour. Miss Bertram's attention and opinion was evidently his\r
+chief aim; and though her deportment showed rather conscious superiority\r
+than any solicitude to oblige him, the mention of Sotherton Court,\r
+and the ideas attached to it, gave her a feeling of complacency, which\r
+prevented her from being very ungracious.\r
+\r
+"I wish you could see Compton," said he; "it is the most complete thing!\r
+I never saw a place so altered in my life. I told Smith I did not know\r
+where I was. The approach _now_, is one of the finest things in the\r
+country: you see the house in the most surprising manner. I declare,\r
+when I got back to Sotherton yesterday, it looked like a prison--quite a\r
+dismal old prison."\r
+\r
+"Oh, for shame!" cried Mrs. Norris. "A prison indeed? Sotherton Court is\r
+the noblest old place in the world."\r
+\r
+"It wants improvement, ma'am, beyond anything. I never saw a place that\r
+wanted so much improvement in my life; and it is so forlorn that I do\r
+not know what can be done with it."\r
+\r
+"No wonder that Mr. Rushworth should think so at present," said Mrs.\r
+Grant to Mrs. Norris, with a smile; "but depend upon it, Sotherton will\r
+have _every_ improvement in time which his heart can desire."\r
+\r
+"I must try to do something with it," said Mr. Rushworth, "but I do not\r
+know what. I hope I shall have some good friend to help me."\r
+\r
+"Your best friend upon such an occasion," said Miss Bertram calmly,\r
+"would be Mr. Repton, I imagine."\r
+\r
+"That is what I was thinking of. As he has done so well by Smith, I\r
+think I had better have him at once. His terms are five guineas a day."\r
+\r
+"Well, and if they were _ten_," cried Mrs. Norris, "I am sure _you_ need\r
+not regard it. The expense need not be any impediment. If I were you,\r
+I should not think of the expense. I would have everything done in the\r
+best style, and made as nice as possible. Such a place as Sotherton\r
+Court deserves everything that taste and money can do. You have space to\r
+work upon there, and grounds that will well reward you. For my own part,\r
+if I had anything within the fiftieth part of the size of Sotherton, I\r
+should be always planting and improving, for naturally I am excessively\r
+fond of it. It would be too ridiculous for me to attempt anything where\r
+I am now, with my little half acre. It would be quite a burlesque. But\r
+if I had more room, I should take a prodigious delight in improving and\r
+planting. We did a vast deal in that way at the Parsonage: we made it\r
+quite a different place from what it was when we first had it. You young\r
+ones do not remember much about it, perhaps; but if dear Sir Thomas were\r
+here, he could tell you what improvements we made: and a great deal more\r
+would have been done, but for poor Mr. Norris's sad state of health.\r
+He could hardly ever get out, poor man, to enjoy anything, and _that_\r
+disheartened me from doing several things that Sir Thomas and I used to\r
+talk of. If it had not been for _that_, we should have carried on the\r
+garden wall, and made the plantation to shut out the churchyard, just\r
+as Dr. Grant has done. We were always doing something as it was. It was\r
+only the spring twelvemonth before Mr. Norris's death that we put in the\r
+apricot against the stable wall, which is now grown such a noble tree,\r
+and getting to such perfection, sir," addressing herself then to Dr.\r
+Grant.\r
+\r
+"The tree thrives well, beyond a doubt, madam," replied Dr. Grant. "The\r
+soil is good; and I never pass it without regretting that the fruit\r
+should be so little worth the trouble of gathering."\r
+\r
+"Sir, it is a Moor Park, we bought it as a Moor Park, and it cost\r
+us--that is, it was a present from Sir Thomas, but I saw the bill--and I\r
+know it cost seven shillings, and was charged as a Moor Park."\r
+\r
+"You were imposed on, ma'am," replied Dr. Grant: "these potatoes have as\r
+much the flavour of a Moor Park apricot as the fruit from that tree. It\r
+is an insipid fruit at the best; but a good apricot is eatable, which\r
+none from my garden are."\r
+\r
+"The truth is, ma'am," said Mrs. Grant, pretending to whisper across\r
+the table to Mrs. Norris, "that Dr. Grant hardly knows what the natural\r
+taste of our apricot is: he is scarcely ever indulged with one, for it\r
+is so valuable a fruit; with a little assistance, and ours is such a\r
+remarkably large, fair sort, that what with early tarts and preserves,\r
+my cook contrives to get them all."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris, who had begun to redden, was appeased; and, for a little\r
+while, other subjects took place of the improvements of Sotherton. Dr.\r
+Grant and Mrs. Norris were seldom good friends; their acquaintance had\r
+begun in dilapidations, and their habits were totally dissimilar.\r
+\r
+After a short interruption Mr. Rushworth began again. "Smith's place\r
+is the admiration of all the country; and it was a mere nothing before\r
+Repton took it in hand. I think I shall have Repton."\r
+\r
+"Mr. Rushworth," said Lady Bertram, "if I were you, I would have a\r
+very pretty shrubbery. One likes to get out into a shrubbery in fine\r
+weather."\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth was eager to assure her ladyship of his acquiescence, and\r
+tried to make out something complimentary; but, between his submission\r
+to _her_ taste, and his having always intended the same himself, with\r
+the superadded objects of professing attention to the comfort of ladies\r
+in general, and of insinuating that there was one only whom he was\r
+anxious to please, he grew puzzled, and Edmund was glad to put an end\r
+to his speech by a proposal of wine. Mr. Rushworth, however, though not\r
+usually a great talker, had still more to say on the subject next his\r
+heart. "Smith has not much above a hundred acres altogether in his\r
+grounds, which is little enough, and makes it more surprising that the\r
+place can have been so improved. Now, at Sotherton we have a good seven\r
+hundred, without reckoning the water meadows; so that I think, if so\r
+much could be done at Compton, we need not despair. There have been two\r
+or three fine old trees cut down, that grew too near the house, and\r
+it opens the prospect amazingly, which makes me think that Repton, or\r
+anybody of that sort, would certainly have the avenue at Sotherton down:\r
+the avenue that leads from the west front to the top of the hill,\r
+you know," turning to Miss Bertram particularly as he spoke. But Miss\r
+Bertram thought it most becoming to reply--\r
+\r
+"The avenue! Oh! I do not recollect it. I really know very little of\r
+Sotherton."\r
+\r
+Fanny, who was sitting on the other side of Edmund, exactly opposite\r
+Miss Crawford, and who had been attentively listening, now looked at\r
+him, and said in a low voice--\r
+\r
+"Cut down an avenue! What a pity! Does it not make you think of Cowper?\r
+'Ye fallen avenues, once more I mourn your fate unmerited.'"\r
+\r
+He smiled as he answered, "I am afraid the avenue stands a bad chance,\r
+Fanny."\r
+\r
+"I should like to see Sotherton before it is cut down, to see the place\r
+as it is now, in its old state; but I do not suppose I shall."\r
+\r
+"Have you never been there? No, you never can; and, unluckily, it is out\r
+of distance for a ride. I wish we could contrive it."\r
+\r
+"Oh! it does not signify. Whenever I do see it, you will tell me how it\r
+has been altered."\r
+\r
+"I collect," said Miss Crawford, "that Sotherton is an old place, and a\r
+place of some grandeur. In any particular style of building?"\r
+\r
+"The house was built in Elizabeth's time, and is a large, regular, brick\r
+building; heavy, but respectable looking, and has many good rooms. It\r
+is ill placed. It stands in one of the lowest spots of the park; in that\r
+respect, unfavourable for improvement. But the woods are fine, and\r
+there is a stream, which, I dare say, might be made a good deal of. Mr.\r
+Rushworth is quite right, I think, in meaning to give it a modern dress,\r
+and I have no doubt that it will be all done extremely well."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford listened with submission, and said to herself, "He is a\r
+well-bred man; he makes the best of it."\r
+\r
+"I do not wish to influence Mr. Rushworth," he continued; "but, had I\r
+a place to new fashion, I should not put myself into the hands of an\r
+improver. I would rather have an inferior degree of beauty, of my own\r
+choice, and acquired progressively. I would rather abide by my own\r
+blunders than by his."\r
+\r
+"_You_ would know what you were about, of course; but that would not\r
+suit _me_. I have no eye or ingenuity for such matters, but as they are\r
+before me; and had I a place of my own in the country, I should be most\r
+thankful to any Mr. Repton who would undertake it, and give me as much\r
+beauty as he could for my money; and I should never look at it till it\r
+was complete."\r
+\r
+"It would be delightful to _me_ to see the progress of it all," said\r
+Fanny.\r
+\r
+"Ay, you have been brought up to it. It was no part of my education; and\r
+the only dose I ever had, being administered by not the first favourite\r
+in the world, has made me consider improvements _in_ _hand_ as the\r
+greatest of nuisances. Three years ago the Admiral, my honoured uncle,\r
+bought a cottage at Twickenham for us all to spend our summers in;\r
+and my aunt and I went down to it quite in raptures; but it being\r
+excessively pretty, it was soon found necessary to be improved, and for\r
+three months we were all dirt and confusion, without a gravel walk to\r
+step on, or a bench fit for use. I would have everything as complete\r
+as possible in the country, shrubberies and flower-gardens, and rustic\r
+seats innumerable: but it must all be done without my care. Henry is\r
+different; he loves to be doing."\r
+\r
+Edmund was sorry to hear Miss Crawford, whom he was much disposed to\r
+admire, speak so freely of her uncle. It did not suit his sense of\r
+propriety, and he was silenced, till induced by further smiles and\r
+liveliness to put the matter by for the present.\r
+\r
+"Mr. Bertram," said she, "I have tidings of my harp at last. I am\r
+assured that it is safe at Northampton; and there it has probably been\r
+these ten days, in spite of the solemn assurances we have so often\r
+received to the contrary." Edmund expressed his pleasure and surprise.\r
+"The truth is, that our inquiries were too direct; we sent a servant,\r
+we went ourselves: this will not do seventy miles from London; but this\r
+morning we heard of it in the right way. It was seen by some farmer, and\r
+he told the miller, and the miller told the butcher, and the butcher's\r
+son-in-law left word at the shop."\r
+\r
+"I am very glad that you have heard of it, by whatever means, and hope\r
+there will be no further delay."\r
+\r
+"I am to have it to-morrow; but how do you think it is to be conveyed?\r
+Not by a wagon or cart: oh no! nothing of that kind could be hired in\r
+the village. I might as well have asked for porters and a handbarrow."\r
+\r
+"You would find it difficult, I dare say, just now, in the middle of a\r
+very late hay harvest, to hire a horse and cart?"\r
+\r
+"I was astonished to find what a piece of work was made of it! To want\r
+a horse and cart in the country seemed impossible, so I told my maid to\r
+speak for one directly; and as I cannot look out of my dressing-closet\r
+without seeing one farmyard, nor walk in the shrubbery without passing\r
+another, I thought it would be only ask and have, and was rather grieved\r
+that I could not give the advantage to all. Guess my surprise, when\r
+I found that I had been asking the most unreasonable, most impossible\r
+thing in the world; had offended all the farmers, all the labourers,\r
+all the hay in the parish! As for Dr. Grant's bailiff, I believe I had\r
+better keep out of _his_ way; and my brother-in-law himself, who is all\r
+kindness in general, looked rather black upon me when he found what I\r
+had been at."\r
+\r
+"You could not be expected to have thought on the subject before; but\r
+when you _do_ think of it, you must see the importance of getting in\r
+the grass. The hire of a cart at any time might not be so easy as you\r
+suppose: our farmers are not in the habit of letting them out; but, in\r
+harvest, it must be quite out of their power to spare a horse."\r
+\r
+"I shall understand all your ways in time; but, coming down with the\r
+true London maxim, that everything is to be got with money, I was a\r
+little embarrassed at first by the sturdy independence of your country\r
+customs. However, I am to have my harp fetched to-morrow. Henry, who is\r
+good-nature itself, has offered to fetch it in his barouche. Will it not\r
+be honourably conveyed?"\r
+\r
+Edmund spoke of the harp as his favourite instrument, and hoped to be\r
+soon allowed to hear her. Fanny had never heard the harp at all, and\r
+wished for it very much.\r
+\r
+"I shall be most happy to play to you both," said Miss Crawford; "at\r
+least as long as you can like to listen: probably much longer, for\r
+I dearly love music myself, and where the natural taste is equal the\r
+player must always be best off, for she is gratified in more ways than\r
+one. Now, Mr. Bertram, if you write to your brother, I entreat you to\r
+tell him that my harp is come: he heard so much of my misery about it.\r
+And you may say, if you please, that I shall prepare my most plaintive\r
+airs against his return, in compassion to his feelings, as I know his\r
+horse will lose."\r
+\r
+"If I write, I will say whatever you wish me; but I do not, at present,\r
+foresee any occasion for writing."\r
+\r
+"No, I dare say, nor if he were to be gone a twelvemonth, would you ever\r
+write to him, nor he to you, if it could be helped. The occasion would\r
+never be foreseen. What strange creatures brothers are! You would not\r
+write to each other but upon the most urgent necessity in the world; and\r
+when obliged to take up the pen to say that such a horse is ill, or such\r
+a relation dead, it is done in the fewest possible words. You have but\r
+one style among you. I know it perfectly. Henry, who is in every other\r
+respect exactly what a brother should be, who loves me, consults me,\r
+confides in me, and will talk to me by the hour together, has never\r
+yet turned the page in a letter; and very often it is nothing more\r
+than--'Dear Mary, I am just arrived. Bath seems full, and everything\r
+as usual. Yours sincerely.' That is the true manly style; that is a\r
+complete brother's letter."\r
+\r
+"When they are at a distance from all their family," said Fanny,\r
+colouring for William's sake, "they can write long letters."\r
+\r
+"Miss Price has a brother at sea," said Edmund, "whose excellence as a\r
+correspondent makes her think you too severe upon us."\r
+\r
+"At sea, has she? In the king's service, of course?"\r
+\r
+Fanny would rather have had Edmund tell the story, but his determined\r
+silence obliged her to relate her brother's situation: her voice was\r
+animated in speaking of his profession, and the foreign stations he had\r
+been on; but she could not mention the number of years that he had been\r
+absent without tears in her eyes. Miss Crawford civilly wished him an\r
+early promotion.\r
+\r
+"Do you know anything of my cousin's captain?" said Edmund; "Captain\r
+Marshall? You have a large acquaintance in the navy, I conclude?"\r
+\r
+"Among admirals, large enough; but," with an air of grandeur, "we know\r
+very little of the inferior ranks. Post-captains may be very good sort\r
+of men, but they do not belong to _us_. Of various admirals I could tell\r
+you a great deal: of them and their flags, and the gradation of their\r
+pay, and their bickerings and jealousies. But, in general, I can assure\r
+you that they are all passed over, and all very ill used. Certainly, my\r
+home at my uncle's brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. Of\r
+_Rears_ and _Vices_ I saw enough. Now do not be suspecting me of a pun,\r
+I entreat."\r
+\r
+Edmund again felt grave, and only replied, "It is a noble profession."\r
+\r
+"Yes, the profession is well enough under two circumstances: if it make\r
+the fortune, and there be discretion in spending it; but, in short, it\r
+is not a favourite profession of mine. It has never worn an amiable form\r
+to _me_."\r
+\r
+Edmund reverted to the harp, and was again very happy in the prospect of\r
+hearing her play.\r
+\r
+The subject of improving grounds, meanwhile, was still under\r
+consideration among the others; and Mrs. Grant could not help addressing\r
+her brother, though it was calling his attention from Miss Julia\r
+Bertram.\r
+\r
+"My dear Henry, have _you_ nothing to say? You have been an improver\r
+yourself, and from what I hear of Everingham, it may vie with any place\r
+in England. Its natural beauties, I am sure, are great. Everingham,\r
+as it _used_ to be, was perfect in my estimation: such a happy fall of\r
+ground, and such timber! What would I not give to see it again?"\r
+\r
+"Nothing could be so gratifying to me as to hear your opinion of it,"\r
+was his answer; "but I fear there would be some disappointment: you\r
+would not find it equal to your present ideas. In extent, it is a mere\r
+nothing; you would be surprised at its insignificance; and, as for\r
+improvement, there was very little for me to do--too little: I should\r
+like to have been busy much longer."\r
+\r
+"You are fond of the sort of thing?" said Julia.\r
+\r
+"Excessively; but what with the natural advantages of the ground, which\r
+pointed out, even to a very young eye, what little remained to be done,\r
+and my own consequent resolutions, I had not been of age three\r
+months before Everingham was all that it is now. My plan was laid\r
+at Westminster, a little altered, perhaps, at Cambridge, and at\r
+one-and-twenty executed. I am inclined to envy Mr. Rushworth for having\r
+so much happiness yet before him. I have been a devourer of my own."\r
+\r
+"Those who see quickly, will resolve quickly, and act quickly,"\r
+said Julia. "_You_ can never want employment. Instead of envying Mr.\r
+Rushworth, you should assist him with your opinion."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Grant, hearing the latter part of this speech, enforced it warmly,\r
+persuaded that no judgment could be equal to her brother's; and as\r
+Miss Bertram caught at the idea likewise, and gave it her full support,\r
+declaring that, in her opinion, it was infinitely better to consult\r
+with friends and disinterested advisers, than immediately to throw the\r
+business into the hands of a professional man, Mr. Rushworth was very\r
+ready to request the favour of Mr. Crawford's assistance; and Mr.\r
+Crawford, after properly depreciating his own abilities, was quite at\r
+his service in any way that could be useful. Mr. Rushworth then began to\r
+propose Mr. Crawford's doing him the honour of coming over to Sotherton,\r
+and taking a bed there; when Mrs. Norris, as if reading in her two\r
+nieces' minds their little approbation of a plan which was to take Mr.\r
+Crawford away, interposed with an amendment.\r
+\r
+"There can be no doubt of Mr. Crawford's willingness; but why should not\r
+more of us go? Why should not we make a little party? Here are many that\r
+would be interested in your improvements, my dear Mr. Rushworth, and\r
+that would like to hear Mr. Crawford's opinion on the spot, and that\r
+might be of some small use to you with _their_ opinions; and, for my\r
+own part, I have been long wishing to wait upon your good mother again;\r
+nothing but having no horses of my own could have made me so remiss; but\r
+now I could go and sit a few hours with Mrs. Rushworth, while the rest\r
+of you walked about and settled things, and then we could all return\r
+to a late dinner here, or dine at Sotherton, just as might be most\r
+agreeable to your mother, and have a pleasant drive home by moonlight.\r
+I dare say Mr. Crawford would take my two nieces and me in his barouche,\r
+and Edmund can go on horseback, you know, sister, and Fanny will stay at\r
+home with you."\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram made no objection; and every one concerned in the going\r
+was forward in expressing their ready concurrence, excepting Edmund, who\r
+heard it all and said nothing.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER VII\r
+\r
+"Well, Fanny, and how do you like Miss Crawford _now_?" said Edmund the\r
+next day, after thinking some time on the subject himself. "How did you\r
+like her yesterday?"\r
+\r
+"Very well--very much. I like to hear her talk. She entertains me; and\r
+she is so extremely pretty, that I have great pleasure in looking at\r
+her."\r
+\r
+"It is her countenance that is so attractive. She has a wonderful play\r
+of feature! But was there nothing in her conversation that struck you,\r
+Fanny, as not quite right?"\r
+\r
+"Oh yes! she ought not to have spoken of her uncle as she did. I was\r
+quite astonished. An uncle with whom she has been living so many years,\r
+and who, whatever his faults may be, is so very fond of her brother,\r
+treating him, they say, quite like a son. I could not have believed it!"\r
+\r
+"I thought you would be struck. It was very wrong; very indecorous."\r
+\r
+"And very ungrateful, I think."\r
+\r
+"Ungrateful is a strong word. I do not know that her uncle has any claim\r
+to her _gratitude_; his wife certainly had; and it is the warmth of her\r
+respect for her aunt's memory which misleads her here. She is awkwardly\r
+circumstanced. With such warm feelings and lively spirits it must be\r
+difficult to do justice to her affection for Mrs. Crawford, without\r
+throwing a shade on the Admiral. I do not pretend to know which was most\r
+to blame in their disagreements, though the Admiral's present conduct\r
+might incline one to the side of his wife; but it is natural and amiable\r
+that Miss Crawford should acquit her aunt entirely. I do not censure her\r
+_opinions_; but there certainly _is_ impropriety in making them public."\r
+\r
+"Do not you think," said Fanny, after a little consideration, "that this\r
+impropriety is a reflection itself upon Mrs. Crawford, as her niece has\r
+been entirely brought up by her? She cannot have given her right notions\r
+of what was due to the Admiral."\r
+\r
+"That is a fair remark. Yes, we must suppose the faults of the niece\r
+to have been those of the aunt; and it makes one more sensible of the\r
+disadvantages she has been under. But I think her present home must\r
+do her good. Mrs. Grant's manners are just what they ought to be. She\r
+speaks of her brother with a very pleasing affection."\r
+\r
+"Yes, except as to his writing her such short letters. She made me\r
+almost laugh; but I cannot rate so very highly the love or good-nature\r
+of a brother who will not give himself the trouble of writing anything\r
+worth reading to his sisters, when they are separated. I am sure William\r
+would never have used _me_ so, under any circumstances. And what right\r
+had she to suppose that _you_ would not write long letters when you were\r
+absent?"\r
+\r
+"The right of a lively mind, Fanny, seizing whatever may contribute\r
+to its own amusement or that of others; perfectly allowable, when\r
+untinctured by ill-humour or roughness; and there is not a shadow of\r
+either in the countenance or manner of Miss Crawford: nothing sharp, or\r
+loud, or coarse. She is perfectly feminine, except in the instances we\r
+have been speaking of. There she cannot be justified. I am glad you saw\r
+it all as I did."\r
+\r
+Having formed her mind and gained her affections, he had a good chance\r
+of her thinking like him; though at this period, and on this subject,\r
+there began now to be some danger of dissimilarity, for he was in a line\r
+of admiration of Miss Crawford, which might lead him where Fanny\r
+could not follow. Miss Crawford's attractions did not lessen. The harp\r
+arrived, and rather added to her beauty, wit, and good-humour; for she\r
+played with the greatest obligingness, with an expression and taste\r
+which were peculiarly becoming, and there was something clever to be\r
+said at the close of every air. Edmund was at the Parsonage every day,\r
+to be indulged with his favourite instrument: one morning secured an\r
+invitation for the next; for the lady could not be unwilling to have a\r
+listener, and every thing was soon in a fair train.\r
+\r
+A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself, and\r
+both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a\r
+little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was\r
+enough to catch any man's heart. The season, the scene, the air, were\r
+all favourable to tenderness and sentiment. Mrs. Grant and her tambour\r
+frame were not without their use: it was all in harmony; and as\r
+everything will turn to account when love is once set going, even the\r
+sandwich tray, and Dr. Grant doing the honours of it, were worth looking\r
+at. Without studying the business, however, or knowing what he was\r
+about, Edmund was beginning, at the end of a week of such intercourse,\r
+to be a good deal in love; and to the credit of the lady it may be added\r
+that, without his being a man of the world or an elder brother, without\r
+any of the arts of flattery or the gaieties of small talk, he began to\r
+be agreeable to her. She felt it to be so, though she had not foreseen,\r
+and could hardly understand it; for he was not pleasant by any common\r
+rule: he talked no nonsense; he paid no compliments; his opinions\r
+were unbending, his attentions tranquil and simple. There was a charm,\r
+perhaps, in his sincerity, his steadiness, his integrity, which Miss\r
+Crawford might be equal to feel, though not equal to discuss with\r
+herself. She did not think very much about it, however: he pleased her\r
+for the present; she liked to have him near her; it was enough.\r
+\r
+Fanny could not wonder that Edmund was at the Parsonage every morning;\r
+she would gladly have been there too, might she have gone in uninvited\r
+and unnoticed, to hear the harp; neither could she wonder that, when the\r
+evening stroll was over, and the two families parted again, he should\r
+think it right to attend Mrs. Grant and her sister to their home, while\r
+Mr. Crawford was devoted to the ladies of the Park; but she thought it\r
+a very bad exchange; and if Edmund were not there to mix the wine and\r
+water for her, would rather go without it than not. She was a little\r
+surprised that he could spend so many hours with Miss Crawford, and\r
+not see more of the sort of fault which he had already observed, and of\r
+which _she_ was almost always reminded by a something of the same nature\r
+whenever she was in her company; but so it was. Edmund was fond of\r
+speaking to her of Miss Crawford, but he seemed to think it enough that\r
+the Admiral had since been spared; and she scrupled to point out her own\r
+remarks to him, lest it should appear like ill-nature. The first actual\r
+pain which Miss Crawford occasioned her was the consequence of an\r
+inclination to learn to ride, which the former caught, soon after her\r
+being settled at Mansfield, from the example of the young ladies at the\r
+Park, and which, when Edmund's acquaintance with her increased, led to\r
+his encouraging the wish, and the offer of his own quiet mare for the\r
+purpose of her first attempts, as the best fitted for a beginner that\r
+either stable could furnish. No pain, no injury, however, was designed\r
+by him to his cousin in this offer: _she_ was not to lose a day's\r
+exercise by it. The mare was only to be taken down to the Parsonage half\r
+an hour before her ride were to begin; and Fanny, on its being first\r
+proposed, so far from feeling slighted, was almost over-powered with\r
+gratitude that he should be asking her leave for it.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford made her first essay with great credit to herself, and no\r
+inconvenience to Fanny. Edmund, who had taken down the mare and presided\r
+at the whole, returned with it in excellent time, before either Fanny or\r
+the steady old coachman, who always attended her when she rode without\r
+her cousins, were ready to set forward. The second day's trial was not\r
+so guiltless. Miss Crawford's enjoyment of riding was such that she did\r
+not know how to leave off. Active and fearless, and though rather small,\r
+strongly made, she seemed formed for a horsewoman; and to the pure\r
+genuine pleasure of the exercise, something was probably added in\r
+Edmund's attendance and instructions, and something more in the\r
+conviction of very much surpassing her sex in general by her early\r
+progress, to make her unwilling to dismount. Fanny was ready and\r
+waiting, and Mrs. Norris was beginning to scold her for not being gone,\r
+and still no horse was announced, no Edmund appeared. To avoid her aunt,\r
+and look for him, she went out.\r
+\r
+The houses, though scarcely half a mile apart, were not within sight of\r
+each other; but, by walking fifty yards from the hall door, she could\r
+look down the park, and command a view of the Parsonage and all its\r
+demesnes, gently rising beyond the village road; and in Dr. Grant's\r
+meadow she immediately saw the group--Edmund and Miss Crawford both on\r
+horse-back, riding side by side, Dr. and Mrs. Grant, and Mr. Crawford,\r
+with two or three grooms, standing about and looking on. A happy party\r
+it appeared to her, all interested in one object: cheerful beyond a\r
+doubt, for the sound of merriment ascended even to her. It was a sound\r
+which did not make _her_ cheerful; she wondered that Edmund should\r
+forget her, and felt a pang. She could not turn her eyes from the\r
+meadow; she could not help watching all that passed. At first Miss\r
+Crawford and her companion made the circuit of the field, which was not\r
+small, at a foot's pace; then, at _her_ apparent suggestion, they rose\r
+into a canter; and to Fanny's timid nature it was most astonishing to\r
+see how well she sat. After a few minutes they stopped entirely. Edmund\r
+was close to her; he was speaking to her; he was evidently directing her\r
+management of the bridle; he had hold of her hand; she saw it, or the\r
+imagination supplied what the eye could not reach. She must not wonder\r
+at all this; what could be more natural than that Edmund should be\r
+making himself useful, and proving his good-nature by any one? She could\r
+not but think, indeed, that Mr. Crawford might as well have saved him\r
+the trouble; that it would have been particularly proper and becoming\r
+in a brother to have done it himself; but Mr. Crawford, with all his\r
+boasted good-nature, and all his coachmanship, probably knew nothing\r
+of the matter, and had no active kindness in comparison of Edmund. She\r
+began to think it rather hard upon the mare to have such double duty; if\r
+she were forgotten, the poor mare should be remembered.\r
+\r
+Her feelings for one and the other were soon a little tranquillised\r
+by seeing the party in the meadow disperse, and Miss Crawford still on\r
+horseback, but attended by Edmund on foot, pass through a gate into the\r
+lane, and so into the park, and make towards the spot where she stood.\r
+She began then to be afraid of appearing rude and impatient; and walked\r
+to meet them with a great anxiety to avoid the suspicion.\r
+\r
+"My dear Miss Price," said Miss Crawford, as soon as she was at all\r
+within hearing, "I am come to make my own apologies for keeping you\r
+waiting; but I have nothing in the world to say for myself--I knew it\r
+was very late, and that I was behaving extremely ill; and therefore, if\r
+you please, you must forgive me. Selfishness must always be forgiven,\r
+you know, because there is no hope of a cure."\r
+\r
+Fanny's answer was extremely civil, and Edmund added his conviction that\r
+she could be in no hurry. "For there is more than time enough for my\r
+cousin to ride twice as far as she ever goes," said he, "and you have\r
+been promoting her comfort by preventing her from setting off half an\r
+hour sooner: clouds are now coming up, and she will not suffer from the\r
+heat as she would have done then. I wish _you_ may not be fatigued by so\r
+much exercise. I wish you had saved yourself this walk home."\r
+\r
+"No part of it fatigues me but getting off this horse, I assure you,"\r
+said she, as she sprang down with his help; "I am very strong. Nothing\r
+ever fatigues me but doing what I do not like. Miss Price, I give way to\r
+you with a very bad grace; but I sincerely hope you will have a pleasant\r
+ride, and that I may have nothing but good to hear of this dear,\r
+delightful, beautiful animal."\r
+\r
+The old coachman, who had been waiting about with his own horse, now\r
+joining them, Fanny was lifted on hers, and they set off across another\r
+part of the park; her feelings of discomfort not lightened by seeing, as\r
+she looked back, that the others were walking down the hill together to\r
+the village; nor did her attendant do her much good by his comments on\r
+Miss Crawford's great cleverness as a horse-woman, which he had been\r
+watching with an interest almost equal to her own.\r
+\r
+"It is a pleasure to see a lady with such a good heart for riding!"\r
+said he. "I never see one sit a horse better. She did not seem to have\r
+a thought of fear. Very different from you, miss, when you first began,\r
+six years ago come next Easter. Lord bless you! how you did tremble when\r
+Sir Thomas first had you put on!"\r
+\r
+In the drawing-room Miss Crawford was also celebrated. Her merit in\r
+being gifted by Nature with strength and courage was fully appreciated\r
+by the Miss Bertrams; her delight in riding was like their own; her\r
+early excellence in it was like their own, and they had great pleasure\r
+in praising it.\r
+\r
+"I was sure she would ride well," said Julia; "she has the make for it.\r
+Her figure is as neat as her brother's."\r
+\r
+"Yes," added Maria, "and her spirits are as good, and she has the same\r
+energy of character. I cannot but think that good horsemanship has a\r
+great deal to do with the mind."\r
+\r
+When they parted at night Edmund asked Fanny whether she meant to ride\r
+the next day.\r
+\r
+"No, I do not know--not if you want the mare," was her answer.\r
+\r
+"I do not want her at all for myself," said he; "but whenever you are\r
+next inclined to stay at home, I think Miss Crawford would be glad to\r
+have her a longer time--for a whole morning, in short. She has a great\r
+desire to get as far as Mansfield Common: Mrs. Grant has been telling\r
+her of its fine views, and I have no doubt of her being perfectly equal\r
+to it. But any morning will do for this. She would be extremely sorry to\r
+interfere with you. It would be very wrong if she did. _She_ rides only\r
+for pleasure; _you_ for health."\r
+\r
+"I shall not ride to-morrow, certainly," said Fanny; "I have been out\r
+very often lately, and would rather stay at home. You know I am strong\r
+enough now to walk very well."\r
+\r
+Edmund looked pleased, which must be Fanny's comfort, and the ride to\r
+Mansfield Common took place the next morning: the party included all the\r
+young people but herself, and was much enjoyed at the time, and doubly\r
+enjoyed again in the evening discussion. A successful scheme of this\r
+sort generally brings on another; and the having been to Mansfield\r
+Common disposed them all for going somewhere else the day after. There\r
+were many other views to be shewn; and though the weather was hot, there\r
+were shady lanes wherever they wanted to go. A young party is always\r
+provided with a shady lane. Four fine mornings successively were spent\r
+in this manner, in shewing the Crawfords the country, and doing the\r
+honours of its finest spots. Everything answered; it was all gaiety and\r
+good-humour, the heat only supplying inconvenience enough to be talked\r
+of with pleasure--till the fourth day, when the happiness of one of\r
+the party was exceedingly clouded. Miss Bertram was the one. Edmund and\r
+Julia were invited to dine at the Parsonage, and _she_ was excluded.\r
+It was meant and done by Mrs. Grant, with perfect good-humour, on Mr.\r
+Rushworth's account, who was partly expected at the Park that day;\r
+but it was felt as a very grievous injury, and her good manners were\r
+severely taxed to conceal her vexation and anger till she reached home.\r
+As Mr. Rushworth did _not_ come, the injury was increased, and she had\r
+not even the relief of shewing her power over him; she could only be\r
+sullen to her mother, aunt, and cousin, and throw as great a gloom as\r
+possible over their dinner and dessert.\r
+\r
+Between ten and eleven Edmund and Julia walked into the drawing-room,\r
+fresh with the evening air, glowing and cheerful, the very reverse\r
+of what they found in the three ladies sitting there, for Maria would\r
+scarcely raise her eyes from her book, and Lady Bertram was half-asleep;\r
+and even Mrs. Norris, discomposed by her niece's ill-humour, and having\r
+asked one or two questions about the dinner, which were not immediately\r
+attended to, seemed almost determined to say no more. For a few minutes\r
+the brother and sister were too eager in their praise of the night and\r
+their remarks on the stars, to think beyond themselves; but when the\r
+first pause came, Edmund, looking around, said, "But where is Fanny? Is\r
+she gone to bed?"\r
+\r
+"No, not that I know of," replied Mrs. Norris; "she was here a moment\r
+ago."\r
+\r
+Her own gentle voice speaking from the other end of the room, which was\r
+a very long one, told them that she was on the sofa. Mrs. Norris began\r
+scolding.\r
+\r
+"That is a very foolish trick, Fanny, to be idling away all the evening\r
+upon a sofa. Why cannot you come and sit here, and employ yourself as\r
+_we_ do? If you have no work of your own, I can supply you from the\r
+poor basket. There is all the new calico, that was bought last week,\r
+not touched yet. I am sure I almost broke my back by cutting it out. You\r
+should learn to think of other people; and, take my word for it, it is a\r
+shocking trick for a young person to be always lolling upon a sofa."\r
+\r
+Before half this was said, Fanny was returned to her seat at the table,\r
+and had taken up her work again; and Julia, who was in high good-humour,\r
+from the pleasures of the day, did her the justice of exclaiming, "I\r
+must say, ma'am, that Fanny is as little upon the sofa as anybody in the\r
+house."\r
+\r
+"Fanny," said Edmund, after looking at her attentively, "I am sure you\r
+have the headache."\r
+\r
+She could not deny it, but said it was not very bad.\r
+\r
+"I can hardly believe you," he replied; "I know your looks too well. How\r
+long have you had it?"\r
+\r
+"Since a little before dinner. It is nothing but the heat."\r
+\r
+"Did you go out in the heat?"\r
+\r
+"Go out! to be sure she did," said Mrs. Norris: "would you have her stay\r
+within such a fine day as this? Were not we _all_ out? Even your mother\r
+was out to-day for above an hour."\r
+\r
+"Yes, indeed, Edmund," added her ladyship, who had been thoroughly\r
+awakened by Mrs. Norris's sharp reprimand to Fanny; "I was out above an\r
+hour. I sat three-quarters of an hour in the flower-garden, while Fanny\r
+cut the roses; and very pleasant it was, I assure you, but very hot. It\r
+was shady enough in the alcove, but I declare I quite dreaded the coming\r
+home again."\r
+\r
+"Fanny has been cutting roses, has she?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, and I am afraid they will be the last this year. Poor thing! _She_\r
+found it hot enough; but they were so full-blown that one could not\r
+wait."\r
+\r
+"There was no help for it, certainly," rejoined Mrs. Norris, in a rather\r
+softened voice; "but I question whether her headache might not be caught\r
+_then_, sister. There is nothing so likely to give it as standing and\r
+stooping in a hot sun; but I dare say it will be well to-morrow. Suppose\r
+you let her have your aromatic vinegar; I always forget to have mine\r
+filled."\r
+\r
+"She has got it," said Lady Bertram; "she has had it ever since she came\r
+back from your house the second time."\r
+\r
+"What!" cried Edmund; "has she been walking as well as cutting roses;\r
+walking across the hot park to your house, and doing it twice, ma'am? No\r
+wonder her head aches."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was talking to Julia, and did not hear.\r
+\r
+"I was afraid it would be too much for her," said Lady Bertram; "but\r
+when the roses were gathered, your aunt wished to have them, and then\r
+you know they must be taken home."\r
+\r
+"But were there roses enough to oblige her to go twice?"\r
+\r
+"No; but they were to be put into the spare room to dry; and, unluckily,\r
+Fanny forgot to lock the door of the room and bring away the key, so she\r
+was obliged to go again."\r
+\r
+Edmund got up and walked about the room, saying, "And could nobody be\r
+employed on such an errand but Fanny? Upon my word, ma'am, it has been a\r
+very ill-managed business."\r
+\r
+"I am sure I do not know how it was to have been done better," cried\r
+Mrs. Norris, unable to be longer deaf; "unless I had gone myself,\r
+indeed; but I cannot be in two places at once; and I was talking to Mr.\r
+Green at that very time about your mother's dairymaid, by _her_ desire,\r
+and had promised John Groom to write to Mrs. Jefferies about his son,\r
+and the poor fellow was waiting for me half an hour. I think nobody\r
+can justly accuse me of sparing myself upon any occasion, but really I\r
+cannot do everything at once. And as for Fanny's just stepping down\r
+to my house for me--it is not much above a quarter of a mile--I cannot\r
+think I was unreasonable to ask it. How often do I pace it three times a\r
+day, early and late, ay, and in all weathers too, and say nothing about\r
+it?"\r
+\r
+"I wish Fanny had half your strength, ma'am."\r
+\r
+"If Fanny would be more regular in her exercise, she would not be\r
+knocked up so soon. She has not been out on horseback now this long\r
+while, and I am persuaded that, when she does not ride, she ought to\r
+walk. If she had been riding before, I should not have asked it of her.\r
+But I thought it would rather do her good after being stooping among the\r
+roses; for there is nothing so refreshing as a walk after a fatigue\r
+of that kind; and though the sun was strong, it was not so very hot.\r
+Between ourselves, Edmund," nodding significantly at his mother, "it was\r
+cutting the roses, and dawdling about in the flower-garden, that did the\r
+mischief."\r
+\r
+"I am afraid it was, indeed," said the more candid Lady Bertram, who had\r
+overheard her; "I am very much afraid she caught the headache there,\r
+for the heat was enough to kill anybody. It was as much as I could bear\r
+myself. Sitting and calling to Pug, and trying to keep him from the\r
+flower-beds, was almost too much for me."\r
+\r
+Edmund said no more to either lady; but going quietly to another table,\r
+on which the supper-tray yet remained, brought a glass of Madeira to\r
+Fanny, and obliged her to drink the greater part. She wished to be able\r
+to decline it; but the tears, which a variety of feelings created, made\r
+it easier to swallow than to speak.\r
+\r
+Vexed as Edmund was with his mother and aunt, he was still more angry\r
+with himself. His own forgetfulness of her was worse than anything which\r
+they had done. Nothing of this would have happened had she been properly\r
+considered; but she had been left four days together without any choice\r
+of companions or exercise, and without any excuse for avoiding whatever\r
+her unreasonable aunts might require. He was ashamed to think that\r
+for four days together she had not had the power of riding, and very\r
+seriously resolved, however unwilling he must be to check a pleasure of\r
+Miss Crawford's, that it should never happen again.\r
+\r
+Fanny went to bed with her heart as full as on the first evening of her\r
+arrival at the Park. The state of her spirits had probably had its\r
+share in her indisposition; for she had been feeling neglected, and been\r
+struggling against discontent and envy for some days past. As she leant\r
+on the sofa, to which she had retreated that she might not be seen, the\r
+pain of her mind had been much beyond that in her head; and the sudden\r
+change which Edmund's kindness had then occasioned, made her hardly know\r
+how to support herself.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER VIII\r
+\r
+Fanny's rides recommenced the very next day; and as it was a pleasant\r
+fresh-feeling morning, less hot than the weather had lately been, Edmund\r
+trusted that her losses, both of health and pleasure, would be soon made\r
+good. While she was gone Mr. Rushworth arrived, escorting his mother,\r
+who came to be civil and to shew her civility especially, in urging the\r
+execution of the plan for visiting Sotherton, which had been started a\r
+fortnight before, and which, in consequence of her subsequent absence\r
+from home, had since lain dormant. Mrs. Norris and her nieces were all\r
+well pleased with its revival, and an early day was named and agreed\r
+to, provided Mr. Crawford should be disengaged: the young ladies did\r
+not forget that stipulation, and though Mrs. Norris would willingly have\r
+answered for his being so, they would neither authorise the liberty nor\r
+run the risk; and at last, on a hint from Miss Bertram, Mr. Rushworth\r
+discovered that the properest thing to be done was for him to walk down\r
+to the Parsonage directly, and call on Mr. Crawford, and inquire whether\r
+Wednesday would suit him or not.\r
+\r
+Before his return Mrs. Grant and Miss Crawford came in. Having been out\r
+some time, and taken a different route to the house, they had not met\r
+him. Comfortable hopes, however, were given that he would find Mr.\r
+Crawford at home. The Sotherton scheme was mentioned of course. It was\r
+hardly possible, indeed, that anything else should be talked of,\r
+for Mrs. Norris was in high spirits about it; and Mrs. Rushworth, a\r
+well-meaning, civil, prosing, pompous woman, who thought nothing of\r
+consequence, but as it related to her own and her son's concerns,\r
+had not yet given over pressing Lady Bertram to be of the party. Lady\r
+Bertram constantly declined it; but her placid manner of refusal made\r
+Mrs. Rushworth still think she wished to come, till Mrs. Norris's more\r
+numerous words and louder tone convinced her of the truth.\r
+\r
+"The fatigue would be too much for my sister, a great deal too much, I\r
+assure you, my dear Mrs. Rushworth. Ten miles there, and ten back, you\r
+know. You must excuse my sister on this occasion, and accept of our\r
+two dear girls and myself without her. Sotherton is the only place that\r
+could give her a _wish_ to go so far, but it cannot be, indeed. She will\r
+have a companion in Fanny Price, you know, so it will all do very well;\r
+and as for Edmund, as he is not here to speak for himself, I will answer\r
+for his being most happy to join the party. He can go on horseback, you\r
+know."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth being obliged to yield to Lady Bertram's staying at home,\r
+could only be sorry. "The loss of her ladyship's company would be a\r
+great drawback, and she should have been extremely happy to have seen\r
+the young lady too, Miss Price, who had never been at Sotherton yet, and\r
+it was a pity she should not see the place."\r
+\r
+"You are very kind, you are all kindness, my dear madam," cried Mrs.\r
+Norris; "but as to Fanny, she will have opportunities in plenty of\r
+seeing Sotherton. She has time enough before her; and her going now is\r
+quite out of the question. Lady Bertram could not possibly spare her."\r
+\r
+"Oh no! I cannot do without Fanny."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth proceeded next, under the conviction that everybody must\r
+be wanting to see Sotherton, to include Miss Crawford in the invitation;\r
+and though Mrs. Grant, who had not been at the trouble of visiting Mrs.\r
+Rushworth, on her coming into the neighbourhood, civilly declined it on\r
+her own account, she was glad to secure any pleasure for her sister;\r
+and Mary, properly pressed and persuaded, was not long in accepting\r
+her share of the civility. Mr. Rushworth came back from the Parsonage\r
+successful; and Edmund made his appearance just in time to learn\r
+what had been settled for Wednesday, to attend Mrs. Rushworth to her\r
+carriage, and walk half-way down the park with the two other ladies.\r
+\r
+On his return to the breakfast-room, he found Mrs. Norris trying to\r
+make up her mind as to whether Miss Crawford's being of the party were\r
+desirable or not, or whether her brother's barouche would not be full\r
+without her. The Miss Bertrams laughed at the idea, assuring her that\r
+the barouche would hold four perfectly well, independent of the box, on\r
+which _one_ might go with him.\r
+\r
+"But why is it necessary," said Edmund, "that Crawford's carriage, or\r
+his _only_, should be employed? Why is no use to be made of my mother's\r
+chaise? I could not, when the scheme was first mentioned the other\r
+day, understand why a visit from the family were not to be made in the\r
+carriage of the family."\r
+\r
+"What!" cried Julia: "go boxed up three in a postchaise in this weather,\r
+when we may have seats in a barouche! No, my dear Edmund, that will not\r
+quite do."\r
+\r
+"Besides," said Maria, "I know that Mr. Crawford depends upon taking us.\r
+After what passed at first, he would claim it as a promise."\r
+\r
+"And, my dear Edmund," added Mrs. Norris, "taking out _two_ carriages\r
+when _one_ will do, would be trouble for nothing; and, between\r
+ourselves, coachman is not very fond of the roads between this and\r
+Sotherton: he always complains bitterly of the narrow lanes scratching\r
+his carriage, and you know one should not like to have dear Sir Thomas,\r
+when he comes home, find all the varnish scratched off."\r
+\r
+"That would not be a very handsome reason for using Mr. Crawford's,"\r
+said Maria; "but the truth is, that Wilcox is a stupid old fellow, and\r
+does not know how to drive. I will answer for it that we shall find no\r
+inconvenience from narrow roads on Wednesday."\r
+\r
+"There is no hardship, I suppose, nothing unpleasant," said Edmund, "in\r
+going on the barouche box."\r
+\r
+"Unpleasant!" cried Maria: "oh dear! I believe it would be generally\r
+thought the favourite seat. There can be no comparison as to one's view\r
+of the country. Probably Miss Crawford will choose the barouche-box\r
+herself."\r
+\r
+"There can be no objection, then, to Fanny's going with you; there can\r
+be no doubt of your having room for her."\r
+\r
+"Fanny!" repeated Mrs. Norris; "my dear Edmund, there is no idea of her\r
+going with us. She stays with her aunt. I told Mrs. Rushworth so. She is\r
+not expected."\r
+\r
+"You can have no reason, I imagine, madam," said he, addressing his\r
+mother, "for wishing Fanny _not_ to be of the party, but as it relates\r
+to yourself, to your own comfort. If you could do without her, you would\r
+not wish to keep her at home?"\r
+\r
+"To be sure not, but I _cannot_ do without her."\r
+\r
+"You can, if I stay at home with you, as I mean to do."\r
+\r
+There was a general cry out at this. "Yes," he continued, "there is no\r
+necessity for my going, and I mean to stay at home. Fanny has a great\r
+desire to see Sotherton. I know she wishes it very much. She has not\r
+often a gratification of the kind, and I am sure, ma'am, you would be\r
+glad to give her the pleasure now?"\r
+\r
+"Oh yes! very glad, if your aunt sees no objection."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was very ready with the only objection which could\r
+remain--their having positively assured Mrs. Rushworth that Fanny could\r
+not go, and the very strange appearance there would consequently be in\r
+taking her, which seemed to her a difficulty quite impossible to be got\r
+over. It must have the strangest appearance! It would be something so\r
+very unceremonious, so bordering on disrespect for Mrs. Rushworth, whose\r
+own manners were such a pattern of good-breeding and attention, that she\r
+really did not feel equal to it. Mrs. Norris had no affection for Fanny,\r
+and no wish of procuring her pleasure at any time; but her opposition to\r
+Edmund _now_, arose more from partiality for her own scheme, because it\r
+_was_ her own, than from anything else. She felt that she had arranged\r
+everything extremely well, and that any alteration must be for the\r
+worse. When Edmund, therefore, told her in reply, as he did when she\r
+would give him the hearing, that she need not distress herself on Mrs.\r
+Rushworth's account, because he had taken the opportunity, as he walked\r
+with her through the hall, of mentioning Miss Price as one who would\r
+probably be of the party, and had directly received a very sufficient\r
+invitation for his cousin, Mrs. Norris was too much vexed to submit with\r
+a very good grace, and would only say, "Very well, very well, just as\r
+you chuse, settle it your own way, I am sure I do not care about it."\r
+\r
+"It seems very odd," said Maria, "that you should be staying at home\r
+instead of Fanny."\r
+\r
+"I am sure she ought to be very much obliged to you," added Julia,\r
+hastily leaving the room as she spoke, from a consciousness that she\r
+ought to offer to stay at home herself.\r
+\r
+"Fanny will feel quite as grateful as the occasion requires," was\r
+Edmund's only reply, and the subject dropt.\r
+\r
+Fanny's gratitude, when she heard the plan, was, in fact, much greater\r
+than her pleasure. She felt Edmund's kindness with all, and more than\r
+all, the sensibility which he, unsuspicious of her fond attachment,\r
+could be aware of; but that he should forego any enjoyment on her\r
+account gave her pain, and her own satisfaction in seeing Sotherton\r
+would be nothing without him.\r
+\r
+The next meeting of the two Mansfield families produced another\r
+alteration in the plan, and one that was admitted with general\r
+approbation. Mrs. Grant offered herself as companion for the day to Lady\r
+Bertram in lieu of her son, and Dr. Grant was to join them at dinner.\r
+Lady Bertram was very well pleased to have it so, and the young ladies\r
+were in spirits again. Even Edmund was very thankful for an arrangement\r
+which restored him to his share of the party; and Mrs. Norris thought it\r
+an excellent plan, and had it at her tongue's end, and was on the point\r
+of proposing it, when Mrs. Grant spoke.\r
+\r
+Wednesday was fine, and soon after breakfast the barouche arrived, Mr.\r
+Crawford driving his sisters; and as everybody was ready, there was\r
+nothing to be done but for Mrs. Grant to alight and the others to take\r
+their places. The place of all places, the envied seat, the post of\r
+honour, was unappropriated. To whose happy lot was it to fall? While\r
+each of the Miss Bertrams were meditating how best, and with the most\r
+appearance of obliging the others, to secure it, the matter was settled\r
+by Mrs. Grant's saying, as she stepped from the carriage, "As there are\r
+five of you, it will be better that one should sit with Henry; and as\r
+you were saying lately that you wished you could drive, Julia, I think\r
+this will be a good opportunity for you to take a lesson."\r
+\r
+Happy Julia! Unhappy Maria! The former was on the barouche-box in a\r
+moment, the latter took her seat within, in gloom and mortification; and\r
+the carriage drove off amid the good wishes of the two remaining ladies,\r
+and the barking of Pug in his mistress's arms.\r
+\r
+Their road was through a pleasant country; and Fanny, whose rides had\r
+never been extensive, was soon beyond her knowledge, and was very happy\r
+in observing all that was new, and admiring all that was pretty. She was\r
+not often invited to join in the conversation of the others, nor did\r
+she desire it. Her own thoughts and reflections were habitually her\r
+best companions; and, in observing the appearance of the country, the\r
+bearings of the roads, the difference of soil, the state of the harvest,\r
+the cottages, the cattle, the children, she found entertainment that\r
+could only have been heightened by having Edmund to speak to of what she\r
+felt. That was the only point of resemblance between her and the lady\r
+who sat by her: in everything but a value for Edmund, Miss Crawford was\r
+very unlike her. She had none of Fanny's delicacy of taste, of mind, of\r
+feeling; she saw Nature, inanimate Nature, with little observation;\r
+her attention was all for men and women, her talents for the light\r
+and lively. In looking back after Edmund, however, when there was any\r
+stretch of road behind them, or when he gained on them in ascending a\r
+considerable hill, they were united, and a "there he is" broke at the\r
+same moment from them both, more than once.\r
+\r
+For the first seven miles Miss Bertram had very little real comfort:\r
+her prospect always ended in Mr. Crawford and her sister sitting side by\r
+side, full of conversation and merriment; and to see only his expressive\r
+profile as he turned with a smile to Julia, or to catch the laugh of\r
+the other, was a perpetual source of irritation, which her own sense\r
+of propriety could but just smooth over. When Julia looked back, it was\r
+with a countenance of delight, and whenever she spoke to them, it was in\r
+the highest spirits: "her view of the country was charming, she wished\r
+they could all see it," etc.; but her only offer of exchange was\r
+addressed to Miss Crawford, as they gained the summit of a long hill,\r
+and was not more inviting than this: "Here is a fine burst of country. I\r
+wish you had my seat, but I dare say you will not take it, let me press\r
+you ever so much;" and Miss Crawford could hardly answer before they\r
+were moving again at a good pace.\r
+\r
+When they came within the influence of Sotherton associations, it was\r
+better for Miss Bertram, who might be said to have two strings to her\r
+bow. She had Rushworth feelings, and Crawford feelings, and in\r
+the vicinity of Sotherton the former had considerable effect. Mr.\r
+Rushworth's consequence was hers. She could not tell Miss Crawford that\r
+"those woods belonged to Sotherton," she could not carelessly observe\r
+that "she believed that it was now all Mr. Rushworth's property on each\r
+side of the road," without elation of heart; and it was a pleasure\r
+to increase with their approach to the capital freehold mansion,\r
+and ancient manorial residence of the family, with all its rights of\r
+court-leet and court-baron.\r
+\r
+"Now we shall have no more rough road, Miss Crawford; our difficulties\r
+are over. The rest of the way is such as it ought to be. Mr. Rushworth\r
+has made it since he succeeded to the estate. Here begins the village.\r
+Those cottages are really a disgrace. The church spire is reckoned\r
+remarkably handsome. I am glad the church is not so close to the great\r
+house as often happens in old places. The annoyance of the bells must be\r
+terrible. There is the parsonage: a tidy-looking house, and I understand\r
+the clergyman and his wife are very decent people. Those are almshouses,\r
+built by some of the family. To the right is the steward's house; he\r
+is a very respectable man. Now we are coming to the lodge-gates; but we\r
+have nearly a mile through the park still. It is not ugly, you see, at\r
+this end; there is some fine timber, but the situation of the house is\r
+dreadful. We go down hill to it for half a mile, and it is a pity, for\r
+it would not be an ill-looking place if it had a better approach."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford was not slow to admire; she pretty well guessed Miss\r
+Bertram's feelings, and made it a point of honour to promote her\r
+enjoyment to the utmost. Mrs. Norris was all delight and volubility; and\r
+even Fanny had something to say in admiration, and might be heard with\r
+complacency. Her eye was eagerly taking in everything within her reach;\r
+and after being at some pains to get a view of the house, and observing\r
+that "it was a sort of building which she could not look at but with\r
+respect," she added, "Now, where is the avenue? The house fronts the\r
+east, I perceive. The avenue, therefore, must be at the back of it. Mr.\r
+Rushworth talked of the west front."\r
+\r
+"Yes, it is exactly behind the house; begins at a little distance, and\r
+ascends for half a mile to the extremity of the grounds. You may see\r
+something of it here--something of the more distant trees. It is oak\r
+entirely."\r
+\r
+Miss Bertram could now speak with decided information of what she had\r
+known nothing about when Mr. Rushworth had asked her opinion; and her\r
+spirits were in as happy a flutter as vanity and pride could furnish,\r
+when they drove up to the spacious stone steps before the principal\r
+entrance.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER IX\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth was at the door to receive his fair lady; and the whole\r
+party were welcomed by him with due attention. In the drawing-room they\r
+were met with equal cordiality by the mother, and Miss Bertram had all\r
+the distinction with each that she could wish. After the business of\r
+arriving was over, it was first necessary to eat, and the doors were\r
+thrown open to admit them through one or two intermediate rooms into the\r
+appointed dining-parlour, where a collation was prepared with abundance\r
+and elegance. Much was said, and much was ate, and all went well. The\r
+particular object of the day was then considered. How would Mr. Crawford\r
+like, in what manner would he chuse, to take a survey of the grounds?\r
+Mr. Rushworth mentioned his curricle. Mr. Crawford suggested the greater\r
+desirableness of some carriage which might convey more than two. "To be\r
+depriving themselves of the advantage of other eyes and other judgments,\r
+might be an evil even beyond the loss of present pleasure."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth proposed that the chaise should be taken also; but this\r
+was scarcely received as an amendment: the young ladies neither smiled\r
+nor spoke. Her next proposition, of shewing the house to such of them\r
+as had not been there before, was more acceptable, for Miss Bertram\r
+was pleased to have its size displayed, and all were glad to be doing\r
+something.\r
+\r
+The whole party rose accordingly, and under Mrs. Rushworth's guidance\r
+were shewn through a number of rooms, all lofty, and many large, and\r
+amply furnished in the taste of fifty years back, with shining floors,\r
+solid mahogany, rich damask, marble, gilding, and carving, each handsome\r
+in its way. Of pictures there were abundance, and some few good, but\r
+the larger part were family portraits, no longer anything to anybody\r
+but Mrs. Rushworth, who had been at great pains to learn all that the\r
+housekeeper could teach, and was now almost equally well qualified to\r
+shew the house. On the present occasion she addressed herself chiefly to\r
+Miss Crawford and Fanny, but there was no comparison in the willingness\r
+of their attention; for Miss Crawford, who had seen scores of great\r
+houses, and cared for none of them, had only the appearance of civilly\r
+listening, while Fanny, to whom everything was almost as interesting\r
+as it was new, attended with unaffected earnestness to all that Mrs.\r
+Rushworth could relate of the family in former times, its rise and\r
+grandeur, regal visits and loyal efforts, delighted to connect anything\r
+with history already known, or warm her imagination with scenes of the\r
+past.\r
+\r
+The situation of the house excluded the possibility of much prospect\r
+from any of the rooms; and while Fanny and some of the others were\r
+attending Mrs. Rushworth, Henry Crawford was looking grave and shaking\r
+his head at the windows. Every room on the west front looked across\r
+a lawn to the beginning of the avenue immediately beyond tall iron\r
+palisades and gates.\r
+\r
+Having visited many more rooms than could be supposed to be of any\r
+other use than to contribute to the window-tax, and find employment for\r
+housemaids, "Now," said Mrs. Rushworth, "we are coming to the chapel,\r
+which properly we ought to enter from above, and look down upon; but\r
+as we are quite among friends, I will take you in this way, if you will\r
+excuse me."\r
+\r
+They entered. Fanny's imagination had prepared her for something\r
+grander than a mere spacious, oblong room, fitted up for the purpose of\r
+devotion: with nothing more striking or more solemn than the profusion\r
+of mahogany, and the crimson velvet cushions appearing over the ledge of\r
+the family gallery above. "I am disappointed," said she, in a low voice,\r
+to Edmund. "This is not my idea of a chapel. There is nothing awful\r
+here, nothing melancholy, nothing grand. Here are no aisles, no arches,\r
+no inscriptions, no banners. No banners, cousin, to be 'blown by the\r
+night wind of heaven.' No signs that a 'Scottish monarch sleeps below.'"\r
+\r
+"You forget, Fanny, how lately all this has been built, and for how\r
+confined a purpose, compared with the old chapels of castles and\r
+monasteries. It was only for the private use of the family. They have\r
+been buried, I suppose, in the parish church. _There_ you must look for\r
+the banners and the achievements."\r
+\r
+"It was foolish of me not to think of all that; but I am disappointed."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth began her relation. "This chapel was fitted up as you see\r
+it, in James the Second's time. Before that period, as I understand,\r
+the pews were only wainscot; and there is some reason to think that\r
+the linings and cushions of the pulpit and family seat were only purple\r
+cloth; but this is not quite certain. It is a handsome chapel, and was\r
+formerly in constant use both morning and evening. Prayers were always\r
+read in it by the domestic chaplain, within the memory of many; but the\r
+late Mr. Rushworth left it off."\r
+\r
+"Every generation has its improvements," said Miss Crawford, with a\r
+smile, to Edmund.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth was gone to repeat her lesson to Mr. Crawford; and\r
+Edmund, Fanny, and Miss Crawford remained in a cluster together.\r
+\r
+"It is a pity," cried Fanny, "that the custom should have been\r
+discontinued. It was a valuable part of former times. There is something\r
+in a chapel and chaplain so much in character with a great house,\r
+with one's ideas of what such a household should be! A whole family\r
+assembling regularly for the purpose of prayer is fine!"\r
+\r
+"Very fine indeed," said Miss Crawford, laughing. "It must do the heads\r
+of the family a great deal of good to force all the poor housemaids and\r
+footmen to leave business and pleasure, and say their prayers here twice\r
+a day, while they are inventing excuses themselves for staying away."\r
+\r
+"_That_ is hardly Fanny's idea of a family assembling," said Edmund. "If\r
+the master and mistress do _not_ attend themselves, there must be more\r
+harm than good in the custom."\r
+\r
+"At any rate, it is safer to leave people to their own devices on such\r
+subjects. Everybody likes to go their own way--to chuse their own time\r
+and manner of devotion. The obligation of attendance, the formality, the\r
+restraint, the length of time--altogether it is a formidable thing, and\r
+what nobody likes; and if the good people who used to kneel and gape in\r
+that gallery could have foreseen that the time would ever come when men\r
+and women might lie another ten minutes in bed, when they woke with a\r
+headache, without danger of reprobation, because chapel was missed,\r
+they would have jumped with joy and envy. Cannot you imagine with what\r
+unwilling feelings the former belles of the house of Rushworth did\r
+many a time repair to this chapel? The young Mrs. Eleanors and Mrs.\r
+Bridgets--starched up into seeming piety, but with heads full of\r
+something very different--especially if the poor chaplain were not worth\r
+looking at--and, in those days, I fancy parsons were very inferior even\r
+to what they are now."\r
+\r
+For a few moments she was unanswered. Fanny coloured and looked\r
+at Edmund, but felt too angry for speech; and he needed a little\r
+recollection before he could say, "Your lively mind can hardly be\r
+serious even on serious subjects. You have given us an amusing sketch,\r
+and human nature cannot say it was not so. We must all feel _at_ _times_\r
+the difficulty of fixing our thoughts as we could wish; but if you are\r
+supposing it a frequent thing, that is to say, a weakness grown into a\r
+habit from neglect, what could be expected from the _private_ devotions\r
+of such persons? Do you think the minds which are suffered, which\r
+are indulged in wanderings in a chapel, would be more collected in a\r
+closet?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, very likely. They would have two chances at least in their favour.\r
+There would be less to distract the attention from without, and it would\r
+not be tried so long."\r
+\r
+"The mind which does not struggle against itself under _one_\r
+circumstance, would find objects to distract it in the _other_, I\r
+believe; and the influence of the place and of example may often rouse\r
+better feelings than are begun with. The greater length of the service,\r
+however, I admit to be sometimes too hard a stretch upon the mind. One\r
+wishes it were not so; but I have not yet left Oxford long enough to\r
+forget what chapel prayers are."\r
+\r
+While this was passing, the rest of the party being scattered about the\r
+chapel, Julia called Mr. Crawford's attention to her sister, by saying,\r
+"Do look at Mr. Rushworth and Maria, standing side by side, exactly as\r
+if the ceremony were going to be performed. Have not they completely the\r
+air of it?"\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford smiled his acquiescence, and stepping forward to Maria,\r
+said, in a voice which she only could hear, "I do not like to see Miss\r
+Bertram so near the altar."\r
+\r
+Starting, the lady instinctively moved a step or two, but recovering\r
+herself in a moment, affected to laugh, and asked him, in a tone not\r
+much louder, "If he would give her away?"\r
+\r
+"I am afraid I should do it very awkwardly," was his reply, with a look\r
+of meaning.\r
+\r
+Julia, joining them at the moment, carried on the joke.\r
+\r
+"Upon my word, it is really a pity that it should not take place\r
+directly, if we had but a proper licence, for here we are altogether,\r
+and nothing in the world could be more snug and pleasant." And she\r
+talked and laughed about it with so little caution as to catch the\r
+comprehension of Mr. Rushworth and his mother, and expose her sister to\r
+the whispered gallantries of her lover, while Mrs. Rushworth spoke\r
+with proper smiles and dignity of its being a most happy event to her\r
+whenever it took place.\r
+\r
+"If Edmund were but in orders!" cried Julia, and running to where he\r
+stood with Miss Crawford and Fanny: "My dear Edmund, if you were but in\r
+orders now, you might perform the ceremony directly. How unlucky that\r
+you are not ordained; Mr. Rushworth and Maria are quite ready."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford's countenance, as Julia spoke, might have amused a\r
+disinterested observer. She looked almost aghast under the new idea she\r
+was receiving. Fanny pitied her. "How distressed she will be at what she\r
+said just now," passed across her mind.\r
+\r
+"Ordained!" said Miss Crawford; "what, are you to be a clergyman?"\r
+\r
+"Yes; I shall take orders soon after my father's return--probably at\r
+Christmas."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford, rallying her spirits, and recovering her complexion,\r
+replied only, "If I had known this before, I would have spoken of the\r
+cloth with more respect," and turned the subject.\r
+\r
+The chapel was soon afterwards left to the silence and stillness\r
+which reigned in it, with few interruptions, throughout the year. Miss\r
+Bertram, displeased with her sister, led the way, and all seemed to feel\r
+that they had been there long enough.\r
+\r
+The lower part of the house had been now entirely shewn, and Mrs.\r
+Rushworth, never weary in the cause, would have proceeded towards the\r
+principal staircase, and taken them through all the rooms above, if her\r
+son had not interposed with a doubt of there being time enough. "For\r
+if," said he, with the sort of self-evident proposition which many a\r
+clearer head does not always avoid, "we are _too_ long going over the\r
+house, we shall not have time for what is to be done out of doors. It is\r
+past two, and we are to dine at five."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth submitted; and the question of surveying the grounds,\r
+with the who and the how, was likely to be more fully agitated, and Mrs.\r
+Norris was beginning to arrange by what junction of carriages and horses\r
+most could be done, when the young people, meeting with an outward door,\r
+temptingly open on a flight of steps which led immediately to turf and\r
+shrubs, and all the sweets of pleasure-grounds, as by one impulse, one\r
+wish for air and liberty, all walked out.\r
+\r
+"Suppose we turn down here for the present," said Mrs. Rushworth,\r
+civilly taking the hint and following them. "Here are the greatest\r
+number of our plants, and here are the curious pheasants."\r
+\r
+"Query," said Mr. Crawford, looking round him, "whether we may not find\r
+something to employ us here before we go farther? I see walls of great\r
+promise. Mr. Rushworth, shall we summon a council on this lawn?"\r
+\r
+"James," said Mrs. Rushworth to her son, "I believe the wilderness\r
+will be new to all the party. The Miss Bertrams have never seen the\r
+wilderness yet."\r
+\r
+No objection was made, but for some time there seemed no inclination to\r
+move in any plan, or to any distance. All were attracted at first by the\r
+plants or the pheasants, and all dispersed about in happy independence.\r
+Mr. Crawford was the first to move forward to examine the capabilities\r
+of that end of the house. The lawn, bounded on each side by a high wall,\r
+contained beyond the first planted area a bowling-green, and beyond\r
+the bowling-green a long terrace walk, backed by iron palisades, and\r
+commanding a view over them into the tops of the trees of the wilderness\r
+immediately adjoining. It was a good spot for fault-finding. Mr.\r
+Crawford was soon followed by Miss Bertram and Mr. Rushworth; and when,\r
+after a little time, the others began to form into parties, these three\r
+were found in busy consultation on the terrace by Edmund, Miss Crawford,\r
+and Fanny, who seemed as naturally to unite, and who, after a short\r
+participation of their regrets and difficulties, left them and walked\r
+on. The remaining three, Mrs. Rushworth, Mrs. Norris, and Julia, were\r
+still far behind; for Julia, whose happy star no longer prevailed,\r
+was obliged to keep by the side of Mrs. Rushworth, and restrain her\r
+impatient feet to that lady's slow pace, while her aunt, having fallen\r
+in with the housekeeper, who was come out to feed the pheasants, was\r
+lingering behind in gossip with her. Poor Julia, the only one out of\r
+the nine not tolerably satisfied with their lot, was now in a state of\r
+complete penance, and as different from the Julia of the barouche-box as\r
+could well be imagined. The politeness which she had been brought up to\r
+practise as a duty made it impossible for her to escape; while the\r
+want of that higher species of self-command, that just consideration of\r
+others, that knowledge of her own heart, that principle of right, which\r
+had not formed any essential part of her education, made her miserable\r
+under it.\r
+\r
+"This is insufferably hot," said Miss Crawford, when they had taken one\r
+turn on the terrace, and were drawing a second time to the door in the\r
+middle which opened to the wilderness. "Shall any of us object to being\r
+comfortable? Here is a nice little wood, if one can but get into it.\r
+What happiness if the door should not be locked! but of course it is;\r
+for in these great places the gardeners are the only people who can go\r
+where they like."\r
+\r
+The door, however, proved not to be locked, and they were all agreed in\r
+turning joyfully through it, and leaving the unmitigated glare of day\r
+behind. A considerable flight of steps landed them in the wilderness,\r
+which was a planted wood of about two acres, and though chiefly of\r
+larch and laurel, and beech cut down, and though laid out with too much\r
+regularity, was darkness and shade, and natural beauty, compared with\r
+the bowling-green and the terrace. They all felt the refreshment of it,\r
+and for some time could only walk and admire. At length, after a short\r
+pause, Miss Crawford began with, "So you are to be a clergyman, Mr.\r
+Bertram. This is rather a surprise to me."\r
+\r
+"Why should it surprise you? You must suppose me designed for some\r
+profession, and might perceive that I am neither a lawyer, nor a\r
+soldier, nor a sailor."\r
+\r
+"Very true; but, in short, it had not occurred to me. And you know there\r
+is generally an uncle or a grandfather to leave a fortune to the second\r
+son."\r
+\r
+"A very praiseworthy practice," said Edmund, "but not quite universal.\r
+I am one of the exceptions, and _being_ one, must do something for\r
+myself."\r
+\r
+"But why are you to be a clergyman? I thought _that_ was always the lot\r
+of the youngest, where there were many to chuse before him."\r
+\r
+"Do you think the church itself never chosen, then?"\r
+\r
+"_Never_ is a black word. But yes, in the _never_ of conversation, which\r
+means _not_ _very_ _often_, I do think it. For what is to be done in the\r
+church? Men love to distinguish themselves, and in either of the other\r
+lines distinction may be gained, but not in the church. A clergyman is\r
+nothing."\r
+\r
+"The _nothing_ of conversation has its gradations, I hope, as well as\r
+the _never_. A clergyman cannot be high in state or fashion. He must\r
+not head mobs, or set the ton in dress. But I cannot call that situation\r
+nothing which has the charge of all that is of the first importance\r
+to mankind, individually or collectively considered, temporally and\r
+eternally, which has the guardianship of religion and morals, and\r
+consequently of the manners which result from their influence. No one\r
+here can call the _office_ nothing. If the man who holds it is so, it\r
+is by the neglect of his duty, by foregoing its just importance, and\r
+stepping out of his place to appear what he ought not to appear."\r
+\r
+"_You_ assign greater consequence to the clergyman than one has been\r
+used to hear given, or than I can quite comprehend. One does not see\r
+much of this influence and importance in society, and how can it be\r
+acquired where they are so seldom seen themselves? How can two sermons a\r
+week, even supposing them worth hearing, supposing the preacher to have\r
+the sense to prefer Blair's to his own, do all that you speak of? govern\r
+the conduct and fashion the manners of a large congregation for the rest\r
+of the week? One scarcely sees a clergyman out of his pulpit."\r
+\r
+"_You_ are speaking of London, _I_ am speaking of the nation at large."\r
+\r
+"The metropolis, I imagine, is a pretty fair sample of the rest."\r
+\r
+"Not, I should hope, of the proportion of virtue to vice throughout the\r
+kingdom. We do not look in great cities for our best morality. It is not\r
+there that respectable people of any denomination can do most good; and\r
+it certainly is not there that the influence of the clergy can be most\r
+felt. A fine preacher is followed and admired; but it is not in fine\r
+preaching only that a good clergyman will be useful in his parish and\r
+his neighbourhood, where the parish and neighbourhood are of a size\r
+capable of knowing his private character, and observing his general\r
+conduct, which in London can rarely be the case. The clergy are lost\r
+there in the crowds of their parishioners. They are known to the largest\r
+part only as preachers. And with regard to their influencing public\r
+manners, Miss Crawford must not misunderstand me, or suppose I mean to\r
+call them the arbiters of good-breeding, the regulators of refinement\r
+and courtesy, the masters of the ceremonies of life. The _manners_ I\r
+speak of might rather be called _conduct_, perhaps, the result of good\r
+principles; the effect, in short, of those doctrines which it is their\r
+duty to teach and recommend; and it will, I believe, be everywhere\r
+found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are\r
+the rest of the nation."\r
+\r
+"Certainly," said Fanny, with gentle earnestness.\r
+\r
+"There," cried Miss Crawford, "you have quite convinced Miss Price\r
+already."\r
+\r
+"I wish I could convince Miss Crawford too."\r
+\r
+"I do not think you ever will," said she, with an arch smile; "I am just\r
+as much surprised now as I was at first that you should intend to take\r
+orders. You really are fit for something better. Come, do change your\r
+mind. It is not too late. Go into the law."\r
+\r
+"Go into the law! With as much ease as I was told to go into this\r
+wilderness."\r
+\r
+"Now you are going to say something about law being the worst wilderness\r
+of the two, but I forestall you; remember, I have forestalled you."\r
+\r
+"You need not hurry when the object is only to prevent my saying a\r
+_bon_ _mot_, for there is not the least wit in my nature. I am a very\r
+matter-of-fact, plain-spoken being, and may blunder on the borders of a\r
+repartee for half an hour together without striking it out."\r
+\r
+A general silence succeeded. Each was thoughtful. Fanny made the first\r
+interruption by saying, "I wonder that I should be tired with only\r
+walking in this sweet wood; but the next time we come to a seat, if it\r
+is not disagreeable to you, I should be glad to sit down for a little\r
+while."\r
+\r
+"My dear Fanny," cried Edmund, immediately drawing her arm within his,\r
+"how thoughtless I have been! I hope you are not very tired. Perhaps,"\r
+turning to Miss Crawford, "my other companion may do me the honour of\r
+taking an arm."\r
+\r
+"Thank you, but I am not at all tired." She took it, however, as she\r
+spoke, and the gratification of having her do so, of feeling such a\r
+connexion for the first time, made him a little forgetful of Fanny.\r
+"You scarcely touch me," said he. "You do not make me of any use. What a\r
+difference in the weight of a woman's arm from that of a man! At Oxford\r
+I have been a good deal used to have a man lean on me for the length of\r
+a street, and you are only a fly in the comparison."\r
+\r
+"I am really not tired, which I almost wonder at; for we must have\r
+walked at least a mile in this wood. Do not you think we have?"\r
+\r
+"Not half a mile," was his sturdy answer; for he was not yet so much in\r
+love as to measure distance, or reckon time, with feminine lawlessness.\r
+\r
+"Oh! you do not consider how much we have wound about. We have taken\r
+such a very serpentine course, and the wood itself must be half a mile\r
+long in a straight line, for we have never seen the end of it yet since\r
+we left the first great path."\r
+\r
+"But if you remember, before we left that first great path, we saw\r
+directly to the end of it. We looked down the whole vista, and saw it\r
+closed by iron gates, and it could not have been more than a furlong in\r
+length."\r
+\r
+"Oh! I know nothing of your furlongs, but I am sure it is a very long\r
+wood, and that we have been winding in and out ever since we came into\r
+it; and therefore, when I say that we have walked a mile in it, I must\r
+speak within compass."\r
+\r
+"We have been exactly a quarter of an hour here," said Edmund, taking\r
+out his watch. "Do you think we are walking four miles an hour?"\r
+\r
+"Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too\r
+slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch."\r
+\r
+A few steps farther brought them out at the bottom of the very walk they\r
+had been talking of; and standing back, well shaded and sheltered, and\r
+looking over a ha-ha into the park, was a comfortable-sized bench, on\r
+which they all sat down.\r
+\r
+"I am afraid you are very tired, Fanny," said Edmund, observing her;\r
+"why would not you speak sooner? This will be a bad day's amusement for\r
+you if you are to be knocked up. Every sort of exercise fatigues her so\r
+soon, Miss Crawford, except riding."\r
+\r
+"How abominable in you, then, to let me engross her horse as I did all\r
+last week! I am ashamed of you and of myself, but it shall never happen\r
+again."\r
+\r
+"_Your_ attentiveness and consideration makes me more sensible of my own\r
+neglect. Fanny's interest seems in safer hands with you than with me."\r
+\r
+"That she should be tired now, however, gives me no surprise; for there\r
+is nothing in the course of one's duties so fatiguing as what we have\r
+been doing this morning: seeing a great house, dawdling from one room to\r
+another, straining one's eyes and one's attention, hearing what one does\r
+not understand, admiring what one does not care for. It is generally\r
+allowed to be the greatest bore in the world, and Miss Price has found\r
+it so, though she did not know it."\r
+\r
+"I shall soon be rested," said Fanny; "to sit in the shade on a fine\r
+day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment."\r
+\r
+After sitting a little while Miss Crawford was up again. "I must move,"\r
+said she; "resting fatigues me. I have looked across the ha-ha till I\r
+am weary. I must go and look through that iron gate at the same view,\r
+without being able to see it so well."\r
+\r
+Edmund left the seat likewise. "Now, Miss Crawford, if you will look up\r
+the walk, you will convince yourself that it cannot be half a mile long,\r
+or half half a mile."\r
+\r
+"It is an immense distance," said she; "I see _that_ with a glance."\r
+\r
+He still reasoned with her, but in vain. She would not calculate, she\r
+would not compare. She would only smile and assert. The greatest degree\r
+of rational consistency could not have been more engaging, and they\r
+talked with mutual satisfaction. At last it was agreed that they should\r
+endeavour to determine the dimensions of the wood by walking a little\r
+more about it. They would go to one end of it, in the line they were\r
+then in--for there was a straight green walk along the bottom by\r
+the side of the ha-ha--and perhaps turn a little way in some other\r
+direction, if it seemed likely to assist them, and be back in a few\r
+minutes. Fanny said she was rested, and would have moved too, but this\r
+was not suffered. Edmund urged her remaining where she was with an\r
+earnestness which she could not resist, and she was left on the bench to\r
+think with pleasure of her cousin's care, but with great regret that she\r
+was not stronger. She watched them till they had turned the corner, and\r
+listened till all sound of them had ceased.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER X\r
+\r
+A quarter of an hour, twenty minutes, passed away, and Fanny was still\r
+thinking of Edmund, Miss Crawford, and herself, without interruption\r
+from any one. She began to be surprised at being left so long, and to\r
+listen with an anxious desire of hearing their steps and their voices\r
+again. She listened, and at length she heard; she heard voices and feet\r
+approaching; but she had just satisfied herself that it was not those\r
+she wanted, when Miss Bertram, Mr. Rushworth, and Mr. Crawford issued\r
+from the same path which she had trod herself, and were before her.\r
+\r
+"Miss Price all alone" and "My dear Fanny, how comes this?" were the\r
+first salutations. She told her story. "Poor dear Fanny," cried her\r
+cousin, "how ill you have been used by them! You had better have staid\r
+with us."\r
+\r
+Then seating herself with a gentleman on each side, she resumed\r
+the conversation which had engaged them before, and discussed the\r
+possibility of improvements with much animation. Nothing was fixed\r
+on; but Henry Crawford was full of ideas and projects, and, generally\r
+speaking, whatever he proposed was immediately approved, first by her,\r
+and then by Mr. Rushworth, whose principal business seemed to be to\r
+hear the others, and who scarcely risked an original thought of his own\r
+beyond a wish that they had seen his friend Smith's place.\r
+\r
+After some minutes spent in this way, Miss Bertram, observing the iron\r
+gate, expressed a wish of passing through it into the park, that their\r
+views and their plans might be more comprehensive. It was the very thing\r
+of all others to be wished, it was the best, it was the only way of\r
+proceeding with any advantage, in Henry Crawford's opinion; and he\r
+directly saw a knoll not half a mile off, which would give them exactly\r
+the requisite command of the house. Go therefore they must to that\r
+knoll, and through that gate; but the gate was locked. Mr. Rushworth\r
+wished he had brought the key; he had been very near thinking whether he\r
+should not bring the key; he was determined he would never come without\r
+the key again; but still this did not remove the present evil. They\r
+could not get through; and as Miss Bertram's inclination for so doing\r
+did by no means lessen, it ended in Mr. Rushworth's declaring outright\r
+that he would go and fetch the key. He set off accordingly.\r
+\r
+"It is undoubtedly the best thing we can do now, as we are so far from\r
+the house already," said Mr. Crawford, when he was gone.\r
+\r
+"Yes, there is nothing else to be done. But now, sincerely, do not you\r
+find the place altogether worse than you expected?"\r
+\r
+"No, indeed, far otherwise. I find it better, grander, more complete in\r
+its style, though that style may not be the best. And to tell you the\r
+truth," speaking rather lower, "I do not think that _I_ shall ever see\r
+Sotherton again with so much pleasure as I do now. Another summer will\r
+hardly improve it to me."\r
+\r
+After a moment's embarrassment the lady replied, "You are too much a\r
+man of the world not to see with the eyes of the world. If other people\r
+think Sotherton improved, I have no doubt that you will."\r
+\r
+"I am afraid I am not quite so much the man of the world as might be\r
+good for me in some points. My feelings are not quite so evanescent, nor\r
+my memory of the past under such easy dominion as one finds to be the\r
+case with men of the world."\r
+\r
+This was followed by a short silence. Miss Bertram began again. "You\r
+seemed to enjoy your drive here very much this morning. I was glad to\r
+see you so well entertained. You and Julia were laughing the whole way."\r
+\r
+"Were we? Yes, I believe we were; but I have not the least recollection\r
+at what. Oh! I believe I was relating to her some ridiculous stories of\r
+an old Irish groom of my uncle's. Your sister loves to laugh."\r
+\r
+"You think her more light-hearted than I am?"\r
+\r
+"More easily amused," he replied; "consequently, you know," smiling,\r
+"better company. I could not have hoped to entertain you with Irish\r
+anecdotes during a ten miles' drive."\r
+\r
+"Naturally, I believe, I am as lively as Julia, but I have more to think\r
+of now."\r
+\r
+"You have, undoubtedly; and there are situations in which very high\r
+spirits would denote insensibility. Your prospects, however, are too\r
+fair to justify want of spirits. You have a very smiling scene before\r
+you."\r
+\r
+"Do you mean literally or figuratively? Literally, I conclude. Yes,\r
+certainly, the sun shines, and the park looks very cheerful. But\r
+unluckily that iron gate, that ha-ha, give me a feeling of restraint and\r
+hardship. 'I cannot get out,' as the starling said." As she spoke, and\r
+it was with expression, she walked to the gate: he followed her. "Mr.\r
+Rushworth is so long fetching this key!"\r
+\r
+"And for the world you would not get out without the key and without Mr.\r
+Rushworth's authority and protection, or I think you might with little\r
+difficulty pass round the edge of the gate, here, with my assistance;\r
+I think it might be done, if you really wished to be more at large, and\r
+could allow yourself to think it not prohibited."\r
+\r
+"Prohibited! nonsense! I certainly can get out that way, and I will.\r
+Mr. Rushworth will be here in a moment, you know; we shall not be out of\r
+sight."\r
+\r
+"Or if we are, Miss Price will be so good as to tell him that he will\r
+find us near that knoll: the grove of oak on the knoll."\r
+\r
+Fanny, feeling all this to be wrong, could not help making an effort to\r
+prevent it. "You will hurt yourself, Miss Bertram," she cried; "you will\r
+certainly hurt yourself against those spikes; you will tear your gown;\r
+you will be in danger of slipping into the ha-ha. You had better not\r
+go."\r
+\r
+Her cousin was safe on the other side while these words were spoken,\r
+and, smiling with all the good-humour of success, she said, "Thank you,\r
+my dear Fanny, but I and my gown are alive and well, and so good-bye."\r
+\r
+Fanny was again left to her solitude, and with no increase of pleasant\r
+feelings, for she was sorry for almost all that she had seen and heard,\r
+astonished at Miss Bertram, and angry with Mr. Crawford. By taking\r
+a circuitous route, and, as it appeared to her, very unreasonable\r
+direction to the knoll, they were soon beyond her eye; and for some\r
+minutes longer she remained without sight or sound of any companion.\r
+She seemed to have the little wood all to herself. She could almost\r
+have thought that Edmund and Miss Crawford had left it, but that it was\r
+impossible for Edmund to forget her so entirely.\r
+\r
+She was again roused from disagreeable musings by sudden footsteps:\r
+somebody was coming at a quick pace down the principal walk. She\r
+expected Mr. Rushworth, but it was Julia, who, hot and out of breath,\r
+and with a look of disappointment, cried out on seeing her, "Heyday!\r
+Where are the others? I thought Maria and Mr. Crawford were with you."\r
+\r
+Fanny explained.\r
+\r
+"A pretty trick, upon my word! I cannot see them anywhere," looking\r
+eagerly into the park. "But they cannot be very far off, and I think I\r
+am equal to as much as Maria, even without help."\r
+\r
+"But, Julia, Mr. Rushworth will be here in a moment with the key. Do\r
+wait for Mr. Rushworth."\r
+\r
+"Not I, indeed. I have had enough of the family for one morning. Why,\r
+child, I have but this moment escaped from his horrible mother. Such a\r
+penance as I have been enduring, while you were sitting here so composed\r
+and so happy! It might have been as well, perhaps, if you had been in my\r
+place, but you always contrive to keep out of these scrapes."\r
+\r
+This was a most unjust reflection, but Fanny could allow for it, and let\r
+it pass: Julia was vexed, and her temper was hasty; but she felt that it\r
+would not last, and therefore, taking no notice, only asked her if she\r
+had not seen Mr. Rushworth.\r
+\r
+"Yes, yes, we saw him. He was posting away as if upon life and death,\r
+and could but just spare time to tell us his errand, and where you all\r
+were."\r
+\r
+"It is a pity he should have so much trouble for nothing."\r
+\r
+"_That_ is Miss Maria's concern. I am not obliged to punish myself for\r
+_her_ sins. The mother I could not avoid, as long as my tiresome aunt\r
+was dancing about with the housekeeper, but the son I _can_ get away\r
+from."\r
+\r
+And she immediately scrambled across the fence, and walked away, not\r
+attending to Fanny's last question of whether she had seen anything of\r
+Miss Crawford and Edmund. The sort of dread in which Fanny now sat of\r
+seeing Mr. Rushworth prevented her thinking so much of their continued\r
+absence, however, as she might have done. She felt that he had been\r
+very ill-used, and was quite unhappy in having to communicate what had\r
+passed. He joined her within five minutes after Julia's exit; and\r
+though she made the best of the story, he was evidently mortified and\r
+displeased in no common degree. At first he scarcely said anything; his\r
+looks only expressed his extreme surprise and vexation, and he walked to\r
+the gate and stood there, without seeming to know what to do.\r
+\r
+"They desired me to stay--my cousin Maria charged me to say that you\r
+would find them at that knoll, or thereabouts."\r
+\r
+"I do not believe I shall go any farther," said he sullenly; "I see\r
+nothing of them. By the time I get to the knoll they may be gone\r
+somewhere else. I have had walking enough."\r
+\r
+And he sat down with a most gloomy countenance by Fanny.\r
+\r
+"I am very sorry," said she; "it is very unlucky." And she longed to be\r
+able to say something more to the purpose.\r
+\r
+After an interval of silence, "I think they might as well have staid for\r
+me," said he.\r
+\r
+"Miss Bertram thought you would follow her."\r
+\r
+"I should not have had to follow her if she had staid."\r
+\r
+This could not be denied, and Fanny was silenced. After another pause,\r
+he went on--"Pray, Miss Price, are you such a great admirer of this Mr.\r
+Crawford as some people are? For my part, I can see nothing in him."\r
+\r
+"I do not think him at all handsome."\r
+\r
+"Handsome! Nobody can call such an undersized man handsome. He is not\r
+five foot nine. I should not wonder if he is not more than five foot\r
+eight. I think he is an ill-looking fellow. In my opinion, these\r
+Crawfords are no addition at all. We did very well without them."\r
+\r
+A small sigh escaped Fanny here, and she did not know how to contradict\r
+him.\r
+\r
+"If I had made any difficulty about fetching the key, there might have\r
+been some excuse, but I went the very moment she said she wanted it."\r
+\r
+"Nothing could be more obliging than your manner, I am sure, and I dare\r
+say you walked as fast as you could; but still it is some distance, you\r
+know, from this spot to the house, quite into the house; and when people\r
+are waiting, they are bad judges of time, and every half minute seems\r
+like five."\r
+\r
+He got up and walked to the gate again, and "wished he had had the key\r
+about him at the time." Fanny thought she discerned in his standing\r
+there an indication of relenting, which encouraged her to another\r
+attempt, and she said, therefore, "It is a pity you should not join\r
+them. They expected to have a better view of the house from that part\r
+of the park, and will be thinking how it may be improved; and nothing of\r
+that sort, you know, can be settled without you."\r
+\r
+She found herself more successful in sending away than in retaining a\r
+companion. Mr. Rushworth was worked on. "Well," said he, "if you\r
+really think I had better go: it would be foolish to bring the key\r
+for nothing." And letting himself out, he walked off without farther\r
+ceremony.\r
+\r
+Fanny's thoughts were now all engrossed by the two who had left her so\r
+long ago, and getting quite impatient, she resolved to go in search\r
+of them. She followed their steps along the bottom walk, and had just\r
+turned up into another, when the voice and the laugh of Miss Crawford\r
+once more caught her ear; the sound approached, and a few more windings\r
+brought them before her. They were just returned into the wilderness\r
+from the park, to which a sidegate, not fastened, had tempted them very\r
+soon after their leaving her, and they had been across a portion of the\r
+park into the very avenue which Fanny had been hoping the whole morning\r
+to reach at last, and had been sitting down under one of the trees. This\r
+was their history. It was evident that they had been spending their time\r
+pleasantly, and were not aware of the length of their absence. Fanny's\r
+best consolation was in being assured that Edmund had wished for her\r
+very much, and that he should certainly have come back for her, had she\r
+not been tired already; but this was not quite sufficient to do away\r
+with the pain of having been left a whole hour, when he had talked of\r
+only a few minutes, nor to banish the sort of curiosity she felt to know\r
+what they had been conversing about all that time; and the result of\r
+the whole was to her disappointment and depression, as they prepared by\r
+general agreement to return to the house.\r
+\r
+On reaching the bottom of the steps to the terrace, Mrs. Rushworth\r
+and Mrs. Norris presented themselves at the top, just ready for the\r
+wilderness, at the end of an hour and a half from their leaving the\r
+house. Mrs. Norris had been too well employed to move faster. Whatever\r
+cross-accidents had occurred to intercept the pleasures of her nieces,\r
+she had found a morning of complete enjoyment; for the housekeeper,\r
+after a great many courtesies on the subject of pheasants, had taken her\r
+to the dairy, told her all about their cows, and given her the receipt\r
+for a famous cream cheese; and since Julia's leaving them they had\r
+been met by the gardener, with whom she had made a most satisfactory\r
+acquaintance, for she had set him right as to his grandson's illness,\r
+convinced him that it was an ague, and promised him a charm for it; and\r
+he, in return, had shewn her all his choicest nursery of plants, and\r
+actually presented her with a very curious specimen of heath.\r
+\r
+On this _rencontre_ they all returned to the house together, there\r
+to lounge away the time as they could with sofas, and chit-chat, and\r
+Quarterly Reviews, till the return of the others, and the arrival of\r
+dinner. It was late before the Miss Bertrams and the two gentlemen came\r
+in, and their ramble did not appear to have been more than partially\r
+agreeable, or at all productive of anything useful with regard to the\r
+object of the day. By their own accounts they had been all walking after\r
+each other, and the junction which had taken place at last seemed, to\r
+Fanny's observation, to have been as much too late for re-establishing\r
+harmony, as it confessedly had been for determining on any alteration.\r
+She felt, as she looked at Julia and Mr. Rushworth, that hers was not\r
+the only dissatisfied bosom amongst them: there was gloom on the face of\r
+each. Mr. Crawford and Miss Bertram were much more gay, and she thought\r
+that he was taking particular pains, during dinner, to do away any\r
+little resentment of the other two, and restore general good-humour.\r
+\r
+Dinner was soon followed by tea and coffee, a ten miles' drive home\r
+allowed no waste of hours; and from the time of their sitting down to\r
+table, it was a quick succession of busy nothings till the carriage came\r
+to the door, and Mrs. Norris, having fidgeted about, and obtained a\r
+few pheasants' eggs and a cream cheese from the housekeeper, and made\r
+abundance of civil speeches to Mrs. Rushworth, was ready to lead the\r
+way. At the same moment Mr. Crawford, approaching Julia, said, "I hope I\r
+am not to lose my companion, unless she is afraid of the evening air\r
+in so exposed a seat." The request had not been foreseen, but was very\r
+graciously received, and Julia's day was likely to end almost as well as\r
+it began. Miss Bertram had made up her mind to something different, and\r
+was a little disappointed; but her conviction of being really the\r
+one preferred comforted her under it, and enabled her to receive Mr.\r
+Rushworth's parting attentions as she ought. He was certainly better\r
+pleased to hand her into the barouche than to assist her in ascending\r
+the box, and his complacency seemed confirmed by the arrangement.\r
+\r
+"Well, Fanny, this has been a fine day for you, upon my word," said\r
+Mrs. Norris, as they drove through the park. "Nothing but pleasure from\r
+beginning to end! I am sure you ought to be very much obliged to your\r
+aunt Bertram and me for contriving to let you go. A pretty good day's\r
+amusement you have had!"\r
+\r
+Maria was just discontented enough to say directly, "I think _you_ have\r
+done pretty well yourself, ma'am. Your lap seems full of good things,\r
+and here is a basket of something between us which has been knocking my\r
+elbow unmercifully."\r
+\r
+"My dear, it is only a beautiful little heath, which that nice old\r
+gardener would make me take; but if it is in your way, I will have it in\r
+my lap directly. There, Fanny, you shall carry that parcel for me; take\r
+great care of it: do not let it fall; it is a cream cheese, just like\r
+the excellent one we had at dinner. Nothing would satisfy that good old\r
+Mrs. Whitaker, but my taking one of the cheeses. I stood out as long\r
+as I could, till the tears almost came into her eyes, and I knew it was\r
+just the sort that my sister would be delighted with. That Mrs. Whitaker\r
+is a treasure! She was quite shocked when I asked her whether wine was\r
+allowed at the second table, and she has turned away two housemaids for\r
+wearing white gowns. Take care of the cheese, Fanny. Now I can manage\r
+the other parcel and the basket very well."\r
+\r
+"What else have you been spunging?" said Maria, half-pleased that\r
+Sotherton should be so complimented.\r
+\r
+"Spunging, my dear! It is nothing but four of those beautiful pheasants'\r
+eggs, which Mrs. Whitaker would quite force upon me: she would not take\r
+a denial. She said it must be such an amusement to me, as she understood\r
+I lived quite alone, to have a few living creatures of that sort; and\r
+so to be sure it will. I shall get the dairymaid to set them under the\r
+first spare hen, and if they come to good I can have them moved to my\r
+own house and borrow a coop; and it will be a great delight to me in\r
+my lonely hours to attend to them. And if I have good luck, your mother\r
+shall have some."\r
+\r
+It was a beautiful evening, mild and still, and the drive was as\r
+pleasant as the serenity of Nature could make it; but when Mrs. Norris\r
+ceased speaking, it was altogether a silent drive to those within. Their\r
+spirits were in general exhausted; and to determine whether the day had\r
+afforded most pleasure or pain, might occupy the meditations of almost\r
+all.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XI\r
+\r
+The day at Sotherton, with all its imperfections, afforded the Miss\r
+Bertrams much more agreeable feelings than were derived from the letters\r
+from Antigua, which soon afterwards reached Mansfield. It was much\r
+pleasanter to think of Henry Crawford than of their father; and to think\r
+of their father in England again within a certain period, which these\r
+letters obliged them to do, was a most unwelcome exercise.\r
+\r
+November was the black month fixed for his return. Sir Thomas wrote of\r
+it with as much decision as experience and anxiety could authorise. His\r
+business was so nearly concluded as to justify him in proposing to take\r
+his passage in the September packet, and he consequently looked forward\r
+with the hope of being with his beloved family again early in November.\r
+\r
+Maria was more to be pitied than Julia; for to her the father brought a\r
+husband, and the return of the friend most solicitous for her happiness\r
+would unite her to the lover, on whom she had chosen that happiness\r
+should depend. It was a gloomy prospect, and all she could do was to\r
+throw a mist over it, and hope when the mist cleared away she should\r
+see something else. It would hardly be _early_ in November, there\r
+were generally delays, a bad passage or _something_; that favouring\r
+_something_ which everybody who shuts their eyes while they look, or\r
+their understandings while they reason, feels the comfort of. It would\r
+probably be the middle of November at least; the middle of November\r
+was three months off. Three months comprised thirteen weeks. Much might\r
+happen in thirteen weeks.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas would have been deeply mortified by a suspicion of half that\r
+his daughters felt on the subject of his return, and would hardly have\r
+found consolation in a knowledge of the interest it excited in the\r
+breast of another young lady. Miss Crawford, on walking up with her\r
+brother to spend the evening at Mansfield Park, heard the good news; and\r
+though seeming to have no concern in the affair beyond politeness, and\r
+to have vented all her feelings in a quiet congratulation, heard it with\r
+an attention not so easily satisfied. Mrs. Norris gave the particulars\r
+of the letters, and the subject was dropt; but after tea, as Miss\r
+Crawford was standing at an open window with Edmund and Fanny looking\r
+out on a twilight scene, while the Miss Bertrams, Mr. Rushworth,\r
+and Henry Crawford were all busy with candles at the pianoforte, she\r
+suddenly revived it by turning round towards the group, and saying, "How\r
+happy Mr. Rushworth looks! He is thinking of November."\r
+\r
+Edmund looked round at Mr. Rushworth too, but had nothing to say.\r
+\r
+"Your father's return will be a very interesting event."\r
+\r
+"It will, indeed, after such an absence; an absence not only long, but\r
+including so many dangers."\r
+\r
+"It will be the forerunner also of other interesting events: your\r
+sister's marriage, and your taking orders."\r
+\r
+"Yes."\r
+\r
+"Don't be affronted," said she, laughing, "but it does put me in mind of\r
+some of the old heathen heroes, who, after performing great exploits in\r
+a foreign land, offered sacrifices to the gods on their safe return."\r
+\r
+"There is no sacrifice in the case," replied Edmund, with a serious\r
+smile, and glancing at the pianoforte again; "it is entirely her own\r
+doing."\r
+\r
+"Oh yes I know it is. I was merely joking. She has done no more than\r
+what every young woman would do; and I have no doubt of her being\r
+extremely happy. My other sacrifice, of course, you do not understand."\r
+\r
+"My taking orders, I assure you, is quite as voluntary as Maria's\r
+marrying."\r
+\r
+"It is fortunate that your inclination and your father's convenience\r
+should accord so well. There is a very good living kept for you, I\r
+understand, hereabouts."\r
+\r
+"Which you suppose has biassed me?"\r
+\r
+"But _that_ I am sure it has not," cried Fanny.\r
+\r
+"Thank you for your good word, Fanny, but it is more than I would affirm\r
+myself. On the contrary, the knowing that there was such a provision for\r
+me probably did bias me. Nor can I think it wrong that it should. There\r
+was no natural disinclination to be overcome, and I see no reason why\r
+a man should make a worse clergyman for knowing that he will have a\r
+competence early in life. I was in safe hands. I hope I should not have\r
+been influenced myself in a wrong way, and I am sure my father was too\r
+conscientious to have allowed it. I have no doubt that I was biased, but\r
+I think it was blamelessly."\r
+\r
+"It is the same sort of thing," said Fanny, after a short pause, "as for\r
+the son of an admiral to go into the navy, or the son of a general to be\r
+in the army, and nobody sees anything wrong in that. Nobody wonders that\r
+they should prefer the line where their friends can serve them best, or\r
+suspects them to be less in earnest in it than they appear."\r
+\r
+"No, my dear Miss Price, and for reasons good. The profession, either\r
+navy or army, is its own justification. It has everything in its favour:\r
+heroism, danger, bustle, fashion. Soldiers and sailors are always\r
+acceptable in society. Nobody can wonder that men are soldiers and\r
+sailors."\r
+\r
+"But the motives of a man who takes orders with the certainty of\r
+preferment may be fairly suspected, you think?" said Edmund. "To be\r
+justified in your eyes, he must do it in the most complete uncertainty\r
+of any provision."\r
+\r
+"What! take orders without a living! No; that is madness indeed;\r
+absolute madness."\r
+\r
+"Shall I ask you how the church is to be filled, if a man is neither to\r
+take orders with a living nor without? No; for you certainly would not\r
+know what to say. But I must beg some advantage to the clergyman from\r
+your own argument. As he cannot be influenced by those feelings which\r
+you rank highly as temptation and reward to the soldier and sailor in\r
+their choice of a profession, as heroism, and noise, and fashion, are\r
+all against him, he ought to be less liable to the suspicion of wanting\r
+sincerity or good intentions in the choice of his."\r
+\r
+"Oh! no doubt he is very sincere in preferring an income ready made,\r
+to the trouble of working for one; and has the best intentions of doing\r
+nothing all the rest of his days but eat, drink, and grow fat. It is\r
+indolence, Mr. Bertram, indeed. Indolence and love of ease; a want of\r
+all laudable ambition, of taste for good company, or of inclination\r
+to take the trouble of being agreeable, which make men clergymen.\r
+A clergyman has nothing to do but be slovenly and selfish--read the\r
+newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does\r
+all the work, and the business of his own life is to dine."\r
+\r
+"There are such clergymen, no doubt, but I think they are not so common\r
+as to justify Miss Crawford in esteeming it their general character. I\r
+suspect that in this comprehensive and (may I say) commonplace censure,\r
+you are not judging from yourself, but from prejudiced persons, whose\r
+opinions you have been in the habit of hearing. It is impossible that\r
+your own observation can have given you much knowledge of the clergy.\r
+You can have been personally acquainted with very few of a set of men\r
+you condemn so conclusively. You are speaking what you have been told at\r
+your uncle's table."\r
+\r
+"I speak what appears to me the general opinion; and where an opinion\r
+is general, it is usually correct. Though _I_ have not seen much of\r
+the domestic lives of clergymen, it is seen by too many to leave any\r
+deficiency of information."\r
+\r
+"Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are\r
+condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information,\r
+or (smiling) of something else. Your uncle, and his brother admirals,\r
+perhaps knew little of clergymen beyond the chaplains whom, good or bad,\r
+they were always wishing away."\r
+\r
+"Poor William! He has met with great kindness from the chaplain of the\r
+Antwerp," was a tender apostrophe of Fanny's, very much to the purpose\r
+of her own feelings if not of the conversation.\r
+\r
+"I have been so little addicted to take my opinions from my uncle,"\r
+said Miss Crawford, "that I can hardly suppose--and since you push me so\r
+hard, I must observe, that I am not entirely without the means of seeing\r
+what clergymen are, being at this present time the guest of my own\r
+brother, Dr. Grant. And though Dr. Grant is most kind and obliging to\r
+me, and though he is really a gentleman, and, I dare say, a good scholar\r
+and clever, and often preaches good sermons, and is very respectable,\r
+_I_ see him to be an indolent, selfish _bon_ _vivant_, who must have\r
+his palate consulted in everything; who will not stir a finger for the\r
+convenience of any one; and who, moreover, if the cook makes a blunder,\r
+is out of humour with his excellent wife. To own the truth, Henry and\r
+I were partly driven out this very evening by a disappointment about a\r
+green goose, which he could not get the better of. My poor sister was\r
+forced to stay and bear it."\r
+\r
+"I do not wonder at your disapprobation, upon my word. It is a great\r
+defect of temper, made worse by a very faulty habit of self-indulgence;\r
+and to see your sister suffering from it must be exceedingly painful to\r
+such feelings as yours. Fanny, it goes against us. We cannot attempt to\r
+defend Dr. Grant."\r
+\r
+"No," replied Fanny, "but we need not give up his profession for all\r
+that; because, whatever profession Dr. Grant had chosen, he would have\r
+taken a--not a good temper into it; and as he must, either in the navy\r
+or army, have had a great many more people under his command than he\r
+has now, I think more would have been made unhappy by him as a sailor or\r
+soldier than as a clergyman. Besides, I cannot but suppose that whatever\r
+there may be to wish otherwise in Dr. Grant would have been in a greater\r
+danger of becoming worse in a more active and worldly profession, where\r
+he would have had less time and obligation--where he might have escaped\r
+that knowledge of himself, the _frequency_, at least, of that knowledge\r
+which it is impossible he should escape as he is now. A man--a sensible\r
+man like Dr. Grant, cannot be in the habit of teaching others their duty\r
+every week, cannot go to church twice every Sunday, and preach such very\r
+good sermons in so good a manner as he does, without being the better\r
+for it himself. It must make him think; and I have no doubt that he\r
+oftener endeavours to restrain himself than he would if he had been\r
+anything but a clergyman."\r
+\r
+"We cannot prove to the contrary, to be sure; but I wish you a better\r
+fate, Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness\r
+depends upon his own sermons; for though he may preach himself into a\r
+good-humour every Sunday, it will be bad enough to have him quarrelling\r
+about green geese from Monday morning till Saturday night."\r
+\r
+"I think the man who could often quarrel with Fanny," said Edmund\r
+affectionately, "must be beyond the reach of any sermons."\r
+\r
+Fanny turned farther into the window; and Miss Crawford had only time\r
+to say, in a pleasant manner, "I fancy Miss Price has been more used to\r
+deserve praise than to hear it"; when, being earnestly invited by the\r
+Miss Bertrams to join in a glee, she tripped off to the instrument,\r
+leaving Edmund looking after her in an ecstasy of admiration of all her\r
+many virtues, from her obliging manners down to her light and graceful\r
+tread.\r
+\r
+"There goes good-humour, I am sure," said he presently. "There goes a\r
+temper which would never give pain! How well she walks! and how readily\r
+she falls in with the inclination of others! joining them the moment she\r
+is asked. What a pity," he added, after an instant's reflection, "that\r
+she should have been in such hands!"\r
+\r
+Fanny agreed to it, and had the pleasure of seeing him continue at the\r
+window with her, in spite of the expected glee; and of having his eyes\r
+soon turned, like hers, towards the scene without, where all that was\r
+solemn, and soothing, and lovely, appeared in the brilliancy of an\r
+unclouded night, and the contrast of the deep shade of the woods. Fanny\r
+spoke her feelings. "Here's harmony!" said she; "here's repose! Here's\r
+what may leave all painting and all music behind, and what poetry only\r
+can attempt to describe! Here's what may tranquillise every care, and\r
+lift the heart to rapture! When I look out on such a night as this, I\r
+feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world;\r
+and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of Nature\r
+were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by\r
+contemplating such a scene."\r
+\r
+"I like to hear your enthusiasm, Fanny. It is a lovely night, and they\r
+are much to be pitied who have not been taught to feel, in some degree,\r
+as you do; who have not, at least, been given a taste for Nature in\r
+early life. They lose a great deal."\r
+\r
+"_You_ taught me to think and feel on the subject, cousin."\r
+\r
+"I had a very apt scholar. There's Arcturus looking very bright."\r
+\r
+"Yes, and the Bear. I wish I could see Cassiopeia."\r
+\r
+"We must go out on the lawn for that. Should you be afraid?"\r
+\r
+"Not in the least. It is a great while since we have had any\r
+star-gazing."\r
+\r
+"Yes; I do not know how it has happened." The glee began. "We will stay\r
+till this is finished, Fanny," said he, turning his back on the window;\r
+and as it advanced, she had the mortification of seeing him advance too,\r
+moving forward by gentle degrees towards the instrument, and when it\r
+ceased, he was close by the singers, among the most urgent in requesting\r
+to hear the glee again.\r
+\r
+Fanny sighed alone at the window till scolded away by Mrs. Norris's\r
+threats of catching cold.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XII\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was to return in November, and his eldest son had duties to\r
+call him earlier home. The approach of September brought tidings of Mr.\r
+Bertram, first in a letter to the gamekeeper and then in a letter\r
+to Edmund; and by the end of August he arrived himself, to be gay,\r
+agreeable, and gallant again as occasion served, or Miss Crawford\r
+demanded; to tell of races and Weymouth, and parties and friends, to\r
+which she might have listened six weeks before with some interest, and\r
+altogether to give her the fullest conviction, by the power of actual\r
+comparison, of her preferring his younger brother.\r
+\r
+It was very vexatious, and she was heartily sorry for it; but so it was;\r
+and so far from now meaning to marry the elder, she did not even want\r
+to attract him beyond what the simplest claims of conscious beauty\r
+required: his lengthened absence from Mansfield, without anything but\r
+pleasure in view, and his own will to consult, made it perfectly clear\r
+that he did not care about her; and his indifference was so much more\r
+than equalled by her own, that were he now to step forth the owner of\r
+Mansfield Park, the Sir Thomas complete, which he was to be in time, she\r
+did not believe she could accept him.\r
+\r
+The season and duties which brought Mr. Bertram back to Mansfield took\r
+Mr. Crawford into Norfolk. Everingham could not do without him in the\r
+beginning of September. He went for a fortnight--a fortnight of such\r
+dullness to the Miss Bertrams as ought to have put them both on their\r
+guard, and made even Julia admit, in her jealousy of her sister, the\r
+absolute necessity of distrusting his attentions, and wishing him not\r
+to return; and a fortnight of sufficient leisure, in the intervals of\r
+shooting and sleeping, to have convinced the gentleman that he ought\r
+to keep longer away, had he been more in the habit of examining his own\r
+motives, and of reflecting to what the indulgence of his idle vanity was\r
+tending; but, thoughtless and selfish from prosperity and bad example,\r
+he would not look beyond the present moment. The sisters, handsome,\r
+clever, and encouraging, were an amusement to his sated mind; and\r
+finding nothing in Norfolk to equal the social pleasures of Mansfield,\r
+he gladly returned to it at the time appointed, and was welcomed thither\r
+quite as gladly by those whom he came to trifle with further.\r
+\r
+Maria, with only Mr. Rushworth to attend to her, and doomed to the\r
+repeated details of his day's sport, good or bad, his boast of his dogs,\r
+his jealousy of his neighbours, his doubts of their qualifications,\r
+and his zeal after poachers, subjects which will not find their way to\r
+female feelings without some talent on one side or some attachment on\r
+the other, had missed Mr. Crawford grievously; and Julia, unengaged and\r
+unemployed, felt all the right of missing him much more. Each sister\r
+believed herself the favourite. Julia might be justified in so doing by\r
+the hints of Mrs. Grant, inclined to credit what she wished, and Maria\r
+by the hints of Mr. Crawford himself. Everything returned into the same\r
+channel as before his absence; his manners being to each so animated and\r
+agreeable as to lose no ground with either, and just stopping short of\r
+the consistence, the steadiness, the solicitude, and the warmth which\r
+might excite general notice.\r
+\r
+Fanny was the only one of the party who found anything to dislike; but\r
+since the day at Sotherton, she could never see Mr. Crawford with either\r
+sister without observation, and seldom without wonder or censure; and\r
+had her confidence in her own judgment been equal to her exercise of it\r
+in every other respect, had she been sure that she was seeing clearly,\r
+and judging candidly, she would probably have made some important\r
+communications to her usual confidant. As it was, however, she only\r
+hazarded a hint, and the hint was lost. "I am rather surprised," said\r
+she, "that Mr. Crawford should come back again so soon, after being here\r
+so long before, full seven weeks; for I had understood he was so\r
+very fond of change and moving about, that I thought something would\r
+certainly occur, when he was once gone, to take him elsewhere. He is\r
+used to much gayer places than Mansfield."\r
+\r
+"It is to his credit," was Edmund's answer; "and I dare say it gives his\r
+sister pleasure. She does not like his unsettled habits."\r
+\r
+"What a favourite he is with my cousins!"\r
+\r
+"Yes, his manners to women are such as must please. Mrs. Grant, I\r
+believe, suspects him of a preference for Julia; I have never seen much\r
+symptom of it, but I wish it may be so. He has no faults but what a\r
+serious attachment would remove."\r
+\r
+"If Miss Bertram were not engaged," said Fanny cautiously, "I could\r
+sometimes almost think that he admired her more than Julia."\r
+\r
+"Which is, perhaps, more in favour of his liking Julia best, than you,\r
+Fanny, may be aware; for I believe it often happens that a man, before\r
+he has quite made up his own mind, will distinguish the sister or\r
+intimate friend of the woman he is really thinking of more than the\r
+woman herself. Crawford has too much sense to stay here if he found\r
+himself in any danger from Maria; and I am not at all afraid for her,\r
+after such a proof as she has given that her feelings are not strong."\r
+\r
+Fanny supposed she must have been mistaken, and meant to think\r
+differently in future; but with all that submission to Edmund could\r
+do, and all the help of the coinciding looks and hints which she\r
+occasionally noticed in some of the others, and which seemed to say that\r
+Julia was Mr. Crawford's choice, she knew not always what to think. She\r
+was privy, one evening, to the hopes of her aunt Norris on the subject,\r
+as well as to her feelings, and the feelings of Mrs. Rushworth, on a\r
+point of some similarity, and could not help wondering as she listened;\r
+and glad would she have been not to be obliged to listen, for it was\r
+while all the other young people were dancing, and she sitting,\r
+most unwillingly, among the chaperons at the fire, longing for the\r
+re-entrance of her elder cousin, on whom all her own hopes of a partner\r
+then depended. It was Fanny's first ball, though without the preparation\r
+or splendour of many a young lady's first ball, being the thought only\r
+of the afternoon, built on the late acquisition of a violin player in\r
+the servants' hall, and the possibility of raising five couple with\r
+the help of Mrs. Grant and a new intimate friend of Mr. Bertram's just\r
+arrived on a visit. It had, however, been a very happy one to Fanny\r
+through four dances, and she was quite grieved to be losing even a\r
+quarter of an hour. While waiting and wishing, looking now at\r
+the dancers and now at the door, this dialogue between the two\r
+above-mentioned ladies was forced on her--\r
+\r
+"I think, ma'am," said Mrs. Norris, her eyes directed towards Mr.\r
+Rushworth and Maria, who were partners for the second time, "we shall\r
+see some happy faces again now."\r
+\r
+"Yes, ma'am, indeed," replied the other, with a stately simper, "there\r
+will be some satisfaction in looking on _now_, and I think it was rather\r
+a pity they should have been obliged to part. Young folks in their\r
+situation should be excused complying with the common forms. I wonder my\r
+son did not propose it."\r
+\r
+"I dare say he did, ma'am. Mr. Rushworth is never remiss. But dear Maria\r
+has such a strict sense of propriety, so much of that true delicacy\r
+which one seldom meets with nowadays, Mrs. Rushworth--that wish of\r
+avoiding particularity! Dear ma'am, only look at her face at this\r
+moment; how different from what it was the two last dances!"\r
+\r
+Miss Bertram did indeed look happy, her eyes were sparkling with\r
+pleasure, and she was speaking with great animation, for Julia and her\r
+partner, Mr. Crawford, were close to her; they were all in a cluster\r
+together. How she had looked before, Fanny could not recollect, for she\r
+had been dancing with Edmund herself, and had not thought about her.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris continued, "It is quite delightful, ma'am, to see young\r
+people so properly happy, so well suited, and so much the thing! I\r
+cannot but think of dear Sir Thomas's delight. And what do you say,\r
+ma'am, to the chance of another match? Mr. Rushworth has set a good\r
+example, and such things are very catching."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth, who saw nothing but her son, was quite at a loss.\r
+\r
+"The couple above, ma'am. Do you see no symptoms there?"\r
+\r
+"Oh dear! Miss Julia and Mr. Crawford. Yes, indeed, a very pretty match.\r
+What is his property?"\r
+\r
+"Four thousand a year."\r
+\r
+"Very well. Those who have not more must be satisfied with what they\r
+have. Four thousand a year is a pretty estate, and he seems a very\r
+genteel, steady young man, so I hope Miss Julia will be very happy."\r
+\r
+"It is not a settled thing, ma'am, yet. We only speak of it among\r
+friends. But I have very little doubt it _will_ be. He is growing\r
+extremely particular in his attentions."\r
+\r
+Fanny could listen no farther. Listening and wondering were all\r
+suspended for a time, for Mr. Bertram was in the room again; and though\r
+feeling it would be a great honour to be asked by him, she thought it\r
+must happen. He came towards their little circle; but instead of asking\r
+her to dance, drew a chair near her, and gave her an account of the\r
+present state of a sick horse, and the opinion of the groom, from\r
+whom he had just parted. Fanny found that it was not to be, and in the\r
+modesty of her nature immediately felt that she had been unreasonable\r
+in expecting it. When he had told of his horse, he took a newspaper from\r
+the table, and looking over it, said in a languid way, "If you want to\r
+dance, Fanny, I will stand up with you." With more than equal civility\r
+the offer was declined; she did not wish to dance. "I am glad of it,"\r
+said he, in a much brisker tone, and throwing down the newspaper again,\r
+"for I am tired to death. I only wonder how the good people can keep\r
+it up so long. They had need be _all_ in love, to find any amusement in\r
+such folly; and so they are, I fancy. If you look at them you may see\r
+they are so many couple of lovers--all but Yates and Mrs. Grant--and,\r
+between ourselves, she, poor woman, must want a lover as much as any one\r
+of them. A desperate dull life hers must be with the doctor," making\r
+a sly face as he spoke towards the chair of the latter, who proving,\r
+however, to be close at his elbow, made so instantaneous a change of\r
+expression and subject necessary, as Fanny, in spite of everything,\r
+could hardly help laughing at. "A strange business this in America, Dr.\r
+Grant! What is your opinion? I always come to you to know what I am to\r
+think of public matters."\r
+\r
+"My dear Tom," cried his aunt soon afterwards, "as you are not dancing,\r
+I dare say you will have no objection to join us in a rubber; shall\r
+you?" Then leaving her seat, and coming to him to enforce the proposal,\r
+added in a whisper, "We want to make a table for Mrs. Rushworth, you\r
+know. Your mother is quite anxious about it, but cannot very well spare\r
+time to sit down herself, because of her fringe. Now, you and I and Dr.\r
+Grant will just do; and though _we_ play but half-crowns, you know, you\r
+may bet half-guineas with _him_."\r
+\r
+"I should be most happy," replied he aloud, and jumping up with\r
+alacrity, "it would give me the greatest pleasure; but that I am\r
+this moment going to dance." Come, Fanny, taking her hand, "do not be\r
+dawdling any longer, or the dance will be over."\r
+\r
+Fanny was led off very willingly, though it was impossible for her to\r
+feel much gratitude towards her cousin, or distinguish, as he certainly\r
+did, between the selfishness of another person and his own.\r
+\r
+"A pretty modest request upon my word," he indignantly exclaimed as they\r
+walked away. "To want to nail me to a card-table for the next two hours\r
+with herself and Dr. Grant, who are always quarrelling, and that poking\r
+old woman, who knows no more of whist than of algebra. I wish my good\r
+aunt would be a little less busy! And to ask me in such a way too!\r
+without ceremony, before them all, so as to leave me no possibility\r
+of refusing. _That_ is what I dislike most particularly. It raises my\r
+spleen more than anything, to have the pretence of being asked, of\r
+being given a choice, and at the same time addressed in such a way as\r
+to oblige one to do the very thing, whatever it be! If I had not luckily\r
+thought of standing up with you I could not have got out of it. It is\r
+a great deal too bad. But when my aunt has got a fancy in her head,\r
+nothing can stop her."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XIII\r
+\r
+The Honourable John Yates, this new friend, had not much to recommend\r
+him beyond habits of fashion and expense, and being the younger son of\r
+a lord with a tolerable independence; and Sir Thomas would probably\r
+have thought his introduction at Mansfield by no means desirable. Mr.\r
+Bertram's acquaintance with him had begun at Weymouth, where they had\r
+spent ten days together in the same society, and the friendship, if\r
+friendship it might be called, had been proved and perfected by Mr.\r
+Yates's being invited to take Mansfield in his way, whenever he could,\r
+and by his promising to come; and he did come rather earlier than had\r
+been expected, in consequence of the sudden breaking-up of a large party\r
+assembled for gaiety at the house of another friend, which he had left\r
+Weymouth to join. He came on the wings of disappointment, and with his\r
+head full of acting, for it had been a theatrical party; and the play\r
+in which he had borne a part was within two days of representation,\r
+when the sudden death of one of the nearest connexions of the family\r
+had destroyed the scheme and dispersed the performers. To be so near\r
+happiness, so near fame, so near the long paragraph in praise of the\r
+private theatricals at Ecclesford, the seat of the Right Hon. Lord\r
+Ravenshaw, in Cornwall, which would of course have immortalised the\r
+whole party for at least a twelvemonth! and being so near, to lose\r
+it all, was an injury to be keenly felt, and Mr. Yates could talk of\r
+nothing else. Ecclesford and its theatre, with its arrangements and\r
+dresses, rehearsals and jokes, was his never-failing subject, and to\r
+boast of the past his only consolation.\r
+\r
+Happily for him, a love of the theatre is so general, an itch for acting\r
+so strong among young people, that he could hardly out-talk the interest\r
+of his hearers. From the first casting of the parts to the epilogue it\r
+was all bewitching, and there were few who did not wish to have been a\r
+party concerned, or would have hesitated to try their skill. The play\r
+had been Lovers' Vows, and Mr. Yates was to have been Count Cassel. "A\r
+trifling part," said he, "and not at all to my taste, and such a one\r
+as I certainly would not accept again; but I was determined to make no\r
+difficulties. Lord Ravenshaw and the duke had appropriated the only two\r
+characters worth playing before I reached Ecclesford; and though Lord\r
+Ravenshaw offered to resign his to me, it was impossible to take it, you\r
+know. I was sorry for _him_ that he should have so mistaken his powers,\r
+for he was no more equal to the Baron--a little man with a weak voice,\r
+always hoarse after the first ten minutes. It must have injured the\r
+piece materially; but _I_ was resolved to make no difficulties. Sir\r
+Henry thought the duke not equal to Frederick, but that was because\r
+Sir Henry wanted the part himself; whereas it was certainly in the best\r
+hands of the two. I was surprised to see Sir Henry such a stick. Luckily\r
+the strength of the piece did not depend upon him. Our Agatha was\r
+inimitable, and the duke was thought very great by many. And upon the\r
+whole, it would certainly have gone off wonderfully."\r
+\r
+"It was a hard case, upon my word"; and, "I do think you were very much\r
+to be pitied," were the kind responses of listening sympathy.\r
+\r
+"It is not worth complaining about; but to be sure the poor old dowager\r
+could not have died at a worse time; and it is impossible to help\r
+wishing that the news could have been suppressed for just the three days\r
+we wanted. It was but three days; and being only a grandmother, and all\r
+happening two hundred miles off, I think there would have been no great\r
+harm, and it was suggested, I know; but Lord Ravenshaw, who I suppose is\r
+one of the most correct men in England, would not hear of it."\r
+\r
+"An afterpiece instead of a comedy," said Mr. Bertram. "Lovers' Vows\r
+were at an end, and Lord and Lady Ravenshaw left to act My Grandmother\r
+by themselves. Well, the jointure may comfort _him_; and perhaps,\r
+between friends, he began to tremble for his credit and his lungs in the\r
+Baron, and was not sorry to withdraw; and to make _you_ amends, Yates, I\r
+think we must raise a little theatre at Mansfield, and ask you to be our\r
+manager."\r
+\r
+This, though the thought of the moment, did not end with the moment; for\r
+the inclination to act was awakened, and in no one more strongly than in\r
+him who was now master of the house; and who, having so much leisure as\r
+to make almost any novelty a certain good, had likewise such a degree of\r
+lively talents and comic taste, as were exactly adapted to the novelty\r
+of acting. The thought returned again and again. "Oh for the Ecclesford\r
+theatre and scenery to try something with." Each sister could echo the\r
+wish; and Henry Crawford, to whom, in all the riot of his gratifications\r
+it was yet an untasted pleasure, was quite alive at the idea. "I really\r
+believe," said he, "I could be fool enough at this moment to undertake\r
+any character that ever was written, from Shylock or Richard III down to\r
+the singing hero of a farce in his scarlet coat and cocked hat. I feel\r
+as if I could be anything or everything; as if I could rant and storm,\r
+or sigh or cut capers, in any tragedy or comedy in the English language.\r
+Let us be doing something. Be it only half a play, an act, a scene; what\r
+should prevent us? Not these countenances, I am sure," looking towards\r
+the Miss Bertrams; "and for a theatre, what signifies a theatre? We\r
+shall be only amusing ourselves. Any room in this house might suffice."\r
+\r
+"We must have a curtain," said Tom Bertram; "a few yards of green baize\r
+for a curtain, and perhaps that may be enough."\r
+\r
+"Oh, quite enough," cried Mr. Yates, "with only just a side wing or two\r
+run up, doors in flat, and three or four scenes to be let down; nothing\r
+more would be necessary on such a plan as this. For mere amusement among\r
+ourselves we should want nothing more."\r
+\r
+"I believe we must be satisfied with _less_," said Maria. "There would\r
+not be time, and other difficulties would arise. We must rather adopt\r
+Mr. Crawford's views, and make the _performance_, not the _theatre_, our\r
+object. Many parts of our best plays are independent of scenery."\r
+\r
+"Nay," said Edmund, who began to listen with alarm. "Let us do nothing\r
+by halves. If we are to act, let it be in a theatre completely fitted\r
+up with pit, boxes, and gallery, and let us have a play entire from\r
+beginning to end; so as it be a German play, no matter what, with a good\r
+tricking, shifting afterpiece, and a figure-dance, and a hornpipe, and a\r
+song between the acts. If we do not outdo Ecclesford, we do nothing."\r
+\r
+"Now, Edmund, do not be disagreeable," said Julia. "Nobody loves a play\r
+better than you do, or can have gone much farther to see one."\r
+\r
+"True, to see real acting, good hardened real acting; but I would hardly\r
+walk from this room to the next to look at the raw efforts of those who\r
+have not been bred to the trade: a set of gentlemen and ladies, who have\r
+all the disadvantages of education and decorum to struggle through."\r
+\r
+After a short pause, however, the subject still continued, and was\r
+discussed with unabated eagerness, every one's inclination increasing\r
+by the discussion, and a knowledge of the inclination of the rest; and\r
+though nothing was settled but that Tom Bertram would prefer a comedy,\r
+and his sisters and Henry Crawford a tragedy, and that nothing in the\r
+world could be easier than to find a piece which would please them all,\r
+the resolution to act something or other seemed so decided as to\r
+make Edmund quite uncomfortable. He was determined to prevent it, if\r
+possible, though his mother, who equally heard the conversation which\r
+passed at table, did not evince the least disapprobation.\r
+\r
+The same evening afforded him an opportunity of trying his strength.\r
+Maria, Julia, Henry Crawford, and Mr. Yates were in the billiard-room.\r
+Tom, returning from them into the drawing-room, where Edmund was\r
+standing thoughtfully by the fire, while Lady Bertram was on the sofa at\r
+a little distance, and Fanny close beside her arranging her work, thus\r
+began as he entered--"Such a horribly vile billiard-table as ours is not\r
+to be met with, I believe, above ground. I can stand it no longer, and I\r
+think, I may say, that nothing shall ever tempt me to it again; but one\r
+good thing I have just ascertained: it is the very room for a theatre,\r
+precisely the shape and length for it; and the doors at the farther\r
+end, communicating with each other, as they may be made to do in five\r
+minutes, by merely moving the bookcase in my father's room, is the very\r
+thing we could have desired, if we had sat down to wish for it; and\r
+my father's room will be an excellent greenroom. It seems to join the\r
+billiard-room on purpose."\r
+\r
+"You are not serious, Tom, in meaning to act?" said Edmund, in a low\r
+voice, as his brother approached the fire.\r
+\r
+"Not serious! never more so, I assure you. What is there to surprise you\r
+in it?"\r
+\r
+"I think it would be very wrong. In a _general_ light, private\r
+theatricals are open to some objections, but as _we_ are circumstanced,\r
+I must think it would be highly injudicious, and more than injudicious\r
+to attempt anything of the kind. It would shew great want of feeling\r
+on my father's account, absent as he is, and in some degree of constant\r
+danger; and it would be imprudent, I think, with regard to Maria, whose\r
+situation is a very delicate one, considering everything, extremely\r
+delicate."\r
+\r
+"You take up a thing so seriously! as if we were going to act three\r
+times a week till my father's return, and invite all the country. But\r
+it is not to be a display of that sort. We mean nothing but a little\r
+amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our\r
+powers in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be\r
+trusted, I think, in chusing some play most perfectly unexceptionable;\r
+and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing\r
+in the elegant written language of some respectable author than in\r
+chattering in words of our own. I have no fears and no scruples. And\r
+as to my father's being absent, it is so far from an objection, that I\r
+consider it rather as a motive; for the expectation of his return must\r
+be a very anxious period to my mother; and if we can be the means of\r
+amusing that anxiety, and keeping up her spirits for the next few weeks,\r
+I shall think our time very well spent, and so, I am sure, will he. It\r
+is a _very_ anxious period for her."\r
+\r
+As he said this, each looked towards their mother. Lady Bertram, sunk\r
+back in one corner of the sofa, the picture of health, wealth, ease,\r
+and tranquillity, was just falling into a gentle doze, while Fanny was\r
+getting through the few difficulties of her work for her.\r
+\r
+Edmund smiled and shook his head.\r
+\r
+"By Jove! this won't do," cried Tom, throwing himself into a chair with\r
+a hearty laugh. "To be sure, my dear mother, your anxiety--I was unlucky\r
+there."\r
+\r
+"What is the matter?" asked her ladyship, in the heavy tone of one\r
+half-roused; "I was not asleep."\r
+\r
+"Oh dear, no, ma'am, nobody suspected you! Well, Edmund," he continued,\r
+returning to the former subject, posture, and voice, as soon as Lady\r
+Bertram began to nod again, "but _this_ I _will_ maintain, that we shall\r
+be doing no harm."\r
+\r
+"I cannot agree with you; I am convinced that my father would totally\r
+disapprove it."\r
+\r
+"And I am convinced to the contrary. Nobody is fonder of the exercise\r
+of talent in young people, or promotes it more, than my father, and for\r
+anything of the acting, spouting, reciting kind, I think he has always a\r
+decided taste. I am sure he encouraged it in us as boys. How many a time\r
+have we mourned over the dead body of Julius Caesar, and to _be'd_ and\r
+not _to_ _be'd_, in this very room, for his amusement? And I am sure,\r
+_my_ _name_ _was_ _Norval_, every evening of my life through one\r
+Christmas holidays."\r
+\r
+"It was a very different thing. You must see the difference yourself. My\r
+father wished us, as schoolboys, to speak well, but he would never\r
+wish his grown-up daughters to be acting plays. His sense of decorum is\r
+strict."\r
+\r
+"I know all that," said Tom, displeased. "I know my father as well as\r
+you do; and I'll take care that his daughters do nothing to distress\r
+him. Manage your own concerns, Edmund, and I'll take care of the rest of\r
+the family."\r
+\r
+"If you are resolved on acting," replied the persevering Edmund, "I must\r
+hope it will be in a very small and quiet way; and I think a theatre\r
+ought not to be attempted. It would be taking liberties with my father's\r
+house in his absence which could not be justified."\r
+\r
+"For everything of that nature I will be answerable," said Tom, in a\r
+decided tone. "His house shall not be hurt. I have quite as great an\r
+interest in being careful of his house as you can have; and as to such\r
+alterations as I was suggesting just now, such as moving a bookcase, or\r
+unlocking a door, or even as using the billiard-room for the space of a\r
+week without playing at billiards in it, you might just as well suppose\r
+he would object to our sitting more in this room, and less in the\r
+breakfast-room, than we did before he went away, or to my sister's\r
+pianoforte being moved from one side of the room to the other. Absolute\r
+nonsense!"\r
+\r
+"The innovation, if not wrong as an innovation, will be wrong as an\r
+expense."\r
+\r
+"Yes, the expense of such an undertaking would be prodigious! Perhaps\r
+it might cost a whole twenty pounds. Something of a theatre we must have\r
+undoubtedly, but it will be on the simplest plan: a green curtain and a\r
+little carpenter's work, and that's all; and as the carpenter's work\r
+may be all done at home by Christopher Jackson himself, it will be\r
+too absurd to talk of expense; and as long as Jackson is employed,\r
+everything will be right with Sir Thomas. Don't imagine that nobody in\r
+this house can see or judge but yourself. Don't act yourself, if you do\r
+not like it, but don't expect to govern everybody else."\r
+\r
+"No, as to acting myself," said Edmund, "_that_ I absolutely protest\r
+against."\r
+\r
+Tom walked out of the room as he said it, and Edmund was left to sit\r
+down and stir the fire in thoughtful vexation.\r
+\r
+Fanny, who had heard it all, and borne Edmund company in every feeling\r
+throughout the whole, now ventured to say, in her anxiety to suggest\r
+some comfort, "Perhaps they may not be able to find any play to suit\r
+them. Your brother's taste and your sisters' seem very different."\r
+\r
+"I have no hope there, Fanny. If they persist in the scheme, they will\r
+find something. I shall speak to my sisters and try to dissuade _them_,\r
+and that is all I can do."\r
+\r
+"I should think my aunt Norris would be on your side."\r
+\r
+"I dare say she would, but she has no influence with either Tom or my\r
+sisters that could be of any use; and if I cannot convince them myself,\r
+I shall let things take their course, without attempting it through\r
+her. Family squabbling is the greatest evil of all, and we had better do\r
+anything than be altogether by the ears."\r
+\r
+His sisters, to whom he had an opportunity of speaking the next morning,\r
+were quite as impatient of his advice, quite as unyielding to his\r
+representation, quite as determined in the cause of pleasure, as Tom.\r
+Their mother had no objection to the plan, and they were not in the\r
+least afraid of their father's disapprobation. There could be no harm in\r
+what had been done in so many respectable families, and by so many women\r
+of the first consideration; and it must be scrupulousness run mad that\r
+could see anything to censure in a plan like theirs, comprehending only\r
+brothers and sisters and intimate friends, and which would never be\r
+heard of beyond themselves. Julia _did_ seem inclined to admit that\r
+Maria's situation might require particular caution and delicacy--but\r
+that could not extend to _her_--she was at liberty; and Maria evidently\r
+considered her engagement as only raising her so much more above\r
+restraint, and leaving her less occasion than Julia to consult either\r
+father or mother. Edmund had little to hope, but he was still urging the\r
+subject when Henry Crawford entered the room, fresh from the Parsonage,\r
+calling out, "No want of hands in our theatre, Miss Bertram. No want\r
+of understrappers: my sister desires her love, and hopes to be admitted\r
+into the company, and will be happy to take the part of any old duenna\r
+or tame confidante, that you may not like to do yourselves."\r
+\r
+Maria gave Edmund a glance, which meant, "What say you now? Can we\r
+be wrong if Mary Crawford feels the same?" And Edmund, silenced,\r
+was obliged to acknowledge that the charm of acting might well carry\r
+fascination to the mind of genius; and with the ingenuity of love, to\r
+dwell more on the obliging, accommodating purport of the message than on\r
+anything else.\r
+\r
+The scheme advanced. Opposition was vain; and as to Mrs. Norris, he\r
+was mistaken in supposing she would wish to make any. She started no\r
+difficulties that were not talked down in five minutes by her eldest\r
+nephew and niece, who were all-powerful with her; and as the whole\r
+arrangement was to bring very little expense to anybody, and none at all\r
+to herself, as she foresaw in it all the comforts of hurry, bustle,\r
+and importance, and derived the immediate advantage of fancying herself\r
+obliged to leave her own house, where she had been living a month at\r
+her own cost, and take up her abode in theirs, that every hour might be\r
+spent in their service, she was, in fact, exceedingly delighted with the\r
+project.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XIV\r
+\r
+Fanny seemed nearer being right than Edmund had supposed. The business\r
+of finding a play that would suit everybody proved to be no trifle; and\r
+the carpenter had received his orders and taken his measurements, had\r
+suggested and removed at least two sets of difficulties, and having made\r
+the necessity of an enlargement of plan and expense fully evident, was\r
+already at work, while a play was still to seek. Other preparations\r
+were also in hand. An enormous roll of green baize had arrived from\r
+Northampton, and been cut out by Mrs. Norris (with a saving by her good\r
+management of full three-quarters of a yard), and was actually forming\r
+into a curtain by the housemaids, and still the play was wanting; and\r
+as two or three days passed away in this manner, Edmund began almost to\r
+hope that none might ever be found.\r
+\r
+There were, in fact, so many things to be attended to, so many people\r
+to be pleased, so many best characters required, and, above all, such a\r
+need that the play should be at once both tragedy and comedy, that there\r
+did seem as little chance of a decision as anything pursued by youth and\r
+zeal could hold out.\r
+\r
+On the tragic side were the Miss Bertrams, Henry Crawford, and Mr.\r
+Yates; on the comic, Tom Bertram, not _quite_ alone, because it was\r
+evident that Mary Crawford's wishes, though politely kept back, inclined\r
+the same way: but his determinateness and his power seemed to make\r
+allies unnecessary; and, independent of this great irreconcilable\r
+difference, they wanted a piece containing very few characters in the\r
+whole, but every character first-rate, and three principal women. All\r
+the best plays were run over in vain. Neither Hamlet, nor Macbeth, nor\r
+Othello, nor Douglas, nor The Gamester, presented anything that could\r
+satisfy even the tragedians; and The Rivals, The School for Scandal,\r
+Wheel of Fortune, Heir at Law, and a long et cetera, were successively\r
+dismissed with yet warmer objections. No piece could be proposed that\r
+did not supply somebody with a difficulty, and on one side or the other\r
+it was a continual repetition of, "Oh no, _that_ will never do! Let us\r
+have no ranting tragedies. Too many characters. Not a tolerable\r
+woman's part in the play. Anything but _that_, my dear Tom. It would be\r
+impossible to fill it up. One could not expect anybody to take such a\r
+part. Nothing but buffoonery from beginning to end. _That_ might do,\r
+perhaps, but for the low parts. If I _must_ give my opinion, I have\r
+always thought it the most insipid play in the English language. _I_ do\r
+not wish to make objections; I shall be happy to be of any use, but I\r
+think we could not chuse worse."\r
+\r
+Fanny looked on and listened, not unamused to observe the selfishness\r
+which, more or less disguised, seemed to govern them all, and wondering\r
+how it would end. For her own gratification she could have wished that\r
+something might be acted, for she had never seen even half a play, but\r
+everything of higher consequence was against it.\r
+\r
+"This will never do," said Tom Bertram at last. "We are wasting time\r
+most abominably. Something must be fixed on. No matter what, so that\r
+something is chosen. We must not be so nice. A few characters too many\r
+must not frighten us. We must _double_ them. We must descend a little.\r
+If a part is insignificant, the greater our credit in making anything of\r
+it. From this moment I make no difficulties. I take any part you chuse\r
+to give me, so as it be comic. Let it but be comic, I condition for\r
+nothing more."\r
+\r
+For about the fifth time he then proposed the Heir at Law, doubting only\r
+whether to prefer Lord Duberley or Dr. Pangloss for himself; and very\r
+earnestly, but very unsuccessfully, trying to persuade the others that\r
+there were some fine tragic parts in the rest of the dramatis personae.\r
+\r
+The pause which followed this fruitless effort was ended by the same\r
+speaker, who, taking up one of the many volumes of plays that lay on the\r
+table, and turning it over, suddenly exclaimed--"Lovers' Vows! And why\r
+should not Lovers' Vows do for _us_ as well as for the Ravenshaws? How\r
+came it never to be thought of before? It strikes me as if it would do\r
+exactly. What say you all? Here are two capital tragic parts for Yates\r
+and Crawford, and here is the rhyming Butler for me, if nobody else\r
+wants it; a trifling part, but the sort of thing I should not dislike,\r
+and, as I said before, I am determined to take anything and do my best.\r
+And as for the rest, they may be filled up by anybody. It is only Count\r
+Cassel and Anhalt."\r
+\r
+The suggestion was generally welcome. Everybody was growing weary of\r
+indecision, and the first idea with everybody was, that nothing had been\r
+proposed before so likely to suit them all. Mr. Yates was particularly\r
+pleased: he had been sighing and longing to do the Baron at Ecclesford,\r
+had grudged every rant of Lord Ravenshaw's, and been forced to re-rant\r
+it all in his own room. The storm through Baron Wildenheim was the\r
+height of his theatrical ambition; and with the advantage of knowing\r
+half the scenes by heart already, he did now, with the greatest\r
+alacrity, offer his services for the part. To do him justice, however,\r
+he did not resolve to appropriate it; for remembering that there was\r
+some very good ranting-ground in Frederick, he professed an equal\r
+willingness for that. Henry Crawford was ready to take either. Whichever\r
+Mr. Yates did not chuse would perfectly satisfy him, and a short parley\r
+of compliment ensued. Miss Bertram, feeling all the interest of an\r
+Agatha in the question, took on her to decide it, by observing to Mr.\r
+Yates that this was a point in which height and figure ought to\r
+be considered, and that _his_ being the tallest, seemed to fit him\r
+peculiarly for the Baron. She was acknowledged to be quite right, and\r
+the two parts being accepted accordingly, she was certain of the proper\r
+Frederick. Three of the characters were now cast, besides Mr. Rushworth,\r
+who was always answered for by Maria as willing to do anything; when\r
+Julia, meaning, like her sister, to be Agatha, began to be scrupulous on\r
+Miss Crawford's account.\r
+\r
+"This is not behaving well by the absent," said she. "Here are not women\r
+enough. Amelia and Agatha may do for Maria and me, but here is nothing\r
+for your sister, Mr. Crawford."\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford desired _that_ might not be thought of: he was very sure\r
+his sister had no wish of acting but as she might be useful, and that\r
+she would not allow herself to be considered in the present case. But\r
+this was immediately opposed by Tom Bertram, who asserted the part of\r
+Amelia to be in every respect the property of Miss Crawford, if she\r
+would accept it. "It falls as naturally, as necessarily to her,"\r
+said he, "as Agatha does to one or other of my sisters. It can be no\r
+sacrifice on their side, for it is highly comic."\r
+\r
+A short silence followed. Each sister looked anxious; for each felt the\r
+best claim to Agatha, and was hoping to have it pressed on her by the\r
+rest. Henry Crawford, who meanwhile had taken up the play, and with\r
+seeming carelessness was turning over the first act, soon settled the\r
+business.\r
+\r
+"I must entreat Miss _Julia_ Bertram," said he, "not to engage in the\r
+part of Agatha, or it will be the ruin of all my solemnity. You must\r
+not, indeed you must not" (turning to her). "I could not stand your\r
+countenance dressed up in woe and paleness. The many laughs we have had\r
+together would infallibly come across me, and Frederick and his knapsack\r
+would be obliged to run away."\r
+\r
+Pleasantly, courteously, it was spoken; but the manner was lost in the\r
+matter to Julia's feelings. She saw a glance at Maria which confirmed\r
+the injury to herself: it was a scheme, a trick; she was slighted, Maria\r
+was preferred; the smile of triumph which Maria was trying to suppress\r
+shewed how well it was understood; and before Julia could command\r
+herself enough to speak, her brother gave his weight against her too,\r
+by saying, "Oh yes! Maria must be Agatha. Maria will be the best Agatha.\r
+Though Julia fancies she prefers tragedy, I would not trust her in it.\r
+There is nothing of tragedy about her. She has not the look of it. Her\r
+features are not tragic features, and she walks too quick, and speaks\r
+too quick, and would not keep her countenance. She had better do the old\r
+countrywoman: the Cottager's wife; you had, indeed, Julia. Cottager's\r
+wife is a very pretty part, I assure you. The old lady relieves the\r
+high-flown benevolence of her husband with a good deal of spirit. You\r
+shall be Cottager's wife."\r
+\r
+"Cottager's wife!" cried Mr. Yates. "What are you talking of? The most\r
+trivial, paltry, insignificant part; the merest commonplace; not a\r
+tolerable speech in the whole. Your sister do that! It is an insult\r
+to propose it. At Ecclesford the governess was to have done it. We\r
+all agreed that it could not be offered to anybody else. A little more\r
+justice, Mr. Manager, if you please. You do not deserve the office, if\r
+you cannot appreciate the talents of your company a little better."\r
+\r
+"Why, as to _that_, my good friend, till I and my company have really\r
+acted there must be some guesswork; but I mean no disparagement to\r
+Julia. We cannot have two Agathas, and we must have one Cottager's\r
+wife; and I am sure I set her the example of moderation myself in being\r
+satisfied with the old Butler. If the part is trifling she will have\r
+more credit in making something of it; and if she is so desperately bent\r
+against everything humorous, let her take Cottager's speeches instead of\r
+Cottager's wife's, and so change the parts all through; _he_ is solemn\r
+and pathetic enough, I am sure. It could make no difference in the play,\r
+and as for Cottager himself, when he has got his wife's speeches, _I_\r
+would undertake him with all my heart."\r
+\r
+"With all your partiality for Cottager's wife," said Henry Crawford, "it\r
+will be impossible to make anything of it fit for your sister, and we\r
+must not suffer her good-nature to be imposed on. We must not _allow_\r
+her to accept the part. She must not be left to her own complaisance.\r
+Her talents will be wanted in Amelia. Amelia is a character more\r
+difficult to be well represented than even Agatha. I consider Amelia\r
+is the most difficult character in the whole piece. It requires great\r
+powers, great nicety, to give her playfulness and simplicity without\r
+extravagance. I have seen good actresses fail in the part. Simplicity,\r
+indeed, is beyond the reach of almost every actress by profession.\r
+It requires a delicacy of feeling which they have not. It requires a\r
+gentlewoman--a Julia Bertram. You _will_ undertake it, I hope?" turning\r
+to her with a look of anxious entreaty, which softened her a little; but\r
+while she hesitated what to say, her brother again interposed with Miss\r
+Crawford's better claim.\r
+\r
+"No, no, Julia must not be Amelia. It is not at all the part for her.\r
+She would not like it. She would not do well. She is too tall and\r
+robust. Amelia should be a small, light, girlish, skipping figure. It is\r
+fit for Miss Crawford, and Miss Crawford only. She looks the part, and I\r
+am persuaded will do it admirably."\r
+\r
+Without attending to this, Henry Crawford continued his supplication.\r
+"You must oblige us," said he, "indeed you must. When you have studied\r
+the character, I am sure you will feel it suit you. Tragedy may be your\r
+choice, but it will certainly appear that comedy chuses _you_. You\r
+will be to visit me in prison with a basket of provisions; you will\r
+not refuse to visit me in prison? I think I see you coming in with your\r
+basket."\r
+\r
+The influence of his voice was felt. Julia wavered; but was he only\r
+trying to soothe and pacify her, and make her overlook the previous\r
+affront? She distrusted him. The slight had been most determined. He\r
+was, perhaps, but at treacherous play with her. She looked suspiciously\r
+at her sister; Maria's countenance was to decide it: if she were vexed\r
+and alarmed--but Maria looked all serenity and satisfaction, and Julia\r
+well knew that on this ground Maria could not be happy but at her\r
+expense. With hasty indignation, therefore, and a tremulous voice, she\r
+said to him, "You do not seem afraid of not keeping your countenance\r
+when I come in with a basket of provisions--though one might have\r
+supposed--but it is only as Agatha that I was to be so overpowering!"\r
+She stopped--Henry Crawford looked rather foolish, and as if he did not\r
+know what to say. Tom Bertram began again--\r
+\r
+"Miss Crawford must be Amelia. She will be an excellent Amelia."\r
+\r
+"Do not be afraid of _my_ wanting the character," cried Julia, with\r
+angry quickness: "I am _not_ to be Agatha, and I am sure I will do\r
+nothing else; and as to Amelia, it is of all parts in the world the\r
+most disgusting to me. I quite detest her. An odious, little, pert,\r
+unnatural, impudent girl. I have always protested against comedy, and\r
+this is comedy in its worst form." And so saying, she walked hastily\r
+out of the room, leaving awkward feelings to more than one, but exciting\r
+small compassion in any except Fanny, who had been a quiet auditor of\r
+the whole, and who could not think of her as under the agitations of\r
+_jealousy_ without great pity.\r
+\r
+A short silence succeeded her leaving them; but her brother soon\r
+returned to business and Lovers' Vows, and was eagerly looking over\r
+the play, with Mr. Yates's help, to ascertain what scenery would be\r
+necessary--while Maria and Henry Crawford conversed together in an\r
+under-voice, and the declaration with which she began of, "I am sure I\r
+would give up the part to Julia most willingly, but that though I shall\r
+probably do it very ill, I feel persuaded _she_ would do it worse," was\r
+doubtless receiving all the compliments it called for.\r
+\r
+When this had lasted some time, the division of the party was completed\r
+by Tom Bertram and Mr. Yates walking off together to consult farther in\r
+the room now beginning to be called _the_ _Theatre_, and Miss Bertram's\r
+resolving to go down to the Parsonage herself with the offer of Amelia\r
+to Miss Crawford; and Fanny remained alone.\r
+\r
+The first use she made of her solitude was to take up the volume which\r
+had been left on the table, and begin to acquaint herself with the play\r
+of which she had heard so much. Her curiosity was all awake, and she ran\r
+through it with an eagerness which was suspended only by intervals of\r
+astonishment, that it could be chosen in the present instance, that it\r
+could be proposed and accepted in a private theatre! Agatha and Amelia\r
+appeared to her in their different ways so totally improper for home\r
+representation--the situation of one, and the language of the other,\r
+so unfit to be expressed by any woman of modesty, that she could hardly\r
+suppose her cousins could be aware of what they were engaging in; and\r
+longed to have them roused as soon as possible by the remonstrance which\r
+Edmund would certainly make.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XV\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford accepted the part very readily; and soon after Miss\r
+Bertram's return from the Parsonage, Mr. Rushworth arrived, and another\r
+character was consequently cast. He had the offer of Count Cassel\r
+and Anhalt, and at first did not know which to chuse, and wanted Miss\r
+Bertram to direct him; but upon being made to understand the different\r
+style of the characters, and which was which, and recollecting that he\r
+had once seen the play in London, and had thought Anhalt a very stupid\r
+fellow, he soon decided for the Count. Miss Bertram approved the\r
+decision, for the less he had to learn the better; and though she could\r
+not sympathise in his wish that the Count and Agatha might be to act\r
+together, nor wait very patiently while he was slowly turning over the\r
+leaves with the hope of still discovering such a scene, she very kindly\r
+took his part in hand, and curtailed every speech that admitted being\r
+shortened; besides pointing out the necessity of his being very much\r
+dressed, and chusing his colours. Mr. Rushworth liked the idea of his\r
+finery very well, though affecting to despise it; and was too much\r
+engaged with what his own appearance would be to think of the others,\r
+or draw any of those conclusions, or feel any of that displeasure which\r
+Maria had been half prepared for.\r
+\r
+Thus much was settled before Edmund, who had been out all the morning,\r
+knew anything of the matter; but when he entered the drawing-room before\r
+dinner, the buzz of discussion was high between Tom, Maria, and Mr.\r
+Yates; and Mr. Rushworth stepped forward with great alacrity to tell him\r
+the agreeable news.\r
+\r
+"We have got a play," said he. "It is to be Lovers' Vows; and I am to be\r
+Count Cassel, and am to come in first with a blue dress and a pink satin\r
+cloak, and afterwards am to have another fine fancy suit, by way of a\r
+shooting-dress. I do not know how I shall like it."\r
+\r
+Fanny's eyes followed Edmund, and her heart beat for him as she heard\r
+this speech, and saw his look, and felt what his sensations must be.\r
+\r
+"Lovers' Vows!" in a tone of the greatest amazement, was his only reply\r
+to Mr. Rushworth, and he turned towards his brother and sisters as if\r
+hardly doubting a contradiction.\r
+\r
+"Yes," cried Mr. Yates. "After all our debatings and difficulties, we\r
+find there is nothing that will suit us altogether so well, nothing so\r
+unexceptionable, as Lovers' Vows. The wonder is that it should not have\r
+been thought of before. My stupidity was abominable, for here we have\r
+all the advantage of what I saw at Ecclesford; and it is so useful to\r
+have anything of a model! We have cast almost every part."\r
+\r
+"But what do you do for women?" said Edmund gravely, and looking at\r
+Maria.\r
+\r
+Maria blushed in spite of herself as she answered, "I take the part\r
+which Lady Ravenshaw was to have done, and" (with a bolder eye) "Miss\r
+Crawford is to be Amelia."\r
+\r
+"I should not have thought it the sort of play to be so easily filled\r
+up, with _us_," replied Edmund, turning away to the fire, where sat\r
+his mother, aunt, and Fanny, and seating himself with a look of great\r
+vexation.\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth followed him to say, "I come in three times, and have\r
+two-and-forty speeches. That's something, is not it? But I do not much\r
+like the idea of being so fine. I shall hardly know myself in a blue\r
+dress and a pink satin cloak."\r
+\r
+Edmund could not answer him. In a few minutes Mr. Bertram was called\r
+out of the room to satisfy some doubts of the carpenter; and being\r
+accompanied by Mr. Yates, and followed soon afterwards by Mr. Rushworth,\r
+Edmund almost immediately took the opportunity of saying, "I cannot,\r
+before Mr. Yates, speak what I feel as to this play, without reflecting\r
+on his friends at Ecclesford; but I must now, my dear Maria, tell _you_,\r
+that I think it exceedingly unfit for private representation, and that I\r
+hope you will give it up. I cannot but suppose you _will_ when you have\r
+read it carefully over. Read only the first act aloud to either your\r
+mother or aunt, and see how you can approve it. It will not be necessary\r
+to send you to your _father's_ judgment, I am convinced."\r
+\r
+"We see things very differently," cried Maria. "I am perfectly\r
+acquainted with the play, I assure you; and with a very few omissions,\r
+and so forth, which will be made, of course, I can see nothing\r
+objectionable in it; and _I_ am not the _only_ young woman you find who\r
+thinks it very fit for private representation."\r
+\r
+"I am sorry for it," was his answer; "but in this matter it is _you_ who\r
+are to lead. _You_ must set the example. If others have blundered, it\r
+is your place to put them right, and shew them what true delicacy is.\r
+In all points of decorum _your_ conduct must be law to the rest of the\r
+party."\r
+\r
+This picture of her consequence had some effect, for no one loved better\r
+to lead than Maria; and with far more good-humour she answered, "I am\r
+much obliged to you, Edmund; you mean very well, I am sure: but I still\r
+think you see things too strongly; and I really cannot undertake to\r
+harangue all the rest upon a subject of this kind. _There_ would be the\r
+greatest indecorum, I think."\r
+\r
+"Do you imagine that I could have such an idea in my head? No; let your\r
+conduct be the only harangue. Say that, on examining the part, you feel\r
+yourself unequal to it; that you find it requiring more exertion and\r
+confidence than you can be supposed to have. Say this with firmness, and\r
+it will be quite enough. All who can distinguish will understand your\r
+motive. The play will be given up, and your delicacy honoured as it\r
+ought."\r
+\r
+"Do not act anything improper, my dear," said Lady Bertram. "Sir Thomas\r
+would not like it.--Fanny, ring the bell; I must have my dinner.--To be\r
+sure, Julia is dressed by this time."\r
+\r
+"I am convinced, madam," said Edmund, preventing Fanny, "that Sir Thomas\r
+would not like it."\r
+\r
+"There, my dear, do you hear what Edmund says?"\r
+\r
+"If I were to decline the part," said Maria, with renewed zeal, "Julia\r
+would certainly take it."\r
+\r
+"What!" cried Edmund, "if she knew your reasons!"\r
+\r
+"Oh! she might think the difference between us--the difference in our\r
+situations--that _she_ need not be so scrupulous as _I_ might feel\r
+necessary. I am sure she would argue so. No; you must excuse me; I\r
+cannot retract my consent; it is too far settled, everybody would be so\r
+disappointed, Tom would be quite angry; and if we are so very nice, we\r
+shall never act anything."\r
+\r
+"I was just going to say the very same thing," said Mrs. Norris.\r
+"If every play is to be objected to, you will act nothing, and the\r
+preparations will be all so much money thrown away, and I am sure _that_\r
+would be a discredit to us all. I do not know the play; but, as Maria\r
+says, if there is anything a little too warm (and it is so with most of\r
+them) it can be easily left out. We must not be over-precise, Edmund. As\r
+Mr. Rushworth is to act too, there can be no harm. I only wish Tom had\r
+known his own mind when the carpenters began, for there was the loss\r
+of half a day's work about those side-doors. The curtain will be a good\r
+job, however. The maids do their work very well, and I think we shall be\r
+able to send back some dozens of the rings. There is no occasion to put\r
+them so very close together. I _am_ of some use, I hope, in preventing\r
+waste and making the most of things. There should always be one\r
+steady head to superintend so many young ones. I forgot to tell Tom of\r
+something that happened to me this very day. I had been looking about me\r
+in the poultry-yard, and was just coming out, when who should I see but\r
+Dick Jackson making up to the servants' hall-door with two bits of deal\r
+board in his hand, bringing them to father, you may be sure; mother had\r
+chanced to send him of a message to father, and then father had bid\r
+him bring up them two bits of board, for he could not no how do without\r
+them. I knew what all this meant, for the servants' dinner-bell\r
+was ringing at the very moment over our heads; and as I hate such\r
+encroaching people (the Jacksons are very encroaching, I have always\r
+said so: just the sort of people to get all they can), I said to the boy\r
+directly (a great lubberly fellow of ten years old, you know, who ought\r
+to be ashamed of himself), '_I'll_ take the boards to your father, Dick,\r
+so get you home again as fast as you can.' The boy looked very silly,\r
+and turned away without offering a word, for I believe I might speak\r
+pretty sharp; and I dare say it will cure him of coming marauding about\r
+the house for one while. I hate such greediness--so good as your father\r
+is to the family, employing the man all the year round!"\r
+\r
+Nobody was at the trouble of an answer; the others soon returned; and\r
+Edmund found that to have endeavoured to set them right must be his only\r
+satisfaction.\r
+\r
+Dinner passed heavily. Mrs. Norris related again her triumph over Dick\r
+Jackson, but neither play nor preparation were otherwise much talked\r
+of, for Edmund's disapprobation was felt even by his brother, though\r
+he would not have owned it. Maria, wanting Henry Crawford's animating\r
+support, thought the subject better avoided. Mr. Yates, who was trying\r
+to make himself agreeable to Julia, found her gloom less impenetrable on\r
+any topic than that of his regret at her secession from their company;\r
+and Mr. Rushworth, having only his own part and his own dress in his\r
+head, had soon talked away all that could be said of either.\r
+\r
+But the concerns of the theatre were suspended only for an hour or two:\r
+there was still a great deal to be settled; and the spirits of evening\r
+giving fresh courage, Tom, Maria, and Mr. Yates, soon after their being\r
+reassembled in the drawing-room, seated themselves in committee at a\r
+separate table, with the play open before them, and were just getting\r
+deep in the subject when a most welcome interruption was given by the\r
+entrance of Mr. and Miss Crawford, who, late and dark and dirty as it\r
+was, could not help coming, and were received with the most grateful\r
+joy.\r
+\r
+"Well, how do you go on?" and "What have you settled?" and "Oh! we\r
+can do nothing without you," followed the first salutations; and Henry\r
+Crawford was soon seated with the other three at the table, while his\r
+sister made her way to Lady Bertram, and with pleasant attention was\r
+complimenting _her_. "I must really congratulate your ladyship," said\r
+she, "on the play being chosen; for though you have borne it with\r
+exemplary patience, I am sure you must be sick of all our noise and\r
+difficulties. The actors may be glad, but the bystanders must be\r
+infinitely more thankful for a decision; and I do sincerely give you\r
+joy, madam, as well as Mrs. Norris, and everybody else who is in the\r
+same predicament," glancing half fearfully, half slyly, beyond Fanny to\r
+Edmund.\r
+\r
+She was very civilly answered by Lady Bertram, but Edmund said nothing.\r
+His being only a bystander was not disclaimed. After continuing in chat\r
+with the party round the fire a few minutes, Miss Crawford returned\r
+to the party round the table; and standing by them, seemed to\r
+interest herself in their arrangements till, as if struck by a sudden\r
+recollection, she exclaimed, "My good friends, you are most composedly\r
+at work upon these cottages and alehouses, inside and out; but pray let\r
+me know my fate in the meanwhile. Who is to be Anhalt? What gentleman\r
+among you am I to have the pleasure of making love to?"\r
+\r
+For a moment no one spoke; and then many spoke together to tell the same\r
+melancholy truth, that they had not yet got any Anhalt. "Mr. Rushworth\r
+was to be Count Cassel, but no one had yet undertaken Anhalt."\r
+\r
+"I had my choice of the parts," said Mr. Rushworth; "but I thought I\r
+should like the Count best, though I do not much relish the finery I am\r
+to have."\r
+\r
+"You chose very wisely, I am sure," replied Miss Crawford, with a\r
+brightened look; "Anhalt is a heavy part."\r
+\r
+"_The_ _Count_ has two-and-forty speeches," returned Mr. Rushworth,\r
+"which is no trifle."\r
+\r
+"I am not at all surprised," said Miss Crawford, after a short pause,\r
+"at this want of an Anhalt. Amelia deserves no better. Such a forward\r
+young lady may well frighten the men."\r
+\r
+"I should be but too happy in taking the part, if it were possible,"\r
+cried Tom; "but, unluckily, the Butler and Anhalt are in together. I\r
+will not entirely give it up, however; I will try what can be done--I\r
+will look it over again."\r
+\r
+"Your _brother_ should take the part," said Mr. Yates, in a low voice.\r
+"Do not you think he would?"\r
+\r
+"_I_ shall not ask him," replied Tom, in a cold, determined manner.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford talked of something else, and soon afterwards rejoined the\r
+party at the fire.\r
+\r
+"They do not want me at all," said she, seating herself. "I only puzzle\r
+them, and oblige them to make civil speeches. Mr. Edmund Bertram, as\r
+you do not act yourself, you will be a disinterested adviser; and,\r
+therefore, I apply to _you_. What shall we do for an Anhalt? Is it\r
+practicable for any of the others to double it? What is your advice?"\r
+\r
+"My advice," said he calmly, "is that you change the play."\r
+\r
+"_I_ should have no objection," she replied; "for though I should not\r
+particularly dislike the part of Amelia if well supported, that is, if\r
+everything went well, I shall be sorry to be an inconvenience; but\r
+as they do not chuse to hear your advice at _that_ _table_" (looking\r
+round), "it certainly will not be taken."\r
+\r
+Edmund said no more.\r
+\r
+"If _any_ part could tempt _you_ to act, I suppose it would be Anhalt,"\r
+observed the lady archly, after a short pause; "for he is a clergyman,\r
+you know."\r
+\r
+"_That_ circumstance would by no means tempt me," he replied, "for I\r
+should be sorry to make the character ridiculous by bad acting. It\r
+must be very difficult to keep Anhalt from appearing a formal, solemn\r
+lecturer; and the man who chuses the profession itself is, perhaps, one\r
+of the last who would wish to represent it on the stage."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford was silenced, and with some feelings of resentment and\r
+mortification, moved her chair considerably nearer the tea-table, and\r
+gave all her attention to Mrs. Norris, who was presiding there.\r
+\r
+"Fanny," cried Tom Bertram, from the other table, where the conference\r
+was eagerly carrying on, and the conversation incessant, "we want your\r
+services."\r
+\r
+Fanny was up in a moment, expecting some errand; for the habit of\r
+employing her in that way was not yet overcome, in spite of all that\r
+Edmund could do.\r
+\r
+"Oh! we do not want to disturb you from your seat. We do not want your\r
+_present_ services. We shall only want you in our play. You must be\r
+Cottager's wife."\r
+\r
+"Me!" cried Fanny, sitting down again with a most frightened look.\r
+"Indeed you must excuse me. I could not act anything if you were to give\r
+me the world. No, indeed, I cannot act."\r
+\r
+"Indeed, but you must, for we cannot excuse you. It need not frighten\r
+you: it is a nothing of a part, a mere nothing, not above half a dozen\r
+speeches altogether, and it will not much signify if nobody hears a word\r
+you say; so you may be as creep-mouse as you like, but we must have you\r
+to look at."\r
+\r
+"If you are afraid of half a dozen speeches," cried Mr. Rushworth, "what\r
+would you do with such a part as mine? I have forty-two to learn."\r
+\r
+"It is not that I am afraid of learning by heart," said Fanny, shocked\r
+to find herself at that moment the only speaker in the room, and to feel\r
+that almost every eye was upon her; "but I really cannot act."\r
+\r
+"Yes, yes, you can act well enough for _us_. Learn your part, and we\r
+will teach you all the rest. You have only two scenes, and as I shall\r
+be Cottager, I'll put you in and push you about, and you will do it very\r
+well, I'll answer for it."\r
+\r
+"No, indeed, Mr. Bertram, you must excuse me. You cannot have an idea.\r
+It would be absolutely impossible for me. If I were to undertake it, I\r
+should only disappoint you."\r
+\r
+"Phoo! Phoo! Do not be so shamefaced. You'll do it very well. Every\r
+allowance will be made for you. We do not expect perfection. You must\r
+get a brown gown, and a white apron, and a mob cap, and we must make\r
+you a few wrinkles, and a little of the crowsfoot at the corner of your\r
+eyes, and you will be a very proper, little old woman."\r
+\r
+"You must excuse me, indeed you must excuse me," cried Fanny, growing\r
+more and more red from excessive agitation, and looking distressfully\r
+at Edmund, who was kindly observing her; but unwilling to exasperate\r
+his brother by interference, gave her only an encouraging smile. Her\r
+entreaty had no effect on Tom: he only said again what he had said\r
+before; and it was not merely Tom, for the requisition was now backed by\r
+Maria, and Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Yates, with an urgency which differed\r
+from his but in being more gentle or more ceremonious, and which\r
+altogether was quite overpowering to Fanny; and before she could breathe\r
+after it, Mrs. Norris completed the whole by thus addressing her in a\r
+whisper at once angry and audible--"What a piece of work here is about\r
+nothing: I am quite ashamed of you, Fanny, to make such a difficulty of\r
+obliging your cousins in a trifle of this sort--so kind as they are to\r
+you! Take the part with a good grace, and let us hear no more of the\r
+matter, I entreat."\r
+\r
+"Do not urge her, madam," said Edmund. "It is not fair to urge her\r
+in this manner. You see she does not like to act. Let her chuse for\r
+herself, as well as the rest of us. Her judgment may be quite as safely\r
+trusted. Do not urge her any more."\r
+\r
+"I am not going to urge her," replied Mrs. Norris sharply; "but I shall\r
+think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her\r
+aunt and cousins wish her--very ungrateful, indeed, considering who and\r
+what she is."\r
+\r
+Edmund was too angry to speak; but Miss Crawford, looking for a moment\r
+with astonished eyes at Mrs. Norris, and then at Fanny, whose tears were\r
+beginning to shew themselves, immediately said, with some keenness, "I\r
+do not like my situation: this _place_ is too hot for me," and moved\r
+away her chair to the opposite side of the table, close to Fanny, saying\r
+to her, in a kind, low whisper, as she placed herself, "Never mind,\r
+my dear Miss Price, this is a cross evening: everybody is cross and\r
+teasing, but do not let us mind them"; and with pointed attention\r
+continued to talk to her and endeavour to raise her spirits, in spite of\r
+being out of spirits herself. By a look at her brother she prevented any\r
+farther entreaty from the theatrical board, and the really good feelings\r
+by which she was almost purely governed were rapidly restoring her to\r
+all the little she had lost in Edmund's favour.\r
+\r
+Fanny did not love Miss Crawford; but she felt very much obliged to her\r
+for her present kindness; and when, from taking notice of her work,\r
+and wishing _she_ could work as well, and begging for the pattern, and\r
+supposing Fanny was now preparing for her _appearance_, as of course she\r
+would come out when her cousin was married, Miss Crawford proceeded to\r
+inquire if she had heard lately from her brother at sea, and said that\r
+she had quite a curiosity to see him, and imagined him a very fine young\r
+man, and advised Fanny to get his picture drawn before he went to sea\r
+again--she could not help admitting it to be very agreeable flattery, or\r
+help listening, and answering with more animation than she had intended.\r
+\r
+The consultation upon the play still went on, and Miss Crawford's\r
+attention was first called from Fanny by Tom Bertram's telling her,\r
+with infinite regret, that he found it absolutely impossible for him to\r
+undertake the part of Anhalt in addition to the Butler: he had been most\r
+anxiously trying to make it out to be feasible, but it would not do;\r
+he must give it up. "But there will not be the smallest difficulty in\r
+filling it," he added. "We have but to speak the word; we may pick and\r
+chuse. I could name, at this moment, at least six young men within six\r
+miles of us, who are wild to be admitted into our company, and there are\r
+one or two that would not disgrace us: I should not be afraid to trust\r
+either of the Olivers or Charles Maddox. Tom Oliver is a very clever\r
+fellow, and Charles Maddox is as gentlemanlike a man as you will see\r
+anywhere, so I will take my horse early to-morrow morning and ride over\r
+to Stoke, and settle with one of them."\r
+\r
+While he spoke, Maria was looking apprehensively round at Edmund in full\r
+expectation that he must oppose such an enlargement of the plan as this:\r
+so contrary to all their first protestations; but Edmund said nothing.\r
+After a moment's thought, Miss Crawford calmly replied, "As far as I\r
+am concerned, I can have no objection to anything that you all think\r
+eligible. Have I ever seen either of the gentlemen? Yes, Mr. Charles\r
+Maddox dined at my sister's one day, did not he, Henry? A quiet-looking\r
+young man. I remember him. Let _him_ be applied to, if you please, for\r
+it will be less unpleasant to me than to have a perfect stranger."\r
+\r
+Charles Maddox was to be the man. Tom repeated his resolution of going\r
+to him early on the morrow; and though Julia, who had scarcely opened\r
+her lips before, observed, in a sarcastic manner, and with a glance\r
+first at Maria and then at Edmund, that "the Mansfield theatricals would\r
+enliven the whole neighbourhood exceedingly," Edmund still held his\r
+peace, and shewed his feelings only by a determined gravity.\r
+\r
+"I am not very sanguine as to our play," said Miss Crawford, in an\r
+undervoice to Fanny, after some consideration; "and I can tell Mr.\r
+Maddox that I shall shorten some of _his_ speeches, and a great many of\r
+_my_ _own_, before we rehearse together. It will be very disagreeable,\r
+and by no means what I expected."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XVI\r
+\r
+It was not in Miss Crawford's power to talk Fanny into any real\r
+forgetfulness of what had passed. When the evening was over, she went to\r
+bed full of it, her nerves still agitated by the shock of such an attack\r
+from her cousin Tom, so public and so persevered in, and her spirits\r
+sinking under her aunt's unkind reflection and reproach. To be called\r
+into notice in such a manner, to hear that it was but the prelude to\r
+something so infinitely worse, to be told that she must do what was\r
+so impossible as to act; and then to have the charge of obstinacy and\r
+ingratitude follow it, enforced with such a hint at the dependence\r
+of her situation, had been too distressing at the time to make the\r
+remembrance when she was alone much less so, especially with the\r
+superadded dread of what the morrow might produce in continuation of the\r
+subject. Miss Crawford had protected her only for the time; and if\r
+she were applied to again among themselves with all the authoritative\r
+urgency that Tom and Maria were capable of, and Edmund perhaps away,\r
+what should she do? She fell asleep before she could answer the\r
+question, and found it quite as puzzling when she awoke the next\r
+morning. The little white attic, which had continued her sleeping-room\r
+ever since her first entering the family, proving incompetent to suggest\r
+any reply, she had recourse, as soon as she was dressed, to another\r
+apartment more spacious and more meet for walking about in and thinking,\r
+and of which she had now for some time been almost equally mistress. It\r
+had been their school-room; so called till the Miss Bertrams would not\r
+allow it to be called so any longer, and inhabited as such to a later\r
+period. There Miss Lee had lived, and there they had read and written,\r
+and talked and laughed, till within the last three years, when she had\r
+quitted them. The room had then become useless, and for some time was\r
+quite deserted, except by Fanny, when she visited her plants, or wanted\r
+one of the books, which she was still glad to keep there, from the\r
+deficiency of space and accommodation in her little chamber above: but\r
+gradually, as her value for the comforts of it increased, she had added\r
+to her possessions, and spent more of her time there; and having nothing\r
+to oppose her, had so naturally and so artlessly worked herself into it,\r
+that it was now generally admitted to be hers. The East room, as it had\r
+been called ever since Maria Bertram was sixteen, was now considered\r
+Fanny's, almost as decidedly as the white attic: the smallness of the\r
+one making the use of the other so evidently reasonable that the Miss\r
+Bertrams, with every superiority in their own apartments which their own\r
+sense of superiority could demand, were entirely approving it; and Mrs.\r
+Norris, having stipulated for there never being a fire in it on Fanny's\r
+account, was tolerably resigned to her having the use of what nobody\r
+else wanted, though the terms in which she sometimes spoke of the\r
+indulgence seemed to imply that it was the best room in the house.\r
+\r
+The aspect was so favourable that even without a fire it was habitable\r
+in many an early spring and late autumn morning to such a willing mind\r
+as Fanny's; and while there was a gleam of sunshine she hoped not to be\r
+driven from it entirely, even when winter came. The comfort of it in\r
+her hours of leisure was extreme. She could go there after anything\r
+unpleasant below, and find immediate consolation in some pursuit, or\r
+some train of thought at hand. Her plants, her books--of which she had\r
+been a collector from the first hour of her commanding a shilling--her\r
+writing-desk, and her works of charity and ingenuity, were all within\r
+her reach; or if indisposed for employment, if nothing but musing would\r
+do, she could scarcely see an object in that room which had not an\r
+interesting remembrance connected with it. Everything was a friend, or\r
+bore her thoughts to a friend; and though there had been sometimes much\r
+of suffering to her; though her motives had often been misunderstood,\r
+her feelings disregarded, and her comprehension undervalued; though she\r
+had known the pains of tyranny, of ridicule, and neglect, yet almost\r
+every recurrence of either had led to something consolatory: her aunt\r
+Bertram had spoken for her, or Miss Lee had been encouraging, or, what\r
+was yet more frequent or more dear, Edmund had been her champion and her\r
+friend: he had supported her cause or explained her meaning, he had told\r
+her not to cry, or had given her some proof of affection which made\r
+her tears delightful; and the whole was now so blended together, so\r
+harmonised by distance, that every former affliction had its charm. The\r
+room was most dear to her, and she would not have changed its furniture\r
+for the handsomest in the house, though what had been originally plain\r
+had suffered all the ill-usage of children; and its greatest elegancies\r
+and ornaments were a faded footstool of Julia's work, too ill done\r
+for the drawing-room, three transparencies, made in a rage for\r
+transparencies, for the three lower panes of one window, where Tintern\r
+Abbey held its station between a cave in Italy and a moonlight lake in\r
+Cumberland, a collection of family profiles, thought unworthy of being\r
+anywhere else, over the mantelpiece, and by their side, and pinned\r
+against the wall, a small sketch of a ship sent four years ago from the\r
+Mediterranean by William, with H.M.S. Antwerp at the bottom, in letters\r
+as tall as the mainmast.\r
+\r
+To this nest of comforts Fanny now walked down to try its influence on\r
+an agitated, doubting spirit, to see if by looking at Edmund's profile\r
+she could catch any of his counsel, or by giving air to her geraniums\r
+she might inhale a breeze of mental strength herself. But she had more\r
+than fears of her own perseverance to remove: she had begun to feel\r
+undecided as to what she _ought_ _to_ _do_; and as she walked round the\r
+room her doubts were increasing. Was she _right_ in refusing what was\r
+so warmly asked, so strongly wished for--what might be so essential to a\r
+scheme on which some of those to whom she owed the greatest complaisance\r
+had set their hearts? Was it not ill-nature, selfishness, and a fear of\r
+exposing herself? And would Edmund's judgment, would his persuasion of\r
+Sir Thomas's disapprobation of the whole, be enough to justify her in a\r
+determined denial in spite of all the rest? It would be so horrible to\r
+her to act that she was inclined to suspect the truth and purity of her\r
+own scruples; and as she looked around her, the claims of her cousins\r
+to being obliged were strengthened by the sight of present upon present\r
+that she had received from them. The table between the windows was\r
+covered with work-boxes and netting-boxes which had been given her at\r
+different times, principally by Tom; and she grew bewildered as to the\r
+amount of the debt which all these kind remembrances produced. A tap at\r
+the door roused her in the midst of this attempt to find her way to her\r
+duty, and her gentle "Come in" was answered by the appearance of one,\r
+before whom all her doubts were wont to be laid. Her eyes brightened at\r
+the sight of Edmund.\r
+\r
+"Can I speak with you, Fanny, for a few minutes?" said he.\r
+\r
+"Yes, certainly."\r
+\r
+"I want to consult. I want your opinion."\r
+\r
+"My opinion!" she cried, shrinking from such a compliment, highly as it\r
+gratified her.\r
+\r
+"Yes, your advice and opinion. I do not know what to do. This acting\r
+scheme gets worse and worse, you see. They have chosen almost as bad a\r
+play as they could, and now, to complete the business, are going to ask\r
+the help of a young man very slightly known to any of us. This is the\r
+end of all the privacy and propriety which was talked about at first.\r
+I know no harm of Charles Maddox; but the excessive intimacy which\r
+must spring from his being admitted among us in this manner is highly\r
+objectionable, the _more_ than intimacy--the familiarity. I cannot\r
+think of it with any patience; and it does appear to me an evil of such\r
+magnitude as must, _if_ _possible_, be prevented. Do not you see it in\r
+the same light?"\r
+\r
+"Yes; but what can be done? Your brother is so determined."\r
+\r
+"There is but _one_ thing to be done, Fanny. I must take Anhalt myself.\r
+I am well aware that nothing else will quiet Tom."\r
+\r
+Fanny could not answer him.\r
+\r
+"It is not at all what I like," he continued. "No man can like being\r
+driven into the _appearance_ of such inconsistency. After being known to\r
+oppose the scheme from the beginning, there is absurdity in the face of\r
+my joining them _now_, when they are exceeding their first plan in every\r
+respect; but I can think of no other alternative. Can you, Fanny?"\r
+\r
+"No," said Fanny slowly, "not immediately, but--"\r
+\r
+"But what? I see your judgment is not with me. Think it a little over.\r
+Perhaps you are not so much aware as I am of the mischief that _may_, of\r
+the unpleasantness that _must_ arise from a young man's being received\r
+in this manner: domesticated among us; authorised to come at all hours,\r
+and placed suddenly on a footing which must do away all restraints. To\r
+think only of the licence which every rehearsal must tend to create. It\r
+is all very bad! Put yourself in Miss Crawford's place, Fanny. Consider\r
+what it would be to act Amelia with a stranger. She has a right to be\r
+felt for, because she evidently feels for herself. I heard enough of\r
+what she said to you last night to understand her unwillingness to be\r
+acting with a stranger; and as she probably engaged in the part with\r
+different expectations--perhaps without considering the subject enough\r
+to know what was likely to be--it would be ungenerous, it would be\r
+really wrong to expose her to it. Her feelings ought to be respected.\r
+Does it not strike you so, Fanny? You hesitate."\r
+\r
+"I am sorry for Miss Crawford; but I am more sorry to see you drawn in\r
+to do what you had resolved against, and what you are known to think\r
+will be disagreeable to my uncle. It will be such a triumph to the\r
+others!"\r
+\r
+"They will not have much cause of triumph when they see how infamously I\r
+act. But, however, triumph there certainly will be, and I must brave it.\r
+But if I can be the means of restraining the publicity of the business,\r
+of limiting the exhibition, of concentrating our folly, I shall be\r
+well repaid. As I am now, I have no influence, I can do nothing: I have\r
+offended them, and they will not hear me; but when I have put them in\r
+good-humour by this concession, I am not without hopes of persuading\r
+them to confine the representation within a much smaller circle than\r
+they are now in the high road for. This will be a material gain. My\r
+object is to confine it to Mrs. Rushworth and the Grants. Will not this\r
+be worth gaining?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, it will be a great point."\r
+\r
+"But still it has not your approbation. Can you mention any other\r
+measure by which I have a chance of doing equal good?"\r
+\r
+"No, I cannot think of anything else."\r
+\r
+"Give me your approbation, then, Fanny. I am not comfortable without\r
+it."\r
+\r
+"Oh, cousin!"\r
+\r
+"If you are against me, I ought to distrust myself, and yet--But it is\r
+absolutely impossible to let Tom go on in this way, riding about the\r
+country in quest of anybody who can be persuaded to act--no matter whom:\r
+the look of a gentleman is to be enough. I thought _you_ would have\r
+entered more into Miss Crawford's feelings."\r
+\r
+"No doubt she will be very glad. It must be a great relief to her," said\r
+Fanny, trying for greater warmth of manner.\r
+\r
+"She never appeared more amiable than in her behaviour to you last\r
+night. It gave her a very strong claim on my goodwill."\r
+\r
+"She _was_ very kind, indeed, and I am glad to have her spared"...\r
+\r
+She could not finish the generous effusion. Her conscience stopt her in\r
+the middle, but Edmund was satisfied.\r
+\r
+"I shall walk down immediately after breakfast," said he, "and am sure\r
+of giving pleasure there. And now, dear Fanny, I will not interrupt you\r
+any longer. You want to be reading. But I could not be easy till I had\r
+spoken to you, and come to a decision. Sleeping or waking, my head has\r
+been full of this matter all night. It is an evil, but I am certainly\r
+making it less than it might be. If Tom is up, I shall go to him\r
+directly and get it over, and when we meet at breakfast we shall be all\r
+in high good-humour at the prospect of acting the fool together with\r
+such unanimity. _You_, in the meanwhile, will be taking a trip into\r
+China, I suppose. How does Lord Macartney go on?"--opening a volume on\r
+the table and then taking up some others. "And here are Crabbe's Tales,\r
+and the Idler, at hand to relieve you, if you tire of your great book. I\r
+admire your little establishment exceedingly; and as soon as I am\r
+gone, you will empty your head of all this nonsense of acting, and sit\r
+comfortably down to your table. But do not stay here to be cold."\r
+\r
+He went; but there was no reading, no China, no composure for Fanny. He\r
+had told her the most extraordinary, the most inconceivable, the most\r
+unwelcome news; and she could think of nothing else. To be acting! After\r
+all his objections--objections so just and so public! After all that she\r
+had heard him say, and seen him look, and known him to be feeling. Could\r
+it be possible? Edmund so inconsistent! Was he not deceiving himself?\r
+Was he not wrong? Alas! it was all Miss Crawford's doing. She had seen\r
+her influence in every speech, and was miserable. The doubts and alarms\r
+as to her own conduct, which had previously distressed her, and\r
+which had all slept while she listened to him, were become of little\r
+consequence now. This deeper anxiety swallowed them up. Things should\r
+take their course; she cared not how it ended. Her cousins might attack,\r
+but could hardly tease her. She was beyond their reach; and if at last\r
+obliged to yield--no matter--it was all misery now.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XVII\r
+\r
+It was, indeed, a triumphant day to Mr. Bertram and Maria. Such a\r
+victory over Edmund's discretion had been beyond their hopes, and was\r
+most delightful. There was no longer anything to disturb them in their\r
+darling project, and they congratulated each other in private on the\r
+jealous weakness to which they attributed the change, with all the glee\r
+of feelings gratified in every way. Edmund might still look grave, and\r
+say he did not like the scheme in general, and must disapprove the play\r
+in particular; their point was gained: he was to act, and he was driven\r
+to it by the force of selfish inclinations only. Edmund had descended\r
+from that moral elevation which he had maintained before, and they were\r
+both as much the better as the happier for the descent.\r
+\r
+They behaved very well, however, to _him_ on the occasion, betraying no\r
+exultation beyond the lines about the corners of the mouth, and seemed\r
+to think it as great an escape to be quit of the intrusion of Charles\r
+Maddox, as if they had been forced into admitting him against their\r
+inclination. "To have it quite in their own family circle was what\r
+they had particularly wished. A stranger among them would have been the\r
+destruction of all their comfort"; and when Edmund, pursuing that idea,\r
+gave a hint of his hope as to the limitation of the audience, they were\r
+ready, in the complaisance of the moment, to promise anything. It was\r
+all good-humour and encouragement. Mrs. Norris offered to contrive his\r
+dress, Mr. Yates assured him that Anhalt's last scene with the Baron\r
+admitted a good deal of action and emphasis, and Mr. Rushworth undertook\r
+to count his speeches.\r
+\r
+"Perhaps," said Tom, "Fanny may be more disposed to oblige us now.\r
+Perhaps you may persuade _her_."\r
+\r
+"No, she is quite determined. She certainly will not act."\r
+\r
+"Oh! very well." And not another word was said; but Fanny felt herself\r
+again in danger, and her indifference to the danger was beginning to\r
+fail her already.\r
+\r
+There were not fewer smiles at the Parsonage than at the Park on this\r
+change in Edmund; Miss Crawford looked very lovely in hers, and entered\r
+with such an instantaneous renewal of cheerfulness into the whole\r
+affair as could have but one effect on him. "He was certainly right in\r
+respecting such feelings; he was glad he had determined on it." And the\r
+morning wore away in satisfactions very sweet, if not very sound. One\r
+advantage resulted from it to Fanny: at the earnest request of Miss\r
+Crawford, Mrs. Grant had, with her usual good-humour, agreed to\r
+undertake the part for which Fanny had been wanted; and this was all\r
+that occurred to gladden _her_ heart during the day; and even this, when\r
+imparted by Edmund, brought a pang with it, for it was Miss Crawford to\r
+whom she was obliged--it was Miss Crawford whose kind exertions were to\r
+excite her gratitude, and whose merit in making them was spoken of\r
+with a glow of admiration. She was safe; but peace and safety were\r
+unconnected here. Her mind had been never farther from peace. She could\r
+not feel that she had done wrong herself, but she was disquieted\r
+in every other way. Her heart and her judgment were equally against\r
+Edmund's decision: she could not acquit his unsteadiness, and his\r
+happiness under it made her wretched. She was full of jealousy and\r
+agitation. Miss Crawford came with looks of gaiety which seemed an\r
+insult, with friendly expressions towards herself which she could hardly\r
+answer calmly. Everybody around her was gay and busy, prosperous and\r
+important; each had their object of interest, their part, their dress,\r
+their favourite scene, their friends and confederates: all were finding\r
+employment in consultations and comparisons, or diversion in the playful\r
+conceits they suggested. She alone was sad and insignificant: she had\r
+no share in anything; she might go or stay; she might be in the midst\r
+of their noise, or retreat from it to the solitude of the East room,\r
+without being seen or missed. She could almost think anything would\r
+have been preferable to this. Mrs. Grant was of consequence: _her_\r
+good-nature had honourable mention; her taste and her time were\r
+considered; her presence was wanted; she was sought for, and attended,\r
+and praised; and Fanny was at first in some danger of envying her the\r
+character she had accepted. But reflection brought better feelings, and\r
+shewed her that Mrs. Grant was entitled to respect, which could never\r
+have belonged to _her_; and that, had she received even the greatest,\r
+she could never have been easy in joining a scheme which, considering\r
+only her uncle, she must condemn altogether.\r
+\r
+Fanny's heart was not absolutely the only saddened one amongst them,\r
+as she soon began to acknowledge to herself. Julia was a sufferer too,\r
+though not quite so blamelessly.\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford had trifled with her feelings; but she had very long\r
+allowed and even sought his attentions, with a jealousy of her sister so\r
+reasonable as ought to have been their cure; and now that the conviction\r
+of his preference for Maria had been forced on her, she submitted to it\r
+without any alarm for Maria's situation, or any endeavour at rational\r
+tranquillity for herself. She either sat in gloomy silence, wrapt in\r
+such gravity as nothing could subdue, no curiosity touch, no wit amuse;\r
+or allowing the attentions of Mr. Yates, was talking with forced gaiety\r
+to him alone, and ridiculing the acting of the others.\r
+\r
+For a day or two after the affront was given, Henry Crawford had\r
+endeavoured to do it away by the usual attack of gallantry and\r
+compliment, but he had not cared enough about it to persevere against a\r
+few repulses; and becoming soon too busy with his play to have time for\r
+more than one flirtation, he grew indifferent to the quarrel, or rather\r
+thought it a lucky occurrence, as quietly putting an end to what might\r
+ere long have raised expectations in more than Mrs. Grant. She was not\r
+pleased to see Julia excluded from the play, and sitting by disregarded;\r
+but as it was not a matter which really involved her happiness, as Henry\r
+must be the best judge of his own, and as he did assure her, with a\r
+most persuasive smile, that neither he nor Julia had ever had a serious\r
+thought of each other, she could only renew her former caution as to\r
+the elder sister, entreat him not to risk his tranquillity by too\r
+much admiration there, and then gladly take her share in anything that\r
+brought cheerfulness to the young people in general, and that did so\r
+particularly promote the pleasure of the two so dear to her.\r
+\r
+"I rather wonder Julia is not in love with Henry," was her observation\r
+to Mary.\r
+\r
+"I dare say she is," replied Mary coldly. "I imagine both sisters are."\r
+\r
+"Both! no, no, that must not be. Do not give him a hint of it. Think of\r
+Mr. Rushworth!"\r
+\r
+"You had better tell Miss Bertram to think of Mr. Rushworth. It may\r
+do _her_ some good. I often think of Mr. Rushworth's property and\r
+independence, and wish them in other hands; but I never think of him. A\r
+man might represent the county with such an estate; a man might escape a\r
+profession and represent the county."\r
+\r
+"I dare say he _will_ be in parliament soon. When Sir Thomas comes, I\r
+dare say he will be in for some borough, but there has been nobody to\r
+put him in the way of doing anything yet."\r
+\r
+"Sir Thomas is to achieve many mighty things when he comes home," said\r
+Mary, after a pause. "Do you remember Hawkins Browne's 'Address to\r
+Tobacco,' in imitation of Pope?--\r
+\r
+ Blest leaf! whose aromatic gales dispense\r
+ To Templars modesty, to Parsons sense.\r
+\r
+I will parody them--\r
+\r
+ Blest Knight! whose dictatorial looks dispense\r
+ To Children affluence, to Rushworth sense.\r
+\r
+Will not that do, Mrs. Grant? Everything seems to depend upon Sir\r
+Thomas's return."\r
+\r
+"You will find his consequence very just and reasonable when you see him\r
+in his family, I assure you. I do not think we do so well without him.\r
+He has a fine dignified manner, which suits the head of such a house,\r
+and keeps everybody in their place. Lady Bertram seems more of a cipher\r
+now than when he is at home; and nobody else can keep Mrs. Norris in\r
+order. But, Mary, do not fancy that Maria Bertram cares for Henry. I\r
+am sure _Julia_ does not, or she would not have flirted as she did last\r
+night with Mr. Yates; and though he and Maria are very good friends, I\r
+think she likes Sotherton too well to be inconstant."\r
+\r
+"I would not give much for Mr. Rushworth's chance if Henry stept in\r
+before the articles were signed."\r
+\r
+"If you have such a suspicion, something must be done; and as soon as\r
+the play is all over, we will talk to him seriously and make him know\r
+his own mind; and if he means nothing, we will send him off, though he\r
+is Henry, for a time."\r
+\r
+Julia _did_ suffer, however, though Mrs. Grant discerned it not, and\r
+though it escaped the notice of many of her own family likewise. She had\r
+loved, she did love still, and she had all the suffering which a warm\r
+temper and a high spirit were likely to endure under the disappointment\r
+of a dear, though irrational hope, with a strong sense of ill-usage.\r
+Her heart was sore and angry, and she was capable only of angry\r
+consolations. The sister with whom she was used to be on easy terms was\r
+now become her greatest enemy: they were alienated from each other;\r
+and Julia was not superior to the hope of some distressing end to the\r
+attentions which were still carrying on there, some punishment to\r
+Maria for conduct so shameful towards herself as well as towards Mr.\r
+Rushworth. With no material fault of temper, or difference of opinion,\r
+to prevent their being very good friends while their interests were\r
+the same, the sisters, under such a trial as this, had not affection or\r
+principle enough to make them merciful or just, to give them honour or\r
+compassion. Maria felt her triumph, and pursued her purpose, careless of\r
+Julia; and Julia could never see Maria distinguished by Henry Crawford\r
+without trusting that it would create jealousy, and bring a public\r
+disturbance at last.\r
+\r
+Fanny saw and pitied much of this in Julia; but there was no outward\r
+fellowship between them. Julia made no communication, and Fanny took\r
+no liberties. They were two solitary sufferers, or connected only by\r
+Fanny's consciousness.\r
+\r
+The inattention of the two brothers and the aunt to Julia's\r
+discomposure, and their blindness to its true cause, must be imputed to\r
+the fullness of their own minds. They were totally preoccupied. Tom was\r
+engrossed by the concerns of his theatre, and saw nothing that did not\r
+immediately relate to it. Edmund, between his theatrical and his real\r
+part, between Miss Crawford's claims and his own conduct, between love\r
+and consistency, was equally unobservant; and Mrs. Norris was too busy\r
+in contriving and directing the general little matters of the company,\r
+superintending their various dresses with economical expedient, for\r
+which nobody thanked her, and saving, with delighted integrity, half\r
+a crown here and there to the absent Sir Thomas, to have leisure for\r
+watching the behaviour, or guarding the happiness of his daughters.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XVIII\r
+\r
+Everything was now in a regular train: theatre, actors, actresses, and\r
+dresses, were all getting forward; but though no other great impediments\r
+arose, Fanny found, before many days were past, that it was not all\r
+uninterrupted enjoyment to the party themselves, and that she had not to\r
+witness the continuance of such unanimity and delight as had been almost\r
+too much for her at first. Everybody began to have their vexation.\r
+Edmund had many. Entirely against _his_ judgment, a scene-painter\r
+arrived from town, and was at work, much to the increase of the\r
+expenses, and, what was worse, of the eclat of their proceedings; and\r
+his brother, instead of being really guided by him as to the privacy of\r
+the representation, was giving an invitation to every family who came\r
+in his way. Tom himself began to fret over the scene-painter's slow\r
+progress, and to feel the miseries of waiting. He had learned his\r
+part--all his parts, for he took every trifling one that could be united\r
+with the Butler, and began to be impatient to be acting; and every day\r
+thus unemployed was tending to increase his sense of the insignificance\r
+of all his parts together, and make him more ready to regret that some\r
+other play had not been chosen.\r
+\r
+Fanny, being always a very courteous listener, and often the only\r
+listener at hand, came in for the complaints and the distresses of\r
+most of them. _She_ knew that Mr. Yates was in general thought to rant\r
+dreadfully; that Mr. Yates was disappointed in Henry Crawford; that\r
+Tom Bertram spoke so quick he would be unintelligible; that Mrs. Grant\r
+spoiled everything by laughing; that Edmund was behindhand with his\r
+part, and that it was misery to have anything to do with Mr. Rushworth,\r
+who was wanting a prompter through every speech. She knew, also, that\r
+poor Mr. Rushworth could seldom get anybody to rehearse with him: _his_\r
+complaint came before her as well as the rest; and so decided to her\r
+eye was her cousin Maria's avoidance of him, and so needlessly often the\r
+rehearsal of the first scene between her and Mr. Crawford, that she had\r
+soon all the terror of other complaints from _him_. So far from being\r
+all satisfied and all enjoying, she found everybody requiring something\r
+they had not, and giving occasion of discontent to the others. Everybody\r
+had a part either too long or too short; nobody would attend as they\r
+ought; nobody would remember on which side they were to come in; nobody\r
+but the complainer would observe any directions.\r
+\r
+Fanny believed herself to derive as much innocent enjoyment from the\r
+play as any of them; Henry Crawford acted well, and it was a pleasure to\r
+_her_ to creep into the theatre, and attend the rehearsal of the first\r
+act, in spite of the feelings it excited in some speeches for Maria.\r
+Maria, she also thought, acted well, too well; and after the first\r
+rehearsal or two, Fanny began to be their only audience; and sometimes\r
+as prompter, sometimes as spectator, was often very useful. As far as\r
+she could judge, Mr. Crawford was considerably the best actor of all: he\r
+had more confidence than Edmund, more judgment than Tom, more talent and\r
+taste than Mr. Yates. She did not like him as a man, but she must admit\r
+him to be the best actor, and on this point there were not many who\r
+differed from her. Mr. Yates, indeed, exclaimed against his tameness and\r
+insipidity; and the day came at last, when Mr. Rushworth turned to her\r
+with a black look, and said, "Do you think there is anything so very\r
+fine in all this? For the life and soul of me, I cannot admire him; and,\r
+between ourselves, to see such an undersized, little, mean-looking man,\r
+set up for a fine actor, is very ridiculous in my opinion."\r
+\r
+From this moment there was a return of his former jealousy, which Maria,\r
+from increasing hopes of Crawford, was at little pains to remove; and\r
+the chances of Mr. Rushworth's ever attaining to the knowledge of his\r
+two-and-forty speeches became much less. As to his ever making anything\r
+_tolerable_ of them, nobody had the smallest idea of that except\r
+his mother; _she_, indeed, regretted that his part was not more\r
+considerable, and deferred coming over to Mansfield till they were\r
+forward enough in their rehearsal to comprehend all his scenes; but the\r
+others aspired at nothing beyond his remembering the catchword, and the\r
+first line of his speech, and being able to follow the prompter through\r
+the rest. Fanny, in her pity and kindheartedness, was at great pains to\r
+teach him how to learn, giving him all the helps and directions in her\r
+power, trying to make an artificial memory for him, and learning every\r
+word of his part herself, but without his being much the forwarder.\r
+\r
+Many uncomfortable, anxious, apprehensive feelings she certainly had;\r
+but with all these, and other claims on her time and attention, she was\r
+as far from finding herself without employment or utility amongst them,\r
+as without a companion in uneasiness; quite as far from having no\r
+demand on her leisure as on her compassion. The gloom of her first\r
+anticipations was proved to have been unfounded. She was occasionally\r
+useful to all; she was perhaps as much at peace as any.\r
+\r
+There was a great deal of needlework to be done, moreover, in which her\r
+help was wanted; and that Mrs. Norris thought her quite as well off\r
+as the rest, was evident by the manner in which she claimed it--"Come,\r
+Fanny," she cried, "these are fine times for you, but you must not be\r
+always walking from one room to the other, and doing the lookings-on at\r
+your ease, in this way; I want you here. I have been slaving myself till\r
+I can hardly stand, to contrive Mr. Rushworth's cloak without sending\r
+for any more satin; and now I think you may give me your help in putting\r
+it together. There are but three seams; you may do them in a trice. It\r
+would be lucky for me if I had nothing but the executive part to do.\r
+_You_ are best off, I can tell you: but if nobody did more than _you_,\r
+we should not get on very fast."\r
+\r
+Fanny took the work very quietly, without attempting any defence; but\r
+her kinder aunt Bertram observed on her behalf--\r
+\r
+"One cannot wonder, sister, that Fanny _should_ be delighted: it is\r
+all new to her, you know; you and I used to be very fond of a play\r
+ourselves, and so am I still; and as soon as I am a little more at\r
+leisure, _I_ mean to look in at their rehearsals too. What is the play\r
+about, Fanny? you have never told me."\r
+\r
+"Oh! sister, pray do not ask her now; for Fanny is not one of those who\r
+can talk and work at the same time. It is about Lovers' Vows."\r
+\r
+"I believe," said Fanny to her aunt Bertram, "there will be three acts\r
+rehearsed to-morrow evening, and that will give you an opportunity of\r
+seeing all the actors at once."\r
+\r
+"You had better stay till the curtain is hung," interposed Mrs. Norris;\r
+"the curtain will be hung in a day or two--there is very little sense in\r
+a play without a curtain--and I am much mistaken if you do not find it\r
+draw up into very handsome festoons."\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram seemed quite resigned to waiting. Fanny did not share her\r
+aunt's composure: she thought of the morrow a great deal, for if the\r
+three acts were rehearsed, Edmund and Miss Crawford would then be acting\r
+together for the first time; the third act would bring a scene between\r
+them which interested her most particularly, and which she was longing\r
+and dreading to see how they would perform. The whole subject of it was\r
+love--a marriage of love was to be described by the gentleman, and very\r
+little short of a declaration of love be made by the lady.\r
+\r
+She had read and read the scene again with many painful, many wondering\r
+emotions, and looked forward to their representation of it as a\r
+circumstance almost too interesting. She did not _believe_ they had yet\r
+rehearsed it, even in private.\r
+\r
+The morrow came, the plan for the evening continued, and Fanny's\r
+consideration of it did not become less agitated. She worked very\r
+diligently under her aunt's directions, but her diligence and her\r
+silence concealed a very absent, anxious mind; and about noon she\r
+made her escape with her work to the East room, that she might have no\r
+concern in another, and, as she deemed it, most unnecessary rehearsal of\r
+the first act, which Henry Crawford was just proposing, desirous at\r
+once of having her time to herself, and of avoiding the sight of Mr.\r
+Rushworth. A glimpse, as she passed through the hall, of the two ladies\r
+walking up from the Parsonage made no change in her wish of retreat, and\r
+she worked and meditated in the East room, undisturbed, for a quarter of\r
+an hour, when a gentle tap at the door was followed by the entrance of\r
+Miss Crawford.\r
+\r
+"Am I right? Yes; this is the East room. My dear Miss Price, I beg your\r
+pardon, but I have made my way to you on purpose to entreat your help."\r
+\r
+Fanny, quite surprised, endeavoured to shew herself mistress of the room\r
+by her civilities, and looked at the bright bars of her empty grate with\r
+concern.\r
+\r
+"Thank you; I am quite warm, very warm. Allow me to stay here a little\r
+while, and do have the goodness to hear me my third act. I have brought\r
+my book, and if you would but rehearse it with me, I should be _so_\r
+obliged! I came here to-day intending to rehearse it with Edmund--by\r
+ourselves--against the evening, but he is not in the way; and if he\r
+_were_, I do not think I could go through it with _him_, till I have\r
+hardened myself a little; for really there is a speech or two. You will\r
+be so good, won't you?"\r
+\r
+Fanny was most civil in her assurances, though she could not give them\r
+in a very steady voice.\r
+\r
+"Have you ever happened to look at the part I mean?" continued Miss\r
+Crawford, opening her book. "Here it is. I did not think much of it at\r
+first--but, upon my word. There, look at _that_ speech, and _that_, and\r
+_that_. How am I ever to look him in the face and say such things? Could\r
+you do it? But then he is your cousin, which makes all the difference.\r
+You must rehearse it with me, that I may fancy _you_ him, and get on by\r
+degrees. You _have_ a look of _his_ sometimes."\r
+\r
+"Have I? I will do my best with the greatest readiness; but I must\r
+_read_ the part, for I can say very little of it."\r
+\r
+"_None_ of it, I suppose. You are to have the book, of course. Now for\r
+it. We must have two chairs at hand for you to bring forward to the\r
+front of the stage. There--very good school-room chairs, not made for a\r
+theatre, I dare say; much more fitted for little girls to sit and kick\r
+their feet against when they are learning a lesson. What would your\r
+governess and your uncle say to see them used for such a purpose? Could\r
+Sir Thomas look in upon us just now, he would bless himself, for we\r
+are rehearsing all over the house. Yates is storming away in the\r
+dining-room. I heard him as I came upstairs, and the theatre is engaged\r
+of course by those indefatigable rehearsers, Agatha and Frederick. If\r
+_they_ are not perfect, I _shall_ be surprised. By the bye, I looked in\r
+upon them five minutes ago, and it happened to be exactly at one of the\r
+times when they were trying _not_ to embrace, and Mr. Rushworth was with\r
+me. I thought he began to look a little queer, so I turned it off as\r
+well as I could, by whispering to him, 'We shall have an excellent\r
+Agatha; there is something so _maternal_ in her manner, so completely\r
+_maternal_ in her voice and countenance.' Was not that well done of me?\r
+He brightened up directly. Now for my soliloquy."\r
+\r
+She began, and Fanny joined in with all the modest feeling which the\r
+idea of representing Edmund was so strongly calculated to inspire; but\r
+with looks and voice so truly feminine as to be no very good picture of\r
+a man. With such an Anhalt, however, Miss Crawford had courage enough;\r
+and they had got through half the scene, when a tap at the door brought\r
+a pause, and the entrance of Edmund, the next moment, suspended it all.\r
+\r
+Surprise, consciousness, and pleasure appeared in each of the three\r
+on this unexpected meeting; and as Edmund was come on the very same\r
+business that had brought Miss Crawford, consciousness and pleasure were\r
+likely to be more than momentary in _them_. He too had his book, and was\r
+seeking Fanny, to ask her to rehearse with him, and help him to prepare\r
+for the evening, without knowing Miss Crawford to be in the house;\r
+and great was the joy and animation of being thus thrown together, of\r
+comparing schemes, and sympathising in praise of Fanny's kind offices.\r
+\r
+_She_ could not equal them in their warmth. _Her_ spirits sank under the\r
+glow of theirs, and she felt herself becoming too nearly nothing to\r
+both to have any comfort in having been sought by either. They must now\r
+rehearse together. Edmund proposed, urged, entreated it, till the lady,\r
+not very unwilling at first, could refuse no longer, and Fanny was\r
+wanted only to prompt and observe them. She was invested, indeed, with\r
+the office of judge and critic, and earnestly desired to exercise it and\r
+tell them all their faults; but from doing so every feeling within her\r
+shrank--she could not, would not, dared not attempt it: had she been\r
+otherwise qualified for criticism, her conscience must have restrained\r
+her from venturing at disapprobation. She believed herself to feel too\r
+much of it in the aggregate for honesty or safety in particulars. To\r
+prompt them must be enough for her; and it was sometimes _more_ than\r
+enough; for she could not always pay attention to the book. In watching\r
+them she forgot herself; and, agitated by the increasing spirit of\r
+Edmund's manner, had once closed the page and turned away exactly as he\r
+wanted help. It was imputed to very reasonable weariness, and she was\r
+thanked and pitied; but she deserved their pity more than she hoped they\r
+would ever surmise. At last the scene was over, and Fanny forced herself\r
+to add her praise to the compliments each was giving the other; and when\r
+again alone and able to recall the whole, she was inclined to believe\r
+their performance would, indeed, have such nature and feeling in it as\r
+must ensure their credit, and make it a very suffering exhibition to\r
+herself. Whatever might be its effect, however, she must stand the brunt\r
+of it again that very day.\r
+\r
+The first regular rehearsal of the three first acts was certainly to\r
+take place in the evening: Mrs. Grant and the Crawfords were engaged to\r
+return for that purpose as soon as they could after dinner; and every\r
+one concerned was looking forward with eagerness. There seemed a general\r
+diffusion of cheerfulness on the occasion. Tom was enjoying such an\r
+advance towards the end; Edmund was in spirits from the morning's\r
+rehearsal, and little vexations seemed everywhere smoothed away. All\r
+were alert and impatient; the ladies moved soon, the gentlemen soon\r
+followed them, and with the exception of Lady Bertram, Mrs. Norris, and\r
+Julia, everybody was in the theatre at an early hour; and having lighted\r
+it up as well as its unfinished state admitted, were waiting only the\r
+arrival of Mrs. Grant and the Crawfords to begin.\r
+\r
+They did not wait long for the Crawfords, but there was no Mrs. Grant.\r
+She could not come. Dr. Grant, professing an indisposition, for which he\r
+had little credit with his fair sister-in-law, could not spare his wife.\r
+\r
+"Dr. Grant is ill," said she, with mock solemnity. "He has been ill ever\r
+since he did not eat any of the pheasant today. He fancied it tough,\r
+sent away his plate, and has been suffering ever since".\r
+\r
+Here was disappointment! Mrs. Grant's non-attendance was sad indeed.\r
+Her pleasant manners and cheerful conformity made her always valuable\r
+amongst them; but _now_ she was absolutely necessary. They could not\r
+act, they could not rehearse with any satisfaction without her. The\r
+comfort of the whole evening was destroyed. What was to be done? Tom, as\r
+Cottager, was in despair. After a pause of perplexity, some eyes began\r
+to be turned towards Fanny, and a voice or two to say, "If Miss Price\r
+would be so good as to _read_ the part." She was immediately surrounded\r
+by supplications; everybody asked it; even Edmund said, "Do, Fanny, if\r
+it is not _very_ disagreeable to you."\r
+\r
+But Fanny still hung back. She could not endure the idea of it. Why was\r
+not Miss Crawford to be applied to as well? Or why had not she rather\r
+gone to her own room, as she had felt to be safest, instead of attending\r
+the rehearsal at all? She had known it would irritate and distress her;\r
+she had known it her duty to keep away. She was properly punished.\r
+\r
+"You have only to _read_ the part," said Henry Crawford, with renewed\r
+entreaty.\r
+\r
+"And I do believe she can say every word of it," added Maria, "for she\r
+could put Mrs. Grant right the other day in twenty places. Fanny, I am\r
+sure you know the part."\r
+\r
+Fanny could not say she did _not_; and as they all persevered, as\r
+Edmund repeated his wish, and with a look of even fond dependence on\r
+her good-nature, she must yield. She would do her best. Everybody was\r
+satisfied; and she was left to the tremors of a most palpitating heart,\r
+while the others prepared to begin.\r
+\r
+They _did_ begin; and being too much engaged in their own noise to be\r
+struck by an unusual noise in the other part of the house, had proceeded\r
+some way when the door of the room was thrown open, and Julia, appearing\r
+at it, with a face all aghast, exclaimed, "My father is come! He is in\r
+the hall at this moment."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XIX\r
+\r
+How is the consternation of the party to be described? To the greater\r
+number it was a moment of absolute horror. Sir Thomas in the house! All\r
+felt the instantaneous conviction. Not a hope of imposition or mistake\r
+was harboured anywhere. Julia's looks were an evidence of the fact that\r
+made it indisputable; and after the first starts and exclamations, not a\r
+word was spoken for half a minute: each with an altered countenance was\r
+looking at some other, and almost each was feeling it a stroke the most\r
+unwelcome, most ill-timed, most appalling! Mr. Yates might consider\r
+it only as a vexatious interruption for the evening, and Mr. Rushworth\r
+might imagine it a blessing; but every other heart was sinking under\r
+some degree of self-condemnation or undefined alarm, every other heart\r
+was suggesting, "What will become of us? what is to be done now?" It\r
+was a terrible pause; and terrible to every ear were the corroborating\r
+sounds of opening doors and passing footsteps.\r
+\r
+Julia was the first to move and speak again. Jealousy and bitterness\r
+had been suspended: selfishness was lost in the common cause; but at the\r
+moment of her appearance, Frederick was listening with looks of devotion\r
+to Agatha's narrative, and pressing her hand to his heart; and as soon\r
+as she could notice this, and see that, in spite of the shock of her\r
+words, he still kept his station and retained her sister's hand, her\r
+wounded heart swelled again with injury, and looking as red as she had\r
+been white before, she turned out of the room, saying, "_I_ need not be\r
+afraid of appearing before him."\r
+\r
+Her going roused the rest; and at the same moment the two brothers\r
+stepped forward, feeling the necessity of doing something. A very few\r
+words between them were sufficient. The case admitted no difference of\r
+opinion: they must go to the drawing-room directly. Maria joined them\r
+with the same intent, just then the stoutest of the three; for the\r
+very circumstance which had driven Julia away was to her the sweetest\r
+support. Henry Crawford's retaining her hand at such a moment, a moment\r
+of such peculiar proof and importance, was worth ages of doubt and\r
+anxiety. She hailed it as an earnest of the most serious determination,\r
+and was equal even to encounter her father. They walked off, utterly\r
+heedless of Mr. Rushworth's repeated question of, "Shall I go too? Had\r
+not I better go too? Will not it be right for me to go too?" but they\r
+were no sooner through the door than Henry Crawford undertook to answer\r
+the anxious inquiry, and, encouraging him by all means to pay his\r
+respects to Sir Thomas without delay, sent him after the others with\r
+delighted haste.\r
+\r
+Fanny was left with only the Crawfords and Mr. Yates. She had been quite\r
+overlooked by her cousins; and as her own opinion of her claims on Sir\r
+Thomas's affection was much too humble to give her any idea of classing\r
+herself with his children, she was glad to remain behind and gain a\r
+little breathing-time. Her agitation and alarm exceeded all that was\r
+endured by the rest, by the right of a disposition which not even\r
+innocence could keep from suffering. She was nearly fainting: all her\r
+former habitual dread of her uncle was returning, and with it compassion\r
+for him and for almost every one of the party on the development before\r
+him, with solicitude on Edmund's account indescribable. She had found\r
+a seat, where in excessive trembling she was enduring all these fearful\r
+thoughts, while the other three, no longer under any restraint, were\r
+giving vent to their feelings of vexation, lamenting over such an\r
+unlooked-for premature arrival as a most untoward event, and without\r
+mercy wishing poor Sir Thomas had been twice as long on his passage, or\r
+were still in Antigua.\r
+\r
+The Crawfords were more warm on the subject than Mr. Yates, from better\r
+understanding the family, and judging more clearly of the mischief that\r
+must ensue. The ruin of the play was to them a certainty: they felt\r
+the total destruction of the scheme to be inevitably at hand; while Mr.\r
+Yates considered it only as a temporary interruption, a disaster for the\r
+evening, and could even suggest the possibility of the rehearsal being\r
+renewed after tea, when the bustle of receiving Sir Thomas were over,\r
+and he might be at leisure to be amused by it. The Crawfords laughed\r
+at the idea; and having soon agreed on the propriety of their walking\r
+quietly home and leaving the family to themselves, proposed Mr. Yates's\r
+accompanying them and spending the evening at the Parsonage. But Mr.\r
+Yates, having never been with those who thought much of parental claims,\r
+or family confidence, could not perceive that anything of the kind was\r
+necessary; and therefore, thanking them, said, "he preferred remaining\r
+where he was, that he might pay his respects to the old gentleman\r
+handsomely since he _was_ come; and besides, he did not think it would\r
+be fair by the others to have everybody run away."\r
+\r
+Fanny was just beginning to collect herself, and to feel that if she\r
+staid longer behind it might seem disrespectful, when this point was\r
+settled, and being commissioned with the brother and sister's apology,\r
+saw them preparing to go as she quitted the room herself to perform the\r
+dreadful duty of appearing before her uncle.\r
+\r
+Too soon did she find herself at the drawing-room door; and after\r
+pausing a moment for what she knew would not come, for a courage which\r
+the outside of no door had ever supplied to her, she turned the lock in\r
+desperation, and the lights of the drawing-room, and all the collected\r
+family, were before her. As she entered, her own name caught her ear.\r
+Sir Thomas was at that moment looking round him, and saying, "But where\r
+is Fanny? Why do not I see my little Fanny?"--and on perceiving her,\r
+came forward with a kindness which astonished and penetrated her,\r
+calling her his dear Fanny, kissing her affectionately, and observing\r
+with decided pleasure how much she was grown! Fanny knew not how to\r
+feel, nor where to look. She was quite oppressed. He had never been so\r
+kind, so _very_ kind to her in his life. His manner seemed changed, his\r
+voice was quick from the agitation of joy; and all that had been awful\r
+in his dignity seemed lost in tenderness. He led her nearer the light\r
+and looked at her again--inquired particularly after her health, and\r
+then, correcting himself, observed that he need not inquire, for\r
+her appearance spoke sufficiently on that point. A fine blush having\r
+succeeded the previous paleness of her face, he was justified in his\r
+belief of her equal improvement in health and beauty. He inquired next\r
+after her family, especially William: and his kindness altogether was\r
+such as made her reproach herself for loving him so little, and thinking\r
+his return a misfortune; and when, on having courage to lift her eyes to\r
+his face, she saw that he was grown thinner, and had the burnt, fagged,\r
+worn look of fatigue and a hot climate, every tender feeling was\r
+increased, and she was miserable in considering how much unsuspected\r
+vexation was probably ready to burst on him.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was indeed the life of the party, who at his suggestion\r
+now seated themselves round the fire. He had the best right to be the\r
+talker; and the delight of his sensations in being again in his own\r
+house, in the centre of his family, after such a separation, made him\r
+communicative and chatty in a very unusual degree; and he was ready to\r
+give every information as to his voyage, and answer every question\r
+of his two sons almost before it was put. His business in Antigua had\r
+latterly been prosperously rapid, and he came directly from Liverpool,\r
+having had an opportunity of making his passage thither in a private\r
+vessel, instead of waiting for the packet; and all the little\r
+particulars of his proceedings and events, his arrivals and departures,\r
+were most promptly delivered, as he sat by Lady Bertram and looked with\r
+heartfelt satisfaction on the faces around him--interrupting himself\r
+more than once, however, to remark on his good fortune in finding them\r
+all at home--coming unexpectedly as he did--all collected together\r
+exactly as he could have wished, but dared not depend on. Mr. Rushworth\r
+was not forgotten: a most friendly reception and warmth of hand-shaking\r
+had already met him, and with pointed attention he was now included in\r
+the objects most intimately connected with Mansfield. There was nothing\r
+disagreeable in Mr. Rushworth's appearance, and Sir Thomas was liking\r
+him already.\r
+\r
+By not one of the circle was he listened to with such unbroken,\r
+unalloyed enjoyment as by his wife, who was really extremely happy to\r
+see him, and whose feelings were so warmed by his sudden arrival as to\r
+place her nearer agitation than she had been for the last twenty years.\r
+She had been _almost_ fluttered for a few minutes, and still remained so\r
+sensibly animated as to put away her work, move Pug from her side, and\r
+give all her attention and all the rest of her sofa to her husband. She\r
+had no anxieties for anybody to cloud _her_ pleasure: her own time had\r
+been irreproachably spent during his absence: she had done a great\r
+deal of carpet-work, and made many yards of fringe; and she would have\r
+answered as freely for the good conduct and useful pursuits of all\r
+the young people as for her own. It was so agreeable to her to see\r
+him again, and hear him talk, to have her ear amused and her whole\r
+comprehension filled by his narratives, that she began particularly\r
+to feel how dreadfully she must have missed him, and how impossible it\r
+would have been for her to bear a lengthened absence.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was by no means to be compared in happiness to her\r
+sister. Not that _she_ was incommoded by many fears of Sir Thomas's\r
+disapprobation when the present state of his house should be known, for\r
+her judgment had been so blinded that, except by the instinctive caution\r
+with which she had whisked away Mr. Rushworth's pink satin cloak as her\r
+brother-in-law entered, she could hardly be said to shew any sign of\r
+alarm; but she was vexed by the _manner_ of his return. It had left her\r
+nothing to do. Instead of being sent for out of the room, and seeing\r
+him first, and having to spread the happy news through the house, Sir\r
+Thomas, with a very reasonable dependence, perhaps, on the nerves of his\r
+wife and children, had sought no confidant but the butler, and had been\r
+following him almost instantaneously into the drawing-room. Mrs. Norris\r
+felt herself defrauded of an office on which she had always depended,\r
+whether his arrival or his death were to be the thing unfolded; and was\r
+now trying to be in a bustle without having anything to bustle about,\r
+and labouring to be important where nothing was wanted but tranquillity\r
+and silence. Would Sir Thomas have consented to eat, she might have gone\r
+to the housekeeper with troublesome directions, and insulted the footmen\r
+with injunctions of despatch; but Sir Thomas resolutely declined all\r
+dinner: he would take nothing, nothing till tea came--he would rather\r
+wait for tea. Still Mrs. Norris was at intervals urging something\r
+different; and in the most interesting moment of his passage to England,\r
+when the alarm of a French privateer was at the height, she burst\r
+through his recital with the proposal of soup. "Sure, my dear Sir\r
+Thomas, a basin of soup would be a much better thing for you than tea.\r
+Do have a basin of soup."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas could not be provoked. "Still the same anxiety for\r
+everybody's comfort, my dear Mrs. Norris," was his answer. "But indeed I\r
+would rather have nothing but tea."\r
+\r
+"Well, then, Lady Bertram, suppose you speak for tea directly; suppose\r
+you hurry Baddeley a little; he seems behindhand to-night." She carried\r
+this point, and Sir Thomas's narrative proceeded.\r
+\r
+At length there was a pause. His immediate communications were\r
+exhausted, and it seemed enough to be looking joyfully around him, now\r
+at one, now at another of the beloved circle; but the pause was not\r
+long: in the elation of her spirits Lady Bertram became talkative, and\r
+what were the sensations of her children upon hearing her say, "How\r
+do you think the young people have been amusing themselves lately, Sir\r
+Thomas? They have been acting. We have been all alive with acting."\r
+\r
+"Indeed! and what have you been acting?"\r
+\r
+"Oh! they'll tell you all about it."\r
+\r
+"The _all_ will soon be told," cried Tom hastily, and with affected\r
+unconcern; "but it is not worth while to bore my father with it now. You\r
+will hear enough of it to-morrow, sir. We have just been trying, by way\r
+of doing something, and amusing my mother, just within the last week,\r
+to get up a few scenes, a mere trifle. We have had such incessant rains\r
+almost since October began, that we have been nearly confined to the\r
+house for days together. I have hardly taken out a gun since the 3rd.\r
+Tolerable sport the first three days, but there has been no attempting\r
+anything since. The first day I went over Mansfield Wood, and Edmund\r
+took the copses beyond Easton, and we brought home six brace between\r
+us, and might each have killed six times as many, but we respect your\r
+pheasants, sir, I assure you, as much as you could desire. I do not\r
+think you will find your woods by any means worse stocked than they\r
+were. _I_ never saw Mansfield Wood so full of pheasants in my life\r
+as this year. I hope you will take a day's sport there yourself, sir,\r
+soon."\r
+\r
+For the present the danger was over, and Fanny's sick feelings subsided;\r
+but when tea was soon afterwards brought in, and Sir Thomas, getting up,\r
+said that he found that he could not be any longer in the house without\r
+just looking into his own dear room, every agitation was returning. He\r
+was gone before anything had been said to prepare him for the change he\r
+must find there; and a pause of alarm followed his disappearance. Edmund\r
+was the first to speak--\r
+\r
+"Something must be done," said he.\r
+\r
+"It is time to think of our visitors," said Maria, still feeling her\r
+hand pressed to Henry Crawford's heart, and caring little for anything\r
+else. "Where did you leave Miss Crawford, Fanny?"\r
+\r
+Fanny told of their departure, and delivered their message.\r
+\r
+"Then poor Yates is all alone," cried Tom. "I will go and fetch him. He\r
+will be no bad assistant when it all comes out."\r
+\r
+To the theatre he went, and reached it just in time to witness the first\r
+meeting of his father and his friend. Sir Thomas had been a good deal\r
+surprised to find candles burning in his room; and on casting his eye\r
+round it, to see other symptoms of recent habitation and a general air\r
+of confusion in the furniture. The removal of the bookcase from before\r
+the billiard-room door struck him especially, but he had scarcely more\r
+than time to feel astonished at all this, before there were sounds from\r
+the billiard-room to astonish him still farther. Some one was talking\r
+there in a very loud accent; he did not know the voice--more than\r
+talking--almost hallooing. He stepped to the door, rejoicing at that\r
+moment in having the means of immediate communication, and, opening it,\r
+found himself on the stage of a theatre, and opposed to a ranting young\r
+man, who appeared likely to knock him down backwards. At the very moment\r
+of Yates perceiving Sir Thomas, and giving perhaps the very best start\r
+he had ever given in the whole course of his rehearsals, Tom Bertram\r
+entered at the other end of the room; and never had he found greater\r
+difficulty in keeping his countenance. His father's looks of solemnity\r
+and amazement on this his first appearance on any stage, and the gradual\r
+metamorphosis of the impassioned Baron Wildenheim into the well-bred and\r
+easy Mr. Yates, making his bow and apology to Sir Thomas Bertram, was\r
+such an exhibition, such a piece of true acting, as he would not have\r
+lost upon any account. It would be the last--in all probability--the\r
+last scene on that stage; but he was sure there could not be a finer.\r
+The house would close with the greatest eclat.\r
+\r
+There was little time, however, for the indulgence of any images of\r
+merriment. It was necessary for him to step forward, too, and assist\r
+the introduction, and with many awkward sensations he did his best. Sir\r
+Thomas received Mr. Yates with all the appearance of cordiality which\r
+was due to his own character, but was really as far from pleased\r
+with the necessity of the acquaintance as with the manner of its\r
+commencement. Mr. Yates's family and connexions were sufficiently known\r
+to him to render his introduction as the "particular friend," another of\r
+the hundred particular friends of his son, exceedingly unwelcome; and it\r
+needed all the felicity of being again at home, and all the forbearance\r
+it could supply, to save Sir Thomas from anger on finding himself thus\r
+bewildered in his own house, making part of a ridiculous exhibition in\r
+the midst of theatrical nonsense, and forced in so untoward a moment to\r
+admit the acquaintance of a young man whom he felt sure of disapproving,\r
+and whose easy indifference and volubility in the course of the first\r
+five minutes seemed to mark him the most at home of the two.\r
+\r
+Tom understood his father's thoughts, and heartily wishing he might be\r
+always as well disposed to give them but partial expression, began to\r
+see, more clearly than he had ever done before, that there might be some\r
+ground of offence, that there might be some reason for the glance his\r
+father gave towards the ceiling and stucco of the room; and that when he\r
+inquired with mild gravity after the fate of the billiard-table, he was\r
+not proceeding beyond a very allowable curiosity. A few minutes were\r
+enough for such unsatisfactory sensations on each side; and Sir\r
+Thomas having exerted himself so far as to speak a few words of\r
+calm approbation in reply to an eager appeal of Mr. Yates, as to the\r
+happiness of the arrangement, the three gentlemen returned to the\r
+drawing-room together, Sir Thomas with an increase of gravity which was\r
+not lost on all.\r
+\r
+"I come from your theatre," said he composedly, as he sat down; "I found\r
+myself in it rather unexpectedly. Its vicinity to my own room--but in\r
+every respect, indeed, it took me by surprise, as I had not the smallest\r
+suspicion of your acting having assumed so serious a character. It\r
+appears a neat job, however, as far as I could judge by candlelight,\r
+and does my friend Christopher Jackson credit." And then he would\r
+have changed the subject, and sipped his coffee in peace over domestic\r
+matters of a calmer hue; but Mr. Yates, without discernment to catch Sir\r
+Thomas's meaning, or diffidence, or delicacy, or discretion enough to\r
+allow him to lead the discourse while he mingled among the others with\r
+the least obtrusiveness himself, would keep him on the topic of the\r
+theatre, would torment him with questions and remarks relative to it,\r
+and finally would make him hear the whole history of his disappointment\r
+at Ecclesford. Sir Thomas listened most politely, but found much to\r
+offend his ideas of decorum, and confirm his ill-opinion of Mr. Yates's\r
+habits of thinking, from the beginning to the end of the story; and when\r
+it was over, could give him no other assurance of sympathy than what a\r
+slight bow conveyed.\r
+\r
+"This was, in fact, the origin of _our_ acting," said Tom, after\r
+a moment's thought. "My friend Yates brought the infection from\r
+Ecclesford, and it spread--as those things always spread, you know,\r
+sir--the faster, probably, from _your_ having so often encouraged the\r
+sort of thing in us formerly. It was like treading old ground again."\r
+\r
+Mr. Yates took the subject from his friend as soon as possible, and\r
+immediately gave Sir Thomas an account of what they had done and were\r
+doing: told him of the gradual increase of their views, the happy\r
+conclusion of their first difficulties, and present promising state of\r
+affairs; relating everything with so blind an interest as made him not\r
+only totally unconscious of the uneasy movements of many of his\r
+friends as they sat, the change of countenance, the fidget, the hem! of\r
+unquietness, but prevented him even from seeing the expression of the\r
+face on which his own eyes were fixed--from seeing Sir Thomas's dark\r
+brow contract as he looked with inquiring earnestness at his daughters\r
+and Edmund, dwelling particularly on the latter, and speaking a\r
+language, a remonstrance, a reproof, which _he_ felt at his heart. Not\r
+less acutely was it felt by Fanny, who had edged back her chair behind\r
+her aunt's end of the sofa, and, screened from notice herself, saw all\r
+that was passing before her. Such a look of reproach at Edmund from his\r
+father she could never have expected to witness; and to feel that it\r
+was in any degree deserved was an aggravation indeed. Sir Thomas's\r
+look implied, "On your judgment, Edmund, I depended; what have you\r
+been about?" She knelt in spirit to her uncle, and her bosom swelled to\r
+utter, "Oh, not to _him_! Look so to all the others, but not to _him_!"\r
+\r
+Mr. Yates was still talking. "To own the truth, Sir Thomas, we were in\r
+the middle of a rehearsal when you arrived this evening. We were going\r
+through the three first acts, and not unsuccessfully upon the whole. Our\r
+company is now so dispersed, from the Crawfords being gone home, that\r
+nothing more can be done to-night; but if you will give us the honour of\r
+your company to-morrow evening, I should not be afraid of the result. We\r
+bespeak your indulgence, you understand, as young performers; we bespeak\r
+your indulgence."\r
+\r
+"My indulgence shall be given, sir," replied Sir Thomas gravely, "but\r
+without any other rehearsal." And with a relenting smile, he added, "I\r
+come home to be happy and indulgent." Then turning away towards any\r
+or all of the rest, he tranquilly said, "Mr. and Miss Crawford were\r
+mentioned in my last letters from Mansfield. Do you find them agreeable\r
+acquaintance?"\r
+\r
+Tom was the only one at all ready with an answer, but he being entirely\r
+without particular regard for either, without jealousy either in love\r
+or acting, could speak very handsomely of both. "Mr. Crawford was a\r
+most pleasant, gentleman-like man; his sister a sweet, pretty, elegant,\r
+lively girl."\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth could be silent no longer. "I do not say he is not\r
+gentleman-like, considering; but you should tell your father he is not\r
+above five feet eight, or he will be expecting a well-looking man."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas did not quite understand this, and looked with some surprise\r
+at the speaker.\r
+\r
+"If I must say what I think," continued Mr. Rushworth, "in my opinion it\r
+is very disagreeable to be always rehearsing. It is having too much of a\r
+good thing. I am not so fond of acting as I was at first. I think we are\r
+a great deal better employed, sitting comfortably here among ourselves,\r
+and doing nothing."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas looked again, and then replied with an approving smile, "I am\r
+happy to find our sentiments on this subject so much the same. It gives\r
+me sincere satisfaction. That I should be cautious and quick-sighted,\r
+and feel many scruples which my children do _not_ feel, is perfectly\r
+natural; and equally so that my value for domestic tranquillity, for a\r
+home which shuts out noisy pleasures, should much exceed theirs. But at\r
+your time of life to feel all this, is a most favourable circumstance\r
+for yourself, and for everybody connected with you; and I am sensible of\r
+the importance of having an ally of such weight."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas meant to be giving Mr. Rushworth's opinion in better words\r
+than he could find himself. He was aware that he must not expect a\r
+genius in Mr. Rushworth; but as a well-judging, steady young man, with\r
+better notions than his elocution would do justice to, he intended to\r
+value him very highly. It was impossible for many of the others not to\r
+smile. Mr. Rushworth hardly knew what to do with so much meaning; but by\r
+looking, as he really felt, most exceedingly pleased with Sir Thomas's\r
+good opinion, and saying scarcely anything, he did his best towards\r
+preserving that good opinion a little longer.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XX\r
+\r
+Edmund's first object the next morning was to see his father alone, and\r
+give him a fair statement of the whole acting scheme, defending his own\r
+share in it as far only as he could then, in a soberer moment, feel his\r
+motives to deserve, and acknowledging, with perfect ingenuousness, that\r
+his concession had been attended with such partial good as to make his\r
+judgment in it very doubtful. He was anxious, while vindicating himself,\r
+to say nothing unkind of the others: but there was only one amongst\r
+them whose conduct he could mention without some necessity of defence\r
+or palliation. "We have all been more or less to blame," said he, "every\r
+one of us, excepting Fanny. Fanny is the only one who has judged rightly\r
+throughout; who has been consistent. _Her_ feelings have been steadily\r
+against it from first to last. She never ceased to think of what was due\r
+to you. You will find Fanny everything you could wish."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas saw all the impropriety of such a scheme among such a party,\r
+and at such a time, as strongly as his son had ever supposed he must; he\r
+felt it too much, indeed, for many words; and having shaken hands with\r
+Edmund, meant to try to lose the disagreeable impression, and forget how\r
+much he had been forgotten himself as soon as he could, after the house\r
+had been cleared of every object enforcing the remembrance, and restored\r
+to its proper state. He did not enter into any remonstrance with his\r
+other children: he was more willing to believe they felt their error\r
+than to run the risk of investigation. The reproof of an immediate\r
+conclusion of everything, the sweep of every preparation, would be\r
+sufficient.\r
+\r
+There was one person, however, in the house, whom he could not leave\r
+to learn his sentiments merely through his conduct. He could not help\r
+giving Mrs. Norris a hint of his having hoped that her advice might\r
+have been interposed to prevent what her judgment must certainly have\r
+disapproved. The young people had been very inconsiderate in forming the\r
+plan; they ought to have been capable of a better decision themselves;\r
+but they were young; and, excepting Edmund, he believed, of unsteady\r
+characters; and with greater surprise, therefore, he must regard her\r
+acquiescence in their wrong measures, her countenance of their unsafe\r
+amusements, than that such measures and such amusements should have\r
+been suggested. Mrs. Norris was a little confounded and as nearly\r
+being silenced as ever she had been in her life; for she was ashamed to\r
+confess having never seen any of the impropriety which was so glaring\r
+to Sir Thomas, and would not have admitted that her influence was\r
+insufficient--that she might have talked in vain. Her only resource was\r
+to get out of the subject as fast as possible, and turn the current\r
+of Sir Thomas's ideas into a happier channel. She had a great deal to\r
+insinuate in her own praise as to _general_ attention to the interest\r
+and comfort of his family, much exertion and many sacrifices to glance\r
+at in the form of hurried walks and sudden removals from her own\r
+fireside, and many excellent hints of distrust and economy to Lady\r
+Bertram and Edmund to detail, whereby a most considerable saving had\r
+always arisen, and more than one bad servant been detected. But her\r
+chief strength lay in Sotherton. Her greatest support and glory was\r
+in having formed the connexion with the Rushworths. _There_ she\r
+was impregnable. She took to herself all the credit of bringing Mr.\r
+Rushworth's admiration of Maria to any effect. "If I had not been\r
+active," said she, "and made a point of being introduced to his mother,\r
+and then prevailed on my sister to pay the first visit, I am as certain\r
+as I sit here that nothing would have come of it; for Mr. Rushworth\r
+is the sort of amiable modest young man who wants a great deal of\r
+encouragement, and there were girls enough on the catch for him if we\r
+had been idle. But I left no stone unturned. I was ready to move heaven\r
+and earth to persuade my sister, and at last I did persuade her. You\r
+know the distance to Sotherton; it was in the middle of winter, and the\r
+roads almost impassable, but I did persuade her."\r
+\r
+"I know how great, how justly great, your influence is with Lady Bertram\r
+and her children, and am the more concerned that it should not have\r
+been."\r
+\r
+"My dear Sir Thomas, if you had seen the state of the roads _that_ day!\r
+I thought we should never have got through them, though we had the four\r
+horses of course; and poor old coachman would attend us, out of his\r
+great love and kindness, though he was hardly able to sit the box on\r
+account of the rheumatism which I had been doctoring him for ever since\r
+Michaelmas. I cured him at last; but he was very bad all the winter--and\r
+this was such a day, I could not help going to him up in his room before\r
+we set off to advise him not to venture: he was putting on his wig; so\r
+I said, 'Coachman, you had much better not go; your Lady and I shall be\r
+very safe; you know how steady Stephen is, and Charles has been upon the\r
+leaders so often now, that I am sure there is no fear.' But, however, I\r
+soon found it would not do; he was bent upon going, and as I hate to be\r
+worrying and officious, I said no more; but my heart quite ached for him\r
+at every jolt, and when we got into the rough lanes about Stoke, where,\r
+what with frost and snow upon beds of stones, it was worse than anything\r
+you can imagine, I was quite in an agony about him. And then the poor\r
+horses too! To see them straining away! You know how I always feel for\r
+the horses. And when we got to the bottom of Sandcroft Hill, what do you\r
+think I did? You will laugh at me; but I got out and walked up. I did\r
+indeed. It might not be saving them much, but it was something, and I\r
+could not bear to sit at my ease and be dragged up at the expense of\r
+those noble animals. I caught a dreadful cold, but _that_ I did not\r
+regard. My object was accomplished in the visit."\r
+\r
+"I hope we shall always think the acquaintance worth any trouble that\r
+might be taken to establish it. There is nothing very striking in Mr.\r
+Rushworth's manners, but I was pleased last night with what appeared to\r
+be his opinion on one subject: his decided preference of a quiet family\r
+party to the bustle and confusion of acting. He seemed to feel exactly\r
+as one could wish."\r
+\r
+"Yes, indeed, and the more you know of him the better you will like him.\r
+He is not a shining character, but he has a thousand good qualities; and\r
+is so disposed to look up to you, that I am quite laughed at about it,\r
+for everybody considers it as my doing. 'Upon my word, Mrs. Norris,'\r
+said Mrs. Grant the other day, 'if Mr. Rushworth were a son of your own,\r
+he could not hold Sir Thomas in greater respect.'"\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas gave up the point, foiled by her evasions, disarmed by her\r
+flattery; and was obliged to rest satisfied with the conviction that\r
+where the present pleasure of those she loved was at stake, her kindness\r
+did sometimes overpower her judgment.\r
+\r
+It was a busy morning with him. Conversation with any of them occupied\r
+but a small part of it. He had to reinstate himself in all the wonted\r
+concerns of his Mansfield life: to see his steward and his bailiff; to\r
+examine and compute, and, in the intervals of business, to walk into\r
+his stables and his gardens, and nearest plantations; but active and\r
+methodical, he had not only done all this before he resumed his seat as\r
+master of the house at dinner, he had also set the carpenter to work in\r
+pulling down what had been so lately put up in the billiard-room,\r
+and given the scene-painter his dismissal long enough to justify the\r
+pleasing belief of his being then at least as far off as Northampton.\r
+The scene-painter was gone, having spoilt only the floor of one room,\r
+ruined all the coachman's sponges, and made five of the under-servants\r
+idle and dissatisfied; and Sir Thomas was in hopes that another day or\r
+two would suffice to wipe away every outward memento of what had been,\r
+even to the destruction of every unbound copy of Lovers' Vows in the\r
+house, for he was burning all that met his eye.\r
+\r
+Mr. Yates was beginning now to understand Sir Thomas's intentions,\r
+though as far as ever from understanding their source. He and his friend\r
+had been out with their guns the chief of the morning, and Tom had taken\r
+the opportunity of explaining, with proper apologies for his father's\r
+particularity, what was to be expected. Mr. Yates felt it as acutely as\r
+might be supposed. To be a second time disappointed in the same way was\r
+an instance of very severe ill-luck; and his indignation was such,\r
+that had it not been for delicacy towards his friend, and his friend's\r
+youngest sister, he believed he should certainly attack the baronet\r
+on the absurdity of his proceedings, and argue him into a little more\r
+rationality. He believed this very stoutly while he was in Mansfield\r
+Wood, and all the way home; but there was a something in Sir Thomas,\r
+when they sat round the same table, which made Mr. Yates think it\r
+wiser to let him pursue his own way, and feel the folly of it without\r
+opposition. He had known many disagreeable fathers before, and often\r
+been struck with the inconveniences they occasioned, but never, in\r
+the whole course of his life, had he seen one of that class so\r
+unintelligibly moral, so infamously tyrannical as Sir Thomas. He was\r
+not a man to be endured but for his children's sake, and he might be\r
+thankful to his fair daughter Julia that Mr. Yates did yet mean to stay\r
+a few days longer under his roof.\r
+\r
+The evening passed with external smoothness, though almost every\r
+mind was ruffled; and the music which Sir Thomas called for from his\r
+daughters helped to conceal the want of real harmony. Maria was in a\r
+good deal of agitation. It was of the utmost consequence to her that\r
+Crawford should now lose no time in declaring himself, and she was\r
+disturbed that even a day should be gone by without seeming to advance\r
+that point. She had been expecting to see him the whole morning, and\r
+all the evening, too, was still expecting him. Mr. Rushworth had set off\r
+early with the great news for Sotherton; and she had fondly hoped for\r
+such an immediate _eclaircissement_ as might save him the trouble of\r
+ever coming back again. But they had seen no one from the Parsonage,\r
+not a creature, and had heard no tidings beyond a friendly note of\r
+congratulation and inquiry from Mrs. Grant to Lady Bertram. It was the\r
+first day for many, many weeks, in which the families had been wholly\r
+divided. Four-and-twenty hours had never passed before, since August\r
+began, without bringing them together in some way or other. It was a\r
+sad, anxious day; and the morrow, though differing in the sort of evil,\r
+did by no means bring less. A few moments of feverish enjoyment were\r
+followed by hours of acute suffering. Henry Crawford was again in the\r
+house: he walked up with Dr. Grant, who was anxious to pay his respects\r
+to Sir Thomas, and at rather an early hour they were ushered into the\r
+breakfast-room, where were most of the family. Sir Thomas soon appeared,\r
+and Maria saw with delight and agitation the introduction of the man she\r
+loved to her father. Her sensations were indefinable, and so were they\r
+a few minutes afterwards upon hearing Henry Crawford, who had a chair\r
+between herself and Tom, ask the latter in an undervoice whether\r
+there were any plans for resuming the play after the present happy\r
+interruption (with a courteous glance at Sir Thomas), because, in that\r
+case, he should make a point of returning to Mansfield at any time\r
+required by the party: he was going away immediately, being to meet his\r
+uncle at Bath without delay; but if there were any prospect of a renewal\r
+of Lovers' Vows, he should hold himself positively engaged, he should\r
+break through every other claim, he should absolutely condition with his\r
+uncle for attending them whenever he might be wanted. The play should\r
+not be lost by _his_ absence.\r
+\r
+"From Bath, Norfolk, London, York, wherever I may be," said he; "I will\r
+attend you from any place in England, at an hour's notice."\r
+\r
+It was well at that moment that Tom had to speak, and not his sister. He\r
+could immediately say with easy fluency, "I am sorry you are going;\r
+but as to our play, _that_ is all over--entirely at an end" (looking\r
+significantly at his father). "The painter was sent off yesterday, and\r
+very little will remain of the theatre to-morrow. I knew how _that_\r
+would be from the first. It is early for Bath. You will find nobody\r
+there."\r
+\r
+"It is about my uncle's usual time."\r
+\r
+"When do you think of going?"\r
+\r
+"I may, perhaps, get as far as Banbury to-day."\r
+\r
+"Whose stables do you use at Bath?" was the next question; and while\r
+this branch of the subject was under discussion, Maria, who wanted\r
+neither pride nor resolution, was preparing to encounter her share of it\r
+with tolerable calmness.\r
+\r
+To her he soon turned, repeating much of what he had already said, with\r
+only a softened air and stronger expressions of regret. But what availed\r
+his expressions or his air? He was going, and, if not voluntarily going,\r
+voluntarily intending to stay away; for, excepting what might be due\r
+to his uncle, his engagements were all self-imposed. He might talk of\r
+necessity, but she knew his independence. The hand which had so pressed\r
+hers to his heart! the hand and the heart were alike motionless and\r
+passive now! Her spirit supported her, but the agony of her mind was\r
+severe. She had not long to endure what arose from listening to language\r
+which his actions contradicted, or to bury the tumult of her feelings\r
+under the restraint of society; for general civilities soon called\r
+his notice from her, and the farewell visit, as it then became openly\r
+acknowledged, was a very short one. He was gone--he had touched her\r
+hand for the last time, he had made his parting bow, and she might seek\r
+directly all that solitude could do for her. Henry Crawford was gone,\r
+gone from the house, and within two hours afterwards from the parish;\r
+and so ended all the hopes his selfish vanity had raised in Maria and\r
+Julia Bertram.\r
+\r
+Julia could rejoice that he was gone. His presence was beginning to be\r
+odious to her; and if Maria gained him not, she was now cool enough to\r
+dispense with any other revenge. She did not want exposure to be added\r
+to desertion. Henry Crawford gone, she could even pity her sister.\r
+\r
+With a purer spirit did Fanny rejoice in the intelligence. She heard it\r
+at dinner, and felt it a blessing. By all the others it was mentioned\r
+with regret; and his merits honoured with due gradation of feeling--from\r
+the sincerity of Edmund's too partial regard, to the unconcern of his\r
+mother speaking entirely by rote. Mrs. Norris began to look about her,\r
+and wonder that his falling in love with Julia had come to nothing; and\r
+could almost fear that she had been remiss herself in forwarding it; but\r
+with so many to care for, how was it possible for even _her_ activity to\r
+keep pace with her wishes?\r
+\r
+Another day or two, and Mr. Yates was gone likewise. In _his_ departure\r
+Sir Thomas felt the chief interest: wanting to be alone with his family,\r
+the presence of a stranger superior to Mr. Yates must have been irksome;\r
+but of him, trifling and confident, idle and expensive, it was every way\r
+vexatious. In himself he was wearisome, but as the friend of Tom and\r
+the admirer of Julia he became offensive. Sir Thomas had been quite\r
+indifferent to Mr. Crawford's going or staying: but his good wishes\r
+for Mr. Yates's having a pleasant journey, as he walked with him to the\r
+hall-door, were given with genuine satisfaction. Mr. Yates had staid to\r
+see the destruction of every theatrical preparation at Mansfield, the\r
+removal of everything appertaining to the play: he left the house in all\r
+the soberness of its general character; and Sir Thomas hoped, in seeing\r
+him out of it, to be rid of the worst object connected with the scheme,\r
+and the last that must be inevitably reminding him of its existence.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris contrived to remove one article from his sight that might\r
+have distressed him. The curtain, over which she had presided with such\r
+talent and such success, went off with her to her cottage, where she\r
+happened to be particularly in want of green baize.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXI\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas's return made a striking change in the ways of the family,\r
+independent of Lovers' Vows. Under his government, Mansfield was an\r
+altered place. Some members of their society sent away, and the spirits\r
+of many others saddened--it was all sameness and gloom compared with\r
+the past--a sombre family party rarely enlivened. There was little\r
+intercourse with the Parsonage. Sir Thomas, drawing back from intimacies\r
+in general, was particularly disinclined, at this time, for any\r
+engagements but in one quarter. The Rushworths were the only addition to\r
+his own domestic circle which he could solicit.\r
+\r
+Edmund did not wonder that such should be his father's feelings, nor\r
+could he regret anything but the exclusion of the Grants. "But they," he\r
+observed to Fanny, "have a claim. They seem to belong to us; they seem\r
+to be part of ourselves. I could wish my father were more sensible of\r
+their very great attention to my mother and sisters while he was away. I\r
+am afraid they may feel themselves neglected. But the truth is, that my\r
+father hardly knows them. They had not been here a twelvemonth when he\r
+left England. If he knew them better, he would value their society as it\r
+deserves; for they are in fact exactly the sort of people he would\r
+like. We are sometimes a little in want of animation among ourselves: my\r
+sisters seem out of spirits, and Tom is certainly not at his ease. Dr.\r
+and Mrs. Grant would enliven us, and make our evenings pass away with\r
+more enjoyment even to my father."\r
+\r
+"Do you think so?" said Fanny: "in my opinion, my uncle would not like\r
+_any_ addition. I think he values the very quietness you speak of, and\r
+that the repose of his own family circle is all he wants. And it does\r
+not appear to me that we are more serious than we used to be--I mean\r
+before my uncle went abroad. As well as I can recollect, it was always\r
+much the same. There was never much laughing in his presence; or, if\r
+there is any difference, it is not more, I think, than such an absence\r
+has a tendency to produce at first. There must be a sort of shyness; but\r
+I cannot recollect that our evenings formerly were ever merry, except\r
+when my uncle was in town. No young people's are, I suppose, when those\r
+they look up to are at home".\r
+\r
+"I believe you are right, Fanny," was his reply, after a short\r
+consideration. "I believe our evenings are rather returned to what they\r
+were, than assuming a new character. The novelty was in their being\r
+lively. Yet, how strong the impression that only a few weeks will give!\r
+I have been feeling as if we had never lived so before."\r
+\r
+"I suppose I am graver than other people," said Fanny. "The evenings do\r
+not appear long to me. I love to hear my uncle talk of the West Indies.\r
+I could listen to him for an hour together. It entertains _me_ more than\r
+many other things have done; but then I am unlike other people, I dare\r
+say."\r
+\r
+"Why should you dare say _that_?" (smiling). "Do you want to be told\r
+that you are only unlike other people in being more wise and discreet?\r
+But when did you, or anybody, ever get a compliment from me, Fanny? Go\r
+to my father if you want to be complimented. He will satisfy you. Ask\r
+your uncle what he thinks, and you will hear compliments enough: and\r
+though they may be chiefly on your person, you must put up with it, and\r
+trust to his seeing as much beauty of mind in time."\r
+\r
+Such language was so new to Fanny that it quite embarrassed her.\r
+\r
+"Your uncle thinks you very pretty, dear Fanny--and that is the long and\r
+the short of the matter. Anybody but myself would have made something\r
+more of it, and anybody but you would resent that you had not been\r
+thought very pretty before; but the truth is, that your uncle never\r
+did admire you till now--and now he does. Your complexion is so\r
+improved!--and you have gained so much countenance!--and your\r
+figure--nay, Fanny, do not turn away about it--it is but an uncle. If\r
+you cannot bear an uncle's admiration, what is to become of you? You\r
+must really begin to harden yourself to the idea of being worth looking\r
+at. You must try not to mind growing up into a pretty woman."\r
+\r
+"Oh! don't talk so, don't talk so," cried Fanny, distressed by more\r
+feelings than he was aware of; but seeing that she was distressed, he\r
+had done with the subject, and only added more seriously--\r
+\r
+"Your uncle is disposed to be pleased with you in every respect; and I\r
+only wish you would talk to him more. You are one of those who are too\r
+silent in the evening circle."\r
+\r
+"But I do talk to him more than I used. I am sure I do. Did not you hear\r
+me ask him about the slave-trade last night?"\r
+\r
+"I did--and was in hopes the question would be followed up by others. It\r
+would have pleased your uncle to be inquired of farther."\r
+\r
+"And I longed to do it--but there was such a dead silence! And while\r
+my cousins were sitting by without speaking a word, or seeming at all\r
+interested in the subject, I did not like--I thought it would appear as\r
+if I wanted to set myself off at their expense, by shewing a curiosity\r
+and pleasure in his information which he must wish his own daughters to\r
+feel."\r
+\r
+"Miss Crawford was very right in what she said of you the other day:\r
+that you seemed almost as fearful of notice and praise as other women\r
+were of neglect. We were talking of you at the Parsonage, and those were\r
+her words. She has great discernment. I know nobody who distinguishes\r
+characters better. For so young a woman it is remarkable! She certainly\r
+understands _you_ better than you are understood by the greater part of\r
+those who have known you so long; and with regard to some others, I can\r
+perceive, from occasional lively hints, the unguarded expressions of\r
+the moment, that she could define _many_ as accurately, did not delicacy\r
+forbid it. I wonder what she thinks of my father! She must admire him\r
+as a fine-looking man, with most gentlemanlike, dignified, consistent\r
+manners; but perhaps, having seen him so seldom, his reserve may be\r
+a little repulsive. Could they be much together, I feel sure of their\r
+liking each other. He would enjoy her liveliness and she has talents to\r
+value his powers. I wish they met more frequently! I hope she does not\r
+suppose there is any dislike on his side."\r
+\r
+"She must know herself too secure of the regard of all the rest of you,"\r
+said Fanny, with half a sigh, "to have any such apprehension. And Sir\r
+Thomas's wishing just at first to be only with his family, is so very\r
+natural, that she can argue nothing from that. After a little while, I\r
+dare say, we shall be meeting again in the same sort of way, allowing\r
+for the difference of the time of year."\r
+\r
+"This is the first October that she has passed in the country since her\r
+infancy. I do not call Tunbridge or Cheltenham the country; and November\r
+is a still more serious month, and I can see that Mrs. Grant is very\r
+anxious for her not finding Mansfield dull as winter comes on."\r
+\r
+Fanny could have said a great deal, but it was safer to say nothing, and\r
+leave untouched all Miss Crawford's resources--her accomplishments, her\r
+spirits, her importance, her friends, lest it should betray her into\r
+any observations seemingly unhandsome. Miss Crawford's kind opinion of\r
+herself deserved at least a grateful forbearance, and she began to talk\r
+of something else.\r
+\r
+"To-morrow, I think, my uncle dines at Sotherton, and you and Mr.\r
+Bertram too. We shall be quite a small party at home. I hope my uncle\r
+may continue to like Mr. Rushworth."\r
+\r
+"That is impossible, Fanny. He must like him less after to-morrow's\r
+visit, for we shall be five hours in his company. I should dread\r
+the stupidity of the day, if there were not a much greater evil to\r
+follow--the impression it must leave on Sir Thomas. He cannot much\r
+longer deceive himself. I am sorry for them all, and would give\r
+something that Rushworth and Maria had never met."\r
+\r
+In this quarter, indeed, disappointment was impending over Sir Thomas.\r
+Not all his good-will for Mr. Rushworth, not all Mr. Rushworth's\r
+deference for him, could prevent him from soon discerning some part of\r
+the truth--that Mr. Rushworth was an inferior young man, as ignorant\r
+in business as in books, with opinions in general unfixed, and without\r
+seeming much aware of it himself.\r
+\r
+He had expected a very different son-in-law; and beginning to feel\r
+grave on Maria's account, tried to understand _her_ feelings. Little\r
+observation there was necessary to tell him that indifference was the\r
+most favourable state they could be in. Her behaviour to Mr. Rushworth\r
+was careless and cold. She could not, did not like him. Sir Thomas\r
+resolved to speak seriously to her. Advantageous as would be the\r
+alliance, and long standing and public as was the engagement, her\r
+happiness must not be sacrificed to it. Mr. Rushworth had, perhaps, been\r
+accepted on too short an acquaintance, and, on knowing him better, she\r
+was repenting.\r
+\r
+With solemn kindness Sir Thomas addressed her: told her his fears,\r
+inquired into her wishes, entreated her to be open and sincere, and\r
+assured her that every inconvenience should be braved, and the connexion\r
+entirely given up, if she felt herself unhappy in the prospect of it. He\r
+would act for her and release her. Maria had a moment's struggle as she\r
+listened, and only a moment's: when her father ceased, she was able to\r
+give her answer immediately, decidedly, and with no apparent agitation.\r
+She thanked him for his great attention, his paternal kindness, but he\r
+was quite mistaken in supposing she had the smallest desire of breaking\r
+through her engagement, or was sensible of any change of opinion or\r
+inclination since her forming it. She had the highest esteem for Mr.\r
+Rushworth's character and disposition, and could not have a doubt of her\r
+happiness with him.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was satisfied; too glad to be satisfied, perhaps, to urge the\r
+matter quite so far as his judgment might have dictated to others. It\r
+was an alliance which he could not have relinquished without pain;\r
+and thus he reasoned. Mr. Rushworth was young enough to improve. Mr.\r
+Rushworth must and would improve in good society; and if Maria could now\r
+speak so securely of her happiness with him, speaking certainly without\r
+the prejudice, the blindness of love, she ought to be believed. Her\r
+feelings, probably, were not acute; he had never supposed them to be\r
+so; but her comforts might not be less on that account; and if she could\r
+dispense with seeing her husband a leading, shining character, there\r
+would certainly be everything else in her favour. A well-disposed young\r
+woman, who did not marry for love, was in general but the more attached\r
+to her own family; and the nearness of Sotherton to Mansfield\r
+must naturally hold out the greatest temptation, and would, in all\r
+probability, be a continual supply of the most amiable and innocent\r
+enjoyments. Such and such-like were the reasonings of Sir Thomas,\r
+happy to escape the embarrassing evils of a rupture, the wonder,\r
+the reflections, the reproach that must attend it; happy to secure a\r
+marriage which would bring him such an addition of respectability\r
+and influence, and very happy to think anything of his daughter's\r
+disposition that was most favourable for the purpose.\r
+\r
+To her the conference closed as satisfactorily as to him. She was in a\r
+state of mind to be glad that she had secured her fate beyond recall:\r
+that she had pledged herself anew to Sotherton; that she was safe from\r
+the possibility of giving Crawford the triumph of governing her actions,\r
+and destroying her prospects; and retired in proud resolve, determined\r
+only to behave more cautiously to Mr. Rushworth in future, that her\r
+father might not be again suspecting her.\r
+\r
+Had Sir Thomas applied to his daughter within the first three or four\r
+days after Henry Crawford's leaving Mansfield, before her feelings were\r
+at all tranquillised, before she had given up every hope of him, or\r
+absolutely resolved on enduring his rival, her answer might have been\r
+different; but after another three or four days, when there was no\r
+return, no letter, no message, no symptom of a softened heart, no hope\r
+of advantage from separation, her mind became cool enough to seek all\r
+the comfort that pride and self revenge could give.\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford had destroyed her happiness, but he should not know that\r
+he had done it; he should not destroy her credit, her appearance, her\r
+prosperity, too. He should not have to think of her as pining in the\r
+retirement of Mansfield for _him_, rejecting Sotherton and London,\r
+independence and splendour, for _his_ sake. Independence was more\r
+needful than ever; the want of it at Mansfield more sensibly felt. She\r
+was less and less able to endure the restraint which her father imposed.\r
+The liberty which his absence had given was now become absolutely\r
+necessary. She must escape from him and Mansfield as soon as possible,\r
+and find consolation in fortune and consequence, bustle and the world,\r
+for a wounded spirit. Her mind was quite determined, and varied not.\r
+\r
+To such feelings delay, even the delay of much preparation, would have\r
+been an evil, and Mr. Rushworth could hardly be more impatient for the\r
+marriage than herself. In all the important preparations of the mind\r
+she was complete: being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home,\r
+restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection,\r
+and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The\r
+preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and\r
+spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.\r
+\r
+The principals being all agreed in this respect, it soon appeared that a\r
+very few weeks would be sufficient for such arrangements as must precede\r
+the wedding.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth was quite ready to retire, and make way for the fortunate\r
+young woman whom her dear son had selected; and very early in November\r
+removed herself, her maid, her footman, and her chariot, with true\r
+dowager propriety, to Bath, there to parade over the wonders of\r
+Sotherton in her evening parties; enjoying them as thoroughly, perhaps,\r
+in the animation of a card-table, as she had ever done on the spot; and\r
+before the middle of the same month the ceremony had taken place which\r
+gave Sotherton another mistress.\r
+\r
+It was a very proper wedding. The bride was elegantly dressed; the two\r
+bridesmaids were duly inferior; her father gave her away; her mother\r
+stood with salts in her hand, expecting to be agitated; her aunt tried\r
+to cry; and the service was impressively read by Dr. Grant. Nothing\r
+could be objected to when it came under the discussion of the\r
+neighbourhood, except that the carriage which conveyed the bride and\r
+bridegroom and Julia from the church-door to Sotherton was the same\r
+chaise which Mr. Rushworth had used for a twelvemonth before. In\r
+everything else the etiquette of the day might stand the strictest\r
+investigation.\r
+\r
+It was done, and they were gone. Sir Thomas felt as an anxious father\r
+must feel, and was indeed experiencing much of the agitation which his\r
+wife had been apprehensive of for herself, but had fortunately escaped.\r
+Mrs. Norris, most happy to assist in the duties of the day, by spending\r
+it at the Park to support her sister's spirits, and drinking the health\r
+of Mr. and Mrs. Rushworth in a supernumerary glass or two, was all\r
+joyous delight; for she had made the match; she had done everything;\r
+and no one would have supposed, from her confident triumph, that she\r
+had ever heard of conjugal infelicity in her life, or could have the\r
+smallest insight into the disposition of the niece who had been brought\r
+up under her eye.\r
+\r
+The plan of the young couple was to proceed, after a few days, to\r
+Brighton, and take a house there for some weeks. Every public place was\r
+new to Maria, and Brighton is almost as gay in winter as in summer. When\r
+the novelty of amusement there was over, it would be time for the wider\r
+range of London.\r
+\r
+Julia was to go with them to Brighton. Since rivalry between the sisters\r
+had ceased, they had been gradually recovering much of their former good\r
+understanding; and were at least sufficiently friends to make each of\r
+them exceedingly glad to be with the other at such a time. Some other\r
+companion than Mr. Rushworth was of the first consequence to his lady;\r
+and Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though\r
+she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could\r
+better bear a subordinate situation.\r
+\r
+Their departure made another material change at Mansfield, a chasm\r
+which required some time to fill up. The family circle became greatly\r
+contracted; and though the Miss Bertrams had latterly added little to\r
+its gaiety, they could not but be missed. Even their mother missed them;\r
+and how much more their tenderhearted cousin, who wandered about\r
+the house, and thought of them, and felt for them, with a degree of\r
+affectionate regret which they had never done much to deserve!\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXII\r
+\r
+Fanny's consequence increased on the departure of her cousins. Becoming,\r
+as she then did, the only young woman in the drawing-room, the only\r
+occupier of that interesting division of a family in which she had\r
+hitherto held so humble a third, it was impossible for her not to be\r
+more looked at, more thought of and attended to, than she had ever been\r
+before; and "Where is Fanny?" became no uncommon question, even without\r
+her being wanted for any one's convenience.\r
+\r
+Not only at home did her value increase, but at the Parsonage too. In\r
+that house, which she had hardly entered twice a year since Mr. Norris's\r
+death, she became a welcome, an invited guest, and in the gloom and dirt\r
+of a November day, most acceptable to Mary Crawford. Her visits there,\r
+beginning by chance, were continued by solicitation. Mrs. Grant,\r
+really eager to get any change for her sister, could, by the easiest\r
+self-deceit, persuade herself that she was doing the kindest thing by\r
+Fanny, and giving her the most important opportunities of improvement in\r
+pressing her frequent calls.\r
+\r
+Fanny, having been sent into the village on some errand by her aunt\r
+Norris, was overtaken by a heavy shower close to the Parsonage; and\r
+being descried from one of the windows endeavouring to find shelter\r
+under the branches and lingering leaves of an oak just beyond their\r
+premises, was forced, though not without some modest reluctance on her\r
+part, to come in. A civil servant she had withstood; but when Dr. Grant\r
+himself went out with an umbrella, there was nothing to be done but to\r
+be very much ashamed, and to get into the house as fast as possible; and\r
+to poor Miss Crawford, who had just been contemplating the dismal rain\r
+in a very desponding state of mind, sighing over the ruin of all her\r
+plan of exercise for that morning, and of every chance of seeing a\r
+single creature beyond themselves for the next twenty-four hours, the\r
+sound of a little bustle at the front door, and the sight of Miss Price\r
+dripping with wet in the vestibule, was delightful. The value of an\r
+event on a wet day in the country was most forcibly brought before her.\r
+She was all alive again directly, and among the most active in being\r
+useful to Fanny, in detecting her to be wetter than she would at first\r
+allow, and providing her with dry clothes; and Fanny, after being\r
+obliged to submit to all this attention, and to being assisted and\r
+waited on by mistresses and maids, being also obliged, on returning\r
+downstairs, to be fixed in their drawing-room for an hour while the rain\r
+continued, the blessing of something fresh to see and think of was thus\r
+extended to Miss Crawford, and might carry on her spirits to the period\r
+of dressing and dinner.\r
+\r
+The two sisters were so kind to her, and so pleasant, that Fanny might\r
+have enjoyed her visit could she have believed herself not in the way,\r
+and could she have foreseen that the weather would certainly clear at\r
+the end of the hour, and save her from the shame of having Dr. Grant's\r
+carriage and horses out to take her home, with which she was threatened.\r
+As to anxiety for any alarm that her absence in such weather might\r
+occasion at home, she had nothing to suffer on that score; for as her\r
+being out was known only to her two aunts, she was perfectly aware that\r
+none would be felt, and that in whatever cottage aunt Norris might chuse\r
+to establish her during the rain, her being in such cottage would be\r
+indubitable to aunt Bertram.\r
+\r
+It was beginning to look brighter, when Fanny, observing a harp in the\r
+room, asked some questions about it, which soon led to an acknowledgment\r
+of her wishing very much to hear it, and a confession, which could\r
+hardly be believed, of her having never yet heard it since its being\r
+in Mansfield. To Fanny herself it appeared a very simple and natural\r
+circumstance. She had scarcely ever been at the Parsonage since the\r
+instrument's arrival, there had been no reason that she should; but Miss\r
+Crawford, calling to mind an early expressed wish on the subject, was\r
+concerned at her own neglect; and "Shall I play to you now?" and "What\r
+will you have?" were questions immediately following with the readiest\r
+good-humour.\r
+\r
+She played accordingly; happy to have a new listener, and a listener who\r
+seemed so much obliged, so full of wonder at the performance, and who\r
+shewed herself not wanting in taste. She played till Fanny's eyes,\r
+straying to the window on the weather's being evidently fair, spoke what\r
+she felt must be done.\r
+\r
+"Another quarter of an hour," said Miss Crawford, "and we shall see how\r
+it will be. Do not run away the first moment of its holding up. Those\r
+clouds look alarming."\r
+\r
+"But they are passed over," said Fanny. "I have been watching them. This\r
+weather is all from the south."\r
+\r
+"South or north, I know a black cloud when I see it; and you must not\r
+set forward while it is so threatening. And besides, I want to play\r
+something more to you--a very pretty piece--and your cousin Edmund's\r
+prime favourite. You must stay and hear your cousin's favourite."\r
+\r
+Fanny felt that she must; and though she had not waited for that\r
+sentence to be thinking of Edmund, such a memento made her particularly\r
+awake to his idea, and she fancied him sitting in that room again\r
+and again, perhaps in the very spot where she sat now, listening with\r
+constant delight to the favourite air, played, as it appeared to her,\r
+with superior tone and expression; and though pleased with it herself,\r
+and glad to like whatever was liked by him, she was more sincerely\r
+impatient to go away at the conclusion of it than she had been before;\r
+and on this being evident, she was so kindly asked to call again, to\r
+take them in her walk whenever she could, to come and hear more of the\r
+harp, that she felt it necessary to be done, if no objection arose at\r
+home.\r
+\r
+Such was the origin of the sort of intimacy which took place between\r
+them within the first fortnight after the Miss Bertrams' going away--an\r
+intimacy resulting principally from Miss Crawford's desire of something\r
+new, and which had little reality in Fanny's feelings. Fanny went to her\r
+every two or three days: it seemed a kind of fascination: she could not\r
+be easy without going, and yet it was without loving her, without ever\r
+thinking like her, without any sense of obligation for being sought\r
+after now when nobody else was to be had; and deriving no higher\r
+pleasure from her conversation than occasional amusement, and _that_\r
+often at the expense of her judgment, when it was raised by pleasantry\r
+on people or subjects which she wished to be respected. She went,\r
+however, and they sauntered about together many an half-hour in Mrs.\r
+Grant's shrubbery, the weather being unusually mild for the time of\r
+year, and venturing sometimes even to sit down on one of the benches now\r
+comparatively unsheltered, remaining there perhaps till, in the midst\r
+of some tender ejaculation of Fanny's on the sweets of so protracted\r
+an autumn, they were forced, by the sudden swell of a cold gust shaking\r
+down the last few yellow leaves about them, to jump up and walk for\r
+warmth.\r
+\r
+"This is pretty, very pretty," said Fanny, looking around her as\r
+they were thus sitting together one day; "every time I come into this\r
+shrubbery I am more struck with its growth and beauty. Three years ago,\r
+this was nothing but a rough hedgerow along the upper side of the field,\r
+never thought of as anything, or capable of becoming anything; and now\r
+it is converted into a walk, and it would be difficult to say whether\r
+most valuable as a convenience or an ornament; and perhaps, in another\r
+three years, we may be forgetting--almost forgetting what it was before.\r
+How wonderful, how very wonderful the operations of time, and the\r
+changes of the human mind!" And following the latter train of thought,\r
+she soon afterwards added: "If any one faculty of our nature may be\r
+called _more_ wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There\r
+seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers,\r
+the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our\r
+intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so\r
+obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so\r
+tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way;\r
+but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past\r
+finding out."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford, untouched and inattentive, had nothing to say; and\r
+Fanny, perceiving it, brought back her own mind to what she thought must\r
+interest.\r
+\r
+"It may seem impertinent in _me_ to praise, but I must admire the taste\r
+Mrs. Grant has shewn in all this. There is such a quiet simplicity in\r
+the plan of the walk! Not too much attempted!"\r
+\r
+"Yes," replied Miss Crawford carelessly, "it does very well for a\r
+place of this sort. One does not think of extent _here_; and between\r
+ourselves, till I came to Mansfield, I had not imagined a country parson\r
+ever aspired to a shrubbery, or anything of the kind."\r
+\r
+"I am so glad to see the evergreens thrive!" said Fanny, in reply. "My\r
+uncle's gardener always says the soil here is better than his own, and\r
+so it appears from the growth of the laurels and evergreens in general.\r
+The evergreen! How beautiful, how welcome, how wonderful the evergreen!\r
+When one thinks of it, how astonishing a variety of nature! In some\r
+countries we know the tree that sheds its leaf is the variety, but that\r
+does not make it less amazing that the same soil and the same sun should\r
+nurture plants differing in the first rule and law of their existence.\r
+You will think me rhapsodising; but when I am out of doors, especially\r
+when I am sitting out of doors, I am very apt to get into this sort of\r
+wondering strain. One cannot fix one's eyes on the commonest natural\r
+production without finding food for a rambling fancy."\r
+\r
+"To say the truth," replied Miss Crawford, "I am something like the\r
+famous Doge at the court of Lewis XIV.; and may declare that I see no\r
+wonder in this shrubbery equal to seeing myself in it. If anybody had\r
+told me a year ago that this place would be my home, that I should be\r
+spending month after month here, as I have done, I certainly should\r
+not have believed them. I have now been here nearly five months; and,\r
+moreover, the quietest five months I ever passed."\r
+\r
+"_Too_ quiet for you, I believe."\r
+\r
+"I should have thought so _theoretically_ myself, but," and her eyes\r
+brightened as she spoke, "take it all and all, I never spent so happy a\r
+summer. But then," with a more thoughtful air and lowered voice, "there\r
+is no saying what it may lead to."\r
+\r
+Fanny's heart beat quick, and she felt quite unequal to surmising\r
+or soliciting anything more. Miss Crawford, however, with renewed\r
+animation, soon went on--\r
+\r
+"I am conscious of being far better reconciled to a country residence\r
+than I had ever expected to be. I can even suppose it pleasant to\r
+spend _half_ the year in the country, under certain circumstances,\r
+very pleasant. An elegant, moderate-sized house in the centre of family\r
+connexions; continual engagements among them; commanding the first\r
+society in the neighbourhood; looked up to, perhaps, as leading it even\r
+more than those of larger fortune, and turning from the cheerful round\r
+of such amusements to nothing worse than a _tete-a-tete_ with the person\r
+one feels most agreeable in the world. There is nothing frightful in\r
+such a picture, is there, Miss Price? One need not envy the new Mrs.\r
+Rushworth with such a home as _that_."\r
+\r
+"Envy Mrs. Rushworth!" was all that Fanny attempted to say. "Come, come,\r
+it would be very un-handsome in us to be severe on Mrs. Rushworth, for I\r
+look forward to our owing her a great many gay, brilliant, happy hours.\r
+I expect we shall be all very much at Sotherton another year. Such\r
+a match as Miss Bertram has made is a public blessing; for the first\r
+pleasures of Mr. Rushworth's wife must be to fill her house, and give\r
+the best balls in the country."\r
+\r
+Fanny was silent, and Miss Crawford relapsed into thoughtfulness, till\r
+suddenly looking up at the end of a few minutes, she exclaimed, "Ah!\r
+here he is." It was not Mr. Rushworth, however, but Edmund, who then\r
+appeared walking towards them with Mrs. Grant. "My sister and Mr.\r
+Bertram. I am so glad your eldest cousin is gone, that he may be Mr.\r
+Bertram again. There is something in the sound of Mr. _Edmund_ Bertram\r
+so formal, so pitiful, so younger-brother-like, that I detest it."\r
+\r
+"How differently we feel!" cried Fanny. "To me, the sound of _Mr._\r
+Bertram is so cold and nothing-meaning, so entirely without warmth or\r
+character! It just stands for a gentleman, and that's all. But there is\r
+nobleness in the name of Edmund. It is a name of heroism and renown; of\r
+kings, princes, and knights; and seems to breathe the spirit of chivalry\r
+and warm affections."\r
+\r
+"I grant you the name is good in itself, and _Lord_ Edmund or _Sir_\r
+Edmund sound delightfully; but sink it under the chill, the annihilation\r
+of a Mr., and Mr. Edmund is no more than Mr. John or Mr. Thomas. Well,\r
+shall we join and disappoint them of half their lecture upon sitting\r
+down out of doors at this time of year, by being up before they can\r
+begin?"\r
+\r
+Edmund met them with particular pleasure. It was the first time of his\r
+seeing them together since the beginning of that better acquaintance\r
+which he had been hearing of with great satisfaction. A friendship\r
+between two so very dear to him was exactly what he could have wished:\r
+and to the credit of the lover's understanding, be it stated, that he\r
+did not by any means consider Fanny as the only, or even as the greater\r
+gainer by such a friendship.\r
+\r
+"Well," said Miss Crawford, "and do you not scold us for our imprudence?\r
+What do you think we have been sitting down for but to be talked to\r
+about it, and entreated and supplicated never to do so again?"\r
+\r
+"Perhaps I might have scolded," said Edmund, "if either of you had been\r
+sitting down alone; but while you do wrong together, I can overlook a\r
+great deal."\r
+\r
+"They cannot have been sitting long," cried Mrs. Grant, "for when I went\r
+up for my shawl I saw them from the staircase window, and then they were\r
+walking."\r
+\r
+"And really," added Edmund, "the day is so mild, that your sitting down\r
+for a few minutes can be hardly thought imprudent. Our weather must\r
+not always be judged by the calendar. We may sometimes take greater\r
+liberties in November than in May."\r
+\r
+"Upon my word," cried Miss Crawford, "you are two of the most\r
+disappointing and unfeeling kind friends I ever met with! There is no\r
+giving you a moment's uneasiness. You do not know how much we have been\r
+suffering, nor what chills we have felt! But I have long thought Mr.\r
+Bertram one of the worst subjects to work on, in any little manoeuvre\r
+against common sense, that a woman could be plagued with. I had very\r
+little hope of _him_ from the first; but you, Mrs. Grant, my sister, my\r
+own sister, I think I had a right to alarm you a little."\r
+\r
+"Do not flatter yourself, my dearest Mary. You have not the smallest\r
+chance of moving me. I have my alarms, but they are quite in a different\r
+quarter; and if I could have altered the weather, you would have had a\r
+good sharp east wind blowing on you the whole time--for here are some of\r
+my plants which Robert _will_ leave out because the nights are so mild,\r
+and I know the end of it will be, that we shall have a sudden change of\r
+weather, a hard frost setting in all at once, taking everybody (at least\r
+Robert) by surprise, and I shall lose every one; and what is worse, cook\r
+has just been telling me that the turkey, which I particularly wished\r
+not to be dressed till Sunday, because I know how much more Dr. Grant\r
+would enjoy it on Sunday after the fatigues of the day, will not keep\r
+beyond to-morrow. These are something like grievances, and make me think\r
+the weather most unseasonably close."\r
+\r
+"The sweets of housekeeping in a country village!" said Miss Crawford\r
+archly. "Commend me to the nurseryman and the poulterer."\r
+\r
+"My dear child, commend Dr. Grant to the deanery of Westminster or St.\r
+Paul's, and I should be as glad of your nurseryman and poulterer as you\r
+could be. But we have no such people in Mansfield. What would you have\r
+me do?"\r
+\r
+"Oh! you can do nothing but what you do already: be plagued very often,\r
+and never lose your temper."\r
+\r
+"Thank you; but there is no escaping these little vexations, Mary, live\r
+where we may; and when you are settled in town and I come to see you, I\r
+dare say I shall find you with yours, in spite of the nurseryman and\r
+the poulterer, perhaps on their very account. Their remoteness and\r
+unpunctuality, or their exorbitant charges and frauds, will be drawing\r
+forth bitter lamentations."\r
+\r
+"I mean to be too rich to lament or to feel anything of the sort.\r
+A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. It\r
+certainly may secure all the myrtle and turkey part of it."\r
+\r
+"You intend to be very rich?" said Edmund, with a look which, to Fanny's\r
+eye, had a great deal of serious meaning.\r
+\r
+"To be sure. Do not you? Do not we all?"\r
+\r
+"I cannot intend anything which it must be so completely beyond my power\r
+to command. Miss Crawford may chuse her degree of wealth. She has only\r
+to fix on her number of thousands a year, and there can be no doubt of\r
+their coming. My intentions are only not to be poor."\r
+\r
+"By moderation and economy, and bringing down your wants to your income,\r
+and all that. I understand you--and a very proper plan it is for a\r
+person at your time of life, with such limited means and indifferent\r
+connexions. What can _you_ want but a decent maintenance? You have\r
+not much time before you; and your relations are in no situation to do\r
+anything for you, or to mortify you by the contrast of their own wealth\r
+and consequence. Be honest and poor, by all means--but I shall not envy\r
+you; I do not much think I shall even respect you. I have a much greater\r
+respect for those that are honest and rich."\r
+\r
+"Your degree of respect for honesty, rich or poor, is precisely what\r
+I have no manner of concern with. I do not mean to be poor. Poverty\r
+is exactly what I have determined against. Honesty, in the something\r
+between, in the middle state of worldly circumstances, is all that I am\r
+anxious for your not looking down on."\r
+\r
+"But I do look down upon it, if it might have been higher. I must\r
+look down upon anything contented with obscurity when it might rise to\r
+distinction."\r
+\r
+"But how may it rise? How may my honesty at least rise to any\r
+distinction?"\r
+\r
+This was not so very easy a question to answer, and occasioned an "Oh!"\r
+of some length from the fair lady before she could add, "You ought to be\r
+in parliament, or you should have gone into the army ten years ago."\r
+\r
+"_That_ is not much to the purpose now; and as to my being in\r
+parliament, I believe I must wait till there is an especial assembly for\r
+the representation of younger sons who have little to live on. No, Miss\r
+Crawford," he added, in a more serious tone, "there _are_ distinctions\r
+which I should be miserable if I thought myself without any\r
+chance--absolutely without chance or possibility of obtaining--but they\r
+are of a different character."\r
+\r
+A look of consciousness as he spoke, and what seemed a consciousness\r
+of manner on Miss Crawford's side as she made some laughing answer,\r
+was sorrowfull food for Fanny's observation; and finding herself quite\r
+unable to attend as she ought to Mrs. Grant, by whose side she was now\r
+following the others, she had nearly resolved on going home immediately,\r
+and only waited for courage to say so, when the sound of the great clock\r
+at Mansfield Park, striking three, made her feel that she had\r
+really been much longer absent than usual, and brought the previous\r
+self-inquiry of whether she should take leave or not just then, and how,\r
+to a very speedy issue. With undoubting decision she directly began her\r
+adieus; and Edmund began at the same time to recollect that his mother\r
+had been inquiring for her, and that he had walked down to the Parsonage\r
+on purpose to bring her back.\r
+\r
+Fanny's hurry increased; and without in the least expecting Edmund's\r
+attendance, she would have hastened away alone; but the general pace was\r
+quickened, and they all accompanied her into the house, through which it\r
+was necessary to pass. Dr. Grant was in the vestibule, and as they stopt\r
+to speak to him she found, from Edmund's manner, that he _did_ mean to\r
+go with her. He too was taking leave. She could not but be thankful. In\r
+the moment of parting, Edmund was invited by Dr. Grant to eat his mutton\r
+with him the next day; and Fanny had barely time for an unpleasant\r
+feeling on the occasion, when Mrs. Grant, with sudden recollection,\r
+turned to her and asked for the pleasure of her company too. This was\r
+so new an attention, so perfectly new a circumstance in the events of\r
+Fanny's life, that she was all surprise and embarrassment; and while\r
+stammering out her great obligation, and her "but she did not suppose it\r
+would be in her power," was looking at Edmund for his opinion and help.\r
+But Edmund, delighted with her having such an happiness offered, and\r
+ascertaining with half a look, and half a sentence, that she had no\r
+objection but on her aunt's account, could not imagine that his mother\r
+would make any difficulty of sparing her, and therefore gave his decided\r
+open advice that the invitation should be accepted; and though Fanny\r
+would not venture, even on his encouragement, to such a flight of\r
+audacious independence, it was soon settled, that if nothing were heard\r
+to the contrary, Mrs. Grant might expect her.\r
+\r
+"And you know what your dinner will be," said Mrs. Grant, smiling--"the\r
+turkey, and I assure you a very fine one; for, my dear," turning to her\r
+husband, "cook insists upon the turkey's being dressed to-morrow."\r
+\r
+"Very well, very well," cried Dr. Grant, "all the better; I am glad\r
+to hear you have anything so good in the house. But Miss Price and Mr.\r
+Edmund Bertram, I dare say, would take their chance. We none of us want\r
+to hear the bill of fare. A friendly meeting, and not a fine dinner,\r
+is all we have in view. A turkey, or a goose, or a leg of mutton, or\r
+whatever you and your cook chuse to give us."\r
+\r
+The two cousins walked home together; and, except in the immediate\r
+discussion of this engagement, which Edmund spoke of with the warmest\r
+satisfaction, as so particularly desirable for her in the intimacy which\r
+he saw with so much pleasure established, it was a silent walk; for\r
+having finished that subject, he grew thoughtful and indisposed for any\r
+other.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXIII\r
+\r
+"But why should Mrs. Grant ask Fanny?" said Lady Bertram. "How came she\r
+to think of asking Fanny? Fanny never dines there, you know, in this\r
+sort of way. I cannot spare her, and I am sure she does not want to go.\r
+Fanny, you do not want to go, do you?"\r
+\r
+"If you put such a question to her," cried Edmund, preventing his\r
+cousin's speaking, "Fanny will immediately say No; but I am sure, my\r
+dear mother, she would like to go; and I can see no reason why she\r
+should not."\r
+\r
+"I cannot imagine why Mrs. Grant should think of asking her? She never\r
+did before. She used to ask your sisters now and then, but she never\r
+asked Fanny."\r
+\r
+"If you cannot do without me, ma'am--" said Fanny, in a self-denying\r
+tone.\r
+\r
+"But my mother will have my father with her all the evening."\r
+\r
+"To be sure, so I shall."\r
+\r
+"Suppose you take my father's opinion, ma'am."\r
+\r
+"That's well thought of. So I will, Edmund. I will ask Sir Thomas, as\r
+soon as he comes in, whether I can do without her."\r
+\r
+"As you please, ma'am, on that head; but I meant my father's opinion\r
+as to the _propriety_ of the invitation's being accepted or not; and\r
+I think he will consider it a right thing by Mrs. Grant, as well as by\r
+Fanny, that being the _first_ invitation it should be accepted."\r
+\r
+"I do not know. We will ask him. But he will be very much surprised that\r
+Mrs. Grant should ask Fanny at all."\r
+\r
+There was nothing more to be said, or that could be said to any purpose,\r
+till Sir Thomas were present; but the subject involving, as it did,\r
+her own evening's comfort for the morrow, was so much uppermost in Lady\r
+Bertram's mind, that half an hour afterwards, on his looking in for a\r
+minute in his way from his plantation to his dressing-room, she called\r
+him back again, when he had almost closed the door, with "Sir Thomas,\r
+stop a moment--I have something to say to you."\r
+\r
+Her tone of calm languor, for she never took the trouble of raising her\r
+voice, was always heard and attended to; and Sir Thomas came back. Her\r
+story began; and Fanny immediately slipped out of the room; for to hear\r
+herself the subject of any discussion with her uncle was more than her\r
+nerves could bear. She was anxious, she knew--more anxious perhaps than\r
+she ought to be--for what was it after all whether she went or staid?\r
+but if her uncle were to be a great while considering and deciding, and\r
+with very grave looks, and those grave looks directed to her, and\r
+at last decide against her, she might not be able to appear properly\r
+submissive and indifferent. Her cause, meanwhile, went on well. It\r
+began, on Lady Bertram's part, with--"I have something to tell you that\r
+will surprise you. Mrs. Grant has asked Fanny to dinner."\r
+\r
+"Well," said Sir Thomas, as if waiting more to accomplish the surprise.\r
+\r
+"Edmund wants her to go. But how can I spare her?"\r
+\r
+"She will be late," said Sir Thomas, taking out his watch; "but what is\r
+your difficulty?"\r
+\r
+Edmund found himself obliged to speak and fill up the blanks in his\r
+mother's story. He told the whole; and she had only to add, "So strange!\r
+for Mrs. Grant never used to ask her."\r
+\r
+"But is it not very natural," observed Edmund, "that Mrs. Grant should\r
+wish to procure so agreeable a visitor for her sister?"\r
+\r
+"Nothing can be more natural," said Sir Thomas, after a short\r
+deliberation; "nor, were there no sister in the case, could anything,\r
+in my opinion, be more natural. Mrs. Grant's shewing civility to Miss\r
+Price, to Lady Bertram's niece, could never want explanation. The only\r
+surprise I can feel is, that this should be the _first_ time of its\r
+being paid. Fanny was perfectly right in giving only a conditional\r
+answer. She appears to feel as she ought. But as I conclude that she\r
+must wish to go, since all young people like to be together, I can see\r
+no reason why she should be denied the indulgence."\r
+\r
+"But can I do without her, Sir Thomas?"\r
+\r
+"Indeed I think you may."\r
+\r
+"She always makes tea, you know, when my sister is not here."\r
+\r
+"Your sister, perhaps, may be prevailed on to spend the day with us, and\r
+I shall certainly be at home."\r
+\r
+"Very well, then, Fanny may go, Edmund."\r
+\r
+The good news soon followed her. Edmund knocked at her door in his way\r
+to his own.\r
+\r
+"Well, Fanny, it is all happily settled, and without the smallest\r
+hesitation on your uncle's side. He had but one opinion. You are to go."\r
+\r
+"Thank you, I am _so_ glad," was Fanny's instinctive reply; though when\r
+she had turned from him and shut the door, she could not help feeling,\r
+"And yet why should I be glad? for am I not certain of seeing or hearing\r
+something there to pain me?"\r
+\r
+In spite of this conviction, however, she was glad. Simple as such an\r
+engagement might appear in other eyes, it had novelty and importance in\r
+hers, for excepting the day at Sotherton, she had scarcely ever dined\r
+out before; and though now going only half a mile, and only to three\r
+people, still it was dining out, and all the little interests of\r
+preparation were enjoyments in themselves. She had neither sympathy nor\r
+assistance from those who ought to have entered into her feelings and\r
+directed her taste; for Lady Bertram never thought of being useful to\r
+anybody, and Mrs. Norris, when she came on the morrow, in consequence of\r
+an early call and invitation from Sir Thomas, was in a very ill humour,\r
+and seemed intent only on lessening her niece's pleasure, both present\r
+and future, as much as possible.\r
+\r
+"Upon my word, Fanny, you are in high luck to meet with such attention\r
+and indulgence! You ought to be very much obliged to Mrs. Grant for\r
+thinking of you, and to your aunt for letting you go, and you ought to\r
+look upon it as something extraordinary; for I hope you are aware that\r
+there is no real occasion for your going into company in this sort of\r
+way, or ever dining out at all; and it is what you must not depend upon\r
+ever being repeated. Nor must you be fancying that the invitation is\r
+meant as any particular compliment to _you_; the compliment is intended\r
+to your uncle and aunt and me. Mrs. Grant thinks it a civility due to\r
+_us_ to take a little notice of you, or else it would never have come\r
+into her head, and you may be very certain that, if your cousin Julia\r
+had been at home, you would not have been asked at all."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris had now so ingeniously done away all Mrs. Grant's part of\r
+the favour, that Fanny, who found herself expected to speak, could only\r
+say that she was very much obliged to her aunt Bertram for sparing her,\r
+and that she was endeavouring to put her aunt's evening work in such a\r
+state as to prevent her being missed.\r
+\r
+"Oh! depend upon it, your aunt can do very well without you, or you\r
+would not be allowed to go. _I_ shall be here, so you may be quite easy\r
+about your aunt. And I hope you will have a very _agreeable_ day, and\r
+find it all mighty _delightful_. But I must observe that five is the\r
+very awkwardest of all possible numbers to sit down to table; and I\r
+cannot but be surprised that such an _elegant_ lady as Mrs. Grant should\r
+not contrive better! And round their enormous great wide table, too,\r
+which fills up the room so dreadfully! Had the doctor been contented to\r
+take my dining-table when I came away, as anybody in their senses would\r
+have done, instead of having that absurd new one of his own, which is\r
+wider, literally wider than the dinner-table here, how infinitely better\r
+it would have been! and how much more he would have been respected! for\r
+people are never respected when they step out of their proper sphere.\r
+Remember that, Fanny. Five--only five to be sitting round that table.\r
+However, you will have dinner enough on it for ten, I dare say."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris fetched breath, and went on again.\r
+\r
+"The nonsense and folly of people's stepping out of their rank and\r
+trying to appear above themselves, makes me think it right to give _you_\r
+a hint, Fanny, now that you are going into company without any of us;\r
+and I do beseech and entreat you not to be putting yourself forward, and\r
+talking and giving your opinion as if you were one of your cousins--as\r
+if you were dear Mrs. Rushworth or Julia. _That_ will never do, believe\r
+me. Remember, wherever you are, you must be the lowest and last; and\r
+though Miss Crawford is in a manner at home at the Parsonage, you are\r
+not to be taking place of her. And as to coming away at night, you are\r
+to stay just as long as Edmund chuses. Leave him to settle _that_."\r
+\r
+"Yes, ma'am, I should not think of anything else."\r
+\r
+"And if it should rain, which I think exceedingly likely, for I never\r
+saw it more threatening for a wet evening in my life, you must manage as\r
+well as you can, and not be expecting the carriage to be sent for you. I\r
+certainly do not go home to-night, and, therefore, the carriage will not\r
+be out on my account; so you must make up your mind to what may happen,\r
+and take your things accordingly."\r
+\r
+Her niece thought it perfectly reasonable. She rated her own claims\r
+to comfort as low even as Mrs. Norris could; and when Sir Thomas soon\r
+afterwards, just opening the door, said, "Fanny, at what time would you\r
+have the carriage come round?" she felt a degree of astonishment which\r
+made it impossible for her to speak.\r
+\r
+"My dear Sir Thomas!" cried Mrs. Norris, red with anger, "Fanny can\r
+walk."\r
+\r
+"Walk!" repeated Sir Thomas, in a tone of most unanswerable dignity, and\r
+coming farther into the room. "My niece walk to a dinner engagement at\r
+this time of the year! Will twenty minutes after four suit you?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, sir," was Fanny's humble answer, given with the feelings almost\r
+of a criminal towards Mrs. Norris; and not bearing to remain with her\r
+in what might seem a state of triumph, she followed her uncle out of\r
+the room, having staid behind him only long enough to hear these words\r
+spoken in angry agitation--\r
+\r
+"Quite unnecessary! a great deal too kind! But Edmund goes; true, it is\r
+upon Edmund's account. I observed he was hoarse on Thursday night."\r
+\r
+But this could not impose on Fanny. She felt that the carriage was for\r
+herself, and herself alone: and her uncle's consideration of her, coming\r
+immediately after such representations from her aunt, cost her some\r
+tears of gratitude when she was alone.\r
+\r
+The coachman drove round to a minute; another minute brought down the\r
+gentleman; and as the lady had, with a most scrupulous fear of being\r
+late, been many minutes seated in the drawing-room, Sir Thomas saw them\r
+off in as good time as his own correctly punctual habits required.\r
+\r
+"Now I must look at you, Fanny," said Edmund, with the kind smile of an\r
+affectionate brother, "and tell you how I like you; and as well as I can\r
+judge by this light, you look very nicely indeed. What have you got on?"\r
+\r
+"The new dress that my uncle was so good as to give me on my cousin's\r
+marriage. I hope it is not too fine; but I thought I ought to wear it as\r
+soon as I could, and that I might not have such another opportunity all\r
+the winter. I hope you do not think me too fine."\r
+\r
+"A woman can never be too fine while she is all in white. No, I see no\r
+finery about you; nothing but what is perfectly proper. Your gown seems\r
+very pretty. I like these glossy spots. Has not Miss Crawford a gown\r
+something the same?"\r
+\r
+In approaching the Parsonage they passed close by the stable-yard and\r
+coach-house.\r
+\r
+"Heyday!" said Edmund, "here's company, here's a carriage! who have they\r
+got to meet us?" And letting down the side-glass to distinguish, "'Tis\r
+Crawford's, Crawford's barouche, I protest! There are his own two men\r
+pushing it back into its old quarters. He is here, of course. This is\r
+quite a surprise, Fanny. I shall be very glad to see him."\r
+\r
+There was no occasion, there was no time for Fanny to say how very\r
+differently she felt; but the idea of having such another to observe\r
+her was a great increase of the trepidation with which she performed the\r
+very awful ceremony of walking into the drawing-room.\r
+\r
+In the drawing-room Mr. Crawford certainly was, having been just long\r
+enough arrived to be ready for dinner; and the smiles and pleased looks\r
+of the three others standing round him, shewed how welcome was his\r
+sudden resolution of coming to them for a few days on leaving Bath.\r
+A very cordial meeting passed between him and Edmund; and with the\r
+exception of Fanny, the pleasure was general; and even to _her_ there\r
+might be some advantage in his presence, since every addition to the\r
+party must rather forward her favourite indulgence of being suffered to\r
+sit silent and unattended to. She was soon aware of this herself; for\r
+though she must submit, as her own propriety of mind directed, in spite\r
+of her aunt Norris's opinion, to being the principal lady in company,\r
+and to all the little distinctions consequent thereon, she found, while\r
+they were at table, such a happy flow of conversation prevailing, in\r
+which she was not required to take any part--there was so much to be\r
+said between the brother and sister about Bath, so much between the two\r
+young men about hunting, so much of politics between Mr. Crawford and\r
+Dr. Grant, and of everything and all together between Mr. Crawford\r
+and Mrs. Grant, as to leave her the fairest prospect of having only\r
+to listen in quiet, and of passing a very agreeable day. She could not\r
+compliment the newly arrived gentleman, however, with any appearance of\r
+interest, in a scheme for extending his stay at Mansfield, and sending\r
+for his hunters from Norfolk, which, suggested by Dr. Grant, advised by\r
+Edmund, and warmly urged by the two sisters, was soon in possession of\r
+his mind, and which he seemed to want to be encouraged even by her to\r
+resolve on. Her opinion was sought as to the probable continuance of the\r
+open weather, but her answers were as short and indifferent as civility\r
+allowed. She could not wish him to stay, and would much rather not have\r
+him speak to her.\r
+\r
+Her two absent cousins, especially Maria, were much in her thoughts on\r
+seeing him; but no embarrassing remembrance affected _his_ spirits.\r
+Here he was again on the same ground where all had passed before, and\r
+apparently as willing to stay and be happy without the Miss Bertrams,\r
+as if he had never known Mansfield in any other state. She heard them\r
+spoken of by him only in a general way, till they were all re-assembled\r
+in the drawing-room, when Edmund, being engaged apart in some matter of\r
+business with Dr. Grant, which seemed entirely to engross them, and\r
+Mrs. Grant occupied at the tea-table, he began talking of them with more\r
+particularity to his other sister. With a significant smile, which made\r
+Fanny quite hate him, he said, "So! Rushworth and his fair bride are at\r
+Brighton, I understand; happy man!"\r
+\r
+"Yes, they have been there about a fortnight, Miss Price, have they not?\r
+And Julia is with them."\r
+\r
+"And Mr. Yates, I presume, is not far off."\r
+\r
+"Mr. Yates! Oh! we hear nothing of Mr. Yates. I do not imagine he\r
+figures much in the letters to Mansfield Park; do you, Miss Price? I\r
+think my friend Julia knows better than to entertain her father with Mr.\r
+Yates."\r
+\r
+"Poor Rushworth and his two-and-forty speeches!" continued Crawford.\r
+"Nobody can ever forget them. Poor fellow! I see him now--his toil and\r
+his despair. Well, I am much mistaken if his lovely Maria will ever want\r
+him to make two-and-forty speeches to her"; adding, with a momentary\r
+seriousness, "She is too good for him--much too good." And then changing\r
+his tone again to one of gentle gallantry, and addressing Fanny, he\r
+said, "You were Mr. Rushworth's best friend. Your kindness and patience\r
+can never be forgotten, your indefatigable patience in trying to make it\r
+possible for him to learn his part--in trying to give him a brain\r
+which nature had denied--to mix up an understanding for him out of the\r
+superfluity of your own! _He_ might not have sense enough himself to\r
+estimate your kindness, but I may venture to say that it had honour from\r
+all the rest of the party."\r
+\r
+Fanny coloured, and said nothing.\r
+\r
+"It is as a dream, a pleasant dream!" he exclaimed, breaking forth\r
+again, after a few minutes' musing. "I shall always look back on our\r
+theatricals with exquisite pleasure. There was such an interest, such an\r
+animation, such a spirit diffused. Everybody felt it. We were all alive.\r
+There was employment, hope, solicitude, bustle, for every hour of\r
+the day. Always some little objection, some little doubt, some little\r
+anxiety to be got over. I never was happier."\r
+\r
+With silent indignation Fanny repeated to herself, "Never\r
+happier!--never happier than when doing what you must know was not\r
+justifiable!--never happier than when behaving so dishonourably and\r
+unfeelingly! Oh! what a corrupted mind!"\r
+\r
+"We were unlucky, Miss Price," he continued, in a lower tone, to avoid\r
+the possibility of being heard by Edmund, and not at all aware of her\r
+feelings, "we certainly were very unlucky. Another week, only one other\r
+week, would have been enough for us. I think if we had had the disposal\r
+of events--if Mansfield Park had had the government of the winds\r
+just for a week or two, about the equinox, there would have been\r
+a difference. Not that we would have endangered his safety by any\r
+tremendous weather--but only by a steady contrary wind, or a calm. I\r
+think, Miss Price, we would have indulged ourselves with a week's calm\r
+in the Atlantic at that season."\r
+\r
+He seemed determined to be answered; and Fanny, averting her face, said,\r
+with a firmer tone than usual, "As far as _I_ am concerned, sir, I would\r
+not have delayed his return for a day. My uncle disapproved it all so\r
+entirely when he did arrive, that in my opinion everything had gone\r
+quite far enough."\r
+\r
+She had never spoken so much at once to him in her life before, and\r
+never so angrily to any one; and when her speech was over, she trembled\r
+and blushed at her own daring. He was surprised; but after a few\r
+moments' silent consideration of her, replied in a calmer, graver tone,\r
+and as if the candid result of conviction, "I believe you are right.\r
+It was more pleasant than prudent. We were getting too noisy." And\r
+then turning the conversation, he would have engaged her on some other\r
+subject, but her answers were so shy and reluctant that he could not\r
+advance in any.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford, who had been repeatedly eyeing Dr. Grant and Edmund,\r
+now observed, "Those gentlemen must have some very interesting point to\r
+discuss."\r
+\r
+"The most interesting in the world," replied her brother--"how to make\r
+money; how to turn a good income into a better. Dr. Grant is giving\r
+Bertram instructions about the living he is to step into so soon. I find\r
+he takes orders in a few weeks. They were at it in the dining-parlour. I\r
+am glad to hear Bertram will be so well off. He will have a very pretty\r
+income to make ducks and drakes with, and earned without much trouble. I\r
+apprehend he will not have less than seven hundred a year. Seven hundred\r
+a year is a fine thing for a younger brother; and as of course he will\r
+still live at home, it will be all for his _menus_ _plaisirs_; and a\r
+sermon at Christmas and Easter, I suppose, will be the sum total of\r
+sacrifice."\r
+\r
+His sister tried to laugh off her feelings by saying, "Nothing amuses me\r
+more than the easy manner with which everybody settles the abundance of\r
+those who have a great deal less than themselves. You would look rather\r
+blank, Henry, if your _menus_ _plaisirs_ were to be limited to seven\r
+hundred a year."\r
+\r
+"Perhaps I might; but all _that_ you know is entirely comparative.\r
+Birthright and habit must settle the business. Bertram is certainly well\r
+off for a cadet of even a baronet's family. By the time he is four or\r
+five and twenty he will have seven hundred a year, and nothing to do for\r
+it."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford _could_ have said that there would be a something to do\r
+and to suffer for it, which she could not think lightly of; but she\r
+checked herself and let it pass; and tried to look calm and unconcerned\r
+when the two gentlemen shortly afterwards joined them.\r
+\r
+"Bertram," said Henry Crawford, "I shall make a point of coming to\r
+Mansfield to hear you preach your first sermon. I shall come on purpose\r
+to encourage a young beginner. When is it to be? Miss Price, will not\r
+you join me in encouraging your cousin? Will not you engage to attend\r
+with your eyes steadily fixed on him the whole time--as I shall do--not\r
+to lose a word; or only looking off just to note down any sentence\r
+preeminently beautiful? We will provide ourselves with tablets and a\r
+pencil. When will it be? You must preach at Mansfield, you know, that\r
+Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram may hear you."\r
+\r
+"I shall keep clear of you, Crawford, as long as I can," said Edmund;\r
+"for you would be more likely to disconcert me, and I should be more\r
+sorry to see you trying at it than almost any other man."\r
+\r
+"Will he not feel this?" thought Fanny. "No, he can feel nothing as he\r
+ought."\r
+\r
+The party being now all united, and the chief talkers attracting each\r
+other, she remained in tranquillity; and as a whist-table was formed\r
+after tea--formed really for the amusement of Dr. Grant, by his\r
+attentive wife, though it was not to be supposed so--and Miss Crawford\r
+took her harp, she had nothing to do but to listen; and her tranquillity\r
+remained undisturbed the rest of the evening, except when Mr. Crawford\r
+now and then addressed to her a question or observation, which she could\r
+not avoid answering. Miss Crawford was too much vexed by what had passed\r
+to be in a humour for anything but music. With that she soothed herself\r
+and amused her friend.\r
+\r
+The assurance of Edmund's being so soon to take orders, coming upon her\r
+like a blow that had been suspended, and still hoped uncertain and at a\r
+distance, was felt with resentment and mortification. She was very angry\r
+with him. She had thought her influence more. She _had_ begun to think\r
+of him; she felt that she had, with great regard, with almost decided\r
+intentions; but she would now meet him with his own cool feelings. It\r
+was plain that he could have no serious views, no true attachment, by\r
+fixing himself in a situation which he must know she would never\r
+stoop to. She would learn to match him in his indifference. She would\r
+henceforth admit his attentions without any idea beyond immediate\r
+amusement. If _he_ could so command his affections, _hers_ should do her\r
+no harm.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXIV\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford had quite made up his mind by the next morning to give\r
+another fortnight to Mansfield, and having sent for his hunters, and\r
+written a few lines of explanation to the Admiral, he looked round at\r
+his sister as he sealed and threw the letter from him, and seeing the\r
+coast clear of the rest of the family, said, with a smile, "And how do\r
+you think I mean to amuse myself, Mary, on the days that I do not hunt?\r
+I am grown too old to go out more than three times a week; but I have a\r
+plan for the intermediate days, and what do you think it is?"\r
+\r
+"To walk and ride with me, to be sure."\r
+\r
+"Not exactly, though I shall be happy to do both, but _that_ would be\r
+exercise only to my body, and I must take care of my mind. Besides,\r
+_that_ would be all recreation and indulgence, without the wholesome\r
+alloy of labour, and I do not like to eat the bread of idleness. No, my\r
+plan is to make Fanny Price in love with me."\r
+\r
+"Fanny Price! Nonsense! No, no. You ought to be satisfied with her two\r
+cousins."\r
+\r
+"But I cannot be satisfied without Fanny Price, without making a small\r
+hole in Fanny Price's heart. You do not seem properly aware of her\r
+claims to notice. When we talked of her last night, you none of you\r
+seemed sensible of the wonderful improvement that has taken place in her\r
+looks within the last six weeks. You see her every day, and therefore do\r
+not notice it; but I assure you she is quite a different creature from\r
+what she was in the autumn. She was then merely a quiet, modest, not\r
+plain-looking girl, but she is now absolutely pretty. I used to think\r
+she had neither complexion nor countenance; but in that soft skin of\r
+hers, so frequently tinged with a blush as it was yesterday, there is\r
+decided beauty; and from what I observed of her eyes and mouth, I do\r
+not despair of their being capable of expression enough when she\r
+has anything to express. And then, her air, her manner, her _tout_\r
+_ensemble_, is so indescribably improved! She must be grown two inches,\r
+at least, since October."\r
+\r
+"Phoo! phoo! This is only because there were no tall women to compare\r
+her with, and because she has got a new gown, and you never saw her so\r
+well dressed before. She is just what she was in October, believe me.\r
+The truth is, that she was the only girl in company for you to notice,\r
+and you must have a somebody. I have always thought her pretty--not\r
+strikingly pretty--but 'pretty enough,' as people say; a sort of beauty\r
+that grows on one. Her eyes should be darker, but she has a sweet smile;\r
+but as for this wonderful degree of improvement, I am sure it may all\r
+be resolved into a better style of dress, and your having nobody else to\r
+look at; and therefore, if you do set about a flirtation with her, you\r
+never will persuade me that it is in compliment to her beauty, or that\r
+it proceeds from anything but your own idleness and folly."\r
+\r
+Her brother gave only a smile to this accusation, and soon afterwards\r
+said, "I do not quite know what to make of Miss Fanny. I do not\r
+understand her. I could not tell what she would be at yesterday. What is\r
+her character? Is she solemn? Is she queer? Is she prudish? Why did she\r
+draw back and look so grave at me? I could hardly get her to speak. I\r
+never was so long in company with a girl in my life, trying to entertain\r
+her, and succeed so ill! Never met with a girl who looked so grave on\r
+me! I must try to get the better of this. Her looks say, 'I will not\r
+like you, I am determined not to like you'; and I say she shall."\r
+\r
+"Foolish fellow! And so this is her attraction after all! This it is,\r
+her not caring about you, which gives her such a soft skin, and makes\r
+her so much taller, and produces all these charms and graces! I do\r
+desire that you will not be making her really unhappy; a _little_ love,\r
+perhaps, may animate and do her good, but I will not have you plunge\r
+her deep, for she is as good a little creature as ever lived, and has a\r
+great deal of feeling."\r
+\r
+"It can be but for a fortnight," said Henry; "and if a fortnight can\r
+kill her, she must have a constitution which nothing could save. No, I\r
+will not do her any harm, dear little soul! only want her to look kindly\r
+on me, to give me smiles as well as blushes, to keep a chair for me by\r
+herself wherever we are, and be all animation when I take it and talk\r
+to her; to think as I think, be interested in all my possessions and\r
+pleasures, try to keep me longer at Mansfield, and feel when I go away\r
+that she shall be never happy again. I want nothing more."\r
+\r
+"Moderation itself!" said Mary. "I can have no scruples now. Well, you\r
+will have opportunities enough of endeavouring to recommend yourself,\r
+for we are a great deal together."\r
+\r
+And without attempting any farther remonstrance, she left Fanny to\r
+her fate, a fate which, had not Fanny's heart been guarded in a way\r
+unsuspected by Miss Crawford, might have been a little harder than she\r
+deserved; for although there doubtless are such unconquerable young\r
+ladies of eighteen (or one should not read about them) as are never\r
+to be persuaded into love against their judgment by all that talent,\r
+manner, attention, and flattery can do, I have no inclination to\r
+believe Fanny one of them, or to think that with so much tenderness\r
+of disposition, and so much taste as belonged to her, she could have\r
+escaped heart-whole from the courtship (though the courtship only of\r
+a fortnight) of such a man as Crawford, in spite of there being some\r
+previous ill opinion of him to be overcome, had not her affection been\r
+engaged elsewhere. With all the security which love of another and\r
+disesteem of him could give to the peace of mind he was attacking,\r
+his continued attentions--continued, but not obtrusive, and adapting\r
+themselves more and more to the gentleness and delicacy of her\r
+character--obliged her very soon to dislike him less than formerly. She\r
+had by no means forgotten the past, and she thought as ill of him as\r
+ever; but she felt his powers: he was entertaining; and his manners were\r
+so improved, so polite, so seriously and blamelessly polite, that it was\r
+impossible not to be civil to him in return.\r
+\r
+A very few days were enough to effect this; and at the end of those few\r
+days, circumstances arose which had a tendency rather to forward his\r
+views of pleasing her, inasmuch as they gave her a degree of happiness\r
+which must dispose her to be pleased with everybody. William, her\r
+brother, the so long absent and dearly loved brother, was in England\r
+again. She had a letter from him herself, a few hurried happy lines,\r
+written as the ship came up Channel, and sent into Portsmouth with\r
+the first boat that left the Antwerp at anchor in Spithead; and when\r
+Crawford walked up with the newspaper in his hand, which he had hoped\r
+would bring the first tidings, he found her trembling with joy over this\r
+letter, and listening with a glowing, grateful countenance to the kind\r
+invitation which her uncle was most collectedly dictating in reply.\r
+\r
+It was but the day before that Crawford had made himself thoroughly\r
+master of the subject, or had in fact become at all aware of her having\r
+such a brother, or his being in such a ship, but the interest then\r
+excited had been very properly lively, determining him on his return to\r
+town to apply for information as to the probable period of the Antwerp's\r
+return from the Mediterranean, etc.; and the good luck which attended\r
+his early examination of ship news the next morning seemed the reward of\r
+his ingenuity in finding out such a method of pleasing her, as well as\r
+of his dutiful attention to the Admiral, in having for many years\r
+taken in the paper esteemed to have the earliest naval intelligence. He\r
+proved, however, to be too late. All those fine first feelings, of which\r
+he had hoped to be the exciter, were already given. But his intention,\r
+the kindness of his intention, was thankfully acknowledged: quite\r
+thankfully and warmly, for she was elevated beyond the common timidity\r
+of her mind by the flow of her love for William.\r
+\r
+This dear William would soon be amongst them. There could be no doubt\r
+of his obtaining leave of absence immediately, for he was still only a\r
+midshipman; and as his parents, from living on the spot, must already\r
+have seen him, and be seeing him perhaps daily, his direct holidays\r
+might with justice be instantly given to the sister, who had been his\r
+best correspondent through a period of seven years, and the uncle who\r
+had done most for his support and advancement; and accordingly the reply\r
+to her reply, fixing a very early day for his arrival, came as soon as\r
+possible; and scarcely ten days had passed since Fanny had been in\r
+the agitation of her first dinner-visit, when she found herself in an\r
+agitation of a higher nature, watching in the hall, in the lobby, on\r
+the stairs, for the first sound of the carriage which was to bring her a\r
+brother.\r
+\r
+It came happily while she was thus waiting; and there being neither\r
+ceremony nor fearfulness to delay the moment of meeting, she was with\r
+him as he entered the house, and the first minutes of exquisite feeling\r
+had no interruption and no witnesses, unless the servants chiefly intent\r
+upon opening the proper doors could be called such. This was exactly\r
+what Sir Thomas and Edmund had been separately conniving at, as each\r
+proved to the other by the sympathetic alacrity with which they both\r
+advised Mrs. Norris's continuing where she was, instead of rushing out\r
+into the hall as soon as the noises of the arrival reached them.\r
+\r
+William and Fanny soon shewed themselves; and Sir Thomas had the\r
+pleasure of receiving, in his protege, certainly a very different person\r
+from the one he had equipped seven years ago, but a young man of an\r
+open, pleasant countenance, and frank, unstudied, but feeling and\r
+respectful manners, and such as confirmed him his friend.\r
+\r
+It was long before Fanny could recover from the agitating happiness of\r
+such an hour as was formed by the last thirty minutes of expectation,\r
+and the first of fruition; it was some time even before her happiness\r
+could be said to make her happy, before the disappointment inseparable\r
+from the alteration of person had vanished, and she could see in him the\r
+same William as before, and talk to him, as her heart had been yearning\r
+to do through many a past year. That time, however, did gradually come,\r
+forwarded by an affection on his side as warm as her own, and much less\r
+encumbered by refinement or self-distrust. She was the first object\r
+of his love, but it was a love which his stronger spirits, and bolder\r
+temper, made it as natural for him to express as to feel. On the\r
+morrow they were walking about together with true enjoyment, and every\r
+succeeding morrow renewed a _tete-a-tete_ which Sir Thomas could not but\r
+observe with complacency, even before Edmund had pointed it out to him.\r
+\r
+Excepting the moments of peculiar delight, which any marked or\r
+unlooked-for instance of Edmund's consideration of her in the last few\r
+months had excited, Fanny had never known so much felicity in her life,\r
+as in this unchecked, equal, fearless intercourse with the brother and\r
+friend who was opening all his heart to her, telling her all his hopes\r
+and fears, plans, and solicitudes respecting that long thought of,\r
+dearly earned, and justly valued blessing of promotion; who could give\r
+her direct and minute information of the father and mother, brothers and\r
+sisters, of whom she very seldom heard; who was interested in all the\r
+comforts and all the little hardships of her home at Mansfield; ready to\r
+think of every member of that home as she directed, or differing only\r
+by a less scrupulous opinion, and more noisy abuse of their aunt Norris,\r
+and with whom (perhaps the dearest indulgence of the whole) all the evil\r
+and good of their earliest years could be gone over again, and every\r
+former united pain and pleasure retraced with the fondest recollection.\r
+An advantage this, a strengthener of love, in which even the conjugal\r
+tie is beneath the fraternal. Children of the same family, the same\r
+blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of\r
+enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connexions can supply; and\r
+it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, by a divorce which\r
+no subsequent connexion can justify, if such precious remains of the\r
+earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived. Too often, alas! it is\r
+so. Fraternal love, sometimes almost everything, is at others worse than\r
+nothing. But with William and Fanny Price it was still a sentiment\r
+in all its prime and freshness, wounded by no opposition of interest,\r
+cooled by no separate attachment, and feeling the influence of time and\r
+absence only in its increase.\r
+\r
+An affection so amiable was advancing each in the opinion of all who had\r
+hearts to value anything good. Henry Crawford was as much struck with\r
+it as any. He honoured the warm-hearted, blunt fondness of the young\r
+sailor, which led him to say, with his hands stretched towards Fanny's\r
+head, "Do you know, I begin to like that queer fashion already, though\r
+when I first heard of such things being done in England, I could\r
+not believe it; and when Mrs. Brown, and the other women at the\r
+Commissioner's at Gibraltar, appeared in the same trim, I thought they\r
+were mad; but Fanny can reconcile me to anything"; and saw, with lively\r
+admiration, the glow of Fanny's cheek, the brightness of her eye, the\r
+deep interest, the absorbed attention, while her brother was describing\r
+any of the imminent hazards, or terrific scenes, which such a period at\r
+sea must supply.\r
+\r
+It was a picture which Henry Crawford had moral taste enough to value.\r
+Fanny's attractions increased--increased twofold; for the sensibility\r
+which beautified her complexion and illumined her countenance was an\r
+attraction in itself. He was no longer in doubt of the capabilities of\r
+her heart. She had feeling, genuine feeling. It would be something to\r
+be loved by such a girl, to excite the first ardours of her young\r
+unsophisticated mind! She interested him more than he had foreseen. A\r
+fortnight was not enough. His stay became indefinite.\r
+\r
+William was often called on by his uncle to be the talker. His recitals\r
+were amusing in themselves to Sir Thomas, but the chief object in\r
+seeking them was to understand the reciter, to know the young man by his\r
+histories; and he listened to his clear, simple, spirited details\r
+with full satisfaction, seeing in them the proof of good principles,\r
+professional knowledge, energy, courage, and cheerfulness, everything\r
+that could deserve or promise well. Young as he was, William had already\r
+seen a great deal. He had been in the Mediterranean; in the West Indies;\r
+in the Mediterranean again; had been often taken on shore by the favour\r
+of his captain, and in the course of seven years had known every variety\r
+of danger which sea and war together could offer. With such means in\r
+his power he had a right to be listened to; and though Mrs. Norris could\r
+fidget about the room, and disturb everybody in quest of two needlefuls\r
+of thread or a second-hand shirt button, in the midst of her nephew's\r
+account of a shipwreck or an engagement, everybody else was attentive;\r
+and even Lady Bertram could not hear of such horrors unmoved, or\r
+without sometimes lifting her eyes from her work to say, "Dear me! how\r
+disagreeable! I wonder anybody can ever go to sea."\r
+\r
+To Henry Crawford they gave a different feeling. He longed to have been\r
+at sea, and seen and done and suffered as much. His heart was warmed,\r
+his fancy fired, and he felt the highest respect for a lad who, before\r
+he was twenty, had gone through such bodily hardships and given such\r
+proofs of mind. The glory of heroism, of usefulness, of exertion, of\r
+endurance, made his own habits of selfish indulgence appear in shameful\r
+contrast; and he wished he had been a William Price, distinguishing\r
+himself and working his way to fortune and consequence with so much\r
+self-respect and happy ardour, instead of what he was!\r
+\r
+The wish was rather eager than lasting. He was roused from the reverie\r
+of retrospection and regret produced by it, by some inquiry from Edmund\r
+as to his plans for the next day's hunting; and he found it was as well\r
+to be a man of fortune at once with horses and grooms at his command.\r
+In one respect it was better, as it gave him the means of conferring a\r
+kindness where he wished to oblige. With spirits, courage, and curiosity\r
+up to anything, William expressed an inclination to hunt; and Crawford\r
+could mount him without the slightest inconvenience to himself, and with\r
+only some scruples to obviate in Sir Thomas, who knew better than his\r
+nephew the value of such a loan, and some alarms to reason away in\r
+Fanny. She feared for William; by no means convinced by all that he\r
+could relate of his own horsemanship in various countries, of the\r
+scrambling parties in which he had been engaged, the rough horses and\r
+mules he had ridden, or his many narrow escapes from dreadful falls,\r
+that he was at all equal to the management of a high-fed hunter in an\r
+English fox-chase; nor till he returned safe and well, without accident\r
+or discredit, could she be reconciled to the risk, or feel any of that\r
+obligation to Mr. Crawford for lending the horse which he had fully\r
+intended it should produce. When it was proved, however, to have done\r
+William no harm, she could allow it to be a kindness, and even reward\r
+the owner with a smile when the animal was one minute tendered to his\r
+use again; and the next, with the greatest cordiality, and in a manner\r
+not to be resisted, made over to his use entirely so long as he remained\r
+in Northamptonshire.\r
+\r
+ [End volume one of this edition.\r
+ Printed by T. and A. Constable,\r
+ Printers to Her Majesty at\r
+ the Edinburgh University Press]\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXV\r
+\r
+The intercourse of the two families was at this period more nearly\r
+restored to what it had been in the autumn, than any member of the\r
+old intimacy had thought ever likely to be again. The return of Henry\r
+Crawford, and the arrival of William Price, had much to do with it,\r
+but much was still owing to Sir Thomas's more than toleration of the\r
+neighbourly attempts at the Parsonage. His mind, now disengaged from\r
+the cares which had pressed on him at first, was at leisure to find\r
+the Grants and their young inmates really worth visiting; and though\r
+infinitely above scheming or contriving for any the most advantageous\r
+matrimonial establishment that could be among the apparent possibilities\r
+of any one most dear to him, and disdaining even as a littleness the\r
+being quick-sighted on such points, he could not avoid perceiving, in\r
+a grand and careless way, that Mr. Crawford was somewhat distinguishing\r
+his niece--nor perhaps refrain (though unconsciously) from giving a more\r
+willing assent to invitations on that account.\r
+\r
+His readiness, however, in agreeing to dine at the Parsonage, when the\r
+general invitation was at last hazarded, after many debates and many\r
+doubts as to whether it were worth while, "because Sir Thomas seemed\r
+so ill inclined, and Lady Bertram was so indolent!" proceeded from\r
+good-breeding and goodwill alone, and had nothing to do with Mr.\r
+Crawford, but as being one in an agreeable group: for it was in the\r
+course of that very visit that he first began to think that any one in\r
+the habit of such idle observations _would_ _have_ _thought_ that Mr.\r
+Crawford was the admirer of Fanny Price.\r
+\r
+The meeting was generally felt to be a pleasant one, being composed in a\r
+good proportion of those who would talk and those who would listen;\r
+and the dinner itself was elegant and plentiful, according to the usual\r
+style of the Grants, and too much according to the usual habits of\r
+all to raise any emotion except in Mrs. Norris, who could never behold\r
+either the wide table or the number of dishes on it with patience, and\r
+who did always contrive to experience some evil from the passing of the\r
+servants behind her chair, and to bring away some fresh conviction of\r
+its being impossible among so many dishes but that some must be cold.\r
+\r
+In the evening it was found, according to the predetermination of Mrs.\r
+Grant and her sister, that after making up the whist-table there would\r
+remain sufficient for a round game, and everybody being as perfectly\r
+complying and without a choice as on such occasions they always are,\r
+speculation was decided on almost as soon as whist; and Lady Bertram\r
+soon found herself in the critical situation of being applied to for her\r
+own choice between the games, and being required either to draw a card\r
+for whist or not. She hesitated. Luckily Sir Thomas was at hand.\r
+\r
+"What shall I do, Sir Thomas? Whist and speculation; which will amuse me\r
+most?"\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, after a moment's thought, recommended speculation. He was\r
+a whist player himself, and perhaps might feel that it would not much\r
+amuse him to have her for a partner.\r
+\r
+"Very well," was her ladyship's contented answer; "then speculation, if\r
+you please, Mrs. Grant. I know nothing about it, but Fanny must teach\r
+me."\r
+\r
+Here Fanny interposed, however, with anxious protestations of her own\r
+equal ignorance; she had never played the game nor seen it played in\r
+her life; and Lady Bertram felt a moment's indecision again; but upon\r
+everybody's assuring her that nothing could be so easy, that it was the\r
+easiest game on the cards, and Henry Crawford's stepping forward with a\r
+most earnest request to be allowed to sit between her ladyship and Miss\r
+Price, and teach them both, it was so settled; and Sir Thomas, Mrs.\r
+Norris, and Dr. and Mrs. Grant being seated at the table of prime\r
+intellectual state and dignity, the remaining six, under Miss Crawford's\r
+direction, were arranged round the other. It was a fine arrangement\r
+for Henry Crawford, who was close to Fanny, and with his hands full of\r
+business, having two persons' cards to manage as well as his own; for\r
+though it was impossible for Fanny not to feel herself mistress of the\r
+rules of the game in three minutes, he had yet to inspirit her play,\r
+sharpen her avarice, and harden her heart, which, especially in any\r
+competition with William, was a work of some difficulty; and as for Lady\r
+Bertram, he must continue in charge of all her fame and fortune through\r
+the whole evening; and if quick enough to keep her from looking at her\r
+cards when the deal began, must direct her in whatever was to be done\r
+with them to the end of it.\r
+\r
+He was in high spirits, doing everything with happy ease, and preeminent\r
+in all the lively turns, quick resources, and playful impudence that\r
+could do honour to the game; and the round table was altogether a very\r
+comfortable contrast to the steady sobriety and orderly silence of the\r
+other.\r
+\r
+Twice had Sir Thomas inquired into the enjoyment and success of his\r
+lady, but in vain; no pause was long enough for the time his measured\r
+manner needed; and very little of her state could be known till Mrs.\r
+Grant was able, at the end of the first rubber, to go to her and pay her\r
+compliments.\r
+\r
+"I hope your ladyship is pleased with the game."\r
+\r
+"Oh dear, yes! very entertaining indeed. A very odd game. I do not know\r
+what it is all about. I am never to see my cards; and Mr. Crawford does\r
+all the rest."\r
+\r
+"Bertram," said Crawford, some time afterwards, taking the opportunity\r
+of a little languor in the game, "I have never told you what happened to\r
+me yesterday in my ride home." They had been hunting together, and were\r
+in the midst of a good run, and at some distance from Mansfield, when\r
+his horse being found to have flung a shoe, Henry Crawford had been\r
+obliged to give up, and make the best of his way back. "I told you I\r
+lost my way after passing that old farmhouse with the yew-trees, because\r
+I can never bear to ask; but I have not told you that, with my usual\r
+luck--for I never do wrong without gaining by it--I found myself in due\r
+time in the very place which I had a curiosity to see. I was suddenly,\r
+upon turning the corner of a steepish downy field, in the midst of\r
+a retired little village between gently rising hills; a small stream\r
+before me to be forded, a church standing on a sort of knoll to my\r
+right--which church was strikingly large and handsome for the place, and\r
+not a gentleman or half a gentleman's house to be seen excepting one--to\r
+be presumed the Parsonage--within a stone's throw of the said knoll and\r
+church. I found myself, in short, in Thornton Lacey."\r
+\r
+"It sounds like it," said Edmund; "but which way did you turn after\r
+passing Sewell's farm?"\r
+\r
+"I answer no such irrelevant and insidious questions; though were I to\r
+answer all that you could put in the course of an hour, you would never\r
+be able to prove that it was _not_ Thornton Lacey--for such it certainly\r
+was."\r
+\r
+"You inquired, then?"\r
+\r
+"No, I never inquire. But I _told_ a man mending a hedge that it was\r
+Thornton Lacey, and he agreed to it."\r
+\r
+"You have a good memory. I had forgotten having ever told you half so\r
+much of the place."\r
+\r
+Thornton Lacey was the name of his impending living, as Miss Crawford\r
+well knew; and her interest in a negotiation for William Price's knave\r
+increased.\r
+\r
+"Well," continued Edmund, "and how did you like what you saw?"\r
+\r
+"Very much indeed. You are a lucky fellow. There will be work for five\r
+summers at least before the place is liveable."\r
+\r
+"No, no, not so bad as that. The farmyard must be moved, I grant you;\r
+but I am not aware of anything else. The house is by no means bad, and\r
+when the yard is removed, there may be a very tolerable approach to it."\r
+\r
+"The farmyard must be cleared away entirely, and planted up to shut\r
+out the blacksmith's shop. The house must be turned to front the east\r
+instead of the north--the entrance and principal rooms, I mean, must be\r
+on that side, where the view is really very pretty; I am sure it may be\r
+done. And _there_ must be your approach, through what is at present the\r
+garden. You must make a new garden at what is now the back of the house;\r
+which will be giving it the best aspect in the world, sloping to the\r
+south-east. The ground seems precisely formed for it. I rode fifty yards\r
+up the lane, between the church and the house, in order to look about\r
+me; and saw how it might all be. Nothing can be easier. The meadows\r
+beyond what _will_ _be_ the garden, as well as what now _is_, sweeping\r
+round from the lane I stood in to the north-east, that is, to the\r
+principal road through the village, must be all laid together, of\r
+course; very pretty meadows they are, finely sprinkled with timber. They\r
+belong to the living, I suppose; if not, you must purchase them. Then\r
+the stream--something must be done with the stream; but I could not\r
+quite determine what. I had two or three ideas."\r
+\r
+"And I have two or three ideas also," said Edmund, "and one of them is,\r
+that very little of your plan for Thornton Lacey will ever be put in\r
+practice. I must be satisfied with rather less ornament and beauty. I\r
+think the house and premises may be made comfortable, and given the air\r
+of a gentleman's residence, without any very heavy expense, and that\r
+must suffice me; and, I hope, may suffice all who care about me."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford, a little suspicious and resentful of a certain tone of\r
+voice, and a certain half-look attending the last expression of his\r
+hope, made a hasty finish of her dealings with William Price; and\r
+securing his knave at an exorbitant rate, exclaimed, "There, I will\r
+stake my last like a woman of spirit. No cold prudence for me. I am not\r
+born to sit still and do nothing. If I lose the game, it shall not be\r
+from not striving for it."\r
+\r
+The game was hers, and only did not pay her for what she had given\r
+to secure it. Another deal proceeded, and Crawford began again about\r
+Thornton Lacey.\r
+\r
+"My plan may not be the best possible: I had not many minutes to form\r
+it in; but you must do a good deal. The place deserves it, and you\r
+will find yourself not satisfied with much less than it is capable of.\r
+(Excuse me, your ladyship must not see your cards. There, let them lie\r
+just before you.) The place deserves it, Bertram. You talk of giving it\r
+the air of a gentleman's residence. _That_ will be done by the removal\r
+of the farmyard; for, independent of that terrible nuisance, I never saw\r
+a house of the kind which had in itself so much the air of a\r
+gentleman's residence, so much the look of a something above a mere\r
+parsonage-house--above the expenditure of a few hundreds a year. It is\r
+not a scrambling collection of low single rooms, with as many roofs\r
+as windows; it is not cramped into the vulgar compactness of a square\r
+farmhouse: it is a solid, roomy, mansion-like looking house, such as\r
+one might suppose a respectable old country family had lived in from\r
+generation to generation, through two centuries at least, and were now\r
+spending from two to three thousand a year in." Miss Crawford listened,\r
+and Edmund agreed to this. "The air of a gentleman's residence,\r
+therefore, you cannot but give it, if you do anything. But it is capable\r
+of much more. (Let me see, Mary; Lady Bertram bids a dozen for that\r
+queen; no, no, a dozen is more than it is worth. Lady Bertram does not\r
+bid a dozen. She will have nothing to say to it. Go on, go on.) By some\r
+such improvements as I have suggested (I do not really require you to\r
+proceed upon my plan, though, by the bye, I doubt anybody's striking out\r
+a better) you may give it a higher character. You may raise it into\r
+a _place_. From being the mere gentleman's residence, it becomes, by\r
+judicious improvement, the residence of a man of education, taste,\r
+modern manners, good connexions. All this may be stamped on it; and that\r
+house receive such an air as to make its owner be set down as the\r
+great landholder of the parish by every creature travelling the road;\r
+especially as there is no real squire's house to dispute the point--a\r
+circumstance, between ourselves, to enhance the value of such a\r
+situation in point of privilege and independence beyond all calculation.\r
+_You_ think with me, I hope" (turning with a softened voice to Fanny).\r
+"Have you ever seen the place?"\r
+\r
+Fanny gave a quick negative, and tried to hide her interest in the\r
+subject by an eager attention to her brother, who was driving as hard a\r
+bargain, and imposing on her as much as he could; but Crawford pursued\r
+with "No, no, you must not part with the queen. You have bought her too\r
+dearly, and your brother does not offer half her value. No, no, sir,\r
+hands off, hands off. Your sister does not part with the queen. She is\r
+quite determined. The game will be yours," turning to her again; "it\r
+will certainly be yours."\r
+\r
+"And Fanny had much rather it were William's," said Edmund, smiling at\r
+her. "Poor Fanny! not allowed to cheat herself as she wishes!"\r
+\r
+"Mr. Bertram," said Miss Crawford, a few minutes afterwards, "you know\r
+Henry to be such a capital improver, that you cannot possibly engage in\r
+anything of the sort at Thornton Lacey without accepting his help. Only\r
+think how useful he was at Sotherton! Only think what grand things were\r
+produced there by our all going with him one hot day in August to drive\r
+about the grounds, and see his genius take fire. There we went, and\r
+there we came home again; and what was done there is not to be told!"\r
+\r
+Fanny's eyes were turned on Crawford for a moment with an expression\r
+more than grave--even reproachful; but on catching his, were instantly\r
+withdrawn. With something of consciousness he shook his head at his\r
+sister, and laughingly replied, "I cannot say there was much done at\r
+Sotherton; but it was a hot day, and we were all walking after each\r
+other, and bewildered." As soon as a general buzz gave him shelter, he\r
+added, in a low voice, directed solely at Fanny, "I should be sorry to\r
+have my powers of _planning_ judged of by the day at Sotherton. I see\r
+things very differently now. Do not think of me as I appeared then."\r
+\r
+Sotherton was a word to catch Mrs. Norris, and being just then in the\r
+happy leisure which followed securing the odd trick by Sir Thomas's\r
+capital play and her own against Dr. and Mrs. Grant's great hands,\r
+she called out, in high good-humour, "Sotherton! Yes, that is a place,\r
+indeed, and we had a charming day there. William, you are quite out of\r
+luck; but the next time you come, I hope dear Mr. and Mrs. Rushworth\r
+will be at home, and I am sure I can answer for your being kindly\r
+received by both. Your cousins are not of a sort to forget their\r
+relations, and Mr. Rushworth is a most amiable man. They are at Brighton\r
+now, you know; in one of the best houses there, as Mr. Rushworth's fine\r
+fortune gives them a right to be. I do not exactly know the distance,\r
+but when you get back to Portsmouth, if it is not very far off, you\r
+ought to go over and pay your respects to them; and I could send a\r
+little parcel by you that I want to get conveyed to your cousins."\r
+\r
+"I should be very happy, aunt; but Brighton is almost by Beachey Head;\r
+and if I could get so far, I could not expect to be welcome in such a\r
+smart place as that--poor scrubby midshipman as I am."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was beginning an eager assurance of the affability he might\r
+depend on, when she was stopped by Sir Thomas's saying with authority,\r
+"I do not advise your going to Brighton, William, as I trust you may\r
+soon have more convenient opportunities of meeting; but my daughters\r
+would be happy to see their cousins anywhere; and you will find Mr.\r
+Rushworth most sincerely disposed to regard all the connexions of our\r
+family as his own."\r
+\r
+"I would rather find him private secretary to the First Lord than\r
+anything else," was William's only answer, in an undervoice, not meant\r
+to reach far, and the subject dropped.\r
+\r
+As yet Sir Thomas had seen nothing to remark in Mr. Crawford's\r
+behaviour; but when the whist-table broke up at the end of the second\r
+rubber, and leaving Dr. Grant and Mrs. Norris to dispute over their last\r
+play, he became a looker-on at the other, he found his niece the\r
+object of attentions, or rather of professions, of a somewhat pointed\r
+character.\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford was in the first glow of another scheme about Thornton\r
+Lacey; and not being able to catch Edmund's ear, was detailing it to his\r
+fair neighbour with a look of considerable earnestness. His scheme was\r
+to rent the house himself the following winter, that he might have a\r
+home of his own in that neighbourhood; and it was not merely for the use\r
+of it in the hunting-season (as he was then telling her), though _that_\r
+consideration had certainly some weight, feeling as he did that, in\r
+spite of all Dr. Grant's very great kindness, it was impossible for him\r
+and his horses to be accommodated where they now were without material\r
+inconvenience; but his attachment to that neighbourhood did not depend\r
+upon one amusement or one season of the year: he had set his heart upon\r
+having a something there that he could come to at any time, a little\r
+homestall at his command, where all the holidays of his year might be\r
+spent, and he might find himself continuing, improving, and _perfecting_\r
+that friendship and intimacy with the Mansfield Park family which was\r
+increasing in value to him every day. Sir Thomas heard and was not\r
+offended. There was no want of respect in the young man's address;\r
+and Fanny's reception of it was so proper and modest, so calm and\r
+uninviting, that he had nothing to censure in her. She said little,\r
+assented only here and there, and betrayed no inclination either of\r
+appropriating any part of the compliment to herself, or of strengthening\r
+his views in favour of Northamptonshire. Finding by whom he was\r
+observed, Henry Crawford addressed himself on the same subject to Sir\r
+Thomas, in a more everyday tone, but still with feeling.\r
+\r
+"I want to be your neighbour, Sir Thomas, as you have, perhaps, heard me\r
+telling Miss Price. May I hope for your acquiescence, and for your not\r
+influencing your son against such a tenant?"\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, politely bowing, replied, "It is the only way, sir, in which\r
+I could _not_ wish you established as a permanent neighbour; but I hope,\r
+and believe, that Edmund will occupy his own house at Thornton Lacey.\r
+Edmund, am I saying too much?"\r
+\r
+Edmund, on this appeal, had first to hear what was going on; but, on\r
+understanding the question, was at no loss for an answer.\r
+\r
+"Certainly, sir, I have no idea but of residence. But, Crawford, though\r
+I refuse you as a tenant, come to me as a friend. Consider the house as\r
+half your own every winter, and we will add to the stables on your own\r
+improved plan, and with all the improvements of your improved plan that\r
+may occur to you this spring."\r
+\r
+"We shall be the losers," continued Sir Thomas. "His going, though only\r
+eight miles, will be an unwelcome contraction of our family circle; but\r
+I should have been deeply mortified if any son of mine could reconcile\r
+himself to doing less. It is perfectly natural that you should not have\r
+thought much on the subject, Mr. Crawford. But a parish has wants and\r
+claims which can be known only by a clergyman constantly resident, and\r
+which no proxy can be capable of satisfying to the same extent. Edmund\r
+might, in the common phrase, do the duty of Thornton, that is, he might\r
+read prayers and preach, without giving up Mansfield Park: he might ride\r
+over every Sunday, to a house nominally inhabited, and go through divine\r
+service; he might be the clergyman of Thornton Lacey every seventh day,\r
+for three or four hours, if that would content him. But it will not.\r
+He knows that human nature needs more lessons than a weekly sermon can\r
+convey; and that if he does not live among his parishioners, and prove\r
+himself, by constant attention, their well-wisher and friend, he does\r
+very little either for their good or his own."\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford bowed his acquiescence.\r
+\r
+"I repeat again," added Sir Thomas, "that Thornton Lacey is the only\r
+house in the neighbourhood in which I should _not_ be happy to wait on\r
+Mr. Crawford as occupier."\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford bowed his thanks.\r
+\r
+"Sir Thomas," said Edmund, "undoubtedly understands the duty of a parish\r
+priest. We must hope his son may prove that _he_ knows it too."\r
+\r
+Whatever effect Sir Thomas's little harangue might really produce on Mr.\r
+Crawford, it raised some awkward sensations in two of the others, two\r
+of his most attentive listeners--Miss Crawford and Fanny. One of\r
+whom, having never before understood that Thornton was so soon and so\r
+completely to be his home, was pondering with downcast eyes on what it\r
+would be _not_ to see Edmund every day; and the other, startled from the\r
+agreeable fancies she had been previously indulging on the strength of\r
+her brother's description, no longer able, in the picture she had\r
+been forming of a future Thornton, to shut out the church, sink the\r
+clergyman, and see only the respectable, elegant, modernised, and\r
+occasional residence of a man of independent fortune, was considering\r
+Sir Thomas, with decided ill-will, as the destroyer of all this, and\r
+suffering the more from that involuntary forbearance which his character\r
+and manner commanded, and from not daring to relieve herself by a single\r
+attempt at throwing ridicule on his cause.\r
+\r
+All the agreeable of _her_ speculation was over for that hour. It was\r
+time to have done with cards, if sermons prevailed; and she was glad to\r
+find it necessary to come to a conclusion, and be able to refresh her\r
+spirits by a change of place and neighbour.\r
+\r
+The chief of the party were now collected irregularly round the\r
+fire, and waiting the final break-up. William and Fanny were the most\r
+detached. They remained together at the otherwise deserted card-table,\r
+talking very comfortably, and not thinking of the rest, till some of the\r
+rest began to think of them. Henry Crawford's chair was the first to be\r
+given a direction towards them, and he sat silently observing them for a\r
+few minutes; himself, in the meanwhile, observed by Sir Thomas, who was\r
+standing in chat with Dr. Grant.\r
+\r
+"This is the assembly night," said William. "If I were at Portsmouth I\r
+should be at it, perhaps."\r
+\r
+"But you do not wish yourself at Portsmouth, William?"\r
+\r
+"No, Fanny, that I do not. I shall have enough of Portsmouth and of\r
+dancing too, when I cannot have you. And I do not know that there would\r
+be any good in going to the assembly, for I might not get a partner.\r
+The Portsmouth girls turn up their noses at anybody who has not a\r
+commission. One might as well be nothing as a midshipman. One _is_\r
+nothing, indeed. You remember the Gregorys; they are grown up amazing\r
+fine girls, but they will hardly speak to _me_, because Lucy is courted\r
+by a lieutenant."\r
+\r
+"Oh! shame, shame! But never mind it, William" (her own cheeks in a\r
+glow of indignation as she spoke). "It is not worth minding. It is no\r
+reflection on _you_; it is no more than what the greatest admirals have\r
+all experienced, more or less, in their time. You must think of that,\r
+you must try to make up your mind to it as one of the hardships which\r
+fall to every sailor's share, like bad weather and hard living, only\r
+with this advantage, that there will be an end to it, that there will\r
+come a time when you will have nothing of that sort to endure. When you\r
+are a lieutenant! only think, William, when you are a lieutenant, how\r
+little you will care for any nonsense of this kind."\r
+\r
+"I begin to think I shall never be a lieutenant, Fanny. Everybody gets\r
+made but me."\r
+\r
+"Oh! my dear William, do not talk so; do not be so desponding. My uncle\r
+says nothing, but I am sure he will do everything in his power to get\r
+you made. He knows, as well as you do, of what consequence it is."\r
+\r
+She was checked by the sight of her uncle much nearer to them than she\r
+had any suspicion of, and each found it necessary to talk of something\r
+else.\r
+\r
+"Are you fond of dancing, Fanny?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, very; only I am soon tired."\r
+\r
+"I should like to go to a ball with you and see you dance. Have you\r
+never any balls at Northampton? I should like to see you dance, and I'd\r
+dance with you if you _would_, for nobody would know who I was here,\r
+and I should like to be your partner once more. We used to jump about\r
+together many a time, did not we? when the hand-organ was in the street?\r
+I am a pretty good dancer in my way, but I dare say you are a better."\r
+And turning to his uncle, who was now close to them, "Is not Fanny a\r
+very good dancer, sir?"\r
+\r
+Fanny, in dismay at such an unprecedented question, did not know which\r
+way to look, or how to be prepared for the answer. Some very grave\r
+reproof, or at least the coldest expression of indifference, must be\r
+coming to distress her brother, and sink her to the ground. But, on the\r
+contrary, it was no worse than, "I am sorry to say that I am unable\r
+to answer your question. I have never seen Fanny dance since she was a\r
+little girl; but I trust we shall both think she acquits herself like\r
+a gentlewoman when we do see her, which, perhaps, we may have an\r
+opportunity of doing ere long."\r
+\r
+"I have had the pleasure of seeing your sister dance, Mr. Price,"\r
+said Henry Crawford, leaning forward, "and will engage to answer every\r
+inquiry which you can make on the subject, to your entire satisfaction.\r
+But I believe" (seeing Fanny looked distressed) "it must be at some\r
+other time. There is _one_ person in company who does not like to have\r
+Miss Price spoken of."\r
+\r
+True enough, he had once seen Fanny dance; and it was equally true\r
+that he would now have answered for her gliding about with quiet, light\r
+elegance, and in admirable time; but, in fact, he could not for the life\r
+of him recall what her dancing had been, and rather took it for granted\r
+that she had been present than remembered anything about her.\r
+\r
+He passed, however, for an admirer of her dancing; and Sir Thomas, by no\r
+means displeased, prolonged the conversation on dancing in general, and\r
+was so well engaged in describing the balls of Antigua, and listening to\r
+what his nephew could relate of the different modes of dancing which\r
+had fallen within his observation, that he had not heard his carriage\r
+announced, and was first called to the knowledge of it by the bustle of\r
+Mrs. Norris.\r
+\r
+"Come, Fanny, Fanny, what are you about? We are going. Do not you see\r
+your aunt is going? Quick, quick! I cannot bear to keep good old Wilcox\r
+waiting. You should always remember the coachman and horses. My dear Sir\r
+Thomas, we have settled it that the carriage should come back for you,\r
+and Edmund and William."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas could not dissent, as it had been his own arrangement,\r
+previously communicated to his wife and sister; but _that_ seemed\r
+forgotten by Mrs. Norris, who must fancy that she settled it all\r
+herself.\r
+\r
+Fanny's last feeling in the visit was disappointment: for the shawl\r
+which Edmund was quietly taking from the servant to bring and put round\r
+her shoulders was seized by Mr. Crawford's quicker hand, and she was\r
+obliged to be indebted to his more prominent attention.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXVI\r
+\r
+William's desire of seeing Fanny dance made more than a momentary\r
+impression on his uncle. The hope of an opportunity, which Sir Thomas\r
+had then given, was not given to be thought of no more. He remained\r
+steadily inclined to gratify so amiable a feeling; to gratify anybody\r
+else who might wish to see Fanny dance, and to give pleasure to the\r
+young people in general; and having thought the matter over, and taken\r
+his resolution in quiet independence, the result of it appeared the\r
+next morning at breakfast, when, after recalling and commending what\r
+his nephew had said, he added, "I do not like, William, that you\r
+should leave Northamptonshire without this indulgence. It would give me\r
+pleasure to see you both dance. You spoke of the balls at Northampton.\r
+Your cousins have occasionally attended them; but they would not\r
+altogether suit us now. The fatigue would be too much for your aunt. I\r
+believe we must not think of a Northampton ball. A dance at home would\r
+be more eligible; and if--"\r
+\r
+"Ah, my dear Sir Thomas!" interrupted Mrs. Norris, "I knew what was\r
+coming. I knew what you were going to say. If dear Julia were at home,\r
+or dearest Mrs. Rushworth at Sotherton, to afford a reason, an occasion\r
+for such a thing, you would be tempted to give the young people a dance\r
+at Mansfield. I know you would. If _they_ were at home to grace the\r
+ball, a ball you would have this very Christmas. Thank your uncle,\r
+William, thank your uncle!"\r
+\r
+"My daughters," replied Sir Thomas, gravely interposing, "have their\r
+pleasures at Brighton, and I hope are very happy; but the dance which I\r
+think of giving at Mansfield will be for their cousins. Could we be all\r
+assembled, our satisfaction would undoubtedly be more complete, but the\r
+absence of some is not to debar the others of amusement."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris had not another word to say. She saw decision in his looks,\r
+and her surprise and vexation required some minutes' silence to be\r
+settled into composure. A ball at such a time! His daughters absent and\r
+herself not consulted! There was comfort, however, soon at hand. _She_\r
+must be the doer of everything: Lady Bertram would of course be spared\r
+all thought and exertion, and it would all fall upon _her_. She should\r
+have to do the honours of the evening; and this reflection quickly\r
+restored so much of her good-humour as enabled her to join in with the\r
+others, before their happiness and thanks were all expressed.\r
+\r
+Edmund, William, and Fanny did, in their different ways, look and speak\r
+as much grateful pleasure in the promised ball as Sir Thomas could\r
+desire. Edmund's feelings were for the other two. His father had never\r
+conferred a favour or shewn a kindness more to his satisfaction.\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram was perfectly quiescent and contented, and had no\r
+objections to make. Sir Thomas engaged for its giving her very little\r
+trouble; and she assured him "that she was not at all afraid of the\r
+trouble; indeed, she could not imagine there would be any."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris was ready with her suggestions as to the rooms he would\r
+think fittest to be used, but found it all prearranged; and when she\r
+would have conjectured and hinted about the day, it appeared that the\r
+day was settled too. Sir Thomas had been amusing himself with shaping a\r
+very complete outline of the business; and as soon as she would listen\r
+quietly, could read his list of the families to be invited, from whom\r
+he calculated, with all necessary allowance for the shortness of the\r
+notice, to collect young people enough to form twelve or fourteen\r
+couple: and could detail the considerations which had induced him to\r
+fix on the 22nd as the most eligible day. William was required to be at\r
+Portsmouth on the 24th; the 22nd would therefore be the last day of his\r
+visit; but where the days were so few it would be unwise to fix on any\r
+earlier. Mrs. Norris was obliged to be satisfied with thinking just the\r
+same, and with having been on the point of proposing the 22nd herself,\r
+as by far the best day for the purpose.\r
+\r
+The ball was now a settled thing, and before the evening a proclaimed\r
+thing to all whom it concerned. Invitations were sent with despatch,\r
+and many a young lady went to bed that night with her head full of happy\r
+cares as well as Fanny. To her the cares were sometimes almost beyond\r
+the happiness; for young and inexperienced, with small means of choice\r
+and no confidence in her own taste, the "how she should be dressed" was\r
+a point of painful solicitude; and the almost solitary ornament in her\r
+possession, a very pretty amber cross which William had brought her from\r
+Sicily, was the greatest distress of all, for she had nothing but a bit\r
+of ribbon to fasten it to; and though she had worn it in that manner\r
+once, would it be allowable at such a time in the midst of all the rich\r
+ornaments which she supposed all the other young ladies would appear in?\r
+And yet not to wear it! William had wanted to buy her a gold chain too,\r
+but the purchase had been beyond his means, and therefore not to wear\r
+the cross might be mortifying him. These were anxious considerations;\r
+enough to sober her spirits even under the prospect of a ball given\r
+principally for her gratification.\r
+\r
+The preparations meanwhile went on, and Lady Bertram continued to sit on\r
+her sofa without any inconvenience from them. She had some extra visits\r
+from the housekeeper, and her maid was rather hurried in making up a new\r
+dress for her: Sir Thomas gave orders, and Mrs. Norris ran about; but\r
+all this gave _her_ no trouble, and as she had foreseen, "there was, in\r
+fact, no trouble in the business."\r
+\r
+Edmund was at this time particularly full of cares: his mind being\r
+deeply occupied in the consideration of two important events now\r
+at hand, which were to fix his fate in life--ordination and\r
+matrimony--events of such a serious character as to make the ball, which\r
+would be very quickly followed by one of them, appear of less moment in\r
+his eyes than in those of any other person in the house. On the 23rd\r
+he was going to a friend near Peterborough, in the same situation\r
+as himself, and they were to receive ordination in the course of the\r
+Christmas week. Half his destiny would then be determined, but the\r
+other half might not be so very smoothly wooed. His duties would be\r
+established, but the wife who was to share, and animate, and reward\r
+those duties, might yet be unattainable. He knew his own mind, but he\r
+was not always perfectly assured of knowing Miss Crawford's. There were\r
+points on which they did not quite agree; there were moments in which\r
+she did not seem propitious; and though trusting altogether to her\r
+affection, so far as to be resolved--almost resolved--on bringing it to\r
+a decision within a very short time, as soon as the variety of business\r
+before him were arranged, and he knew what he had to offer her, he\r
+had many anxious feelings, many doubting hours as to the result. His\r
+conviction of her regard for him was sometimes very strong; he could\r
+look back on a long course of encouragement, and she was as perfect in\r
+disinterested attachment as in everything else. But at other times\r
+doubt and alarm intermingled with his hopes; and when he thought of\r
+her acknowledged disinclination for privacy and retirement, her decided\r
+preference of a London life, what could he expect but a determined\r
+rejection? unless it were an acceptance even more to be deprecated,\r
+demanding such sacrifices of situation and employment on his side as\r
+conscience must forbid.\r
+\r
+The issue of all depended on one question. Did she love him well enough\r
+to forego what had used to be essential points? Did she love him well\r
+enough to make them no longer essential? And this question, which he was\r
+continually repeating to himself, though oftenest answered with a "Yes,"\r
+had sometimes its "No."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford was soon to leave Mansfield, and on this circumstance the\r
+"no" and the "yes" had been very recently in alternation. He had seen\r
+her eyes sparkle as she spoke of the dear friend's letter, which claimed\r
+a long visit from her in London, and of the kindness of Henry, in\r
+engaging to remain where he was till January, that he might convey her\r
+thither; he had heard her speak of the pleasure of such a journey with\r
+an animation which had "no" in every tone. But this had occurred on the\r
+first day of its being settled, within the first hour of the burst of\r
+such enjoyment, when nothing but the friends she was to visit was before\r
+her. He had since heard her express herself differently, with other\r
+feelings, more chequered feelings: he had heard her tell Mrs. Grant that\r
+she should leave her with regret; that she began to believe neither the\r
+friends nor the pleasures she was going to were worth those she left\r
+behind; and that though she felt she must go, and knew she should enjoy\r
+herself when once away, she was already looking forward to being at\r
+Mansfield again. Was there not a "yes" in all this?\r
+\r
+With such matters to ponder over, and arrange, and re-arrange, Edmund\r
+could not, on his own account, think very much of the evening which the\r
+rest of the family were looking forward to with a more equal degree of\r
+strong interest. Independent of his two cousins' enjoyment in it, the\r
+evening was to him of no higher value than any other appointed meeting\r
+of the two families might be. In every meeting there was a hope of\r
+receiving farther confirmation of Miss Crawford's attachment; but the\r
+whirl of a ballroom, perhaps, was not particularly favourable to the\r
+excitement or expression of serious feelings. To engage her early for\r
+the two first dances was all the command of individual happiness which\r
+he felt in his power, and the only preparation for the ball which he\r
+could enter into, in spite of all that was passing around him on the\r
+subject, from morning till night.\r
+\r
+Thursday was the day of the ball; and on Wednesday morning Fanny, still\r
+unable to satisfy herself as to what she ought to wear, determined to\r
+seek the counsel of the more enlightened, and apply to Mrs. Grant and\r
+her sister, whose acknowledged taste would certainly bear her blameless;\r
+and as Edmund and William were gone to Northampton, and she had reason\r
+to think Mr. Crawford likewise out, she walked down to the Parsonage\r
+without much fear of wanting an opportunity for private discussion;\r
+and the privacy of such a discussion was a most important part of it to\r
+Fanny, being more than half-ashamed of her own solicitude.\r
+\r
+She met Miss Crawford within a few yards of the Parsonage, just setting\r
+out to call on her, and as it seemed to her that her friend, though\r
+obliged to insist on turning back, was unwilling to lose her walk, she\r
+explained her business at once, and observed, that if she would be so\r
+kind as to give her opinion, it might be all talked over as well without\r
+doors as within. Miss Crawford appeared gratified by the application,\r
+and after a moment's thought, urged Fanny's returning with her in a much\r
+more cordial manner than before, and proposed their going up into her\r
+room, where they might have a comfortable coze, without disturbing Dr.\r
+and Mrs. Grant, who were together in the drawing-room. It was just the\r
+plan to suit Fanny; and with a great deal of gratitude on her side for\r
+such ready and kind attention, they proceeded indoors, and upstairs, and\r
+were soon deep in the interesting subject. Miss Crawford, pleased with\r
+the appeal, gave her all her best judgment and taste, made everything\r
+easy by her suggestions, and tried to make everything agreeable by her\r
+encouragement. The dress being settled in all its grander parts--"But\r
+what shall you have by way of necklace?" said Miss Crawford. "Shall not\r
+you wear your brother's cross?" And as she spoke she was undoing a\r
+small parcel, which Fanny had observed in her hand when they met. Fanny\r
+acknowledged her wishes and doubts on this point: she did not know\r
+how either to wear the cross, or to refrain from wearing it. She was\r
+answered by having a small trinket-box placed before her, and being\r
+requested to chuse from among several gold chains and necklaces. Such\r
+had been the parcel with which Miss Crawford was provided, and such the\r
+object of her intended visit: and in the kindest manner she now urged\r
+Fanny's taking one for the cross and to keep for her sake, saying\r
+everything she could think of to obviate the scruples which were making\r
+Fanny start back at first with a look of horror at the proposal.\r
+\r
+"You see what a collection I have," said she; "more by half than I ever\r
+use or think of. I do not offer them as new. I offer nothing but an old\r
+necklace. You must forgive the liberty, and oblige me."\r
+\r
+Fanny still resisted, and from her heart. The gift was too valuable. But\r
+Miss Crawford persevered, and argued the case with so much affectionate\r
+earnestness through all the heads of William and the cross, and the\r
+ball, and herself, as to be finally successful. Fanny found\r
+herself obliged to yield, that she might not be accused of pride\r
+or indifference, or some other littleness; and having with modest\r
+reluctance given her consent, proceeded to make the selection. She\r
+looked and looked, longing to know which might be least valuable; and\r
+was determined in her choice at last, by fancying there was one necklace\r
+more frequently placed before her eyes than the rest. It was of gold,\r
+prettily worked; and though Fanny would have preferred a longer and a\r
+plainer chain as more adapted for her purpose, she hoped, in fixing\r
+on this, to be chusing what Miss Crawford least wished to keep. Miss\r
+Crawford smiled her perfect approbation; and hastened to complete the\r
+gift by putting the necklace round her, and making her see how well\r
+it looked. Fanny had not a word to say against its becomingness, and,\r
+excepting what remained of her scruples, was exceedingly pleased with\r
+an acquisition so very apropos. She would rather, perhaps, have been\r
+obliged to some other person. But this was an unworthy feeling. Miss\r
+Crawford had anticipated her wants with a kindness which proved her a\r
+real friend. "When I wear this necklace I shall always think of you,"\r
+said she, "and feel how very kind you were."\r
+\r
+"You must think of somebody else too, when you wear that necklace,"\r
+replied Miss Crawford. "You must think of Henry, for it was his choice\r
+in the first place. He gave it to me, and with the necklace I make over\r
+to you all the duty of remembering the original giver. It is to be\r
+a family remembrancer. The sister is not to be in your mind without\r
+bringing the brother too."\r
+\r
+Fanny, in great astonishment and confusion, would have returned the\r
+present instantly. To take what had been the gift of another person,\r
+of a brother too, impossible! it must not be! and with an eagerness\r
+and embarrassment quite diverting to her companion, she laid down the\r
+necklace again on its cotton, and seemed resolved either to take another\r
+or none at all. Miss Crawford thought she had never seen a prettier\r
+consciousness. "My dear child," said she, laughing, "what are you afraid\r
+of? Do you think Henry will claim the necklace as mine, and fancy you\r
+did not come honestly by it? or are you imagining he would be too much\r
+flattered by seeing round your lovely throat an ornament which his money\r
+purchased three years ago, before he knew there was such a throat in the\r
+world? or perhaps"--looking archly--"you suspect a confederacy between\r
+us, and that what I am now doing is with his knowledge and at his\r
+desire?"\r
+\r
+With the deepest blushes Fanny protested against such a thought.\r
+\r
+"Well, then," replied Miss Crawford more seriously, but without at all\r
+believing her, "to convince me that you suspect no trick, and are as\r
+unsuspicious of compliment as I have always found you, take the necklace\r
+and say no more about it. Its being a gift of my brother's need not make\r
+the smallest difference in your accepting it, as I assure you it makes\r
+none in my willingness to part with it. He is always giving me something\r
+or other. I have such innumerable presents from him that it is quite\r
+impossible for me to value or for him to remember half. And as for this\r
+necklace, I do not suppose I have worn it six times: it is very pretty,\r
+but I never think of it; and though you would be most heartily welcome\r
+to any other in my trinket-box, you have happened to fix on the very\r
+one which, if I have a choice, I would rather part with and see in your\r
+possession than any other. Say no more against it, I entreat you. Such a\r
+trifle is not worth half so many words."\r
+\r
+Fanny dared not make any farther opposition; and with renewed but less\r
+happy thanks accepted the necklace again, for there was an expression in\r
+Miss Crawford's eyes which she could not be satisfied with.\r
+\r
+It was impossible for her to be insensible of Mr. Crawford's change of\r
+manners. She had long seen it. He evidently tried to please her: he was\r
+gallant, he was attentive, he was something like what he had been to her\r
+cousins: he wanted, she supposed, to cheat her of her tranquillity as\r
+he had cheated them; and whether he might not have some concern in this\r
+necklace--she could not be convinced that he had not, for Miss Crawford,\r
+complaisant as a sister, was careless as a woman and a friend.\r
+\r
+Reflecting and doubting, and feeling that the possession of what she had\r
+so much wished for did not bring much satisfaction, she now walked\r
+home again, with a change rather than a diminution of cares since her\r
+treading that path before.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXVII\r
+\r
+On reaching home Fanny went immediately upstairs to deposit this\r
+unexpected acquisition, this doubtful good of a necklace, in some\r
+favourite box in the East room, which held all her smaller treasures;\r
+but on opening the door, what was her surprise to find her cousin Edmund\r
+there writing at the table! Such a sight having never occurred before,\r
+was almost as wonderful as it was welcome.\r
+\r
+"Fanny," said he directly, leaving his seat and his pen, and meeting her\r
+with something in his hand, "I beg your pardon for being here. I came\r
+to look for you, and after waiting a little while in hope of your coming\r
+in, was making use of your inkstand to explain my errand. You will find\r
+the beginning of a note to yourself; but I can now speak my business,\r
+which is merely to beg your acceptance of this little trifle--a chain\r
+for William's cross. You ought to have had it a week ago, but there has\r
+been a delay from my brother's not being in town by several days so soon\r
+as I expected; and I have only just now received it at Northampton. I\r
+hope you will like the chain itself, Fanny. I endeavoured to consult the\r
+simplicity of your taste; but, at any rate, I know you will be kind to\r
+my intentions, and consider it, as it really is, a token of the love of\r
+one of your oldest friends."\r
+\r
+And so saying, he was hurrying away, before Fanny, overpowered by a\r
+thousand feelings of pain and pleasure, could attempt to speak; but\r
+quickened by one sovereign wish, she then called out, "Oh! cousin, stop\r
+a moment, pray stop!"\r
+\r
+He turned back.\r
+\r
+"I cannot attempt to thank you," she continued, in a very agitated\r
+manner; "thanks are out of the question. I feel much more than I can\r
+possibly express. Your goodness in thinking of me in such a way is\r
+beyond--"\r
+\r
+"If that is all you have to say, Fanny" smiling and turning away again.\r
+\r
+"No, no, it is not. I want to consult you."\r
+\r
+Almost unconsciously she had now undone the parcel he had just put\r
+into her hand, and seeing before her, in all the niceness of jewellers'\r
+packing, a plain gold chain, perfectly simple and neat, she could not\r
+help bursting forth again, "Oh, this is beautiful indeed! This is the\r
+very thing, precisely what I wished for! This is the only ornament I\r
+have ever had a desire to possess. It will exactly suit my cross. They\r
+must and shall be worn together. It comes, too, in such an acceptable\r
+moment. Oh, cousin, you do not know how acceptable it is."\r
+\r
+"My dear Fanny, you feel these things a great deal too much. I am most\r
+happy that you like the chain, and that it should be here in time for\r
+to-morrow; but your thanks are far beyond the occasion. Believe me, I\r
+have no pleasure in the world superior to that of contributing to yours.\r
+No, I can safely say, I have no pleasure so complete, so unalloyed. It\r
+is without a drawback."\r
+\r
+Upon such expressions of affection Fanny could have lived an hour\r
+without saying another word; but Edmund, after waiting a moment, obliged\r
+her to bring down her mind from its heavenly flight by saying, "But what\r
+is it that you want to consult me about?"\r
+\r
+It was about the necklace, which she was now most earnestly longing to\r
+return, and hoped to obtain his approbation of her doing. She gave the\r
+history of her recent visit, and now her raptures might well be over;\r
+for Edmund was so struck with the circumstance, so delighted with what\r
+Miss Crawford had done, so gratified by such a coincidence of conduct\r
+between them, that Fanny could not but admit the superior power of one\r
+pleasure over his own mind, though it might have its drawback. It was\r
+some time before she could get his attention to her plan, or any answer\r
+to her demand of his opinion: he was in a reverie of fond reflection,\r
+uttering only now and then a few half-sentences of praise; but when\r
+he did awake and understand, he was very decided in opposing what she\r
+wished.\r
+\r
+"Return the necklace! No, my dear Fanny, upon no account. It would be\r
+mortifying her severely. There can hardly be a more unpleasant sensation\r
+than the having anything returned on our hands which we have given with\r
+a reasonable hope of its contributing to the comfort of a friend. Why\r
+should she lose a pleasure which she has shewn herself so deserving of?"\r
+\r
+"If it had been given to me in the first instance," said Fanny, "I\r
+should not have thought of returning it; but being her brother's\r
+present, is not it fair to suppose that she would rather not part with\r
+it, when it is not wanted?"\r
+\r
+"She must not suppose it not wanted, not acceptable, at least: and its\r
+having been originally her brother's gift makes no difference; for as\r
+she was not prevented from offering, nor you from taking it on that\r
+account, it ought not to prevent you from keeping it. No doubt it is\r
+handsomer than mine, and fitter for a ballroom."\r
+\r
+"No, it is not handsomer, not at all handsomer in its way, and, for\r
+my purpose, not half so fit. The chain will agree with William's cross\r
+beyond all comparison better than the necklace."\r
+\r
+"For one night, Fanny, for only one night, if it _be_ a sacrifice; I am\r
+sure you will, upon consideration, make that sacrifice rather than give\r
+pain to one who has been so studious of your comfort. Miss Crawford's\r
+attentions to you have been--not more than you were justly entitled\r
+to--I am the last person to think that _could_ _be_, but they have been\r
+invariable; and to be returning them with what must have something the\r
+_air_ of ingratitude, though I know it could never have the _meaning_,\r
+is not in your nature, I am sure. Wear the necklace, as you are engaged\r
+to do, to-morrow evening, and let the chain, which was not ordered with\r
+any reference to the ball, be kept for commoner occasions. This is my\r
+advice. I would not have the shadow of a coolness between the two whose\r
+intimacy I have been observing with the greatest pleasure, and in whose\r
+characters there is so much general resemblance in true generosity\r
+and natural delicacy as to make the few slight differences, resulting\r
+principally from situation, no reasonable hindrance to a perfect\r
+friendship. I would not have the shadow of a coolness arise," he\r
+repeated, his voice sinking a little, "between the two dearest objects I\r
+have on earth."\r
+\r
+He was gone as he spoke; and Fanny remained to tranquillise herself as\r
+she could. She was one of his two dearest--that must support her. But\r
+the other: the first! She had never heard him speak so openly before,\r
+and though it told her no more than what she had long perceived, it was\r
+a stab, for it told of his own convictions and views. They were\r
+decided. He would marry Miss Crawford. It was a stab, in spite of every\r
+long-standing expectation; and she was obliged to repeat again and\r
+again, that she was one of his two dearest, before the words gave her\r
+any sensation. Could she believe Miss Crawford to deserve him, it would\r
+be--oh, how different would it be--how far more tolerable! But he was\r
+deceived in her: he gave her merits which she had not; her faults were\r
+what they had ever been, but he saw them no longer. Till she had shed\r
+many tears over this deception, Fanny could not subdue her agitation;\r
+and the dejection which followed could only be relieved by the influence\r
+of fervent prayers for his happiness.\r
+\r
+It was her intention, as she felt it to be her duty, to try to overcome\r
+all that was excessive, all that bordered on selfishness, in her\r
+affection for Edmund. To call or to fancy it a loss, a disappointment,\r
+would be a presumption for which she had not words strong enough to\r
+satisfy her own humility. To think of him as Miss Crawford might be\r
+justified in thinking, would in her be insanity. To her he could be\r
+nothing under any circumstances; nothing dearer than a friend. Why did\r
+such an idea occur to her even enough to be reprobated and forbidden? It\r
+ought not to have touched on the confines of her imagination. She would\r
+endeavour to be rational, and to deserve the right of judging of Miss\r
+Crawford's character, and the privilege of true solicitude for him by a\r
+sound intellect and an honest heart.\r
+\r
+She had all the heroism of principle, and was determined to do her duty;\r
+but having also many of the feelings of youth and nature, let her not\r
+be much wondered at, if, after making all these good resolutions on the\r
+side of self-government, she seized the scrap of paper on which Edmund\r
+had begun writing to her, as a treasure beyond all her hopes, and\r
+reading with the tenderest emotion these words, "My very dear Fanny,\r
+you must do me the favour to accept" locked it up with the chain, as the\r
+dearest part of the gift. It was the only thing approaching to a letter\r
+which she had ever received from him; she might never receive another;\r
+it was impossible that she ever should receive another so perfectly\r
+gratifying in the occasion and the style. Two lines more prized had\r
+never fallen from the pen of the most distinguished author--never\r
+more completely blessed the researches of the fondest biographer. The\r
+enthusiasm of a woman's love is even beyond the biographer's. To her,\r
+the handwriting itself, independent of anything it may convey, is a\r
+blessedness. Never were such characters cut by any other human being as\r
+Edmund's commonest handwriting gave! This specimen, written in haste\r
+as it was, had not a fault; and there was a felicity in the flow of the\r
+first four words, in the arrangement of "My very dear Fanny," which she\r
+could have looked at for ever.\r
+\r
+Having regulated her thoughts and comforted her feelings by this happy\r
+mixture of reason and weakness, she was able in due time to go down\r
+and resume her usual employments near her aunt Bertram, and pay her the\r
+usual observances without any apparent want of spirits.\r
+\r
+Thursday, predestined to hope and enjoyment, came; and opened with\r
+more kindness to Fanny than such self-willed, unmanageable days often\r
+volunteer, for soon after breakfast a very friendly note was brought\r
+from Mr. Crawford to William, stating that as he found himself obliged\r
+to go to London on the morrow for a few days, he could not help trying\r
+to procure a companion; and therefore hoped that if William could\r
+make up his mind to leave Mansfield half a day earlier than had been\r
+proposed, he would accept a place in his carriage. Mr. Crawford meant to\r
+be in town by his uncle's accustomary late dinner-hour, and William\r
+was invited to dine with him at the Admiral's. The proposal was a very\r
+pleasant one to William himself, who enjoyed the idea of travelling post\r
+with four horses, and such a good-humoured, agreeable friend; and, in\r
+likening it to going up with despatches, was saying at once everything\r
+in favour of its happiness and dignity which his imagination could\r
+suggest; and Fanny, from a different motive, was exceedingly pleased;\r
+for the original plan was that William should go up by the mail from\r
+Northampton the following night, which would not have allowed him an\r
+hour's rest before he must have got into a Portsmouth coach; and though\r
+this offer of Mr. Crawford's would rob her of many hours of his company,\r
+she was too happy in having William spared from the fatigue of such\r
+a journey, to think of anything else. Sir Thomas approved of it for\r
+another reason. His nephew's introduction to Admiral Crawford might be\r
+of service. The Admiral, he believed, had interest. Upon the whole, it\r
+was a very joyous note. Fanny's spirits lived on it half the morning,\r
+deriving some accession of pleasure from its writer being himself to go\r
+away.\r
+\r
+As for the ball, so near at hand, she had too many agitations and fears\r
+to have half the enjoyment in anticipation which she ought to have had,\r
+or must have been supposed to have by the many young ladies looking\r
+forward to the same event in situations more at ease, but under\r
+circumstances of less novelty, less interest, less peculiar\r
+gratification, than would be attributed to her. Miss Price, known\r
+only by name to half the people invited, was now to make her first\r
+appearance, and must be regarded as the queen of the evening. Who could\r
+be happier than Miss Price? But Miss Price had not been brought up to\r
+the trade of _coming_ _out_; and had she known in what light this ball\r
+was, in general, considered respecting her, it would very much have\r
+lessened her comfort by increasing the fears she already had of doing\r
+wrong and being looked at. To dance without much observation or any\r
+extraordinary fatigue, to have strength and partners for about half the\r
+evening, to dance a little with Edmund, and not a great deal with Mr.\r
+Crawford, to see William enjoy himself, and be able to keep away\r
+from her aunt Norris, was the height of her ambition, and seemed to\r
+comprehend her greatest possibility of happiness. As these were the best\r
+of her hopes, they could not always prevail; and in the course of a long\r
+morning, spent principally with her two aunts, she was often under the\r
+influence of much less sanguine views. William, determined to make this\r
+last day a day of thorough enjoyment, was out snipe-shooting; Edmund,\r
+she had too much reason to suppose, was at the Parsonage; and left\r
+alone to bear the worrying of Mrs. Norris, who was cross because the\r
+housekeeper would have her own way with the supper, and whom _she_ could\r
+not avoid though the housekeeper might, Fanny was worn down at last to\r
+think everything an evil belonging to the ball, and when sent off with\r
+a parting worry to dress, moved as languidly towards her own room, and\r
+felt as incapable of happiness as if she had been allowed no share in\r
+it.\r
+\r
+As she walked slowly upstairs she thought of yesterday; it had been\r
+about the same hour that she had returned from the Parsonage, and\r
+found Edmund in the East room. "Suppose I were to find him there again\r
+to-day!" said she to herself, in a fond indulgence of fancy.\r
+\r
+"Fanny," said a voice at that moment near her. Starting and looking up,\r
+she saw, across the lobby she had just reached, Edmund himself, standing\r
+at the head of a different staircase. He came towards her. "You look\r
+tired and fagged, Fanny. You have been walking too far."\r
+\r
+"No, I have not been out at all."\r
+\r
+"Then you have had fatigues within doors, which are worse. You had\r
+better have gone out."\r
+\r
+Fanny, not liking to complain, found it easiest to make no answer; and\r
+though he looked at her with his usual kindness, she believed he had\r
+soon ceased to think of her countenance. He did not appear in spirits:\r
+something unconnected with her was probably amiss. They proceeded\r
+upstairs together, their rooms being on the same floor above.\r
+\r
+"I come from Dr. Grant's," said Edmund presently. "You may guess my\r
+errand there, Fanny." And he looked so conscious, that Fanny could think\r
+but of one errand, which turned her too sick for speech. "I wished to\r
+engage Miss Crawford for the two first dances," was the explanation that\r
+followed, and brought Fanny to life again, enabling her, as she found\r
+she was expected to speak, to utter something like an inquiry as to the\r
+result.\r
+\r
+"Yes," he answered, "she is engaged to me; but" (with a smile that did\r
+not sit easy) "she says it is to be the last time that she ever will\r
+dance with me. She is not serious. I think, I hope, I am sure she is\r
+not serious; but I would rather not hear it. She never has danced with a\r
+clergyman, she says, and she never _will_. For my own sake, I could wish\r
+there had been no ball just at--I mean not this very week, this very\r
+day; to-morrow I leave home."\r
+\r
+Fanny struggled for speech, and said, "I am very sorry that anything has\r
+occurred to distress you. This ought to be a day of pleasure. My uncle\r
+meant it so."\r
+\r
+"Oh yes, yes! and it will be a day of pleasure. It will all end right. I\r
+am only vexed for a moment. In fact, it is not that I consider the ball\r
+as ill-timed; what does it signify? But, Fanny," stopping her, by taking\r
+her hand, and speaking low and seriously, "you know what all this means.\r
+You see how it is; and could tell me, perhaps better than I could tell\r
+you, how and why I am vexed. Let me talk to you a little. You are a\r
+kind, kind listener. I have been pained by her manner this morning, and\r
+cannot get the better of it. I know her disposition to be as sweet and\r
+faultless as your own, but the influence of her former companions\r
+makes her seem--gives to her conversation, to her professed opinions,\r
+sometimes a tinge of wrong. She does not _think_ evil, but she speaks\r
+it, speaks it in playfulness; and though I know it to be playfulness, it\r
+grieves me to the soul."\r
+\r
+"The effect of education," said Fanny gently.\r
+\r
+Edmund could not but agree to it. "Yes, that uncle and aunt! They have\r
+injured the finest mind; for sometimes, Fanny, I own to you, it does\r
+appear more than manner: it appears as if the mind itself was tainted."\r
+\r
+Fanny imagined this to be an appeal to her judgment, and therefore,\r
+after a moment's consideration, said, "If you only want me as a\r
+listener, cousin, I will be as useful as I can; but I am not qualified\r
+for an adviser. Do not ask advice of _me_. I am not competent."\r
+\r
+"You are right, Fanny, to protest against such an office, but you need\r
+not be afraid. It is a subject on which I should never ask advice; it\r
+is the sort of subject on which it had better never be asked; and few,\r
+I imagine, do ask it, but when they want to be influenced against their\r
+conscience. I only want to talk to you."\r
+\r
+"One thing more. Excuse the liberty; but take care _how_ you talk to me.\r
+Do not tell me anything now, which hereafter you may be sorry for. The\r
+time may come--"\r
+\r
+The colour rushed into her cheeks as she spoke.\r
+\r
+"Dearest Fanny!" cried Edmund, pressing her hand to his lips with\r
+almost as much warmth as if it had been Miss Crawford's, "you are all\r
+considerate thought! But it is unnecessary here. The time will never\r
+come. No such time as you allude to will ever come. I begin to think it\r
+most improbable: the chances grow less and less; and even if it should,\r
+there will be nothing to be remembered by either you or me that we need\r
+be afraid of, for I can never be ashamed of my own scruples; and if they\r
+are removed, it must be by changes that will only raise her character\r
+the more by the recollection of the faults she once had. You are the\r
+only being upon earth to whom I should say what I have said; but you\r
+have always known my opinion of her; you can bear me witness, Fanny,\r
+that I have never been blinded. How many a time have we talked over\r
+her little errors! You need not fear me; I have almost given up every\r
+serious idea of her; but I must be a blockhead indeed, if, whatever\r
+befell me, I could think of your kindness and sympathy without the\r
+sincerest gratitude."\r
+\r
+He had said enough to shake the experience of eighteen. He had said\r
+enough to give Fanny some happier feelings than she had lately known,\r
+and with a brighter look, she answered, "Yes, cousin, I am convinced\r
+that _you_ would be incapable of anything else, though perhaps some\r
+might not. I cannot be afraid of hearing anything you wish to say. Do\r
+not check yourself. Tell me whatever you like."\r
+\r
+They were now on the second floor, and the appearance of a housemaid\r
+prevented any farther conversation. For Fanny's present comfort it was\r
+concluded, perhaps, at the happiest moment: had he been able to talk\r
+another five minutes, there is no saying that he might not have talked\r
+away all Miss Crawford's faults and his own despondence. But as it was,\r
+they parted with looks on his side of grateful affection, and with\r
+some very precious sensations on hers. She had felt nothing like it for\r
+hours. Since the first joy from Mr. Crawford's note to William had worn\r
+away, she had been in a state absolutely the reverse; there had been\r
+no comfort around, no hope within her. Now everything was smiling.\r
+William's good fortune returned again upon her mind, and seemed of\r
+greater value than at first. The ball, too--such an evening of pleasure\r
+before her! It was now a real animation; and she began to dress for it\r
+with much of the happy flutter which belongs to a ball. All went well:\r
+she did not dislike her own looks; and when she came to the necklaces\r
+again, her good fortune seemed complete, for upon trial the one given\r
+her by Miss Crawford would by no means go through the ring of the cross.\r
+She had, to oblige Edmund, resolved to wear it; but it was too large for\r
+the purpose. His, therefore, must be worn; and having, with delightful\r
+feelings, joined the chain and the cross--those memorials of the two\r
+most beloved of her heart, those dearest tokens so formed for each other\r
+by everything real and imaginary--and put them round her neck, and seen\r
+and felt how full of William and Edmund they were, she was able, without\r
+an effort, to resolve on wearing Miss Crawford's necklace too. She\r
+acknowledged it to be right. Miss Crawford had a claim; and when it was\r
+no longer to encroach on, to interfere with the stronger claims, the\r
+truer kindness of another, she could do her justice even with pleasure\r
+to herself. The necklace really looked very well; and Fanny left her\r
+room at last, comfortably satisfied with herself and all about her.\r
+\r
+Her aunt Bertram had recollected her on this occasion with an unusual\r
+degree of wakefulness. It had really occurred to her, unprompted, that\r
+Fanny, preparing for a ball, might be glad of better help than the upper\r
+housemaid's, and when dressed herself, she actually sent her own maid to\r
+assist her; too late, of course, to be of any use. Mrs. Chapman had just\r
+reached the attic floor, when Miss Price came out of her room completely\r
+dressed, and only civilities were necessary; but Fanny felt her aunt's\r
+attention almost as much as Lady Bertram or Mrs. Chapman could do\r
+themselves.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXVIII\r
+\r
+Her uncle and both her aunts were in the drawing-room when Fanny went\r
+down. To the former she was an interesting object, and he saw with\r
+pleasure the general elegance of her appearance, and her being in\r
+remarkably good looks. The neatness and propriety of her dress was all\r
+that he would allow himself to commend in her presence, but upon her\r
+leaving the room again soon afterwards, he spoke of her beauty with very\r
+decided praise.\r
+\r
+"Yes," said Lady Bertram, "she looks very well. I sent Chapman to her."\r
+\r
+"Look well! Oh, yes!" cried Mrs. Norris, "she has good reason to look\r
+well with all her advantages: brought up in this family as she has been,\r
+with all the benefit of her cousins' manners before her. Only think, my\r
+dear Sir Thomas, what extraordinary advantages you and I have been the\r
+means of giving her. The very gown you have been taking notice of is\r
+your own generous present to her when dear Mrs. Rushworth married. What\r
+would she have been if we had not taken her by the hand?"\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas said no more; but when they sat down to table the eyes of\r
+the two young men assured him that the subject might be gently touched\r
+again, when the ladies withdrew, with more success. Fanny saw that she\r
+was approved; and the consciousness of looking well made her look still\r
+better. From a variety of causes she was happy, and she was soon made\r
+still happier; for in following her aunts out of the room, Edmund, who\r
+was holding open the door, said, as she passed him, "You must dance\r
+with me, Fanny; you must keep two dances for me; any two that you like,\r
+except the first." She had nothing more to wish for. She had hardly\r
+ever been in a state so nearly approaching high spirits in her life. Her\r
+cousins' former gaiety on the day of a ball was no longer surprising to\r
+her; she felt it to be indeed very charming, and was actually practising\r
+her steps about the drawing-room as long as she could be safe from the\r
+notice of her aunt Norris, who was entirely taken up at first in fresh\r
+arranging and injuring the noble fire which the butler had prepared.\r
+\r
+Half an hour followed that would have been at least languid under any\r
+other circumstances, but Fanny's happiness still prevailed. It was but\r
+to think of her conversation with Edmund, and what was the restlessness\r
+of Mrs. Norris? What were the yawns of Lady Bertram?\r
+\r
+The gentlemen joined them; and soon after began the sweet expectation of\r
+a carriage, when a general spirit of ease and enjoyment seemed diffused,\r
+and they all stood about and talked and laughed, and every moment had\r
+its pleasure and its hope. Fanny felt that there must be a struggle\r
+in Edmund's cheerfulness, but it was delightful to see the effort so\r
+successfully made.\r
+\r
+When the carriages were really heard, when the guests began really to\r
+assemble, her own gaiety of heart was much subdued: the sight of so\r
+many strangers threw her back into herself; and besides the gravity and\r
+formality of the first great circle, which the manners of neither Sir\r
+Thomas nor Lady Bertram were of a kind to do away, she found herself\r
+occasionally called on to endure something worse. She was introduced\r
+here and there by her uncle, and forced to be spoken to, and to curtsey,\r
+and speak again. This was a hard duty, and she was never summoned to\r
+it without looking at William, as he walked about at his ease in the\r
+background of the scene, and longing to be with him.\r
+\r
+The entrance of the Grants and Crawfords was a favourable epoch. The\r
+stiffness of the meeting soon gave way before their popular manners and\r
+more diffused intimacies: little groups were formed, and everybody grew\r
+comfortable. Fanny felt the advantage; and, drawing back from the toils\r
+of civility, would have been again most happy, could she have kept her\r
+eyes from wandering between Edmund and Mary Crawford. _She_ looked all\r
+loveliness--and what might not be the end of it? Her own musings\r
+were brought to an end on perceiving Mr. Crawford before her, and\r
+her thoughts were put into another channel by his engaging her almost\r
+instantly for the first two dances. Her happiness on this occasion was\r
+very much _a_ _la_ _mortal_, finely chequered. To be secure of a partner\r
+at first was a most essential good--for the moment of beginning was now\r
+growing seriously near; and she so little understood her own claims as\r
+to think that if Mr. Crawford had not asked her, she must have been the\r
+last to be sought after, and should have received a partner only through\r
+a series of inquiry, and bustle, and interference, which would have been\r
+terrible; but at the same time there was a pointedness in his manner of\r
+asking her which she did not like, and she saw his eye glancing for\r
+a moment at her necklace, with a smile--she thought there was a\r
+smile--which made her blush and feel wretched. And though there was no\r
+second glance to disturb her, though his object seemed then to be only\r
+quietly agreeable, she could not get the better of her embarrassment,\r
+heightened as it was by the idea of his perceiving it, and had no\r
+composure till he turned away to some one else. Then she could gradually\r
+rise up to the genuine satisfaction of having a partner, a voluntary\r
+partner, secured against the dancing began.\r
+\r
+When the company were moving into the ballroom, she found herself\r
+for the first time near Miss Crawford, whose eyes and smiles were\r
+immediately and more unequivocally directed as her brother's had been,\r
+and who was beginning to speak on the subject, when Fanny, anxious\r
+to get the story over, hastened to give the explanation of the second\r
+necklace: the real chain. Miss Crawford listened; and all her intended\r
+compliments and insinuations to Fanny were forgotten: she felt only one\r
+thing; and her eyes, bright as they had been before, shewing they could\r
+yet be brighter, she exclaimed with eager pleasure, "Did he? Did Edmund?\r
+That was like himself. No other man would have thought of it. I honour\r
+him beyond expression." And she looked around as if longing to tell him\r
+so. He was not near, he was attending a party of ladies out of the room;\r
+and Mrs. Grant coming up to the two girls, and taking an arm of each,\r
+they followed with the rest.\r
+\r
+Fanny's heart sunk, but there was no leisure for thinking long even of\r
+Miss Crawford's feelings. They were in the ballroom, the violins were\r
+playing, and her mind was in a flutter that forbade its fixing on\r
+anything serious. She must watch the general arrangements, and see how\r
+everything was done.\r
+\r
+In a few minutes Sir Thomas came to her, and asked if she were engaged;\r
+and the "Yes, sir; to Mr. Crawford," was exactly what he had intended\r
+to hear. Mr. Crawford was not far off; Sir Thomas brought him to her,\r
+saying something which discovered to Fanny, that _she_ was to lead the\r
+way and open the ball; an idea that had never occurred to her before.\r
+Whenever she had thought of the minutiae of the evening, it had been as\r
+a matter of course that Edmund would begin with Miss Crawford; and the\r
+impression was so strong, that though _her_ _uncle_ spoke the contrary,\r
+she could not help an exclamation of surprise, a hint of her unfitness,\r
+an entreaty even to be excused. To be urging her opinion against Sir\r
+Thomas's was a proof of the extremity of the case; but such was her\r
+horror at the first suggestion, that she could actually look him in\r
+the face and say that she hoped it might be settled otherwise; in vain,\r
+however: Sir Thomas smiled, tried to encourage her, and then looked too\r
+serious, and said too decidedly, "It must be so, my dear," for her to\r
+hazard another word; and she found herself the next moment conducted by\r
+Mr. Crawford to the top of the room, and standing there to be joined by\r
+the rest of the dancers, couple after couple, as they were formed.\r
+\r
+She could hardly believe it. To be placed above so many elegant young\r
+women! The distinction was too great. It was treating her like her\r
+cousins! And her thoughts flew to those absent cousins with most\r
+unfeigned and truly tender regret, that they were not at home to take\r
+their own place in the room, and have their share of a pleasure which\r
+would have been so very delightful to them. So often as she had heard\r
+them wish for a ball at home as the greatest of all felicities! And\r
+to have them away when it was given--and for _her_ to be opening the\r
+ball--and with Mr. Crawford too! She hoped they would not envy her that\r
+distinction _now_; but when she looked back to the state of things in\r
+the autumn, to what they had all been to each other when once dancing\r
+in that house before, the present arrangement was almost more than she\r
+could understand herself.\r
+\r
+The ball began. It was rather honour than happiness to Fanny, for the\r
+first dance at least: her partner was in excellent spirits, and tried to\r
+impart them to her; but she was a great deal too much frightened to have\r
+any enjoyment till she could suppose herself no longer looked at. Young,\r
+pretty, and gentle, however, she had no awkwardnesses that were not\r
+as good as graces, and there were few persons present that were not\r
+disposed to praise her. She was attractive, she was modest, she was Sir\r
+Thomas's niece, and she was soon said to be admired by Mr. Crawford. It\r
+was enough to give her general favour. Sir Thomas himself was watching\r
+her progress down the dance with much complacency; he was proud of his\r
+niece; and without attributing all her personal beauty, as Mrs. Norris\r
+seemed to do, to her transplantation to Mansfield, he was pleased with\r
+himself for having supplied everything else: education and manners she\r
+owed to him.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford saw much of Sir Thomas's thoughts as he stood, and having,\r
+in spite of all his wrongs towards her, a general prevailing desire of\r
+recommending herself to him, took an opportunity of stepping aside to\r
+say something agreeable of Fanny. Her praise was warm, and he\r
+received it as she could wish, joining in it as far as discretion, and\r
+politeness, and slowness of speech would allow, and certainly appearing\r
+to greater advantage on the subject than his lady did soon afterwards,\r
+when Mary, perceiving her on a sofa very near, turned round before she\r
+began to dance, to compliment her on Miss Price's looks.\r
+\r
+"Yes, she does look very well," was Lady Bertram's placid reply.\r
+"Chapman helped her to dress. I sent Chapman to her." Not but that\r
+she was really pleased to have Fanny admired; but she was so much more\r
+struck with her own kindness in sending Chapman to her, that she could\r
+not get it out of her head.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford knew Mrs. Norris too well to think of gratifying _her_\r
+by commendation of Fanny; to her, it was as the occasion offered--"Ah!\r
+ma'am, how much we want dear Mrs. Rushworth and Julia to-night!" and\r
+Mrs. Norris paid her with as many smiles and courteous words as she had\r
+time for, amid so much occupation as she found for herself in making\r
+up card-tables, giving hints to Sir Thomas, and trying to move all the\r
+chaperons to a better part of the room.\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford blundered most towards Fanny herself in her intentions\r
+to please. She meant to be giving her little heart a happy flutter,\r
+and filling her with sensations of delightful self-consequence; and,\r
+misinterpreting Fanny's blushes, still thought she must be doing so when\r
+she went to her after the two first dances, and said, with a significant\r
+look, "Perhaps _you_ can tell me why my brother goes to town to-morrow?\r
+He says he has business there, but will not tell me what. The first time\r
+he ever denied me his confidence! But this is what we all come to.\r
+All are supplanted sooner or later. Now, I must apply to you for\r
+information. Pray, what is Henry going for?"\r
+\r
+Fanny protested her ignorance as steadily as her embarrassment allowed.\r
+\r
+"Well, then," replied Miss Crawford, laughing, "I must suppose it to be\r
+purely for the pleasure of conveying your brother, and of talking of you\r
+by the way."\r
+\r
+Fanny was confused, but it was the confusion of discontent; while Miss\r
+Crawford wondered she did not smile, and thought her over-anxious,\r
+or thought her odd, or thought her anything rather than insensible of\r
+pleasure in Henry's attentions. Fanny had a good deal of enjoyment in\r
+the course of the evening; but Henry's attentions had very little to\r
+do with it. She would much rather _not_ have been asked by him again so\r
+very soon, and she wished she had not been obliged to suspect that his\r
+previous inquiries of Mrs. Norris, about the supper hour, were all for\r
+the sake of securing her at that part of the evening. But it was not to\r
+be avoided: he made her feel that she was the object of all; though she\r
+could not say that it was unpleasantly done, that there was indelicacy\r
+or ostentation in his manner; and sometimes, when he talked of William,\r
+he was really not unagreeable, and shewed even a warmth of heart\r
+which did him credit. But still his attentions made no part of her\r
+satisfaction. She was happy whenever she looked at William, and saw how\r
+perfectly he was enjoying himself, in every five minutes that she could\r
+walk about with him and hear his account of his partners; she was happy\r
+in knowing herself admired; and she was happy in having the two dances\r
+with Edmund still to look forward to, during the greatest part of the\r
+evening, her hand being so eagerly sought after that her indefinite\r
+engagement with _him_ was in continual perspective. She was happy even\r
+when they did take place; but not from any flow of spirits on his side,\r
+or any such expressions of tender gallantry as had blessed the morning.\r
+His mind was fagged, and her happiness sprung from being the friend with\r
+whom it could find repose. "I am worn out with civility," said he. "I\r
+have been talking incessantly all night, and with nothing to say. But\r
+with _you_, Fanny, there may be peace. You will not want to be talked\r
+to. Let us have the luxury of silence." Fanny would hardly even speak\r
+her agreement. A weariness, arising probably, in great measure, from the\r
+same feelings which he had acknowledged in the morning, was peculiarly\r
+to be respected, and they went down their two dances together with such\r
+sober tranquillity as might satisfy any looker-on that Sir Thomas had\r
+been bringing up no wife for his younger son.\r
+\r
+The evening had afforded Edmund little pleasure. Miss Crawford had\r
+been in gay spirits when they first danced together, but it was not her\r
+gaiety that could do him good: it rather sank than raised his comfort;\r
+and afterwards, for he found himself still impelled to seek her\r
+again, she had absolutely pained him by her manner of speaking of the\r
+profession to which he was now on the point of belonging. They had\r
+talked, and they had been silent; he had reasoned, she had ridiculed;\r
+and they had parted at last with mutual vexation. Fanny, not able to\r
+refrain entirely from observing them, had seen enough to be tolerably\r
+satisfied. It was barbarous to be happy when Edmund was suffering. Yet\r
+some happiness must and would arise from the very conviction that he did\r
+suffer.\r
+\r
+When her two dances with him were over, her inclination and strength for\r
+more were pretty well at an end; and Sir Thomas, having seen her walk\r
+rather than dance down the shortening set, breathless, and with her hand\r
+at her side, gave his orders for her sitting down entirely. From that\r
+time Mr. Crawford sat down likewise.\r
+\r
+"Poor Fanny!" cried William, coming for a moment to visit her, and\r
+working away his partner's fan as if for life, "how soon she is knocked\r
+up! Why, the sport is but just begun. I hope we shall keep it up these\r
+two hours. How can you be tired so soon?"\r
+\r
+"So soon! my good friend," said Sir Thomas, producing his watch with all\r
+necessary caution; "it is three o'clock, and your sister is not used to\r
+these sort of hours."\r
+\r
+"Well, then, Fanny, you shall not get up to-morrow before I go. Sleep as\r
+long as you can, and never mind me."\r
+\r
+"Oh! William."\r
+\r
+"What! Did she think of being up before you set off?"\r
+\r
+"Oh! yes, sir," cried Fanny, rising eagerly from her seat to be nearer\r
+her uncle; "I must get up and breakfast with him. It will be the last\r
+time, you know; the last morning."\r
+\r
+"You had better not. He is to have breakfasted and be gone by half-past\r
+nine. Mr. Crawford, I think you call for him at half-past nine?"\r
+\r
+Fanny was too urgent, however, and had too many tears in her eyes for\r
+denial; and it ended in a gracious "Well, well!" which was permission.\r
+\r
+"Yes, half-past nine," said Crawford to William as the latter was\r
+leaving them, "and I shall be punctual, for there will be no kind sister\r
+to get up for _me_." And in a lower tone to Fanny, "I shall have only\r
+a desolate house to hurry from. Your brother will find my ideas of time\r
+and his own very different to-morrow."\r
+\r
+After a short consideration, Sir Thomas asked Crawford to join the early\r
+breakfast party in that house instead of eating alone: he should himself\r
+be of it; and the readiness with which his invitation was accepted\r
+convinced him that the suspicions whence, he must confess to himself,\r
+this very ball had in great measure sprung, were well founded. Mr.\r
+Crawford was in love with Fanny. He had a pleasing anticipation of what\r
+would be. His niece, meanwhile, did not thank him for what he had just\r
+done. She had hoped to have William all to herself the last morning. It\r
+would have been an unspeakable indulgence. But though her wishes\r
+were overthrown, there was no spirit of murmuring within her. On the\r
+contrary, she was so totally unused to have her pleasure consulted, or\r
+to have anything take place at all in the way she could desire, that she\r
+was more disposed to wonder and rejoice in having carried her point so\r
+far, than to repine at the counteraction which followed.\r
+\r
+Shortly afterward, Sir Thomas was again interfering a little with her\r
+inclination, by advising her to go immediately to bed. "Advise" was his\r
+word, but it was the advice of absolute power, and she had only to\r
+rise, and, with Mr. Crawford's very cordial adieus, pass quietly away;\r
+stopping at the entrance-door, like the Lady of Branxholm Hall, "one\r
+moment and no more," to view the happy scene, and take a last look at\r
+the five or six determined couple who were still hard at work; and then,\r
+creeping slowly up the principal staircase, pursued by the ceaseless\r
+country-dance, feverish with hopes and fears, soup and negus,\r
+sore-footed and fatigued, restless and agitated, yet feeling, in spite\r
+of everything, that a ball was indeed delightful.\r
+\r
+In thus sending her away, Sir Thomas perhaps might not be thinking\r
+merely of her health. It might occur to him that Mr. Crawford had been\r
+sitting by her long enough, or he might mean to recommend her as a wife\r
+by shewing her persuadableness.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXIX\r
+\r
+The ball was over, and the breakfast was soon over too; the last kiss\r
+was given, and William was gone. Mr. Crawford had, as he foretold, been\r
+very punctual, and short and pleasant had been the meal.\r
+\r
+After seeing William to the last moment, Fanny walked back to the\r
+breakfast-room with a very saddened heart to grieve over the melancholy\r
+change; and there her uncle kindly left her to cry in peace, conceiving,\r
+perhaps, that the deserted chair of each young man might exercise her\r
+tender enthusiasm, and that the remaining cold pork bones and mustard in\r
+William's plate might but divide her feelings with the broken egg-shells\r
+in Mr. Crawford's. She sat and cried _con_ _amore_ as her uncle\r
+intended, but it was _con_ _amore_ fraternal and no other. William was\r
+gone, and she now felt as if she had wasted half his visit in idle cares\r
+and selfish solicitudes unconnected with him.\r
+\r
+Fanny's disposition was such that she could never even think of her\r
+aunt Norris in the meagreness and cheerlessness of her own small house,\r
+without reproaching herself for some little want of attention to her\r
+when they had been last together; much less could her feelings acquit\r
+her of having done and said and thought everything by William that was\r
+due to him for a whole fortnight.\r
+\r
+It was a heavy, melancholy day. Soon after the second breakfast, Edmund\r
+bade them good-bye for a week, and mounted his horse for Peterborough,\r
+and then all were gone. Nothing remained of last night but remembrances,\r
+which she had nobody to share in. She talked to her aunt Bertram--she\r
+must talk to somebody of the ball; but her aunt had seen so little of\r
+what had passed, and had so little curiosity, that it was heavy work.\r
+Lady Bertram was not certain of anybody's dress or anybody's place at\r
+supper but her own. "She could not recollect what it was that she had\r
+heard about one of the Miss Maddoxes, or what it was that Lady Prescott\r
+had noticed in Fanny: she was not sure whether Colonel Harrison had been\r
+talking of Mr. Crawford or of William when he said he was the finest\r
+young man in the room--somebody had whispered something to her; she had\r
+forgot to ask Sir Thomas what it could be." And these were her longest\r
+speeches and clearest communications: the rest was only a languid "Yes,\r
+yes; very well; did you? did he? I did not see _that_; I should not know\r
+one from the other." This was very bad. It was only better than Mrs.\r
+Norris's sharp answers would have been; but she being gone home with\r
+all the supernumerary jellies to nurse a sick maid, there was peace\r
+and good-humour in their little party, though it could not boast much\r
+beside.\r
+\r
+The evening was heavy like the day. "I cannot think what is the matter\r
+with me," said Lady Bertram, when the tea-things were removed. "I feel\r
+quite stupid. It must be sitting up so late last night. Fanny, you must\r
+do something to keep me awake. I cannot work. Fetch the cards; I feel so\r
+very stupid."\r
+\r
+The cards were brought, and Fanny played at cribbage with her aunt till\r
+bedtime; and as Sir Thomas was reading to himself, no sounds were\r
+heard in the room for the next two hours beyond the reckonings of the\r
+game--"And _that_ makes thirty-one; four in hand and eight in crib. You\r
+are to deal, ma'am; shall I deal for you?" Fanny thought and thought\r
+again of the difference which twenty-four hours had made in that room,\r
+and all that part of the house. Last night it had been hope and smiles,\r
+bustle and motion, noise and brilliancy, in the drawing-room, and out\r
+of the drawing-room, and everywhere. Now it was languor, and all but\r
+solitude.\r
+\r
+A good night's rest improved her spirits. She could think of William the\r
+next day more cheerfully; and as the morning afforded her an opportunity\r
+of talking over Thursday night with Mrs. Grant and Miss Crawford, in a\r
+very handsome style, with all the heightenings of imagination, and\r
+all the laughs of playfulness which are so essential to the shade of a\r
+departed ball, she could afterwards bring her mind without much effort\r
+into its everyday state, and easily conform to the tranquillity of the\r
+present quiet week.\r
+\r
+They were indeed a smaller party than she had ever known there for\r
+a whole day together, and _he_ was gone on whom the comfort and\r
+cheerfulness of every family meeting and every meal chiefly depended.\r
+But this must be learned to be endured. He would soon be always gone;\r
+and she was thankful that she could now sit in the same room with her\r
+uncle, hear his voice, receive his questions, and even answer them,\r
+without such wretched feelings as she had formerly known.\r
+\r
+"We miss our two young men," was Sir Thomas's observation on both the\r
+first and second day, as they formed their very reduced circle after\r
+dinner; and in consideration of Fanny's swimming eyes, nothing more was\r
+said on the first day than to drink their good health; but on the\r
+second it led to something farther. William was kindly commended and\r
+his promotion hoped for. "And there is no reason to suppose," added Sir\r
+Thomas, "but that his visits to us may now be tolerably frequent. As to\r
+Edmund, we must learn to do without him. This will be the last winter of\r
+his belonging to us, as he has done."\r
+\r
+"Yes," said Lady Bertram, "but I wish he was not going away. They are\r
+all going away, I think. I wish they would stay at home."\r
+\r
+This wish was levelled principally at Julia, who had just applied for\r
+permission to go to town with Maria; and as Sir Thomas thought it best\r
+for each daughter that the permission should be granted, Lady Bertram,\r
+though in her own good-nature she would not have prevented it, was\r
+lamenting the change it made in the prospect of Julia's return, which\r
+would otherwise have taken place about this time. A great deal of good\r
+sense followed on Sir Thomas's side, tending to reconcile his wife to\r
+the arrangement. Everything that a considerate parent _ought_ to feel\r
+was advanced for her use; and everything that an affectionate mother\r
+_must_ feel in promoting her children's enjoyment was attributed to her\r
+nature. Lady Bertram agreed to it all with a calm "Yes"; and at the end\r
+of a quarter of an hour's silent consideration spontaneously observed,\r
+"Sir Thomas, I have been thinking--and I am very glad we took Fanny as\r
+we did, for now the others are away we feel the good of it."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas immediately improved this compliment by adding, "Very true.\r
+We shew Fanny what a good girl we think her by praising her to her face,\r
+she is now a very valuable companion. If we have been kind to _her_, she\r
+is now quite as necessary to _us_."\r
+\r
+"Yes," said Lady Bertram presently; "and it is a comfort to think that\r
+we shall always have _her_."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas paused, half smiled, glanced at his niece, and then gravely\r
+replied, "She will never leave us, I hope, till invited to some other\r
+home that may reasonably promise her greater happiness than she knows\r
+here."\r
+\r
+"And _that_ is not very likely to be, Sir Thomas. Who should invite her?\r
+Maria might be very glad to see her at Sotherton now and then, but she\r
+would not think of asking her to live there; and I am sure she is better\r
+off here; and besides, I cannot do without her."\r
+\r
+The week which passed so quietly and peaceably at the great house in\r
+Mansfield had a very different character at the Parsonage. To the young\r
+lady, at least, in each family, it brought very different feelings. What\r
+was tranquillity and comfort to Fanny was tediousness and vexation to\r
+Mary. Something arose from difference of disposition and habit: one so\r
+easily satisfied, the other so unused to endure; but still more might be\r
+imputed to difference of circumstances. In some points of interest they\r
+were exactly opposed to each other. To Fanny's mind, Edmund's absence\r
+was really, in its cause and its tendency, a relief. To Mary it was\r
+every way painful. She felt the want of his society every day, almost\r
+every hour, and was too much in want of it to derive anything but\r
+irritation from considering the object for which he went. He could not\r
+have devised anything more likely to raise his consequence than this\r
+week's absence, occurring as it did at the very time of her brother's\r
+going away, of William Price's going too, and completing the sort of\r
+general break-up of a party which had been so animated. She felt it\r
+keenly. They were now a miserable trio, confined within doors by a\r
+series of rain and snow, with nothing to do and no variety to hope for.\r
+Angry as she was with Edmund for adhering to his own notions, and acting\r
+on them in defiance of her (and she had been so angry that they had\r
+hardly parted friends at the ball), she could not help thinking of\r
+him continually when absent, dwelling on his merit and affection, and\r
+longing again for the almost daily meetings they lately had. His absence\r
+was unnecessarily long. He should not have planned such an absence--he\r
+should not have left home for a week, when her own departure from\r
+Mansfield was so near. Then she began to blame herself. She wished she\r
+had not spoken so warmly in their last conversation. She was afraid she\r
+had used some strong, some contemptuous expressions in speaking of the\r
+clergy, and that should not have been. It was ill-bred; it was wrong.\r
+She wished such words unsaid with all her heart.\r
+\r
+Her vexation did not end with the week. All this was bad, but she had\r
+still more to feel when Friday came round again and brought no Edmund;\r
+when Saturday came and still no Edmund; and when, through the slight\r
+communication with the other family which Sunday produced, she learned\r
+that he had actually written home to defer his return, having promised\r
+to remain some days longer with his friend.\r
+\r
+If she had felt impatience and regret before--if she had been sorry for\r
+what she said, and feared its too strong effect on him--she now felt\r
+and feared it all tenfold more. She had, moreover, to contend with one\r
+disagreeable emotion entirely new to her--jealousy. His friend Mr.\r
+Owen had sisters; he might find them attractive. But, at any rate, his\r
+staying away at a time when, according to all preceding plans, she was\r
+to remove to London, meant something that she could not bear. Had Henry\r
+returned, as he talked of doing, at the end of three or four days, she\r
+should now have been leaving Mansfield. It became absolutely necessary\r
+for her to get to Fanny and try to learn something more. She could not\r
+live any longer in such solitary wretchedness; and she made her way\r
+to the Park, through difficulties of walking which she had deemed\r
+unconquerable a week before, for the chance of hearing a little in\r
+addition, for the sake of at least hearing his name.\r
+\r
+The first half-hour was lost, for Fanny and Lady Bertram were together,\r
+and unless she had Fanny to herself she could hope for nothing. But\r
+at last Lady Bertram left the room, and then almost immediately Miss\r
+Crawford thus began, with a voice as well regulated as she could--"And\r
+how do _you_ like your cousin Edmund's staying away so long? Being the\r
+only young person at home, I consider _you_ as the greatest sufferer.\r
+You must miss him. Does his staying longer surprise you?"\r
+\r
+"I do not know," said Fanny hesitatingly. "Yes; I had not particularly\r
+expected it."\r
+\r
+"Perhaps he will always stay longer than he talks of. It is the general\r
+way all young men do."\r
+\r
+"He did not, the only time he went to see Mr. Owen before."\r
+\r
+"He finds the house more agreeable _now_. He is a very--a very pleasing\r
+young man himself, and I cannot help being rather concerned at not\r
+seeing him again before I go to London, as will now undoubtedly be the\r
+case. I am looking for Henry every day, and as soon as he comes there\r
+will be nothing to detain me at Mansfield. I should like to have seen\r
+him once more, I confess. But you must give my compliments to him. Yes;\r
+I think it must be compliments. Is not there a something wanted,\r
+Miss Price, in our language--a something between compliments and--and\r
+love--to suit the sort of friendly acquaintance we have had together? So\r
+many months' acquaintance! But compliments may be sufficient here.\r
+Was his letter a long one? Does he give you much account of what he is\r
+doing? Is it Christmas gaieties that he is staying for?"\r
+\r
+"I only heard a part of the letter; it was to my uncle; but I believe\r
+it was very short; indeed I am sure it was but a few lines. All that I\r
+heard was that his friend had pressed him to stay longer, and that he\r
+had agreed to do so. A _few_ days longer, or _some_ days longer; I am\r
+not quite sure which."\r
+\r
+"Oh! if he wrote to his father; but I thought it might have been to Lady\r
+Bertram or you. But if he wrote to his father, no wonder he was concise.\r
+Who could write chat to Sir Thomas? If he had written to you, there\r
+would have been more particulars. You would have heard of balls\r
+and parties. He would have sent you a description of everything and\r
+everybody. How many Miss Owens are there?"\r
+\r
+"Three grown up."\r
+\r
+"Are they musical?"\r
+\r
+"I do not at all know. I never heard."\r
+\r
+"That is the first question, you know," said Miss Crawford, trying to\r
+appear gay and unconcerned, "which every woman who plays herself is sure\r
+to ask about another. But it is very foolish to ask questions about\r
+any young ladies--about any three sisters just grown up; for one knows,\r
+without being told, exactly what they are: all very accomplished and\r
+pleasing, and one very pretty. There is a beauty in every family; it is\r
+a regular thing. Two play on the pianoforte, and one on the harp; and\r
+all sing, or would sing if they were taught, or sing all the better for\r
+not being taught; or something like it."\r
+\r
+"I know nothing of the Miss Owens," said Fanny calmly.\r
+\r
+"You know nothing and you care less, as people say. Never did tone\r
+express indifference plainer. Indeed, how can one care for those one has\r
+never seen? Well, when your cousin comes back, he will find Mansfield\r
+very quiet; all the noisy ones gone, your brother and mine and myself. I\r
+do not like the idea of leaving Mrs. Grant now the time draws near. She\r
+does not like my going."\r
+\r
+Fanny felt obliged to speak. "You cannot doubt your being missed by\r
+many," said she. "You will be very much missed."\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford turned her eye on her, as if wanting to hear or see more,\r
+and then laughingly said, "Oh yes! missed as every noisy evil is missed\r
+when it is taken away; that is, there is a great difference felt. But I\r
+am not fishing; don't compliment me. If I _am_ missed, it will appear.\r
+I may be discovered by those who want to see me. I shall not be in any\r
+doubtful, or distant, or unapproachable region."\r
+\r
+Now Fanny could not bring herself to speak, and Miss Crawford was\r
+disappointed; for she had hoped to hear some pleasant assurance of her\r
+power from one who she thought must know, and her spirits were clouded\r
+again.\r
+\r
+"The Miss Owens," said she, soon afterwards; "suppose you were to have\r
+one of the Miss Owens settled at Thornton Lacey; how should you like it?\r
+Stranger things have happened. I dare say they are trying for it. And\r
+they are quite in the right, for it would be a very pretty establishment\r
+for them. I do not at all wonder or blame them. It is everybody's duty\r
+to do as well for themselves as they can. Sir Thomas Bertram's son is\r
+somebody; and now he is in their own line. Their father is a clergyman,\r
+and their brother is a clergyman, and they are all clergymen together.\r
+He is their lawful property; he fairly belongs to them. You don't speak,\r
+Fanny; Miss Price, you don't speak. But honestly now, do not you rather\r
+expect it than otherwise?"\r
+\r
+"No," said Fanny stoutly, "I do not expect it at all."\r
+\r
+"Not at all!" cried Miss Crawford with alacrity. "I wonder at that. But\r
+I dare say you know exactly--I always imagine you are--perhaps you do\r
+not think him likely to marry at all--or not at present."\r
+\r
+"No, I do not," said Fanny softly, hoping she did not err either in the\r
+belief or the acknowledgment of it.\r
+\r
+Her companion looked at her keenly; and gathering greater spirit from\r
+the blush soon produced from such a look, only said, "He is best off as\r
+he is," and turned the subject.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXX\r
+\r
+Miss Crawford's uneasiness was much lightened by this conversation, and\r
+she walked home again in spirits which might have defied almost another\r
+week of the same small party in the same bad weather, had they been put\r
+to the proof; but as that very evening brought her brother down from\r
+London again in quite, or more than quite, his usual cheerfulness, she\r
+had nothing farther to try her own. His still refusing to tell her what\r
+he had gone for was but the promotion of gaiety; a day before it might\r
+have irritated, but now it was a pleasant joke--suspected only of\r
+concealing something planned as a pleasant surprise to herself. And the\r
+next day _did_ bring a surprise to her. Henry had said he should just\r
+go and ask the Bertrams how they did, and be back in ten minutes, but\r
+he was gone above an hour; and when his sister, who had been waiting for\r
+him to walk with her in the garden, met him at last most impatiently in\r
+the sweep, and cried out, "My dear Henry, where can you have been\r
+all this time?" he had only to say that he had been sitting with Lady\r
+Bertram and Fanny.\r
+\r
+"Sitting with them an hour and a half!" exclaimed Mary.\r
+\r
+But this was only the beginning of her surprise.\r
+\r
+"Yes, Mary," said he, drawing her arm within his, and walking along\r
+the sweep as if not knowing where he was: "I could not get away sooner;\r
+Fanny looked so lovely! I am quite determined, Mary. My mind is entirely\r
+made up. Will it astonish you? No: you must be aware that I am quite\r
+determined to marry Fanny Price."\r
+\r
+The surprise was now complete; for, in spite of whatever his\r
+consciousness might suggest, a suspicion of his having any such views\r
+had never entered his sister's imagination; and she looked so truly the\r
+astonishment she felt, that he was obliged to repeat what he had said,\r
+and more fully and more solemnly. The conviction of his determination\r
+once admitted, it was not unwelcome. There was even pleasure with the\r
+surprise. Mary was in a state of mind to rejoice in a connexion with the\r
+Bertram family, and to be not displeased with her brother's marrying a\r
+little beneath him.\r
+\r
+"Yes, Mary," was Henry's concluding assurance. "I am fairly caught.\r
+You know with what idle designs I began; but this is the end of them.\r
+I have, I flatter myself, made no inconsiderable progress in her\r
+affections; but my own are entirely fixed."\r
+\r
+"Lucky, lucky girl!" cried Mary, as soon as she could speak; "what a\r
+match for her! My dearest Henry, this must be my _first_ feeling; but\r
+my _second_, which you shall have as sincerely, is, that I approve your\r
+choice from my soul, and foresee your happiness as heartily as I wish\r
+and desire it. You will have a sweet little wife; all gratitude and\r
+devotion. Exactly what you deserve. What an amazing match for her! Mrs.\r
+Norris often talks of her luck; what will she say now? The delight\r
+of all the family, indeed! And she has some _true_ friends in it! How\r
+_they_ will rejoice! But tell me all about it! Talk to me for ever. When\r
+did you begin to think seriously about her?"\r
+\r
+Nothing could be more impossible than to answer such a question, though\r
+nothing could be more agreeable than to have it asked. "How the pleasing\r
+plague had stolen on him" he could not say; and before he had expressed\r
+the same sentiment with a little variation of words three times over,\r
+his sister eagerly interrupted him with, "Ah, my dear Henry, and this\r
+is what took you to London! This was your business! You chose to consult\r
+the Admiral before you made up your mind."\r
+\r
+But this he stoutly denied. He knew his uncle too well to consult him on\r
+any matrimonial scheme. The Admiral hated marriage, and thought it never\r
+pardonable in a young man of independent fortune.\r
+\r
+"When Fanny is known to him," continued Henry, "he will doat on her.\r
+She is exactly the woman to do away every prejudice of such a man as\r
+the Admiral, for she he would describe, if indeed he has now delicacy\r
+of language enough to embody his own ideas. But till it is absolutely\r
+settled--settled beyond all interference, he shall know nothing of the\r
+matter. No, Mary, you are quite mistaken. You have not discovered my\r
+business yet."\r
+\r
+"Well, well, I am satisfied. I know now to whom it must relate, and am\r
+in no hurry for the rest. Fanny Price! wonderful, quite wonderful! That\r
+Mansfield should have done so much for--that _you_ should have found\r
+your fate in Mansfield! But you are quite right; you could not have\r
+chosen better. There is not a better girl in the world, and you do not\r
+want for fortune; and as to her connexions, they are more than good. The\r
+Bertrams are undoubtedly some of the first people in this country. She\r
+is niece to Sir Thomas Bertram; that will be enough for the world. But\r
+go on, go on. Tell me more. What are your plans? Does she know her own\r
+happiness?"\r
+\r
+"No."\r
+\r
+"What are you waiting for?"\r
+\r
+"For--for very little more than opportunity. Mary, she is not like her\r
+cousins; but I think I shall not ask in vain."\r
+\r
+"Oh no! you cannot. Were you even less pleasing--supposing her not to\r
+love you already (of which, however, I can have little doubt)--you would\r
+be safe. The gentleness and gratitude of her disposition would secure\r
+her all your own immediately. From my soul I do not think she would\r
+marry you _without_ love; that is, if there is a girl in the world\r
+capable of being uninfluenced by ambition, I can suppose it her; but ask\r
+her to love you, and she will never have the heart to refuse."\r
+\r
+As soon as her eagerness could rest in silence, he was as happy to tell\r
+as she could be to listen; and a conversation followed almost as deeply\r
+interesting to her as to himself, though he had in fact nothing to\r
+relate but his own sensations, nothing to dwell on but Fanny's charms.\r
+Fanny's beauty of face and figure, Fanny's graces of manner and goodness\r
+of heart, were the exhaustless theme. The gentleness, modesty, and\r
+sweetness of her character were warmly expatiated on; that sweetness\r
+which makes so essential a part of every woman's worth in the judgment\r
+of man, that though he sometimes loves where it is not, he can never\r
+believe it absent. Her temper he had good reason to depend on and\r
+to praise. He had often seen it tried. Was there one of the family,\r
+excepting Edmund, who had not in some way or other continually exercised\r
+her patience and forbearance? Her affections were evidently strong. To\r
+see her with her brother! What could more delightfully prove that the\r
+warmth of her heart was equal to its gentleness? What could be more\r
+encouraging to a man who had her love in view? Then, her understanding\r
+was beyond every suspicion, quick and clear; and her manners were the\r
+mirror of her own modest and elegant mind. Nor was this all. Henry\r
+Crawford had too much sense not to feel the worth of good principles\r
+in a wife, though he was too little accustomed to serious reflection to\r
+know them by their proper name; but when he talked of her having such a\r
+steadiness and regularity of conduct, such a high notion of honour, and\r
+such an observance of decorum as might warrant any man in the fullest\r
+dependence on her faith and integrity, he expressed what was inspired by\r
+the knowledge of her being well principled and religious.\r
+\r
+"I could so wholly and absolutely confide in her," said he; "and _that_\r
+is what I want."\r
+\r
+Well might his sister, believing as she really did that his opinion of\r
+Fanny Price was scarcely beyond her merits, rejoice in her prospects.\r
+\r
+"The more I think of it," she cried, "the more am I convinced that you\r
+are doing quite right; and though I should never have selected Fanny\r
+Price as the girl most likely to attach you, I am now persuaded she is\r
+the very one to make you happy. Your wicked project upon her peace turns\r
+out a clever thought indeed. You will both find your good in it."\r
+\r
+"It was bad, very bad in me against such a creature; but I did not know\r
+her then; and she shall have no reason to lament the hour that first put\r
+it into my head. I will make her very happy, Mary; happier than she has\r
+ever yet been herself, or ever seen anybody else. I will not take her\r
+from Northamptonshire. I shall let Everingham, and rent a place in this\r
+neighbourhood; perhaps Stanwix Lodge. I shall let a seven years' lease\r
+of Everingham. I am sure of an excellent tenant at half a word. I could\r
+name three people now, who would give me my own terms and thank me."\r
+\r
+"Ha!" cried Mary; "settle in Northamptonshire! That is pleasant! Then we\r
+shall be all together."\r
+\r
+When she had spoken it, she recollected herself, and wished it unsaid;\r
+but there was no need of confusion; for her brother saw her only as the\r
+supposed inmate of Mansfield parsonage, and replied but to invite her in\r
+the kindest manner to his own house, and to claim the best right in her.\r
+\r
+"You must give us more than half your time," said he. "I cannot admit\r
+Mrs. Grant to have an equal claim with Fanny and myself, for we shall\r
+both have a right in you. Fanny will be so truly your sister!"\r
+\r
+Mary had only to be grateful and give general assurances; but she was\r
+now very fully purposed to be the guest of neither brother nor sister\r
+many months longer.\r
+\r
+"You will divide your year between London and Northamptonshire?"\r
+\r
+"Yes."\r
+\r
+"That's right; and in London, of course, a house of your own: no longer\r
+with the Admiral. My dearest Henry, the advantage to you of getting away\r
+from the Admiral before your manners are hurt by the contagion of his,\r
+before you have contracted any of his foolish opinions, or learned to\r
+sit over your dinner as if it were the best blessing of life! _You_ are\r
+not sensible of the gain, for your regard for him has blinded you; but,\r
+in my estimation, your marrying early may be the saving of you. To have\r
+seen you grow like the Admiral in word or deed, look or gesture, would\r
+have broken my heart."\r
+\r
+"Well, well, we do not think quite alike here. The Admiral has his\r
+faults, but he is a very good man, and has been more than a father to\r
+me. Few fathers would have let me have my own way half so much. You must\r
+not prejudice Fanny against him. I must have them love one another."\r
+\r
+Mary refrained from saying what she felt, that there could not be two\r
+persons in existence whose characters and manners were less accordant:\r
+time would discover it to him; but she could not help _this_ reflection\r
+on the Admiral. "Henry, I think so highly of Fanny Price, that if I\r
+could suppose the next Mrs. Crawford would have half the reason which\r
+my poor ill-used aunt had to abhor the very name, I would prevent the\r
+marriage, if possible; but I know you: I know that a wife you _loved_\r
+would be the happiest of women, and that even when you ceased to\r
+love, she would yet find in you the liberality and good-breeding of a\r
+gentleman."\r
+\r
+The impossibility of not doing everything in the world to make Fanny\r
+Price happy, or of ceasing to love Fanny Price, was of course the\r
+groundwork of his eloquent answer.\r
+\r
+"Had you seen her this morning, Mary," he continued, "attending with\r
+such ineffable sweetness and patience to all the demands of her aunt's\r
+stupidity, working with her, and for her, her colour beautifully\r
+heightened as she leant over the work, then returning to her seat to\r
+finish a note which she was previously engaged in writing for that\r
+stupid woman's service, and all this with such unpretending gentleness,\r
+so much as if it were a matter of course that she was not to have a\r
+moment at her own command, her hair arranged as neatly as it always is,\r
+and one little curl falling forward as she wrote, which she now and then\r
+shook back, and in the midst of all this, still speaking at intervals to\r
+_me_, or listening, and as if she liked to listen, to what I said. Had\r
+you seen her so, Mary, you would not have implied the possibility of her\r
+power over my heart ever ceasing."\r
+\r
+"My dearest Henry," cried Mary, stopping short, and smiling in his face,\r
+"how glad I am to see you so much in love! It quite delights me. But\r
+what will Mrs. Rushworth and Julia say?"\r
+\r
+"I care neither what they say nor what they feel. They will now see what\r
+sort of woman it is that can attach me, that can attach a man of sense.\r
+I wish the discovery may do them any good. And they will now see their\r
+cousin treated as she ought to be, and I wish they may be heartily\r
+ashamed of their own abominable neglect and unkindness. They will be\r
+angry," he added, after a moment's silence, and in a cooler tone; "Mrs.\r
+Rushworth will be very angry. It will be a bitter pill to her; that is,\r
+like other bitter pills, it will have two moments' ill flavour, and then\r
+be swallowed and forgotten; for I am not such a coxcomb as to suppose\r
+her feelings more lasting than other women's, though _I_ was the object\r
+of them. Yes, Mary, my Fanny will feel a difference indeed: a daily,\r
+hourly difference, in the behaviour of every being who approaches her;\r
+and it will be the completion of my happiness to know that I am the doer\r
+of it, that I am the person to give the consequence so justly her due.\r
+Now she is dependent, helpless, friendless, neglected, forgotten."\r
+\r
+"Nay, Henry, not by all; not forgotten by all; not friendless or\r
+forgotten. Her cousin Edmund never forgets her."\r
+\r
+"Edmund! True, I believe he is, generally speaking, kind to her, and\r
+so is Sir Thomas in his way; but it is the way of a rich, superior,\r
+long-worded, arbitrary uncle. What can Sir Thomas and Edmund together\r
+do, what do they _do_ for her happiness, comfort, honour, and dignity in\r
+the world, to what I _shall_ do?"\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXI\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford was at Mansfield Park again the next morning, and at an\r
+earlier hour than common visiting warrants. The two ladies were together\r
+in the breakfast-room, and, fortunately for him, Lady Bertram was on the\r
+very point of quitting it as he entered. She was almost at the door, and\r
+not chusing by any means to take so much trouble in vain, she still went\r
+on, after a civil reception, a short sentence about being waited for,\r
+and a "Let Sir Thomas know" to the servant.\r
+\r
+Henry, overjoyed to have her go, bowed and watched her off, and without\r
+losing another moment, turned instantly to Fanny, and, taking out some\r
+letters, said, with a most animated look, "I must acknowledge myself\r
+infinitely obliged to any creature who gives me such an opportunity\r
+of seeing you alone: I have been wishing it more than you can have any\r
+idea. Knowing as I do what your feelings as a sister are, I could hardly\r
+have borne that any one in the house should share with you in the\r
+first knowledge of the news I now bring. He is made. Your brother is a\r
+lieutenant. I have the infinite satisfaction of congratulating you on\r
+your brother's promotion. Here are the letters which announce it, this\r
+moment come to hand. You will, perhaps, like to see them."\r
+\r
+Fanny could not speak, but he did not want her to speak. To see the\r
+expression of her eyes, the change of her complexion, the progress of\r
+her feelings, their doubt, confusion, and felicity, was enough. She took\r
+the letters as he gave them. The first was from the Admiral to inform\r
+his nephew, in a few words, of his having succeeded in the object he had\r
+undertaken, the promotion of young Price, and enclosing two more, one\r
+from the Secretary of the First Lord to a friend, whom the Admiral had\r
+set to work in the business, the other from that friend to himself,\r
+by which it appeared that his lordship had the very great happiness of\r
+attending to the recommendation of Sir Charles; that Sir Charles was\r
+much delighted in having such an opportunity of proving his regard\r
+for Admiral Crawford, and that the circumstance of Mr. William Price's\r
+commission as Second Lieutenant of H.M. Sloop Thrush being made out was\r
+spreading general joy through a wide circle of great people.\r
+\r
+While her hand was trembling under these letters, her eye running from\r
+one to the other, and her heart swelling with emotion, Crawford thus\r
+continued, with unfeigned eagerness, to express his interest in the\r
+event--\r
+\r
+"I will not talk of my own happiness," said he, "great as it is, for I\r
+think only of yours. Compared with you, who has a right to be happy? I\r
+have almost grudged myself my own prior knowledge of what you ought to\r
+have known before all the world. I have not lost a moment, however.\r
+The post was late this morning, but there has not been since a moment's\r
+delay. How impatient, how anxious, how wild I have been on the subject,\r
+I will not attempt to describe; how severely mortified, how cruelly\r
+disappointed, in not having it finished while I was in London! I was\r
+kept there from day to day in the hope of it, for nothing less dear\r
+to me than such an object would have detained me half the time from\r
+Mansfield. But though my uncle entered into my wishes with all the\r
+warmth I could desire, and exerted himself immediately, there were\r
+difficulties from the absence of one friend, and the engagements of\r
+another, which at last I could no longer bear to stay the end of, and\r
+knowing in what good hands I left the cause, I came away on Monday,\r
+trusting that many posts would not pass before I should be followed by\r
+such very letters as these. My uncle, who is the very best man in\r
+the world, has exerted himself, as I knew he would, after seeing your\r
+brother. He was delighted with him. I would not allow myself yesterday\r
+to say how delighted, or to repeat half that the Admiral said in his\r
+praise. I deferred it all till his praise should be proved the praise of\r
+a friend, as this day _does_ prove it. _Now_ I may say that even I could\r
+not require William Price to excite a greater interest, or be followed\r
+by warmer wishes and higher commendation, than were most voluntarily\r
+bestowed by my uncle after the evening they had passed together."\r
+\r
+"Has this been all _your_ doing, then?" cried Fanny. "Good heaven! how\r
+very, very kind! Have you really--was it by _your_ desire? I beg your\r
+pardon, but I am bewildered. Did Admiral Crawford apply? How was it? I\r
+am stupefied."\r
+\r
+Henry was most happy to make it more intelligible, by beginning at an\r
+earlier stage, and explaining very particularly what he had done. His\r
+last journey to London had been undertaken with no other view than that\r
+of introducing her brother in Hill Street, and prevailing on the Admiral\r
+to exert whatever interest he might have for getting him on. This had\r
+been his business. He had communicated it to no creature: he had not\r
+breathed a syllable of it even to Mary; while uncertain of the issue,\r
+he could not have borne any participation of his feelings, but this had\r
+been his business; and he spoke with such a glow of what his solicitude\r
+had been, and used such strong expressions, was so abounding in the\r
+_deepest_ _interest_, in _twofold_ _motives_, in _views_ _and_ _wishes_\r
+_more_ _than_ _could_ _be_ _told_, that Fanny could not have remained\r
+insensible of his drift, had she been able to attend; but her heart was\r
+so full and her senses still so astonished, that she could listen but\r
+imperfectly even to what he told her of William, and saying only when\r
+he paused, "How kind! how very kind! Oh, Mr. Crawford, we are infinitely\r
+obliged to you! Dearest, dearest William!" She jumped up and moved in\r
+haste towards the door, crying out, "I will go to my uncle. My uncle\r
+ought to know it as soon as possible." But this could not be suffered.\r
+The opportunity was too fair, and his feelings too impatient. He was\r
+after her immediately. "She must not go, she must allow him five minutes\r
+longer," and he took her hand and led her back to her seat, and was in\r
+the middle of his farther explanation, before she had suspected for what\r
+she was detained. When she did understand it, however, and found herself\r
+expected to believe that she had created sensations which his heart had\r
+never known before, and that everything he had done for William was to\r
+be placed to the account of his excessive and unequalled attachment\r
+to her, she was exceedingly distressed, and for some moments unable\r
+to speak. She considered it all as nonsense, as mere trifling and\r
+gallantry, which meant only to deceive for the hour; she could not but\r
+feel that it was treating her improperly and unworthily, and in such a\r
+way as she had not deserved; but it was like himself, and entirely of a\r
+piece with what she had seen before; and she would not allow herself to\r
+shew half the displeasure she felt, because he had been conferring an\r
+obligation, which no want of delicacy on his part could make a trifle\r
+to her. While her heart was still bounding with joy and gratitude on\r
+William's behalf, she could not be severely resentful of anything that\r
+injured only herself; and after having twice drawn back her hand, and\r
+twice attempted in vain to turn away from him, she got up, and said\r
+only, with much agitation, "Don't, Mr. Crawford, pray don't! I beg you\r
+would not. This is a sort of talking which is very unpleasant to me. I\r
+must go away. I cannot bear it." But he was still talking on, describing\r
+his affection, soliciting a return, and, finally, in words so plain as\r
+to bear but one meaning even to her, offering himself, hand, fortune,\r
+everything, to her acceptance. It was so; he had said it. Her\r
+astonishment and confusion increased; and though still not knowing\r
+how to suppose him serious, she could hardly stand. He pressed for an\r
+answer.\r
+\r
+"No, no, no!" she cried, hiding her face. "This is all nonsense. Do not\r
+distress me. I can hear no more of this. Your kindness to William makes\r
+me more obliged to you than words can express; but I do not want, I\r
+cannot bear, I must not listen to such--No, no, don't think of me. But\r
+you are _not_ thinking of me. I know it is all nothing."\r
+\r
+She had burst away from him, and at that moment Sir Thomas was heard\r
+speaking to a servant in his way towards the room they were in. It was\r
+no time for farther assurances or entreaty, though to part with her at\r
+a moment when her modesty alone seemed, to his sanguine and preassured\r
+mind, to stand in the way of the happiness he sought, was a cruel\r
+necessity. She rushed out at an opposite door from the one her uncle\r
+was approaching, and was walking up and down the East room in the\r
+utmost confusion of contrary feeling, before Sir Thomas's politeness\r
+or apologies were over, or he had reached the beginning of the joyful\r
+intelligence which his visitor came to communicate.\r
+\r
+She was feeling, thinking, trembling about everything; agitated, happy,\r
+miserable, infinitely obliged, absolutely angry. It was all beyond\r
+belief! He was inexcusable, incomprehensible! But such were his habits\r
+that he could do nothing without a mixture of evil. He had previously\r
+made her the happiest of human beings, and now he had insulted--she knew\r
+not what to say, how to class, or how to regard it. She would not have\r
+him be serious, and yet what could excuse the use of such words and\r
+offers, if they meant but to trifle?\r
+\r
+But William was a lieutenant. _That_ was a fact beyond a doubt, and\r
+without an alloy. She would think of it for ever and forget all the\r
+rest. Mr. Crawford would certainly never address her so again: he must\r
+have seen how unwelcome it was to her; and in that case, how gratefully\r
+she could esteem him for his friendship to William!\r
+\r
+She would not stir farther from the East room than the head of the great\r
+staircase, till she had satisfied herself of Mr. Crawford's having left\r
+the house; but when convinced of his being gone, she was eager to go\r
+down and be with her uncle, and have all the happiness of his joy\r
+as well as her own, and all the benefit of his information or his\r
+conjectures as to what would now be William's destination. Sir Thomas\r
+was as joyful as she could desire, and very kind and communicative; and\r
+she had so comfortable a talk with him about William as to make her\r
+feel as if nothing had occurred to vex her, till she found, towards the\r
+close, that Mr. Crawford was engaged to return and dine there that\r
+very day. This was a most unwelcome hearing, for though he might think\r
+nothing of what had passed, it would be quite distressing to her to see\r
+him again so soon.\r
+\r
+She tried to get the better of it; tried very hard, as the dinner hour\r
+approached, to feel and appear as usual; but it was quite impossible for\r
+her not to look most shy and uncomfortable when their visitor entered\r
+the room. She could not have supposed it in the power of any concurrence\r
+of circumstances to give her so many painful sensations on the first day\r
+of hearing of William's promotion.\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford was not only in the room--he was soon close to her. He\r
+had a note to deliver from his sister. Fanny could not look at him, but\r
+there was no consciousness of past folly in his voice. She opened her\r
+note immediately, glad to have anything to do, and happy, as she read\r
+it, to feel that the fidgetings of her aunt Norris, who was also to dine\r
+there, screened her a little from view.\r
+\r
+"My dear Fanny,--for so I may now always call you, to the infinite\r
+relief of a tongue that has been stumbling at _Miss_ _Price_ for at\r
+least the last six weeks--I cannot let my brother go without sending you\r
+a few lines of general congratulation, and giving my most joyful consent\r
+and approval. Go on, my dear Fanny, and without fear; there can be no\r
+difficulties worth naming. I chuse to suppose that the assurance of my\r
+consent will be something; so you may smile upon him with your sweetest\r
+smiles this afternoon, and send him back to me even happier than he\r
+goes.--Yours affectionately, M. C."\r
+\r
+These were not expressions to do Fanny any good; for though she read\r
+in too much haste and confusion to form the clearest judgment of Miss\r
+Crawford's meaning, it was evident that she meant to compliment her on\r
+her brother's attachment, and even to _appear_ to believe it serious.\r
+She did not know what to do, or what to think. There was wretchedness in\r
+the idea of its being serious; there was perplexity and agitation every\r
+way. She was distressed whenever Mr. Crawford spoke to her, and he spoke\r
+to her much too often; and she was afraid there was a something in his\r
+voice and manner in addressing her very different from what they were\r
+when he talked to the others. Her comfort in that day's dinner was\r
+quite destroyed: she could hardly eat anything; and when Sir Thomas\r
+good-humouredly observed that joy had taken away her appetite, she\r
+was ready to sink with shame, from the dread of Mr. Crawford's\r
+interpretation; for though nothing could have tempted her to turn\r
+her eyes to the right hand, where he sat, she felt that _his_ were\r
+immediately directed towards her.\r
+\r
+She was more silent than ever. She would hardly join even when William\r
+was the subject, for his commission came all from the right hand too,\r
+and there was pain in the connexion.\r
+\r
+She thought Lady Bertram sat longer than ever, and began to be in\r
+despair of ever getting away; but at last they were in the drawing-room,\r
+and she was able to think as she would, while her aunts finished the\r
+subject of William's appointment in their own style.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris seemed as much delighted with the saving it would be to\r
+Sir Thomas as with any part of it. "_Now_ William would be able to keep\r
+himself, which would make a vast difference to his uncle, for it was\r
+unknown how much he had cost his uncle; and, indeed, it would make some\r
+difference in _her_ presents too. She was very glad that she had given\r
+William what she did at parting, very glad, indeed, that it had been in\r
+her power, without material inconvenience, just at that time to give him\r
+something rather considerable; that is, for _her_, with _her_ limited\r
+means, for now it would all be useful in helping to fit up his cabin.\r
+She knew he must be at some expense, that he would have many things to\r
+buy, though to be sure his father and mother would be able to put him in\r
+the way of getting everything very cheap; but she was very glad she had\r
+contributed her mite towards it."\r
+\r
+"I am glad you gave him something considerable," said Lady Bertram, with\r
+most unsuspicious calmness, "for _I_ gave him only 10 pounds."\r
+\r
+"Indeed!" cried Mrs. Norris, reddening. "Upon my word, he must have gone\r
+off with his pockets well lined, and at no expense for his journey to\r
+London either!"\r
+\r
+"Sir Thomas told me 10 pounds would be enough."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris, being not at all inclined to question its sufficiency,\r
+began to take the matter in another point.\r
+\r
+"It is amazing," said she, "how much young people cost their friends,\r
+what with bringing them up and putting them out in the world! They\r
+little think how much it comes to, or what their parents, or their\r
+uncles and aunts, pay for them in the course of the year. Now, here are\r
+my sister Price's children; take them all together, I dare say nobody\r
+would believe what a sum they cost Sir Thomas every year, to say nothing\r
+of what _I_ do for them."\r
+\r
+"Very true, sister, as you say. But, poor things! they cannot help\r
+it; and you know it makes very little difference to Sir Thomas. Fanny,\r
+William must not forget my shawl if he goes to the East Indies; and I\r
+shall give him a commission for anything else that is worth having. I\r
+wish he may go to the East Indies, that I may have my shawl. I think I\r
+will have two shawls, Fanny."\r
+\r
+Fanny, meanwhile, speaking only when she could not help it, was very\r
+earnestly trying to understand what Mr. and Miss Crawford were at. There\r
+was everything in the world _against_ their being serious but his words\r
+and manner. Everything natural, probable, reasonable, was against it;\r
+all their habits and ways of thinking, and all her own demerits. How\r
+could _she_ have excited serious attachment in a man who had seen so\r
+many, and been admired by so many, and flirted with so many, infinitely\r
+her superiors; who seemed so little open to serious impressions, even\r
+where pains had been taken to please him; who thought so slightly, so\r
+carelessly, so unfeelingly on all such points; who was everything to\r
+everybody, and seemed to find no one essential to him? And farther,\r
+how could it be supposed that his sister, with all her high and worldly\r
+notions of matrimony, would be forwarding anything of a serious nature\r
+in such a quarter? Nothing could be more unnatural in either. Fanny\r
+was ashamed of her own doubts. Everything might be possible rather than\r
+serious attachment, or serious approbation of it toward her. She had\r
+quite convinced herself of this before Sir Thomas and Mr. Crawford\r
+joined them. The difficulty was in maintaining the conviction quite so\r
+absolutely after Mr. Crawford was in the room; for once or twice a\r
+look seemed forced on her which she did not know how to class among the\r
+common meaning; in any other man, at least, she would have said that\r
+it meant something very earnest, very pointed. But she still tried to\r
+believe it no more than what he might often have expressed towards her\r
+cousins and fifty other women.\r
+\r
+She thought he was wishing to speak to her unheard by the rest. She\r
+fancied he was trying for it the whole evening at intervals, whenever\r
+Sir Thomas was out of the room, or at all engaged with Mrs. Norris, and\r
+she carefully refused him every opportunity.\r
+\r
+At last--it seemed an at last to Fanny's nervousness, though not\r
+remarkably late--he began to talk of going away; but the comfort of the\r
+sound was impaired by his turning to her the next moment, and saying,\r
+"Have you nothing to send to Mary? No answer to her note? She will be\r
+disappointed if she receives nothing from you. Pray write to her, if it\r
+be only a line."\r
+\r
+"Oh yes! certainly," cried Fanny, rising in haste, the haste of\r
+embarrassment and of wanting to get away--"I will write directly."\r
+\r
+She went accordingly to the table, where she was in the habit of writing\r
+for her aunt, and prepared her materials without knowing what in the\r
+world to say. She had read Miss Crawford's note only once, and how to\r
+reply to anything so imperfectly understood was most distressing.\r
+Quite unpractised in such sort of note-writing, had there been time for\r
+scruples and fears as to style she would have felt them in abundance:\r
+but something must be instantly written; and with only one decided\r
+feeling, that of wishing not to appear to think anything really\r
+intended, she wrote thus, in great trembling both of spirits and hand--\r
+\r
+"I am very much obliged to you, my dear Miss Crawford, for your kind\r
+congratulations, as far as they relate to my dearest William. The rest\r
+of your note I know means nothing; but I am so unequal to anything of\r
+the sort, that I hope you will excuse my begging you to take no farther\r
+notice. I have seen too much of Mr. Crawford not to understand his\r
+manners; if he understood me as well, he would, I dare say, behave\r
+differently. I do not know what I write, but it would be a great favour\r
+of you never to mention the subject again. With thanks for the honour of\r
+your note, I remain, dear Miss Crawford, etc., etc."\r
+\r
+The conclusion was scarcely intelligible from increasing fright, for\r
+she found that Mr. Crawford, under pretence of receiving the note, was\r
+coming towards her.\r
+\r
+"You cannot think I mean to hurry you," said he, in an undervoice,\r
+perceiving the amazing trepidation with which she made up the note, "you\r
+cannot think I have any such object. Do not hurry yourself, I entreat."\r
+\r
+"Oh! I thank you; I have quite done, just done; it will be ready in a\r
+moment; I am very much obliged to you; if you will be so good as to give\r
+_that_ to Miss Crawford."\r
+\r
+The note was held out, and must be taken; and as she instantly and with\r
+averted eyes walked towards the fireplace, where sat the others, he had\r
+nothing to do but to go in good earnest.\r
+\r
+Fanny thought she had never known a day of greater agitation, both of\r
+pain and pleasure; but happily the pleasure was not of a sort to die\r
+with the day; for every day would restore the knowledge of William's\r
+advancement, whereas the pain, she hoped, would return no more. She had\r
+no doubt that her note must appear excessively ill-written, that\r
+the language would disgrace a child, for her distress had allowed no\r
+arrangement; but at least it would assure them both of her being neither\r
+imposed on nor gratified by Mr. Crawford's attentions.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXII\r
+\r
+Fanny had by no means forgotten Mr. Crawford when she awoke the next\r
+morning; but she remembered the purport of her note, and was not less\r
+sanguine as to its effect than she had been the night before. If Mr.\r
+Crawford would but go away! That was what she most earnestly desired:\r
+go and take his sister with him, as he was to do, and as he returned to\r
+Mansfield on purpose to do. And why it was not done already she could\r
+not devise, for Miss Crawford certainly wanted no delay. Fanny had\r
+hoped, in the course of his yesterday's visit, to hear the day named;\r
+but he had only spoken of their journey as what would take place ere\r
+long.\r
+\r
+Having so satisfactorily settled the conviction her note would convey,\r
+she could not but be astonished to see Mr. Crawford, as she accidentally\r
+did, coming up to the house again, and at an hour as early as the day\r
+before. His coming might have nothing to do with her, but she must avoid\r
+seeing him if possible; and being then on her way upstairs, she resolved\r
+there to remain, during the whole of his visit, unless actually sent\r
+for; and as Mrs. Norris was still in the house, there seemed little\r
+danger of her being wanted.\r
+\r
+She sat some time in a good deal of agitation, listening, trembling, and\r
+fearing to be sent for every moment; but as no footsteps approached the\r
+East room, she grew gradually composed, could sit down, and be able to\r
+employ herself, and able to hope that Mr. Crawford had come and would go\r
+without her being obliged to know anything of the matter.\r
+\r
+Nearly half an hour had passed, and she was growing very comfortable,\r
+when suddenly the sound of a step in regular approach was heard; a heavy\r
+step, an unusual step in that part of the house: it was her uncle's; she\r
+knew it as well as his voice; she had trembled at it as often, and began\r
+to tremble again, at the idea of his coming up to speak to her, whatever\r
+might be the subject. It was indeed Sir Thomas who opened the door and\r
+asked if she were there, and if he might come in. The terror of his\r
+former occasional visits to that room seemed all renewed, and she felt\r
+as if he were going to examine her again in French and English.\r
+\r
+She was all attention, however, in placing a chair for him, and trying\r
+to appear honoured; and, in her agitation, had quite overlooked the\r
+deficiencies of her apartment, till he, stopping short as he entered,\r
+said, with much surprise, "Why have you no fire to-day?"\r
+\r
+There was snow on the ground, and she was sitting in a shawl. She\r
+hesitated.\r
+\r
+"I am not cold, sir: I never sit here long at this time of year."\r
+\r
+"But you have a fire in general?"\r
+\r
+"No, sir."\r
+\r
+"How comes this about? Here must be some mistake. I understood that you\r
+had the use of this room by way of making you perfectly comfortable.\r
+In your bedchamber I know you _cannot_ have a fire. Here is some great\r
+misapprehension which must be rectified. It is highly unfit for you to\r
+sit, be it only half an hour a day, without a fire. You are not strong.\r
+You are chilly. Your aunt cannot be aware of this."\r
+\r
+Fanny would rather have been silent; but being obliged to speak, she\r
+could not forbear, in justice to the aunt she loved best, from saying\r
+something in which the words "my aunt Norris" were distinguishable.\r
+\r
+"I understand," cried her uncle, recollecting himself, and not wanting\r
+to hear more: "I understand. Your aunt Norris has always been an\r
+advocate, and very judiciously, for young people's being brought up\r
+without unnecessary indulgences; but there should be moderation in\r
+everything. She is also very hardy herself, which of course will\r
+influence her in her opinion of the wants of others. And on another\r
+account, too, I can perfectly comprehend. I know what her sentiments\r
+have always been. The principle was good in itself, but it may have\r
+been, and I believe _has_ _been_, carried too far in your case. I\r
+am aware that there has been sometimes, in some points, a misplaced\r
+distinction; but I think too well of you, Fanny, to suppose you will\r
+ever harbour resentment on that account. You have an understanding\r
+which will prevent you from receiving things only in part, and judging\r
+partially by the event. You will take in the whole of the past, you\r
+will consider times, persons, and probabilities, and you will feel that\r
+_they_ were not least your friends who were educating and preparing you\r
+for that mediocrity of condition which _seemed_ to be your lot. Though\r
+their caution may prove eventually unnecessary, it was kindly meant; and\r
+of this you may be assured, that every advantage of affluence will be\r
+doubled by the little privations and restrictions that may have been\r
+imposed. I am sure you will not disappoint my opinion of you, by failing\r
+at any time to treat your aunt Norris with the respect and attention\r
+that are due to her. But enough of this. Sit down, my dear. I must speak\r
+to you for a few minutes, but I will not detain you long."\r
+\r
+Fanny obeyed, with eyes cast down and colour rising. After a moment's\r
+pause, Sir Thomas, trying to suppress a smile, went on.\r
+\r
+"You are not aware, perhaps, that I have had a visitor this morning. I\r
+had not been long in my own room, after breakfast, when Mr. Crawford was\r
+shewn in. His errand you may probably conjecture."\r
+\r
+Fanny's colour grew deeper and deeper; and her uncle, perceiving that\r
+she was embarrassed to a degree that made either speaking or looking\r
+up quite impossible, turned away his own eyes, and without any farther\r
+pause proceeded in his account of Mr. Crawford's visit.\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford's business had been to declare himself the lover of Fanny,\r
+make decided proposals for her, and entreat the sanction of the uncle,\r
+who seemed to stand in the place of her parents; and he had done it all\r
+so well, so openly, so liberally, so properly, that Sir Thomas, feeling,\r
+moreover, his own replies, and his own remarks to have been very much\r
+to the purpose, was exceedingly happy to give the particulars of their\r
+conversation; and little aware of what was passing in his niece's mind,\r
+conceived that by such details he must be gratifying her far more than\r
+himself. He talked, therefore, for several minutes without Fanny's\r
+daring to interrupt him. She had hardly even attained the wish to do it.\r
+Her mind was in too much confusion. She had changed her position; and,\r
+with her eyes fixed intently on one of the windows, was listening to her\r
+uncle in the utmost perturbation and dismay. For a moment he ceased, but\r
+she had barely become conscious of it, when, rising from his chair, he\r
+said, "And now, Fanny, having performed one part of my commission,\r
+and shewn you everything placed on a basis the most assured and\r
+satisfactory, I may execute the remainder by prevailing on you to\r
+accompany me downstairs, where, though I cannot but presume on having\r
+been no unacceptable companion myself, I must submit to your finding\r
+one still better worth listening to. Mr. Crawford, as you have perhaps\r
+foreseen, is yet in the house. He is in my room, and hoping to see you\r
+there."\r
+\r
+There was a look, a start, an exclamation on hearing this, which\r
+astonished Sir Thomas; but what was his increase of astonishment on\r
+hearing her exclaim--"Oh! no, sir, I cannot, indeed I cannot go down to\r
+him. Mr. Crawford ought to know--he must know that: I told him enough\r
+yesterday to convince him; he spoke to me on this subject yesterday,\r
+and I told him without disguise that it was very disagreeable to me, and\r
+quite out of my power to return his good opinion."\r
+\r
+"I do not catch your meaning," said Sir Thomas, sitting down again. "Out\r
+of your power to return his good opinion? What is all this? I know he\r
+spoke to you yesterday, and (as far as I understand) received as much\r
+encouragement to proceed as a well-judging young woman could permit\r
+herself to give. I was very much pleased with what I collected to have\r
+been your behaviour on the occasion; it shewed a discretion highly to\r
+be commended. But now, when he has made his overtures so properly, and\r
+honourably--what are your scruples _now_?"\r
+\r
+"You are mistaken, sir," cried Fanny, forced by the anxiety of the\r
+moment even to tell her uncle that he was wrong; "you are quite\r
+mistaken. How could Mr. Crawford say such a thing? I gave him no\r
+encouragement yesterday. On the contrary, I told him, I cannot recollect\r
+my exact words, but I am sure I told him that I would not listen to him,\r
+that it was very unpleasant to me in every respect, and that I begged\r
+him never to talk to me in that manner again. I am sure I said as much\r
+as that and more; and I should have said still more, if I had been quite\r
+certain of his meaning anything seriously; but I did not like to be, I\r
+could not bear to be, imputing more than might be intended. I thought it\r
+might all pass for nothing with _him_."\r
+\r
+She could say no more; her breath was almost gone.\r
+\r
+"Am I to understand," said Sir Thomas, after a few moments' silence,\r
+"that you mean to _refuse_ Mr. Crawford?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, sir."\r
+\r
+"Refuse him?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, sir."\r
+\r
+"Refuse Mr. Crawford! Upon what plea? For what reason?"\r
+\r
+"I--I cannot like him, sir, well enough to marry him."\r
+\r
+"This is very strange!" said Sir Thomas, in a voice of calm displeasure.\r
+"There is something in this which my comprehension does not reach. Here\r
+is a young man wishing to pay his addresses to you, with everything to\r
+recommend him: not merely situation in life, fortune, and character,\r
+but with more than common agreeableness, with address and conversation\r
+pleasing to everybody. And he is not an acquaintance of to-day; you have\r
+now known him some time. His sister, moreover, is your intimate friend,\r
+and he has been doing _that_ for your brother, which I should suppose\r
+would have been almost sufficient recommendation to you, had there been\r
+no other. It is very uncertain when my interest might have got William\r
+on. He has done it already."\r
+\r
+"Yes," said Fanny, in a faint voice, and looking down with fresh shame;\r
+and she did feel almost ashamed of herself, after such a picture as her\r
+uncle had drawn, for not liking Mr. Crawford.\r
+\r
+"You must have been aware," continued Sir Thomas presently, "you must\r
+have been some time aware of a particularity in Mr. Crawford's manners\r
+to you. This cannot have taken you by surprise. You must have observed\r
+his attentions; and though you always received them very properly (I\r
+have no accusation to make on that head), I never perceived them to be\r
+unpleasant to you. I am half inclined to think, Fanny, that you do not\r
+quite know your own feelings."\r
+\r
+"Oh yes, sir! indeed I do. His attentions were always--what I did not\r
+like."\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas looked at her with deeper surprise. "This is beyond me,"\r
+said he. "This requires explanation. Young as you are, and having seen\r
+scarcely any one, it is hardly possible that your affections--"\r
+\r
+He paused and eyed her fixedly. He saw her lips formed into a _no_,\r
+though the sound was inarticulate, but her face was like scarlet. That,\r
+however, in so modest a girl, might be very compatible with innocence;\r
+and chusing at least to appear satisfied, he quickly added, "No, no, I\r
+know _that_ is quite out of the question; quite impossible. Well, there\r
+is nothing more to be said."\r
+\r
+And for a few minutes he did say nothing. He was deep in thought. His\r
+niece was deep in thought likewise, trying to harden and prepare herself\r
+against farther questioning. She would rather die than own the truth;\r
+and she hoped, by a little reflection, to fortify herself beyond\r
+betraying it.\r
+\r
+"Independently of the interest which Mr. Crawford's _choice_ seemed to\r
+justify" said Sir Thomas, beginning again, and very composedly, "his\r
+wishing to marry at all so early is recommendatory to me. I am an\r
+advocate for early marriages, where there are means in proportion, and\r
+would have every young man, with a sufficient income, settle as soon\r
+after four-and-twenty as he can. This is so much my opinion, that I am\r
+sorry to think how little likely my own eldest son, your cousin, Mr.\r
+Bertram, is to marry early; but at present, as far as I can judge,\r
+matrimony makes no part of his plans or thoughts. I wish he were more\r
+likely to fix." Here was a glance at Fanny. "Edmund, I consider, from\r
+his dispositions and habits, as much more likely to marry early than\r
+his brother. _He_, indeed, I have lately thought, has seen the woman he\r
+could love, which, I am convinced, my eldest son has not. Am I right? Do\r
+you agree with me, my dear?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, sir."\r
+\r
+It was gently, but it was calmly said, and Sir Thomas was easy on the\r
+score of the cousins. But the removal of his alarm did his niece\r
+no service: as her unaccountableness was confirmed his displeasure\r
+increased; and getting up and walking about the room with a frown, which\r
+Fanny could picture to herself, though she dared not lift up her eyes,\r
+he shortly afterwards, and in a voice of authority, said, "Have you any\r
+reason, child, to think ill of Mr. Crawford's temper?"\r
+\r
+"No, sir."\r
+\r
+She longed to add, "But of his principles I have"; but her heart sunk\r
+under the appalling prospect of discussion, explanation, and probably\r
+non-conviction. Her ill opinion of him was founded chiefly on\r
+observations, which, for her cousins' sake, she could scarcely dare\r
+mention to their father. Maria and Julia, and especially Maria, were so\r
+closely implicated in Mr. Crawford's misconduct, that she could not give\r
+his character, such as she believed it, without betraying them. She had\r
+hoped that, to a man like her uncle, so discerning, so honourable, so\r
+good, the simple acknowledgment of settled _dislike_ on her side would\r
+have been sufficient. To her infinite grief she found it was not.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas came towards the table where she sat in trembling\r
+wretchedness, and with a good deal of cold sternness, said, "It is of no\r
+use, I perceive, to talk to you. We had better put an end to this most\r
+mortifying conference. Mr. Crawford must not be kept longer waiting. I\r
+will, therefore, only add, as thinking it my duty to mark my opinion of\r
+your conduct, that you have disappointed every expectation I had formed,\r
+and proved yourself of a character the very reverse of what I had\r
+supposed. For I _had_, Fanny, as I think my behaviour must have shewn,\r
+formed a very favourable opinion of you from the period of my return to\r
+England. I had thought you peculiarly free from wilfulness of temper,\r
+self-conceit, and every tendency to that independence of spirit which\r
+prevails so much in modern days, even in young women, and which in young\r
+women is offensive and disgusting beyond all common offence. But you\r
+have now shewn me that you can be wilful and perverse; that you can and\r
+will decide for yourself, without any consideration or deference for\r
+those who have surely some right to guide you, without even asking their\r
+advice. You have shewn yourself very, very different from anything that\r
+I had imagined. The advantage or disadvantage of your family, of your\r
+parents, your brothers and sisters, never seems to have had a moment's\r
+share in your thoughts on this occasion. How _they_ might be benefited,\r
+how _they_ must rejoice in such an establishment for you, is nothing to\r
+_you_. You think only of yourself, and because you do not feel for Mr.\r
+Crawford exactly what a young heated fancy imagines to be necessary for\r
+happiness, you resolve to refuse him at once, without wishing even for\r
+a little time to consider of it, a little more time for cool\r
+consideration, and for really examining your own inclinations; and are,\r
+in a wild fit of folly, throwing away from you such an opportunity of\r
+being settled in life, eligibly, honourably, nobly settled, as will,\r
+probably, never occur to you again. Here is a young man of sense, of\r
+character, of temper, of manners, and of fortune, exceedingly attached\r
+to you, and seeking your hand in the most handsome and disinterested\r
+way; and let me tell you, Fanny, that you may live eighteen years longer\r
+in the world without being addressed by a man of half Mr. Crawford's\r
+estate, or a tenth part of his merits. Gladly would I have bestowed\r
+either of my own daughters on him. Maria is nobly married; but had\r
+Mr. Crawford sought Julia's hand, I should have given it to him with\r
+superior and more heartfelt satisfaction than I gave Maria's to Mr.\r
+Rushworth." After half a moment's pause: "And I should have been very\r
+much surprised had either of my daughters, on receiving a proposal\r
+of marriage at any time which might carry with it only _half_ the\r
+eligibility of _this_, immediately and peremptorily, and without paying\r
+my opinion or my regard the compliment of any consultation, put a\r
+decided negative on it. I should have been much surprised and much hurt\r
+by such a proceeding. I should have thought it a gross violation of duty\r
+and respect. _You_ are not to be judged by the same rule. You do not\r
+owe me the duty of a child. But, Fanny, if your heart can acquit you of\r
+_ingratitude_--"\r
+\r
+He ceased. Fanny was by this time crying so bitterly that, angry as he\r
+was, he would not press that article farther. Her heart was almost broke\r
+by such a picture of what she appeared to him; by such accusations,\r
+so heavy, so multiplied, so rising in dreadful gradation! Self-willed,\r
+obstinate, selfish, and ungrateful. He thought her all this. She had\r
+deceived his expectations; she had lost his good opinion. What was to\r
+become of her?\r
+\r
+"I am very sorry," said she inarticulately, through her tears, "I am\r
+very sorry indeed."\r
+\r
+"Sorry! yes, I hope you are sorry; and you will probably have reason to\r
+be long sorry for this day's transactions."\r
+\r
+"If it were possible for me to do otherwise" said she, with another\r
+strong effort; "but I am so perfectly convinced that I could never make\r
+him happy, and that I should be miserable myself."\r
+\r
+Another burst of tears; but in spite of that burst, and in spite of that\r
+great black word _miserable_, which served to introduce it, Sir Thomas\r
+began to think a little relenting, a little change of inclination, might\r
+have something to do with it; and to augur favourably from the personal\r
+entreaty of the young man himself. He knew her to be very timid, and\r
+exceedingly nervous; and thought it not improbable that her mind\r
+might be in such a state as a little time, a little pressing, a little\r
+patience, and a little impatience, a judicious mixture of all on the\r
+lover's side, might work their usual effect on. If the gentleman would\r
+but persevere, if he had but love enough to persevere, Sir Thomas began\r
+to have hopes; and these reflections having passed across his mind and\r
+cheered it, "Well," said he, in a tone of becoming gravity, but of less\r
+anger, "well, child, dry up your tears. There is no use in these tears;\r
+they can do no good. You must now come downstairs with me. Mr. Crawford\r
+has been kept waiting too long already. You must give him your own\r
+answer: we cannot expect him to be satisfied with less; and you only\r
+can explain to him the grounds of that misconception of your sentiments,\r
+which, unfortunately for himself, he certainly has imbibed. I am totally\r
+unequal to it."\r
+\r
+But Fanny shewed such reluctance, such misery, at the idea of going down\r
+to him, that Sir Thomas, after a little consideration, judged it better\r
+to indulge her. His hopes from both gentleman and lady suffered a small\r
+depression in consequence; but when he looked at his niece, and saw the\r
+state of feature and complexion which her crying had brought her\r
+into, he thought there might be as much lost as gained by an immediate\r
+interview. With a few words, therefore, of no particular meaning, he\r
+walked off by himself, leaving his poor niece to sit and cry over what\r
+had passed, with very wretched feelings.\r
+\r
+Her mind was all disorder. The past, present, future, everything was\r
+terrible. But her uncle's anger gave her the severest pain of all.\r
+Selfish and ungrateful! to have appeared so to him! She was miserable\r
+for ever. She had no one to take her part, to counsel, or speak for her.\r
+Her only friend was absent. He might have softened his father; but all,\r
+perhaps all, would think her selfish and ungrateful. She might have to\r
+endure the reproach again and again; she might hear it, or see it, or\r
+know it to exist for ever in every connexion about her. She could not\r
+but feel some resentment against Mr. Crawford; yet, if he really loved\r
+her, and were unhappy too! It was all wretchedness together.\r
+\r
+In about a quarter of an hour her uncle returned; she was almost\r
+ready to faint at the sight of him. He spoke calmly, however, without\r
+austerity, without reproach, and she revived a little. There was\r
+comfort, too, in his words, as well as his manner, for he began with,\r
+"Mr. Crawford is gone: he has just left me. I need not repeat what has\r
+passed. I do not want to add to anything you may now be feeling, by an\r
+account of what he has felt. Suffice it, that he has behaved in the\r
+most gentlemanlike and generous manner, and has confirmed me in a most\r
+favourable opinion of his understanding, heart, and temper. Upon my\r
+representation of what you were suffering, he immediately, and with the\r
+greatest delicacy, ceased to urge to see you for the present."\r
+\r
+Here Fanny, who had looked up, looked down again. "Of course," continued\r
+her uncle, "it cannot be supposed but that he should request to speak\r
+with you alone, be it only for five minutes; a request too natural,\r
+a claim too just to be denied. But there is no time fixed; perhaps\r
+to-morrow, or whenever your spirits are composed enough. For the present\r
+you have only to tranquillise yourself. Check these tears; they do but\r
+exhaust you. If, as I am willing to suppose, you wish to shew me any\r
+observance, you will not give way to these emotions, but endeavour to\r
+reason yourself into a stronger frame of mind. I advise you to go out:\r
+the air will do you good; go out for an hour on the gravel; you will\r
+have the shrubbery to yourself, and will be the better for air and\r
+exercise. And, Fanny" (turning back again for a moment), "I shall make\r
+no mention below of what has passed; I shall not even tell your aunt\r
+Bertram. There is no occasion for spreading the disappointment; say\r
+nothing about it yourself."\r
+\r
+This was an order to be most joyfully obeyed; this was an act of\r
+kindness which Fanny felt at her heart. To be spared from her aunt\r
+Norris's interminable reproaches! he left her in a glow of gratitude.\r
+Anything might be bearable rather than such reproaches. Even to see Mr.\r
+Crawford would be less overpowering.\r
+\r
+She walked out directly, as her uncle recommended, and followed his\r
+advice throughout, as far as she could; did check her tears; did\r
+earnestly try to compose her spirits and strengthen her mind. She wished\r
+to prove to him that she did desire his comfort, and sought to regain\r
+his favour; and he had given her another strong motive for exertion, in\r
+keeping the whole affair from the knowledge of her aunts. Not to excite\r
+suspicion by her look or manner was now an object worth attaining; and\r
+she felt equal to almost anything that might save her from her aunt\r
+Norris.\r
+\r
+She was struck, quite struck, when, on returning from her walk and going\r
+into the East room again, the first thing which caught her eye was a\r
+fire lighted and burning. A fire! it seemed too much; just at that time\r
+to be giving her such an indulgence was exciting even painful gratitude.\r
+She wondered that Sir Thomas could have leisure to think of such a\r
+trifle again; but she soon found, from the voluntary information of the\r
+housemaid, who came in to attend it, that so it was to be every day. Sir\r
+Thomas had given orders for it.\r
+\r
+"I must be a brute, indeed, if I can be really ungrateful!" said she, in\r
+soliloquy. "Heaven defend me from being ungrateful!"\r
+\r
+She saw nothing more of her uncle, nor of her aunt Norris, till they met\r
+at dinner. Her uncle's behaviour to her was then as nearly as possible\r
+what it had been before; she was sure he did not mean there should be\r
+any change, and that it was only her own conscience that could fancy\r
+any; but her aunt was soon quarrelling with her; and when she found how\r
+much and how unpleasantly her having only walked out without her aunt's\r
+knowledge could be dwelt on, she felt all the reason she had to bless\r
+the kindness which saved her from the same spirit of reproach, exerted\r
+on a more momentous subject.\r
+\r
+"If I had known you were going out, I should have got you just to go\r
+as far as my house with some orders for Nanny," said she, "which I have\r
+since, to my very great inconvenience, been obliged to go and carry\r
+myself. I could very ill spare the time, and you might have saved me the\r
+trouble, if you would only have been so good as to let us know you were\r
+going out. It would have made no difference to you, I suppose, whether\r
+you had walked in the shrubbery or gone to my house."\r
+\r
+"I recommended the shrubbery to Fanny as the driest place," said Sir\r
+Thomas.\r
+\r
+"Oh!" said Mrs. Norris, with a moment's check, "that was very kind of\r
+you, Sir Thomas; but you do not know how dry the path is to my house.\r
+Fanny would have had quite as good a walk there, I assure you, with the\r
+advantage of being of some use, and obliging her aunt: it is all her\r
+fault. If she would but have let us know she was going out but there is\r
+a something about Fanny, I have often observed it before--she likes to\r
+go her own way to work; she does not like to be dictated to; she takes\r
+her own independent walk whenever she can; she certainly has a little\r
+spirit of secrecy, and independence, and nonsense, about her, which I\r
+would advise her to get the better of."\r
+\r
+As a general reflection on Fanny, Sir Thomas thought nothing could be\r
+more unjust, though he had been so lately expressing the same sentiments\r
+himself, and he tried to turn the conversation: tried repeatedly\r
+before he could succeed; for Mrs. Norris had not discernment enough to\r
+perceive, either now, or at any other time, to what degree he thought\r
+well of his niece, or how very far he was from wishing to have his own\r
+children's merits set off by the depreciation of hers. She was talking\r
+_at_ Fanny, and resenting this private walk half through the dinner.\r
+\r
+It was over, however, at last; and the evening set in with more\r
+composure to Fanny, and more cheerfulness of spirits than she could\r
+have hoped for after so stormy a morning; but she trusted, in the first\r
+place, that she had done right: that her judgment had not misled her.\r
+For the purity of her intentions she could answer; and she was willing\r
+to hope, secondly, that her uncle's displeasure was abating, and would\r
+abate farther as he considered the matter with more impartiality, and\r
+felt, as a good man must feel, how wretched, and how unpardonable, how\r
+hopeless, and how wicked it was to marry without affection.\r
+\r
+When the meeting with which she was threatened for the morrow was past,\r
+she could not but flatter herself that the subject would be finally\r
+concluded, and Mr. Crawford once gone from Mansfield, that everything\r
+would soon be as if no such subject had existed. She would not, could\r
+not believe, that Mr. Crawford's affection for her could distress him\r
+long; his mind was not of that sort. London would soon bring its cure.\r
+In London he would soon learn to wonder at his infatuation, and be\r
+thankful for the right reason in her which had saved him from its evil\r
+consequences.\r
+\r
+While Fanny's mind was engaged in these sort of hopes, her uncle was,\r
+soon after tea, called out of the room; an occurrence too common to\r
+strike her, and she thought nothing of it till the butler reappeared ten\r
+minutes afterwards, and advancing decidedly towards herself, said,\r
+"Sir Thomas wishes to speak with you, ma'am, in his own room." Then it\r
+occurred to her what might be going on; a suspicion rushed over her mind\r
+which drove the colour from her cheeks; but instantly rising, she was\r
+preparing to obey, when Mrs. Norris called out, "Stay, stay, Fanny! what\r
+are you about? where are you going? don't be in such a hurry. Depend\r
+upon it, it is not you who are wanted; depend upon it, it is me"\r
+(looking at the butler); "but you are so very eager to put yourself\r
+forward. What should Sir Thomas want you for? It is me, Baddeley, you\r
+mean; I am coming this moment. You mean me, Baddeley, I am sure; Sir\r
+Thomas wants me, not Miss Price."\r
+\r
+But Baddeley was stout. "No, ma'am, it is Miss Price; I am certain of\r
+its being Miss Price." And there was a half-smile with the words, which\r
+meant, "I do not think you would answer the purpose at all."\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris, much discontented, was obliged to compose herself to work\r
+again; and Fanny, walking off in agitating consciousness, found herself,\r
+as she anticipated, in another minute alone with Mr. Crawford.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXIII\r
+\r
+The conference was neither so short nor so conclusive as the lady had\r
+designed. The gentleman was not so easily satisfied. He had all the\r
+disposition to persevere that Sir Thomas could wish him. He had vanity,\r
+which strongly inclined him in the first place to think she did love\r
+him, though she might not know it herself; and which, secondly, when\r
+constrained at last to admit that she did know her own present feelings,\r
+convinced him that he should be able in time to make those feelings what\r
+he wished.\r
+\r
+He was in love, very much in love; and it was a love which, operating\r
+on an active, sanguine spirit, of more warmth than delicacy, made her\r
+affection appear of greater consequence because it was withheld, and\r
+determined him to have the glory, as well as the felicity, of forcing\r
+her to love him.\r
+\r
+He would not despair: he would not desist. He had every well-grounded\r
+reason for solid attachment; he knew her to have all the worth that\r
+could justify the warmest hopes of lasting happiness with her; her\r
+conduct at this very time, by speaking the disinterestedness and\r
+delicacy of her character (qualities which he believed most rare\r
+indeed), was of a sort to heighten all his wishes, and confirm all his\r
+resolutions. He knew not that he had a pre-engaged heart to attack.\r
+Of _that_ he had no suspicion. He considered her rather as one who\r
+had never thought on the subject enough to be in danger; who had been\r
+guarded by youth, a youth of mind as lovely as of person; whose modesty\r
+had prevented her from understanding his attentions, and who was still\r
+overpowered by the suddenness of addresses so wholly unexpected, and the\r
+novelty of a situation which her fancy had never taken into account.\r
+\r
+Must it not follow of course, that, when he was understood, he should\r
+succeed? He believed it fully. Love such as his, in a man like himself,\r
+must with perseverance secure a return, and at no great distance; and\r
+he had so much delight in the idea of obliging her to love him in a very\r
+short time, that her not loving him now was scarcely regretted. A little\r
+difficulty to be overcome was no evil to Henry Crawford. He rather\r
+derived spirits from it. He had been apt to gain hearts too easily. His\r
+situation was new and animating.\r
+\r
+To Fanny, however, who had known too much opposition all her life to\r
+find any charm in it, all this was unintelligible. She found that he did\r
+mean to persevere; but how he could, after such language from her as she\r
+felt herself obliged to use, was not to be understood. She told him that\r
+she did not love him, could not love him, was sure she never should love\r
+him; that such a change was quite impossible; that the subject was most\r
+painful to her; that she must entreat him never to mention it again, to\r
+allow her to leave him at once, and let it be considered as concluded\r
+for ever. And when farther pressed, had added, that in her opinion their\r
+dispositions were so totally dissimilar as to make mutual affection\r
+incompatible; and that they were unfitted for each other by nature,\r
+education, and habit. All this she had said, and with the earnestness\r
+of sincerity; yet this was not enough, for he immediately denied there\r
+being anything uncongenial in their characters, or anything unfriendly\r
+in their situations; and positively declared, that he would still love,\r
+and still hope!\r
+\r
+Fanny knew her own meaning, but was no judge of her own manner. Her\r
+manner was incurably gentle; and she was not aware how much it concealed\r
+the sternness of her purpose. Her diffidence, gratitude, and softness\r
+made every expression of indifference seem almost an effort of\r
+self-denial; seem, at least, to be giving nearly as much pain to herself\r
+as to him. Mr. Crawford was no longer the Mr. Crawford who, as the\r
+clandestine, insidious, treacherous admirer of Maria Bertram, had been\r
+her abhorrence, whom she had hated to see or to speak to, in whom she\r
+could believe no good quality to exist, and whose power, even of being\r
+agreeable, she had barely acknowledged. He was now the Mr. Crawford who\r
+was addressing herself with ardent, disinterested love; whose feelings\r
+were apparently become all that was honourable and upright, whose views\r
+of happiness were all fixed on a marriage of attachment; who was\r
+pouring out his sense of her merits, describing and describing again his\r
+affection, proving as far as words could prove it, and in the language,\r
+tone, and spirit of a man of talent too, that he sought her for her\r
+gentleness and her goodness; and to complete the whole, he was now the\r
+Mr. Crawford who had procured William's promotion!\r
+\r
+Here was a change, and here were claims which could not but operate!\r
+She might have disdained him in all the dignity of angry virtue, in\r
+the grounds of Sotherton, or the theatre at Mansfield Park; but he\r
+approached her now with rights that demanded different treatment.\r
+She must be courteous, and she must be compassionate. She must have\r
+a sensation of being honoured, and whether thinking of herself or her\r
+brother, she must have a strong feeling of gratitude. The effect of the\r
+whole was a manner so pitying and agitated, and words intermingled with\r
+her refusal so expressive of obligation and concern, that to a temper of\r
+vanity and hope like Crawford's, the truth, or at least the strength\r
+of her indifference, might well be questionable; and he was not so\r
+irrational as Fanny considered him, in the professions of persevering,\r
+assiduous, and not desponding attachment which closed the interview.\r
+\r
+It was with reluctance that he suffered her to go; but there was no look\r
+of despair in parting to belie his words, or give her hopes of his being\r
+less unreasonable than he professed himself.\r
+\r
+Now she was angry. Some resentment did arise at a perseverance so\r
+selfish and ungenerous. Here was again a want of delicacy and regard for\r
+others which had formerly so struck and disgusted her. Here was again\r
+a something of the same Mr. Crawford whom she had so reprobated before.\r
+How evidently was there a gross want of feeling and humanity where his\r
+own pleasure was concerned; and alas! how always known no principle to\r
+supply as a duty what the heart was deficient in! Had her own affections\r
+been as free as perhaps they ought to have been, he never could have\r
+engaged them.\r
+\r
+So thought Fanny, in good truth and sober sadness, as she sat musing\r
+over that too great indulgence and luxury of a fire upstairs: wondering\r
+at the past and present; wondering at what was yet to come, and in a\r
+nervous agitation which made nothing clear to her but the persuasion of\r
+her being never under any circumstances able to love Mr. Crawford, and\r
+the felicity of having a fire to sit over and think of it.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was obliged, or obliged himself, to wait till the morrow for\r
+a knowledge of what had passed between the young people. He then saw\r
+Mr. Crawford, and received his account. The first feeling was\r
+disappointment: he had hoped better things; he had thought that an\r
+hour's entreaty from a young man like Crawford could not have worked so\r
+little change on a gentle-tempered girl like Fanny; but there was speedy\r
+comfort in the determined views and sanguine perseverance of the lover;\r
+and when seeing such confidence of success in the principal, Sir Thomas\r
+was soon able to depend on it himself.\r
+\r
+Nothing was omitted, on his side, of civility, compliment, or kindness,\r
+that might assist the plan. Mr. Crawford's steadiness was honoured, and\r
+Fanny was praised, and the connexion was still the most desirable in the\r
+world. At Mansfield Park Mr. Crawford would always be welcome; he had\r
+only to consult his own judgment and feelings as to the frequency of his\r
+visits, at present or in future. In all his niece's family and friends,\r
+there could be but one opinion, one wish on the subject; the influence\r
+of all who loved her must incline one way.\r
+\r
+Everything was said that could encourage, every encouragement received\r
+with grateful joy, and the gentlemen parted the best of friends.\r
+\r
+Satisfied that the cause was now on a footing the most proper and\r
+hopeful, Sir Thomas resolved to abstain from all farther importunity\r
+with his niece, and to shew no open interference. Upon her disposition\r
+he believed kindness might be the best way of working. Entreaty should\r
+be from one quarter only. The forbearance of her family on a point,\r
+respecting which she could be in no doubt of their wishes, might be\r
+their surest means of forwarding it. Accordingly, on this principle, Sir\r
+Thomas took the first opportunity of saying to her, with a mild gravity,\r
+intended to be overcoming, "Well, Fanny, I have seen Mr. Crawford again,\r
+and learn from him exactly how matters stand between you. He is a most\r
+extraordinary young man, and whatever be the event, you must feel that\r
+you have created an attachment of no common character; though, young\r
+as you are, and little acquainted with the transient, varying, unsteady\r
+nature of love, as it generally exists, you cannot be struck as I\r
+am with all that is wonderful in a perseverance of this sort against\r
+discouragement. With him it is entirely a matter of feeling: he claims\r
+no merit in it; perhaps is entitled to none. Yet, having chosen so\r
+well, his constancy has a respectable stamp. Had his choice been less\r
+unexceptionable, I should have condemned his persevering."\r
+\r
+"Indeed, sir," said Fanny, "I am very sorry that Mr. Crawford should\r
+continue to know that it is paying me a very great compliment, and I\r
+feel most undeservedly honoured; but I am so perfectly convinced, and I\r
+have told him so, that it never will be in my power--"\r
+\r
+"My dear," interrupted Sir Thomas, "there is no occasion for this. Your\r
+feelings are as well known to me as my wishes and regrets must be\r
+to you. There is nothing more to be said or done. From this hour the\r
+subject is never to be revived between us. You will have nothing to\r
+fear, or to be agitated about. You cannot suppose me capable of trying\r
+to persuade you to marry against your inclinations. Your happiness and\r
+advantage are all that I have in view, and nothing is required of you\r
+but to bear with Mr. Crawford's endeavours to convince you that they may\r
+not be incompatible with his. He proceeds at his own risk. You are on\r
+safe ground. I have engaged for your seeing him whenever he calls, as\r
+you might have done had nothing of this sort occurred. You will see\r
+him with the rest of us, in the same manner, and, as much as you\r
+can, dismissing the recollection of everything unpleasant. He leaves\r
+Northamptonshire so soon, that even this slight sacrifice cannot be\r
+often demanded. The future must be very uncertain. And now, my dear\r
+Fanny, this subject is closed between us."\r
+\r
+The promised departure was all that Fanny could think of with much\r
+satisfaction. Her uncle's kind expressions, however, and forbearing\r
+manner, were sensibly felt; and when she considered how much of the\r
+truth was unknown to him, she believed she had no right to wonder at\r
+the line of conduct he pursued. He, who had married a daughter to Mr.\r
+Rushworth: romantic delicacy was certainly not to be expected from him.\r
+She must do her duty, and trust that time might make her duty easier\r
+than it now was.\r
+\r
+She could not, though only eighteen, suppose Mr. Crawford's attachment\r
+would hold out for ever; she could not but imagine that steady,\r
+unceasing discouragement from herself would put an end to it in time.\r
+How much time she might, in her own fancy, allot for its dominion, is\r
+another concern. It would not be fair to inquire into a young lady's\r
+exact estimate of her own perfections.\r
+\r
+In spite of his intended silence, Sir Thomas found himself once more\r
+obliged to mention the subject to his niece, to prepare her briefly for\r
+its being imparted to her aunts; a measure which he would still have\r
+avoided, if possible, but which became necessary from the totally\r
+opposite feelings of Mr. Crawford as to any secrecy of proceeding. He\r
+had no idea of concealment. It was all known at the Parsonage, where\r
+he loved to talk over the future with both his sisters, and it would be\r
+rather gratifying to him to have enlightened witnesses of the progress\r
+of his success. When Sir Thomas understood this, he felt the necessity\r
+of making his own wife and sister-in-law acquainted with the business\r
+without delay; though, on Fanny's account, he almost dreaded the\r
+effect of the communication to Mrs. Norris as much as Fanny herself. He\r
+deprecated her mistaken but well-meaning zeal. Sir Thomas, indeed, was,\r
+by this time, not very far from classing Mrs. Norris as one of those\r
+well-meaning people who are always doing mistaken and very disagreeable\r
+things.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris, however, relieved him. He pressed for the strictest\r
+forbearance and silence towards their niece; she not only promised, but\r
+did observe it. She only looked her increased ill-will. Angry she was:\r
+bitterly angry; but she was more angry with Fanny for having received\r
+such an offer than for refusing it. It was an injury and affront to\r
+Julia, who ought to have been Mr. Crawford's choice; and, independently\r
+of that, she disliked Fanny, because she had neglected her; and she\r
+would have grudged such an elevation to one whom she had been always\r
+trying to depress.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas gave her more credit for discretion on the occasion than she\r
+deserved; and Fanny could have blessed her for allowing her only to see\r
+her displeasure, and not to hear it.\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram took it differently. She had been a beauty, and a\r
+prosperous beauty, all her life; and beauty and wealth were all that\r
+excited her respect. To know Fanny to be sought in marriage by a man of\r
+fortune, raised her, therefore, very much in her opinion. By convincing\r
+her that Fanny _was_ very pretty, which she had been doubting about\r
+before, and that she would be advantageously married, it made her feel a\r
+sort of credit in calling her niece.\r
+\r
+"Well, Fanny," said she, as soon as they were alone together afterwards,\r
+and she really had known something like impatience to be alone with her,\r
+and her countenance, as she spoke, had extraordinary animation; "Well,\r
+Fanny, I have had a very agreeable surprise this morning. I must just\r
+speak of it _once_, I told Sir Thomas I must _once_, and then I\r
+shall have done. I give you joy, my dear niece." And looking at her\r
+complacently, she added, "Humph, we certainly are a handsome family!"\r
+\r
+Fanny coloured, and doubted at first what to say; when, hoping to assail\r
+her on her vulnerable side, she presently answered--\r
+\r
+"My dear aunt, _you_ cannot wish me to do differently from what I have\r
+done, I am sure. _You_ cannot wish me to marry; for you would miss me,\r
+should not you? Yes, I am sure you would miss me too much for that."\r
+\r
+"No, my dear, I should not think of missing you, when such an offer as\r
+this comes in your way. I could do very well without you, if you were\r
+married to a man of such good estate as Mr. Crawford. And you must be\r
+aware, Fanny, that it is every young woman's duty to accept such a very\r
+unexceptionable offer as this."\r
+\r
+This was almost the only rule of conduct, the only piece of advice,\r
+which Fanny had ever received from her aunt in the course of eight years\r
+and a half. It silenced her. She felt how unprofitable contention would\r
+be. If her aunt's feelings were against her, nothing could be hoped from\r
+attacking her understanding. Lady Bertram was quite talkative.\r
+\r
+"I will tell you what, Fanny," said she, "I am sure he fell in love with\r
+you at the ball; I am sure the mischief was done that evening. You did\r
+look remarkably well. Everybody said so. Sir Thomas said so. And you\r
+know you had Chapman to help you to dress. I am very glad I sent\r
+Chapman to you. I shall tell Sir Thomas that I am sure it was done\r
+that evening." And still pursuing the same cheerful thoughts, she soon\r
+afterwards added, "And will tell you what, Fanny, which is more than I\r
+did for Maria: the next time Pug has a litter you shall have a puppy."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXIV\r
+\r
+Edmund had great things to hear on his return. Many surprises were\r
+awaiting him. The first that occurred was not least in interest: the\r
+appearance of Henry Crawford and his sister walking together through the\r
+village as he rode into it. He had concluded--he had meant them to be\r
+far distant. His absence had been extended beyond a fortnight purposely\r
+to avoid Miss Crawford. He was returning to Mansfield with spirits ready\r
+to feed on melancholy remembrances, and tender associations, when her\r
+own fair self was before him, leaning on her brother's arm, and he found\r
+himself receiving a welcome, unquestionably friendly, from the woman\r
+whom, two moments before, he had been thinking of as seventy miles off,\r
+and as farther, much farther, from him in inclination than any distance\r
+could express.\r
+\r
+Her reception of him was of a sort which he could not have hoped\r
+for, had he expected to see her. Coming as he did from such a purport\r
+fulfilled as had taken him away, he would have expected anything rather\r
+than a look of satisfaction, and words of simple, pleasant meaning.\r
+It was enough to set his heart in a glow, and to bring him home in the\r
+properest state for feeling the full value of the other joyful surprises\r
+at hand.\r
+\r
+William's promotion, with all its particulars, he was soon master of;\r
+and with such a secret provision of comfort within his own breast to\r
+help the joy, he found in it a source of most gratifying sensation and\r
+unvarying cheerfulness all dinner-time.\r
+\r
+After dinner, when he and his father were alone, he had Fanny's history;\r
+and then all the great events of the last fortnight, and the present\r
+situation of matters at Mansfield were known to him.\r
+\r
+Fanny suspected what was going on. They sat so much longer than usual in\r
+the dining-parlour, that she was sure they must be talking of her; and\r
+when tea at last brought them away, and she was to be seen by Edmund\r
+again, she felt dreadfully guilty. He came to her, sat down by her, took\r
+her hand, and pressed it kindly; and at that moment she thought that,\r
+but for the occupation and the scene which the tea-things afforded, she\r
+must have betrayed her emotion in some unpardonable excess.\r
+\r
+He was not intending, however, by such action, to be conveying to her\r
+that unqualified approbation and encouragement which her hopes drew\r
+from it. It was designed only to express his participation in all that\r
+interested her, and to tell her that he had been hearing what quickened\r
+every feeling of affection. He was, in fact, entirely on his father's\r
+side of the question. His surprise was not so great as his father's at\r
+her refusing Crawford, because, so far from supposing her to consider\r
+him with anything like a preference, he had always believed it to\r
+be rather the reverse, and could imagine her to be taken perfectly\r
+unprepared, but Sir Thomas could not regard the connexion as more\r
+desirable than he did. It had every recommendation to him; and while\r
+honouring her for what she had done under the influence of her present\r
+indifference, honouring her in rather stronger terms than Sir Thomas\r
+could quite echo, he was most earnest in hoping, and sanguine in\r
+believing, that it would be a match at last, and that, united by mutual\r
+affection, it would appear that their dispositions were as exactly\r
+fitted to make them blessed in each other, as he was now beginning\r
+seriously to consider them. Crawford had been too precipitate. He had\r
+not given her time to attach herself. He had begun at the wrong end.\r
+With such powers as his, however, and such a disposition as hers, Edmund\r
+trusted that everything would work out a happy conclusion. Meanwhile,\r
+he saw enough of Fanny's embarrassment to make him scrupulously guard\r
+against exciting it a second time, by any word, or look, or movement.\r
+\r
+Crawford called the next day, and on the score of Edmund's return, Sir\r
+Thomas felt himself more than licensed to ask him to stay dinner; it was\r
+really a necessary compliment. He staid of course, and Edmund had then\r
+ample opportunity for observing how he sped with Fanny, and what degree\r
+of immediate encouragement for him might be extracted from her manners;\r
+and it was so little, so very, very little--every chance, every\r
+possibility of it, resting upon her embarrassment only; if there was\r
+not hope in her confusion, there was hope in nothing else--that he was\r
+almost ready to wonder at his friend's perseverance. Fanny was worth it\r
+all; he held her to be worth every effort of patience, every exertion of\r
+mind, but he did not think he could have gone on himself with any woman\r
+breathing, without something more to warm his courage than his eyes\r
+could discern in hers. He was very willing to hope that Crawford saw\r
+clearer, and this was the most comfortable conclusion for his friend\r
+that he could come to from all that he observed to pass before, and at,\r
+and after dinner.\r
+\r
+In the evening a few circumstances occurred which he thought more\r
+promising. When he and Crawford walked into the drawing-room, his mother\r
+and Fanny were sitting as intently and silently at work as if there\r
+were nothing else to care for. Edmund could not help noticing their\r
+apparently deep tranquillity.\r
+\r
+"We have not been so silent all the time," replied his mother. "Fanny\r
+has been reading to me, and only put the book down upon hearing you\r
+coming." And sure enough there was a book on the table which had the air\r
+of being very recently closed: a volume of Shakespeare. "She often\r
+reads to me out of those books; and she was in the middle of a very\r
+fine speech of that man's--what's his name, Fanny?--when we heard your\r
+footsteps."\r
+\r
+Crawford took the volume. "Let me have the pleasure of finishing that\r
+speech to your ladyship," said he. "I shall find it immediately." And by\r
+carefully giving way to the inclination of the leaves, he did find it,\r
+or within a page or two, quite near enough to satisfy Lady Bertram, who\r
+assured him, as soon as he mentioned the name of Cardinal Wolsey, that\r
+he had got the very speech. Not a look or an offer of help had Fanny\r
+given; not a syllable for or against. All her attention was for her\r
+work. She seemed determined to be interested by nothing else. But taste\r
+was too strong in her. She could not abstract her mind five minutes: she\r
+was forced to listen; his reading was capital, and her pleasure in good\r
+reading extreme. To _good_ reading, however, she had been long used:\r
+her uncle read well, her cousins all, Edmund very well, but in Mr.\r
+Crawford's reading there was a variety of excellence beyond what she had\r
+ever met with. The King, the Queen, Buckingham, Wolsey, Cromwell, all\r
+were given in turn; for with the happiest knack, the happiest power of\r
+jumping and guessing, he could always alight at will on the best scene,\r
+or the best speeches of each; and whether it were dignity, or pride, or\r
+tenderness, or remorse, or whatever were to be expressed, he could do\r
+it with equal beauty. It was truly dramatic. His acting had first taught\r
+Fanny what pleasure a play might give, and his reading brought all his\r
+acting before her again; nay, perhaps with greater enjoyment, for it\r
+came unexpectedly, and with no such drawback as she had been used to\r
+suffer in seeing him on the stage with Miss Bertram.\r
+\r
+Edmund watched the progress of her attention, and was amused and\r
+gratified by seeing how she gradually slackened in the needlework, which\r
+at the beginning seemed to occupy her totally: how it fell from her hand\r
+while she sat motionless over it, and at last, how the eyes which had\r
+appeared so studiously to avoid him throughout the day were turned and\r
+fixed on Crawford--fixed on him for minutes, fixed on him, in short,\r
+till the attraction drew Crawford's upon her, and the book was closed,\r
+and the charm was broken. Then she was shrinking again into herself,\r
+and blushing and working as hard as ever; but it had been enough to give\r
+Edmund encouragement for his friend, and as he cordially thanked him, he\r
+hoped to be expressing Fanny's secret feelings too.\r
+\r
+"That play must be a favourite with you," said he; "you read as if you\r
+knew it well."\r
+\r
+"It will be a favourite, I believe, from this hour," replied Crawford;\r
+"but I do not think I have had a volume of Shakespeare in my hand before\r
+since I was fifteen. I once saw Henry the Eighth acted, or I have heard\r
+of it from somebody who did, I am not certain which. But Shakespeare\r
+one gets acquainted with without knowing how. It is a part of an\r
+Englishman's constitution. His thoughts and beauties are so spread\r
+abroad that one touches them everywhere; one is intimate with him by\r
+instinct. No man of any brain can open at a good part of one of his\r
+plays without falling into the flow of his meaning immediately."\r
+\r
+"No doubt one is familiar with Shakespeare in a degree," said Edmund,\r
+"from one's earliest years. His celebrated passages are quoted\r
+by everybody; they are in half the books we open, and we all talk\r
+Shakespeare, use his similes, and describe with his descriptions; but\r
+this is totally distinct from giving his sense as you gave it. To know\r
+him in bits and scraps is common enough; to know him pretty thoroughly\r
+is, perhaps, not uncommon; but to read him well aloud is no everyday\r
+talent."\r
+\r
+"Sir, you do me honour," was Crawford's answer, with a bow of mock\r
+gravity.\r
+\r
+Both gentlemen had a glance at Fanny, to see if a word of accordant\r
+praise could be extorted from her; yet both feeling that it could not\r
+be. Her praise had been given in her attention; _that_ must content\r
+them.\r
+\r
+Lady Bertram's admiration was expressed, and strongly too. "It was\r
+really like being at a play," said she. "I wish Sir Thomas had been\r
+here."\r
+\r
+Crawford was excessively pleased. If Lady Bertram, with all her\r
+incompetency and languor, could feel this, the inference of what her\r
+niece, alive and enlightened as she was, must feel, was elevating.\r
+\r
+"You have a great turn for acting, I am sure, Mr. Crawford," said her\r
+ladyship soon afterwards; "and I will tell you what, I think you will\r
+have a theatre, some time or other, at your house in Norfolk. I mean\r
+when you are settled there. I do indeed. I think you will fit up a\r
+theatre at your house in Norfolk."\r
+\r
+"Do you, ma'am?" cried he, with quickness. "No, no, that will never be.\r
+Your ladyship is quite mistaken. No theatre at Everingham! Oh no!" And\r
+he looked at Fanny with an expressive smile, which evidently meant,\r
+"That lady will never allow a theatre at Everingham."\r
+\r
+Edmund saw it all, and saw Fanny so determined _not_ to see it, as to\r
+make it clear that the voice was enough to convey the full meaning of\r
+the protestation; and such a quick consciousness of compliment, such a\r
+ready comprehension of a hint, he thought, was rather favourable than\r
+not.\r
+\r
+The subject of reading aloud was farther discussed. The two young men\r
+were the only talkers, but they, standing by the fire, talked over the\r
+too common neglect of the qualification, the total inattention to it,\r
+in the ordinary school-system for boys, the consequently natural, yet in\r
+some instances almost unnatural, degree of ignorance and uncouthness\r
+of men, of sensible and well-informed men, when suddenly called to the\r
+necessity of reading aloud, which had fallen within their notice, giving\r
+instances of blunders, and failures with their secondary causes, the\r
+want of management of the voice, of proper modulation and emphasis, of\r
+foresight and judgment, all proceeding from the first cause: want of\r
+early attention and habit; and Fanny was listening again with great\r
+entertainment.\r
+\r
+"Even in my profession," said Edmund, with a smile, "how little the\r
+art of reading has been studied! how little a clear manner, and good\r
+delivery, have been attended to! I speak rather of the past, however,\r
+than the present. There is now a spirit of improvement abroad; but among\r
+those who were ordained twenty, thirty, forty years ago, the larger\r
+number, to judge by their performance, must have thought reading was\r
+reading, and preaching was preaching. It is different now. The subject\r
+is more justly considered. It is felt that distinctness and energy may\r
+have weight in recommending the most solid truths; and besides, there is\r
+more general observation and taste, a more critical knowledge diffused\r
+than formerly; in every congregation there is a larger proportion who\r
+know a little of the matter, and who can judge and criticise."\r
+\r
+Edmund had already gone through the service once since his ordination;\r
+and upon this being understood, he had a variety of questions from\r
+Crawford as to his feelings and success; questions, which being made,\r
+though with the vivacity of friendly interest and quick taste, without\r
+any touch of that spirit of banter or air of levity which Edmund knew to\r
+be most offensive to Fanny, he had true pleasure in satisfying; and\r
+when Crawford proceeded to ask his opinion and give his own as to the\r
+properest manner in which particular passages in the service should be\r
+delivered, shewing it to be a subject on which he had thought before,\r
+and thought with judgment, Edmund was still more and more pleased. This\r
+would be the way to Fanny's heart. She was not to be won by all that\r
+gallantry and wit and good-nature together could do; or, at least,\r
+she would not be won by them nearly so soon, without the assistance of\r
+sentiment and feeling, and seriousness on serious subjects.\r
+\r
+"Our liturgy," observed Crawford, "has beauties, which not even a\r
+careless, slovenly style of reading can destroy; but it has also\r
+redundancies and repetitions which require good reading not to be felt.\r
+For myself, at least, I must confess being not always so attentive as I\r
+ought to be" (here was a glance at Fanny); "that nineteen times out of\r
+twenty I am thinking how such a prayer ought to be read, and longing to\r
+have it to read myself. Did you speak?" stepping eagerly to Fanny, and\r
+addressing her in a softened voice; and upon her saying "No," he added,\r
+"Are you sure you did not speak? I saw your lips move. I fancied you\r
+might be going to tell me I ought to be more attentive, and not _allow_\r
+my thoughts to wander. Are not you going to tell me so?"\r
+\r
+"No, indeed, you know your duty too well for me to--even supposing--"\r
+\r
+She stopt, felt herself getting into a puzzle, and could not be\r
+prevailed on to add another word, not by dint of several minutes of\r
+supplication and waiting. He then returned to his former station, and\r
+went on as if there had been no such tender interruption.\r
+\r
+"A sermon, well delivered, is more uncommon even than prayers well read.\r
+A sermon, good in itself, is no rare thing. It is more difficult\r
+to speak well than to compose well; that is, the rules and trick of\r
+composition are oftener an object of study. A thoroughly good sermon,\r
+thoroughly well delivered, is a capital gratification. I can never hear\r
+such a one without the greatest admiration and respect, and more than\r
+half a mind to take orders and preach myself. There is something in the\r
+eloquence of the pulpit, when it is really eloquence, which is entitled\r
+to the highest praise and honour. The preacher who can touch and affect\r
+such an heterogeneous mass of hearers, on subjects limited, and long\r
+worn threadbare in all common hands; who can say anything new or\r
+striking, anything that rouses the attention without offending the\r
+taste, or wearing out the feelings of his hearers, is a man whom one\r
+could not, in his public capacity, honour enough. I should like to be\r
+such a man."\r
+\r
+Edmund laughed.\r
+\r
+"I should indeed. I never listened to a distinguished preacher in my\r
+life without a sort of envy. But then, I must have a London audience.\r
+I could not preach but to the educated; to those who were capable of\r
+estimating my composition. And I do not know that I should be fond of\r
+preaching often; now and then, perhaps once or twice in the spring,\r
+after being anxiously expected for half a dozen Sundays together; but\r
+not for a constancy; it would not do for a constancy."\r
+\r
+Here Fanny, who could not but listen, involuntarily shook her head,\r
+and Crawford was instantly by her side again, entreating to know her\r
+meaning; and as Edmund perceived, by his drawing in a chair, and sitting\r
+down close by her, that it was to be a very thorough attack, that looks\r
+and undertones were to be well tried, he sank as quietly as possible\r
+into a corner, turned his back, and took up a newspaper, very sincerely\r
+wishing that dear little Fanny might be persuaded into explaining away\r
+that shake of the head to the satisfaction of her ardent lover; and as\r
+earnestly trying to bury every sound of the business from himself in\r
+murmurs of his own, over the various advertisements of "A most desirable\r
+Estate in South Wales"; "To Parents and Guardians"; and a "Capital\r
+season'd Hunter."\r
+\r
+Fanny, meanwhile, vexed with herself for not having been as motionless\r
+as she was speechless, and grieved to the heart to see Edmund's\r
+arrangements, was trying by everything in the power of her modest,\r
+gentle nature, to repulse Mr. Crawford, and avoid both his looks and\r
+inquiries; and he, unrepulsable, was persisting in both.\r
+\r
+"What did that shake of the head mean?" said he. "What was it meant to\r
+express? Disapprobation, I fear. But of what? What had I been saying\r
+to displease you? Did you think me speaking improperly, lightly,\r
+irreverently on the subject? Only tell me if I was. Only tell me if\r
+I was wrong. I want to be set right. Nay, nay, I entreat you; for one\r
+moment put down your work. What did that shake of the head mean?"\r
+\r
+In vain was her "Pray, sir, don't; pray, Mr. Crawford," repeated twice\r
+over; and in vain did she try to move away. In the same low, eager\r
+voice, and the same close neighbourhood, he went on, reurging the same\r
+questions as before. She grew more agitated and displeased.\r
+\r
+"How can you, sir? You quite astonish me; I wonder how you can--"\r
+\r
+"Do I astonish you?" said he. "Do you wonder? Is there anything in\r
+my present entreaty that you do not understand? I will explain to you\r
+instantly all that makes me urge you in this manner, all that gives me\r
+an interest in what you look and do, and excites my present curiosity. I\r
+will not leave you to wonder long."\r
+\r
+In spite of herself, she could not help half a smile, but she said\r
+nothing.\r
+\r
+"You shook your head at my acknowledging that I should not like to\r
+engage in the duties of a clergyman always for a constancy. Yes, that\r
+was the word. Constancy: I am not afraid of the word. I would spell it,\r
+read it, write it with anybody. I see nothing alarming in the word. Did\r
+you think I ought?"\r
+\r
+"Perhaps, sir," said Fanny, wearied at last into speaking--"perhaps,\r
+sir, I thought it was a pity you did not always know yourself as well as\r
+you seemed to do at that moment."\r
+\r
+Crawford, delighted to get her to speak at any rate, was determined\r
+to keep it up; and poor Fanny, who had hoped to silence him by such an\r
+extremity of reproof, found herself sadly mistaken, and that it was only\r
+a change from one object of curiosity and one set of words to another.\r
+He had always something to entreat the explanation of. The opportunity\r
+was too fair. None such had occurred since his seeing her in her uncle's\r
+room, none such might occur again before his leaving Mansfield. Lady\r
+Bertram's being just on the other side of the table was a trifle,\r
+for she might always be considered as only half-awake, and Edmund's\r
+advertisements were still of the first utility.\r
+\r
+"Well," said Crawford, after a course of rapid questions and reluctant\r
+answers; "I am happier than I was, because I now understand more clearly\r
+your opinion of me. You think me unsteady: easily swayed by the whim of\r
+the moment, easily tempted, easily put aside. With such an opinion, no\r
+wonder that. But we shall see. It is not by protestations that I shall\r
+endeavour to convince you I am wronged; it is not by telling you that my\r
+affections are steady. My conduct shall speak for me; absence, distance,\r
+time shall speak for me. _They_ shall prove that, as far as you can be\r
+deserved by anybody, I do deserve you. You are infinitely my superior\r
+in merit; all _that_ I know. You have qualities which I had not before\r
+supposed to exist in such a degree in any human creature. You have some\r
+touches of the angel in you beyond what--not merely beyond what one\r
+sees, because one never sees anything like it--but beyond what one\r
+fancies might be. But still I am not frightened. It is not by equality\r
+of merit that you can be won. That is out of the question. It is he\r
+who sees and worships your merit the strongest, who loves you most\r
+devotedly, that has the best right to a return. There I build my\r
+confidence. By that right I do and will deserve you; and when once\r
+convinced that my attachment is what I declare it, I know you too well\r
+not to entertain the warmest hopes. Yes, dearest, sweetest Fanny. Nay"\r
+(seeing her draw back displeased), "forgive me. Perhaps I have as yet\r
+no right; but by what other name can I call you? Do you suppose you are\r
+ever present to my imagination under any other? No, it is 'Fanny' that\r
+I think of all day, and dream of all night. You have given the name such\r
+reality of sweetness, that nothing else can now be descriptive of you."\r
+\r
+Fanny could hardly have kept her seat any longer, or have refrained from\r
+at least trying to get away in spite of all the too public opposition\r
+she foresaw to it, had it not been for the sound of approaching relief,\r
+the very sound which she had been long watching for, and long thinking\r
+strangely delayed.\r
+\r
+The solemn procession, headed by Baddeley, of tea-board, urn, and\r
+cake-bearers, made its appearance, and delivered her from a grievous\r
+imprisonment of body and mind. Mr. Crawford was obliged to move. She was\r
+at liberty, she was busy, she was protected.\r
+\r
+Edmund was not sorry to be admitted again among the number of those who\r
+might speak and hear. But though the conference had seemed full long to\r
+him, and though on looking at Fanny he saw rather a flush of vexation,\r
+he inclined to hope that so much could not have been said and listened\r
+to without some profit to the speaker.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXV\r
+\r
+Edmund had determined that it belonged entirely to Fanny to chuse\r
+whether her situation with regard to Crawford should be mentioned\r
+between them or not; and that if she did not lead the way, it should\r
+never be touched on by him; but after a day or two of mutual reserve, he\r
+was induced by his father to change his mind, and try what his influence\r
+might do for his friend.\r
+\r
+A day, and a very early day, was actually fixed for the Crawfords'\r
+departure; and Sir Thomas thought it might be as well to make one\r
+more effort for the young man before he left Mansfield, that all his\r
+professions and vows of unshaken attachment might have as much hope to\r
+sustain them as possible.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was most cordially anxious for the perfection of Mr.\r
+Crawford's character in that point. He wished him to be a model of\r
+constancy; and fancied the best means of effecting it would be by not\r
+trying him too long.\r
+\r
+Edmund was not unwilling to be persuaded to engage in the business; he\r
+wanted to know Fanny's feelings. She had been used to consult him in\r
+every difficulty, and he loved her too well to bear to be denied her\r
+confidence now; he hoped to be of service to her, he thought he must be\r
+of service to her; whom else had she to open her heart to? If she did\r
+not need counsel, she must need the comfort of communication. Fanny\r
+estranged from him, silent and reserved, was an unnatural state of\r
+things; a state which he must break through, and which he could easily\r
+learn to think she was wanting him to break through.\r
+\r
+"I will speak to her, sir: I will take the first opportunity of speaking\r
+to her alone," was the result of such thoughts as these; and upon Sir\r
+Thomas's information of her being at that very time walking alone in the\r
+shrubbery, he instantly joined her.\r
+\r
+"I am come to walk with you, Fanny," said he. "Shall I?" Drawing her\r
+arm within his. "It is a long while since we have had a comfortable walk\r
+together."\r
+\r
+She assented to it all rather by look than word. Her spirits were low.\r
+\r
+"But, Fanny," he presently added, "in order to have a comfortable walk,\r
+something more is necessary than merely pacing this gravel together. You\r
+must talk to me. I know you have something on your mind. I know what you\r
+are thinking of. You cannot suppose me uninformed. Am I to hear of it\r
+from everybody but Fanny herself?"\r
+\r
+Fanny, at once agitated and dejected, replied, "If you hear of it from\r
+everybody, cousin, there can be nothing for me to tell."\r
+\r
+"Not of facts, perhaps; but of feelings, Fanny. No one but you can tell\r
+me them. I do not mean to press you, however. If it is not what you wish\r
+yourself, I have done. I had thought it might be a relief."\r
+\r
+"I am afraid we think too differently for me to find any relief in\r
+talking of what I feel."\r
+\r
+"Do you suppose that we think differently? I have no idea of it. I dare\r
+say that, on a comparison of our opinions, they would be found as much\r
+alike as they have been used to be: to the point--I consider Crawford's\r
+proposals as most advantageous and desirable, if you could return his\r
+affection. I consider it as most natural that all your family should\r
+wish you could return it; but that, as you cannot, you have done exactly\r
+as you ought in refusing him. Can there be any disagreement between us\r
+here?"\r
+\r
+"Oh no! But I thought you blamed me. I thought you were against me. This\r
+is such a comfort!"\r
+\r
+"This comfort you might have had sooner, Fanny, had you sought it. But\r
+how could you possibly suppose me against you? How could you imagine me\r
+an advocate for marriage without love? Were I even careless in general\r
+on such matters, how could you imagine me so where your happiness was at\r
+stake?"\r
+\r
+"My uncle thought me wrong, and I knew he had been talking to you."\r
+\r
+"As far as you have gone, Fanny, I think you perfectly right. I may be\r
+sorry, I may be surprised--though hardly _that_, for you had not had\r
+time to attach yourself--but I think you perfectly right. Can it admit\r
+of a question? It is disgraceful to us if it does. You did not love him;\r
+nothing could have justified your accepting him."\r
+\r
+Fanny had not felt so comfortable for days and days.\r
+\r
+"So far your conduct has been faultless, and they were quite mistaken\r
+who wished you to do otherwise. But the matter does not end here.\r
+Crawford's is no common attachment; he perseveres, with the hope of\r
+creating that regard which had not been created before. This, we know,\r
+must be a work of time. But" (with an affectionate smile) "let him\r
+succeed at last, Fanny, let him succeed at last. You have proved\r
+yourself upright and disinterested, prove yourself grateful and\r
+tender-hearted; and then you will be the perfect model of a woman which\r
+I have always believed you born for."\r
+\r
+"Oh! never, never, never! he never will succeed with me." And she spoke\r
+with a warmth which quite astonished Edmund, and which she blushed at\r
+the recollection of herself, when she saw his look, and heard him\r
+reply, "Never! Fanny!--so very determined and positive! This is not like\r
+yourself, your rational self."\r
+\r
+"I mean," she cried, sorrowfully correcting herself, "that I _think_ I\r
+never shall, as far as the future can be answered for; I think I never\r
+shall return his regard."\r
+\r
+"I must hope better things. I am aware, more aware than Crawford can be,\r
+that the man who means to make you love him (you having due notice of\r
+his intentions) must have very uphill work, for there are all your early\r
+attachments and habits in battle array; and before he can get your heart\r
+for his own use he has to unfasten it from all the holds upon things\r
+animate and inanimate, which so many years' growth have confirmed, and\r
+which are considerably tightened for the moment by the very idea\r
+of separation. I know that the apprehension of being forced to quit\r
+Mansfield will for a time be arming you against him. I wish he had not\r
+been obliged to tell you what he was trying for. I wish he had known you\r
+as well as I do, Fanny. Between us, I think we should have won you. My\r
+theoretical and his practical knowledge together could not have failed.\r
+He should have worked upon my plans. I must hope, however, that time,\r
+proving him (as I firmly believe it will) to deserve you by his steady\r
+affection, will give him his reward. I cannot suppose that you have not\r
+the _wish_ to love him--the natural wish of gratitude. You must have\r
+some feeling of that sort. You must be sorry for your own indifference."\r
+\r
+"We are so totally unlike," said Fanny, avoiding a direct answer, "we\r
+are so very, very different in all our inclinations and ways, that\r
+I consider it as quite impossible we should ever be tolerably happy\r
+together, even if I _could_ like him. There never were two people more\r
+dissimilar. We have not one taste in common. We should be miserable."\r
+\r
+"You are mistaken, Fanny. The dissimilarity is not so strong. You are\r
+quite enough alike. You _have_ tastes in common. You have moral and\r
+literary tastes in common. You have both warm hearts and benevolent\r
+feelings; and, Fanny, who that heard him read, and saw you listen to\r
+Shakespeare the other night, will think you unfitted as companions? You\r
+forget yourself: there is a decided difference in your tempers, I allow.\r
+He is lively, you are serious; but so much the better: his spirits will\r
+support yours. It is your disposition to be easily dejected and to fancy\r
+difficulties greater than they are. His cheerfulness will counteract\r
+this. He sees difficulties nowhere: and his pleasantness and gaiety will\r
+be a constant support to you. Your being so far unlike, Fanny, does not\r
+in the smallest degree make against the probability of your happiness\r
+together: do not imagine it. I am myself convinced that it is rather a\r
+favourable circumstance. I am perfectly persuaded that the tempers\r
+had better be unlike: I mean unlike in the flow of the spirits, in\r
+the manners, in the inclination for much or little company, in the\r
+propensity to talk or to be silent, to be grave or to be gay. Some\r
+opposition here is, I am thoroughly convinced, friendly to matrimonial\r
+happiness. I exclude extremes, of course; and a very close resemblance\r
+in all those points would be the likeliest way to produce an extreme.\r
+A counteraction, gentle and continual, is the best safeguard of manners\r
+and conduct."\r
+\r
+Full well could Fanny guess where his thoughts were now: Miss Crawford's\r
+power was all returning. He had been speaking of her cheerfully from the\r
+hour of his coming home. His avoiding her was quite at an end. He had\r
+dined at the Parsonage only the preceding day.\r
+\r
+After leaving him to his happier thoughts for some minutes, Fanny,\r
+feeling it due to herself, returned to Mr. Crawford, and said, "It\r
+is not merely in _temper_ that I consider him as totally unsuited to\r
+myself; though, in _that_ respect, I think the difference between us too\r
+great, infinitely too great: his spirits often oppress me; but there is\r
+something in him which I object to still more. I must say, cousin, that\r
+I cannot approve his character. I have not thought well of him from the\r
+time of the play. I then saw him behaving, as it appeared to me, so\r
+very improperly and unfeelingly--I may speak of it now because it is all\r
+over--so improperly by poor Mr. Rushworth, not seeming to care how he\r
+exposed or hurt him, and paying attentions to my cousin Maria, which--in\r
+short, at the time of the play, I received an impression which will\r
+never be got over."\r
+\r
+"My dear Fanny," replied Edmund, scarcely hearing her to the end, "let\r
+us not, any of us, be judged by what we appeared at that period of\r
+general folly. The time of the play is a time which I hate to recollect.\r
+Maria was wrong, Crawford was wrong, we were all wrong together; but\r
+none so wrong as myself. Compared with me, all the rest were blameless.\r
+I was playing the fool with my eyes open."\r
+\r
+"As a bystander," said Fanny, "perhaps I saw more than you did; and I do\r
+think that Mr. Rushworth was sometimes very jealous."\r
+\r
+"Very possibly. No wonder. Nothing could be more improper than the whole\r
+business. I am shocked whenever I think that Maria could be capable of\r
+it; but, if she could undertake the part, we must not be surprised at\r
+the rest."\r
+\r
+"Before the play, I am much mistaken if _Julia_ did not think he was\r
+paying her attentions."\r
+\r
+"Julia! I have heard before from some one of his being in love with\r
+Julia; but I could never see anything of it. And, Fanny, though I hope I\r
+do justice to my sisters' good qualities, I think it very possible that\r
+they might, one or both, be more desirous of being admired by Crawford,\r
+and might shew that desire rather more unguardedly than was perfectly\r
+prudent. I can remember that they were evidently fond of his society;\r
+and with such encouragement, a man like Crawford, lively, and it may\r
+be, a little unthinking, might be led on to--there could be nothing very\r
+striking, because it is clear that he had no pretensions: his heart was\r
+reserved for you. And I must say, that its being for you has raised him\r
+inconceivably in my opinion. It does him the highest honour; it shews\r
+his proper estimation of the blessing of domestic happiness and pure\r
+attachment. It proves him unspoilt by his uncle. It proves him, in\r
+short, everything that I had been used to wish to believe him, and\r
+feared he was not."\r
+\r
+"I am persuaded that he does not think, as he ought, on serious\r
+subjects."\r
+\r
+"Say, rather, that he has not thought at all upon serious subjects,\r
+which I believe to be a good deal the case. How could it be otherwise,\r
+with such an education and adviser? Under the disadvantages, indeed,\r
+which both have had, is it not wonderful that they should be what they\r
+are? Crawford's _feelings_, I am ready to acknowledge, have hitherto\r
+been too much his guides. Happily, those feelings have generally been\r
+good. You will supply the rest; and a most fortunate man he is to attach\r
+himself to such a creature--to a woman who, firm as a rock in her own\r
+principles, has a gentleness of character so well adapted to recommend\r
+them. He has chosen his partner, indeed, with rare felicity. He will\r
+make you happy, Fanny; I know he will make you happy; but you will make\r
+him everything."\r
+\r
+"I would not engage in such a charge," cried Fanny, in a shrinking\r
+accent; "in such an office of high responsibility!"\r
+\r
+"As usual, believing yourself unequal to anything! fancying everything\r
+too much for you! Well, though I may not be able to persuade you into\r
+different feelings, you will be persuaded into them, I trust. I confess\r
+myself sincerely anxious that you may. I have no common interest in\r
+Crawford's well-doing. Next to your happiness, Fanny, his has the first\r
+claim on me. You are aware of my having no common interest in Crawford."\r
+\r
+Fanny was too well aware of it to have anything to say; and they walked\r
+on together some fifty yards in mutual silence and abstraction. Edmund\r
+first began again--\r
+\r
+"I was very much pleased by her manner of speaking of it yesterday,\r
+particularly pleased, because I had not depended upon her seeing\r
+everything in so just a light. I knew she was very fond of you; but yet\r
+I was afraid of her not estimating your worth to her brother quite as\r
+it deserved, and of her regretting that he had not rather fixed on\r
+some woman of distinction or fortune. I was afraid of the bias of those\r
+worldly maxims, which she has been too much used to hear. But it was\r
+very different. She spoke of you, Fanny, just as she ought. She desires\r
+the connexion as warmly as your uncle or myself. We had a long talk\r
+about it. I should not have mentioned the subject, though very anxious\r
+to know her sentiments; but I had not been in the room five minutes\r
+before she began introducing it with all that openness of heart, and\r
+sweet peculiarity of manner, that spirit and ingenuousness which are so\r
+much a part of herself. Mrs. Grant laughed at her for her rapidity."\r
+\r
+"Was Mrs. Grant in the room, then?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, when I reached the house I found the two sisters together by\r
+themselves; and when once we had begun, we had not done with you, Fanny,\r
+till Crawford and Dr. Grant came in."\r
+\r
+"It is above a week since I saw Miss Crawford."\r
+\r
+"Yes, she laments it; yet owns it may have been best. You will see her,\r
+however, before she goes. She is very angry with you, Fanny; you must be\r
+prepared for that. She calls herself very angry, but you can imagine her\r
+anger. It is the regret and disappointment of a sister, who thinks her\r
+brother has a right to everything he may wish for, at the first moment.\r
+She is hurt, as you would be for William; but she loves and esteems you\r
+with all her heart."\r
+\r
+"I knew she would be very angry with me."\r
+\r
+"My dearest Fanny," cried Edmund, pressing her arm closer to him, "do\r
+not let the idea of her anger distress you. It is anger to be talked\r
+of rather than felt. Her heart is made for love and kindness, not for\r
+resentment. I wish you could have overheard her tribute of praise;\r
+I wish you could have seen her countenance, when she said that you\r
+_should_ be Henry's wife. And I observed that she always spoke of you\r
+as 'Fanny,' which she was never used to do; and it had a sound of most\r
+sisterly cordiality."\r
+\r
+"And Mrs. Grant, did she say--did she speak; was she there all the\r
+time?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, she was agreeing exactly with her sister. The surprise of your\r
+refusal, Fanny, seems to have been unbounded. That you could refuse such\r
+a man as Henry Crawford seems more than they can understand. I said what\r
+I could for you; but in good truth, as they stated the case--you must\r
+prove yourself to be in your senses as soon as you can by a different\r
+conduct; nothing else will satisfy them. But this is teasing you. I have\r
+done. Do not turn away from me."\r
+\r
+"I _should_ have thought," said Fanny, after a pause of recollection and\r
+exertion, "that every woman must have felt the possibility of a man's\r
+not being approved, not being loved by some one of her sex at least, let\r
+him be ever so generally agreeable. Let him have all the perfections\r
+in the world, I think it ought not to be set down as certain that a man\r
+must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself. But,\r
+even supposing it is so, allowing Mr. Crawford to have all the claims\r
+which his sisters think he has, how was I to be prepared to meet him\r
+with any feeling answerable to his own? He took me wholly by surprise.\r
+I had not an idea that his behaviour to me before had any meaning; and\r
+surely I was not to be teaching myself to like him only because he was\r
+taking what seemed very idle notice of me. In my situation, it would\r
+have been the extreme of vanity to be forming expectations on Mr.\r
+Crawford. I am sure his sisters, rating him as they do, must have\r
+thought it so, supposing he had meant nothing. How, then, was I to\r
+be--to be in love with him the moment he said he was with me? How was I\r
+to have an attachment at his service, as soon as it was asked for? His\r
+sisters should consider me as well as him. The higher his deserts, the\r
+more improper for me ever to have thought of him. And, and--we think\r
+very differently of the nature of women, if they can imagine a woman so\r
+very soon capable of returning an affection as this seems to imply."\r
+\r
+"My dear, dear Fanny, now I have the truth. I know this to be the truth;\r
+and most worthy of you are such feelings. I had attributed them to you\r
+before. I thought I could understand you. You have now given exactly\r
+the explanation which I ventured to make for you to your friend and Mrs.\r
+Grant, and they were both better satisfied, though your warm-hearted\r
+friend was still run away with a little by the enthusiasm of her\r
+fondness for Henry. I told them that you were of all human creatures the\r
+one over whom habit had most power and novelty least; and that the very\r
+circumstance of the novelty of Crawford's addresses was against him.\r
+Their being so new and so recent was all in their disfavour; that you\r
+could tolerate nothing that you were not used to; and a great deal more\r
+to the same purpose, to give them a knowledge of your character. Miss\r
+Crawford made us laugh by her plans of encouragement for her brother.\r
+She meant to urge him to persevere in the hope of being loved in time,\r
+and of having his addresses most kindly received at the end of about ten\r
+years' happy marriage."\r
+\r
+Fanny could with difficulty give the smile that was here asked for. Her\r
+feelings were all in revolt. She feared she had been doing wrong: saying\r
+too much, overacting the caution which she had been fancying necessary;\r
+in guarding against one evil, laying herself open to another; and to\r
+have Miss Crawford's liveliness repeated to her at such a moment, and on\r
+such a subject, was a bitter aggravation.\r
+\r
+Edmund saw weariness and distress in her face, and immediately resolved\r
+to forbear all farther discussion; and not even to mention the name\r
+of Crawford again, except as it might be connected with what _must_ be\r
+agreeable to her. On this principle, he soon afterwards observed--"They\r
+go on Monday. You are sure, therefore, of seeing your friend either\r
+to-morrow or Sunday. They really go on Monday; and I was within a trifle\r
+of being persuaded to stay at Lessingby till that very day! I had almost\r
+promised it. What a difference it might have made! Those five or six\r
+days more at Lessingby might have been felt all my life."\r
+\r
+"You were near staying there?"\r
+\r
+"Very. I was most kindly pressed, and had nearly consented. Had I\r
+received any letter from Mansfield, to tell me how you were all going\r
+on, I believe I should certainly have staid; but I knew nothing that\r
+had happened here for a fortnight, and felt that I had been away long\r
+enough."\r
+\r
+"You spent your time pleasantly there?"\r
+\r
+"Yes; that is, it was the fault of my own mind if I did not. They were\r
+all very pleasant. I doubt their finding me so. I took uneasiness with\r
+me, and there was no getting rid of it till I was in Mansfield again."\r
+\r
+"The Miss Owens--you liked them, did not you?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, very well. Pleasant, good-humoured, unaffected girls. But I am\r
+spoilt, Fanny, for common female society. Good-humoured, unaffected\r
+girls will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women. They\r
+are two distinct orders of being. You and Miss Crawford have made me too\r
+nice."\r
+\r
+Still, however, Fanny was oppressed and wearied; he saw it in her looks,\r
+it could not be talked away; and attempting it no more, he led her\r
+directly, with the kind authority of a privileged guardian, into the\r
+house.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXVI\r
+\r
+Edmund now believed himself perfectly acquainted with all that Fanny\r
+could tell, or could leave to be conjectured of her sentiments, and he\r
+was satisfied. It had been, as he before presumed, too hasty a measure\r
+on Crawford's side, and time must be given to make the idea first\r
+familiar, and then agreeable to her. She must be used to the\r
+consideration of his being in love with her, and then a return of\r
+affection might not be very distant.\r
+\r
+He gave this opinion as the result of the conversation to his father;\r
+and recommended there being nothing more said to her: no farther\r
+attempts to influence or persuade; but that everything should be left to\r
+Crawford's assiduities, and the natural workings of her own mind.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas promised that it should be so. Edmund's account of Fanny's\r
+disposition he could believe to be just; he supposed she had all those\r
+feelings, but he must consider it as very unfortunate that she _had_;\r
+for, less willing than his son to trust to the future, he could not\r
+help fearing that if such very long allowances of time and habit were\r
+necessary for her, she might not have persuaded herself into receiving\r
+his addresses properly before the young man's inclination for paying\r
+them were over. There was nothing to be done, however, but to submit\r
+quietly and hope the best.\r
+\r
+The promised visit from "her friend," as Edmund called Miss Crawford,\r
+was a formidable threat to Fanny, and she lived in continual terror of\r
+it. As a sister, so partial and so angry, and so little scrupulous of\r
+what she said, and in another light so triumphant and secure, she was in\r
+every way an object of painful alarm. Her displeasure, her penetration,\r
+and her happiness were all fearful to encounter; and the dependence of\r
+having others present when they met was Fanny's only support in looking\r
+forward to it. She absented herself as little as possible from Lady\r
+Bertram, kept away from the East room, and took no solitary walk in the\r
+shrubbery, in her caution to avoid any sudden attack.\r
+\r
+She succeeded. She was safe in the breakfast-room, with her aunt, when\r
+Miss Crawford did come; and the first misery over, and Miss Crawford\r
+looking and speaking with much less particularity of expression than she\r
+had anticipated, Fanny began to hope there would be nothing worse to be\r
+endured than a half-hour of moderate agitation. But here she hoped too\r
+much; Miss Crawford was not the slave of opportunity. She was determined\r
+to see Fanny alone, and therefore said to her tolerably soon, in a low\r
+voice, "I must speak to you for a few minutes somewhere"; words that\r
+Fanny felt all over her, in all her pulses and all her nerves. Denial\r
+was impossible. Her habits of ready submission, on the contrary, made\r
+her almost instantly rise and lead the way out of the room. She did it\r
+with wretched feelings, but it was inevitable.\r
+\r
+They were no sooner in the hall than all restraint of countenance was\r
+over on Miss Crawford's side. She immediately shook her head at Fanny\r
+with arch, yet affectionate reproach, and taking her hand, seemed hardly\r
+able to help beginning directly. She said nothing, however, but, "Sad,\r
+sad girl! I do not know when I shall have done scolding you," and had\r
+discretion enough to reserve the rest till they might be secure of\r
+having four walls to themselves. Fanny naturally turned upstairs, and\r
+took her guest to the apartment which was now always fit for comfortable\r
+use; opening the door, however, with a most aching heart, and feeling\r
+that she had a more distressing scene before her than ever that spot had\r
+yet witnessed. But the evil ready to burst on her was at least delayed\r
+by the sudden change in Miss Crawford's ideas; by the strong effect on\r
+her mind which the finding herself in the East room again produced.\r
+\r
+"Ha!" she cried, with instant animation, "am I here again? The East\r
+room! Once only was I in this room before"; and after stopping to look\r
+about her, and seemingly to retrace all that had then passed, she added,\r
+"Once only before. Do you remember it? I came to rehearse. Your cousin\r
+came too; and we had a rehearsal. You were our audience and prompter.\r
+A delightful rehearsal. I shall never forget it. Here we were, just in\r
+this part of the room: here was your cousin, here was I, here were the\r
+chairs. Oh! why will such things ever pass away?"\r
+\r
+Happily for her companion, she wanted no answer. Her mind was entirely\r
+self-engrossed. She was in a reverie of sweet remembrances.\r
+\r
+"The scene we were rehearsing was so very remarkable! The subject of\r
+it so very--very--what shall I say? He was to be describing and\r
+recommending matrimony to me. I think I see him now, trying to be as\r
+demure and composed as Anhalt ought, through the two long speeches.\r
+'When two sympathetic hearts meet in the marriage state, matrimony\r
+may be called a happy life.' I suppose no time can ever wear out the\r
+impression I have of his looks and voice as he said those words. It was\r
+curious, very curious, that we should have such a scene to play! If I\r
+had the power of recalling any one week of my existence, it should be\r
+that week--that acting week. Say what you would, Fanny, it should be\r
+_that_; for I never knew such exquisite happiness in any other. His\r
+sturdy spirit to bend as it did! Oh! it was sweet beyond expression. But\r
+alas, that very evening destroyed it all. That very evening brought your\r
+most unwelcome uncle. Poor Sir Thomas, who was glad to see you? Yet,\r
+Fanny, do not imagine I would now speak disrespectfully of Sir Thomas,\r
+though I certainly did hate him for many a week. No, I do him justice\r
+now. He is just what the head of such a family should be. Nay, in sober\r
+sadness, I believe I now love you all." And having said so, with a\r
+degree of tenderness and consciousness which Fanny had never seen in her\r
+before, and now thought only too becoming, she turned away for a moment\r
+to recover herself. "I have had a little fit since I came into this\r
+room, as you may perceive," said she presently, with a playful smile,\r
+"but it is over now; so let us sit down and be comfortable; for as to\r
+scolding you, Fanny, which I came fully intending to do, I have not\r
+the heart for it when it comes to the point." And embracing her very\r
+affectionately, "Good, gentle Fanny! when I think of this being the\r
+last time of seeing you for I do not know how long, I feel it quite\r
+impossible to do anything but love you."\r
+\r
+Fanny was affected. She had not foreseen anything of this, and her\r
+feelings could seldom withstand the melancholy influence of the word\r
+"last." She cried as if she had loved Miss Crawford more than she\r
+possibly could; and Miss Crawford, yet farther softened by the sight of\r
+such emotion, hung about her with fondness, and said, "I hate to leave\r
+you. I shall see no one half so amiable where I am going. Who says we\r
+shall not be sisters? I know we shall. I feel that we are born to\r
+be connected; and those tears convince me that you feel it too, dear\r
+Fanny."\r
+\r
+Fanny roused herself, and replying only in part, said, "But you are\r
+only going from one set of friends to another. You are going to a very\r
+particular friend."\r
+\r
+"Yes, very true. Mrs. Fraser has been my intimate friend for years. But\r
+I have not the least inclination to go near her. I can think only of the\r
+friends I am leaving: my excellent sister, yourself, and the Bertrams in\r
+general. You have all so much more _heart_ among you than one finds in\r
+the world at large. You all give me a feeling of being able to trust and\r
+confide in you, which in common intercourse one knows nothing of. I wish\r
+I had settled with Mrs. Fraser not to go to her till after Easter, a\r
+much better time for the visit, but now I cannot put her off. And when\r
+I have done with her I must go to her sister, Lady Stornaway, because\r
+_she_ was rather my most particular friend of the two, but I have not\r
+cared much for _her_ these three years."\r
+\r
+After this speech the two girls sat many minutes silent, each\r
+thoughtful: Fanny meditating on the different sorts of friendship in the\r
+world, Mary on something of less philosophic tendency. _She_ first spoke\r
+again.\r
+\r
+"How perfectly I remember my resolving to look for you upstairs, and\r
+setting off to find my way to the East room, without having an idea\r
+whereabouts it was! How well I remember what I was thinking of as I came\r
+along, and my looking in and seeing you here sitting at this table at\r
+work; and then your cousin's astonishment, when he opened the door, at\r
+seeing me here! To be sure, your uncle's returning that very evening!\r
+There never was anything quite like it."\r
+\r
+Another short fit of abstraction followed, when, shaking it off, she\r
+thus attacked her companion.\r
+\r
+"Why, Fanny, you are absolutely in a reverie. Thinking, I hope, of one\r
+who is always thinking of you. Oh! that I could transport you for a\r
+short time into our circle in town, that you might understand how your\r
+power over Henry is thought of there! Oh! the envyings and heartburnings\r
+of dozens and dozens; the wonder, the incredulity that will be felt at\r
+hearing what you have done! For as to secrecy, Henry is quite the hero\r
+of an old romance, and glories in his chains. You should come to London\r
+to know how to estimate your conquest. If you were to see how he is\r
+courted, and how I am courted for his sake! Now, I am well aware that\r
+I shall not be half so welcome to Mrs. Fraser in consequence of his\r
+situation with you. When she comes to know the truth she will, very\r
+likely, wish me in Northamptonshire again; for there is a daughter of\r
+Mr. Fraser, by a first wife, whom she is wild to get married, and\r
+wants Henry to take. Oh! she has been trying for him to such a degree.\r
+Innocent and quiet as you sit here, you cannot have an idea of the\r
+_sensation_ that you will be occasioning, of the curiosity there will\r
+be to see you, of the endless questions I shall have to answer! Poor\r
+Margaret Fraser will be at me for ever about your eyes and your teeth,\r
+and how you do your hair, and who makes your shoes. I wish Margaret were\r
+married, for my poor friend's sake, for I look upon the Frasers to be\r
+about as unhappy as most other married people. And yet it was a most\r
+desirable match for Janet at the time. We were all delighted. She could\r
+not do otherwise than accept him, for he was rich, and she had nothing;\r
+but he turns out ill-tempered and _exigeant_, and wants a young woman,\r
+a beautiful young woman of five-and-twenty, to be as steady as himself.\r
+And my friend does not manage him well; she does not seem to know how\r
+to make the best of it. There is a spirit of irritation which, to say\r
+nothing worse, is certainly very ill-bred. In their house I shall call\r
+to mind the conjugal manners of Mansfield Parsonage with respect. Even\r
+Dr. Grant does shew a thorough confidence in my sister, and a certain\r
+consideration for her judgment, which makes one feel there _is_\r
+attachment; but of that I shall see nothing with the Frasers. I shall\r
+be at Mansfield for ever, Fanny. My own sister as a wife, Sir Thomas\r
+Bertram as a husband, are my standards of perfection. Poor Janet has\r
+been sadly taken in, and yet there was nothing improper on her side:\r
+she did not run into the match inconsiderately; there was no want of\r
+foresight. She took three days to consider of his proposals, and during\r
+those three days asked the advice of everybody connected with her whose\r
+opinion was worth having, and especially applied to my late dear aunt,\r
+whose knowledge of the world made her judgment very generally and\r
+deservedly looked up to by all the young people of her acquaintance, and\r
+she was decidedly in favour of Mr. Fraser. This seems as if nothing were\r
+a security for matrimonial comfort. I have not so much to say for my\r
+friend Flora, who jilted a very nice young man in the Blues for the sake\r
+of that horrid Lord Stornaway, who has about as much sense, Fanny, as\r
+Mr. Rushworth, but much worse-looking, and with a blackguard character.\r
+I _had_ my doubts at the time about her being right, for he has not even\r
+the air of a gentleman, and now I am sure she was wrong. By the bye,\r
+Flora Ross was dying for Henry the first winter she came out. But were I\r
+to attempt to tell you of all the women whom I have known to be in love\r
+with him, I should never have done. It is you, only you, insensible\r
+Fanny, who can think of him with anything like indifference. But are you\r
+so insensible as you profess yourself? No, no, I see you are not."\r
+\r
+There was, indeed, so deep a blush over Fanny's face at that moment as\r
+might warrant strong suspicion in a predisposed mind.\r
+\r
+"Excellent creature! I will not tease you. Everything shall take its\r
+course. But, dear Fanny, you must allow that you were not so absolutely\r
+unprepared to have the question asked as your cousin fancies. It is not\r
+possible but that you must have had some thoughts on the subject, some\r
+surmises as to what might be. You must have seen that he was trying to\r
+please you by every attention in his power. Was not he devoted to you\r
+at the ball? And then before the ball, the necklace! Oh! you received\r
+it just as it was meant. You were as conscious as heart could desire. I\r
+remember it perfectly."\r
+\r
+"Do you mean, then, that your brother knew of the necklace beforehand?\r
+Oh! Miss Crawford, _that_ was not fair."\r
+\r
+"Knew of it! It was his own doing entirely, his own thought. I am\r
+ashamed to say that it had never entered my head, but I was delighted to\r
+act on his proposal for both your sakes."\r
+\r
+"I will not say," replied Fanny, "that I was not half afraid at the time\r
+of its being so, for there was something in your look that frightened\r
+me, but not at first; I was as unsuspicious of it at first--indeed,\r
+indeed I was. It is as true as that I sit here. And had I had an idea\r
+of it, nothing should have induced me to accept the necklace. As to your\r
+brother's behaviour, certainly I was sensible of a particularity: I had\r
+been sensible of it some little time, perhaps two or three weeks; but\r
+then I considered it as meaning nothing: I put it down as simply being\r
+his way, and was as far from supposing as from wishing him to have any\r
+serious thoughts of me. I had not, Miss Crawford, been an inattentive\r
+observer of what was passing between him and some part of this family in\r
+the summer and autumn. I was quiet, but I was not blind. I could not\r
+but see that Mr. Crawford allowed himself in gallantries which did mean\r
+nothing."\r
+\r
+"Ah! I cannot deny it. He has now and then been a sad flirt, and\r
+cared very little for the havoc he might be making in young ladies'\r
+affections. I have often scolded him for it, but it is his only fault;\r
+and there is this to be said, that very few young ladies have any\r
+affections worth caring for. And then, Fanny, the glory of fixing one\r
+who has been shot at by so many; of having it in one's power to pay off\r
+the debts of one's sex! Oh! I am sure it is not in woman's nature to\r
+refuse such a triumph."\r
+\r
+Fanny shook her head. "I cannot think well of a man who sports with any\r
+woman's feelings; and there may often be a great deal more suffered than\r
+a stander-by can judge of."\r
+\r
+"I do not defend him. I leave him entirely to your mercy, and when he\r
+has got you at Everingham, I do not care how much you lecture him. But\r
+this I will say, that his fault, the liking to make girls a little\r
+in love with him, is not half so dangerous to a wife's happiness as a\r
+tendency to fall in love himself, which he has never been addicted to.\r
+And I do seriously and truly believe that he is attached to you in a way\r
+that he never was to any woman before; that he loves you with all his\r
+heart, and will love you as nearly for ever as possible. If any man ever\r
+loved a woman for ever, I think Henry will do as much for you."\r
+\r
+Fanny could not avoid a faint smile, but had nothing to say.\r
+\r
+"I cannot imagine Henry ever to have been happier," continued Mary\r
+presently, "than when he had succeeded in getting your brother's\r
+commission."\r
+\r
+She had made a sure push at Fanny's feelings here.\r
+\r
+"Oh! yes. How very, very kind of him."\r
+\r
+"I know he must have exerted himself very much, for I know the parties\r
+he had to move. The Admiral hates trouble, and scorns asking favours;\r
+and there are so many young men's claims to be attended to in the same\r
+way, that a friendship and energy, not very determined, is easily put\r
+by. What a happy creature William must be! I wish we could see him."\r
+\r
+Poor Fanny's mind was thrown into the most distressing of all its\r
+varieties. The recollection of what had been done for William was always\r
+the most powerful disturber of every decision against Mr. Crawford; and\r
+she sat thinking deeply of it till Mary, who had been first watching\r
+her complacently, and then musing on something else, suddenly called\r
+her attention by saying: "I should like to sit talking with you here all\r
+day, but we must not forget the ladies below, and so good-bye, my dear,\r
+my amiable, my excellent Fanny, for though we shall nominally part in\r
+the breakfast-parlour, I must take leave of you here. And I do take\r
+leave, longing for a happy reunion, and trusting that when we meet\r
+again, it will be under circumstances which may open our hearts to each\r
+other without any remnant or shadow of reserve."\r
+\r
+A very, very kind embrace, and some agitation of manner, accompanied\r
+these words.\r
+\r
+"I shall see your cousin in town soon: he talks of being there tolerably\r
+soon; and Sir Thomas, I dare say, in the course of the spring; and your\r
+eldest cousin, and the Rushworths, and Julia, I am sure of meeting again\r
+and again, and all but you. I have two favours to ask, Fanny: one is\r
+your correspondence. You must write to me. And the other, that you will\r
+often call on Mrs. Grant, and make her amends for my being gone."\r
+\r
+The first, at least, of these favours Fanny would rather not have been\r
+asked; but it was impossible for her to refuse the correspondence; it\r
+was impossible for her even not to accede to it more readily than\r
+her own judgment authorised. There was no resisting so much apparent\r
+affection. Her disposition was peculiarly calculated to value a fond\r
+treatment, and from having hitherto known so little of it, she was the\r
+more overcome by Miss Crawford's. Besides, there was gratitude towards\r
+her, for having made their _tete-a-tete_ so much less painful than her\r
+fears had predicted.\r
+\r
+It was over, and she had escaped without reproaches and without\r
+detection. Her secret was still her own; and while that was the case,\r
+she thought she could resign herself to almost everything.\r
+\r
+In the evening there was another parting. Henry Crawford came and\r
+sat some time with them; and her spirits not being previously in the\r
+strongest state, her heart was softened for a while towards him, because\r
+he really seemed to feel. Quite unlike his usual self, he scarcely said\r
+anything. He was evidently oppressed, and Fanny must grieve for him,\r
+though hoping she might never see him again till he were the husband of\r
+some other woman.\r
+\r
+When it came to the moment of parting, he would take her hand, he would\r
+not be denied it; he said nothing, however, or nothing that she heard,\r
+and when he had left the room, she was better pleased that such a token\r
+of friendship had passed.\r
+\r
+On the morrow the Crawfords were gone.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXVII\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford gone, Sir Thomas's next object was that he should be\r
+missed; and he entertained great hope that his niece would find a blank\r
+in the loss of those attentions which at the time she had felt, or\r
+fancied, an evil. She had tasted of consequence in its most flattering\r
+form; and he did hope that the loss of it, the sinking again into\r
+nothing, would awaken very wholesome regrets in her mind. He watched her\r
+with this idea; but he could hardly tell with what success. He hardly\r
+knew whether there were any difference in her spirits or not. She\r
+was always so gentle and retiring that her emotions were beyond his\r
+discrimination. He did not understand her: he felt that he did not; and\r
+therefore applied to Edmund to tell him how she stood affected on the\r
+present occasion, and whether she were more or less happy than she had\r
+been.\r
+\r
+Edmund did not discern any symptoms of regret, and thought his father\r
+a little unreasonable in supposing the first three or four days could\r
+produce any.\r
+\r
+What chiefly surprised Edmund was, that Crawford's sister, the friend\r
+and companion who had been so much to her, should not be more visibly\r
+regretted. He wondered that Fanny spoke so seldom of _her_, and had so\r
+little voluntarily to say of her concern at this separation.\r
+\r
+Alas! it was this sister, this friend and companion, who was now the\r
+chief bane of Fanny's comfort. If she could have believed Mary's future\r
+fate as unconnected with Mansfield as she was determined the brother's\r
+should be, if she could have hoped her return thither to be as distant\r
+as she was much inclined to think his, she would have been light of\r
+heart indeed; but the more she recollected and observed, the more deeply\r
+was she convinced that everything was now in a fairer train for Miss\r
+Crawford's marrying Edmund than it had ever been before. On his side the\r
+inclination was stronger, on hers less equivocal. His objections, the\r
+scruples of his integrity, seemed all done away, nobody could tell\r
+how; and the doubts and hesitations of her ambition were equally got\r
+over--and equally without apparent reason. It could only be imputed to\r
+increasing attachment. His good and her bad feelings yielded to love,\r
+and such love must unite them. He was to go to town as soon as some\r
+business relative to Thornton Lacey were completed--perhaps within a\r
+fortnight; he talked of going, he loved to talk of it; and when once\r
+with her again, Fanny could not doubt the rest. Her acceptance must be\r
+as certain as his offer; and yet there were bad feelings still remaining\r
+which made the prospect of it most sorrowful to her, independently, she\r
+believed, independently of self.\r
+\r
+In their very last conversation, Miss Crawford, in spite of some amiable\r
+sensations, and much personal kindness, had still been Miss Crawford;\r
+still shewn a mind led astray and bewildered, and without any suspicion\r
+of being so; darkened, yet fancying itself light. She might love, but\r
+she did not deserve Edmund by any other sentiment. Fanny believed there\r
+was scarcely a second feeling in common between them; and she may be\r
+forgiven by older sages for looking on the chance of Miss Crawford's\r
+future improvement as nearly desperate, for thinking that if Edmund's\r
+influence in this season of love had already done so little in clearing\r
+her judgment, and regulating her notions, his worth would be finally\r
+wasted on her even in years of matrimony.\r
+\r
+Experience might have hoped more for any young people so circumstanced,\r
+and impartiality would not have denied to Miss Crawford's nature that\r
+participation of the general nature of women which would lead her to\r
+adopt the opinions of the man she loved and respected as her own. But\r
+as such were Fanny's persuasions, she suffered very much from them, and\r
+could never speak of Miss Crawford without pain.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, meanwhile, went on with his own hopes and his own\r
+observations, still feeling a right, by all his knowledge of human\r
+nature, to expect to see the effect of the loss of power and consequence\r
+on his niece's spirits, and the past attentions of the lover producing a\r
+craving for their return; and he was soon afterwards able to account for\r
+his not yet completely and indubitably seeing all this, by the prospect\r
+of another visitor, whose approach he could allow to be quite enough to\r
+support the spirits he was watching. William had obtained a ten days'\r
+leave of absence, to be given to Northamptonshire, and was coming, the\r
+happiest of lieutenants, because the latest made, to shew his happiness\r
+and describe his uniform.\r
+\r
+He came; and he would have been delighted to shew his uniform there too,\r
+had not cruel custom prohibited its appearance except on duty. So the\r
+uniform remained at Portsmouth, and Edmund conjectured that before Fanny\r
+had any chance of seeing it, all its own freshness and all the freshness\r
+of its wearer's feelings must be worn away. It would be sunk into a\r
+badge of disgrace; for what can be more unbecoming, or more worthless,\r
+than the uniform of a lieutenant, who has been a lieutenant a year or\r
+two, and sees others made commanders before him? So reasoned Edmund,\r
+till his father made him the confidant of a scheme which placed Fanny's\r
+chance of seeing the second lieutenant of H.M.S. Thrush in all his glory\r
+in another light.\r
+\r
+This scheme was that she should accompany her brother back to\r
+Portsmouth, and spend a little time with her own family. It had occurred\r
+to Sir Thomas, in one of his dignified musings, as a right and desirable\r
+measure; but before he absolutely made up his mind, he consulted his\r
+son. Edmund considered it every way, and saw nothing but what was right.\r
+The thing was good in itself, and could not be done at a better time;\r
+and he had no doubt of it being highly agreeable to Fanny. This was\r
+enough to determine Sir Thomas; and a decisive "then so it shall be"\r
+closed that stage of the business; Sir Thomas retiring from it with some\r
+feelings of satisfaction, and views of good over and above what he had\r
+communicated to his son; for his prime motive in sending her away had\r
+very little to do with the propriety of her seeing her parents again,\r
+and nothing at all with any idea of making her happy. He certainly\r
+wished her to go willingly, but he as certainly wished her to be\r
+heartily sick of home before her visit ended; and that a little\r
+abstinence from the elegancies and luxuries of Mansfield Park would\r
+bring her mind into a sober state, and incline her to a juster estimate\r
+of the value of that home of greater permanence, and equal comfort, of\r
+which she had the offer.\r
+\r
+It was a medicinal project upon his niece's understanding, which he must\r
+consider as at present diseased. A residence of eight or nine years in\r
+the abode of wealth and plenty had a little disordered her powers of\r
+comparing and judging. Her father's house would, in all probability,\r
+teach her the value of a good income; and he trusted that she would be\r
+the wiser and happier woman, all her life, for the experiment he had\r
+devised.\r
+\r
+Had Fanny been at all addicted to raptures, she must have had a strong\r
+attack of them when she first understood what was intended, when her\r
+uncle first made her the offer of visiting the parents, and brothers,\r
+and sisters, from whom she had been divided almost half her life; of\r
+returning for a couple of months to the scenes of her infancy, with\r
+William for the protector and companion of her journey, and the\r
+certainty of continuing to see William to the last hour of his remaining\r
+on land. Had she ever given way to bursts of delight, it must have been\r
+then, for she was delighted, but her happiness was of a quiet, deep,\r
+heart-swelling sort; and though never a great talker, she was always\r
+more inclined to silence when feeling most strongly. At the moment she\r
+could only thank and accept. Afterwards, when familiarised with the\r
+visions of enjoyment so suddenly opened, she could speak more largely\r
+to William and Edmund of what she felt; but still there were emotions\r
+of tenderness that could not be clothed in words. The remembrance of all\r
+her earliest pleasures, and of what she had suffered in being torn from\r
+them, came over her with renewed strength, and it seemed as if to be\r
+at home again would heal every pain that had since grown out of the\r
+separation. To be in the centre of such a circle, loved by so many,\r
+and more loved by all than she had ever been before; to feel affection\r
+without fear or restraint; to feel herself the equal of those who\r
+surrounded her; to be at peace from all mention of the Crawfords, safe\r
+from every look which could be fancied a reproach on their account. This\r
+was a prospect to be dwelt on with a fondness that could be but half\r
+acknowledged.\r
+\r
+Edmund, too--to be two months from _him_ (and perhaps she might be\r
+allowed to make her absence three) must do her good. At a distance,\r
+unassailed by his looks or his kindness, and safe from the perpetual\r
+irritation of knowing his heart, and striving to avoid his confidence,\r
+she should be able to reason herself into a properer state; she should\r
+be able to think of him as in London, and arranging everything there,\r
+without wretchedness. What might have been hard to bear at Mansfield was\r
+to become a slight evil at Portsmouth.\r
+\r
+The only drawback was the doubt of her aunt Bertram's being comfortable\r
+without her. She was of use to no one else; but _there_ she might be\r
+missed to a degree that she did not like to think of; and that part of\r
+the arrangement was, indeed, the hardest for Sir Thomas to accomplish,\r
+and what only _he_ could have accomplished at all.\r
+\r
+But he was master at Mansfield Park. When he had really resolved on\r
+any measure, he could always carry it through; and now by dint of long\r
+talking on the subject, explaining and dwelling on the duty of Fanny's\r
+sometimes seeing her family, he did induce his wife to let her go;\r
+obtaining it rather from submission, however, than conviction, for Lady\r
+Bertram was convinced of very little more than that Sir Thomas thought\r
+Fanny ought to go, and therefore that she must. In the calmness of\r
+her own dressing-room, in the impartial flow of her own meditations,\r
+unbiassed by his bewildering statements, she could not acknowledge any\r
+necessity for Fanny's ever going near a father and mother who had done\r
+without her so long, while she was so useful to herself. And as to the\r
+not missing her, which under Mrs. Norris's discussion was the point\r
+attempted to be proved, she set herself very steadily against admitting\r
+any such thing.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas had appealed to her reason, conscience, and dignity. He\r
+called it a sacrifice, and demanded it of her goodness and self-command\r
+as such. But Mrs. Norris wanted to persuade her that Fanny could be very\r
+well spared--_she_ being ready to give up all her own time to her as\r
+requested--and, in short, could not really be wanted or missed.\r
+\r
+"That may be, sister," was all Lady Bertram's reply. "I dare say you are\r
+very right; but I am sure I shall miss her very much."\r
+\r
+The next step was to communicate with Portsmouth. Fanny wrote to offer\r
+herself; and her mother's answer, though short, was so kind--a few\r
+simple lines expressed so natural and motherly a joy in the prospect\r
+of seeing her child again, as to confirm all the daughter's views of\r
+happiness in being with her--convincing her that she should now find a\r
+warm and affectionate friend in the "mama" who had certainly shewn no\r
+remarkable fondness for her formerly; but this she could easily suppose\r
+to have been her own fault or her own fancy. She had probably alienated\r
+love by the helplessness and fretfulness of a fearful temper, or been\r
+unreasonable in wanting a larger share than any one among so many could\r
+deserve. Now, when she knew better how to be useful, and how to forbear,\r
+and when her mother could be no longer occupied by the incessant\r
+demands of a house full of little children, there would be leisure and\r
+inclination for every comfort, and they should soon be what mother and\r
+daughter ought to be to each other.\r
+\r
+William was almost as happy in the plan as his sister. It would be the\r
+greatest pleasure to him to have her there to the last moment before he\r
+sailed, and perhaps find her there still when he came in from his first\r
+cruise. And besides, he wanted her so very much to see the Thrush before\r
+she went out of harbour--the Thrush was certainly the finest sloop in\r
+the service--and there were several improvements in the dockyard, too,\r
+which he quite longed to shew her.\r
+\r
+He did not scruple to add that her being at home for a while would be a\r
+great advantage to everybody.\r
+\r
+"I do not know how it is," said he; "but we seem to want some of\r
+your nice ways and orderliness at my father's. The house is always in\r
+confusion. You will set things going in a better way, I am sure. You\r
+will tell my mother how it all ought to be, and you will be so useful to\r
+Susan, and you will teach Betsey, and make the boys love and mind you.\r
+How right and comfortable it will all be!"\r
+\r
+By the time Mrs. Price's answer arrived, there remained but a very few\r
+days more to be spent at Mansfield; and for part of one of those days\r
+the young travellers were in a good deal of alarm on the subject of\r
+their journey, for when the mode of it came to be talked of, and Mrs.\r
+Norris found that all her anxiety to save her brother-in-law's money\r
+was vain, and that in spite of her wishes and hints for a less expensive\r
+conveyance of Fanny, they were to travel post; when she saw Sir Thomas\r
+actually give William notes for the purpose, she was struck with the\r
+idea of there being room for a third in the carriage, and suddenly\r
+seized with a strong inclination to go with them, to go and see her poor\r
+dear sister Price. She proclaimed her thoughts. She must say that she\r
+had more than half a mind to go with the young people; it would be such\r
+an indulgence to her; she had not seen her poor dear sister Price for\r
+more than twenty years; and it would be a help to the young people in\r
+their journey to have her older head to manage for them; and she could\r
+not help thinking her poor dear sister Price would feel it very unkind\r
+of her not to come by such an opportunity.\r
+\r
+William and Fanny were horror-struck at the idea.\r
+\r
+All the comfort of their comfortable journey would be destroyed at\r
+once. With woeful countenances they looked at each other. Their suspense\r
+lasted an hour or two. No one interfered to encourage or dissuade. Mrs.\r
+Norris was left to settle the matter by herself; and it ended, to the\r
+infinite joy of her nephew and niece, in the recollection that she could\r
+not possibly be spared from Mansfield Park at present; that she was a\r
+great deal too necessary to Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram for her to\r
+be able to answer it to herself to leave them even for a week, and\r
+therefore must certainly sacrifice every other pleasure to that of being\r
+useful to them.\r
+\r
+It had, in fact, occurred to her, that though taken to Portsmouth for\r
+nothing, it would be hardly possible for her to avoid paying her own\r
+expenses back again. So her poor dear sister Price was left to all the\r
+disappointment of her missing such an opportunity, and another twenty\r
+years' absence, perhaps, begun.\r
+\r
+Edmund's plans were affected by this Portsmouth journey, this absence of\r
+Fanny's. He too had a sacrifice to make to Mansfield Park as well as his\r
+aunt. He had intended, about this time, to be going to London; but he\r
+could not leave his father and mother just when everybody else of most\r
+importance to their comfort was leaving them; and with an effort, felt\r
+but not boasted of, he delayed for a week or two longer a journey which\r
+he was looking forward to with the hope of its fixing his happiness for\r
+ever.\r
+\r
+He told Fanny of it. She knew so much already, that she must know\r
+everything. It made the substance of one other confidential discourse\r
+about Miss Crawford; and Fanny was the more affected from feeling it to\r
+be the last time in which Miss Crawford's name would ever be mentioned\r
+between them with any remains of liberty. Once afterwards she was\r
+alluded to by him. Lady Bertram had been telling her niece in the\r
+evening to write to her soon and often, and promising to be a good\r
+correspondent herself; and Edmund, at a convenient moment, then added\r
+in a whisper, "And _I_ shall write to you, Fanny, when I have anything\r
+worth writing about, anything to say that I think you will like to hear,\r
+and that you will not hear so soon from any other quarter." Had she\r
+doubted his meaning while she listened, the glow in his face, when she\r
+looked up at him, would have been decisive.\r
+\r
+For this letter she must try to arm herself. That a letter from Edmund\r
+should be a subject of terror! She began to feel that she had not yet\r
+gone through all the changes of opinion and sentiment which the progress\r
+of time and variation of circumstances occasion in this world of\r
+changes. The vicissitudes of the human mind had not yet been exhausted\r
+by her.\r
+\r
+Poor Fanny! though going as she did willingly and eagerly, the last\r
+evening at Mansfield Park must still be wretchedness. Her heart was\r
+completely sad at parting. She had tears for every room in the house,\r
+much more for every beloved inhabitant. She clung to her aunt, because\r
+she would miss her; she kissed the hand of her uncle with struggling\r
+sobs, because she had displeased him; and as for Edmund, she could\r
+neither speak, nor look, nor think, when the last moment came with\r
+_him_; and it was not till it was over that she knew he was giving her\r
+the affectionate farewell of a brother.\r
+\r
+All this passed overnight, for the journey was to begin very early in\r
+the morning; and when the small, diminished party met at breakfast,\r
+William and Fanny were talked of as already advanced one stage.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXVIII\r
+\r
+The novelty of travelling, and the happiness of being with William, soon\r
+produced their natural effect on Fanny's spirits, when Mansfield Park\r
+was fairly left behind; and by the time their first stage was ended, and\r
+they were to quit Sir Thomas's carriage, she was able to take leave of\r
+the old coachman, and send back proper messages, with cheerful looks.\r
+\r
+Of pleasant talk between the brother and sister there was no end.\r
+Everything supplied an amusement to the high glee of William's mind, and\r
+he was full of frolic and joke in the intervals of their higher-toned\r
+subjects, all of which ended, if they did not begin, in praise of the\r
+Thrush, conjectures how she would be employed, schemes for an action\r
+with some superior force, which (supposing the first lieutenant out of\r
+the way, and William was not very merciful to the first lieutenant) was\r
+to give himself the next step as soon as possible, or speculations upon\r
+prize-money, which was to be generously distributed at home, with only\r
+the reservation of enough to make the little cottage comfortable,\r
+in which he and Fanny were to pass all their middle and later life\r
+together.\r
+\r
+Fanny's immediate concerns, as far as they involved Mr. Crawford, made\r
+no part of their conversation. William knew what had passed, and from\r
+his heart lamented that his sister's feelings should be so cold towards\r
+a man whom he must consider as the first of human characters; but he was\r
+of an age to be all for love, and therefore unable to blame; and knowing\r
+her wish on the subject, he would not distress her by the slightest\r
+allusion.\r
+\r
+She had reason to suppose herself not yet forgotten by Mr. Crawford. She\r
+had heard repeatedly from his sister within the three weeks which had\r
+passed since their leaving Mansfield, and in each letter there had been\r
+a few lines from himself, warm and determined like his speeches. It\r
+was a correspondence which Fanny found quite as unpleasant as she had\r
+feared. Miss Crawford's style of writing, lively and affectionate, was\r
+itself an evil, independent of what she was thus forced into reading\r
+from the brother's pen, for Edmund would never rest till she had read\r
+the chief of the letter to him; and then she had to listen to his\r
+admiration of her language, and the warmth of her attachments. There\r
+had, in fact, been so much of message, of allusion, of recollection, so\r
+much of Mansfield in every letter, that Fanny could not but suppose it\r
+meant for him to hear; and to find herself forced into a purpose of\r
+that kind, compelled into a correspondence which was bringing her the\r
+addresses of the man she did not love, and obliging her to administer\r
+to the adverse passion of the man she did, was cruelly mortifying. Here,\r
+too, her present removal promised advantage. When no longer under the\r
+same roof with Edmund, she trusted that Miss Crawford would have no\r
+motive for writing strong enough to overcome the trouble, and that at\r
+Portsmouth their correspondence would dwindle into nothing.\r
+\r
+With such thoughts as these, among ten hundred others, Fanny proceeded\r
+in her journey safely and cheerfully, and as expeditiously as could\r
+rationally be hoped in the dirty month of February. They entered Oxford,\r
+but she could take only a hasty glimpse of Edmund's college as they\r
+passed along, and made no stop anywhere till they reached Newbury, where\r
+a comfortable meal, uniting dinner and supper, wound up the enjoyments\r
+and fatigues of the day.\r
+\r
+The next morning saw them off again at an early hour; and with no\r
+events, and no delays, they regularly advanced, and were in the environs\r
+of Portsmouth while there was yet daylight for Fanny to look around her,\r
+and wonder at the new buildings. They passed the drawbridge, and\r
+entered the town; and the light was only beginning to fail as, guided\r
+by William's powerful voice, they were rattled into a narrow street,\r
+leading from the High Street, and drawn up before the door of a small\r
+house now inhabited by Mr. Price.\r
+\r
+Fanny was all agitation and flutter; all hope and apprehension. The\r
+moment they stopped, a trollopy-looking maidservant, seemingly in\r
+waiting for them at the door, stepped forward, and more intent on\r
+telling the news than giving them any help, immediately began with, "The\r
+Thrush is gone out of harbour, please sir, and one of the officers has\r
+been here to--" She was interrupted by a fine tall boy of eleven years\r
+old, who, rushing out of the house, pushed the maid aside, and while\r
+William was opening the chaise-door himself, called out, "You are just\r
+in time. We have been looking for you this half-hour. The Thrush went\r
+out of harbour this morning. I saw her. It was a beautiful sight. And\r
+they think she will have her orders in a day or two. And Mr. Campbell\r
+was here at four o'clock to ask for you: he has got one of the Thrush's\r
+boats, and is going off to her at six, and hoped you would be here in\r
+time to go with him."\r
+\r
+A stare or two at Fanny, as William helped her out of the carriage, was\r
+all the voluntary notice which this brother bestowed; but he made no\r
+objection to her kissing him, though still entirely engaged in detailing\r
+farther particulars of the Thrush's going out of harbour, in which\r
+he had a strong right of interest, being to commence his career of\r
+seamanship in her at this very time.\r
+\r
+Another moment and Fanny was in the narrow entrance-passage of the\r
+house, and in her mother's arms, who met her there with looks of true\r
+kindness, and with features which Fanny loved the more, because they\r
+brought her aunt Bertram's before her, and there were her two sisters:\r
+Susan, a well-grown fine girl of fourteen, and Betsey, the youngest of\r
+the family, about five--both glad to see her in their way, though with\r
+no advantage of manner in receiving her. But manner Fanny did not want.\r
+Would they but love her, she should be satisfied.\r
+\r
+She was then taken into a parlour, so small that her first conviction\r
+was of its being only a passage-room to something better, and she stood\r
+for a moment expecting to be invited on; but when she saw there was\r
+no other door, and that there were signs of habitation before her, she\r
+called back her thoughts, reproved herself, and grieved lest they should\r
+have been suspected. Her mother, however, could not stay long enough\r
+to suspect anything. She was gone again to the street-door, to welcome\r
+William. "Oh! my dear William, how glad I am to see you. But have you\r
+heard about the Thrush? She is gone out of harbour already; three days\r
+before we had any thought of it; and I do not know what I am to do about\r
+Sam's things, they will never be ready in time; for she may have her\r
+orders to-morrow, perhaps. It takes me quite unawares. And now you must\r
+be off for Spithead too. Campbell has been here, quite in a worry about\r
+you; and now what shall we do? I thought to have had such a comfortable\r
+evening with you, and here everything comes upon me at once."\r
+\r
+Her son answered cheerfully, telling her that everything was always for\r
+the best; and making light of his own inconvenience in being obliged to\r
+hurry away so soon.\r
+\r
+"To be sure, I had much rather she had stayed in harbour, that I might\r
+have sat a few hours with you in comfort; but as there is a boat ashore,\r
+I had better go off at once, and there is no help for it. Whereabouts\r
+does the Thrush lay at Spithead? Near the Canopus? But no matter; here's\r
+Fanny in the parlour, and why should we stay in the passage? Come,\r
+mother, you have hardly looked at your own dear Fanny yet."\r
+\r
+In they both came, and Mrs. Price having kindly kissed her daughter\r
+again, and commented a little on her growth, began with very natural\r
+solicitude to feel for their fatigues and wants as travellers.\r
+\r
+"Poor dears! how tired you must both be! and now, what will you have? I\r
+began to think you would never come. Betsey and I have been watching for\r
+you this half-hour. And when did you get anything to eat? And what would\r
+you like to have now? I could not tell whether you would be for some\r
+meat, or only a dish of tea, after your journey, or else I would have\r
+got something ready. And now I am afraid Campbell will be here before\r
+there is time to dress a steak, and we have no butcher at hand. It is\r
+very inconvenient to have no butcher in the street. We were better off\r
+in our last house. Perhaps you would like some tea as soon as it can be\r
+got."\r
+\r
+They both declared they should prefer it to anything. "Then, Betsey, my\r
+dear, run into the kitchen and see if Rebecca has put the water on; and\r
+tell her to bring in the tea-things as soon as she can. I wish we could\r
+get the bell mended; but Betsey is a very handy little messenger."\r
+\r
+Betsey went with alacrity, proud to shew her abilities before her fine\r
+new sister.\r
+\r
+"Dear me!" continued the anxious mother, "what a sad fire we have got,\r
+and I dare say you are both starved with cold. Draw your chair nearer,\r
+my dear. I cannot think what Rebecca has been about. I am sure I told\r
+her to bring some coals half an hour ago. Susan, you should have taken\r
+care of the fire."\r
+\r
+"I was upstairs, mama, moving my things," said Susan, in a fearless,\r
+self-defending tone, which startled Fanny. "You know you had but just\r
+settled that my sister Fanny and I should have the other room; and I\r
+could not get Rebecca to give me any help."\r
+\r
+Farther discussion was prevented by various bustles: first, the driver\r
+came to be paid; then there was a squabble between Sam and Rebecca about\r
+the manner of carrying up his sister's trunk, which he would manage all\r
+his own way; and lastly, in walked Mr. Price himself, his own loud voice\r
+preceding him, as with something of the oath kind he kicked away his\r
+son's port-manteau and his daughter's bandbox in the passage, and called\r
+out for a candle; no candle was brought, however, and he walked into the\r
+room.\r
+\r
+Fanny with doubting feelings had risen to meet him, but sank down again\r
+on finding herself undistinguished in the dusk, and unthought of. With\r
+a friendly shake of his son's hand, and an eager voice, he instantly\r
+began--"Ha! welcome back, my boy. Glad to see you. Have you heard the\r
+news? The Thrush went out of harbour this morning. Sharp is the\r
+word, you see! By G--, you are just in time! The doctor has been here\r
+inquiring for you: he has got one of the boats, and is to be off for\r
+Spithead by six, so you had better go with him. I have been to Turner's\r
+about your mess; it is all in a way to be done. I should not wonder if\r
+you had your orders to-morrow: but you cannot sail with this wind, if\r
+you are to cruise to the westward; and Captain Walsh thinks you will\r
+certainly have a cruise to the westward, with the Elephant. By G--, I\r
+wish you may! But old Scholey was saying, just now, that he thought you\r
+would be sent first to the Texel. Well, well, we are ready, whatever\r
+happens. But by G--, you lost a fine sight by not being here in the\r
+morning to see the Thrush go out of harbour! I would not have been out\r
+of the way for a thousand pounds. Old Scholey ran in at breakfast-time,\r
+to say she had slipped her moorings and was coming out, I jumped up, and\r
+made but two steps to the platform. If ever there was a perfect beauty\r
+afloat, she is one; and there she lays at Spithead, and anybody in\r
+England would take her for an eight-and-twenty. I was upon the platform\r
+two hours this afternoon looking at her. She lays close to the Endymion,\r
+between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk."\r
+\r
+"Ha!" cried William, "_that's_ just where I should have put her myself.\r
+It's the best berth at Spithead. But here is my sister, sir; here is\r
+Fanny," turning and leading her forward; "it is so dark you do not see\r
+her."\r
+\r
+With an acknowledgment that he had quite forgot her, Mr. Price now\r
+received his daughter; and having given her a cordial hug, and observed\r
+that she was grown into a woman, and he supposed would be wanting a\r
+husband soon, seemed very much inclined to forget her again. Fanny\r
+shrunk back to her seat, with feelings sadly pained by his language and\r
+his smell of spirits; and he talked on only to his son, and only of the\r
+Thrush, though William, warmly interested as he was in that subject,\r
+more than once tried to make his father think of Fanny, and her long\r
+absence and long journey.\r
+\r
+After sitting some time longer, a candle was obtained; but as there was\r
+still no appearance of tea, nor, from Betsey's reports from the kitchen,\r
+much hope of any under a considerable period, William determined to\r
+go and change his dress, and make the necessary preparations for\r
+his removal on board directly, that he might have his tea in comfort\r
+afterwards.\r
+\r
+As he left the room, two rosy-faced boys, ragged and dirty, about eight\r
+and nine years old, rushed into it just released from school, and coming\r
+eagerly to see their sister, and tell that the Thrush was gone out of\r
+harbour; Tom and Charles. Charles had been born since Fanny's going\r
+away, but Tom she had often helped to nurse, and now felt a particular\r
+pleasure in seeing again. Both were kissed very tenderly, but Tom she\r
+wanted to keep by her, to try to trace the features of the baby she had\r
+loved, and talked to, of his infant preference of herself. Tom, however,\r
+had no mind for such treatment: he came home not to stand and be talked\r
+to, but to run about and make a noise; and both boys had soon burst from\r
+her, and slammed the parlour-door till her temples ached.\r
+\r
+She had now seen all that were at home; there remained only two brothers\r
+between herself and Susan, one of whom was a clerk in a public office\r
+in London, and the other midshipman on board an Indiaman. But though she\r
+had _seen_ all the members of the family, she had not yet _heard_ all\r
+the noise they could make. Another quarter of an hour brought her a\r
+great deal more. William was soon calling out from the landing-place of\r
+the second story for his mother and for Rebecca. He was in distress\r
+for something that he had left there, and did not find again. A key was\r
+mislaid, Betsey accused of having got at his new hat, and some slight,\r
+but essential alteration of his uniform waistcoat, which he had been\r
+promised to have done for him, entirely neglected.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Price, Rebecca, and Betsey all went up to defend themselves, all\r
+talking together, but Rebecca loudest, and the job was to be done as\r
+well as it could in a great hurry; William trying in vain to send Betsey\r
+down again, or keep her from being troublesome where she was; the whole\r
+of which, as almost every door in the house was open, could be plainly\r
+distinguished in the parlour, except when drowned at intervals by the\r
+superior noise of Sam, Tom, and Charles chasing each other up and down\r
+stairs, and tumbling about and hallooing.\r
+\r
+Fanny was almost stunned. The smallness of the house and thinness of the\r
+walls brought everything so close to her, that, added to the fatigue of\r
+her journey, and all her recent agitation, she hardly knew how to\r
+bear it. _Within_ the room all was tranquil enough, for Susan having\r
+disappeared with the others, there were soon only her father and herself\r
+remaining; and he, taking out a newspaper, the accustomary loan of a\r
+neighbour, applied himself to studying it, without seeming to recollect\r
+her existence. The solitary candle was held between himself and the\r
+paper, without any reference to her possible convenience; but she had\r
+nothing to do, and was glad to have the light screened from her aching\r
+head, as she sat in bewildered, broken, sorrowful contemplation.\r
+\r
+She was at home. But, alas! it was not such a home, she had not such a\r
+welcome, as--she checked herself; she was unreasonable. What right had\r
+she to be of importance to her family? She could have none, so long lost\r
+sight of! William's concerns must be dearest, they always had been, and\r
+he had every right. Yet to have so little said or asked about herself,\r
+to have scarcely an inquiry made after Mansfield! It did pain her to\r
+have Mansfield forgotten; the friends who had done so much--the dear,\r
+dear friends! But here, one subject swallowed up all the rest. Perhaps\r
+it must be so. The destination of the Thrush must be now preeminently\r
+interesting. A day or two might shew the difference. _She_ only was to\r
+blame. Yet she thought it would not have been so at Mansfield. No, in\r
+her uncle's house there would have been a consideration of times and\r
+seasons, a regulation of subject, a propriety, an attention towards\r
+everybody which there was not here.\r
+\r
+The only interruption which thoughts like these received for nearly half\r
+an hour was from a sudden burst of her father's, not at all calculated\r
+to compose them. At a more than ordinary pitch of thumping and hallooing\r
+in the passage, he exclaimed, "Devil take those young dogs! How they are\r
+singing out! Ay, Sam's voice louder than all the rest! That boy is fit\r
+for a boatswain. Holla, you there! Sam, stop your confounded pipe, or I\r
+shall be after you."\r
+\r
+This threat was so palpably disregarded, that though within five minutes\r
+afterwards the three boys all burst into the room together and sat down,\r
+Fanny could not consider it as a proof of anything more than their\r
+being for the time thoroughly fagged, which their hot faces and panting\r
+breaths seemed to prove, especially as they were still kicking each\r
+other's shins, and hallooing out at sudden starts immediately under\r
+their father's eye.\r
+\r
+The next opening of the door brought something more welcome: it was for\r
+the tea-things, which she had begun almost to despair of seeing that\r
+evening. Susan and an attendant girl, whose inferior appearance informed\r
+Fanny, to her great surprise, that she had previously seen the upper\r
+servant, brought in everything necessary for the meal; Susan looking, as\r
+she put the kettle on the fire and glanced at her sister, as if divided\r
+between the agreeable triumph of shewing her activity and usefulness,\r
+and the dread of being thought to demean herself by such an office. "She\r
+had been into the kitchen," she said, "to hurry Sally and help make the\r
+toast, and spread the bread and butter, or she did not know when they\r
+should have got tea, and she was sure her sister must want something\r
+after her journey."\r
+\r
+Fanny was very thankful. She could not but own that she should be very\r
+glad of a little tea, and Susan immediately set about making it, as if\r
+pleased to have the employment all to herself; and with only a little\r
+unnecessary bustle, and some few injudicious attempts at keeping her\r
+brothers in better order than she could, acquitted herself very well.\r
+Fanny's spirit was as much refreshed as her body; her head and heart\r
+were soon the better for such well-timed kindness. Susan had an open,\r
+sensible countenance; she was like William, and Fanny hoped to find her\r
+like him in disposition and goodwill towards herself.\r
+\r
+In this more placid state of things William reentered, followed not\r
+far behind by his mother and Betsey. He, complete in his lieutenant's\r
+uniform, looking and moving all the taller, firmer, and more graceful\r
+for it, and with the happiest smile over his face, walked up directly\r
+to Fanny, who, rising from her seat, looked at him for a moment in\r
+speechless admiration, and then threw her arms round his neck to sob out\r
+her various emotions of pain and pleasure.\r
+\r
+Anxious not to appear unhappy, she soon recovered herself; and wiping\r
+away her tears, was able to notice and admire all the striking parts\r
+of his dress; listening with reviving spirits to his cheerful hopes of\r
+being on shore some part of every day before they sailed, and even of\r
+getting her to Spithead to see the sloop.\r
+\r
+The next bustle brought in Mr. Campbell, the surgeon of the Thrush, a\r
+very well-behaved young man, who came to call for his friend, and for\r
+whom there was with some contrivance found a chair, and with some hasty\r
+washing of the young tea-maker's, a cup and saucer; and after another\r
+quarter of an hour of earnest talk between the gentlemen, noise rising\r
+upon noise, and bustle upon bustle, men and boys at last all in motion\r
+together, the moment came for setting off; everything was ready, William\r
+took leave, and all of them were gone; for the three boys, in spite\r
+of their mother's entreaty, determined to see their brother and Mr.\r
+Campbell to the sally-port; and Mr. Price walked off at the same time to\r
+carry back his neighbour's newspaper.\r
+\r
+Something like tranquillity might now be hoped for; and accordingly,\r
+when Rebecca had been prevailed on to carry away the tea-things,\r
+and Mrs. Price had walked about the room some time looking for a\r
+shirt-sleeve, which Betsey at last hunted out from a drawer in the\r
+kitchen, the small party of females were pretty well composed, and the\r
+mother having lamented again over the impossibility of getting Sam ready\r
+in time, was at leisure to think of her eldest daughter and the friends\r
+she had come from.\r
+\r
+A few inquiries began: but one of the earliest--"How did sister Bertram\r
+manage about her servants?" "Was she as much plagued as herself to get\r
+tolerable servants?"--soon led her mind away from Northamptonshire, and\r
+fixed it on her own domestic grievances, and the shocking character of\r
+all the Portsmouth servants, of whom she believed her own two were the\r
+very worst, engrossed her completely. The Bertrams were all forgotten\r
+in detailing the faults of Rebecca, against whom Susan had also much\r
+to depose, and little Betsey a great deal more, and who did seem so\r
+thoroughly without a single recommendation, that Fanny could not help\r
+modestly presuming that her mother meant to part with her when her year\r
+was up.\r
+\r
+"Her year!" cried Mrs. Price; "I am sure I hope I shall be rid of her\r
+before she has staid a year, for that will not be up till November.\r
+Servants are come to such a pass, my dear, in Portsmouth, that it is\r
+quite a miracle if one keeps them more than half a year. I have no hope\r
+of ever being settled; and if I was to part with Rebecca, I should\r
+only get something worse. And yet I do not think I am a very difficult\r
+mistress to please; and I am sure the place is easy enough, for there is\r
+always a girl under her, and I often do half the work myself."\r
+\r
+Fanny was silent; but not from being convinced that there might not be a\r
+remedy found for some of these evils. As she now sat looking at Betsey,\r
+she could not but think particularly of another sister, a very pretty\r
+little girl, whom she had left there not much younger when she went into\r
+Northamptonshire, who had died a few years afterwards. There had been\r
+something remarkably amiable about her. Fanny in those early days had\r
+preferred her to Susan; and when the news of her death had at last\r
+reached Mansfield, had for a short time been quite afflicted. The sight\r
+of Betsey brought the image of little Mary back again, but she would\r
+not have pained her mother by alluding to her for the world. While\r
+considering her with these ideas, Betsey, at a small distance, was\r
+holding out something to catch her eyes, meaning to screen it at the\r
+same time from Susan's.\r
+\r
+"What have you got there, my love?" said Fanny; "come and shew it to\r
+me."\r
+\r
+It was a silver knife. Up jumped Susan, claiming it as her own, and\r
+trying to get it away; but the child ran to her mother's protection,\r
+and Susan could only reproach, which she did very warmly, and evidently\r
+hoping to interest Fanny on her side. "It was very hard that she was not\r
+to have her _own_ knife; it was her own knife; little sister Mary had\r
+left it to her upon her deathbed, and she ought to have had it to keep\r
+herself long ago. But mama kept it from her, and was always letting\r
+Betsey get hold of it; and the end of it would be that Betsey would\r
+spoil it, and get it for her own, though mama had _promised_ her that\r
+Betsey should not have it in her own hands."\r
+\r
+Fanny was quite shocked. Every feeling of duty, honour, and tenderness\r
+was wounded by her sister's speech and her mother's reply.\r
+\r
+"Now, Susan," cried Mrs. Price, in a complaining voice, "now, how can\r
+you be so cross? You are always quarrelling about that knife. I wish you\r
+would not be so quarrelsome. Poor little Betsey; how cross Susan is to\r
+you! But you should not have taken it out, my dear, when I sent you to\r
+the drawer. You know I told you not to touch it, because Susan is so\r
+cross about it. I must hide it another time, Betsey. Poor Mary little\r
+thought it would be such a bone of contention when she gave it me to\r
+keep, only two hours before she died. Poor little soul! she could but\r
+just speak to be heard, and she said so prettily, 'Let sister Susan have\r
+my knife, mama, when I am dead and buried.' Poor little dear! she was so\r
+fond of it, Fanny, that she would have it lay by her in bed, all through\r
+her illness. It was the gift of her good godmother, old Mrs. Admiral\r
+Maxwell, only six weeks before she was taken for death. Poor little\r
+sweet creature! Well, she was taken away from evil to come. My own\r
+Betsey" (fondling her), "_you_ have not the luck of such a good\r
+godmother. Aunt Norris lives too far off to think of such little people\r
+as you."\r
+\r
+Fanny had indeed nothing to convey from aunt Norris, but a message to\r
+say she hoped that her god-daughter was a good girl, and learnt her\r
+book. There had been at one moment a slight murmur in the drawing-room\r
+at Mansfield Park about sending her a prayer-book; but no second sound\r
+had been heard of such a purpose. Mrs. Norris, however, had gone home\r
+and taken down two old prayer-books of her husband with that idea; but,\r
+upon examination, the ardour of generosity went off. One was found\r
+to have too small a print for a child's eyes, and the other to be too\r
+cumbersome for her to carry about.\r
+\r
+Fanny, fatigued and fatigued again, was thankful to accept the first\r
+invitation of going to bed; and before Betsey had finished her cry at\r
+being allowed to sit up only one hour extraordinary in honour of sister,\r
+she was off, leaving all below in confusion and noise again; the boys\r
+begging for toasted cheese, her father calling out for his rum and\r
+water, and Rebecca never where she ought to be.\r
+\r
+There was nothing to raise her spirits in the confined and scantily\r
+furnished chamber that she was to share with Susan. The smallness of\r
+the rooms above and below, indeed, and the narrowness of the passage and\r
+staircase, struck her beyond her imagination. She soon learned to think\r
+with respect of her own little attic at Mansfield Park, in _that_ house\r
+reckoned too small for anybody's comfort.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XXXIX\r
+\r
+Could Sir Thomas have seen all his niece's feelings, when she wrote her\r
+first letter to her aunt, he would not have despaired; for though a good\r
+night's rest, a pleasant morning, the hope of soon seeing William again,\r
+and the comparatively quiet state of the house, from Tom and Charles\r
+being gone to school, Sam on some project of his own, and her father\r
+on his usual lounges, enabled her to express herself cheerfully on the\r
+subject of home, there were still, to her own perfect consciousness,\r
+many drawbacks suppressed. Could he have seen only half that she felt\r
+before the end of a week, he would have thought Mr. Crawford sure of\r
+her, and been delighted with his own sagacity.\r
+\r
+Before the week ended, it was all disappointment. In the first place,\r
+William was gone. The Thrush had had her orders, the wind had changed,\r
+and he was sailed within four days from their reaching Portsmouth; and\r
+during those days she had seen him only twice, in a short and\r
+hurried way, when he had come ashore on duty. There had been no free\r
+conversation, no walk on the ramparts, no visit to the dockyard, no\r
+acquaintance with the Thrush, nothing of all that they had planned and\r
+depended on. Everything in that quarter failed her, except William's\r
+affection. His last thought on leaving home was for her. He stepped back\r
+again to the door to say, "Take care of Fanny, mother. She is tender,\r
+and not used to rough it like the rest of us. I charge you, take care of\r
+Fanny."\r
+\r
+William was gone: and the home he had left her in was, Fanny could not\r
+conceal it from herself, in almost every respect the very reverse of\r
+what she could have wished. It was the abode of noise, disorder, and\r
+impropriety. Nobody was in their right place, nothing was done as it\r
+ought to be. She could not respect her parents as she had hoped. On her\r
+father, her confidence had not been sanguine, but he was more negligent\r
+of his family, his habits were worse, and his manners coarser, than\r
+she had been prepared for. He did not want abilities but he had no\r
+curiosity, and no information beyond his profession; he read only\r
+the newspaper and the navy-list; he talked only of the dockyard, the\r
+harbour, Spithead, and the Motherbank; he swore and he drank, he was\r
+dirty and gross. She had never been able to recall anything approaching\r
+to tenderness in his former treatment of herself. There had remained\r
+only a general impression of roughness and loudness; and now he scarcely\r
+ever noticed her, but to make her the object of a coarse joke.\r
+\r
+Her disappointment in her mother was greater: _there_ she had hoped\r
+much, and found almost nothing. Every flattering scheme of being of\r
+consequence to her soon fell to the ground. Mrs. Price was not unkind;\r
+but, instead of gaining on her affection and confidence, and becoming\r
+more and more dear, her daughter never met with greater kindness from\r
+her than on the first day of her arrival. The instinct of nature was\r
+soon satisfied, and Mrs. Price's attachment had no other source. Her\r
+heart and her time were already quite full; she had neither leisure nor\r
+affection to bestow on Fanny. Her daughters never had been much to her.\r
+She was fond of her sons, especially of William, but Betsey was the\r
+first of her girls whom she had ever much regarded. To her she was most\r
+injudiciously indulgent. William was her pride; Betsey her darling;\r
+and John, Richard, Sam, Tom, and Charles occupied all the rest of her\r
+maternal solicitude, alternately her worries and her comforts. These\r
+shared her heart: her time was given chiefly to her house and her\r
+servants. Her days were spent in a kind of slow bustle; all was busy\r
+without getting on, always behindhand and lamenting it, without altering\r
+her ways; wishing to be an economist, without contrivance or regularity;\r
+dissatisfied with her servants, without skill to make them better, and\r
+whether helping, or reprimanding, or indulging them, without any power\r
+of engaging their respect.\r
+\r
+Of her two sisters, Mrs. Price very much more resembled Lady Bertram\r
+than Mrs. Norris. She was a manager by necessity, without any of Mrs.\r
+Norris's inclination for it, or any of her activity. Her disposition\r
+was naturally easy and indolent, like Lady Bertram's; and a situation of\r
+similar affluence and do-nothingness would have been much more suited\r
+to her capacity than the exertions and self-denials of the one which her\r
+imprudent marriage had placed her in. She might have made just as good a\r
+woman of consequence as Lady Bertram, but Mrs. Norris would have been a\r
+more respectable mother of nine children on a small income.\r
+\r
+Much of all this Fanny could not but be sensible of. She might scruple\r
+to make use of the words, but she must and did feel that her mother was\r
+a partial, ill-judging parent, a dawdle, a slattern, who neither taught\r
+nor restrained her children, whose house was the scene of mismanagement\r
+and discomfort from beginning to end, and who had no talent, no\r
+conversation, no affection towards herself; no curiosity to know her\r
+better, no desire of her friendship, and no inclination for her company\r
+that could lessen her sense of such feelings.\r
+\r
+Fanny was very anxious to be useful, and not to appear above her home,\r
+or in any way disqualified or disinclined, by her foreign education,\r
+from contributing her help to its comforts, and therefore set about\r
+working for Sam immediately; and by working early and late, with\r
+perseverance and great despatch, did so much that the boy was shipped\r
+off at last, with more than half his linen ready. She had great pleasure\r
+in feeling her usefulness, but could not conceive how they would have\r
+managed without her.\r
+\r
+Sam, loud and overbearing as he was, she rather regretted when he went,\r
+for he was clever and intelligent, and glad to be employed in any errand\r
+in the town; and though spurning the remonstrances of Susan, given as\r
+they were, though very reasonable in themselves, with ill-timed and\r
+powerless warmth, was beginning to be influenced by Fanny's services\r
+and gentle persuasions; and she found that the best of the three younger\r
+ones was gone in him: Tom and Charles being at least as many years as\r
+they were his juniors distant from that age of feeling and reason, which\r
+might suggest the expediency of making friends, and of endeavouring to\r
+be less disagreeable. Their sister soon despaired of making the smallest\r
+impression on _them_; they were quite untameable by any means of address\r
+which she had spirits or time to attempt. Every afternoon brought a\r
+return of their riotous games all over the house; and she very early\r
+learned to sigh at the approach of Saturday's constant half-holiday.\r
+\r
+Betsey, too, a spoiled child, trained up to think the alphabet her\r
+greatest enemy, left to be with the servants at her pleasure, and\r
+then encouraged to report any evil of them, she was almost as ready to\r
+despair of being able to love or assist; and of Susan's temper she\r
+had many doubts. Her continual disagreements with her mother, her rash\r
+squabbles with Tom and Charles, and petulance with Betsey, were at least\r
+so distressing to Fanny that, though admitting they were by no means\r
+without provocation, she feared the disposition that could push them to\r
+such length must be far from amiable, and from affording any repose to\r
+herself.\r
+\r
+Such was the home which was to put Mansfield out of her head, and\r
+teach her to think of her cousin Edmund with moderated feelings. On the\r
+contrary, she could think of nothing but Mansfield, its beloved inmates,\r
+its happy ways. Everything where she now was in full contrast to it. The\r
+elegance, propriety, regularity, harmony, and perhaps, above all, the\r
+peace and tranquillity of Mansfield, were brought to her remembrance\r
+every hour of the day, by the prevalence of everything opposite to them\r
+_here_.\r
+\r
+The living in incessant noise was, to a frame and temper delicate and\r
+nervous like Fanny's, an evil which no superadded elegance or harmony\r
+could have entirely atoned for. It was the greatest misery of all. At\r
+Mansfield, no sounds of contention, no raised voice, no abrupt bursts,\r
+no tread of violence, was ever heard; all proceeded in a regular course\r
+of cheerful orderliness; everybody had their due importance; everybody's\r
+feelings were consulted. If tenderness could be ever supposed wanting,\r
+good sense and good breeding supplied its place; and as to the little\r
+irritations sometimes introduced by aunt Norris, they were short, they\r
+were trifling, they were as a drop of water to the ocean, compared with\r
+the ceaseless tumult of her present abode. Here everybody was noisy,\r
+every voice was loud (excepting, perhaps, her mother's, which resembled\r
+the soft monotony of Lady Bertram's, only worn into fretfulness).\r
+Whatever was wanted was hallooed for, and the servants hallooed out\r
+their excuses from the kitchen. The doors were in constant banging, the\r
+stairs were never at rest, nothing was done without a clatter, nobody\r
+sat still, and nobody could command attention when they spoke.\r
+\r
+In a review of the two houses, as they appeared to her before the end\r
+of a week, Fanny was tempted to apply to them Dr. Johnson's celebrated\r
+judgment as to matrimony and celibacy, and say, that though Mansfield\r
+Park might have some pains, Portsmouth could have no pleasures.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XL\r
+\r
+Fanny was right enough in not expecting to hear from Miss Crawford now\r
+at the rapid rate in which their correspondence had begun; Mary's next\r
+letter was after a decidedly longer interval than the last, but she\r
+was not right in supposing that such an interval would be felt a great\r
+relief to herself. Here was another strange revolution of mind! She was\r
+really glad to receive the letter when it did come. In her present exile\r
+from good society, and distance from everything that had been wont to\r
+interest her, a letter from one belonging to the set where her heart\r
+lived, written with affection, and some degree of elegance, was\r
+thoroughly acceptable. The usual plea of increasing engagements was made\r
+in excuse for not having written to her earlier; "And now that I have\r
+begun," she continued, "my letter will not be worth your reading, for\r
+there will be no little offering of love at the end, no three or four\r
+lines _passionnees_ from the most devoted H. C. in the world, for\r
+Henry is in Norfolk; business called him to Everingham ten days ago, or\r
+perhaps he only pretended to call, for the sake of being travelling\r
+at the same time that you were. But there he is, and, by the bye, his\r
+absence may sufficiently account for any remissness of his sister's in\r
+writing, for there has been no 'Well, Mary, when do you write to Fanny?\r
+Is not it time for you to write to Fanny?' to spur me on. At last, after\r
+various attempts at meeting, I have seen your cousins, 'dear Julia and\r
+dearest Mrs. Rushworth'; they found me at home yesterday, and we were\r
+glad to see each other again. We _seemed_ _very_ glad to see each other,\r
+and I do really think we were a little. We had a vast deal to say. Shall\r
+I tell you how Mrs. Rushworth looked when your name was mentioned? I did\r
+not use to think her wanting in self-possession, but she had not quite\r
+enough for the demands of yesterday. Upon the whole, Julia was in the\r
+best looks of the two, at least after you were spoken of. There was no\r
+recovering the complexion from the moment that I spoke of 'Fanny,' and\r
+spoke of her as a sister should. But Mrs. Rushworth's day of good looks\r
+will come; we have cards for her first party on the 28th. Then she\r
+will be in beauty, for she will open one of the best houses in Wimpole\r
+Street. I was in it two years ago, when it was Lady Lascelle's, and\r
+prefer it to almost any I know in London, and certainly she will then\r
+feel, to use a vulgar phrase, that she has got her pennyworth for her\r
+penny. Henry could not have afforded her such a house. I hope she will\r
+recollect it, and be satisfied, as well as she may, with moving the\r
+queen of a palace, though the king may appear best in the background;\r
+and as I have no desire to tease her, I shall never _force_ your name\r
+upon her again. She will grow sober by degrees. From all that I hear\r
+and guess, Baron Wildenheim's attentions to Julia continue, but I do not\r
+know that he has any serious encouragement. She ought to do better.\r
+A poor honourable is no catch, and I cannot imagine any liking in the\r
+case, for take away his rants, and the poor baron has nothing. What a\r
+difference a vowel makes! If his rents were but equal to his rants! Your\r
+cousin Edmund moves slowly; detained, perchance, by parish duties. There\r
+may be some old woman at Thornton Lacey to be converted. I am unwilling\r
+to fancy myself neglected for a _young_ one. Adieu! my dear sweet Fanny,\r
+this is a long letter from London: write me a pretty one in reply to\r
+gladden Henry's eyes, when he comes back, and send me an account of all\r
+the dashing young captains whom you disdain for his sake."\r
+\r
+There was great food for meditation in this letter, and chiefly for\r
+unpleasant meditation; and yet, with all the uneasiness it supplied, it\r
+connected her with the absent, it told her of people and things about\r
+whom she had never felt so much curiosity as now, and she would\r
+have been glad to have been sure of such a letter every week. Her\r
+correspondence with her aunt Bertram was her only concern of higher\r
+interest.\r
+\r
+As for any society in Portsmouth, that could at all make amends for\r
+deficiencies at home, there were none within the circle of her father's\r
+and mother's acquaintance to afford her the smallest satisfaction: she\r
+saw nobody in whose favour she could wish to overcome her own shyness\r
+and reserve. The men appeared to her all coarse, the women all pert,\r
+everybody underbred; and she gave as little contentment as she received\r
+from introductions either to old or new acquaintance. The young ladies\r
+who approached her at first with some respect, in consideration of her\r
+coming from a baronet's family, were soon offended by what they termed\r
+"airs"; for, as she neither played on the pianoforte nor wore fine\r
+pelisses, they could, on farther observation, admit no right of\r
+superiority.\r
+\r
+The first solid consolation which Fanny received for the evils of home,\r
+the first which her judgment could entirely approve, and which gave any\r
+promise of durability, was in a better knowledge of Susan, and a hope of\r
+being of service to her. Susan had always behaved pleasantly to herself,\r
+but the determined character of her general manners had astonished\r
+and alarmed her, and it was at least a fortnight before she began to\r
+understand a disposition so totally different from her own. Susan saw\r
+that much was wrong at home, and wanted to set it right. That a girl of\r
+fourteen, acting only on her own unassisted reason, should err in the\r
+method of reform, was not wonderful; and Fanny soon became more disposed\r
+to admire the natural light of the mind which could so early distinguish\r
+justly, than to censure severely the faults of conduct to which it led.\r
+Susan was only acting on the same truths, and pursuing the same system,\r
+which her own judgment acknowledged, but which her more supine and\r
+yielding temper would have shrunk from asserting. Susan tried to be\r
+useful, where _she_ could only have gone away and cried; and that Susan\r
+was useful she could perceive; that things, bad as they were, would\r
+have been worse but for such interposition, and that both her mother and\r
+Betsey were restrained from some excesses of very offensive indulgence\r
+and vulgarity.\r
+\r
+In every argument with her mother, Susan had in point of reason the\r
+advantage, and never was there any maternal tenderness to buy her off.\r
+The blind fondness which was for ever producing evil around her she had\r
+never known. There was no gratitude for affection past or present to\r
+make her better bear with its excesses to the others.\r
+\r
+All this became gradually evident, and gradually placed Susan before her\r
+sister as an object of mingled compassion and respect. That her manner\r
+was wrong, however, at times very wrong, her measures often ill-chosen\r
+and ill-timed, and her looks and language very often indefensible, Fanny\r
+could not cease to feel; but she began to hope they might be rectified.\r
+Susan, she found, looked up to her and wished for her good opinion; and\r
+new as anything like an office of authority was to Fanny, new as it\r
+was to imagine herself capable of guiding or informing any one, she did\r
+resolve to give occasional hints to Susan, and endeavour to exercise for\r
+her advantage the juster notions of what was due to everybody, and what\r
+would be wisest for herself, which her own more favoured education had\r
+fixed in her.\r
+\r
+Her influence, or at least the consciousness and use of it, originated\r
+in an act of kindness by Susan, which, after many hesitations of\r
+delicacy, she at last worked herself up to. It had very early occurred\r
+to her that a small sum of money might, perhaps, restore peace for\r
+ever on the sore subject of the silver knife, canvassed as it now was\r
+continually, and the riches which she was in possession of herself,\r
+her uncle having given her 10 pounds at parting, made her as able as she was\r
+willing to be generous. But she was so wholly unused to confer favours,\r
+except on the very poor, so unpractised in removing evils, or bestowing\r
+kindnesses among her equals, and so fearful of appearing to elevate\r
+herself as a great lady at home, that it took some time to determine\r
+that it would not be unbecoming in her to make such a present. It\r
+was made, however, at last: a silver knife was bought for Betsey, and\r
+accepted with great delight, its newness giving it every advantage\r
+over the other that could be desired; Susan was established in the full\r
+possession of her own, Betsey handsomely declaring that now she had got\r
+one so much prettier herself, she should never want _that_ again; and\r
+no reproach seemed conveyed to the equally satisfied mother, which Fanny\r
+had almost feared to be impossible. The deed thoroughly answered: a\r
+source of domestic altercation was entirely done away, and it was the\r
+means of opening Susan's heart to her, and giving her something more to\r
+love and be interested in. Susan shewed that she had delicacy: pleased\r
+as she was to be mistress of property which she had been struggling for\r
+at least two years, she yet feared that her sister's judgment had been\r
+against her, and that a reproof was designed her for having so struggled\r
+as to make the purchase necessary for the tranquillity of the house.\r
+\r
+Her temper was open. She acknowledged her fears, blamed herself for\r
+having contended so warmly; and from that hour Fanny, understanding the\r
+worth of her disposition and perceiving how fully she was inclined to\r
+seek her good opinion and refer to her judgment, began to feel again the\r
+blessing of affection, and to entertain the hope of being useful to a\r
+mind so much in need of help, and so much deserving it. She gave advice,\r
+advice too sound to be resisted by a good understanding, and given so\r
+mildly and considerately as not to irritate an imperfect temper, and she\r
+had the happiness of observing its good effects not unfrequently.\r
+More was not expected by one who, while seeing all the obligation and\r
+expediency of submission and forbearance, saw also with sympathetic\r
+acuteness of feeling all that must be hourly grating to a girl like\r
+Susan. Her greatest wonder on the subject soon became--not that Susan\r
+should have been provoked into disrespect and impatience against her\r
+better knowledge--but that so much better knowledge, so many good\r
+notions should have been hers at all; and that, brought up in the midst\r
+of negligence and error, she should have formed such proper opinions\r
+of what ought to be; she, who had had no cousin Edmund to direct her\r
+thoughts or fix her principles.\r
+\r
+The intimacy thus begun between them was a material advantage to\r
+each. By sitting together upstairs, they avoided a great deal of the\r
+disturbance of the house; Fanny had peace, and Susan learned to think it\r
+no misfortune to be quietly employed. They sat without a fire; but\r
+that was a privation familiar even to Fanny, and she suffered the\r
+less because reminded by it of the East room. It was the only point of\r
+resemblance. In space, light, furniture, and prospect, there was\r
+nothing alike in the two apartments; and she often heaved a sigh at the\r
+remembrance of all her books and boxes, and various comforts there. By\r
+degrees the girls came to spend the chief of the morning upstairs, at\r
+first only in working and talking, but after a few days, the remembrance\r
+of the said books grew so potent and stimulative that Fanny found it\r
+impossible not to try for books again. There were none in her father's\r
+house; but wealth is luxurious and daring, and some of hers found its\r
+way to a circulating library. She became a subscriber; amazed at being\r
+anything _in propria persona_, amazed at her own doings in every way, to\r
+be a renter, a chuser of books! And to be having any one's improvement\r
+in view in her choice! But so it was. Susan had read nothing, and Fanny\r
+longed to give her a share in her own first pleasures, and inspire a\r
+taste for the biography and poetry which she delighted in herself.\r
+\r
+In this occupation she hoped, moreover, to bury some of the\r
+recollections of Mansfield, which were too apt to seize her mind if her\r
+fingers only were busy; and, especially at this time, hoped it might\r
+be useful in diverting her thoughts from pursuing Edmund to London,\r
+whither, on the authority of her aunt's last letter, she knew he was\r
+gone. She had no doubt of what would ensue. The promised notification\r
+was hanging over her head. The postman's knock within the neighbourhood\r
+was beginning to bring its daily terrors, and if reading could banish\r
+the idea for even half an hour, it was something gained.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLI\r
+\r
+A week was gone since Edmund might be supposed in town, and Fanny had\r
+heard nothing of him. There were three different conclusions to be drawn\r
+from his silence, between which her mind was in fluctuation; each of\r
+them at times being held the most probable. Either his going had been\r
+again delayed, or he had yet procured no opportunity of seeing Miss\r
+Crawford alone, or he was too happy for letter-writing!\r
+\r
+One morning, about this time, Fanny having now been nearly four weeks\r
+from Mansfield, a point which she never failed to think over and\r
+calculate every day, as she and Susan were preparing to remove, as\r
+usual, upstairs, they were stopped by the knock of a visitor, whom they\r
+felt they could not avoid, from Rebecca's alertness in going to the\r
+door, a duty which always interested her beyond any other.\r
+\r
+It was a gentleman's voice; it was a voice that Fanny was just turning\r
+pale about, when Mr. Crawford walked into the room.\r
+\r
+Good sense, like hers, will always act when really called upon; and she\r
+found that she had been able to name him to her mother, and recall her\r
+remembrance of the name, as that of "William's friend," though she could\r
+not previously have believed herself capable of uttering a syllable\r
+at such a moment. The consciousness of his being known there only as\r
+William's friend was some support. Having introduced him, however, and\r
+being all reseated, the terrors that occurred of what this visit might\r
+lead to were overpowering, and she fancied herself on the point of\r
+fainting away.\r
+\r
+While trying to keep herself alive, their visitor, who had at first\r
+approached her with as animated a countenance as ever, was wisely and\r
+kindly keeping his eyes away, and giving her time to recover, while he\r
+devoted himself entirely to her mother, addressing her, and attending\r
+to her with the utmost politeness and propriety, at the same time with\r
+a degree of friendliness, of interest at least, which was making his\r
+manner perfect.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Price's manners were also at their best. Warmed by the sight of\r
+such a friend to her son, and regulated by the wish of appearing to\r
+advantage before him, she was overflowing with gratitude--artless,\r
+maternal gratitude--which could not be unpleasing. Mr. Price was out,\r
+which she regretted very much. Fanny was just recovered enough to\r
+feel that _she_ could not regret it; for to her many other sources of\r
+uneasiness was added the severe one of shame for the home in which he\r
+found her. She might scold herself for the weakness, but there was no\r
+scolding it away. She was ashamed, and she would have been yet more\r
+ashamed of her father than of all the rest.\r
+\r
+They talked of William, a subject on which Mrs. Price could never tire;\r
+and Mr. Crawford was as warm in his commendation as even her heart could\r
+wish. She felt that she had never seen so agreeable a man in her life;\r
+and was only astonished to find that, so great and so agreeable as he\r
+was, he should be come down to Portsmouth neither on a visit to the\r
+port-admiral, nor the commissioner, nor yet with the intention of going\r
+over to the island, nor of seeing the dockyard. Nothing of all that she\r
+had been used to think of as the proof of importance, or the employment\r
+of wealth, had brought him to Portsmouth. He had reached it late the\r
+night before, was come for a day or two, was staying at the Crown, had\r
+accidentally met with a navy officer or two of his acquaintance since\r
+his arrival, but had no object of that kind in coming.\r
+\r
+By the time he had given all this information, it was not unreasonable\r
+to suppose that Fanny might be looked at and spoken to; and she was\r
+tolerably able to bear his eye, and hear that he had spent half an hour\r
+with his sister the evening before his leaving London; that she had\r
+sent her best and kindest love, but had had no time for writing; that he\r
+thought himself lucky in seeing Mary for even half an hour, having spent\r
+scarcely twenty-four hours in London, after his return from Norfolk,\r
+before he set off again; that her cousin Edmund was in town, had been in\r
+town, he understood, a few days; that he had not seen him himself, but\r
+that he was well, had left them all well at Mansfield, and was to dine,\r
+as yesterday, with the Frasers.\r
+\r
+Fanny listened collectedly, even to the last-mentioned circumstance;\r
+nay, it seemed a relief to her worn mind to be at any certainty; and the\r
+words, "then by this time it is all settled," passed internally, without\r
+more evidence of emotion than a faint blush.\r
+\r
+After talking a little more about Mansfield, a subject in which her\r
+interest was most apparent, Crawford began to hint at the expediency of\r
+an early walk. "It was a lovely morning, and at that season of the year\r
+a fine morning so often turned off, that it was wisest for everybody\r
+not to delay their exercise"; and such hints producing nothing, he soon\r
+proceeded to a positive recommendation to Mrs. Price and her\r
+daughters to take their walk without loss of time. Now they came to an\r
+understanding. Mrs. Price, it appeared, scarcely ever stirred out of\r
+doors, except of a Sunday; she owned she could seldom, with her large\r
+family, find time for a walk. "Would she not, then, persuade her\r
+daughters to take advantage of such weather, and allow him the pleasure\r
+of attending them?" Mrs. Price was greatly obliged and very complying.\r
+"Her daughters were very much confined; Portsmouth was a sad place; they\r
+did not often get out; and she knew they had some errands in the town,\r
+which they would be very glad to do." And the consequence was, that\r
+Fanny, strange as it was--strange, awkward, and distressing--found\r
+herself and Susan, within ten minutes, walking towards the High Street\r
+with Mr. Crawford.\r
+\r
+It was soon pain upon pain, confusion upon confusion; for they were\r
+hardly in the High Street before they met her father, whose\r
+appearance was not the better from its being Saturday. He stopt; and,\r
+ungentlemanlike as he looked, Fanny was obliged to introduce him to Mr.\r
+Crawford. She could not have a doubt of the manner in which Mr. Crawford\r
+must be struck. He must be ashamed and disgusted altogether. He must\r
+soon give her up, and cease to have the smallest inclination for the\r
+match; and yet, though she had been so much wanting his affection to\r
+be cured, this was a sort of cure that would be almost as bad as the\r
+complaint; and I believe there is scarcely a young lady in the United\r
+Kingdoms who would not rather put up with the misfortune of being sought\r
+by a clever, agreeable man, than have him driven away by the vulgarity\r
+of her nearest relations.\r
+\r
+Mr. Crawford probably could not regard his future father-in-law with any\r
+idea of taking him for a model in dress; but (as Fanny instantly, and to\r
+her great relief, discerned) her father was a very different man, a\r
+very different Mr. Price in his behaviour to this most highly respected\r
+stranger, from what he was in his own family at home. His manners\r
+now, though not polished, were more than passable: they were grateful,\r
+animated, manly; his expressions were those of an attached father, and\r
+a sensible man; his loud tones did very well in the open air, and there\r
+was not a single oath to be heard. Such was his instinctive compliment\r
+to the good manners of Mr. Crawford; and, be the consequence what it\r
+might, Fanny's immediate feelings were infinitely soothed.\r
+\r
+The conclusion of the two gentlemen's civilities was an offer of Mr.\r
+Price's to take Mr. Crawford into the dockyard, which Mr. Crawford,\r
+desirous of accepting as a favour what was intended as such, though\r
+he had seen the dockyard again and again, and hoping to be so much the\r
+longer with Fanny, was very gratefully disposed to avail himself of, if\r
+the Miss Prices were not afraid of the fatigue; and as it was somehow or\r
+other ascertained, or inferred, or at least acted upon, that they were\r
+not at all afraid, to the dockyard they were all to go; and but for\r
+Mr. Crawford, Mr. Price would have turned thither directly, without the\r
+smallest consideration for his daughters' errands in the High Street. He\r
+took care, however, that they should be allowed to go to the shops they\r
+came out expressly to visit; and it did not delay them long, for Fanny\r
+could so little bear to excite impatience, or be waited for, that before\r
+the gentlemen, as they stood at the door, could do more than begin upon\r
+the last naval regulations, or settle the number of three-deckers now in\r
+commission, their companions were ready to proceed.\r
+\r
+They were then to set forward for the dockyard at once, and the walk\r
+would have been conducted--according to Mr. Crawford's opinion--in a\r
+singular manner, had Mr. Price been allowed the entire regulation of it,\r
+as the two girls, he found, would have been left to follow, and keep up\r
+with them or not, as they could, while they walked on together at their\r
+own hasty pace. He was able to introduce some improvement occasionally,\r
+though by no means to the extent he wished; he absolutely would not walk\r
+away from them; and at any crossing or any crowd, when Mr. Price was\r
+only calling out, "Come, girls; come, Fan; come, Sue, take care of\r
+yourselves; keep a sharp lookout!" he would give them his particular\r
+attendance.\r
+\r
+Once fairly in the dockyard, he began to reckon upon some happy\r
+intercourse with Fanny, as they were very soon joined by a brother\r
+lounger of Mr. Price's, who was come to take his daily survey of how\r
+things went on, and who must prove a far more worthy companion than\r
+himself; and after a time the two officers seemed very well satisfied\r
+going about together, and discussing matters of equal and never-failing\r
+interest, while the young people sat down upon some timbers in the yard,\r
+or found a seat on board a vessel in the stocks which they all went to\r
+look at. Fanny was most conveniently in want of rest. Crawford could not\r
+have wished her more fatigued or more ready to sit down; but he could\r
+have wished her sister away. A quick-looking girl of Susan's age was the\r
+very worst third in the world: totally different from Lady Bertram, all\r
+eyes and ears; and there was no introducing the main point before her.\r
+He must content himself with being only generally agreeable, and letting\r
+Susan have her share of entertainment, with the indulgence, now and\r
+then, of a look or hint for the better-informed and conscious Fanny.\r
+Norfolk was what he had mostly to talk of: there he had been some time,\r
+and everything there was rising in importance from his present schemes.\r
+Such a man could come from no place, no society, without importing\r
+something to amuse; his journeys and his acquaintance were all of use,\r
+and Susan was entertained in a way quite new to her. For Fanny, somewhat\r
+more was related than the accidental agreeableness of the parties he had\r
+been in. For her approbation, the particular reason of his going into\r
+Norfolk at all, at this unusual time of year, was given. It had been\r
+real business, relative to the renewal of a lease in which the welfare\r
+of a large and--he believed--industrious family was at stake. He had\r
+suspected his agent of some underhand dealing; of meaning to bias\r
+him against the deserving; and he had determined to go himself, and\r
+thoroughly investigate the merits of the case. He had gone, had done\r
+even more good than he had foreseen, had been useful to more than his\r
+first plan had comprehended, and was now able to congratulate himself\r
+upon it, and to feel that in performing a duty, he had secured agreeable\r
+recollections for his own mind. He had introduced himself to some\r
+tenants whom he had never seen before; he had begun making acquaintance\r
+with cottages whose very existence, though on his own estate, had been\r
+hitherto unknown to him. This was aimed, and well aimed, at Fanny. It\r
+was pleasing to hear him speak so properly; here he had been acting as\r
+he ought to do. To be the friend of the poor and the oppressed! Nothing\r
+could be more grateful to her; and she was on the point of giving him an\r
+approving look, when it was all frightened off by his adding a something\r
+too pointed of his hoping soon to have an assistant, a friend, a guide\r
+in every plan of utility or charity for Everingham: a somebody that\r
+would make Everingham and all about it a dearer object than it had ever\r
+been yet.\r
+\r
+She turned away, and wished he would not say such things. She was\r
+willing to allow he might have more good qualities than she had been\r
+wont to suppose. She began to feel the possibility of his turning out\r
+well at last; but he was and must ever be completely unsuited to her,\r
+and ought not to think of her.\r
+\r
+He perceived that enough had been said of Everingham, and that it would\r
+be as well to talk of something else, and turned to Mansfield. He could\r
+not have chosen better; that was a topic to bring back her attention and\r
+her looks almost instantly. It was a real indulgence to her to hear or\r
+to speak of Mansfield. Now so long divided from everybody who knew the\r
+place, she felt it quite the voice of a friend when he mentioned it,\r
+and led the way to her fond exclamations in praise of its beauties and\r
+comforts, and by his honourable tribute to its inhabitants allowed her\r
+to gratify her own heart in the warmest eulogium, in speaking of her\r
+uncle as all that was clever and good, and her aunt as having the\r
+sweetest of all sweet tempers.\r
+\r
+He had a great attachment to Mansfield himself; he said so; he looked\r
+forward with the hope of spending much, very much, of his time there;\r
+always there, or in the neighbourhood. He particularly built upon a very\r
+happy summer and autumn there this year; he felt that it would be so: he\r
+depended upon it; a summer and autumn infinitely superior to the last.\r
+As animated, as diversified, as social, but with circumstances of\r
+superiority undescribable.\r
+\r
+"Mansfield, Sotherton, Thornton Lacey," he continued; "what a society\r
+will be comprised in those houses! And at Michaelmas, perhaps, a fourth\r
+may be added: some small hunting-box in the vicinity of everything so\r
+dear; for as to any partnership in Thornton Lacey, as Edmund Bertram\r
+once good-humouredly proposed, I hope I foresee two objections: two\r
+fair, excellent, irresistible objections to that plan."\r
+\r
+Fanny was doubly silenced here; though when the moment was passed,\r
+could regret that she had not forced herself into the acknowledged\r
+comprehension of one half of his meaning, and encouraged him to say\r
+something more of his sister and Edmund. It was a subject which she must\r
+learn to speak of, and the weakness that shrunk from it would soon be\r
+quite unpardonable.\r
+\r
+When Mr. Price and his friend had seen all that they wished, or had time\r
+for, the others were ready to return; and in the course of their walk\r
+back, Mr. Crawford contrived a minute's privacy for telling Fanny that\r
+his only business in Portsmouth was to see her; that he was come down\r
+for a couple of days on her account, and hers only, and because he could\r
+not endure a longer total separation. She was sorry, really sorry; and\r
+yet in spite of this and the two or three other things which she wished\r
+he had not said, she thought him altogether improved since she had seen\r
+him; he was much more gentle, obliging, and attentive to other people's\r
+feelings than he had ever been at Mansfield; she had never seen him so\r
+agreeable--so _near_ being agreeable; his behaviour to her father could\r
+not offend, and there was something particularly kind and proper in the\r
+notice he took of Susan. He was decidedly improved. She wished the next\r
+day over, she wished he had come only for one day; but it was not\r
+so very bad as she would have expected: the pleasure of talking of\r
+Mansfield was so very great!\r
+\r
+Before they parted, she had to thank him for another pleasure, and one\r
+of no trivial kind. Her father asked him to do them the honour of taking\r
+his mutton with them, and Fanny had time for only one thrill of horror,\r
+before he declared himself prevented by a prior engagement. He was\r
+engaged to dinner already both for that day and the next; he had met\r
+with some acquaintance at the Crown who would not be denied; he should\r
+have the honour, however, of waiting on them again on the morrow, etc.,\r
+and so they parted--Fanny in a state of actual felicity from escaping so\r
+horrible an evil!\r
+\r
+To have had him join their family dinner-party, and see all their\r
+deficiencies, would have been dreadful! Rebecca's cookery and Rebecca's\r
+waiting, and Betsey's eating at table without restraint, and pulling\r
+everything about as she chose, were what Fanny herself was not yet\r
+enough inured to for her often to make a tolerable meal. _She_ was nice\r
+only from natural delicacy, but _he_ had been brought up in a school of\r
+luxury and epicurism.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLII\r
+\r
+The Prices were just setting off for church the next day when Mr.\r
+Crawford appeared again. He came, not to stop, but to join them; he was\r
+asked to go with them to the Garrison chapel, which was exactly what he\r
+had intended, and they all walked thither together.\r
+\r
+The family were now seen to advantage. Nature had given them no\r
+inconsiderable share of beauty, and every Sunday dressed them in their\r
+cleanest skins and best attire. Sunday always brought this comfort to\r
+Fanny, and on this Sunday she felt it more than ever. Her poor mother\r
+now did not look so very unworthy of being Lady Bertram's sister as she\r
+was but too apt to look. It often grieved her to the heart to think of\r
+the contrast between them; to think that where nature had made so little\r
+difference, circumstances should have made so much, and that her mother,\r
+as handsome as Lady Bertram, and some years her junior, should have an\r
+appearance so much more worn and faded, so comfortless, so slatternly,\r
+so shabby. But Sunday made her a very creditable and tolerably\r
+cheerful-looking Mrs. Price, coming abroad with a fine family of\r
+children, feeling a little respite of her weekly cares, and only\r
+discomposed if she saw her boys run into danger, or Rebecca pass by with\r
+a flower in her hat.\r
+\r
+In chapel they were obliged to divide, but Mr. Crawford took care not to\r
+be divided from the female branch; and after chapel he still continued\r
+with them, and made one in the family party on the ramparts.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Price took her weekly walk on the ramparts every fine Sunday\r
+throughout the year, always going directly after morning service and\r
+staying till dinner-time. It was her public place: there she met her\r
+acquaintance, heard a little news, talked over the badness of the\r
+Portsmouth servants, and wound up her spirits for the six days ensuing.\r
+\r
+Thither they now went; Mr. Crawford most happy to consider the Miss\r
+Prices as his peculiar charge; and before they had been there long,\r
+somehow or other, there was no saying how, Fanny could not have believed\r
+it, but he was walking between them with an arm of each under his,\r
+and she did not know how to prevent or put an end to it. It made her\r
+uncomfortable for a time, but yet there were enjoyments in the day and\r
+in the view which would be felt.\r
+\r
+The day was uncommonly lovely. It was really March; but it was April in\r
+its mild air, brisk soft wind, and bright sun, occasionally clouded for\r
+a minute; and everything looked so beautiful under the influence of such\r
+a sky, the effects of the shadows pursuing each other on the ships at\r
+Spithead and the island beyond, with the ever-varying hues of the sea,\r
+now at high water, dancing in its glee and dashing against the ramparts\r
+with so fine a sound, produced altogether such a combination of charms\r
+for Fanny, as made her gradually almost careless of the circumstances\r
+under which she felt them. Nay, had she been without his arm, she would\r
+soon have known that she needed it, for she wanted strength for a two\r
+hours' saunter of this kind, coming, as it generally did, upon a week's\r
+previous inactivity. Fanny was beginning to feel the effect of being\r
+debarred from her usual regular exercise; she had lost ground as to\r
+health since her being in Portsmouth; and but for Mr. Crawford and the\r
+beauty of the weather would soon have been knocked up now.\r
+\r
+The loveliness of the day, and of the view, he felt like herself. They\r
+often stopt with the same sentiment and taste, leaning against the wall,\r
+some minutes, to look and admire; and considering he was not Edmund,\r
+Fanny could not but allow that he was sufficiently open to the charms\r
+of nature, and very well able to express his admiration. She had a few\r
+tender reveries now and then, which he could sometimes take advantage\r
+of to look in her face without detection; and the result of these looks\r
+was, that though as bewitching as ever, her face was less blooming than\r
+it ought to be. She _said_ she was very well, and did not like to be\r
+supposed otherwise; but take it all in all, he was convinced that her\r
+present residence could not be comfortable, and therefore could not\r
+be salutary for her, and he was growing anxious for her being again at\r
+Mansfield, where her own happiness, and his in seeing her, must be so\r
+much greater.\r
+\r
+"You have been here a month, I think?" said he.\r
+\r
+"No; not quite a month. It is only four weeks to-morrow since I left\r
+Mansfield."\r
+\r
+"You are a most accurate and honest reckoner. I should call that a\r
+month."\r
+\r
+"I did not arrive here till Tuesday evening."\r
+\r
+"And it is to be a two months' visit, is not?"\r
+\r
+"Yes. My uncle talked of two months. I suppose it will not be less."\r
+\r
+"And how are you to be conveyed back again? Who comes for you?"\r
+\r
+"I do not know. I have heard nothing about it yet from my aunt. Perhaps\r
+I may be to stay longer. It may not be convenient for me to be fetched\r
+exactly at the two months' end."\r
+\r
+After a moment's reflection, Mr. Crawford replied, "I know Mansfield, I\r
+know its way, I know its faults towards _you_. I know the danger of\r
+your being so far forgotten, as to have your comforts give way to the\r
+imaginary convenience of any single being in the family. I am aware\r
+that you may be left here week after week, if Sir Thomas cannot settle\r
+everything for coming himself, or sending your aunt's maid for you,\r
+without involving the slightest alteration of the arrangements which he\r
+may have laid down for the next quarter of a year. This will not do. Two\r
+months is an ample allowance; I should think six weeks quite enough.\r
+I am considering your sister's health," said he, addressing himself to\r
+Susan, "which I think the confinement of Portsmouth unfavourable to. She\r
+requires constant air and exercise. When you know her as well as I do,\r
+I am sure you will agree that she does, and that she ought never to\r
+be long banished from the free air and liberty of the country. If,\r
+therefore" (turning again to Fanny), "you find yourself growing unwell,\r
+and any difficulties arise about your returning to Mansfield, without\r
+waiting for the two months to be ended, _that_ must not be regarded\r
+as of any consequence, if you feel yourself at all less strong or\r
+comfortable than usual, and will only let my sister know it, give her\r
+only the slightest hint, she and I will immediately come down, and take\r
+you back to Mansfield. You know the ease and the pleasure with which\r
+this would be done. You know all that would be felt on the occasion."\r
+\r
+Fanny thanked him, but tried to laugh it off.\r
+\r
+"I am perfectly serious," he replied, "as you perfectly know. And I\r
+hope you will not be cruelly concealing any tendency to indisposition.\r
+Indeed, you shall _not_; it shall not be in your power; for so long only\r
+as you positively say, in every letter to Mary, 'I am well,' and I\r
+know you cannot speak or write a falsehood, so long only shall you be\r
+considered as well."\r
+\r
+Fanny thanked him again, but was affected and distressed to a degree\r
+that made it impossible for her to say much, or even to be certain of\r
+what she ought to say. This was towards the close of their walk. He\r
+attended them to the last, and left them only at the door of their own\r
+house, when he knew them to be going to dinner, and therefore pretended\r
+to be waited for elsewhere.\r
+\r
+"I wish you were not so tired," said he, still detaining Fanny after all\r
+the others were in the house--"I wish I left you in stronger health. Is\r
+there anything I can do for you in town? I have half an idea of going\r
+into Norfolk again soon. I am not satisfied about Maddison. I am sure\r
+he still means to impose on me if possible, and get a cousin of his own\r
+into a certain mill, which I design for somebody else. I must come to an\r
+understanding with him. I must make him know that I will not be tricked\r
+on the south side of Everingham, any more than on the north: that I will\r
+be master of my own property. I was not explicit enough with him before.\r
+The mischief such a man does on an estate, both as to the credit of his\r
+employer and the welfare of the poor, is inconceivable. I have a great\r
+mind to go back into Norfolk directly, and put everything at once on\r
+such a footing as cannot be afterwards swerved from. Maddison is a\r
+clever fellow; I do not wish to displace him, provided he does not try\r
+to displace _me_; but it would be simple to be duped by a man who has no\r
+right of creditor to dupe me, and worse than simple to let him give me a\r
+hard-hearted, griping fellow for a tenant, instead of an honest man,\r
+to whom I have given half a promise already. Would it not be worse than\r
+simple? Shall I go? Do you advise it?"\r
+\r
+"I advise! You know very well what is right."\r
+\r
+"Yes. When you give me your opinion, I always know what is right. Your\r
+judgment is my rule of right."\r
+\r
+"Oh, no! do not say so. We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we\r
+would attend to it, than any other person can be. Good-bye; I wish you a\r
+pleasant journey to-morrow."\r
+\r
+"Is there nothing I can do for you in town?"\r
+\r
+"Nothing; I am much obliged to you."\r
+\r
+"Have you no message for anybody?"\r
+\r
+"My love to your sister, if you please; and when you see my cousin, my\r
+cousin Edmund, I wish you would be so good as to say that I suppose I\r
+shall soon hear from him."\r
+\r
+"Certainly; and if he is lazy or negligent, I will write his excuses\r
+myself."\r
+\r
+He could say no more, for Fanny would be no longer detained. He pressed\r
+her hand, looked at her, and was gone. _He_ went to while away the next\r
+three hours as he could, with his other acquaintance, till the best\r
+dinner that a capital inn afforded was ready for their enjoyment, and\r
+_she_ turned in to her more simple one immediately.\r
+\r
+Their general fare bore a very different character; and could he have\r
+suspected how many privations, besides that of exercise, she endured in\r
+her father's house, he would have wondered that her looks were not much\r
+more affected than he found them. She was so little equal to Rebecca's\r
+puddings and Rebecca's hashes, brought to table, as they all were, with\r
+such accompaniments of half-cleaned plates, and not half-cleaned knives\r
+and forks, that she was very often constrained to defer her heartiest\r
+meal till she could send her brothers in the evening for biscuits and\r
+buns. After being nursed up at Mansfield, it was too late in the day\r
+to be hardened at Portsmouth; and though Sir Thomas, had he known all,\r
+might have thought his niece in the most promising way of being starved,\r
+both mind and body, into a much juster value for Mr. Crawford's good\r
+company and good fortune, he would probably have feared to push his\r
+experiment farther, lest she might die under the cure.\r
+\r
+Fanny was out of spirits all the rest of the day. Though tolerably\r
+secure of not seeing Mr. Crawford again, she could not help being low.\r
+It was parting with somebody of the nature of a friend; and though, in\r
+one light, glad to have him gone, it seemed as if she was now deserted\r
+by everybody; it was a sort of renewed separation from Mansfield; and\r
+she could not think of his returning to town, and being frequently with\r
+Mary and Edmund, without feelings so near akin to envy as made her hate\r
+herself for having them.\r
+\r
+Her dejection had no abatement from anything passing around her; a\r
+friend or two of her father's, as always happened if he was not with\r
+them, spent the long, long evening there; and from six o'clock till\r
+half-past nine, there was little intermission of noise or grog. She\r
+was very low. The wonderful improvement which she still fancied in Mr.\r
+Crawford was the nearest to administering comfort of anything within the\r
+current of her thoughts. Not considering in how different a circle she\r
+had been just seeing him, nor how much might be owing to contrast, she\r
+was quite persuaded of his being astonishingly more gentle and regardful\r
+of others than formerly. And, if in little things, must it not be so in\r
+great? So anxious for her health and comfort, so very feeling as he now\r
+expressed himself, and really seemed, might not it be fairly supposed\r
+that he would not much longer persevere in a suit so distressing to her?\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLIII\r
+\r
+It was presumed that Mr. Crawford was travelling back, to London, on the\r
+morrow, for nothing more was seen of him at Mr. Price's; and two days\r
+afterwards, it was a fact ascertained to Fanny by the following letter\r
+from his sister, opened and read by her, on another account, with the\r
+most anxious curiosity:--\r
+\r
+"I have to inform you, my dearest Fanny, that Henry has been down to\r
+Portsmouth to see you; that he had a delightful walk with you to the\r
+dockyard last Saturday, and one still more to be dwelt on the next day,\r
+on the ramparts; when the balmy air, the sparkling sea, and your sweet\r
+looks and conversation were altogether in the most delicious harmony,\r
+and afforded sensations which are to raise ecstasy even in retrospect.\r
+This, as well as I understand, is to be the substance of my information.\r
+He makes me write, but I do not know what else is to be communicated,\r
+except this said visit to Portsmouth, and these two said walks, and his\r
+introduction to your family, especially to a fair sister of yours, a\r
+fine girl of fifteen, who was of the party on the ramparts, taking her\r
+first lesson, I presume, in love. I have not time for writing much, but\r
+it would be out of place if I had, for this is to be a mere letter of\r
+business, penned for the purpose of conveying necessary information,\r
+which could not be delayed without risk of evil. My dear, dear Fanny,\r
+if I had you here, how I would talk to you! You should listen to me till\r
+you were tired, and advise me till you were still tired more; but it is\r
+impossible to put a hundredth part of my great mind on paper, so I will\r
+abstain altogether, and leave you to guess what you like. I have no news\r
+for you. You have politics, of course; and it would be too bad to plague\r
+you with the names of people and parties that fill up my time. I ought\r
+to have sent you an account of your cousin's first party, but I was\r
+lazy, and now it is too long ago; suffice it, that everything was just\r
+as it ought to be, in a style that any of her connexions must have been\r
+gratified to witness, and that her own dress and manners did her the\r
+greatest credit. My friend, Mrs. Fraser, is mad for such a house, and it\r
+would not make _me_ miserable. I go to Lady Stornaway after Easter;\r
+she seems in high spirits, and very happy. I fancy Lord S. is very\r
+good-humoured and pleasant in his own family, and I do not think him so\r
+very ill-looking as I did--at least, one sees many worse. He will not\r
+do by the side of your cousin Edmund. Of the last-mentioned hero, what\r
+shall I say? If I avoided his name entirely, it would look suspicious.\r
+I will say, then, that we have seen him two or three times, and that\r
+my friends here are very much struck with his gentlemanlike appearance.\r
+Mrs. Fraser (no bad judge) declares she knows but three men in town\r
+who have so good a person, height, and air; and I must confess, when he\r
+dined here the other day, there were none to compare with him, and\r
+we were a party of sixteen. Luckily there is no distinction of dress\r
+nowadays to tell tales, but--but--but Yours affectionately."\r
+\r
+"I had almost forgot (it was Edmund's fault: he gets into my head more\r
+than does me good) one very material thing I had to say from Henry and\r
+myself--I mean about our taking you back into Northamptonshire. My dear\r
+little creature, do not stay at Portsmouth to lose your pretty looks.\r
+Those vile sea-breezes are the ruin of beauty and health. My poor aunt\r
+always felt affected if within ten miles of the sea, which the Admiral\r
+of course never believed, but I know it was so. I am at your service\r
+and Henry's, at an hour's notice. I should like the scheme, and we would\r
+make a little circuit, and shew you Everingham in our way, and perhaps\r
+you would not mind passing through London, and seeing the inside of St.\r
+George's, Hanover Square. Only keep your cousin Edmund from me at such\r
+a time: I should not like to be tempted. What a long letter! one word\r
+more. Henry, I find, has some idea of going into Norfolk again upon\r
+some business that _you_ approve; but this cannot possibly be permitted\r
+before the middle of next week; that is, he cannot anyhow be spared till\r
+after the 14th, for _we_ have a party that evening. The value of a man\r
+like Henry, on such an occasion, is what you can have no conception\r
+of; so you must take it upon my word to be inestimable. He will see the\r
+Rushworths, which own I am not sorry for--having a little curiosity, and\r
+so I think has he--though he will not acknowledge it."\r
+\r
+This was a letter to be run through eagerly, to be read deliberately,\r
+to supply matter for much reflection, and to leave everything in greater\r
+suspense than ever. The only certainty to be drawn from it was, that\r
+nothing decisive had yet taken place. Edmund had not yet spoken. How\r
+Miss Crawford really felt, how she meant to act, or might act without\r
+or against her meaning; whether his importance to her were quite what\r
+it had been before the last separation; whether, if lessened, it were\r
+likely to lessen more, or to recover itself, were subjects for endless\r
+conjecture, and to be thought of on that day and many days to come,\r
+without producing any conclusion. The idea that returned the oftenest\r
+was that Miss Crawford, after proving herself cooled and staggered by\r
+a return to London habits, would yet prove herself in the end too much\r
+attached to him to give him up. She would try to be more ambitious than\r
+her heart would allow. She would hesitate, she would tease, she would\r
+condition, she would require a great deal, but she would finally accept.\r
+\r
+This was Fanny's most frequent expectation. A house in town--that, she\r
+thought, must be impossible. Yet there was no saying what Miss Crawford\r
+might not ask. The prospect for her cousin grew worse and worse. The\r
+woman who could speak of him, and speak only of his appearance! What an\r
+unworthy attachment! To be deriving support from the commendations of\r
+Mrs. Fraser! _She_ who had known him intimately half a year! Fanny was\r
+ashamed of her. Those parts of the letter which related only to Mr.\r
+Crawford and herself, touched her, in comparison, slightly. Whether Mr.\r
+Crawford went into Norfolk before or after the 14th was certainly no\r
+concern of hers, though, everything considered, she thought he _would_\r
+go without delay. That Miss Crawford should endeavour to secure a\r
+meeting between him and Mrs. Rushworth, was all in her worst line of\r
+conduct, and grossly unkind and ill-judged; but she hoped _he_ would\r
+not be actuated by any such degrading curiosity. He acknowledged no such\r
+inducement, and his sister ought to have given him credit for better\r
+feelings than her own.\r
+\r
+She was yet more impatient for another letter from town after receiving\r
+this than she had been before; and for a few days was so unsettled by\r
+it altogether, by what had come, and what might come, that her usual\r
+readings and conversation with Susan were much suspended. She could\r
+not command her attention as she wished. If Mr. Crawford remembered her\r
+message to her cousin, she thought it very likely, most likely, that he\r
+would write to her at all events; it would be most consistent with his\r
+usual kindness; and till she got rid of this idea, till it gradually\r
+wore off, by no letters appearing in the course of three or four days\r
+more, she was in a most restless, anxious state.\r
+\r
+At length, a something like composure succeeded. Suspense must be\r
+submitted to, and must not be allowed to wear her out, and make her\r
+useless. Time did something, her own exertions something more, and she\r
+resumed her attentions to Susan, and again awakened the same interest in\r
+them.\r
+\r
+Susan was growing very fond of her, and though without any of the early\r
+delight in books which had been so strong in Fanny, with a disposition\r
+much less inclined to sedentary pursuits, or to information for\r
+information's sake, she had so strong a desire of not _appearing_\r
+ignorant, as, with a good clear understanding, made her a most\r
+attentive, profitable, thankful pupil. Fanny was her oracle. Fanny's\r
+explanations and remarks were a most important addition to every essay,\r
+or every chapter of history. What Fanny told her of former times dwelt\r
+more on her mind than the pages of Goldsmith; and she paid her sister\r
+the compliment of preferring her style to that of any printed author.\r
+The early habit of reading was wanting.\r
+\r
+Their conversations, however, were not always on subjects so high as\r
+history or morals. Others had their hour; and of lesser matters, none\r
+returned so often, or remained so long between them, as Mansfield Park,\r
+a description of the people, the manners, the amusements, the ways\r
+of Mansfield Park. Susan, who had an innate taste for the genteel and\r
+well-appointed, was eager to hear, and Fanny could not but indulge\r
+herself in dwelling on so beloved a theme. She hoped it was not wrong;\r
+though, after a time, Susan's very great admiration of everything\r
+said or done in her uncle's house, and earnest longing to go into\r
+Northamptonshire, seemed almost to blame her for exciting feelings which\r
+could not be gratified.\r
+\r
+Poor Susan was very little better fitted for home than her elder sister;\r
+and as Fanny grew thoroughly to understand this, she began to feel that\r
+when her own release from Portsmouth came, her happiness would have a\r
+material drawback in leaving Susan behind. That a girl so capable of\r
+being made everything good should be left in such hands, distressed her\r
+more and more. Were _she_ likely to have a home to invite her to, what\r
+a blessing it would be! And had it been possible for her to return Mr.\r
+Crawford's regard, the probability of his being very far from objecting\r
+to such a measure would have been the greatest increase of all her own\r
+comforts. She thought he was really good-tempered, and could fancy his\r
+entering into a plan of that sort most pleasantly.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLIV\r
+\r
+Seven weeks of the two months were very nearly gone, when the one\r
+letter, the letter from Edmund, so long expected, was put into Fanny's\r
+hands. As she opened, and saw its length, she prepared herself for a\r
+minute detail of happiness and a profusion of love and praise towards\r
+the fortunate creature who was now mistress of his fate. These were the\r
+contents--\r
+\r
+"My Dear Fanny,--Excuse me that I have not written before. Crawford told\r
+me that you were wishing to hear from me, but I found it impossible to\r
+write from London, and persuaded myself that you would understand my\r
+silence. Could I have sent a few happy lines, they should not have been\r
+wanting, but nothing of that nature was ever in my power. I am returned\r
+to Mansfield in a less assured state than when I left it. My hopes are\r
+much weaker. You are probably aware of this already. So very fond of you\r
+as Miss Crawford is, it is most natural that she should tell you enough\r
+of her own feelings to furnish a tolerable guess at mine. I will not be\r
+prevented, however, from making my own communication. Our confidences in\r
+you need not clash. I ask no questions. There is something soothing\r
+in the idea that we have the same friend, and that whatever unhappy\r
+differences of opinion may exist between us, we are united in our love\r
+of you. It will be a comfort to me to tell you how things now are, and\r
+what are my present plans, if plans I can be said to have. I have been\r
+returned since Saturday. I was three weeks in London, and saw her (for\r
+London) very often. I had every attention from the Frasers that could be\r
+reasonably expected. I dare say I was not reasonable in carrying with\r
+me hopes of an intercourse at all like that of Mansfield. It was her\r
+manner, however, rather than any unfrequency of meeting. Had she been\r
+different when I did see her, I should have made no complaint, but from\r
+the very first she was altered: my first reception was so unlike what I\r
+had hoped, that I had almost resolved on leaving London again directly.\r
+I need not particularise. You know the weak side of her character, and\r
+may imagine the sentiments and expressions which were torturing me. She\r
+was in high spirits, and surrounded by those who were giving all the\r
+support of their own bad sense to her too lively mind. I do not like\r
+Mrs. Fraser. She is a cold-hearted, vain woman, who has married entirely\r
+from convenience, and though evidently unhappy in her marriage,\r
+places her disappointment not to faults of judgment, or temper, or\r
+disproportion of age, but to her being, after all, less affluent than\r
+many of her acquaintance, especially than her sister, Lady Stornaway,\r
+and is the determined supporter of everything mercenary and ambitious,\r
+provided it be only mercenary and ambitious enough. I look upon her\r
+intimacy with those two sisters as the greatest misfortune of her life\r
+and mine. They have been leading her astray for years. Could she be\r
+detached from them!--and sometimes I do not despair of it, for the\r
+affection appears to me principally on their side. They are very fond of\r
+her; but I am sure she does not love them as she loves you. When I think\r
+of her great attachment to you, indeed, and the whole of her judicious,\r
+upright conduct as a sister, she appears a very different creature,\r
+capable of everything noble, and I am ready to blame myself for a too\r
+harsh construction of a playful manner. I cannot give her up, Fanny. She\r
+is the only woman in the world whom I could ever think of as a wife. If\r
+I did not believe that she had some regard for me, of course I should\r
+not say this, but I do believe it. I am convinced that she is not\r
+without a decided preference. I have no jealousy of any individual. It\r
+is the influence of the fashionable world altogether that I am jealous\r
+of. It is the habits of wealth that I fear. Her ideas are not higher\r
+than her own fortune may warrant, but they are beyond what our incomes\r
+united could authorise. There is comfort, however, even here. I could\r
+better bear to lose her because not rich enough, than because of my\r
+profession. That would only prove her affection not equal to sacrifices,\r
+which, in fact, I am scarcely justified in asking; and, if I am refused,\r
+that, I think, will be the honest motive. Her prejudices, I trust, are\r
+not so strong as they were. You have my thoughts exactly as they arise,\r
+my dear Fanny; perhaps they are sometimes contradictory, but it will\r
+not be a less faithful picture of my mind. Having once begun, it is a\r
+pleasure to me to tell you all I feel. I cannot give her up. Connected\r
+as we already are, and, I hope, are to be, to give up Mary Crawford\r
+would be to give up the society of some of those most dear to me; to\r
+banish myself from the very houses and friends whom, under any other\r
+distress, I should turn to for consolation. The loss of Mary I must\r
+consider as comprehending the loss of Crawford and of Fanny. Were it a\r
+decided thing, an actual refusal, I hope I should know how to bear it,\r
+and how to endeavour to weaken her hold on my heart, and in the course\r
+of a few years--but I am writing nonsense. Were I refused, I must bear\r
+it; and till I am, I can never cease to try for her. This is the truth.\r
+The only question is _how_? What may be the likeliest means? I have\r
+sometimes thought of going to London again after Easter, and sometimes\r
+resolved on doing nothing till she returns to Mansfield. Even now, she\r
+speaks with pleasure of being in Mansfield in June; but June is at\r
+a great distance, and I believe I shall write to her. I have nearly\r
+determined on explaining myself by letter. To be at an early certainty\r
+is a material object. My present state is miserably irksome. Considering\r
+everything, I think a letter will be decidedly the best method of\r
+explanation. I shall be able to write much that I could not say, and\r
+shall be giving her time for reflection before she resolves on her\r
+answer, and I am less afraid of the result of reflection than of an\r
+immediate hasty impulse; I think I am. My greatest danger would lie in\r
+her consulting Mrs. Fraser, and I at a distance unable to help my own\r
+cause. A letter exposes to all the evil of consultation, and where\r
+the mind is anything short of perfect decision, an adviser may, in an\r
+unlucky moment, lead it to do what it may afterwards regret. I must\r
+think this matter over a little. This long letter, full of my own\r
+concerns alone, will be enough to tire even the friendship of a Fanny.\r
+The last time I saw Crawford was at Mrs. Fraser's party. I am more\r
+and more satisfied with all that I see and hear of him. There is not a\r
+shadow of wavering. He thoroughly knows his own mind, and acts up to his\r
+resolutions: an inestimable quality. I could not see him and my eldest\r
+sister in the same room without recollecting what you once told me,\r
+and I acknowledge that they did not meet as friends. There was\r
+marked coolness on her side. They scarcely spoke. I saw him draw back\r
+surprised, and I was sorry that Mrs. Rushworth should resent any former\r
+supposed slight to Miss Bertram. You will wish to hear my opinion\r
+of Maria's degree of comfort as a wife. There is no appearance of\r
+unhappiness. I hope they get on pretty well together. I dined twice in\r
+Wimpole Street, and might have been there oftener, but it is mortifying\r
+to be with Rushworth as a brother. Julia seems to enjoy London\r
+exceedingly. I had little enjoyment there, but have less here. We are\r
+not a lively party. You are very much wanted. I miss you more than I\r
+can express. My mother desires her best love, and hopes to hear from\r
+you soon. She talks of you almost every hour, and I am sorry to find\r
+how many weeks more she is likely to be without you. My father means\r
+to fetch you himself, but it will not be till after Easter, when he has\r
+business in town. You are happy at Portsmouth, I hope, but this must\r
+not be a yearly visit. I want you at home, that I may have your opinion\r
+about Thornton Lacey. I have little heart for extensive improvements\r
+till I know that it will ever have a mistress. I think I shall certainly\r
+write. It is quite settled that the Grants go to Bath; they leave\r
+Mansfield on Monday. I am glad of it. I am not comfortable enough to be\r
+fit for anybody; but your aunt seems to feel out of luck that such an\r
+article of Mansfield news should fall to my pen instead of hers.--Yours\r
+ever, my dearest Fanny."\r
+\r
+"I never will, no, I certainly never will wish for a letter again," was\r
+Fanny's secret declaration as she finished this. "What do they bring but\r
+disappointment and sorrow? Not till after Easter! How shall I bear it?\r
+And my poor aunt talking of me every hour!"\r
+\r
+Fanny checked the tendency of these thoughts as well as she could, but\r
+she was within half a minute of starting the idea that Sir Thomas was\r
+quite unkind, both to her aunt and to herself. As for the main subject\r
+of the letter, there was nothing in that to soothe irritation. She was\r
+almost vexed into displeasure and anger against Edmund. "There is no\r
+good in this delay," said she. "Why is not it settled? He is blinded,\r
+and nothing will open his eyes; nothing can, after having had truths\r
+before him so long in vain. He will marry her, and be poor and\r
+miserable. God grant that her influence do not make him cease to be\r
+respectable!" She looked over the letter again. "'So very fond of me!'\r
+'tis nonsense all. She loves nobody but herself and her brother. Her\r
+friends leading her astray for years! She is quite as likely to have led\r
+_them_ astray. They have all, perhaps, been corrupting one another; but\r
+if they are so much fonder of her than she is of them, she is the less\r
+likely to have been hurt, except by their flattery. 'The only woman in\r
+the world whom he could ever think of as a wife.' I firmly believe it.\r
+It is an attachment to govern his whole life. Accepted or refused, his\r
+heart is wedded to her for ever. 'The loss of Mary I must consider as\r
+comprehending the loss of Crawford and Fanny.' Edmund, you do not know\r
+me. The families would never be connected if you did not connect\r
+them! Oh! write, write. Finish it at once. Let there be an end of this\r
+suspense. Fix, commit, condemn yourself."\r
+\r
+Such sensations, however, were too near akin to resentment to be long\r
+guiding Fanny's soliloquies. She was soon more softened and sorrowful.\r
+His warm regard, his kind expressions, his confidential treatment,\r
+touched her strongly. He was only too good to everybody. It was a\r
+letter, in short, which she would not but have had for the world, and\r
+which could never be valued enough. This was the end of it.\r
+\r
+Everybody at all addicted to letter-writing, without having much to say,\r
+which will include a large proportion of the female world at least, must\r
+feel with Lady Bertram that she was out of luck in having such a capital\r
+piece of Mansfield news as the certainty of the Grants going to Bath,\r
+occur at a time when she could make no advantage of it, and will admit\r
+that it must have been very mortifying to her to see it fall to the\r
+share of her thankless son, and treated as concisely as possible at the\r
+end of a long letter, instead of having it to spread over the largest\r
+part of a page of her own. For though Lady Bertram rather shone in the\r
+epistolary line, having early in her marriage, from the want of other\r
+employment, and the circumstance of Sir Thomas's being in Parliament,\r
+got into the way of making and keeping correspondents, and formed for\r
+herself a very creditable, common-place, amplifying style, so that a\r
+very little matter was enough for her: she could not do entirely without\r
+any; she must have something to write about, even to her niece; and\r
+being so soon to lose all the benefit of Dr. Grant's gouty symptoms and\r
+Mrs. Grant's morning calls, it was very hard upon her to be deprived of\r
+one of the last epistolary uses she could put them to.\r
+\r
+There was a rich amends, however, preparing for her. Lady Bertram's\r
+hour of good luck came. Within a few days from the receipt of Edmund's\r
+letter, Fanny had one from her aunt, beginning thus--\r
+\r
+"My Dear Fanny,--I take up my pen to communicate some very alarming\r
+intelligence, which I make no doubt will give you much concern".\r
+\r
+This was a great deal better than to have to take up the pen to acquaint\r
+her with all the particulars of the Grants' intended journey, for the\r
+present intelligence was of a nature to promise occupation for the pen\r
+for many days to come, being no less than the dangerous illness of her\r
+eldest son, of which they had received notice by express a few hours\r
+before.\r
+\r
+Tom had gone from London with a party of young men to Newmarket, where\r
+a neglected fall and a good deal of drinking had brought on a fever; and\r
+when the party broke up, being unable to move, had been left by himself\r
+at the house of one of these young men to the comforts of sickness and\r
+solitude, and the attendance only of servants. Instead of being soon\r
+well enough to follow his friends, as he had then hoped, his disorder\r
+increased considerably, and it was not long before he thought so ill of\r
+himself as to be as ready as his physician to have a letter despatched\r
+to Mansfield.\r
+\r
+"This distressing intelligence, as you may suppose," observed\r
+her ladyship, after giving the substance of it, "has agitated us\r
+exceedingly, and we cannot prevent ourselves from being greatly alarmed\r
+and apprehensive for the poor invalid, whose state Sir Thomas fears\r
+may be very critical; and Edmund kindly proposes attending his brother\r
+immediately, but I am happy to add that Sir Thomas will not leave me on\r
+this distressing occasion, as it would be too trying for me. We shall\r
+greatly miss Edmund in our small circle, but I trust and hope he\r
+will find the poor invalid in a less alarming state than might be\r
+apprehended, and that he will be able to bring him to Mansfield shortly,\r
+which Sir Thomas proposes should be done, and thinks best on every\r
+account, and I flatter myself the poor sufferer will soon be able to\r
+bear the removal without material inconvenience or injury. As I\r
+have little doubt of your feeling for us, my dear Fanny, under these\r
+distressing circumstances, I will write again very soon."\r
+\r
+Fanny's feelings on the occasion were indeed considerably more warm and\r
+genuine than her aunt's style of writing. She felt truly for them all.\r
+Tom dangerously ill, Edmund gone to attend him, and the sadly small\r
+party remaining at Mansfield, were cares to shut out every other care,\r
+or almost every other. She could just find selfishness enough to wonder\r
+whether Edmund _had_ written to Miss Crawford before this summons came,\r
+but no sentiment dwelt long with her that was not purely affectionate\r
+and disinterestedly anxious. Her aunt did not neglect her: she wrote\r
+again and again; they were receiving frequent accounts from Edmund,\r
+and these accounts were as regularly transmitted to Fanny, in the same\r
+diffuse style, and the same medley of trusts, hopes, and fears, all\r
+following and producing each other at haphazard. It was a sort of\r
+playing at being frightened. The sufferings which Lady Bertram did not\r
+see had little power over her fancy; and she wrote very comfortably\r
+about agitation, and anxiety, and poor invalids, till Tom was actually\r
+conveyed to Mansfield, and her own eyes had beheld his altered\r
+appearance. Then a letter which she had been previously preparing for\r
+Fanny was finished in a different style, in the language of real feeling\r
+and alarm; then she wrote as she might have spoken. "He is just come, my\r
+dear Fanny, and is taken upstairs; and I am so shocked to see him, that\r
+I do not know what to do. I am sure he has been very ill. Poor Tom! I am\r
+quite grieved for him, and very much frightened, and so is Sir Thomas;\r
+and how glad I should be if you were here to comfort me. But Sir\r
+Thomas hopes he will be better to-morrow, and says we must consider his\r
+journey."\r
+\r
+The real solicitude now awakened in the maternal bosom was not\r
+soon over. Tom's extreme impatience to be removed to Mansfield, and\r
+experience those comforts of home and family which had been little\r
+thought of in uninterrupted health, had probably induced his being\r
+conveyed thither too early, as a return of fever came on, and for a week\r
+he was in a more alarming state than ever. They were all very seriously\r
+frightened. Lady Bertram wrote her daily terrors to her niece, who\r
+might now be said to live upon letters, and pass all her time between\r
+suffering from that of to-day and looking forward to to-morrow's.\r
+Without any particular affection for her eldest cousin, her tenderness\r
+of heart made her feel that she could not spare him, and the purity of\r
+her principles added yet a keener solicitude, when she considered how\r
+little useful, how little self-denying his life had (apparently) been.\r
+\r
+Susan was her only companion and listener on this, as on more common\r
+occasions. Susan was always ready to hear and to sympathise. Nobody else\r
+could be interested in so remote an evil as illness in a family above an\r
+hundred miles off; not even Mrs. Price, beyond a brief question or two,\r
+if she saw her daughter with a letter in her hand, and now and then the\r
+quiet observation of, "My poor sister Bertram must be in a great deal of\r
+trouble."\r
+\r
+So long divided and so differently situated, the ties of blood were\r
+little more than nothing. An attachment, originally as tranquil as their\r
+tempers, was now become a mere name. Mrs. Price did quite as much for\r
+Lady Bertram as Lady Bertram would have done for Mrs. Price. Three or\r
+four Prices might have been swept away, any or all except Fanny and\r
+William, and Lady Bertram would have thought little about it; or perhaps\r
+might have caught from Mrs. Norris's lips the cant of its being a very\r
+happy thing and a great blessing to their poor dear sister Price to have\r
+them so well provided for.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLV\r
+\r
+At about the week's end from his return to Mansfield, Tom's immediate\r
+danger was over, and he was so far pronounced safe as to make his mother\r
+perfectly easy; for being now used to the sight of him in his suffering,\r
+helpless state, and hearing only the best, and never thinking beyond\r
+what she heard, with no disposition for alarm and no aptitude at a hint,\r
+Lady Bertram was the happiest subject in the world for a little medical\r
+imposition. The fever was subdued; the fever had been his complaint;\r
+of course he would soon be well again. Lady Bertram could think nothing\r
+less, and Fanny shared her aunt's security, till she received a few\r
+lines from Edmund, written purposely to give her a clearer idea of his\r
+brother's situation, and acquaint her with the apprehensions which\r
+he and his father had imbibed from the physician with respect to some\r
+strong hectic symptoms, which seemed to seize the frame on the departure\r
+of the fever. They judged it best that Lady Bertram should not be\r
+harassed by alarms which, it was to be hoped, would prove unfounded;\r
+but there was no reason why Fanny should not know the truth. They were\r
+apprehensive for his lungs.\r
+\r
+A very few lines from Edmund shewed her the patient and the sickroom\r
+in a juster and stronger light than all Lady Bertram's sheets of paper\r
+could do. There was hardly any one in the house who might not have\r
+described, from personal observation, better than herself; not one who\r
+was not more useful at times to her son. She could do nothing but glide\r
+in quietly and look at him; but when able to talk or be talked to, or\r
+read to, Edmund was the companion he preferred. His aunt worried him by\r
+her cares, and Sir Thomas knew not how to bring down his conversation or\r
+his voice to the level of irritation and feebleness. Edmund was all in\r
+all. Fanny would certainly believe him so at least, and must find that\r
+her estimation of him was higher than ever when he appeared as the\r
+attendant, supporter, cheerer of a suffering brother. There was not only\r
+the debility of recent illness to assist: there was also, as she now\r
+learnt, nerves much affected, spirits much depressed to calm and raise,\r
+and her own imagination added that there must be a mind to be properly\r
+guided.\r
+\r
+The family were not consumptive, and she was more inclined to hope than\r
+fear for her cousin, except when she thought of Miss Crawford; but Miss\r
+Crawford gave her the idea of being the child of good luck, and to her\r
+selfishness and vanity it would be good luck to have Edmund the only\r
+son.\r
+\r
+Even in the sick chamber the fortunate Mary was not forgotten. Edmund's\r
+letter had this postscript. "On the subject of my last, I had actually\r
+begun a letter when called away by Tom's illness, but I have now changed\r
+my mind, and fear to trust the influence of friends. When Tom is better,\r
+I shall go."\r
+\r
+Such was the state of Mansfield, and so it continued, with scarcely any\r
+change, till Easter. A line occasionally added by Edmund to his\r
+mother's letter was enough for Fanny's information. Tom's amendment was\r
+alarmingly slow.\r
+\r
+Easter came particularly late this year, as Fanny had most sorrowfully\r
+considered, on first learning that she had no chance of leaving\r
+Portsmouth till after it. It came, and she had yet heard nothing of her\r
+return--nothing even of the going to London, which was to precede\r
+her return. Her aunt often expressed a wish for her, but there was no\r
+notice, no message from the uncle on whom all depended. She supposed\r
+he could not yet leave his son, but it was a cruel, a terrible delay\r
+to her. The end of April was coming on; it would soon be almost three\r
+months, instead of two, that she had been absent from them all, and that\r
+her days had been passing in a state of penance, which she loved them\r
+too well to hope they would thoroughly understand; and who could yet say\r
+when there might be leisure to think of or fetch her?\r
+\r
+Her eagerness, her impatience, her longings to be with them, were such\r
+as to bring a line or two of Cowper's Tirocinium for ever before her.\r
+"With what intense desire she wants her home," was continually on her\r
+tongue, as the truest description of a yearning which she could not\r
+suppose any schoolboy's bosom to feel more keenly.\r
+\r
+When she had been coming to Portsmouth, she had loved to call it her\r
+home, had been fond of saying that she was going home; the word had\r
+been very dear to her, and so it still was, but it must be applied to\r
+Mansfield. _That_ was now the home. Portsmouth was Portsmouth; Mansfield\r
+was home. They had been long so arranged in the indulgence of her secret\r
+meditations, and nothing was more consolatory to her than to find her\r
+aunt using the same language: "I cannot but say I much regret your being\r
+from home at this distressing time, so very trying to my spirits. I\r
+trust and hope, and sincerely wish you may never be absent from home so\r
+long again," were most delightful sentences to her. Still, however, it\r
+was her private regale. Delicacy to her parents made her careful not to\r
+betray such a preference of her uncle's house. It was always: "When I go\r
+back into Northamptonshire, or when I return to Mansfield, I shall do\r
+so and so." For a great while it was so, but at last the longing grew\r
+stronger, it overthrew caution, and she found herself talking of what\r
+she should do when she went home before she was aware. She reproached\r
+herself, coloured, and looked fearfully towards her father and mother.\r
+She need not have been uneasy. There was no sign of displeasure, or even\r
+of hearing her. They were perfectly free from any jealousy of Mansfield.\r
+She was as welcome to wish herself there as to be there.\r
+\r
+It was sad to Fanny to lose all the pleasures of spring. She had not\r
+known before what pleasures she _had_ to lose in passing March and April\r
+in a town. She had not known before how much the beginnings and progress\r
+of vegetation had delighted her. What animation, both of body and mind,\r
+she had derived from watching the advance of that season which cannot,\r
+in spite of its capriciousness, be unlovely, and seeing its increasing\r
+beauties from the earliest flowers in the warmest divisions of her\r
+aunt's garden, to the opening of leaves of her uncle's plantations, and\r
+the glory of his woods. To be losing such pleasures was no trifle; to\r
+be losing them, because she was in the midst of closeness and noise,\r
+to have confinement, bad air, bad smells, substituted for liberty,\r
+freshness, fragrance, and verdure, was infinitely worse: but even these\r
+incitements to regret were feeble, compared with what arose from the\r
+conviction of being missed by her best friends, and the longing to be\r
+useful to those who were wanting her!\r
+\r
+Could she have been at home, she might have been of service to every\r
+creature in the house. She felt that she must have been of use to all.\r
+To all she must have saved some trouble of head or hand; and were it\r
+only in supporting the spirits of her aunt Bertram, keeping her from\r
+the evil of solitude, or the still greater evil of a restless, officious\r
+companion, too apt to be heightening danger in order to enhance her own\r
+importance, her being there would have been a general good. She loved to\r
+fancy how she could have read to her aunt, how she could have talked to\r
+her, and tried at once to make her feel the blessing of what was, and\r
+prepare her mind for what might be; and how many walks up and down\r
+stairs she might have saved her, and how many messages she might have\r
+carried.\r
+\r
+It astonished her that Tom's sisters could be satisfied with remaining\r
+in London at such a time, through an illness which had now, under\r
+different degrees of danger, lasted several weeks. _They_ might return\r
+to Mansfield when they chose; travelling could be no difficulty to\r
+_them_, and she could not comprehend how both could still keep away.\r
+If Mrs. Rushworth could imagine any interfering obligations, Julia was\r
+certainly able to quit London whenever she chose. It appeared from one\r
+of her aunt's letters that Julia had offered to return if wanted, but\r
+this was all. It was evident that she would rather remain where she was.\r
+\r
+Fanny was disposed to think the influence of London very much at war\r
+with all respectable attachments. She saw the proof of it in Miss\r
+Crawford, as well as in her cousins; _her_ attachment to Edmund had been\r
+respectable, the most respectable part of her character; her friendship\r
+for herself had at least been blameless. Where was either sentiment now?\r
+It was so long since Fanny had had any letter from her, that she had\r
+some reason to think lightly of the friendship which had been so dwelt\r
+on. It was weeks since she had heard anything of Miss Crawford or of\r
+her other connexions in town, except through Mansfield, and she was\r
+beginning to suppose that she might never know whether Mr. Crawford had\r
+gone into Norfolk again or not till they met, and might never hear from\r
+his sister any more this spring, when the following letter was received\r
+to revive old and create some new sensations--\r
+\r
+"Forgive me, my dear Fanny, as soon as you can, for my long silence, and\r
+behave as if you could forgive me directly. This is my modest request\r
+and expectation, for you are so good, that I depend upon being treated\r
+better than I deserve, and I write now to beg an immediate answer. I\r
+want to know the state of things at Mansfield Park, and you, no doubt,\r
+are perfectly able to give it. One should be a brute not to feel for the\r
+distress they are in; and from what I hear, poor Mr. Bertram has a bad\r
+chance of ultimate recovery. I thought little of his illness at first.\r
+I looked upon him as the sort of person to be made a fuss with, and to\r
+make a fuss himself in any trifling disorder, and was chiefly concerned\r
+for those who had to nurse him; but now it is confidently asserted that\r
+he is really in a decline, that the symptoms are most alarming, and that\r
+part of the family, at least, are aware of it. If it be so, I am sure\r
+you must be included in that part, that discerning part, and therefore\r
+entreat you to let me know how far I have been rightly informed. I need\r
+not say how rejoiced I shall be to hear there has been any mistake, but\r
+the report is so prevalent that I confess I cannot help trembling. To\r
+have such a fine young man cut off in the flower of his days is most\r
+melancholy. Poor Sir Thomas will feel it dreadfully. I really am quite\r
+agitated on the subject. Fanny, Fanny, I see you smile and look cunning,\r
+but, upon my honour, I never bribed a physician in my life. Poor young\r
+man! If he is to die, there will be _two_ poor young men less in the\r
+world; and with a fearless face and bold voice would I say to any one,\r
+that wealth and consequence could fall into no hands more deserving of\r
+them. It was a foolish precipitation last Christmas, but the evil of\r
+a few days may be blotted out in part. Varnish and gilding hide many\r
+stains. It will be but the loss of the Esquire after his name. With real\r
+affection, Fanny, like mine, more might be overlooked. Write to me by\r
+return of post, judge of my anxiety, and do not trifle with it. Tell me\r
+the real truth, as you have it from the fountainhead. And now, do\r
+not trouble yourself to be ashamed of either my feelings or your own.\r
+Believe me, they are not only natural, they are philanthropic and\r
+virtuous. I put it to your conscience, whether 'Sir Edmund' would not do\r
+more good with all the Bertram property than any other possible 'Sir.'\r
+Had the Grants been at home I would not have troubled you, but you are\r
+now the only one I can apply to for the truth, his sisters not being\r
+within my reach. Mrs. R. has been spending the Easter with the Aylmers\r
+at Twickenham (as to be sure you know), and is not yet returned; and\r
+Julia is with the cousins who live near Bedford Square, but I forget\r
+their name and street. Could I immediately apply to either, however, I\r
+should still prefer you, because it strikes me that they have all along\r
+been so unwilling to have their own amusements cut up, as to shut their\r
+eyes to the truth. I suppose Mrs. R.'s Easter holidays will not last\r
+much longer; no doubt they are thorough holidays to her. The Aylmers\r
+are pleasant people; and her husband away, she can have nothing but\r
+enjoyment. I give her credit for promoting his going dutifully down to\r
+Bath, to fetch his mother; but how will she and the dowager agree in one\r
+house? Henry is not at hand, so I have nothing to say from him. Do not\r
+you think Edmund would have been in town again long ago, but for this\r
+illness?--Yours ever, Mary."\r
+\r
+"I had actually begun folding my letter when Henry walked in, but he\r
+brings no intelligence to prevent my sending it. Mrs. R. knows a decline\r
+is apprehended; he saw her this morning: she returns to Wimpole Street\r
+to-day; the old lady is come. Now do not make yourself uneasy with any\r
+queer fancies because he has been spending a few days at Richmond. He\r
+does it every spring. Be assured he cares for nobody but you. At this\r
+very moment he is wild to see you, and occupied only in contriving the\r
+means for doing so, and for making his pleasure conduce to yours. In\r
+proof, he repeats, and more eagerly, what he said at Portsmouth about\r
+our conveying you home, and I join him in it with all my soul. Dear\r
+Fanny, write directly, and tell us to come. It will do us all good.\r
+He and I can go to the Parsonage, you know, and be no trouble to our\r
+friends at Mansfield Park. It would really be gratifying to see them\r
+all again, and a little addition of society might be of infinite use to\r
+them; and as to yourself, you must feel yourself to be so wanted there,\r
+that you cannot in conscience--conscientious as you are--keep away, when\r
+you have the means of returning. I have not time or patience to give\r
+half Henry's messages; be satisfied that the spirit of each and every\r
+one is unalterable affection."\r
+\r
+Fanny's disgust at the greater part of this letter, with her extreme\r
+reluctance to bring the writer of it and her cousin Edmund together,\r
+would have made her (as she felt) incapable of judging impartially\r
+whether the concluding offer might be accepted or not. To herself,\r
+individually, it was most tempting. To be finding herself, perhaps\r
+within three days, transported to Mansfield, was an image of the\r
+greatest felicity, but it would have been a material drawback to be\r
+owing such felicity to persons in whose feelings and conduct, at the\r
+present moment, she saw so much to condemn: the sister's feelings,\r
+the brother's conduct, _her_ cold-hearted ambition, _his_ thoughtless\r
+vanity. To have him still the acquaintance, the flirt perhaps, of Mrs.\r
+Rushworth! She was mortified. She had thought better of him. Happily,\r
+however, she was not left to weigh and decide between opposite\r
+inclinations and doubtful notions of right; there was no occasion to\r
+determine whether she ought to keep Edmund and Mary asunder or not. She\r
+had a rule to apply to, which settled everything. Her awe of her uncle,\r
+and her dread of taking a liberty with him, made it instantly plain to\r
+her what she had to do. She must absolutely decline the proposal. If he\r
+wanted, he would send for her; and even to offer an early return was\r
+a presumption which hardly anything would have seemed to justify. She\r
+thanked Miss Crawford, but gave a decided negative. "Her uncle,\r
+she understood, meant to fetch her; and as her cousin's illness had\r
+continued so many weeks without her being thought at all necessary,\r
+she must suppose her return would be unwelcome at present, and that she\r
+should be felt an encumbrance."\r
+\r
+Her representation of her cousin's state at this time was exactly\r
+according to her own belief of it, and such as she supposed would convey\r
+to the sanguine mind of her correspondent the hope of everything she was\r
+wishing for. Edmund would be forgiven for being a clergyman, it seemed,\r
+under certain conditions of wealth; and this, she suspected, was all\r
+the conquest of prejudice which he was so ready to congratulate himself\r
+upon. She had only learnt to think nothing of consequence but money.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLVI\r
+\r
+As Fanny could not doubt that her answer was conveying a real\r
+disappointment, she was rather in expectation, from her knowledge of\r
+Miss Crawford's temper, of being urged again; and though no second\r
+letter arrived for the space of a week, she had still the same feeling\r
+when it did come.\r
+\r
+On receiving it, she could instantly decide on its containing little\r
+writing, and was persuaded of its having the air of a letter of haste\r
+and business. Its object was unquestionable; and two moments were enough\r
+to start the probability of its being merely to give her notice that\r
+they should be in Portsmouth that very day, and to throw her into all\r
+the agitation of doubting what she ought to do in such a case. If two\r
+moments, however, can surround with difficulties, a third can disperse\r
+them; and before she had opened the letter, the possibility of Mr. and\r
+Miss Crawford's having applied to her uncle and obtained his permission\r
+was giving her ease. This was the letter--\r
+\r
+"A most scandalous, ill-natured rumour has just reached me, and I write,\r
+dear Fanny, to warn you against giving the least credit to it, should it\r
+spread into the country. Depend upon it, there is some mistake, and that\r
+a day or two will clear it up; at any rate, that Henry is blameless, and\r
+in spite of a moment's _etourderie_, thinks of nobody but you. Say not a\r
+word of it; hear nothing, surmise nothing, whisper nothing till I\r
+write again. I am sure it will be all hushed up, and nothing proved but\r
+Rushworth's folly. If they are gone, I would lay my life they are only\r
+gone to Mansfield Park, and Julia with them. But why would not you let\r
+us come for you? I wish you may not repent it.--Yours, etc."\r
+\r
+Fanny stood aghast. As no scandalous, ill-natured rumour had reached\r
+her, it was impossible for her to understand much of this strange\r
+letter. She could only perceive that it must relate to Wimpole Street\r
+and Mr. Crawford, and only conjecture that something very imprudent had\r
+just occurred in that quarter to draw the notice of the world, and to\r
+excite her jealousy, in Miss Crawford's apprehension, if she heard it.\r
+Miss Crawford need not be alarmed for her. She was only sorry for the\r
+parties concerned and for Mansfield, if the report should spread so far;\r
+but she hoped it might not. If the Rushworths were gone themselves to\r
+Mansfield, as was to be inferred from what Miss Crawford said, it was\r
+not likely that anything unpleasant should have preceded them, or at\r
+least should make any impression.\r
+\r
+As to Mr. Crawford, she hoped it might give him a knowledge of his own\r
+disposition, convince him that he was not capable of being steadily\r
+attached to any one woman in the world, and shame him from persisting\r
+any longer in addressing herself.\r
+\r
+It was very strange! She had begun to think he really loved her, and to\r
+fancy his affection for her something more than common; and his sister\r
+still said that he cared for nobody else. Yet there must have been some\r
+marked display of attentions to her cousin, there must have been some\r
+strong indiscretion, since her correspondent was not of a sort to regard\r
+a slight one.\r
+\r
+Very uncomfortable she was, and must continue, till she heard from\r
+Miss Crawford again. It was impossible to banish the letter from her\r
+thoughts, and she could not relieve herself by speaking of it to any\r
+human being. Miss Crawford need not have urged secrecy with so much\r
+warmth; she might have trusted to her sense of what was due to her\r
+cousin.\r
+\r
+The next day came and brought no second letter. Fanny was disappointed.\r
+She could still think of little else all the morning; but, when her\r
+father came back in the afternoon with the daily newspaper as usual, she\r
+was so far from expecting any elucidation through such a channel that\r
+the subject was for a moment out of her head.\r
+\r
+She was deep in other musing. The remembrance of her first evening in\r
+that room, of her father and his newspaper, came across her. No candle\r
+was now wanted. The sun was yet an hour and half above the horizon. She\r
+felt that she had, indeed, been three months there; and the sun's rays\r
+falling strongly into the parlour, instead of cheering, made her still\r
+more melancholy, for sunshine appeared to her a totally different\r
+thing in a town and in the country. Here, its power was only a glare:\r
+a stifling, sickly glare, serving but to bring forward stains and dirt\r
+that might otherwise have slept. There was neither health nor gaiety in\r
+sunshine in a town. She sat in a blaze of oppressive heat, in a cloud\r
+of moving dust, and her eyes could only wander from the walls, marked by\r
+her father's head, to the table cut and notched by her brothers, where\r
+stood the tea-board never thoroughly cleaned, the cups and saucers wiped\r
+in streaks, the milk a mixture of motes floating in thin blue, and the\r
+bread and butter growing every minute more greasy than even Rebecca's\r
+hands had first produced it. Her father read his newspaper, and her\r
+mother lamented over the ragged carpet as usual, while the tea was\r
+in preparation, and wished Rebecca would mend it; and Fanny was first\r
+roused by his calling out to her, after humphing and considering over\r
+a particular paragraph: "What's the name of your great cousins in town,\r
+Fan?"\r
+\r
+A moment's recollection enabled her to say, "Rushworth, sir."\r
+\r
+"And don't they live in Wimpole Street?"\r
+\r
+"Yes, sir."\r
+\r
+"Then, there's the devil to pay among them, that's all! There" (holding\r
+out the paper to her); "much good may such fine relations do you. I\r
+don't know what Sir Thomas may think of such matters; he may be too much\r
+of the courtier and fine gentleman to like his daughter the less. But,\r
+by G--! if she belonged to _me_, I'd give her the rope's end as long as\r
+I could stand over her. A little flogging for man and woman too would be\r
+the best way of preventing such things."\r
+\r
+Fanny read to herself that "it was with infinite concern the newspaper\r
+had to announce to the world a matrimonial _fracas_ in the family of\r
+Mr. R. of Wimpole Street; the beautiful Mrs. R., whose name had not long\r
+been enrolled in the lists of Hymen, and who had promised to become\r
+so brilliant a leader in the fashionable world, having quitted her\r
+husband's roof in company with the well-known and captivating Mr. C.,\r
+the intimate friend and associate of Mr. R., and it was not known even\r
+to the editor of the newspaper whither they were gone."\r
+\r
+"It is a mistake, sir," said Fanny instantly; "it must be a mistake, it\r
+cannot be true; it must mean some other people."\r
+\r
+She spoke from the instinctive wish of delaying shame; she spoke with\r
+a resolution which sprung from despair, for she spoke what she did not,\r
+could not believe herself. It had been the shock of conviction as she\r
+read. The truth rushed on her; and how she could have spoken at all,\r
+how she could even have breathed, was afterwards matter of wonder to\r
+herself.\r
+\r
+Mr. Price cared too little about the report to make her much answer.\r
+"It might be all a lie," he acknowledged; "but so many fine ladies were\r
+going to the devil nowadays that way, that there was no answering for\r
+anybody."\r
+\r
+"Indeed, I hope it is not true," said Mrs. Price plaintively; "it would\r
+be so very shocking! If I have spoken once to Rebecca about that carpet,\r
+I am sure I have spoke at least a dozen times; have not I, Betsey? And\r
+it would not be ten minutes' work."\r
+\r
+The horror of a mind like Fanny's, as it received the conviction of such\r
+guilt, and began to take in some part of the misery that must ensue, can\r
+hardly be described. At first, it was a sort of stupefaction; but every\r
+moment was quickening her perception of the horrible evil. She could not\r
+doubt, she dared not indulge a hope, of the paragraph being false. Miss\r
+Crawford's letter, which she had read so often as to make every line\r
+her own, was in frightful conformity with it. Her eager defence of her\r
+brother, her hope of its being _hushed_ _up_, her evident agitation,\r
+were all of a piece with something very bad; and if there was a woman\r
+of character in existence, who could treat as a trifle this sin of the\r
+first magnitude, who would try to gloss it over, and desire to have it\r
+unpunished, she could believe Miss Crawford to be the woman! Now she\r
+could see her own mistake as to _who_ were gone, or _said_ to be\r
+gone. It was not Mr. and Mrs. Rushworth; it was Mrs. Rushworth and Mr.\r
+Crawford.\r
+\r
+Fanny seemed to herself never to have been shocked before. There was no\r
+possibility of rest. The evening passed without a pause of misery, the\r
+night was totally sleepless. She passed only from feelings of sickness\r
+to shudderings of horror; and from hot fits of fever to cold. The event\r
+was so shocking, that there were moments even when her heart revolted\r
+from it as impossible: when she thought it could not be. A woman married\r
+only six months ago; a man professing himself devoted, even _engaged_ to\r
+another; that other her near relation; the whole family, both families\r
+connected as they were by tie upon tie; all friends, all intimate\r
+together! It was too horrible a confusion of guilt, too gross a\r
+complication of evil, for human nature, not in a state of utter\r
+barbarism, to be capable of! yet her judgment told her it was so.\r
+_His_ unsettled affections, wavering with his vanity, _Maria's_\r
+decided attachment, and no sufficient principle on either side, gave it\r
+possibility: Miss Crawford's letter stampt it a fact.\r
+\r
+What would be the consequence? Whom would it not injure? Whose views\r
+might it not affect? Whose peace would it not cut up for ever? Miss\r
+Crawford, herself, Edmund; but it was dangerous, perhaps, to tread\r
+such ground. She confined herself, or tried to confine herself, to the\r
+simple, indubitable family misery which must envelop all, if it were\r
+indeed a matter of certified guilt and public exposure. The mother's\r
+sufferings, the father's; there she paused. Julia's, Tom's, Edmund's;\r
+there a yet longer pause. They were the two on whom it would fall most\r
+horribly. Sir Thomas's parental solicitude and high sense of honour and\r
+decorum, Edmund's upright principles, unsuspicious temper, and genuine\r
+strength of feeling, made her think it scarcely possible for them to\r
+support life and reason under such disgrace; and it appeared to her\r
+that, as far as this world alone was concerned, the greatest blessing to\r
+every one of kindred with Mrs. Rushworth would be instant annihilation.\r
+\r
+Nothing happened the next day, or the next, to weaken her terrors. Two\r
+posts came in, and brought no refutation, public or private. There was\r
+no second letter to explain away the first from Miss Crawford; there was\r
+no intelligence from Mansfield, though it was now full time for her\r
+to hear again from her aunt. This was an evil omen. She had, indeed,\r
+scarcely the shadow of a hope to soothe her mind, and was reduced to so\r
+low and wan and trembling a condition, as no mother, not unkind, except\r
+Mrs. Price could have overlooked, when the third day did bring the\r
+sickening knock, and a letter was again put into her hands. It bore the\r
+London postmark, and came from Edmund.\r
+\r
+"Dear Fanny,--You know our present wretchedness. May God support you\r
+under your share! We have been here two days, but there is nothing to\r
+be done. They cannot be traced. You may not have heard of the last\r
+blow--Julia's elopement; she is gone to Scotland with Yates. She left\r
+London a few hours before we entered it. At any other time this would\r
+have been felt dreadfully. Now it seems nothing; yet it is an heavy\r
+aggravation. My father is not overpowered. More cannot be hoped. He is\r
+still able to think and act; and I write, by his desire, to propose your\r
+returning home. He is anxious to get you there for my mother's sake. I\r
+shall be at Portsmouth the morning after you receive this, and hope to\r
+find you ready to set off for Mansfield. My father wishes you to invite\r
+Susan to go with you for a few months. Settle it as you like; say what\r
+is proper; I am sure you will feel such an instance of his kindness at\r
+such a moment! Do justice to his meaning, however I may confuse it. You\r
+may imagine something of my present state. There is no end of the evil\r
+let loose upon us. You will see me early by the mail.--Yours, etc."\r
+\r
+Never had Fanny more wanted a cordial. Never had she felt such a one\r
+as this letter contained. To-morrow! to leave Portsmouth to-morrow!\r
+She was, she felt she was, in the greatest danger of being exquisitely\r
+happy, while so many were miserable. The evil which brought such good\r
+to her! She dreaded lest she should learn to be insensible of it. To be\r
+going so soon, sent for so kindly, sent for as a comfort, and with leave\r
+to take Susan, was altogether such a combination of blessings as set her\r
+heart in a glow, and for a time seemed to distance every pain, and\r
+make her incapable of suitably sharing the distress even of those\r
+whose distress she thought of most. Julia's elopement could affect her\r
+comparatively but little; she was amazed and shocked; but it could not\r
+occupy her, could not dwell on her mind. She was obliged to call herself\r
+to think of it, and acknowledge it to be terrible and grievous, or it\r
+was escaping her, in the midst of all the agitating pressing joyful\r
+cares attending this summons to herself.\r
+\r
+There is nothing like employment, active indispensable employment, for\r
+relieving sorrow. Employment, even melancholy, may dispel melancholy,\r
+and her occupations were hopeful. She had so much to do, that not even\r
+the horrible story of Mrs. Rushworth--now fixed to the last point of\r
+certainty could affect her as it had done before. She had not time to\r
+be miserable. Within twenty-four hours she was hoping to be gone; her\r
+father and mother must be spoken to, Susan prepared, everything got\r
+ready. Business followed business; the day was hardly long enough. The\r
+happiness she was imparting, too, happiness very little alloyed by the\r
+black communication which must briefly precede it--the joyful consent\r
+of her father and mother to Susan's going with her--the general\r
+satisfaction with which the going of both seemed regarded, and the\r
+ecstasy of Susan herself, was all serving to support her spirits.\r
+\r
+The affliction of the Bertrams was little felt in the family. Mrs. Price\r
+talked of her poor sister for a few minutes, but how to find anything to\r
+hold Susan's clothes, because Rebecca took away all the boxes and spoilt\r
+them, was much more in her thoughts: and as for Susan, now unexpectedly\r
+gratified in the first wish of her heart, and knowing nothing personally\r
+of those who had sinned, or of those who were sorrowing--if she could\r
+help rejoicing from beginning to end, it was as much as ought to be\r
+expected from human virtue at fourteen.\r
+\r
+As nothing was really left for the decision of Mrs. Price, or the good\r
+offices of Rebecca, everything was rationally and duly accomplished,\r
+and the girls were ready for the morrow. The advantage of much sleep\r
+to prepare them for their journey was impossible. The cousin who was\r
+travelling towards them could hardly have less than visited their\r
+agitated spirits--one all happiness, the other all varying and\r
+indescribable perturbation.\r
+\r
+By eight in the morning Edmund was in the house. The girls heard his\r
+entrance from above, and Fanny went down. The idea of immediately seeing\r
+him, with the knowledge of what he must be suffering, brought back all\r
+her own first feelings. He so near her, and in misery. She was ready to\r
+sink as she entered the parlour. He was alone, and met her instantly;\r
+and she found herself pressed to his heart with only these words, just\r
+articulate, "My Fanny, my only sister; my only comfort now!" She could\r
+say nothing; nor for some minutes could he say more.\r
+\r
+He turned away to recover himself, and when he spoke again, though his\r
+voice still faltered, his manner shewed the wish of self-command, and\r
+the resolution of avoiding any farther allusion. "Have you breakfasted?\r
+When shall you be ready? Does Susan go?" were questions following each\r
+other rapidly. His great object was to be off as soon as possible. When\r
+Mansfield was considered, time was precious; and the state of his own\r
+mind made him find relief only in motion. It was settled that he should\r
+order the carriage to the door in half an hour. Fanny answered for their\r
+having breakfasted and being quite ready in half an hour. He had already\r
+ate, and declined staying for their meal. He would walk round the\r
+ramparts, and join them with the carriage. He was gone again; glad to\r
+get away even from Fanny.\r
+\r
+He looked very ill; evidently suffering under violent emotions, which he\r
+was determined to suppress. She knew it must be so, but it was terrible\r
+to her.\r
+\r
+The carriage came; and he entered the house again at the same\r
+moment, just in time to spend a few minutes with the family, and be a\r
+witness--but that he saw nothing--of the tranquil manner in which the\r
+daughters were parted with, and just in time to prevent their sitting\r
+down to the breakfast-table, which, by dint of much unusual activity,\r
+was quite and completely ready as the carriage drove from the door.\r
+Fanny's last meal in her father's house was in character with her first:\r
+she was dismissed from it as hospitably as she had been welcomed.\r
+\r
+How her heart swelled with joy and gratitude as she passed the barriers\r
+of Portsmouth, and how Susan's face wore its broadest smiles, may be\r
+easily conceived. Sitting forwards, however, and screened by her bonnet,\r
+those smiles were unseen.\r
+\r
+The journey was likely to be a silent one. Edmund's deep sighs often\r
+reached Fanny. Had he been alone with her, his heart must have opened\r
+in spite of every resolution; but Susan's presence drove him quite into\r
+himself, and his attempts to talk on indifferent subjects could never be\r
+long supported.\r
+\r
+Fanny watched him with never-failing solicitude, and sometimes catching\r
+his eye, revived an affectionate smile, which comforted her; but the\r
+first day's journey passed without her hearing a word from him on the\r
+subjects that were weighing him down. The next morning produced a\r
+little more. Just before their setting out from Oxford, while Susan was\r
+stationed at a window, in eager observation of the departure of a\r
+large family from the inn, the other two were standing by the fire; and\r
+Edmund, particularly struck by the alteration in Fanny's looks, and from\r
+his ignorance of the daily evils of her father's house, attributing an\r
+undue share of the change, attributing _all_ to the recent event, took\r
+her hand, and said in a low, but very expressive tone, "No wonder--you\r
+must feel it--you must suffer. How a man who had once loved, could\r
+desert you! But _yours_--your regard was new compared with----Fanny,\r
+think of _me_!"\r
+\r
+The first division of their journey occupied a long day, and brought\r
+them, almost knocked up, to Oxford; but the second was over at a much\r
+earlier hour. They were in the environs of Mansfield long before the\r
+usual dinner-time, and as they approached the beloved place, the hearts\r
+of both sisters sank a little. Fanny began to dread the meeting with her\r
+aunts and Tom, under so dreadful a humiliation; and Susan to feel\r
+with some anxiety, that all her best manners, all her lately acquired\r
+knowledge of what was practised here, was on the point of being called\r
+into action. Visions of good and ill breeding, of old vulgarisms and new\r
+gentilities, were before her; and she was meditating much upon silver\r
+forks, napkins, and finger-glasses. Fanny had been everywhere awake to\r
+the difference of the country since February; but when they entered the\r
+Park her perceptions and her pleasures were of the keenest sort. It was\r
+three months, full three months, since her quitting it, and the\r
+change was from winter to summer. Her eye fell everywhere on lawns\r
+and plantations of the freshest green; and the trees, though not fully\r
+clothed, were in that delightful state when farther beauty is known to\r
+be at hand, and when, while much is actually given to the sight, more\r
+yet remains for the imagination. Her enjoyment, however, was for herself\r
+alone. Edmund could not share it. She looked at him, but he was leaning\r
+back, sunk in a deeper gloom than ever, and with eyes closed, as if the\r
+view of cheerfulness oppressed him, and the lovely scenes of home must\r
+be shut out.\r
+\r
+It made her melancholy again; and the knowledge of what must be enduring\r
+there, invested even the house, modern, airy, and well situated as it\r
+was, with a melancholy aspect.\r
+\r
+By one of the suffering party within they were expected with such\r
+impatience as she had never known before. Fanny had scarcely passed the\r
+solemn-looking servants, when Lady Bertram came from the drawing-room\r
+to meet her; came with no indolent step; and falling on her neck, said,\r
+"Dear Fanny! now I shall be comfortable."\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLVII\r
+\r
+It had been a miserable party, each of the three believing themselves\r
+most miserable. Mrs. Norris, however, as most attached to Maria, was\r
+really the greatest sufferer. Maria was her first favourite, the dearest\r
+of all; the match had been her own contriving, as she had been wont with\r
+such pride of heart to feel and say, and this conclusion of it almost\r
+overpowered her.\r
+\r
+She was an altered creature, quieted, stupefied, indifferent to\r
+everything that passed. The being left with her sister and nephew, and\r
+all the house under her care, had been an advantage entirely thrown\r
+away; she had been unable to direct or dictate, or even fancy herself\r
+useful. When really touched by affliction, her active powers had been\r
+all benumbed; and neither Lady Bertram nor Tom had received from her the\r
+smallest support or attempt at support. She had done no more for them\r
+than they had done for each other. They had been all solitary, helpless,\r
+and forlorn alike; and now the arrival of the others only established\r
+her superiority in wretchedness. Her companions were relieved, but there\r
+was no good for _her_. Edmund was almost as welcome to his brother\r
+as Fanny to her aunt; but Mrs. Norris, instead of having comfort from\r
+either, was but the more irritated by the sight of the person whom, in\r
+the blindness of her anger, she could have charged as the daemon of the\r
+piece. Had Fanny accepted Mr. Crawford this could not have happened.\r
+\r
+Susan too was a grievance. She had not spirits to notice her in more\r
+than a few repulsive looks, but she felt her as a spy, and an intruder,\r
+and an indigent niece, and everything most odious. By her other aunt,\r
+Susan was received with quiet kindness. Lady Bertram could not give her\r
+much time, or many words, but she felt her, as Fanny's sister, to have\r
+a claim at Mansfield, and was ready to kiss and like her; and Susan\r
+was more than satisfied, for she came perfectly aware that nothing but\r
+ill-humour was to be expected from aunt Norris; and was so provided\r
+with happiness, so strong in that best of blessings, an escape from\r
+many certain evils, that she could have stood against a great deal more\r
+indifference than she met with from the others.\r
+\r
+She was now left a good deal to herself, to get acquainted with the\r
+house and grounds as she could, and spent her days very happily in so\r
+doing, while those who might otherwise have attended to her were shut\r
+up, or wholly occupied each with the person quite dependent on them, at\r
+this time, for everything like comfort; Edmund trying to bury his own\r
+feelings in exertions for the relief of his brother's, and Fanny devoted\r
+to her aunt Bertram, returning to every former office with more than\r
+former zeal, and thinking she could never do enough for one who seemed\r
+so much to want her.\r
+\r
+To talk over the dreadful business with Fanny, talk and lament, was all\r
+Lady Bertram's consolation. To be listened to and borne with, and hear\r
+the voice of kindness and sympathy in return, was everything that could\r
+be done for her. To be otherwise comforted was out of the question. The\r
+case admitted of no comfort. Lady Bertram did not think deeply, but,\r
+guided by Sir Thomas, she thought justly on all important points; and\r
+she saw, therefore, in all its enormity, what had happened, and neither\r
+endeavoured herself, nor required Fanny to advise her, to think little\r
+of guilt and infamy.\r
+\r
+Her affections were not acute, nor was her mind tenacious. After a time,\r
+Fanny found it not impossible to direct her thoughts to other subjects,\r
+and revive some interest in the usual occupations; but whenever Lady\r
+Bertram _was_ fixed on the event, she could see it only in one light, as\r
+comprehending the loss of a daughter, and a disgrace never to be wiped\r
+off.\r
+\r
+Fanny learnt from her all the particulars which had yet transpired. Her\r
+aunt was no very methodical narrator, but with the help of some letters\r
+to and from Sir Thomas, and what she already knew herself, and could\r
+reasonably combine, she was soon able to understand quite as much as she\r
+wished of the circumstances attending the story.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Rushworth had gone, for the Easter holidays, to Twickenham, with\r
+a family whom she had just grown intimate with: a family of lively,\r
+agreeable manners, and probably of morals and discretion to suit, for to\r
+_their_ house Mr. Crawford had constant access at all times. His having\r
+been in the same neighbourhood Fanny already knew. Mr. Rushworth had\r
+been gone at this time to Bath, to pass a few days with his mother, and\r
+bring her back to town, and Maria was with these friends without any\r
+restraint, without even Julia; for Julia had removed from Wimpole Street\r
+two or three weeks before, on a visit to some relations of Sir Thomas;\r
+a removal which her father and mother were now disposed to attribute\r
+to some view of convenience on Mr. Yates's account. Very soon after the\r
+Rushworths' return to Wimpole Street, Sir Thomas had received a letter\r
+from an old and most particular friend in London, who hearing and\r
+witnessing a good deal to alarm him in that quarter, wrote to recommend\r
+Sir Thomas's coming to London himself, and using his influence with his\r
+daughter to put an end to the intimacy which was already exposing her to\r
+unpleasant remarks, and evidently making Mr. Rushworth uneasy.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas was preparing to act upon this letter, without communicating\r
+its contents to any creature at Mansfield, when it was followed by\r
+another, sent express from the same friend, to break to him the almost\r
+desperate situation in which affairs then stood with the young people.\r
+Mrs. Rushworth had left her husband's house: Mr. Rushworth had been\r
+in great anger and distress to _him_ (Mr. Harding) for his advice; Mr.\r
+Harding feared there had been _at_ _least_ very flagrant indiscretion.\r
+The maidservant of Mrs. Rushworth, senior, threatened alarmingly. He\r
+was doing all in his power to quiet everything, with the hope of Mrs.\r
+Rushworth's return, but was so much counteracted in Wimpole Street by\r
+the influence of Mr. Rushworth's mother, that the worst consequences\r
+might be apprehended.\r
+\r
+This dreadful communication could not be kept from the rest of the\r
+family. Sir Thomas set off, Edmund would go with him, and the others had\r
+been left in a state of wretchedness, inferior only to what followed\r
+the receipt of the next letters from London. Everything was by that time\r
+public beyond a hope. The servant of Mrs. Rushworth, the mother, had\r
+exposure in her power, and supported by her mistress, was not to be\r
+silenced. The two ladies, even in the short time they had been\r
+together, had disagreed; and the bitterness of the elder against her\r
+daughter-in-law might perhaps arise almost as much from the personal\r
+disrespect with which she had herself been treated as from sensibility\r
+for her son.\r
+\r
+However that might be, she was unmanageable. But had she been less\r
+obstinate, or of less weight with her son, who was always guided by the\r
+last speaker, by the person who could get hold of and shut him up, the\r
+case would still have been hopeless, for Mrs. Rushworth did not appear\r
+again, and there was every reason to conclude her to be concealed\r
+somewhere with Mr. Crawford, who had quitted his uncle's house, as for a\r
+journey, on the very day of her absenting herself.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, however, remained yet a little longer in town, in the hope\r
+of discovering and snatching her from farther vice, though all was lost\r
+on the side of character.\r
+\r
+_His_ present state Fanny could hardly bear to think of. There was but\r
+one of his children who was not at this time a source of misery to\r
+him. Tom's complaints had been greatly heightened by the shock of his\r
+sister's conduct, and his recovery so much thrown back by it, that even\r
+Lady Bertram had been struck by the difference, and all her alarms were\r
+regularly sent off to her husband; and Julia's elopement, the additional\r
+blow which had met him on his arrival in London, though its force had\r
+been deadened at the moment, must, she knew, be sorely felt. She saw\r
+that it was. His letters expressed how much he deplored it. Under any\r
+circumstances it would have been an unwelcome alliance; but to have it\r
+so clandestinely formed, and such a period chosen for its completion,\r
+placed Julia's feelings in a most unfavourable light, and severely\r
+aggravated the folly of her choice. He called it a bad thing, done in\r
+the worst manner, and at the worst time; and though Julia was yet as\r
+more pardonable than Maria as folly than vice, he could not but\r
+regard the step she had taken as opening the worst probabilities of a\r
+conclusion hereafter like her sister's. Such was his opinion of the set\r
+into which she had thrown herself.\r
+\r
+Fanny felt for him most acutely. He could have no comfort but in Edmund.\r
+Every other child must be racking his heart. His displeasure against\r
+herself she trusted, reasoning differently from Mrs. Norris, would now\r
+be done away. _She_ should be justified. Mr. Crawford would have fully\r
+acquitted her conduct in refusing him; but this, though most material\r
+to herself, would be poor consolation to Sir Thomas. Her uncle's\r
+displeasure was terrible to her; but what could her justification or her\r
+gratitude and attachment do for him? His stay must be on Edmund alone.\r
+\r
+She was mistaken, however, in supposing that Edmund gave his father no\r
+present pain. It was of a much less poignant nature than what the others\r
+excited; but Sir Thomas was considering his happiness as very deeply\r
+involved in the offence of his sister and friend; cut off by it, as\r
+he must be, from the woman whom he had been pursuing with undoubted\r
+attachment and strong probability of success; and who, in everything but\r
+this despicable brother, would have been so eligible a connexion. He was\r
+aware of what Edmund must be suffering on his own behalf, in addition\r
+to all the rest, when they were in town: he had seen or conjectured\r
+his feelings; and, having reason to think that one interview with Miss\r
+Crawford had taken place, from which Edmund derived only increased\r
+distress, had been as anxious on that account as on others to get him\r
+out of town, and had engaged him in taking Fanny home to her aunt, with\r
+a view to his relief and benefit, no less than theirs. Fanny was not in\r
+the secret of her uncle's feelings, Sir Thomas not in the secret of Miss\r
+Crawford's character. Had he been privy to her conversation with his\r
+son, he would not have wished her to belong to him, though her twenty\r
+thousand pounds had been forty.\r
+\r
+That Edmund must be for ever divided from Miss Crawford did not admit\r
+of a doubt with Fanny; and yet, till she knew that he felt the same, her\r
+own conviction was insufficient. She thought he did, but she wanted to\r
+be assured of it. If he would now speak to her with the unreserve which\r
+had sometimes been too much for her before, it would be most consoling;\r
+but _that_ she found was not to be. She seldom saw him: never alone. He\r
+probably avoided being alone with her. What was to be inferred? That\r
+his judgment submitted to all his own peculiar and bitter share of this\r
+family affliction, but that it was too keenly felt to be a subject of\r
+the slightest communication. This must be his state. He yielded, but it\r
+was with agonies which did not admit of speech. Long, long would it be\r
+ere Miss Crawford's name passed his lips again, or she could hope for a\r
+renewal of such confidential intercourse as had been.\r
+\r
+It _was_ long. They reached Mansfield on Thursday, and it was not till\r
+Sunday evening that Edmund began to talk to her on the subject. Sitting\r
+with her on Sunday evening--a wet Sunday evening--the very time of\r
+all others when, if a friend is at hand, the heart must be opened, and\r
+everything told; no one else in the room, except his mother, who,\r
+after hearing an affecting sermon, had cried herself to sleep, it was\r
+impossible not to speak; and so, with the usual beginnings, hardly to\r
+be traced as to what came first, and the usual declaration that if she\r
+would listen to him for a few minutes, he should be very brief, and\r
+certainly never tax her kindness in the same way again; she need not\r
+fear a repetition; it would be a subject prohibited entirely: he entered\r
+upon the luxury of relating circumstances and sensations of the first\r
+interest to himself, to one of whose affectionate sympathy he was quite\r
+convinced.\r
+\r
+How Fanny listened, with what curiosity and concern, what pain and what\r
+delight, how the agitation of his voice was watched, and how carefully\r
+her own eyes were fixed on any object but himself, may be imagined. The\r
+opening was alarming. He had seen Miss Crawford. He had been invited to\r
+see her. He had received a note from Lady Stornaway to beg him to call;\r
+and regarding it as what was meant to be the last, last interview\r
+of friendship, and investing her with all the feelings of shame and\r
+wretchedness which Crawford's sister ought to have known, he had gone to\r
+her in such a state of mind, so softened, so devoted, as made it for a\r
+few moments impossible to Fanny's fears that it should be the last. But\r
+as he proceeded in his story, these fears were over. She had met him,\r
+he said, with a serious--certainly a serious--even an agitated air;\r
+but before he had been able to speak one intelligible sentence, she had\r
+introduced the subject in a manner which he owned had shocked him. "'I\r
+heard you were in town,' said she; 'I wanted to see you. Let us talk\r
+over this sad business. What can equal the folly of our two relations?'\r
+I could not answer, but I believe my looks spoke. She felt reproved.\r
+Sometimes how quick to feel! With a graver look and voice she then\r
+added, 'I do not mean to defend Henry at your sister's expense.' So\r
+she began, but how she went on, Fanny, is not fit, is hardly fit to be\r
+repeated to you. I cannot recall all her words. I would not dwell upon\r
+them if I could. Their substance was great anger at the _folly_ of each.\r
+She reprobated her brother's folly in being drawn on by a woman whom he\r
+had never cared for, to do what must lose him the woman he adored; but\r
+still more the folly of poor Maria, in sacrificing such a situation,\r
+plunging into such difficulties, under the idea of being really loved\r
+by a man who had long ago made his indifference clear. Guess what I must\r
+have felt. To hear the woman whom--no harsher name than folly given!\r
+So voluntarily, so freely, so coolly to canvass it! No reluctance, no\r
+horror, no feminine, shall I say, no modest loathings? This is what the\r
+world does. For where, Fanny, shall we find a woman whom nature had so\r
+richly endowed? Spoilt, spoilt!"\r
+\r
+After a little reflection, he went on with a sort of desperate calmness.\r
+"I will tell you everything, and then have done for ever. She saw it\r
+only as folly, and that folly stamped only by exposure. The want of\r
+common discretion, of caution: his going down to Richmond for the whole\r
+time of her being at Twickenham; her putting herself in the power of\r
+a servant; it was the detection, in short--oh, Fanny! it was the\r
+detection, not the offence, which she reprobated. It was the imprudence\r
+which had brought things to extremity, and obliged her brother to give\r
+up every dearer plan in order to fly with her."\r
+\r
+He stopt. "And what," said Fanny (believing herself required to speak),\r
+"what could you say?"\r
+\r
+"Nothing, nothing to be understood. I was like a man stunned. She\r
+went on, began to talk of you; yes, then she began to talk of you,\r
+regretting, as well she might, the loss of such a--. There she spoke\r
+very rationally. But she has always done justice to you. 'He has thrown\r
+away,' said she, 'such a woman as he will never see again. She would\r
+have fixed him; she would have made him happy for ever.' My dearest\r
+Fanny, I am giving you, I hope, more pleasure than pain by this\r
+retrospect of what might have been--but what never can be now. You do\r
+not wish me to be silent? If you do, give me but a look, a word, and I\r
+have done."\r
+\r
+No look or word was given.\r
+\r
+"Thank God," said he. "We were all disposed to wonder, but it seems to\r
+have been the merciful appointment of Providence that the heart which\r
+knew no guile should not suffer. She spoke of you with high praise and\r
+warm affection; yet, even here, there was alloy, a dash of evil; for in\r
+the midst of it she could exclaim, 'Why would not she have him? It is\r
+all her fault. Simple girl! I shall never forgive her. Had she accepted\r
+him as she ought, they might now have been on the point of marriage, and\r
+Henry would have been too happy and too busy to want any other object.\r
+He would have taken no pains to be on terms with Mrs. Rushworth again.\r
+It would have all ended in a regular standing flirtation, in yearly\r
+meetings at Sotherton and Everingham.' Could you have believed it\r
+possible? But the charm is broken. My eyes are opened."\r
+\r
+"Cruel!" said Fanny, "quite cruel. At such a moment to give way to\r
+gaiety, to speak with lightness, and to you! Absolute cruelty."\r
+\r
+"Cruelty, do you call it? We differ there. No, hers is not a cruel\r
+nature. I do not consider her as meaning to wound my feelings. The evil\r
+lies yet deeper: in her total ignorance, unsuspiciousness of there being\r
+such feelings; in a perversion of mind which made it natural to her to\r
+treat the subject as she did. She was speaking only as she had been used\r
+to hear others speak, as she imagined everybody else would speak. Hers\r
+are not faults of temper. She would not voluntarily give unnecessary\r
+pain to any one, and though I may deceive myself, I cannot but think\r
+that for me, for my feelings, she would--Hers are faults of principle,\r
+Fanny; of blunted delicacy and a corrupted, vitiated mind. Perhaps it\r
+is best for me, since it leaves me so little to regret. Not so, however.\r
+Gladly would I submit to all the increased pain of losing her, rather\r
+than have to think of her as I do. I told her so."\r
+\r
+"Did you?"\r
+\r
+"Yes; when I left her I told her so."\r
+\r
+"How long were you together?"\r
+\r
+"Five-and-twenty minutes. Well, she went on to say that what remained\r
+now to be done was to bring about a marriage between them. She spoke of\r
+it, Fanny, with a steadier voice than I can." He was obliged to pause\r
+more than once as he continued. "'We must persuade Henry to marry\r
+her,' said she; 'and what with honour, and the certainty of having shut\r
+himself out for ever from Fanny, I do not despair of it. Fanny he must\r
+give up. I do not think that even _he_ could now hope to succeed with\r
+one of her stamp, and therefore I hope we may find no insuperable\r
+difficulty. My influence, which is not small shall all go that way; and\r
+when once married, and properly supported by her own family, people of\r
+respectability as they are, she may recover her footing in society to a\r
+certain degree. In some circles, we know, she would never be admitted,\r
+but with good dinners, and large parties, there will always be those\r
+who will be glad of her acquaintance; and there is, undoubtedly, more\r
+liberality and candour on those points than formerly. What I advise\r
+is, that your father be quiet. Do not let him injure his own cause by\r
+interference. Persuade him to let things take their course. If by any\r
+officious exertions of his, she is induced to leave Henry's protection,\r
+there will be much less chance of his marrying her than if she remain\r
+with him. I know how he is likely to be influenced. Let Sir Thomas trust\r
+to his honour and compassion, and it may all end well; but if he get his\r
+daughter away, it will be destroying the chief hold.'"\r
+\r
+After repeating this, Edmund was so much affected that Fanny, watching\r
+him with silent, but most tender concern, was almost sorry that the\r
+subject had been entered on at all. It was long before he could speak\r
+again. At last, "Now, Fanny," said he, "I shall soon have done. I have\r
+told you the substance of all that she said. As soon as I could speak,\r
+I replied that I had not supposed it possible, coming in such a state of\r
+mind into that house as I had done, that anything could occur to make\r
+me suffer more, but that she had been inflicting deeper wounds in almost\r
+every sentence. That though I had, in the course of our acquaintance,\r
+been often sensible of some difference in our opinions, on points,\r
+too, of some moment, it had not entered my imagination to conceive the\r
+difference could be such as she had now proved it. That the manner in\r
+which she treated the dreadful crime committed by her brother and my\r
+sister (with whom lay the greater seduction I pretended not to say),\r
+but the manner in which she spoke of the crime itself, giving it every\r
+reproach but the right; considering its ill consequences only as they\r
+were to be braved or overborne by a defiance of decency and impudence in\r
+wrong; and last of all, and above all, recommending to us a compliance,\r
+a compromise, an acquiescence in the continuance of the sin, on the\r
+chance of a marriage which, thinking as I now thought of her brother,\r
+should rather be prevented than sought; all this together most\r
+grievously convinced me that I had never understood her before, and\r
+that, as far as related to mind, it had been the creature of my own\r
+imagination, not Miss Crawford, that I had been too apt to dwell on\r
+for many months past. That, perhaps, it was best for me; I had less to\r
+regret in sacrificing a friendship, feelings, hopes which must, at any\r
+rate, have been torn from me now. And yet, that I must and would confess\r
+that, could I have restored her to what she had appeared to me before,\r
+I would infinitely prefer any increase of the pain of parting, for the\r
+sake of carrying with me the right of tenderness and esteem. This is\r
+what I said, the purport of it; but, as you may imagine, not spoken\r
+so collectedly or methodically as I have repeated it to you. She was\r
+astonished, exceedingly astonished--more than astonished. I saw her\r
+change countenance. She turned extremely red. I imagined I saw a\r
+mixture of many feelings: a great, though short struggle; half a wish of\r
+yielding to truths, half a sense of shame, but habit, habit carried\r
+it. She would have laughed if she could. It was a sort of laugh, as she\r
+answered, 'A pretty good lecture, upon my word. Was it part of your last\r
+sermon? At this rate you will soon reform everybody at Mansfield and\r
+Thornton Lacey; and when I hear of you next, it may be as a celebrated\r
+preacher in some great society of Methodists, or as a missionary into\r
+foreign parts.' She tried to speak carelessly, but she was not so\r
+careless as she wanted to appear. I only said in reply, that from my\r
+heart I wished her well, and earnestly hoped that she might soon learn\r
+to think more justly, and not owe the most valuable knowledge we could\r
+any of us acquire, the knowledge of ourselves and of our duty, to the\r
+lessons of affliction, and immediately left the room. I had gone a few\r
+steps, Fanny, when I heard the door open behind me. 'Mr. Bertram,' said\r
+she. I looked back. 'Mr. Bertram,' said she, with a smile; but it was\r
+a smile ill-suited to the conversation that had passed, a saucy playful\r
+smile, seeming to invite in order to subdue me; at least it appeared so\r
+to me. I resisted; it was the impulse of the moment to resist, and still\r
+walked on. I have since, sometimes, for a moment, regretted that I did\r
+not go back, but I know I was right, and such has been the end of our\r
+acquaintance. And what an acquaintance has it been! How have I been\r
+deceived! Equally in brother and sister deceived! I thank you for your\r
+patience, Fanny. This has been the greatest relief, and now we will have\r
+done."\r
+\r
+And such was Fanny's dependence on his words, that for five minutes\r
+she thought they _had_ done. Then, however, it all came on again, or\r
+something very like it, and nothing less than Lady Bertram's rousing\r
+thoroughly up could really close such a conversation. Till that\r
+happened, they continued to talk of Miss Crawford alone, and how she had\r
+attached him, and how delightful nature had made her, and how excellent\r
+she would have been, had she fallen into good hands earlier. Fanny, now\r
+at liberty to speak openly, felt more than justified in adding to\r
+his knowledge of her real character, by some hint of what share his\r
+brother's state of health might be supposed to have in her wish for a\r
+complete reconciliation. This was not an agreeable intimation. Nature\r
+resisted it for a while. It would have been a vast deal pleasanter to\r
+have had her more disinterested in her attachment; but his vanity was\r
+not of a strength to fight long against reason. He submitted to believe\r
+that Tom's illness had influenced her, only reserving for himself this\r
+consoling thought, that considering the many counteractions of opposing\r
+habits, she had certainly been _more_ attached to him than could have\r
+been expected, and for his sake been more near doing right. Fanny\r
+thought exactly the same; and they were also quite agreed in their\r
+opinion of the lasting effect, the indelible impression, which such\r
+a disappointment must make on his mind. Time would undoubtedly abate\r
+somewhat of his sufferings, but still it was a sort of thing which he\r
+never could get entirely the better of; and as to his ever meeting with\r
+any other woman who could--it was too impossible to be named but with\r
+indignation. Fanny's friendship was all that he had to cling to.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+CHAPTER XLVIII\r
+\r
+Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects\r
+as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault\r
+themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.\r
+\r
+My Fanny, indeed, at this very time, I have the satisfaction of knowing,\r
+must have been happy in spite of everything. She must have been a happy\r
+creature in spite of all that she felt, or thought she felt, for the\r
+distress of those around her. She had sources of delight that must force\r
+their way. She was returned to Mansfield Park, she was useful, she was\r
+beloved; she was safe from Mr. Crawford; and when Sir Thomas came back\r
+she had every proof that could be given in his then melancholy state of\r
+spirits, of his perfect approbation and increased regard; and happy as\r
+all this must make her, she would still have been happy without any of\r
+it, for Edmund was no longer the dupe of Miss Crawford.\r
+\r
+It is true that Edmund was very far from happy himself. He was suffering\r
+from disappointment and regret, grieving over what was, and wishing for\r
+what could never be. She knew it was so, and was sorry; but it was with\r
+a sorrow so founded on satisfaction, so tending to ease, and so much in\r
+harmony with every dearest sensation, that there are few who might not\r
+have been glad to exchange their greatest gaiety for it.\r
+\r
+Sir Thomas, poor Sir Thomas, a parent, and conscious of errors in his\r
+own conduct as a parent, was the longest to suffer. He felt that he\r
+ought not to have allowed the marriage; that his daughter's sentiments\r
+had been sufficiently known to him to render him culpable in authorising\r
+it; that in so doing he had sacrificed the right to the expedient, and\r
+been governed by motives of selfishness and worldly wisdom. These were\r
+reflections that required some time to soften; but time will do almost\r
+everything; and though little comfort arose on Mrs. Rushworth's side for\r
+the misery she had occasioned, comfort was to be found greater than\r
+he had supposed in his other children. Julia's match became a less\r
+desperate business than he had considered it at first. She was humble,\r
+and wishing to be forgiven; and Mr. Yates, desirous of being really\r
+received into the family, was disposed to look up to him and be guided.\r
+He was not very solid; but there was a hope of his becoming less\r
+trifling, of his being at least tolerably domestic and quiet; and at any\r
+rate, there was comfort in finding his estate rather more, and his debts\r
+much less, than he had feared, and in being consulted and treated as\r
+the friend best worth attending to. There was comfort also in Tom, who\r
+gradually regained his health, without regaining the thoughtlessness and\r
+selfishness of his previous habits. He was the better for ever for his\r
+illness. He had suffered, and he had learned to think: two advantages\r
+that he had never known before; and the self-reproach arising from the\r
+deplorable event in Wimpole Street, to which he felt himself accessory\r
+by all the dangerous intimacy of his unjustifiable theatre, made an\r
+impression on his mind which, at the age of six-and-twenty, with no want\r
+of sense or good companions, was durable in its happy effects. He became\r
+what he ought to be: useful to his father, steady and quiet, and not\r
+living merely for himself.\r
+\r
+Here was comfort indeed! and quite as soon as Sir Thomas could place\r
+dependence on such sources of good, Edmund was contributing to his\r
+father's ease by improvement in the only point in which he had given\r
+him pain before--improvement in his spirits. After wandering about and\r
+sitting under trees with Fanny all the summer evenings, he had so well\r
+talked his mind into submission as to be very tolerably cheerful again.\r
+\r
+These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought their\r
+alleviation to Sir Thomas, deadening his sense of what was lost, and\r
+in part reconciling him to himself; though the anguish arising from the\r
+conviction of his own errors in the education of his daughters was never\r
+to be entirely done away.\r
+\r
+Too late he became aware how unfavourable to the character of any young\r
+people must be the totally opposite treatment which Maria and Julia had\r
+been always experiencing at home, where the excessive indulgence and\r
+flattery of their aunt had been continually contrasted with his own\r
+severity. He saw how ill he had judged, in expecting to counteract what\r
+was wrong in Mrs. Norris by its reverse in himself; clearly saw that he\r
+had but increased the evil by teaching them to repress their spirits in\r
+his presence so as to make their real disposition unknown to him, and\r
+sending them for all their indulgences to a person who had been able to\r
+attach them only by the blindness of her affection, and the excess of\r
+her praise.\r
+\r
+Here had been grievous mismanagement; but, bad as it was, he gradually\r
+grew to feel that it had not been the most direful mistake in his plan\r
+of education. Something must have been wanting _within_, or time would\r
+have worn away much of its ill effect. He feared that principle, active\r
+principle, had been wanting; that they had never been properly taught\r
+to govern their inclinations and tempers by that sense of duty which can\r
+alone suffice. They had been instructed theoretically in their religion,\r
+but never required to bring it into daily practice. To be distinguished\r
+for elegance and accomplishments, the authorised object of their youth,\r
+could have had no useful influence that way, no moral effect on the\r
+mind. He had meant them to be good, but his cares had been directed to\r
+the understanding and manners, not the disposition; and of the necessity\r
+of self-denial and humility, he feared they had never heard from any\r
+lips that could profit them.\r
+\r
+Bitterly did he deplore a deficiency which now he could scarcely\r
+comprehend to have been possible. Wretchedly did he feel, that with all\r
+the cost and care of an anxious and expensive education, he had brought\r
+up his daughters without their understanding their first duties, or his\r
+being acquainted with their character and temper.\r
+\r
+The high spirit and strong passions of Mrs. Rushworth, especially, were\r
+made known to him only in their sad result. She was not to be prevailed\r
+on to leave Mr. Crawford. She hoped to marry him, and they continued\r
+together till she was obliged to be convinced that such hope was vain,\r
+and till the disappointment and wretchedness arising from the conviction\r
+rendered her temper so bad, and her feelings for him so like hatred,\r
+as to make them for a while each other's punishment, and then induce a\r
+voluntary separation.\r
+\r
+She had lived with him to be reproached as the ruin of all his happiness\r
+in Fanny, and carried away no better consolation in leaving him than\r
+that she _had_ divided them. What can exceed the misery of such a mind\r
+in such a situation?\r
+\r
+Mr. Rushworth had no difficulty in procuring a divorce; and so ended a\r
+marriage contracted under such circumstances as to make any better end\r
+the effect of good luck not to be reckoned on. She had despised him,\r
+and loved another; and he had been very much aware that it was so. The\r
+indignities of stupidity, and the disappointments of selfish passion,\r
+can excite little pity. His punishment followed his conduct, as did a\r
+deeper punishment the deeper guilt of his wife. _He_ was released from\r
+the engagement to be mortified and unhappy, till some other pretty girl\r
+could attract him into matrimony again, and he might set forward on a\r
+second, and, it is to be hoped, more prosperous trial of the state: if\r
+duped, to be duped at least with good humour and good luck; while she\r
+must withdraw with infinitely stronger feelings to a retirement and\r
+reproach which could allow no second spring of hope or character.\r
+\r
+Where she could be placed became a subject of most melancholy and\r
+momentous consultation. Mrs. Norris, whose attachment seemed to augment\r
+with the demerits of her niece, would have had her received at home\r
+and countenanced by them all. Sir Thomas would not hear of it; and Mrs.\r
+Norris's anger against Fanny was so much the greater, from considering\r
+_her_ residence there as the motive. She persisted in placing his\r
+scruples to _her_ account, though Sir Thomas very solemnly assured her\r
+that, had there been no young woman in question, had there been no young\r
+person of either sex belonging to him, to be endangered by the society\r
+or hurt by the character of Mrs. Rushworth, he would never have offered\r
+so great an insult to the neighbourhood as to expect it to notice her.\r
+As a daughter, he hoped a penitent one, she should be protected by him,\r
+and secured in every comfort, and supported by every encouragement to do\r
+right, which their relative situations admitted; but farther than _that_\r
+he could not go. Maria had destroyed her own character, and he would\r
+not, by a vain attempt to restore what never could be restored, by\r
+affording his sanction to vice, or in seeking to lessen its disgrace, be\r
+anywise accessory to introducing such misery in another man's family as\r
+he had known himself.\r
+\r
+It ended in Mrs. Norris's resolving to quit Mansfield and devote herself\r
+to her unfortunate Maria, and in an establishment being formed for them\r
+in another country, remote and private, where, shut up together with\r
+little society, on one side no affection, on the other no judgment,\r
+it may be reasonably supposed that their tempers became their mutual\r
+punishment.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Norris's removal from Mansfield was the great supplementary comfort\r
+of Sir Thomas's life. His opinion of her had been sinking from the day\r
+of his return from Antigua: in every transaction together from that\r
+period, in their daily intercourse, in business, or in chat, she had\r
+been regularly losing ground in his esteem, and convincing him that\r
+either time had done her much disservice, or that he had considerably\r
+over-rated her sense, and wonderfully borne with her manners before. He\r
+had felt her as an hourly evil, which was so much the worse, as there\r
+seemed no chance of its ceasing but with life; she seemed a part of\r
+himself that must be borne for ever. To be relieved from her, therefore,\r
+was so great a felicity that, had she not left bitter remembrances\r
+behind her, there might have been danger of his learning almost to\r
+approve the evil which produced such a good.\r
+\r
+She was regretted by no one at Mansfield. She had never been able to\r
+attach even those she loved best; and since Mrs. Rushworth's elopement,\r
+her temper had been in a state of such irritation as to make her\r
+everywhere tormenting. Not even Fanny had tears for aunt Norris, not\r
+even when she was gone for ever.\r
+\r
+That Julia escaped better than Maria was owing, in some measure, to a\r
+favourable difference of disposition and circumstance, but in a greater\r
+to her having been less the darling of that very aunt, less flattered\r
+and less spoilt. Her beauty and acquirements had held but a second\r
+place. She had been always used to think herself a little inferior to\r
+Maria. Her temper was naturally the easiest of the two; her feelings,\r
+though quick, were more controllable, and education had not given her so\r
+very hurtful a degree of self-consequence.\r
+\r
+She had submitted the best to the disappointment in Henry Crawford.\r
+After the first bitterness of the conviction of being slighted was over,\r
+she had been tolerably soon in a fair way of not thinking of him again;\r
+and when the acquaintance was renewed in town, and Mr. Rushworth's house\r
+became Crawford's object, she had had the merit of withdrawing herself\r
+from it, and of chusing that time to pay a visit to her other friends,\r
+in order to secure herself from being again too much attracted. This had\r
+been her motive in going to her cousin's. Mr. Yates's convenience had\r
+had nothing to do with it. She had been allowing his attentions some\r
+time, but with very little idea of ever accepting him; and had not her\r
+sister's conduct burst forth as it did, and her increased dread of her\r
+father and of home, on that event, imagining its certain consequence\r
+to herself would be greater severity and restraint, made her hastily\r
+resolve on avoiding such immediate horrors at all risks, it is probable\r
+that Mr. Yates would never have succeeded. She had not eloped with any\r
+worse feelings than those of selfish alarm. It had appeared to her the\r
+only thing to be done. Maria's guilt had induced Julia's folly.\r
+\r
+Henry Crawford, ruined by early independence and bad domestic example,\r
+indulged in the freaks of a cold-blooded vanity a little too long. Once\r
+it had, by an opening undesigned and unmerited, led him into the way of\r
+happiness. Could he have been satisfied with the conquest of one\r
+amiable woman's affections, could he have found sufficient exultation\r
+in overcoming the reluctance, in working himself into the esteem and\r
+tenderness of Fanny Price, there would have been every probability of\r
+success and felicity for him. His affection had already done something.\r
+Her influence over him had already given him some influence over her.\r
+Would he have deserved more, there can be no doubt that more would have\r
+been obtained, especially when that marriage had taken place, which\r
+would have given him the assistance of her conscience in subduing her\r
+first inclination, and brought them very often together. Would he have\r
+persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward\r
+very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund's\r
+marrying Mary.\r
+\r
+Had he done as he intended, and as he knew he ought, by going down to\r
+Everingham after his return from Portsmouth, he might have been deciding\r
+his own happy destiny. But he was pressed to stay for Mrs. Fraser's\r
+party; his staying was made of flattering consequence, and he was to\r
+meet Mrs. Rushworth there. Curiosity and vanity were both engaged, and\r
+the temptation of immediate pleasure was too strong for a mind unused to\r
+make any sacrifice to right: he resolved to defer his Norfolk journey,\r
+resolved that writing should answer the purpose of it, or that its\r
+purpose was unimportant, and staid. He saw Mrs. Rushworth, was received\r
+by her with a coldness which ought to have been repulsive, and have\r
+established apparent indifference between them for ever; but he was\r
+mortified, he could not bear to be thrown off by the woman whose smiles\r
+had been so wholly at his command: he must exert himself to subdue so\r
+proud a display of resentment; it was anger on Fanny's account; he must\r
+get the better of it, and make Mrs. Rushworth Maria Bertram again in her\r
+treatment of himself.\r
+\r
+In this spirit he began the attack, and by animated perseverance had\r
+soon re-established the sort of familiar intercourse, of gallantry,\r
+of flirtation, which bounded his views; but in triumphing over the\r
+discretion which, though beginning in anger, might have saved them both,\r
+he had put himself in the power of feelings on her side more strong\r
+than he had supposed. She loved him; there was no withdrawing attentions\r
+avowedly dear to her. He was entangled by his own vanity, with as little\r
+excuse of love as possible, and without the smallest inconstancy of mind\r
+towards her cousin. To keep Fanny and the Bertrams from a knowledge of\r
+what was passing became his first object. Secrecy could not have been\r
+more desirable for Mrs. Rushworth's credit than he felt it for his own.\r
+When he returned from Richmond, he would have been glad to see Mrs.\r
+Rushworth no more. All that followed was the result of her imprudence;\r
+and he went off with her at last, because he could not help it,\r
+regretting Fanny even at the moment, but regretting her infinitely more\r
+when all the bustle of the intrigue was over, and a very few months had\r
+taught him, by the force of contrast, to place a yet higher value on the\r
+sweetness of her temper, the purity of her mind, and the excellence of\r
+her principles.\r
+\r
+That punishment, the public punishment of disgrace, should in a just\r
+measure attend _his_ share of the offence is, we know, not one of the\r
+barriers which society gives to virtue. In this world the penalty is\r
+less equal than could be wished; but without presuming to look forward\r
+to a juster appointment hereafter, we may fairly consider a man of\r
+sense, like Henry Crawford, to be providing for himself no small\r
+portion of vexation and regret: vexation that must rise sometimes\r
+to self-reproach, and regret to wretchedness, in having so requited\r
+hospitality, so injured family peace, so forfeited his best, most\r
+estimable, and endeared acquaintance, and so lost the woman whom he had\r
+rationally as well as passionately loved.\r
+\r
+After what had passed to wound and alienate the two families, the\r
+continuance of the Bertrams and Grants in such close neighbourhood would\r
+have been most distressing; but the absence of the latter, for some\r
+months purposely lengthened, ended very fortunately in the necessity, or\r
+at least the practicability, of a permanent removal. Dr. Grant, through\r
+an interest on which he had almost ceased to form hopes, succeeded to\r
+a stall in Westminster, which, as affording an occasion for leaving\r
+Mansfield, an excuse for residence in London, and an increase of income\r
+to answer the expenses of the change, was highly acceptable to those who\r
+went and those who staid.\r
+\r
+Mrs. Grant, with a temper to love and be loved, must have gone with some\r
+regret from the scenes and people she had been used to; but the same\r
+happiness of disposition must in any place, and any society, secure her\r
+a great deal to enjoy, and she had again a home to offer Mary; and Mary\r
+had had enough of her own friends, enough of vanity, ambition, love, and\r
+disappointment in the course of the last half-year, to be in need of the\r
+true kindness of her sister's heart, and the rational tranquillity\r
+of her ways. They lived together; and when Dr. Grant had brought on\r
+apoplexy and death, by three great institutionary dinners in one week,\r
+they still lived together; for Mary, though perfectly resolved against\r
+ever attaching herself to a younger brother again, was long in finding\r
+among the dashing representatives, or idle heir-apparents, who were at\r
+the command of her beauty, and her £20,000, any one who could satisfy the\r
+better taste she had acquired at Mansfield, whose character and manners\r
+could authorise a hope of the domestic happiness she had there learned\r
+to estimate, or put Edmund Bertram sufficiently out of her head.\r
+\r
+Edmund had greatly the advantage of her in this respect. He had not to\r
+wait and wish with vacant affections for an object worthy to succeed her\r
+in them. Scarcely had he done regretting Mary Crawford, and observing to\r
+Fanny how impossible it was that he should ever meet with such another\r
+woman, before it began to strike him whether a very different kind of\r
+woman might not do just as well, or a great deal better: whether Fanny\r
+herself were not growing as dear, as important to him in all her smiles\r
+and all her ways, as Mary Crawford had ever been; and whether it might\r
+not be a possible, an hopeful undertaking to persuade her that her warm\r
+and sisterly regard for him would be foundation enough for wedded love.\r
+\r
+I purposely abstain from dates on this occasion, that every one may\r
+be at liberty to fix their own, aware that the cure of unconquerable\r
+passions, and the transfer of unchanging attachments, must vary much as\r
+to time in different people. I only entreat everybody to believe that\r
+exactly at the time when it was quite natural that it should be so, and\r
+not a week earlier, Edmund did cease to care about Miss Crawford, and\r
+became as anxious to marry Fanny as Fanny herself could desire.\r
+\r
+With such a regard for her, indeed, as his had long been, a regard\r
+founded on the most endearing claims of innocence and helplessness, and\r
+completed by every recommendation of growing worth, what could be more\r
+natural than the change? Loving, guiding, protecting her, as he had been\r
+doing ever since her being ten years old, her mind in so great a degree\r
+formed by his care, and her comfort depending on his kindness, an\r
+object to him of such close and peculiar interest, dearer by all his own\r
+importance with her than any one else at Mansfield, what was there now\r
+to add, but that he should learn to prefer soft light eyes to sparkling\r
+dark ones. And being always with her, and always talking confidentially,\r
+and his feelings exactly in that favourable state which a recent\r
+disappointment gives, those soft light eyes could not be very long in\r
+obtaining the pre-eminence.\r
+\r
+Having once set out, and felt that he had done so on this road to\r
+happiness, there was nothing on the side of prudence to stop him or make\r
+his progress slow; no doubts of her deserving, no fears of opposition of\r
+taste, no need of drawing new hopes of happiness from dissimilarity\r
+of temper. Her mind, disposition, opinions, and habits wanted no\r
+half-concealment, no self-deception on the present, no reliance on\r
+future improvement. Even in the midst of his late infatuation, he had\r
+acknowledged Fanny's mental superiority. What must be his sense of it\r
+now, therefore? She was of course only too good for him; but as nobody\r
+minds having what is too good for them, he was very steadily earnest in\r
+the pursuit of the blessing, and it was not possible that encouragement\r
+from her should be long wanting. Timid, anxious, doubting as she was, it\r
+was still impossible that such tenderness as hers should not, at times,\r
+hold out the strongest hope of success, though it remained for a later\r
+period to tell him the whole delightful and astonishing truth. His\r
+happiness in knowing himself to have been so long the beloved of such a\r
+heart, must have been great enough to warrant any strength of language\r
+in which he could clothe it to her or to himself; it must have been\r
+a delightful happiness. But there was happiness elsewhere which no\r
+description can reach. Let no one presume to give the feelings of a\r
+young woman on receiving the assurance of that affection of which she\r
+has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope.\r
+\r
+Their own inclinations ascertained, there were no difficulties behind,\r
+no drawback of poverty or parent. It was a match which Sir Thomas's\r
+wishes had even forestalled. Sick of ambitious and mercenary connexions,\r
+prizing more and more the sterling good of principle and temper, and\r
+chiefly anxious to bind by the strongest securities all that remained to\r
+him of domestic felicity, he had pondered with genuine satisfaction on\r
+the more than possibility of the two young friends finding their natural\r
+consolation in each other for all that had occurred of disappointment to\r
+either; and the joyful consent which met Edmund's application, the high\r
+sense of having realised a great acquisition in the promise of Fanny for\r
+a daughter, formed just such a contrast with his early opinion on the\r
+subject when the poor little girl's coming had been first agitated, as\r
+time is for ever producing between the plans and decisions of mortals,\r
+for their own instruction, and their neighbours' entertainment.\r
+\r
+Fanny was indeed the daughter that he wanted. His charitable kindness\r
+had been rearing a prime comfort for himself. His liberality had a rich\r
+repayment, and the general goodness of his intentions by her deserved\r
+it. He might have made her childhood happier; but it had been an error\r
+of judgment only which had given him the appearance of harshness, and\r
+deprived him of her early love; and now, on really knowing each other,\r
+their mutual attachment became very strong. After settling her at\r
+Thornton Lacey with every kind attention to her comfort, the object of\r
+almost every day was to see her there, or to get her away from it.\r
+\r
+Selfishly dear as she had long been to Lady Bertram, she could not be\r
+parted with willingly by _her_. No happiness of son or niece could make\r
+her wish the marriage. But it was possible to part with her, because\r
+Susan remained to supply her place. Susan became the stationary niece,\r
+delighted to be so; and equally well adapted for it by a readiness of\r
+mind, and an inclination for usefulness, as Fanny had been by sweetness\r
+of temper, and strong feelings of gratitude. Susan could never be\r
+spared. First as a comfort to Fanny, then as an auxiliary, and last as\r
+her substitute, she was established at Mansfield, with every appearance\r
+of equal permanency. Her more fearless disposition and happier nerves\r
+made everything easy to her there. With quickness in understanding\r
+the tempers of those she had to deal with, and no natural timidity to\r
+restrain any consequent wishes, she was soon welcome and useful to all;\r
+and after Fanny's removal succeeded so naturally to her influence over\r
+the hourly comfort of her aunt, as gradually to become, perhaps, the\r
+most beloved of the two. In _her_ usefulness, in Fanny's excellence,\r
+in William's continued good conduct and rising fame, and in the general\r
+well-doing and success of the other members of the family, all assisting\r
+to advance each other, and doing credit to his countenance and aid, Sir\r
+Thomas saw repeated, and for ever repeated, reason to rejoice in what he\r
+had done for them all, and acknowledge the advantages of early hardship\r
+and discipline, and the consciousness of being born to struggle and\r
+endure.\r
+\r
+With so much true merit and true love, and no want of fortune and\r
+friends, the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as\r
+earthly happiness can be. Equally formed for domestic life, and attached\r
+to country pleasures, their home was the home of affection and comfort;\r
+and to complete the picture of good, the acquisition of Mansfield\r
+living, by the death of Dr. Grant, occurred just after they had been\r
+married long enough to begin to want an increase of income, and feel\r
+their distance from the paternal abode an inconvenience.\r
+\r
+On that event they removed to Mansfield; and the Parsonage there,\r
+which, under each of its two former owners, Fanny had never been able\r
+to approach but with some painful sensation of restraint or alarm, soon\r
+grew as dear to her heart, and as thoroughly perfect in her eyes, as\r
+everything else within the view and patronage of Mansfield Park had long\r
+been.\r
+\r
+\r
+THE END\r