The evening was heavy like the day. 'I cannot think what is the matter with me,' said Lady Bertram, when the tea-things were removed. 'I feel quite stupid. It must be sitting up so late last night. Fanny, you must do something to keep me awake. I cannot work. Fetch the cards,--I feel so very stupid.'
The cards were brought, and Fanny played at cribbage with her aunt till bedtime; and as Sir Thomas was reading to himself, no sounds were heard in the room for the next two hours beyond the reckonings of the game--'And that makes thirty-one; four in hand and eight in crib. You are to deal, ma'am; shall I deal for you?' Fanny thought and thought again of the difference which twenty-four hours had made in that room and all that part of the house. Last night it had been hope and smiles, bustle and motion, noise and brilliancy, in the drawing-room, and out of the drawing-room, and everywhere. Now it was languor, and all but solitude.
A good night's rest improved her spirits. She could think of William the next day more cheerfully; and as the morning afforded her an opportunity of talking over Thursday night with Mrs. Grant and Miss Crawford in a very handsome style, with all the heightenings of imagination and all the laughs of playfulness which are so essential to the shade of a departed ball, she could afterwards bring her mind without much effort into its everyday state, and easily conform to the tranquillity of the present quiet week.
They were indeed a smaller party than she had ever known there for a whole day together, and he was gone on whom the comfort and cheerfulness of every family-meeting and every meal chiefly depended. But this must be learned to be endured. He would soon be always gone; and she was thankful that she could now sit in the same room with her uncle, hear his voice, receive his questions, and even answer them, without such wretched feelings as she had formerly known.
'We miss our two young men,' was Sir Thomas's observation on both the first and second day, as they formed their very reduced circle after dinner; and, in consideration of Fanny's swimming eyes, nothing more was said on the first day than to drink their good health, but on the second it led to something further. William was kindly commended and his promotion hoped for. 'And there is no reason to suppose,' added Sir Thomas, 'but that his visits to us may now be tolerably frequent. As to Edmund, we must learn to do without him. This will be the last winter of his belonging to us as he has done.'
'Yes,' said Lady Bertram, 'but I wish he was not going away. They are all going away, I think. I wish they would stay at home.'
This wish was levelled principally at Julia, who had just applied for permission to go to town with Maria; and as Sir Thomas thought it best for each daughter that the permission should be granted, Lady Bertram, though in her own good nature she would not have prevented it, was lamenting the change it made in the prospect of Julia's return, which would otherwise have taken place about this time. A great deal of good sense followed on Sir Thomas's side, tending to reconcile his wife to the arrangement. Everything that a considerate parent ought to feel was advanced for her use; and everything that an affectionate mother must feel in promoting her children's enjoyment was attributed to her nature. Lady Bertram agreed to it all with a calm 'Yes';--and at the end of a quarter of an hour's silent consideration spontaneously observed, 'Sir Thomas, I have been thinking--and I am very glad we took Fanny as we did, for now the others are away we feel the good of it.'
Sir Thomas immediately improved this compliment by adding, 'Very true. We show Fanny what a good girl we think her by praising her to her face--she is now a very valuable companion. If we have been kind to her, she is now quite as necessary to us.'
'Yes,' said Lady Bertram presently; 'and it is a comfort to think that we shall always have her.'
Sir Thomas paused, half smiled, glanced at his niece, and then gravely replied, 'She will never leave us, I hope, till invited to some other home that may reasonably promise her greater happiness than she knows here.'
'And that is not very likely to be, Sir Thomas. Who should invite her? Maria might be very glad to see her at Sotherton now and then, but she would not think of asking her to live there--and I am sure she is better off here--and besides, I cannot do without her.'
The week which passed so quietly and peaceably at the great house in Mansfield had a very different character at the Parsonage. To the young lady at least in each family it brought very different feelings. What was tranquillity and comfort to Fanny was tediousness and vexation to Mary. Something arose from difference of disposition and habit--one so easily satisfied, the other so unused to endure; but still more might be imputed to difference of circumstances. In some points of interest they were exactly opposed to each other. To Fanny's mind, Edmund's absence was really in its cause and its tendency a relief. To Mary it was every way painful. She felt the want of his society every day, almost every hour; and was too much in want of it to derive anything but irritation from considering the object for which he went. He could not have devised anything more likely to raise his consequence than this week's absence, occurring as it did at the very time of her brother's going away, of William Price's going too, and completing the sort of general break-up of a party which had been so animated. She felt it keenly. They were now a miserable trio, confined within doors by a series of rain and snow, with nothing to do and no variety to hope for. Angry as she was with Edmund for adhering to his own notions, and acting on them in defiance of her (and she had been so angry that they had hardly parted friends at the ball), she could not help thinking of him continually when absent, dwelling on his merit and affection, and longing again for the almost daily meetings they lately had. His absence was unnecessarily long. He should not have planned such an absence--he should not have left home for a week, when her own departure from Mansfield was so near. Then she began to blame herself. She wished she had not spoken so warmly in their last conversation. She was afraid she had used some strong, some contemptuous expressions in speaking of the clergy, and that should not have been. It was ill-bred--it was wrong. She wished such words unsaid with all her heart.
Her vexation did not end with the week. All this was bad, but she had still more to feel when Friday came round again and brought no Edmund--when Saturday came and still no Edmund--and when, through the slight communication with the other family which Sunday produced, she learnt that he had actually written home to defer his return, having promised to remain some days longer with his friend.
If she had felt impatience and regret before,--if she had been sorry for what she said and feared its too strong effect on him,--she now felt and feared it all tenfold more. She had, moreover, to contend with one disagreeable emotion entirely new to her--jealousy. His friend Mr. Owen had sisters--he might find them attractive. But at any rate his staying away at a time when, according to all preceding plans, she was to remove to London, meant something that she could not bear. Had Henry returned, as he talked of doing, at the end of three or four days, she should now have been leaving Mansfield. It became absolutely necessary for her to get to Fanny and try to learn something more. She could not live any longer in such solitary wretchedness; and she made her way to the Park, through difficulties of walking which she had deemed unconquerable a week before, for the chance of hearing a little in addition, for the sake of at least hearing his name.
The first half-hour was lost, for Fanny and Lady Bertram were together, and unless she had Fanny to herself she could hope for nothing. But at last Lady Bertram left the room--and then almost immediately Miss Crawford thus began, with a voice as well regulated as she could:--'And how do you like your cousin Edmund's staying away so long? Being the only young person at home, I consider you as the greatest sufferer. You must miss him. Does his staying longer surprise you?'
'I do not know,' said Fanny hesitatingly. 'Yes--I had not particularly expected it.'
'Perhaps he will always stay longer than he talks of. It is the general way all young men do.'
'He did not, the only time he went to see Mr. Owen before.'
'He finds the house more agreeable now. H
e is a very--a very pleasing young man himself, and I cannot help being rather concerned at not seeing him again before I go to London, as will now undoubtedly be the case. I am looking for Henry every day, and as soon as he comes there will be nothing to detain me at Mansfield. I should like to have seen him once more, I confess. But you must give my compliments to him. Yes--I think it must be compliments. Is there not a something wanted, Miss Price, in our language--a something between compliments and--and love--to suit the sort of friendly acquaintance we have had together? So many months' acquaintance! But compliments may be sufficient here. Was his letter a long one? Does he give you much account of what he is doing? Is it Christmas gaieties that he is staying for?'
'I only heard a part of the letter: it was to my uncle--but I believe it was very short; indeed I am sure it was but a few lines. All that I heard was that his friend had pressed him to stay longer, and that he had agreed to do so. A few days longer, or some days longer, I am not quite sure which.'
'Oh, if he wrote to his father--but I thought it might have been to Lady Bertram or you. But if he wrote to his father, no wonder he was concise. Who could write chat to Sir Thomas? If he had written to you, there would have been more particulars. You would have heard of balls and parties. He would have sent you a description of everything and everybody. How many Miss Owens are there?'
'Three grown up.'
'Are they musical?'
'I do not at all know. I never heard.'
'That is the first question, you know,' said Miss Crawford, trying to appear gay and unconcerned, 'which every woman who plays herself is sure to ask another. But it is very foolish to ask questions about any young ladies--about any three sisters just grown up; for one knows, without being told, exactly what they are--all very accomplished and pleasing, and one very pretty. There is a beauty in every family,--it is a regular thing. Two play on the pianoforte, and one on the harp--and all sing--or would sing if they were taught--or sing all the better for not being taught--or something like it.'
'I know nothing of the Miss Owens,' said Fanny calmly.
'You know nothing and you care less, as people say. Never did tone express indifference plainer. Indeed how can one care for those one has never seen? Well, when your cousin comes back, he will find Mansfield very quiet;--all the noisy ones gone, your brother and mine and myself. I do not like the idea of leaving Mrs. Grant now the time draws near. She does not like my going.'
Fanny felt obliged to speak. 'You cannot doubt your being missed by many,' said she. 'You will be very much missed.'
Miss Crawford turned her eye on her, as if wanting to hear or see more, and then laughingly said, 'Oh yes, missed as every noisy evil is missed when it is taken away; that is, there is a great difference felt. But I am not fishing; don't compliment me. If I am missed, it will appear. I may be discovered by those who want to see me. I shall not be in any doubtful, or distant, or unapproachable region.'
Now Fanny could not bring herself to speak, and Miss Crawford was disappointed; for she had hoped to hear some pleasant assurance of her power, from one who she thought must know; and her spirits were clouded again.
'The Miss Owens,'--said she, soon afterwards,--'suppose you were to have one of the Miss Owens settled at Thornton Lacey: how should you like it? Stranger things have happened. I daresay they are trying for it. And they are quite in the right, for it would be a very pretty establishment for them. I do not at all wonder or blame them. It is everybody's duty to do as well for themselves as they can. Sir Thomas Bertram's son is somebody; and now he is in their own line. Their father is a clergyman and their brother is a clergyman, and they are all clergymen together. He is their lawful property, he fairly belongs to them. You don't speak, Fanny--Miss Price--you don't speak. But honestly now, do not you rather expect it than otherwise?'
'No,' said Fanny stoutly, 'I do not expect it at all.'
'Not at all!' cried Miss Crawford with alacrity. 'I wonder at that. But I daresay you know exactly--I always imagine you are--perhaps you do not think him likely to marry at all--or not at present.'
'No, I do not,' said Fanny softly, hoping she did not err either in the belief or the acknowledgment of it.
Her companion looked at her keenly; and gathering greater spirit from the blush soon produced from such a look, only said, 'He is best off as he is,' and turned the subject.
CHAPTER XXX
Miss Crawford's uneasiness was much lightened by this conversation, and she walked home again in spirits which might have defied almost another week of the same small party in the same bad weather, had they been put to the proof; but as that very evening brought her brother down from London again in quite, or more than quite, his usual cheerfulness, she had nothing further to try her own. His still refusing to tell her what he had gone for was but the promotion of gaiety; a day before it might have irritated, but now it was a pleasant joke--suspected only of concealing something planned as a pleasant surprise to herself. And the next day did bring a surprise to her. Henry had said he should just go and ask the Bertrams how they did, and be back in ten minutes--but he was gone above an hour; and when his sister, who had been waiting for him to walk with her in the garden, met him at last most impatiently in the sweep, and cried out, 'My dear Henry, where can you possibly have been all this time?' he had only to say that he had been sitting with Lady Bertram and Fanny.
'Sitting with them an hour and a half!' exclaimed Mary.
But this was only the beginning of her surprise.
'Yes, Mary,' said he, drawing her arm within his, and walking along the sweep as if not knowing where he was--'I could not get away sooner--Fanny looked so lovely! I am quite determined, Mary. My mind is entirely made up. Will it astonish you? No: you must be aware that I am quite determined to marry Fanny Price.'
The surprise was now complete; for, in spite of whatever his consciousness might suggest, a suspicion of his having any such views had never entered his sister's imagination; and she looked so truly the astonishment she felt that he was obliged to repeat what he had said, and more fully and more solemnly. The conviction of his determination once admitted, it was not unwelcome. There was even pleasure with the surprise. Mary was in a state of mind to rejoice in a connection with the Bertram family, and to be not displeased with her brother's marrying a little beneath him.
'Yes, Mary,' was Henry's concluding assurance. 'I am fairly caught. You know with what idle designs I began--but this is the end of them. I have (I flatter myself) made no inconsiderable progress in her affections; but my own are entirely fixed.'
'Lucky, lucky girl!' cried Mary as soon as she could speak--'what a match for her! My dearest Henry, this must be my first feeling; but my second, which you shall have as sincerely, is that I approve your choice from my soul, and foresee your happiness as heartily as I wish and desire it. You will have a sweet little wife; all gratitude and devotion. Exactly what you deserve. What an amazing match for her! Mrs. Norris often talks of her luck; what will she say now? The delight of all the family, indeed! And she has some true friends in it. How they will rejoice. But tell me all about it. Talk to me for ever. When did you begin to think seriously about her?'
Nothing could be more impossible than to answer such a question, though nothing be more agreeable than to have it asked. 'How the pleasing plague had stolen on him' he could not say; and before he had expressed the same sentiment with a little variation of words three times over, his sister eagerly interrupted him with, 'Ah, my dear Henry, and this is what took you to London! This was your business! You chose to consult the Admiral, before you made up your mind.'
But this he stoutly denied. He knew his uncle too well to consult him on any matrimonial scheme. The Admiral hated marriage, and thought it never pardonable in a young man of independent fortune.
'When Fanny is known to him,' continued Henry, 'he will dote on her. She is exactly the woman to do away every prejudice of such a man as the Admiral, for she is exactly such a woman as he thinks does not exist in
the world. She is the very impossibility he would describe--if indeed he has now delicacy of language enough to embody his own ideas. But till it is absolutely settled--settled beyond all interference--he shall know nothing of the matter. No, Mary, you are quite mistaken. You have not discovered my business yet.'
'Well, well, I am satisfied. I know now to whom it must relate, and am in no hurry for the rest. Fanny Price--wonderful--quite wonderful! That Mansfield should have done so much for--that you should have found your fate in Mansfield! But you are quite right, you could not have chosen better. There is not a better girl in the world, and you do not want for fortune; and as to her connections, they are more than good. The Bertrams are undoubtedly some of the first people in this country. She is niece to Sir Thomas Bertram; that will be enough for the world. But go on, go on. Tell me more. What are your plans? Does she know her own happiness?'
'No.'
'What are you waiting for?'
'For--for very little more than opportunity. Mary, she is not like her cousins; but I think I shall not ask in vain.'
'Oh no, you cannot. Were you even less pleasing--supposing her not to love you already (of which, however, I can have little doubt)--you would be safe. The gentleness and gratitude of her disposition would secure her all your own immediately. From my soul I do not think she would marry you without love: that is, if there is a girl in the world capable of being uninfluenced by ambition, I can suppose it her; but ask her to love you, and she will never have the heart to refuse.'
As soon as her eagerness could rest in silence, he was as happy to tell as she could be to listen; and a conversation followed almost as deeply interesting to her as to himself, though he had in fact nothing to relate but his own sensations, nothing to dwell on but Fanny's charms. Fanny's beauty of face and figure, Fanny's graces of manner and goodness of heart, were the exhaustless theme. The gentleness, modesty, and sweetness of her character were warmly expatiated on,--that sweetness which makes so essential a part of every woman's worth in the judgment of man, that though he sometimes loves where it is not, he can never believe it absent. Her temper he had good reason to depend on and to praise. He had often seen it tried. Was there one of the family, excepting Edmund, who had not in some way or other continually exercised her patience and forbearance? Her affections were evidently strong. To see her with her brother! What could more delightfully prove that the warmth of her heart was equal to its gentleness? What could be more encouraging to a man who had her love in view? Then, her understanding was beyond every suspicion, quick and clear; and her manners were the mirror of her own modest and elegant mind. Nor was this all. Henry Crawford had too much sense not to feel the worth of good principles in a wife, though he was too little accustomed to serious reflection to know them by their proper name; but when he talked of her having such a steadiness and regularity of conduct, such a high notion of honour, and such an observance of decorum as might warrant any man in the fullest dependence on her faith and integrity, he expressed what was inspired by the knowledge of her being well principled and religious.