PERSUATION VOLUME ¢ò
¡¡¡¡Chapter 13
¡¡¡¡
The remainder of Anne's time at Uppercross, comprehending only two days,
was spent entirely at the Mansion House; and she had the satisfaction
of knowing herself extremely useful there, both as an immediate companion,
and as assisting in all those arrangements for the future, which,
in Mr and Mrs Musgrove's distressed state of spirits, would have
been difficulties.
¡¡¡¡
They had an early account from Lyme the next morning. Louisa was
much the same. No symptoms worse than before had appeared.
Charles came a few hours afterwards, to bring a later and
more particular account. He was tolerably cheerful. A speedy
cure
must not be hoped, but everything was going on as well
as the nature of the case admitted. In speaking of the Harvilles,
he seemed unable to satisfy his own sense of their kindness,
especially of Mrs Harville's exertions as a nurse. "She really
left
nothing for Mary to do. He and Mary had been persuaded to go early
to their inn last night. Mary had been hysterical again this morning.
When he came away, she was going to walk out with Captain Benwick,
which, he hoped, would do her good. He almost wished she had been
prevailed on to come home the day before; but the truth was,
that Mrs Harville left nothing for anybody to do."
¡¡¡¡
Charles was to return to Lyme the same afternoon, and his father
had at first half a mind to go with him, but the ladies could not consent.
It would be going only to multiply trouble to the others,
and increase his own distress; and a much better scheme followed
and was acted upon. A chaise was sent for from Crewkherne,
and Charles conveyed back a far more useful person in the old nursery-maid
of the family, one who having brought up all the children,
and seen the very last, the lingering and long-petted Master Harry,
sent to school after his brothers, was now living in her deserted nursery
to mend stockings and dress all the blains and bruises she could
get near her, and who, consequently, was only too happy in being
allowed to go and help nurse dear Miss Louisa. Vague wishes of
getting Sarah thither, had occurred before to Mrs Musgrove and Henrietta;
but without Anne, it would hardly have been resolved on,
and found practicable so soon.
¡¡¡¡
They were indebted, the next day, to Charles Hayter, for all
the minute knowledge of Louisa, which it was so essential to obtain
every twenty-four hours. He made it his business to go to Lyme,
and his account was still encouraging. The intervals of sense
and consciousness were believed to be stronger. Every report agreed
in Captain Wentworth's appearing fixed in Lyme.
¡¡¡¡
Anne was to leave them on the morrow, an event which they all dreaded.
"What should they do without her? They were wretched comforters
for one another." And so much was said in this way, that Anne
thought
she could not do better than impart among them the general inclination
to which she was privy, and persuaded them all to go to Lyme at once.
She had little difficulty; it was soon determined that they would go;
go to-morrow, fix themselves at the inn, or get into lodgings,
as it suited, and there remain till dear Louisa could be moved.
They must be taking off some trouble from the good people she was with;
they might at least relieve Mrs Harville from the care of her own children;
and in short, they were so happy in the decision, that Anne was delighted
with what she had done, and felt that she could not spend her
last morning at Uppercross better than in assisting their preparations,
and sending them off at an early hour, though her being left
to the solitary range of the house was the consequence.
¡¡¡¡
She was the last, excepting the little boys at the cottage,
she was the very last, the only remaining one of all that had filled
and animated both houses, of all that had given Uppercross
its cheerful character. A few days had made a change indeed!
¡¡¡¡
If Louisa recovered, it would all be well again. More than
former happiness would be restored. There could not be a doubt,
to her mind there was none, of what would follow her recovery.
A few months hence, and the room now so deserted, occupied but by
her silent, pensive self, might be filled again with all that was happy
and gay, all that was glowing and bright in prosperous love,
all that was most unlike Anne Elliot!
¡¡¡¡
An hour's complete leisure for such reflections as these,
on a dark November day, a small thick rain almost blotting out
the very few objects ever to be discerned from the windows, was enough
to make the sound of Lady Russell's carriage exceedingly welcome;
and yet, though desirous to be gone, she could not quit the Mansion
House,
or look an adieu to the Cottage, with its black, dripping and
comfortless veranda, or even notice through the misty glasses
the last humble tenements of the village, without a saddened heart.
Scenes had passed in Uppercross which made it precious.
It stood the record of many sensations of pain, once severe,
but now softened; and of some instances of relenting feeling,
some breathings of friendship and reconciliation, which could
never be looked for again, and which could never cease to be dear.
She left it all behind her, all but the recollection that
such things had been.
¡¡¡¡
Anne had never entered Kellynch since her quitting Lady Russell's house
in September. It had not been necessary, and the few occasions
of
its being possible for her to go to the Hall she had contrived to evade
and escape from. Her first return was to resume her place in the
modern
and elegant apartments of the Lodge, and to gladden the eyes
of its mistress.
¡¡¡¡
There was some anxiety mixed with Lady Russell's joy in meeting her.
She knew who had been frequenting Uppercross. But happily,
either Anne was improved in plumpness and looks, or Lady Russell
fancied her so; and Anne, in receiving her compliments on the occasion,
had the amusement of connecting them with the silent admiration
of her cousin, and of hoping that she was to be blessed with
a second spring of youth and beauty.
¡¡¡¡
When they came to converse, she was soon sensible of some mental change.
The subjects of which her heart had been full on leaving Kellynch,
and which she had felt slighted, and been compelled to smother
among the Musgroves, were now become but of secondary interest.
She had lately lost sight even of her father and sister and Bath.
Their concerns had been sunk under those of Uppercross;
and when Lady Russell reverted to their former hopes and fears,
and spoke her satisfaction in the house in Camden Place,
which had been taken, and her regret that Mrs Clay should still
be with them, Anne would have been ashamed to have it known
how much more she was thinking of Lyme and Louisa Musgrove,
and all her acquaintance there; how much more interesting to her
was the home and the friendship of the Harvilles and Captain Benwick,
than her own father's house in Camden Place, or her own sister's intimacy
with Mrs Clay. She was actually forced to exert herself
to meet Lady Russell with anything like the appearance of equal solicitude,
on topics which had by nature the first claim on her.
¡¡¡¡
There was a little awkwardness at first in their discourse
on another subject. They must speak of the accident at Lyme.
Lady Russell had not been arrived five minutes the day before,
when a full account of the whole had burst on her; but still it must
be talked of, she must make enquiries, she must regret the imprudence,
lament the result, and Captain Wentworth's name must be mentioned by
both.
Anne was conscious of not doing it so well as Lady Russell.
She could not speak the name, and look straight forward to
Lady Russell's eye, till she had adopted the expedient of telling her
briefly what she thought of the attachment between him and Louisa.
When this was told, his name distressed her no longer.
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell had only to listen composedly, and wish them happy,
but internally her heart revelled in angry pleasure, in pleased contempt,
that the man who at twenty-three had seemed to understand somewhat
of the value of an Anne Elliot, should, eight years afterwards,
be charmed by a Louisa Musgrove.
¡¡¡¡
The first three or four days passed most quietly, with no circumstance
to mark them excepting the receipt of a note or two from Lyme,
which found their way to Anne, she could not tell how, and brought
a rather improving account of Louisa. At the end of that period,
Lady Russell's politeness could repose no longer, and the fainter
self-threatenings of the past became in a decided tone,
"I must call on Mrs Croft; I really must call upon her soon.
Anne, have you courage to go with me, and pay a visit in that house?
It will be some trial to us both."
¡¡¡¡
Anne did not shrink from it; on the contrary, she truly felt as she
said,
in observing--
¡¡¡¡
"I think you are very likely to suffer the most of the two;
your feelings are less reconciled to the change than mine.
By remaining in the neighbourhood, I am become inured to it."
¡¡¡¡
She could have said more on the subject; for she had in fact
so high an opinion of the Crofts, and considered her father
so very fortunate in his tenants, felt the parish to be so sure
of a good example, and the poor of the best attention and relief,
that however sorry and ashamed for the necessity of the removal,
she could not but in conscience feel that they were gone
who deserved not to stay, and that Kellynch Hall had passed
into better hands than its owners'. These convictions must unquestionably
have their own pain, and severe was its kind; but they precluded
that pain which Lady Russell would suffer in entering the house again,
and returning through the well-known apartments.
¡¡¡¡
In such moments Anne had no power of saying to herself,
"These rooms ought to belong only to us. Oh, how fallen
in their destination! How unworthily occupied! An ancient
family
to be so driven away! Strangers filling their place!"
No, except when she thought of her mother, and remembered where
she had been used to sit and preside, she had no sigh of that description
to heave.
¡¡¡¡
Mrs Croft always met her with a kindness which gave her the pleasure
of fancying herself a favourite, and on the present occasion,
receiving her in that house, there was particular attention.
¡¡¡¡
The sad accident at Lyme was soon the prevailing topic,
and on comparing their latest accounts of the invalid, it appeared
that each lady dated her intelligence from the same hour of yestermorn;
that Captain Wentworth had been in Kellynch yesterday (the first time
since the accident), had brought Anne the last note, which she had
not been able to trace the exact steps of; had staid a few hours
and then returned again to Lyme, and without any present intention
of quitting it any more. He had enquired after her, she found,
particularly; had expressed his hope of Miss Elliot's not being
the worse for her exertions, and had spoken of those exertions as great.
This was handsome, and gave her more pleasure than almost anything else
could have done.
¡¡¡¡
As to the sad catastrophe itself, it could be canvassed only in one
style
by a couple of steady, sensible women, whose judgements had to work
on ascertained events; and it was perfectly decided that it had been
the consequence of much thoughtlessness and much imprudence;
that its effects were most alarming, and that it was frightful to think,
how long Miss Musgrove's recovery might yet be doubtful, and how liable
she would still remain to suffer from the concussion hereafter!
The Admiral wound it up summarily by exclaiming--
¡¡¡¡
"Ay, a very bad business indeed. A new sort of way this,
for a young fellow to be making love, by breaking his mistress's head,
is not it, Miss Elliot? This is breaking a head and giving a plaster,
truly!"
¡¡¡¡
Admiral Croft's manners were not quite of the tone to suit Lady Russell,
but they delighted Anne. His goodness of heart and simplicity
of character were irresistible.
¡¡¡¡
"Now, this must be very bad for you," said he, suddenly rousing from
a little reverie, "to be coming and finding us here. I had not
recollected it before, I declare, but it must be very bad.
But now, do not stand upon ceremony. Get up and go over all the
rooms
in the house if you like it."
¡¡¡¡
"Another time, Sir, I thank you, not now."
¡¡¡¡
"Well, whenever it suits you. You can slip in from the shrubbery
at any time; and there you will find we keep our umbrellas hanging up
by that door. A good place is not it? But," (checking himself),
"you will not think it a good place, for yours were always kept
in the butler's room. Ay, so it always is, I believe.
One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own
best.
And so you must judge for yourself, whether it would be better for you
to go about the house or not."
¡¡¡¡
Anne, finding she might decline it, did so, very gratefully.
¡¡¡¡
"We have made very few changes either," continued the Admiral,
after thinking a moment. "Very few. We told you about the
laundry-door,
at Uppercross. That has been a very great improvement.
The wonder was, how any family upon earth could bear with the inconvenience
of its opening as it did, so long! You will tell Sir Walter
what we have done, and that Mr Shepherd thinks it the greatest improvement
the house ever had. Indeed, I must do ourselves the justice to
say,
that the few alterations we have made have been all very much
for the better. My wife should have the credit of them, however.
I have done very little besides sending away some of the large
looking-glasses from my dressing-room, which was your father's.
A very good man, and very much the gentleman I am sure:
but I should think, Miss Elliot," (looking with serious reflection),
"I should think he must be rather a dressy man for his time of life.
Such a number of looking-glasses! oh Lord! there was no getting away
from one's self. So I got Sophy to lend me a hand, and we soon
shifted their quarters; and now I am quite snug, with my
little shaving glass in one corner, and another great thing
that I never go near."
¡¡¡¡
Anne, amused in spite of herself, was rather distressed for an answer,
and the Admiral, fearing he might not have been civil enough,
took up the subject again, to say--
¡¡¡¡
"The next time you write to your good father, Miss Elliot,
pray give him my compliments and Mrs Croft's, and say that we are
settled here quite to our liking, and have no fault at all to find
with the place. The breakfast-room chimney smokes a little,
I grant you, but it is only when the wind is due north and blows hard,
which may not happen three times a winter. And take it altogether,
now that we have been into most of the houses hereabouts and can judge,
there is not one that we like better than this. Pray say so,
with my compliments. He will be glad to hear it."
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell and Mrs Croft were very well pleased with each other:
but the acquaintance which this visit began was fated not to proceed
far at present; for when it was returned, the Crofts announced
themselves to be going away for a few weeks, to visit their connexions
in the north of the county, and probably might not be at home again
before Lady Russell would be removing to Bath.
¡¡¡¡
So ended all danger to Anne of meeting Captain Wentworth at Kellynch
Hall,
or of seeing him in company with her friend. Everything was safe
enough,
and she smiled over the many anxious feelings she had wasted
on the subject.
¡¡¡¡Chapter 14
¡¡¡¡
Though Charles and Mary had remained at Lyme much longer after
Mr and Mrs Musgrove's going than Anne conceived they could have been
at all wanted, they were yet the first of the family to be at home again;
and as soon as possible after their return to Uppercross
they drove over to the Lodge. They had left Louisa beginning to
sit up;
but her head, though clear, was exceedingly weak, and her nerves
susceptible to the highest extreme of tenderness; and though
she might be pronounced to be altogether doing very well,
it was still impossible to say when she might be able to bear
the removal home; and her father and mother, who must return
in time to receive their younger children for the Christmas holidays,
had hardly a hope of being allowed to bring her with them.
¡¡¡¡
They had been all in lodgings together. Mrs Musgrove had
got Mrs Harville's children away as much as she could, every possible
supply from Uppercross had been furnished, to lighten the inconvenience
to the Harvilles, while the Harvilles had been wanting them
to come to dinner every day; and in short, it seemed to have been
only a struggle on each side as to which should be most disinterested
and hospitable.
¡¡¡¡
Mary had had her evils; but upon the whole, as was evident
by her staying so long, she had found more to enjoy than to suffer.
Charles Hayter had been at Lyme oftener than suited her; and when
they dined with the Harvilles there had been only a maid-servant to
wait,
and at first Mrs Harville had always given Mrs Musgrove precedence;
but then, she had received so very handsome an apology from her
on finding out whose daughter she was, and there had been so much
going on every day, there had been so many walks between their lodgings
and the Harvilles, and she had got books from the library,
and changed them so often, that the balance had certainly been
much in favour of Lyme. She had been taken to Charmouth too,
and she had bathed, and she had gone to church, and there were a great
many
more people to look at in the church at Lyme than at Uppercross;
and all this, joined to the sense of being so very useful,
had made really an agreeable fortnight.
¡¡¡¡
Anne enquired after Captain Benwick, Mary's face was clouded directly.
Charles laughed.
¡¡¡¡
"Oh! Captain Benwick is very well, I believe, but he is
a very odd young man. I do not know what he would be at.
We asked him to come home with us for a day or two: Charles undertook
to give him some shooting, and he seemed quite delighted, and, for my
part,
I thought it was all settled; when behold! on Tuesday night,
he made a very awkward sort of excuse; `he never shot' and he had
`been quite misunderstood,' and he had promised this and he had
promised that, and the end of it was, I found, that he did not mean
to come.
I suppose he was afraid of finding it dull; but upon my word
I should have thought we were lively enough at the Cottage
for such a heart-broken man as Captain Benwick."
¡¡¡¡
Charles laughed again and said, "Now Mary, you know very well
how it really was. It was all your doing," (turning to Anne.)
"He fancied that if he went with us, he should find you close by:
he fancied everybody to be living in Uppercross; and when he discovered
that Lady Russell lived three miles off, his heart failed him,
and he had not courage to come. That is the fact, upon my honour,
Mary knows it is."
¡¡¡¡
But Mary did not give into it very graciously, whether from
not considering Captain Benwick entitled by birth and situation
to be in love with an Elliot, or from not wanting to believe
Anne a greater attraction to Uppercross than herself, must be
left to be guessed. Anne's good-will, however, was not to be lessened
by what she heard. She boldly acknowledged herself flattered,
and continued her enquiries.
¡¡¡¡
"Oh! he talks of you," cried Charles, "in such terms--"
Mary interrupted him. "I declare, Charles, I never heard him
mention Anne twice all the time I was there. I declare, Anne,
he never talks of you at all."
¡¡¡¡
"No," admitted Charles, "I do not know that he ever does, in a general
way; but however, it is a very clear thing that he admires you exceedingly.
His head is full of some books that he is reading upon your recommendation,
and he wants to talk to you about them; he has found out something or
other
in one of them which he thinks-- oh! I cannot pretend to remember it,
but it was something very fine--I overheard him telling Henrietta
all about it; and then `Miss Elliot' was spoken of in the highest terms!
Now Mary, I declare it was so, I heard it myself, and you were
in the other room. `Elegance, sweetness, beauty.' Oh! there was
no end
of Miss Elliot's charms."
¡¡¡¡
"And I am sure," cried Mary, warmly, "it was a very little to his credit,
if he did. Miss Harville only died last June. Such a heart
is very little worth having; is it, Lady Russell? I am sure
you will agree with me."
¡¡¡¡
"I must see Captain Benwick before I decide," said Lady Russell, smiling.
¡¡¡¡
"And that you are very likely to do very soon, I can tell you, ma'am,"
said Charles. "Though he had not nerves for coming away with us,
and setting off again afterwards to pay a formal visit here,
he will make his way over to Kellynch one day by himself,
you may depend on it. I told him the distance and the road,
and I told him of the church's being so very well worth seeing;
for as he has a taste for those sort of things, I thought that would
be a good excuse, and he listened with all his understanding and soul;
and I am sure from his manner that you will have him calling here soon.
So, I give you notice, Lady Russell."
¡¡¡¡
"Any acquaintance of Anne's will always be welcome to me,"
was Lady Russell's kind answer.
¡¡¡¡
"Oh! as to being Anne's acquaintance," said Mary, "I think he is rather
my acquaintance, for I have been seeing him every day this last fortnight."
¡¡¡¡
"Well, as your joint acquaintance, then, I shall be very happy
to see Captain Benwick."
¡¡¡¡
"You will not find anything very agreeable in him, I assure you, ma'am.
He is one of the dullest young men that ever lived. He has walked
with me,
sometimes, from one end of the sands to the other, without saying a
word.
He is not at all a well-bred young man. I am sure you will not
like him."
¡¡¡¡
"There we differ, Mary," said Anne. "I think Lady Russell would
like him.
I think she would be so much pleased with his mind, that she would
very soon see no deficiency in his manner."
¡¡¡¡
"So do I, Anne," said Charles. "I am sure Lady Russell would like
him.
He is just Lady Russell's sort. Give him a book, and he will
read all day long."
¡¡¡¡
"Yes, that he will!" exclaimed Mary, tauntingly. "He will sit
poring
over his book, and not know when a person speaks to him, or when one
drop's one's scissors, or anything that happens. Do you think
Lady Russell would like that?"
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell could not help laughing. "Upon my word," said she,
"I should not have supposed that my opinion of any one could have
admitted of such difference of conjecture, steady and matter of fact
as I may call myself. I have really a curiosity to see the person
who can give occasion to such directly opposite notions.
I wish he may be induced to call here. And when he does, Mary,
you may depend upon hearing my opinion; but I am determined
not to judge him beforehand."
¡¡¡¡
"You will not like him, I will answer for it."
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell began talking of something else. Mary spoke with
animation
of their meeting with, or rather missing, Mr Elliot so extraordinarily.
¡¡¡¡
"He is a man," said Lady Russell, "whom I have no wish to see.
His declining to be on cordial terms with the head of his family,
has left a very strong impression in his disfavour with me."
¡¡¡¡
This decision checked Mary's eagerness, and stopped her short
in the midst of the Elliot countenance.
¡¡¡¡
With regard to Captain Wentworth, though Anne hazarded no enquiries,
there was voluntary communication sufficient. His spirits had
been
greatly recovering lately as might be expected. As Louisa improved,
he had improved, and he was now quite a different creature
from what he had been the first week. He had not seen Louisa;
and was so extremely fearful of any ill consequence to her
from an interview, that he did not press for it at all; and,
on the contrary, seemed to have a plan of going away for a week
or ten days, till her head was stronger. He had talked of going
down to Plymouth for a week, and wanted to persuade Captain Benwick
to go with him; but, as Charles maintained to the last, Captain Benwick
seemed much more disposed to ride over to Kellynch.
¡¡¡¡
There can be no doubt that Lady Russell and Anne were both
occasionally thinking of Captain Benwick, from this time.
Lady Russell could not hear the door-bell without feeling that it might
be his herald; nor could Anne return from any stroll of solitary indulgence
in her father's grounds, or any visit of charity in the village,
without wondering whether she might see him or hear of him.
Captain Benwick came not, however. He was either less disposed
for it
than Charles had imagined, or he was too shy; and after giving him
a week's indulgence, Lady Russell determined him to be unworthy
of the interest which he had been beginning to excite.
¡¡¡¡
The Musgroves came back to receive their happy boys and girls from school,
bringing with them Mrs Harville's little children, to improve the noise
of Uppercross, and lessen that of Lyme. Henrietta remained with
Louisa;
but all the rest of the family were again in their usual quarters.
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell and Anne paid their compliments to them once,
when Anne could not but feel that Uppercross was already quite alive
again.
Though neither Henrietta, nor Louisa, nor Charles Hayter,
nor Captain Wentworth were there, the room presented as strong a contrast
as could be wished to the last state she had seen it in.
¡¡¡¡
Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles,
whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children
from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. On one side
was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk
and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays,
bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys
were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas
fire,
which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise
of the others. Charles and Mary also came in, of course,
during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects
to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes,
talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children
on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.
¡¡¡¡
Anne, judging from her own temperament, would have deemed
such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves,
which Louisa's illness must have so greatly shaken. But Mrs Musgrove,
who got Anne near her on purpose to thank her most cordially,
again and again, for all her attentions to them, concluded
a short recapitulation of what she had suffered herself by observing,
with a happy glance round the room, that after all she had gone through,
nothing was so likely to do her good as a little quiet cheerfulness
at home.
¡¡¡¡
Louisa was now recovering apace. Her mother could even think of
her
being able to join their party at home, before her brothers and sisters
went to school again. The Harvilles had promised to come with
her
and stay at Uppercross, whenever she returned. Captain Wentworth
was gone,
for the present, to see his brother in Shropshire.
¡¡¡¡
"I hope I shall remember, in future," said Lady Russell, as soon as
they were reseated in the carriage, "not to call at Uppercross
in the Christmas holidays."
¡¡¡¡
Everybody has their taste in noises as well as in other matters;
and sounds are quite innoxious, or most distressing, by their sort
rather than their quantity. When Lady Russell not long afterwards,
was entering Bath on a wet afternoon, and driving through
the long course of streets from the Old Bridge to Camden Place,
amidst the dash of other carriages, the heavy rumble of carts and drays,
the bawling of newspapermen, muffin-men and milkmen, and the ceaseless
clink of pattens, she made no complaint. No, these were noises
which belonged to the winter pleasures; her spirits rose
under their influence; and like Mrs Musgrove, she was feeling,
though not saying, that after being long in the country, nothing could
be
so good for her as a little quiet cheerfulness.
¡¡¡¡
Anne did not share these feelings. She persisted in a very determined,
though very silent disinclination for Bath; caught the first dim view
of the extensive buildings, smoking in rain, without any wish
of seeing them better; felt their progress through the streets to be,
however disagreeable, yet too rapid; for who would be glad to see her
when she arrived? And looked back, with fond regret, to the bustles
of Uppercross and the seclusion of Kellynch.
¡¡¡¡
Elizabeth's last letter had communicated a piece of news of some interest.
Mr Elliot was in Bath. He had called in Camden Place; had called
a second time, a third; had been pointedly attentive. If Elizabeth
and her father did not deceive themselves, had been taking much pains
to seek the acquaintance, and proclaim the value of the connection,
as he had formerly taken pains to shew neglect. This was very
wonderful
if it were true; and Lady Russell was in a state of very agreeable
curiosity and perplexity about Mr Elliot, already recanting the sentiment
she had so lately expressed to Mary, of his being "a man whom she had
no wish to see." She had a great wish to see him. If he
really sought
to reconcile himself like a dutiful branch, he must be forgiven
for having dismembered himself from the paternal tree.
¡¡¡¡
Anne was not animated to an equal pitch by the circumstance,
but she felt that she would rather see Mr Elliot again than not,
which was more than she could say for many other persons in Bath.
¡¡¡¡
She was put down in Camden Place; and Lady Russell then drove
to her own lodgings, in Rivers Street.
¡¡¡¡Chapter 15
¡¡¡¡
Sir Walter had taken a very good house in Camden Place,
a lofty dignified situation, such as becomes a man of consequence;
and both he and Elizabeth were settled there, much to their satisfaction.
¡¡¡¡
Anne entered it with a sinking heart, anticipating an imprisonment
of many months, and anxiously saying to herself, "Oh! when shall I
leave you again?" A degree of unexpected cordiality, however,
in the welcome she received, did her good. Her father and sister
were glad to see her, for the sake of shewing her the house and furniture,
and met her with kindness. Her making a fourth, when they
sat down to dinner, was noticed as an advantage.
¡¡¡¡
Mrs Clay was very pleasant, and very smiling, but her courtesies and
smiles
were more a matter of course. Anne had always felt that she would
pretend what was proper on her arrival, but the complaisance of the
others
was unlooked for. They were evidently in excellent spirits,
and she was soon to listen to the causes. They had no inclination
to listen to her. After laying out for some compliments of being
deeply regretted in their old neighbourhood, which Anne could not pay,
they had only a few faint enquiries to make, before the talk must be
all their own. Uppercross excited no interest, Kellynch very little:
it was all Bath.
¡¡¡¡
They had the pleasure of assuring her that Bath more than answered
their expectations in every respect. Their house was undoubtedly
the best in Camden Place; their drawing-rooms had many decided advantages
over all the others which they had either seen or heard of,
and the superiority was not less in the style of the fitting-up,
or the taste of the furniture. Their acquaintance was
exceedingly sought after. Everybody was wanting to visit them.
They had drawn back from many introductions, and still were
perpetually having cards left by people of whom they knew nothing.
¡¡¡¡
Here were funds of enjoyment. Could Anne wonder that her father
and sister were happy? She might not wonder, but she must sigh
that her father should feel no degradation in his change, should see
nothing to regret in the duties and dignity of the resident landholder,
should find so much to be vain of in the littlenesses of a town;
and she must sigh, and smile, and wonder too, as Elizabeth threw open
the folding-doors and walked with exultation from one drawing-room
to the other, boasting of their space; at the possibility of that woman,
who had been mistress of Kellynch Hall, finding extent to be proud of
between two walls, perhaps thirty feet asunder.
¡¡¡¡
But this was not all which they had to make them happy.
They had Mr Elliot too. Anne had a great deal to hear of Mr Elliot.
He was not only pardoned, they were delighted with him.
He had been in Bath about a fortnight; (he had passed through Bath
in November, in his way to London, when the intelligence of
Sir Walter's being settled there had of course reached him,
though only twenty-four hours in the place, but he had not been able
to avail himself of it;) but he had now been a fortnight in Bath,
and his first object on arriving, had been to leave his card
in Camden Place, following it up by such assiduous endeavours to meet,
and when they did meet, by such great openness of conduct,
such readiness to apologize for the past, such solicitude to be received
as a relation again, that their former good understanding
was completely re-established.
¡¡¡¡
They had not a fault to find in him. He had explained away
all the appearance of neglect on his own side. It had originated
in misapprehension entirely. He had never had an idea of
throwing himself off; he had feared that he was thrown off,
but knew not why, and delicacy had kept him silent. Upon the hint
of having spoken disrespectfully or carelessly of the family
and the family honours, he was quite indignant. He, who had ever
boasted
of being an Elliot, and whose feelings, as to connection,
were only too strict to suit the unfeudal tone of the present day.
He was astonished, indeed, but his character and general conduct
must refute it. He could refer Sir Walter to all who knew him;
and certainly, the pains he had been taking on this, the first opportunity
of reconciliation, to be restored to the footing of a relation
and heir-presumptive, was a strong proof of his opinions on the subject.
¡¡¡¡
The circumstances of his marriage, too, were found to admit of
much extenuation. This was an article not to be entered on by
himself;
but a very intimate friend of his, a Colonel Wallis, a highly
respectable man, perfectly the gentleman, (and not an ill-looking man,
Sir Walter added), who was living in very good style in Marlborough
Buildings, and had, at his own particular request, been admitted
to their acquaintance through Mr Elliot, had mentioned one or two things
relative to the marriage, which made a material difference
in the discredit of it.
¡¡¡¡
Colonel Wallis had known Mr Elliot long, had been well acquainted
also with his wife, had perfectly understood the whole story.
She was certainly not a woman of family, but well educated,
accomplished, rich, and excessively in love with his friend.
There had been the charm. She had sought him. Without that
attraction,
not all her money would have tempted Elliot, and Sir Walter was,
moreover, assured of her having been a very fine woman.
Here was a great deal to soften the business. A very fine woman
with a large fortune, in love with him! Sir Walter seemed to admit
it
as complete apology; and though Elizabeth could not see the circumstance
in quite so favourable a light, she allowed it be a great extenuation.
¡¡¡¡
Mr Elliot had called repeatedly, had dined with them once,
evidently delighted by the distinction of being asked, for they
gave no dinners in general; delighted, in short, by every proof
of cousinly notice, and placing his whole happiness in being
on intimate terms in Camden Place.
¡¡¡¡
Anne listened, but without quite understanding it. Allowances,
large allowances, she knew, must be made for the ideas of those who
spoke.
She heard it all under embellishment. All that sounded extravagant
or irrational in the progress of the reconciliation might have no origin
but in the language of the relators. Still, however, she had
the sensation of there being something more than immediately appeared,
in Mr Elliot's wishing, after an interval of so many years,
to be well received by them. In a worldly view, he had nothing
to gain
by being on terms with Sir Walter; nothing to risk by a state of variance.
In all probability he was already the richer of the two,
and the Kellynch estate would as surely be his hereafter as the title.
A sensible man, and he had looked like a very sensible man,
why should it be an object to him? She could only offer one solution;
it was, perhaps, for Elizabeth's sake. There might really have
been
a liking formerly, though convenience and accident had drawn him
a different way; and now that he could afford to please himself,
he might mean to pay his addresses to her. Elizabeth was certainly
very handsome, with well-bred, elegant manners, and her character
might never have been penetrated by Mr Elliot, knowing her but in public,
and when very young himself. How her temper and understanding
might bear the investigation of his present keener time of life
was another concern and rather a fearful one. Most earnestly did
she wish
that he might not be too nice, or too observant if Elizabeth
were his object; and that Elizabeth was disposed to believe herself
so,
and that her friend Mrs Clay was encouraging the idea, seemed apparent
by a glance or two between them, while Mr Elliot's frequent visits
were talked of.
¡¡¡¡
Anne mentioned the glimpses she had had of him at Lyme, but without
being much attended to. "Oh! yes, perhaps, it had been Mr Elliot.
They did not know. It might be him, perhaps." They could
not listen
to her description of him. They were describing him themselves;
Sir Walter especially. He did justice to his very gentlemanlike
appearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face,
his sensible eye; but, at the same time, "must lament his being
very much under-hung, a defect which time seemed to have increased;
nor could he pretend to say that ten years had not altered
almost every feature for the worse. Mr Elliot appeared to think
that he (Sir Walter) was looking exactly as he had done when
they last parted;" but Sir Walter had "not been able to return
the compliment entirely, which had embarrassed him. He did not
mean
to complain, however. Mr Elliot was better to look at than most
men,
and he had no objection to being seen with him anywhere."
¡¡¡¡
Mr Elliot, and his friends in Marlborough Buildings, were talked of
the whole evening. "Colonel Wallis had been so impatient to be
introduced to them! and Mr Elliot so anxious that he should!"
and there was a Mrs Wallis, at present known only to them by description,
as she was in daily expectation of her confinement; but Mr Elliot
spoke of her as "a most charming woman, quite worthy of being known
in Camden Place," and as soon as she recovered they were to be acquainted.
Sir Walter thought much of Mrs Wallis; she was said to be
an excessively pretty woman, beautiful. "He longed to see her.
He hoped she might make some amends for the many very plain faces
he was continually passing in the streets. The worst of Bath was
the number of its plain women. He did not mean to say that there
were
no pretty women, but the number of the plain was out of all proportion.
He had frequently observed, as he walked, that one handsome face
would be followed by thirty, or five-and-thirty frights; and once,
as he had stood in a shop on Bond Street, he had counted
eighty-seven women go by, one after another, without there being
a tolerable face among them. It had been a frosty morning,
to be sure, a sharp frost, which hardly one woman in a thousand
could stand the test of. But still, there certainly were
a dreadful multitude of ugly women in Bath; and as for the men!
they were infinitely worse. Such scarecrows as the streets were
full of!
It was evident how little the women were used to the sight of anything
tolerable, by the effect which a man of decent appearance produced.
He had never walked anywhere arm-in-arm with Colonel Wallis
(who was a fine military figure, though sandy-haired) without observing
that every woman's eye was upon him; every woman's eye was sure to be
upon Colonel Wallis." Modest Sir Walter! He was not allowed
to escape, however. His daughter and Mrs Clay united in hinting
that Colonel Wallis's companion might have as good a figure
as Colonel Wallis, and certainly was not sandy-haired.
¡¡¡¡
"How is Mary looking?" said Sir Walter, in the height of his good humour.
"The last time I saw her she had a red nose, but I hope that may not
happen every day."
¡¡¡¡
"Oh! no, that must have been quite accidental. In general she
has been
in very good health and very good looks since Michaelmas."
¡¡¡¡
"If I thought it would not tempt her to go out in sharp winds,
and grow coarse, I would send her a new hat and pelisse."
¡¡¡¡
Anne was considering whether she should venture to suggest that a gown,
or a cap, would not be liable to any such misuse, when a knock at the
door
suspended everything. "A knock at the door! and so late!
It was ten o'clock. Could it be Mr Elliot? They knew he
was to dine
in Lansdown Crescent. It was possible that he might stop in his
way home
to ask them how they did. They could think of no one else.
Mrs Clay decidedly thought it Mr Elliot's knock." Mrs Clay was
right.
With all the state which a butler and foot-boy could give,
Mr Elliot was ushered into the room.
¡¡¡¡
It was the same, the very same man, with no difference but of dress.
Anne drew a little back, while the others received his compliments,
and her sister his apologies for calling at so unusual an hour,
but "he could not be so near without wishing to know that neither she
nor her friend had taken cold the day before," &c. &c; which
was
all as politely done, and as politely taken, as possible, but her part
must follow then. Sir Walter talked of his youngest daughter;
"Mr Elliot must give him leave to present him to his youngest daughter"
(there was no occasion for remembering Mary); and Anne, smiling and
blushing, very becomingly shewed to Mr Elliot the pretty features
which he had by no means forgotten, and instantly saw, with amusement
at his little start of surprise, that he had not been at all aware
of who she was. He looked completely astonished, but not more
astonished
than pleased; his eyes brightened! and with the most perfect alacrity
he welcomed the relationship, alluded to the past, and entreated
to be received as an acquaintance already. He was quite as good-looking
as he had appeared at Lyme, his countenance improved by speaking,
and his manners were so exactly what they ought to be, so polished,
so easy, so particularly agreeable, that she could compare them
in excellence to only one person's manners. They were not the
same,
but they were, perhaps, equally good.
¡¡¡¡
He sat down with them, and improved their conversation very much.
There could be no doubt of his being a sensible man. Ten minutes
were enough to certify that. His tone, his expressions,
his choice of subject, his knowing where to stop; it was all
the operation of a sensible, discerning mind. As soon as he could,
he began to talk to her of Lyme, wanting to compare opinions
respecting the place, but especially wanting to speak of the circumstance
of their happening to be guests in the same inn at the same time;
to give his own route, understand something of hers, and regret that
he should have lost such an opportunity of paying his respects to her.
She gave him a short account of her party and business at Lyme.
His regret increased as he listened. He had spent his whole
solitary evening in the room adjoining theirs; had heard voices,
mirth continually; thought they must be a most delightful set of people,
longed to be with them, but certainly without the smallest suspicion
of his possessing the shadow of a right to introduce himself.
If he had but asked who the party were! The name of Musgrove would
have told him enough. "Well, it would serve to cure him of
an absurd practice of never asking a question at an inn,
which he had adopted, when quite a young man, on the principal
of its being very ungenteel to be curious.
¡¡¡¡
"The notions of a young man of one or two and twenty," said he,
"as to what is necessary in manners to make him quite the thing,
are more absurd, I believe, than those of any other set of beings
in the world. The folly of the means they often employ
is only to be equalled by the folly of what they have in view."
¡¡¡¡
But he must not be addressing his reflections to Anne alone:
he knew it; he was soon diffused again among the others,
and it was only at intervals that he could return to Lyme.
¡¡¡¡
His enquiries, however, produced at length an account of the scene
she had been engaged in there, soon after his leaving the place.
Having alluded to "an accident," he must hear the whole.
When he questioned, Sir Walter and Elizabeth began to question also,
but the difference in their manner of doing it could not be unfelt.
She could only compare Mr Elliot to Lady Russell, in the wish
of really comprehending what had passed, and in the degree of concern
for what she must have suffered in witnessing it.
¡¡¡¡
He staid an hour with them. The elegant little clock on the mantel-
piece had struck "eleven with its silver sounds," and the watchman
was beginning to be heard at a distance telling the same tale,
before Mr Elliot or any of them seemed to feel that he had been there
long.
¡¡¡¡
Anne could not have supposed it possible that her first evening in
Camden Place could have passed so well!
¡¡¡¡Chapter 16
¡¡¡¡
There was one point which Anne, on returning to her family,
would have been more thankful to ascertain even than Mr Elliot's
being in love with Elizabeth, which was, her father's not being
in love with Mrs Clay; and she was very far from easy about it,
when she had been at home a few hours. On going down to breakfast
the next morning, she found there had just been a decent pretence
on the lady's side of meaning to leave them. She could imagine
Mrs Clay
to have said, that "now Miss Anne was come, she could not suppose herself
at all wanted;" for Elizabeth was replying in a sort of whisper,
"That must not be any reason, indeed. I assure you I feel it none.
She is nothing to me, compared with you;" and she was in full
time
to hear her father say, "My dear madam, this must not be. As yet,
you have seen nothing of Bath. You have been here only to be useful.
You must not run away from us now. You must stay to be acquainted
with Mrs Wallis, the beautiful Mrs Wallis. To your fine mind,
I well know the sight of beauty is a real gratification."
¡¡¡¡
He spoke and looked so much in earnest, that Anne was not surprised
to see Mrs Clay stealing a glance at Elizabeth and herself.
Her countenance, perhaps, might express some watchfulness;
but the praise of the fine mind did not appear to excite a thought
in her sister. The lady could not but yield to such joint entreaties,
and promise to stay.
¡¡¡¡
In the course of the same morning, Anne and her father chancing to be
alone together, he began to compliment her on her improved looks;
he thought her "less thin in her person, in her cheeks; her skin,
her complexion, greatly improved; clearer, fresher. Had she been
using any thing in particular?" "No, nothing." "Merely Gowland,"
he supposed. "No, nothing at all." "Ha! he was surprised
at that;"
and added, "certainly you cannot do better than to continue as you are;
you cannot be better than well; or I should recommend Gowland,
the constant use of Gowland, during the spring months. Mrs Clay
has been
using it at my recommendation, and you see what it has done for her.
You see how it has carried away her freckles."
¡¡¡¡
If Elizabeth could but have heard this! Such personal praise
might have struck her, especially as it did not appear to Anne
that the freckles were at all lessened. But everything must
take its chance. The evil of a marriage would be much diminished,
if Elizabeth were also to marry. As for herself, she might always
command a home with Lady Russell.
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell's composed mind and polite manners were put to some trial
on this point, in her intercourse in Camden Place. The sight of
Mrs Clay
in such favour, and of Anne so overlooked, was a perpetual provocation
to her there; and vexed her as much when she was away, as a person in
Bath
who drinks the water, gets all the new publications, and has
a very large acquaintance, has time to be vexed.
¡¡¡¡
As Mr Elliot became known to her, she grew more charitable,
or more indifferent, towards the others. His manners were
an immediate recommendation; and on conversing with him she found
the solid so fully supporting the superficial, that she was at first,
as she told Anne, almost ready to exclaim, "Can this be Mr Elliot?"
and could not seriously picture to herself a more agreeable
or estimable man. Everything united in him; good understanding,
correct opinions, knowledge of the world, and a warm heart.
He had strong feelings of family attachment and family honour,
without pride or weakness; he lived with the liberality of a man of
fortune,
without display; he judged for himself in everything essential,
without defying public opinion in any point of worldly decorum.
He was steady, observant, moderate, candid; never run away with by spirits
or by selfishness, which fancied itself strong feeling; and yet,
with a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely, and a value
for all the felicities of domestic life, which characters of
fancied enthusiasm and violent agitation seldom really possess.
She was sure that he had not been happy in marriage. Colonel Wallis
said it, and Lady Russell saw it; but it had been no unhappiness
to sour his mind, nor (she began pretty soon to suspect) to prevent
his
thinking of a second choice. Her satisfaction in Mr Elliot
outweighed all the plague of Mrs Clay.
¡¡¡¡
It was now some years since Anne had begun to learn that she
and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently;
and it did not surprise her, therefore, that Lady Russell
should see nothing suspicious or inconsistent, nothing to require
more motives than appeared, in Mr Elliot's great desire of a reconciliation.
In Lady Russell's view, it was perfectly natural that Mr Elliot,
at a mature time of life, should feel it a most desirable object,
and what would very generally recommend him among all sensible people,
to be on good terms with the head of his family; the simplest process
in the world of time upon a head naturally clear, and only erring
in the heyday of youth. Anne presumed, however, still to smile
about it,
and at last to mention "Elizabeth." Lady Russell listened, and
looked,
and made only this cautious reply:-- "Elizabeth! very well;
time will explain."
¡¡¡¡
It was a reference to the future, which Anne, after a little observation,
felt she must submit to. She could determine nothing at present.
In that house Elizabeth must be first; and she was in the habit
of such general observance as "Miss Elliot," that any particularity
of attention seemed almost impossible. Mr Elliot, too,
it must be remembered, had not been a widower seven months.
A little delay on his side might be very excusable. In fact,
Anne could never see the crape round his hat, without fearing that
she was the inexcusable one, in attributing to him such imaginations;
for though his marriage had not been very happy, still it had existed
so many years that she could not comprehend a very rapid recovery
from the awful impression of its being dissolved.
¡¡¡¡
However it might end, he was without any question their
pleasantest acquaintance in Bath: she saw nobody equal to him;
and it was a great indulgence now and then to talk to him about Lyme,
which he seemed to have as lively a wish to see again, and to see more
of,
as herself. They went through the particulars of their first meeting
a great many times. He gave her to understand that he had
looked at her with some earnestness. She knew it well;
and she remembered another person's look also.
¡¡¡¡
They did not always think alike. His value for rank and connexion
she perceived was greater than hers. It was not merely complaisance,
it must be a liking to the cause, which made him enter warmly
into her father and sister's solicitudes on a subject which
she thought unworthy to excite them. The Bath paper one morning
announced the arrival of the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple,
and her daughter, the Honourable Miss Carteret; and all the comfort
of No. --, Camden Place, was swept away for many days; for the Dalrymples
(in Anne's opinion, most unfortunately) were cousins of the Elliots;
and the agony was how to introduce themselves properly.
¡¡¡¡
Anne had never seen her father and sister before in contact with nobility,
and she must acknowledge herself disappointed. She had hoped
better things from their high ideas of their own situation in life,
and was reduced to form a wish which she had never foreseen;
a wish that they had more pride; for "our cousins Lady Dalrymple
and Miss Carteret;" "our cousins, the Dalrymples," sounded in her ears
all day long.
¡¡¡¡
Sir Walter had once been in company with the late viscount,
but had never seen any of the rest of the family; and the difficulties
of the case arose from there having been a suspension of all intercourse
by letters of ceremony, ever since the death of that said late viscount,
when, in consequence of a dangerous illness of Sir Walter's
at the same time, there had been an unlucky omission at Kellynch.
No letter of condolence had been sent to Ireland. The neglect
had been visited on the head of the sinner; for when poor Lady Elliot
died herself, no letter of condolence was received at Kellynch,
and, consequently, there was but too much reason to apprehend
that the Dalrymples considered the relationship as closed.
How to have this anxious business set to rights, and be admitted
as cousins again, was the question: and it was a question which,
in a more rational manner, neither Lady Russell nor Mr Elliot
thought unimportant. "Family connexions were always worth preserving,
good company always worth seeking; Lady Dalrymple had taken a house,
for three months, in Laura Place, and would be living in style.
She had been at Bath the year before, and Lady Russell had heard her
spoken of as a charming woman. It was very desirable that
the connexion should be renewed, if it could be done, without any
compromise of propriety on the side of the Elliots."
¡¡¡¡
Sir Walter, however, would choose his own means, and at last wrote
a very fine letter of ample explanation, regret, and entreaty,
to his right honourable cousin. Neither Lady Russell nor Mr Elliot
could admire the letter; but it did all that was wanted,
in bringing three lines of scrawl from the Dowager Viscountess.
"She was very much honoured, and should be happy in their acquaintance."
The toils of the business were over, the sweets began. They visited
in Laura Place, they had the cards of Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple,
and the Honourable Miss Carteret, to be arranged wherever they might
be most visible: and "Our cousins in Laura Place,"--"Our cousin,
Lady Dalrymple and Miss Carteret," were talked of to everybody.
¡¡¡¡
Anne was ashamed. Had Lady Dalrymple and her daughter even been
very agreeable, she would still have been ashamed of the agitation
they created, but they were nothing. There was no superiority
of manner,
accomplishment, or understanding. Lady Dalrymple had acquired
the name of "a charming woman," because she had a smile and a civil
answer
for everybody. Miss Carteret, with still less to say, was so plain
and so awkward, that she would never have been tolerated in Camden Place
but for her birth.
¡¡¡¡
Lady Russell confessed she had expected something better; but yet
"it was an acquaintance worth having;" and when Anne ventured to speak
her opinion of them to Mr Elliot, he agreed to their being nothing
in themselves, but still maintained that, as a family connexion,
as good company, as those who would collect good company around them,
they had their value. Anne smiled and said,
¡¡¡¡
"My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is the company of clever,
well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation;
that is what I call good company."
¡¡¡¡
"You are mistaken," said he gently, "that is not good company;
that is the best. Good company requires only birth, education,
and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice.
Birth and good manners are essential; but a little learning is
by no means a dangerous thing in good company; on the contrary,
it will do very well. My cousin Anne shakes her head.
She is not satisfied. She is fastidious. My dear cousin"
(sitting down by her), "you have a better right to be fastidious
than almost any other woman I know; but will it answer?
Will it make you happy? Will it not be wiser to accept the society
of those good ladies in Laura Place, and enjoy all the advantages
of the connexion as far as possible? You may depend upon it,
that they will move in the first set in Bath this winter,
and as rank is rank, your being known to be related to them
will have its use in fixing your family (our family let me say)
in that degree of consideration which we must all wish for."
¡¡¡¡
"Yes," sighed Anne, "we shall, indeed, be known to be related to them!"
then recollecting herself, and not wishing to be answered, she added,
"I certainly do think there has been by far too much trouble taken
to procure the acquaintance. I suppose" (smiling) "I have more
pride
than any of you; but I confess it does vex me, that we should be
so solicitous to have the relationship acknowledged, which we may
be very sure is a matter of perfect indifference to them."
¡¡¡¡
"Pardon me, dear cousin, you are unjust in your own claims.
In London, perhaps, in your present quiet style of living,
it might be as you say: but in Bath; Sir Walter Elliot and his
family
will always be worth knowing: always acceptable as acquaintance."
¡¡¡¡
"Well," said Anne, "I certainly am proud, too proud to enjoy a welcome
which depends so entirely upon place."
¡¡¡¡
"I love your indignation," said he; "it is very natural.
But here you are in Bath, and the object is to be established here
with all the credit and dignity which ought to belong to Sir Walter
Elliot.
You talk of being proud; I am called proud, I know, and I shall not
wish
to believe myself otherwise; for our pride, if investigated,
would have the same object, I have no doubt, though the kind may seem
a little different. In one point, I am sure, my dear cousin,"
(he continued, speaking lower, though there was no one else in the room)
"in one point, I am sure, we must feel alike. We must feel that
every addition to your father's society, among his equals or superiors,
may be of use in diverting his thoughts from those who are beneath him."
¡¡¡¡
He looked, as he spoke, to the seat which Mrs Clay had been
lately occupying: a sufficient explanation of what he particularly
meant;
and though Anne could not believe in their having the same sort of pride,
she was pleased with him for not liking Mrs Clay; and her conscience
admitted that his wishing to promote her father's getting
great acquaintance was more than excusable in the view of defeating
her.
¡¡¡¡Chapter 17
¡¡¡¡
While Sir Walter and Elizabeth were assiduously pushing their
good fortune in Laura Place, Anne was renewing an acquaintance
of a very different description.
¡¡¡¡
She had called on her former governess, and had heard from her
of there being an old school-fellow in Bath, who had the two strong
claims
on her attention of past kindness and present suffering. Miss
Hamilton,
now Mrs Smith, had shewn her kindness in one of those periods of her
life
when it had been most valuable. Anne had gone unhappy to school,
grieving for the loss of a mother whom she had dearly loved,
feeling her separation from home, and suffering as a girl of fourteen,
of strong sensibility and not high spirits, must suffer at such a time;
and Miss Hamilton, three years older than herself, but still from the
want
of near relations and a settled home, remaining another year at school,
had been useful and good to her in a way which had considerably lessened
her misery, and could never be remembered with indifference.
¡¡¡¡
Miss Hamilton had left school, had married not long afterwards,
was said to have married a man of fortune, and this was all
that Anne had known of her, till now that their governess's account
brought her situation forward in a more decided but very different form.
¡¡¡¡
She was a widow and poor. Her husband had been extravagant;
and at his death, about two years before, had left his affairs
dreadfully involved. She had had difficulties of every sort
to contend with, and in addition to these distresses had been afflicted
with a severe rheumatic fever, which, finally settling in her legs,
had made her for the present a cripple. She had come to Bath
on that account, and was now in lodgings near the hot baths,
living in a very humble way, unable even to afford herself
the comfort of a servant, and of course almost excluded from society.
¡¡¡¡
Their mutual friend answered for the satisfaction which a visit
from Miss Elliot would give Mrs Smith, and Anne therefore
lost no time in goin